I came to the conclusion many years ago that not only can the government of the UK not be trusted, but pretty much all Western governments cannot be trusted.

In short, they have a history of lying to us.

Whether it’s telling us of “impending terror attacks,” weapons of mass destruction, or Members of Parliament lying and fiddling their expense accounts, we’ve been lied to.

Time and time again.

Our response?

We vote for whoever is in Opposition, hoping that things will get better.

They don’t, so we vote for whoever happens to be in Opposition years down the line.

Here in the UK, we habitually flirt with the idea that we live in an actual democracy.
Our brand of democracy – apparently – is so good that we systematically invade other countries and talk about promoting “Democracy” to whichever country we’ve bombed and ransacked that year.

The news constantly tells us what we should be afraid of, and our government continue to pass new laws to keep us “safe.”

We get bored of the current political party in power, and vote for a different party at the next election.

And so the cycle continues.

Someone once asked me if I was so troubled by the dishonesty of the mainstream political parties, why I didn’t do something about it, start up my own party.
Here’s why that wouldn’t work….

I start up a political party.
We gain support from ordinary people in the UK.
We campaign on a platform of transparency and fairness:

No more bank bail outs.
No more cover ups (“alleged” paedophile rings in government, abuses of power, etc.).
Scrapping of MP’s expenses.
No more invading other countries and slaughtering thousands of overseas civilians under the guise of “democracy.”
No more passing of laws which infringe on civil liberties.
No more government spying on its own population.
No more donations from big business to political parties.
Re-nationalization of all utilities and transportation.
Massive fines for any businesses found to be engaging in underhand practices.
Working on scrapping the World Bank and IMF.
Building of more social housing to combat the chronic house shortage and extortionate private rents.

Any party that genuinely ran along these lines would be demonized in the media, and smeared beyond belief.

And that’s before remembering that numerous figures in history have been assassinated when they didn’t follow “conventional” thinking.

I hope in my lifetime that we can live in a world where governments don’t lie to us at every opportunity, where every news report isn’t designed to influence us towards a certain way of thinking, where we don’t trample over the poor and disadvantaged in the pursuit of ever increasing profits.

But I think that day is some time off…..

Copyright © Mark A. McPherson 2014.
All rights reserved.

Many people will have heard of the high profile case of The News Of The World (former tabloid UK newspaper) routinely intercepting voicemail messages of politicians, celebrities and other public figures.

This became known in the press as “Phone Hacking.”

Here’s how to guard against this.

When most people listen to their voicemail messages, they do so from their own mobile phone.
You can however, access your voicemail from any other phone.
You dial your mobile number from any other phone.

At this point, you would have either switched your phone off, or let it go to voicemail.

When you get your own answer machine greeting, press *(asterisk) twice.

You’ll then be prompted to enter your pin. By default (and dependent on network), this is usually 1111 or 0000 (or a similar four digit number).

Now you can access your voicemail.

Most people never have a reason to listen to their voicemail from another phone, so wouldn’t even realise they need to change the default PIN.

So, if someone wanted to listen to your messages, all they would have to do is what I have described.
You have been warned…….

Copyright © Mark A. McPherson 2014.
All rights reserved.

I was on a train a few days ago.

A young Asian man with a beard and skull cap got on with a backpack, made his way down the aisle and sat down.
Some of his fellow passengers watched him all the way.

I was standing on this train with my mountain bike, and as such, had a clear view of the length of the carriage.
A few passengers on that train were directing furtive glances his way.

It occurred to me that because of his appearance, some of my fellow travellers had already marked this man out as someone to be viewed with suspicion.

In today’s society, our Government, working in tandem with the media, tell us repeatedly that we should be afraid.

There are threats everywhere; people are plotting to destroy our way of life.
All this propaganda results in the population viewing others with suspicion – whether it’s the current witch-hunt against Muslims, or the population being told that vast groups of immigrants are coming to Britain, taking our jobs, benefits and housing.

Where I live is a relatively quiet area.
When I stroll around, I’m not expecting to be blown to bits, stabbed or robbed.
But look into most newspapers and you’d believe that we live in a war zone.

The so called “War on Terror” is a sham.

A convenient sound bite which enables governments to change the law at will, and in the process taking away more of our civil rights.
This is a “war” that cannot be won.

Our leaders bomb some country that has never actively threatened the UK, and when the dust clears, the people who have been affected by our murderous rampage around the globe might be more willing to exact revenge upon the UK.

And the cycle continues.

We become complacent to the killing carried out in our name as the countries are not anywhere near us, and are usually de-humanized by our media.

We don’t get the see families destroyed when the bombs are dropped, the drones deployed, whole generations wiped out. Our politicians continually lie to us, telling us that this person or that was some high ranking official in whatever group is popular that week.

Ironically both the USA and the UK have in the past bankrolled and assisted a lot of the groups that we are now condemning.
But our Government tends to gloss over that.

The lies continue.

And we continue to believe our government is acting in our best interest.

Trouble is – they are not.

And while we continue to ignore this fact, nothing will change.

Copyright © Mark A. McPherson 2013.
All Rights Reserved.

So there I was, minding my own business, when the typical scam email appeared in my inbox.
Normally I’d delete.
But not this time.

They all follow the same basic pattern: they have money, they want to share, they need my details.
Fair enough. Who am I to pass up millions of free dollars?
Here’s the email:

My response?

Dear Mr Van Der Kaap,
I am extremely intrigued by your offer, though before I reveal any personal details about myself, or the fact that I am the Managing Director of a well-known chain of shops selling the number one erotic toy, I have to ask who else have you told of this remarkable offer, as I find it hard to believe I am the only person you have made this offer to.
As such, revelations to another person would surely reduce my cut?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Seymour Butts.

His response will be posted……

Coming soon…….