Just in case there was ever any doubt that politicians are out of touch with their voters, the Belfast Telegraph reports on a survey (of "over 1,000" parents and grandparents) that finds parents want more religious mixing in schools.

• 43% would prefer their children or grandchildren to attend an integrated school.
• 67% support the establishment of jointly managed schools
• 79% supported schools sharing facilities with nearby schools, even if they were in a different school sector.
• 84% believe that integrated education is important for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.

Apparently representatives of the Protestant and Catholic churches have been looking into the practicalities of setting up mixed-faith schools. The Protestant churches are singled out for being highly supportive of any moves towards inter-faith education.

So (as if I need to ask), why are none of the big 4 parties taking integrated education (of whatever form) more seriously? Could it possibly be that it's not in the interests of tribal, sectarian parties to reduce sectarianism?

The TUC still exist apparently. And they still live in the 19th Century.

General secretary Brendan Barber said extreme wealth was "socially divisive and morally objectionable".

The TUC says higher tax rates should be imposed on earnings between £100,000-£150,000 and over £200,000.

Limiting tax relief and tax avoidance measures open to the well-off could raise £5 billion, said general secretary Brendan Barber.

So the state begins to steal the fortunes of rich people. The TUC imagine not only that they will hang around to loose their money, but that this will be a perpetual £5bn income for the treasury.

Vote Labour.

A couple of days ago supermarkets were being criticised for focusing promotions too much on unhealthy foods. Just noticed this at Asda.com - who point out that the government charge no VAT on "essential foods" which includes frozen pizza and chips, but charges the full 17.5% on healthier items like smoothies and fruit juices. Asda want the government to reduce the VAT on healthy foods to 5% (which is the lowest they can go under EU law).

The government's all very good when it comes to using duties and taxes to punish "bad" behaviour like smoking, drinking or polluting. How about they put their money where their mouth is and give us a break for "good" things?

Stop everything! Sean Reynolds has decreed that Dunhill's marketing material is "sectarian".

Boots in Royal Avenue, Belfast, withdrew from an aftershave marketing campaign because the t-shirts their staff were wearing featured a Dunhill Union Jack after an "easy-going fella" (who obviously hasn't been advised that self-praise is no praise) found it "offensive".

Do you know what: I'm offended too. I'm offended that Boots have deemed my country's flag offensive (inside that country to boot!). But I'm more angry that Boots would pander to such a blatantly bigoted, obnoxious, self-important, prick as this Sean Reynolds character. So I'll not be back to Boots in a hurry. I'm sure between my local chemists, the Perfume Shop and t'internet I'll not be missing out on anything.

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This was initially published a couple of months ago now, so apologies to those who have read it elsewhere, but I think it's definitely worth highlighting Jim Cusack writing in the Irish Independent about how prosperous Northern Ireland, and specifically Northern Irish Poor Oppressed Filthy Rich Catholics, have become in recent years.

I've picked out the highlights below, but I'd really encourage anyone with 5-10 minutes free to read the whole article.

earlier this year, when the Rich List for Northern Ireland was published , there was one little detail that went completely unnoticed -- well over half of those on it were Catholics. Places one, two and three were all filled by Catholics. The richest part of Belfast, the Malone Road -- think Ballsbridge in Dublin 4 -- now has a Catholic majority.

...

Isn't Northern Ireland supposed to be, er, depressed, like, after three decades of terrorist violence? Aren't the Catholics supposed to be "oppressed" like Gerry Adams keeps banging on about and the Southern meeja still seems to believe?

...

Truth is, cross the Ormeau Bridge over the Lagan, up into those nice leafy streets, and the arriviste MCCs would rather be seen wearing shell suits and trainers than vote Sinn Fein. Gerry, baby: Middle Class Catholics define their social position primarily through the distance between themselves and you and your voters. About as many Catholics vote Sinn Fein in south and south west Belfast as in Dun Laoghaire. If you live in a part of Belfast that has a street sign in both Irish and English, any self-respecting MCC would cross the road to avoid you.

I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I am certain that if there is a relative increase in wealth among Catholics vis a vis Protestants then it is of their own making and based in no small part on different attitudes to education. On a brighter note, the accepted wisdom is that with money comes power and influence, so it would be nice to believe that Cusick is right and that it also brings a gulf with Sinn Fein and their brand of victimhood-based ethno-nationalism and a shift in priorities away from simply one-upping the Prods.

This video was posted by fascist socialist republican serial-splitters eirigi under the title "RUC-PSNI Brutality". To be fair to eirigi, they've a difficult job: it must be tough trying to act all oppressed when this qualifies as "brutality".

What can you say to that (besides give that scrawny wee scrote a pencil and challenge him to spell "Tiocfaidh ár lá")?

What this demonstrates is not brutality but flawed planning. Firstly, it took them far too long to get access to the property - where was the battering ram? Secondly, they could easily have got in without being harassed by the resident hallian batallion simply by ensuring the raid took place on giro day.

Balrog is critical of those who praise Sergeant Lee Clegg for his role in Afghanistan.

I was disgusted to learn that the British military establishment are now exalting murdering bastard Para Lee Clegg in Afghanistan, as some type of noble war hero. Portraying a child killer as a hero is despicable, even by Brit military standards!

This is in sharp contrast to Balrog's feelings about child killer Sean Kelly. In October 2005 Balrog was critical of Peter Hain for "locking up Sean Kelly for no reason". Earlier the same month a different contributor felt that Kelly, convicted of nine murders committed in October 1993, should not be in prison. On Kelly's release it was commented that the suspension of his Belfast Agreement licence was wrong and done to "appease rejectionist Unionism"

Maybe the two child victims of Kelly's bomb in 1993 were the wrong sort of children for Balrog.

Was anyone else sickened to see Caitriona Ruane smiling like a Cheshire cat when the exam results were released yesterday, revealing that Northern Irish pupils were once again top of the class when it comes to getting A grades at A-level? (I'm not sure if she was congratulating the students or herself!) This is only the woman is doing her damnedest to single-handedly end that trend after all!

35.4% of grades awarded to Ulster's students were As, compared to the UK-wide figure of 25.9%. In terms of A-E passes, Northern Ireland's figure was 98.2% compared to the national rate of 97.2%.

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When I saw this poll on the NewsLetter web site I thought for a second that maybe the results could provide solid figures to dispel the myth that Unionists/Prods are all bible-thumping flat young-earther types.

Now obviously the results would be skewed by the fact that fundamentalist christians don't use the internet because it's an unholy work of satan produced from so-called "science" to corrupt children with fairy-tales about evolution... or something.

Should creationism be taught in science classes?
33% No
67% Yes

Jesus wept!

Northern Irish bank notes may soon be given legal standing

I noticed an interesting sentence at the very bottom of a Telegraph article about a W.H. Smith store in London overturning a ban on Northern Irish bank notes.

A spokesman for HM Treasury said that moves are under way to ensure notes from Northern Ireland and Scotland have the same standing in England as Bank of England notes.

Of course the difference between theory and practice could still prove frustrating when you have to rely on shop assistants looking in cunfuddlement at the strange piece of paper you're handing to them, nevertheless I thought this was quite interesting given how complicated the issue of legal tender in the United Kingdom is.