Will there be an end to the youth killings in UK?

Almost one in 10 murder victims last year was aged under 16, figures showed yesterday.The spate of inner-city knife and gun killings has helped push the number of murders among children up by a third.The Home Office statistics also disclose that one in 12 victims of gun-related murders was a child. Five of the 59 people shot dead last year were under 16 - there were none the year before.The figures will further call into question ministerial assertions that the streets are safer than ever. In the year to April 2007, there were at least 68 murder victims under 16 years of age, an increase of 31 per cent on the previous year.Of the 734 offences recorded as homicide, nine per cent of the victims were children. Part of the rise was caused by a growing number of infants killed by their parents - 40 victims were aged under five.However, in 26 cases the children were murdered by strangers or their attackers remain unknown.The Home Office figures do not include more than a dozen killings in London since last April.Murders have risen steadily over the years. In 1958, there were 261 murders - by 1990 that had grown to 661.The highest number recorded was 1,047 in 2002/03 - swelled by the serial killer Harold Shipman, a GP from Manchester believed to have murdered more than 200 patients over many years. When Labour took office in 1997, there were 609 murders, representing 11.8 offences per million people.Last year's total of 734 is 13.7 per million - twice the rate 40 years ago.One third of the killings involved a sharp instrument, an increase of 18 per cent on the previous year; and 59 victims were shot dead, compared to 49 in 2005/06, an increase of 20 per cent.More than half the gun victims were aged under 30.David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "These figures reflect the enormous extent of the individual tragedies we are witnessing in our communities."Gun and blade killings have both risen dramatically over the last year."This shows that claims by the Government to be taking action on violent crime are misguided at best." He added: "We need robust and concerted action - cutting red tape to put police back on the streets, decisive steps to curb soaring drug abuse and 24-hour drinking, and strong border controls to stem the flow of drugs and guns into Britain."Among the under-16s shot dead during 2006/2007 was Billy Cox, 15, who was killed in Clapham, south London, in February.Only a few days earlier, Michael Dosunmu, also 15, was shot by two gunmen who broke into his home in Peckham, south-east London.Jesse James, 15, was shot dead in a park in Manchester as he cycled home from a party in September 2006.The latest figures do not include the murder of Rhys Jones, 11, who police believe was killed by a gang member aiming to shoot a rival in Liverpool last August.In the calendar year 2007, there were 25 teenage murders in London, many of which will be recorded in next year's official statistics.Of these 16 were stabbed to death, eight were shot and one was beaten to death.


tspoonfr

30 Years on... The Brixton Riots

"The Brixton Riots never Quiet, Brizton Riots never Quiet...."

If you were young, not neccer

Where's my invite to the wedding of the year?

Following the release of the inviation list to the

Where's my invite to the wedding of the year?

Following the public release of the invitation list to next week's royal wedding, I was shocked to see that I had not received my invite and as there was no explanation, I can only surmise as to the reasons for my exemption.

It could be due to the new pair of boots I have recently purchased and that I would outshine the Prince and make Kate wonder if there is a possibility of her sneaking out of the Palace late at night, returning in the wee small hours without anyone noticing, while she engages in a bit of modern day 'jungle fever'.

Then again not being granted the privilege to rub shoulders with Messers Elton John, David Beckham, Desmond Tutu et al, and trade war stories about the quality of shows available on Babe Station or when the right time is for the UK to introduce a 24-7 Adult channel for like-minded people is a mistake I'm afraid they will live to regret in years to come.

I am in no way miffed or upset over not being able to strut my stuff on Friday more quizzical of why I again was over-looked

Britain To Reduce Population By 30 Million...., how exactly?

U.K. Green Advisor: Cut Britain's Population in HalfJonathon Porritt, one of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's leading environmental advisers, is to warn that Britain must drastically reduce its population if it is to build a sustainable society.

Porritt's call will come at this week's annual conference of the Optimum Population Trust (OPT), of which he is patron.

The trust will release research suggesting the U.K. population must be cut to 30 million if the country wants to feed itself sustainably. [Britain's population is now about 60 million and growing.]

Porritt said: "Population growth, plus economic growth, is putting the world under terrible pressure. "Each person in Britain has far more impact on the environment than those in developing countries, so cutting our population is one way to reduce that impact."

Population growth is one of the most politically sensitive environmental problems. The issues it raises, including religion, culture and immigration policy, have proved too toxic for most green groups.

tspoonfr

R.I.P. Smiley Culture - Gone but not forgotten

Early last month, the artist known as Smiley Culture, died after police officers raided his home, after a tip off for drugs.

The musician, who had hits in the Eighties, is believed to have stabbed himself as police swooped on his home in Warlingham, Surrey.

The 47-year-old, real name David Emmanuel, was due in court after being charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine in September last year.

It is believed he died in the kitchen after police tried to resuscitate him. They were told he stabbed himself while making a cup of tea, despite a number of officers still being in his home, while they performed their drug search. Suffice to say no drugs were found before or after Smiley went to put the kettle on. No doubt brewing a cuppa for the 12 - 15 police who calmly sat on his sofa watching the football, finding a spare coffee table to build a spliff. A spokesman for the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed they were now investigating a "death following police contact". Right!!!!

The singer, from south London, released his first single Cockney Translation in 1984 but was best known for hit Police Officer.

Trying to find the words to explain yet another death of a Black person at the hands of the police escape me right now and whether there is an investigation or not, the outcome will be the same as Ian Tomlinson, Jean Charles de Menezes, Brian Douglas, Joy Gardner right up to last week when Kinglsey Brown lost his life following fatal injuries sustained while in police custody at the hands of the boys in blue.

When will there be justice and equality in the UK for ALL and not this facade of liberty and freedom which causes more harm than good and more damage than Hannibal Lecter in "Silence of the Lambs"?

tspoonfr

R.I.P. Smiley Culture

Early last month, the artist known as Smiley Culture, died after police officers raided his home, after a tip off for drugs.

The musician, who had hits in the Eighties, is believed to have stabbed himself as police swooped on his home in Warlingham, Surrey.

The 47-year-old, real name David Emmanuel, was due in court after being charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine in September last year.

It is believed he died in the kitchen after police tried to resuscitate him. They were told he stabbed himself while making a cup of tea, despite officers still being in his home in while they performed their drug search. A spokesman for the Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed they were now investigating a "death following police contact".

The singer, from south London, released his first single Cockney Translation in 1984 but was best known for hit Police Officer.

Trying to find the words to explain yet another death of a Black person at the hands of the police escape me right now and whether there is an investigation or not, the outcome will be the same as Ian Tomlinson, Jean Charles de Menezes, Brian Douglas, Joy Gardner right up to last week when Kinglsey Brown lost his life following fatal injuries sustained while in police custody at the hands of the boys in blue.

When will there be justice and equality in the UK for ALL and not this facade of liberty and freedom which causes more harm than good and more damage than Hannibal Lecter in "Silence of the Lambs"?

tspoonfr

Finally - Iraq war Invasion: The truth

Plans to exploit Iraq's oil reserves were discussed by government ministers and the world's largest oil companies the year before Britain took a leading role in invading Iraq, government documents show.

The papers, revealed here for the first time, raise new questions over Britain's involvement in the war, which had divided Tony Blair's cabinet and was voted through only after his claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

Not about oil? what they said before the invasion

* Foreign Office memorandum, 13 November 2002, following meeting with BP: "Iraq is the big oil prospect. BP are desperate to get in there and anxious that political deals should not deny them the opportunity to compete. The long-term potential is enormous..."

* Tony Blair, 6 February 2003: "Let me just deal with the oil thing because... the oil conspiracy theory is honestly one of the most absurd when you analyse it. The fact is that, if the oil that Iraq has were our concern, I mean we could probably cut a deal with Saddam tomorrow in relation to the oil. It's not the oil that is the issue, it is the weapons..."

* BP, 12 March 2003: "We have no strategic interest in Iraq. If whoever comes to power wants Western involvement post the war, if there is a war, all we have ever said is that it should be on a level playing field. We are certainly not pushing for involvement."

* Lord Browne, the then-BP chief executive, 12 March 2003: "It is not in my or BP's opinion, a war about oil. Iraq is an important producer, but it must decide what to do with its patrimony and oil."

* Shell, 12 March 2003, said reports that it had discussed oil opportunities with Downing Street were 'highly inaccurate', adding: "We have neither sought nor attended meetings with officials in the UK Government on the subject of Iraq. The subject has only come up during conversations during normal meetings we attend from time to time with officials... We have never asked for 'contracts'."

some of the comments posted in response to today's discovery:

Friends, the press and the government are in bed together in an embrace so intimate and wrong, they could spoon on a twin mattress and still have room for Ted Koppel. Journalists used to question the reasons for war and expose abuse of power. Now, like toothless babies, they suckle on the sugary teat of misinformation and poop it into the diaper we call the 6:00 News. Demand more of your government. Demand more of your press."

Two oil executives are elected President and Vice-President in an era of restricted oil supplies to an extremely oil-dependent economy and within a couple of years they're invading the country which just happens to contain the earth's largest untapped reservoirs of oil. Hard to see how it could be anymore straight forward.

The fact that everyone else allowed it to happen shows just how morally corrupt the human race is and the pointlessness of the smokescreen which is the UN.

Blair will never be tried as a war criminal and neither will Bush. I expect if Scotland votes for independence from the UK then they may suffer a fate like Iraq. Remember....It's Scotland's Oil.

Does anyone believe Libya is any different? why are our elected leaders in the us and UK nothing but puppets for international cartels? we need western world revolution based on the values of the American revolution of 1776. there are many more of us than them. rise up people and take your countries back from the mega banks and oil cartels who cause all of the endless for profit wars, run all of the drugs, steal your pay check threw the tax barrel of a gun, take away your freedoms, arrest you for speech, don't allow you to own firearms that reduce crime and protect you from the state, and murder foreign nations for economic control and energy exploitation. as you British have said this year "off with their heads".

Let us see the minutes of Dick Cheney's secret energy committee. Cheney is a liar and a thief. The Iraqi people deserve justice as do the families of all those young men and women who died so the Bushs and the Cheneys could serve their capitalist oil masters. The UK and the US have blood on their hands and should be made to pay for their crimes against humanity.

I can see several possible crimes under English Law here-

1. Murder for hire.

2. Terrorist offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000, such as advocating the overthrow of foreign goverments.

3. Treason, specifically inciting acts of war against the Crown, such as the 7/7 bombings

4. Conspiracy.

I'm sure there are more but that is enough to be getting on with, now who in the Police force is willing to investigate and send a file with all the evidence to the CPS and who in the CPS is willing to prosecute?

tspoonfr

New whip or walk down the aisle. Please Help !!!

Dilemma Dilemma, what is a man supposed to do?

With sun finally shining, the new contract going well, it's that time to start look around for this year's new whip.

There is no problem with the Merc Cab, but it's always been a dream of mine to own and floss around in a Porsche Boxster and before the grey hairs are in full effect and grecian 2011 cries at me that it's no longer worth it, something needs to give.

But you see, this year should also see another wedding other than Kate and one of the prince's after I finally proposed to the missus late last year after... well let's just say a long time. And with an imminent wedding on the horizon, caterers snapping at our heels for confirmation and the Branson island in Necker, available at the end of August for a knock down cost you can imagine the ear-ache/discussion's I am receiving at home, to nail down a date.

However a man cannot stop wanting his toys and while most women, cannot understand the logic behind a metal contraption on wheels, albeit with convertible roof, leather interior, 3.2 super charged engine, heated seats and looks that make Beyonce, think twice about 'putting a ring on it' and sing a song about filling up with unleaded petrol, most of my male friends are wondering when I will be purchasing the car mats and what colour.

I want to do the right thing and sometimes what we men think in pleasing wifey in fact has the opposite effect. These opportunities do not come along that often whereby as Prince William has found out, there will always be a Church offering discount and a reception hall willing to cater for up to 100 guests at a short notice, where you can bring your own patties, vimto drinks and knock off coleslaw, purchased by the tub.

Stay posted to see whether I live or die. Just in case future wifey is reading this blog, I am in no way substituting you for metal and rubber tyres more adding to your wag lifestyle allowing you to visit Tesco's and Asda in style.

tspoonfr

Tony Blair seeks Knighthood - oh my Gosh....

I couldn't believe it myself, whilst returning from this year's Gadget Show event, up in Birmingham, listening to LBC on a nice Sunny afternoon, when I heard the Queen's hierarchy were actually debating whether to offer this war-monger the said-to-be pinnacle of British establishment: that of a Knighthood. Although it does not surprise me, the fact that a man who took the country into an illegal war, which has claimed the lives of close to two million people should be rewarded with such a title, leads to believe one can somehow be rewarded in this manner and that the number of lap dancing clubs one has visited has no bearing on the outcome of the title. Forget about the M.B.E or Lord tspoonfr, head straight for the top and claim the knight of the realm and go down in history instead of going down somewhere else.

This tops Barack Obama who was given a Nobel peace prize back in 2009, while in the midst of two wars and the loss of countless innocent victims. But then again Mr O is far from finished and I expect another invasion or two in the not too distant future. Idle hands seek trouble, my Mum used to say.

So what has Bliar done to warrant such an accolade one can only presume? What social enhancements has Tony accomplished to even be mentioned in her Maj's presence or was the standard donation to Prince Philip Alzheimer's fund sufficient enough entry to be considered serious enough to start introducing this maverick as Sir Anthony Blair?

For a man who not only opened the floodgates of the British border, more or less took the key and threw it into the Channel this is a further step to the direction of total dictatorship. For once he bequests the mantle of Sir, once can only surmise that England will be renamed Tonyland and only people who were allowed entry to the UK under his leadership will be allocated the vote.

tspoonfr