January 30th: We-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-ell, have we got a lulu of a newsletter for you this week and it makes us want to SHOUT! (with happiness, obviously). Another thing that makes us want to SHOUT! With joy is the sheer amount of hits we’ve had recently (we’re on course to make 44,000 hits by the time I upload this column tomorrow). We’ve had some lovely comments too, mainly on our ‘Book’ and ‘DVD’ special which have both sailed into the top half of our top ten most read posts section, along with Cat Stevens ‘Foreigner’ from last week. Of course, this being the wonderful world of the internet, we’ve also had some bonkers messages, many of them spam obviously but some of them apparently in alien speak as well (it must be those clandusprods from our april fool’s day articles at work!)
Meanwhile something that’s making us SHOUT in horror: yes, the scourge of humanity in the UK, the coalition, the very people we voted in (or didn’t – hence the fact they’re a coalition) to keep us safe and free from harm are persecuting us all again. Now, the national office of Statistics don’t lie (and I don’t just mean statistically its unlikely – I mean they don’t lie, ever) so when they say that the Government have ignored their figures and made up their own to account for unemployment rates, benefit fraud, the price of the economic crisis and a thousand other things instead, I prefer to believe the office of national statistics. Why the media haven’t spent more time on that story I don’t know: instead they’ve gone with our beloved leader trying not to make a buffoon of himself over the EU crisis (and failing). Of course Cameron wants to remove us from the EU; it’s not because of any great economic policy or any daring foreign affairs statement, it’s because at the moment the UK have breached so many European Human Rights Laws it’s going to take the next Government fifteen terms in office to re-instate them all again. At the moment it’s illegal to make the unemployed work for free or face sanctions for up to three years in Europe (except the UK), its illegal to force the disabled to work for their benefits in Europe (except the UK), its illegal not to give prisoners the vote in Europe (except the UK) and ATOS has been banned everywhere from France to America for breaking the law (except, obviously, the UK). Cameron is gambling here that we’ll all keep quiet and let him take away the safety nets for our most vulnerable because of some media-friendly words about ‘shirkers and scroungers’ so let us give you the real truth of what’s going on, away from the Government speak (and easily verifiable if you check any number of other sources, including the national office of statistics). Benefit fraud accounts for 0.0007% of cases, the entire benefit budget actually costs 3% of all Government expenditure (slightly less than MP expenses and only fractionally more than funding the Royal Family) and the dreadful, awful economic situation we find ourselves in? Well its the worst since...erm...1993 (hardly a blink of an eye ago in historical terms), a mere fifth of the extent the UK were in debt after the Second World War (when we seemed to get out of that mess quite well without all this hoo-hah) and far from bringing that deficit down what Cameron and his cronies have been up to the past two years is spend more already in half a term in office than Labour did in three. Ladies and gentleman, we have been conned good and proper and I take no satisfaction in saying ‘we told you so’ three years and 150 issues ago. It’s not too late though. SHOUT! no, stand up for your rights, don’t get taken in by the stupid inaccurate statistics these chumps in power keep coming up with and above all else, hold on to your humanity. Those around you are probably going to need it!
Right, with that little lot over with its on to the news, available by clicking on this link:
http://paper.li/f-1347835090
A handful of other release dates for you too: AAA albums available in 2013 are as follows (and of course subject to last minute changes); Marty Balin (the Jefferson Airplane/Starship singer’s two solo albums ‘Balin’ and ‘Lucky’ on CD for the first time – February 5th), the Grateful Dead (two old shows on DVD for the first time: ‘Dead Ahead’ from 1980 and ‘Ticket To New Year’s Eve’ in 1987 – both February 15th, plus ‘Dick’s Picks no 28’ from 1978 – February 26th), The Byrds (‘Turn Turn Turn’ a DVD documentary – February 19th), Jerry Garcia (the Dead guitarist ‘Live At The Capitol Theatre’ – February 19th), Justin Hayward (the Moody Blues singer’s first solo album in a decade ‘Spirits Of The Western Sky’ – February 26th) and Stephen Stills (‘Carry On’, a four CD box set in the same series as Crosby and Nash sets from the past decade – February 28th).
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