UPDATE I am happy to say paperbacks of both Murder in Samarkand and The Catholic Orangemen of Togo are now back available on Amazon again.
I am sorry I have not produced any serious articles for a few days. I have been catching up on a large number of tasks which were put back by the election. This includes a speaking engagement in Madrid I had needed to shift back and from which I returned this evening.
Allied to this, when I look at the Tory/DUP alliance, words fail me.
I have some more apologies to make. Technology has changed the publishing industry and authors have to do an awful lot of self-promotion, and even self-publishing, nowadays to try to make money from their books.
The problem is that if you are a writer and not a publisher things can go wrong with this DIY approach. Hence the following apologies.
Sikunder Burnes. About half a dozen of the people who ordered signed copies through this website and paid with Paypal have not received their books, in a couple of cases for months. This is entirely due to a mistake by me and I will post them out tomorrow.
The Catholic Orangemen of Togo. The new paperback edition of this through amazon self-publishing has too small a font size. I am not quite sure how this happened but it is quite hard to read. I am going to try to change it, which is quite complex. If anyone has bought one of the small font ones and is struggling, please contact me via the contact button at the top of the blog, and when a corrected version is available I will replace it for you at my expense.
Murder in Samarkand. The new paperback version of this has been pulled by Amazon who have asked me for evidence that the rights have reverted to me. I do have a letter of reversion from the publisher which I have sent them, but I don’t know how long this will take to clear.
Sorry about this general level of being rubbish!
But Craig, you missed so much – Farron gone! Is Vince the Chocolate teapot Cable going to once again sell the libs into a Tory coalition for ‘the national interest’ and his limo??
May swatting number 10 with a bunch of terrorists? Tory landlords preventing safe homes bill. The capital – my home being sold off to developers. Google building pig pens for their works in a bid for first neo-feudalist!
So much!
You missed out Grenfell Tower. There must be a Public Inquiry and not a cover up by May’s suggested investigation. Tory controlled Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council and Rydon have questions to answer. There is much anger and distress.
‘London fire: Grenfell Tower cladding ‘linked to other fires’
‘The cladding installed on Grenfell Tower was also used on other buildings that have been hit by fires around the world, the BBC has learned.
The exterior cladding, added in 2015, had a polyethylene – or plastic – core instead of an even more fireproof alternative, BBC Newsnight understands.
High-rise buildings in France, the UAE and Australia that had similar cladding have all been hit by fires that spread.
Rydon, which completed the renovations, said the work met all fire regulations.
They also insisted that, building control and safety standards had been fully met.
And Harley Facades, the company that fitted the panels to the building, said in a statement: “At this time, we are not aware of any link between the fire and the exterior cladding to the tower.”‘
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40283980
Kurt Barling who used to be the BBC London correspondent was on BBC Breakfast. Now a professor of journalism at Middx Univ. He is incensed. No lessons learnt from the recommendations from the lengthy inquests into the six deaths at Lakanal House fire in 2009. Stay put?/sprinklers/alarms/speed of spread/smoke penetration/etc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Barling
Southwark council pleads guilty over worst ever tower block fire
London authority admits to breaking fire regulations in years leading up to 2009 incident at Lakanal House that killed six
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/24/southwark-council-admits-safety-failings-tower-block-lakanal-house-blaze
Refusing to answer questions was a lesson well learned, as was keeping reports about earlier fires secret until compelled by FoI requests. You can bet that damage limitation-profit maximisation will be the official line. COMbbc did an even better stable door report than the one after the Manchester bomber. I don’t have a telly so can only watch other people’s but I didn’t notice any door-stepping of the those who profit from bent fire regs.
So many apologies from so many people that should be , but which will never be made. From grasping landlords who refuse to make their dwellings comply with the current regulations for electrical safety, which would have prevented an electrical fire developing a melt-down of plastic in a multi storey building.
If it was chip-fat, when they ban diesel cars in cities they should ban the burning of vehicle fuel in dwellings.
Every week I see appliances molten down into liquid plastic from looses electrical connections. But it would cost the landlords millions of pounds, and the law doesn’t force them to do it retrospectively. These are the shite that we call Tories. Utterly staunch in their denial of their crimes.
“Allied to this, when I look at the Tory/DUP alliance, words fail me.”
It’s not as if there have never been attempts by Labour or the SNP to court the DUP…. or comments here calling for a Labour/Sinn Fein alliance…. or Corbyn and McDonnell lauding their friends in the IRA, Hamas, Hezbollah etc.
Don’t be daft.
Yeah, exactly! Labour twice approached the DUP for support and they’re a perfectly legitimate party. Seems rather illogical not to make a compact, frankly.
Now you’re being daft too. By Labour you mean Gordon Brown, the much discredited monetarist consider by most of the membership as a man who along with Blair and the other Atlanticists brought the party into near fatal disregard. The Blairites and ‘brownites’ (same thing – neoliberal Atlanticist warmongers ans money worshippers) have now been pushed to the outter fringes of the party. And will continue to be so as the membership grows – now we’re 800,000.
We’re not in Labour because Labour. we’re in Labour to do the right thing which is why many of the membership left Jeremy has brought them back and a whole new generation.
All fair enough but the Tories aren’t Labour so are perfectly entitled to use DUP assistance to get their (much reduced) legislative agenda through. Major did it with the UUP and the DUP have evolved somewhat over the years. If this meeting with all NI parties today is signed off (namely, concessions made of non-interference in provincial matters) then happy days!
The DUP campaigned alongside proscribed groups in this election. It is also the DUP’s entanglement in “Cash for ash” which is the root cause of the suspension of the Stormont assembly. If you cite Major’s judgement and the DUP is so similar to the UUP then then why did Major himself speak out against the deal?
Don’t forget the Tories (official) and their terrorist connexions in the occupied Middle East, the Saudi head-chopping perverts, the Washington barbarians, Special Branch, five and six….
No worries Craig. You are not alone in being speechless when it comes to Arlene Foster and her DUP. I caught BBC footage of her saying to the cameras, “The future is bright…..” and then a wee giggle. She didn’t add the next part of that ad but the BBC reminded us. “The future is bright, the future is Orange.” That is exactly what she was saying. What a pity any UK PM wants anything to do with such a bitter piece of work.
Craig, magnifying glasses can be bought for under a fiver. Even those who have moths flying out of their wallets every time they open them can surely afford that?
Oh yes, and Albert Einstein said “Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.”
Aren’t Nationalism & Patriotism two sides of the same coin ?
He wouldn’t have gotten such a warm welcome in the good old US of A if he used the P word.
Patriotism is being proud of your country for what it does.
Nationalism is being proud of your country as what it does.
? That doesn’t make sense.
Nationalism is having a pride in ones’ country and Patriotism is having support for ones’ country. If EITHER go to extremes they can cause problems.
Lidl had Magnifying glass with a wee light for £4..and here’s me using it to prop up a candle.To make it seem the same size as the one next to it…Otherwise what will the Neighbours think
Yes Jo.. You couldn’t make it up.. Recent warnings of what could ensue in NI re the troubles, Dose may care.. Did her new Chief of Staff care about the concerns of those living in, and around that tower that went Inferno last night.. Must be hard for the Blogger Bloke and others being proven right – that people will die before anything is done..Rip those poor perished souls.
The Catholic Orangemen of Togo… I have one of the Very Small Print versions..but i’ll be ok with it with reading Glasses.. No worries..Chin up Noo.
Rubbish? Mistakes are evidence that something has been attempted, which puts you ahead of much of the field, Craig.
A good time to agitate for electoral reform, I think. The current system clearly is not fit for purpose.
Well said Clark ..Twice… I wonder if Craig is up to Good deeds with Robin McAlipne, and some others…Mmmm
O/T but that burning building? The landlord collects the rent and insurance while the poor tenants burn. A metaphor or three in there somewhere.
Try this.
THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA TENANT MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION LIMITED
A function that should have been undertaken by the local authority that built the tower using the people’s money, and still owns it, has been farmed out to this MTO. It all goes back to the witch Thatcher. Her acolytes, Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron and May carried on with her agenda.
THE ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA TENANT MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION LIMITED
https://companycheck.co.uk/company/03048135/THE-ROYAL-BOROUGH-OF-KENSINGTON-AND-CHELSEA-TENANT-MANAGEMENT-ORGANISATION-LIMITED/companies-house-data
A revolving succession of ‘directors’.
What fucked priorities. Multi million pound refurbishment that doesn’t even include a working fire alarm system but does include cladding. More important to spend on hiding poverty from the rich of West London than it is to keep the poor from burning alive.
Now the rich are donating clothes. Including Stella McCartney jeans apparently. The rich despise the poor. I despise the rich.
And what of the surviving residents of Grenfell Tower? Let’s not forget them. Will they be housed out of borough in some far flung place yet more social cleansing of this rich part of London. There are local residents questioning if this fire was an accident at all.
David Lammy cut off on Radio 4 today for daring to suggest whats glaringly obvious.. ‘corporate manslaughter’
Craig, the smallness of the font of the new COoT (heh) must have been a huge headache to learn about. I’m much more sorry for you on that front than I am for myself. I don’t for a moment intend to make you send me a second copy. If I find the going gets too difficult I’ll read the pdf.
We forgive you. 😉
Keep up the excellent work!
Anyone can make mistakes, Craig. You are big enough – and psychologically secure enough – to apologise.
I await apologies from T May, Iain Duncan Smith, all the tories who sat on the 2013 tower block fire safety report, and many others, who have got much greater reasons to apologise to the nation.
People need jailing for this, but in the fullness of time it will doubtless be written off as another blameless incident from which lessons will be learned.
Craig, going to buy copy of “The Catholic Orangemen of Togo”. When will larger font edition be available?
The so called Prime Minister went to Kensington for 30 minutes and did not speak to a single resident. Half an hour with the media at arm’s length and a photo op with some Fire Fighters was all she could be bothered with.
Very odd that in amid all the recriminations following the Grenfell Tower tragedy the important role of her new right-hand man has been virtually ignored.
Gavin Barwell was showered with plaudits by the commentariat when appointed May’s chief of staff last weekend. Yet as Housing Minister up until last week he sat on the safety regulations proposed in the coroner’s report into the 2009 Lakanal House disaster in Camberwell. This has now become by far his most significant achievement, yet suddenly he’s no longer in the news ..
Surprised the conspiracy theorists aren’t already salivating at this one. There can surely be no better way to incinerate (likely) hundreds of people than to wrap their single-stair tower block in inflammable plastic. Unless it is to do that and refuse to install sprinklers. Incidentally, the cladding seems to have been added in order to improve the view from the more salubrious parts of the borough.
Doubt the conspiracy goes any deeper than the timeless Tory reluctance to spend money on poor people.
While Emma Coad, (newly-elected Labour MP for Kensington), has been vocal on the subject, I can’t frind anything from Lady Victoria Borwick (newly-ousted Tory MP for Kensington), under whose tenure the disaster seems to have been manufactured. Seems she was aware of resident’s concerns regarding what looks like a shambolic contract, roughly carried out: Were their hopes that she would intervene realised?
https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2015/12/28/tmo-investigation-borwick-steps-in/
Jeremy met the locals and listened to them. That is the difference between him and the vicar’s daughter. He sat in the garden of the church talking and listening for over an hour I heard.
This question was asked in 2014 …..Is Grenfell Tower a fire trap?
https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2014/08/26/is-grenfell-tower-a-firetrap/
Probably was, and apparently tipped off the terrorists what to do.
wicked. so my order for ‘Murder…’ will stand now? or has it been cancelled and i’ll have to order again? these are all questions i can answer myself with a little research so i shall do that. here endeth this pointless comment.
I did wonder why the font size in “Catholic Orangemen of Togo” was quite so small. I had assumed it was to keep down the total number of pages so that the book could be sold at a lower price!