Numptie Has Moved

Numptie decided that it is time

for a new home so he has moved

Here!

An Apology

I apologise to regular readers for the rather Anlgo Saxon language in the recen comment thread; I got rather bored and irritated by one individual who could not admit that he had either mis-read, or had not read the whole post. No matter how many times I said that what he was going on about was not what I was actually saying, he insisted on trotting out this single tiny idea that he has lodged in his head which had nothing whatever to do with my point.

He accuses me of picking the argument; make me laugh why don't you! I posted what in my view was and is a valid opinion, he picked the argument based on a complete misconception of what I was actually saying and trying to force his view down my throat, when actually I do not disagree with what he was saying, and said so. My point was and still is that what he was saying had nothing whatever to do with my original point; how can one have a reasoned debate with such closed minds?

He trotted out a list of people who he says represent English Culture; well I would like to point out that the first person, William Shakespeare, we actually know very little about anyway; he undoubtedly produced works of genius (although I can't say that I am a great lover), but we know very little more than this about the man himself. Many of the other paragons of English Culture may have been born in England but are of continental extraction and will have obvioulsy been influenced by their original heritage; indeed at least one mentioned, Francis Bacon, was not even English, he was actually Irish!

When losing the argument he then decides to attack my cultural heritage; and even loses out there because he cannot be bothered to read anything which does not tie into his tiny minded idea. He attacks such things as the Padstow Obby Oss mayday celebrations as being derivative, when in fact this even goes so far back into the dim and distant Celtic past that all of the events he says it is derived from can only have come later. I say again I am Cornish and proud to be so! My Celtic roots mean a lot to me, and it is odd to think that whilst the English tribes were painting themselves with woad and hitting each other with big sticks the Cornish were trading tin with the Phonecians.

He wondered how long it would take me to get back to the "English aggressors" argument; well all I can say is go and read some history books, and learn how other cultures down the centuries have been dominated by the English, most of the continent of Africa to start with, Cecil Rhodes and all that!

He now says that he won't be visiting again, I can't say that I will miss him, because like most of his nationalist friends he has no conception of what a reasoned argument is, his idea of an argument is "you have to agree with me, I'm right and you're wrong"; well I am afraid I will not agree with someone just because they say I have to. I do not go out of my way to "pick" an argument, but if someone wants to disagree with me that is fine as long as they understand the rules; "I'm right and you're wrong" isn't an argument, it is bullying and will get deleted; any form of insulting, abusive, racist, sexist, or any other kind of -ist comment will be deleted...

Cornish Culture

An English Nationalist who cannot, or will not, (and I suspect it is the latter because he realises that he has painted himself into a corner) understand the difference between "culture" and "cultural heritage/identity" told me today that in discussions with people that they could not define Cornish Culture; I suspect that he bored them just as much as he is boring me with harping on that I have said that the English have no culture, when what I actually said was that the English lack a distinct cultural heritage/identity. The said people, I suspect, simply quickly got rid of him by failing in the task, which is very simple if this person only did what I have just done; ten minutes with Google produced quite a bit of Cornish culture which I present here, with the caveat that this is "Cornish Culture" not "Cornish Cultural heritage/identity" which is something quite different.

First off a traditional Cornish song about the English:-

Trelawny

With a good sword and a trusty shield
A faithful heart and true
King James's men shall understand
What Cornish men can do
And have they fixed the where and when?
And shall Trelawny die?
Here's twenty thousand Cornish men
Will know the reason why.

Chorus
And shall Trelawny live?
Or shall Trelawny die?
Here's twenty thousand Cornish men
Will know the reason why.

Out spake the captain brave and bold
A merry wight was he
Though London Tower were Michael's hold
We'll set Trelawny free
We'll cross the Tamar, land to land
The Severn is no stay
Then one and all and hand in hand
And who shall bid us nay.

And when we came to London wall
A pleasant sight to view
Come forth, come forth, ye cowards all
Here are better men than you
Trelawny, he's in keep in hold
Trelawny he may die
But twenty thousand Cornish men
Will know the reason why.

For more Cornish Culture see:-

here

here

here

here

and

here

That was not that difficult and it is something this person could have done for himself, had he not been so intent on attacking me for his lack of ability to read my words in the context in which they were written. But then what should I expect from these people, it is their stock in trade to take bits and pieces out of context and twist them to their own ends; not only that but to then put words into the mouth of the person who wrote them. As I say, about par for the course; they would do better to stop whingeing about inconsequential odds and sods and concentrate on what they claim to be their main purpose in life, getting an English Parliament; personally I think if that happens in the way in which they expect it to all the sinners in Hell will be enjoying a good old fashioned snowball fight!

Cultural Differences of Opinion

I have been attacked for my remark in this post about "having a cultural heritage and identity which it appears to me that the English don't have" (see comments thread).The person making the comment seems to think that culture and a cultural heritage and identity are the same thing, they are not. Most of the culture that he lists from Cahucer to Hockney etc. is derivative drawing on many other cultures; for example The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin; rock music is derivative of jazz and the blues; Christopher Marlowe's Dr Faustus is derivative of Gothe. I could go on picking holes but simply do not have the time; I will come back to this point with a much more detailed post at some point.

The main point I would like to make here is that I wish these people would read what I write before commenting; and if they are going to quote me then please do so in context.

Just one more thing, I have put up with comments that have had insults in them over the last couple of days, but that stops here; from today any comment with even a mild insult will be deleted, so don't scream censorship - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

The EDP Wants...

The English nationalist make a whole series of demands, but one suspects that these demands are simply not thought through; they are more in the nature of a petulant "they have, we want" argument, see here. I copy it below also:-

We demand action on the following matters

England to be recognised and treated as a unified country. Scotland and Wales have been recognised as countries and their people given the opportunity to vote in referenda for devolved government. Scotland now has a parliament, and Wales an assembly. In contrast, the people of England have been denied the opportunity to choose an English Parliament. Instead, England is being dismembered into nine regions. We find this discrimination unacceptable. England should be a political entity with its own parliament and executive.
The immediate abandonment of the Barnett formula. The formula institutionalises discrimination against the people of England by ensuring that public spending in Scotland and Wales is far higher per head of population than in England. The Barnett formula diverts about £8 billion of extra public expenditure to Scotland each year. This means that the entire population of Scotland enjoys a subsidy averaging £30 per person per week. This has meant, for example, smaller class sizes in Scotland, higher pay for teachers, shorter hospital waiting lists, and the availability of prescription drugs and surgical procedures which are unavailable in England on grounds of cost. This unjustified discrimination must end. A new fairer system is needed which enables England's share of the £8 billion to be used to improve public services in England.

I will not deal with the first bit of their argument here I will return to that at a later date as it is the second part that I find quite laughable in that it is complete nonsense. No one doubts that the whole "fiscal autonomy" question needs addressing, BondWoman over at BondBloke puts it much better that I can:

The UK needs urgently to look at fiscal autonomy to go with the devolution of powers. This is not because this will give the English things the Scottish have, such as lower university tuition fees, which they think they are being denied because of budgetary constraints. The differences lie in political choices, not budgetary possibilities. England, for better or for worse, is making different political choices to Scotland. That is very clear in the health services and schools arenas. Even leaving aside the West Lothian question, those political choices would be more legitimate and probably better thought through if they were tied to a system of fiscal autonomy, combined with an appropriate system of fiscal transfers which all federal systems must have in order to maintain solidarity within the union. Fiscal autonomy will not necessarily lead to the break up of the UK. I hope it does not. Refusing to contemplate such autonomy may on the contrary, though, foster the types of political movements which will ultimately do much greater damage to the union.

Read the full post here

Their main bone of contention seems to be that "the entire population of Scotland enjoys a subsidy averaging £30 per person per week"; when will they get it into their heads that this is not a subsidy! (I would agrue that Scotland actually subsidizes England with the oil revenues) In fact, even if public spending per head of population in Scotland is higher than that in England, the gap is actually narrowing. But, leaving that aside, these people are complaing that Scotland (a part of the UK which incidentally is poorer on average) is bleeding England (a part of the UK which incidentally is richer on average) dry! This is just so much bollocks! What these people cannot understand is that the benefits that Scotland has, and which they are crying foul about, i.e. "smaller class sizes in Scotland, higher pay for teachers, shorter hospital waiting lists, and the availability of prescription drugs and surgical procedures which are unavailable in England on grounds of cost", are nothing to do with such things as the Barnett formula they are purely and simply differences of political choices between England and Scotland. So, maybe it is time they stopped whingeing, thought their arguments through carefully, stopped scaremongering with facts that in truth are completely false, and started to do something constructive to aid the changes that they seek; because as sure as a snowball in hell will remain intact their demands, as they are at present, will simply be ignored!

A Bit of EDP Paranoia

Thanks to Martyn for drawing my attention to this bit of paranoia

EDP Lincolnshire Member, Stephen Wyatt, wrote to David Cameron asking him whether he regarded himself as Scottish, English or Welsh.This is the brief reply sent on his behalf:

"Dear Stephen,

Thank you for writing to David Cameron - I am replying on his behalf.

David was born in England so, if you are asking whether he is Scottish, English or Welsh - he is English. However, he likes to think of himself as British.

Many thanks again for your email.

Yours sincerely,

Anna Biles
Correspondence Secretary
David Cameron's Office
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA "

It should be noted that this carefully worded reply on Cameron's behalf says: ". . he is English. However, he likes to think of himself as British.

This actually means "his place of birth is England, but he does not regard himself as English", and he does not want to admit this! One could go further, and conclude that the phrase "he likes to think of himself as British" carries the implication that, "consequently, he does not like to think of himself as English"!

Personally I have never considered myself to be anything other than Cornish; and that has nothing to do with any anti-English sentiments, it has more to do with having a cultural heritage and identity which it appears to me that the English don't have and wish that they (at least the nationalists) did. It strikes me that the English nationalists are extremely jealous of those of us who have a cultural identity and that the only way they can deal with this jealousy is by promoting their warped message that the English are a "violently suppressed minority", or that "English people are dying because of Scottish bigotry", all of which is just so much bollocks. I know that this will not be popular with them because I completely disagree with not only all that they stand for, but also the way in which they promote their message using those well worn tools, hypocrisy, bigotry and latent racism; and anyone who has the temerity to disagree with them is subjected to insults and abuse, and if their comments are deleted due to the abusive nature of them then I will again be accused of censorship!

Flawed English Arguments

Another confused rant, this time by toque who is also promoting yet another nationalist website Justice For England which spouts the same old rubbish as all of the others in this vein! What these people do not seem to realise is that their arguments are flawed by the absence of fact; they take what they perceive as injustice and present it as fact using phrases like "English people are dying because of Scottish bigotry". I simply find the hypocrisy, bigotry and latent racism of these people completely laughable, and in many ways quite, quite pathetic!

I'm dismayed to report that yet another English website has appeared, agitating for more rights for the English, and 'equality' with the other nations of the UK. When are these English peasants going to accept their second-class status; and when are our Scottish masters going to clamp down on this barely concealed English nationalism? This rampant internet activism cannnot be allowed to continue; sow seeds of discontent amongst the English and before long they will be petitioning for divorce. That's what Labour achieved in Scotland by telling the Scots that they were oppressed, unrepresented by Thatcher's government, unloved, put upon... And it worked, the very threat of divorce won Scotland monies and privileges over and above the other nations of the UK - spoilt bitch of her Westminster sugar-daddy.

I Think This Suits Me!

Your Hillbilly Name Is...

Butch Rambler

Hillbilly Name Generator

Pat the Chooks pointed me in the direction of this!

They Got This SO Right!

You're A Passed Out Drunk

Drinking gives you that warm fuzzy feeling, until you're thrown in the back of a police car...

What Kind of Drunk Are You?

"Numptie Has A Go"

More from those 'nice people at the CoSG; This time having another go at my good self!

Billy
Admin

He seems to like it here.

In fact most of his posts seem to revolve around this forum in one way or the other.
If you are reading this,I would point out that there are many individuals here. I doubt this will register but we dont all hold the same views.

I would not say that I like it here but it does give me good material to prove my point that the majority of those who post here are bigoted, hypocritical and latently racist. Yes I did read this and I would hope that there are "many individuals here" and that this was not the work of one individual. As I have said before I do not tar everybody with the same brush and am sure that there are a lot of people at the CoSG who do not hold the views of the bigots, hypocritres and latent racists who post there. I would like to make one other point here, and that is that if your friend Gareth had not begun by using insults and abuse, and encouraging others to do the same I would never have given this obnoxious little forum a second look; also to add fuel to the fire one of your number took an email address of mine and not only posted it on your forum but also planted it on several porn sites with the express intention that my inbox should be flooded with spam! I will not beleive in the argument that this is coincidence as I do not believe in such coincidence, especially as I have had that address for two years previously without a hint of spam at all. So the fault for my attention lies within your own ranks!

English
True patriot

Sounds like another arrogant scared anti elitist...oh dear what a shame

Neither arrogant, scared or anti elitist unlike most of your colleagues!

Hotspur
Admin

At least we're not boring. I sick of jocks sticking their nebs into our businness, this is what got them roped in to the union in the first place. They can't stand the thought we don't want them.

One English MP said: “We have pretended this doesn’t exist and will not be an issue at the next general election. But this poll shows it does exist and it is an issue which is obviously concerning the Labour Party more than it does the Tories

You've gone beyond boring I am afraid! Typical really of the latent racism, can't resist the derogatory remark ("jocks"); actually it was James VI of Scotland who became King well before the act of union, and that because the English could not provide one for themselves. I think it more that the English can't stand the thought that they might lose the oil revenues that they have been getting from Scotland than anything else...

Gareth
Admin

Numptie isn't Scottish - he just lives up in Leith enjoying the benefits of devolution but doesn't want England to enjoy the same constitutional privilege or funding largesse. A case of what we have we hold.

If you saw the development taking place in Leith you would probably understand. Since devolution it (and Edinburgh) has been transformed with new buildings and infrastructure. I expect he has a smelly little bedsit by the docks and he has seen its market value sky-rocket thanks to devolution.

Pop down to Nobles this Sunday and you'll see Numptie there with the other plastic Jocks listening to jazz and drinking a pint 'o heavy wishing they were Scottish and could understand that chat of the locals. The real Scots despise his sort.

Little Man in a Toque
"beware the dragon that blandishes with the head and smites with the tail." --- Richard Rolle de Hampole, English hermit and mystic; 14thC

No, Numptie is not Scottish he is Cornish and proud of it. This all smacks of so much jealousy; I did not move to Leith, one of the more interesting parts of Edinburgh, to enjoy "the benefits of devolution" I moved here with my partner who got a job up here, and as what I do can be undertaken anywhere it made sense to work in a more pleasant environment. As to the "funding largesse" remark I see nothing of the sort, in fact I see it the other way round; Scotland funding England with the oil revenues which are far greater than anything that comes north from England...

Now we get to what I would expect from this member, insults and abuse! Yes Leith has been developed in recent years, but still retains its character. No I do not live in "a smelly little bedsit by the docks" (as I said he can't resist the abuse) I live in a rather nice three bedroomed apartment in a lovely complex with great views of both the coast and of Edinburgh itself; as I said the green eyed monster rears its ugly head!

And no, you won't find this man down at Nobles on a Sunday night with the other "plastic jocks" (that latent racism again), I would go anywhere near the place for fear of meeting too many people like the author of this rubbish! Yes I like jazz, so what? Yes I like good beer, and there is a lot of it to be found up here from the local independent breweries; and may I say that it equals and in some cases surpasses English beers. I don't wish I were Scottish, I am Cornish and proud to be so; I understand the Scots perfectly well as would anyone who took the trouble to try and do so. On the contrary, if people make the effort they will find that the Scots are a warm and friendly people who do not despise us; the only people they despise are the people like the author of this who patronise them...

Lance Dragon
Hero

England is just building up Scotland's infrastructure to put it in fine fettle for independence.

There is only one English region She is called ENGLAND
English Parliament Day = 26th March 2007

Lance Dragon
Hero

He/she/it seems to be quoting me a lot. Must be my resident stalker.

There is only one English region She is called ENGLAND
English Parliament Day = 26th March 2007

I just can't be bothered with this rubbish as this person does not even bother to read what has gone before, and if he/she/it thinks that I am quoting him/her/it a lot then he/she/it might like to reflect on why!

Hotspur
Admin

where is he from then

One English MP said: “We have pretended this doesn’t exist and will not be an issue at the next general election. But this poll shows it does exist and it is an issue which is obviously concerning the Labour Party more than it does the Tories

Cornwall! How many more bloody times do I have to say it!!!!!

Update: 7:40pm

For a far more informed opinion see "The Soft Underbelly of Devolution"