Good end to the week.

It seems the week isn't a complete bust electorally as New Zealand voters have kicked out the Labour party in favour of a probable National Party lead coalition.

Unsurprisingly this has been relegated to a minor story on the BBC website where they are still engaged in a collective orgasm over the one.

Cowards and Sleazeballs.

I have no objection with people criticising those they disagree with. I frequently do it myself. I have always believed however in standing behind my comments so that those who I criticise can, should they wish to, take issue with my criticisms and attempt to refute them.

It seems that elements within the McCain campaign do not take the same view. The criticisms of Sarah Palin emanating from former staffers, no doubt trying to make sure that the buck stops somewhere other than themselves, are being made anonymously.

Anonymous smears are a shameful tactic, and demonstrate these people to be cowards and sleazeballs of the worst kind.

Well it's over.

Congratulations to Barack Obama.

I didn't want him to win, I am disappointed that he has won, and I sincerely hope that he goes down to a 1984 scale landslide in 2012. I also however hope that the next 4 years are prosperous and safe for the american people.

Serves him right.

There was a story on the local new the other night (Memphis not Brum) about a chap who had got fed up with his McCain Palin sign being removed so he wired it up to an electric fence. He had also set up a camera, and this had caught a child (carrying obama posters) come up, attempt to pull the sign down, get a shock and beat a retreat.

The little brat's mother claimed that her child knew better and wouldn't have done it, despite the photographic evidence to the contrary.

Two things struck me about this story.

Firstly, the disreputable lengths the left will go to, using children to engage in criminal acts.

Secondly, the chap's neighbours all seemed (much to the reporter's irritation) to be supporting him. It is pretty much a forgone conclusion that in britain he would be being criticised (and most likely prosecuted) for hurting the little bastard.

underwear soilingly funny

made me laugh anyway.

Sleaze journalism.

CNN have a delightful piece on entitled McCain revealed, and they have just trailed a segment about Cindy McCain's prescription drug problem from some years ago.

Voters need to know if there is something in a candidate's past which would disqualify them from office, but Cindy McCain is not running for office. The issue is out in the open, so there is not security risk, and dragging it up now in a blatant attempt to hit McCain's campaign is squalid journalism of the worst kind.

No doubt they will balance it by exclusively revealing that Michelle Obama once returned a library book a couple of days late.

They're afraid of something.

Observing the US election at close hand, it is noticeable that the tightening polls have got the democrats worried about whether Obama canclose the deal.

Far from the sort of humble confidence typically affected by politicians this close to an election, the democrats speaking on many of the news programs are expressing their concern that there will be a bailey effect. One has to wonder whether they are getting their excuses in early.

(For those unfamiliar with the term, the Bailey effect (named after a California Democrat) is where a black candidate performs worse in the election than in the polls. Depending on your way of looking at things, this could be either because everyone is racist and tell the pollsters they will vote for the candidate they agree with, while having no intention of voting for someone who isn't white, or it could be because they don't like the candidate but are afraid to tell pollsters that they will vote for someone else lest it spark accusations of racism.)

US TV

I know that many bemoan the quality of american tv, and indeed it is true that there is much crap to be seen, but we are hardly in a position to comment. Upon returning to my hotel last night I was flipping through the channels and came across the shere unmitigate dross that is Last of the summer wine. It is bad enough that the tv tax is used to supplement these old timers pensions in this way, but to send it off around the world is a great disservice to our nation.

That said, I've just got bake from graceland, so I reckon we're still a few points ahead.

US election

People like me spend a lot of time talking about freedom, and it is something worth talking about. Occasionally however I see something which leaves me at a loss for words.
The following clip shows why we should be praying that our american cousins do the sensible thing this tuesday rather than the fashionable thing.



(hat tip Donal Blaney)

Wonderful Sentiment

I saw a delightful sentiment expressed in someone's signature on a forum today (alas I forget exactly where.)

Leftwing moonbats are like Slinkies. They aren't much good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when they're pushed down the stairs.

Canada stays the course.

Stephen Harper has been re-elected in Canada with an increased presence, although still short of a majority.

With a few results still in doubt, the tories have gained nearly twenty seats, and the ndp about ten, confining the liberals to a few (about 75) bastions in the inner cities and the maritimes.

It seems that with all the uncertainties in the world, the canadians have decided against the greenshift with its inherent tax hikes.

All power to their elbows, and if Harper can avoid offending the quebecers he might get a majority next time.

IRA lose €200,000,000

There's an article in the Irish Times (hat tip Guido) which says the IRA have lost about €200,000,000 (£160,000,000 in proper money.) Which they had invested on Wall Street.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of people.

Welcome to the socialist distopia.

There's a blogpost on the Telegraph website about Derek Simpson (general secretary of Unite) calling on the government to prevent the banks it owns/controls from repossessing houses where the mortgage is in default.

It is easy to dismiss this as something which won't happen, but it is hard to see the unions not making further demands of a similar nature, and as the same post points out, 40% of Labour's second quarter fundraising came from Unite alone. For how long will Brown be able to resist their demands.

I'm just glad that my money is with a bank which isnt taking up Mr Brown's largesse.

Who's paranoid now?

I almost fell off my chair while reading Guido yesterday when I saw a story about the government using anti terror legislation to freeze the accounts of an Icelandic bank. My ghast was further flabbered lasty night when John Denham attempted to defend the move on Question Time by claiming that they didn't know if the bank were going to be acting illegally.

Every time the government wants to pass some piece of draconian terror legislation, invariably pissing all over our liberty, they ridicule those of us who object, claiming that we are paranoid and that it is silly to think the laws would ever be used against anyone other han terrorists.

This is yet another example added to the list of octagenarian protestors, careless rubbisher binners and eager p[arents looking for a good school for their kids, of people with no whiff of terrorist connections being oppressed with this legislation.

The government looks set to let the 42 days drop, and while that is a good start, surely we should be going further. Repeal Repeal Repeal.

Dales loses it.

I have a high regard for Iain Dale. I find his blog to be entertaining and frequently illuminating. Today however he has posted about why he is supporting Barack Obama in the presidential election, and there is a part of it which beggars belief. Towards the end of the post, Dale says:

"I am sure many Conservatives friends of mine will be both surprised and horrified that I could bring myself to support someone who many on the right see as a man of the left. I don't see him that way at all"

Even the briefest of looks at Obama's voting record shows him to be an extreme leftist who not only has the wrong ideas about how to move forward, but has a track record of opposing those who have the right ideas.

I hope that when the dust settles, the real Iain Dale, he of the sensible right, reappears.

Nationalisation by Stealth

The government's plan to Introduce liquidity into the banking system by taking on chunks of shares amounts to little more than nationalisation by stealth.

Having failed to act in suffcient time, and having implemented a system which prevented the allegedly independent bodies from acting in time, the government are now trying to brush their incompetence under the carpet by engaging in a financial services clause 4 despite the overwhelming lessons of history regarding nationalised industries.

Action is undoubtedly needed, but the idea that the taxpayer becoming a major shareholder in some if not all of our remaining banks is surely not what is called for.

Commercialism taking the micturated fluid.

Having suffered a stinking cold over the weekend I was confined to my bed.

It was bad enough that this resulted in my missing a famous victory by The Posh over Leeds United, but matters were made worse by an advert I had the misfortune to see.

A compilation album of various songs only heard recently on Saga FM was being marketed as an ideal gift for "Grandparents Day".

I have no objection in principle to companies taking the piss to wangle a bit more cash from the moronic, provided they do not tell lies to do so, but the idea of grandparents day just struck me as a bit daft.

Why can't the come up with a put upon brothers day or a grumpy single son's day for a change.

Mandelson Returns.

It seems that Peter Mandelson is to return to the cabinet (presumeably as Lord Mandelson), despite having twice resigned in disgrace.

Like the baddie in so many slasher flicks, he seems to keep coming back.

It's nice to see that there is such a premium on integrity in this regime.

Blair goes.

Sir Ian Blair has apparently resigned as Met chief.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Georgia on my mind.

I've just listened to the Georgian Prime Minister outlining how by moving to lower and flatter tax rates they have enjoyed a fourfold increase in revenues and that they are hoping to reduce their footprint from 30% of GDP to 25%.

To much to hope that George Osborne will get the message.

More fringery.

I'm currently in the Tories got talent fringe. This could be fun or it could be excruciating.

La Dale is officiating and judging with Nadine Dorries and Jonathan Isaby.

Update:

This turned out to be a speech making even with each contestant giving a three minute talk on the subject of their choice. The quality was mixed to say the least, but there were some very good contributions.

One contestant gave a very good impression of Harry Enfield's "Tory Boy" (I'm not sure if it was intentional or not) but at least it gave the opportunity for a heckle.

BBC

I've just been to another excellent fringe meeting in the freedom zone about the license fee.



John Whittingdale agreed with the notion that the license fee was living on borrowed time, and the other speaker proposed that due to the beeb being unacceptable for a range of reasons it should be privatised immediately.



It occurred to me that instead of the license fee, why not just make the whole thing pay per view. The van be as commie pinko as they like then, and I won't care because I won't be paying for it.

Conference niggle.

I don't know how many people there are at conference, and to be honest I'm not that bothered.
One persistent irritation however is the fact that there are so few computers available.
There must be thousands of people here, and contrary to popular myth they aren't all blue rinsed nonagenarians who think the twin tub washing machine is the height of technological sophistication. Surely it is not too much to ask that more than five computers be available for public use, as the queues to use them demonstrate that this is inadequate.

I know the ICC has Wi-Fi, but coverage isn't great, and it's a bit of a pain trying to bring a laptop through security.

A basic machine capable of running a web browser and email software costs very little, so why not stick twenty of them in a room somewhere for us to use.

South Africa

A provincial governor in South Africa has resigned in support of Thabo Mbeki, prompting speculation that this could lead to splits in the ANC.
While I have little time for Mbeki, this can only be a good thing. Any move which brings the end of the effective one party state closer is to be welcomed.

US bailout fails.

The bill to institute a massive bailout of Wall Street has failed to pass the house. What I find astonishing however is the way in which the brutish media are buying in to the democrats narrative that it is the Republicans who are to blame. All congressmen must answer to their electorates for how they voted, but to try and blame one party for the bill's failure is silly. When that party is the minority it becomes ridiculous.

People like Toby Harnden in the telegraph should think twice before printing the Barney Frank spin as unchallenged reason.

Libdem name calling.

I am pleased to see that I am not the only person who finds it preposterous for the LibDems to call their spokespeople "shadow ...s"

Tom Harris (one of the more sensible leftie bloggers) has the same issue.

A shadow minister is the person who at that time would become the actual minister in the event of a change of government, and for te forseeable future that does not include any libdems.

I was right.

I try to remain open minded and to give people the benefit of the doubt, and despit my prejudices, I was determined to listen to Richard Dawkins with an open mind.

Positioned as I am to the sceptical side of agnosticism, I should really be a reasonable target for people like Dawkins, but he manages to get up my nose. I think it is the almost sneering sense of superiority he seems to revel in. The way in which he sees people of religious belief as being intellectually beneath him and his misguided (for I shall give him the benefit of the doubt) belief that his position is that of science, when any one with a healthy respect for science would admit that the god (should that be God?) question is unproven.

What really pissed me off however is when he said that it was wrong for religious belief to be respected when the same was not true for political belief.

I have always been firmly of the opinion that both political and religious beliefs should be respected. (Pisstaking of Mike Flower for his heretical papism notwithstanding). Even if we do not agree with a person's beliefs, the world would be a much better place if we at least respected them, indeed one of the most unpleasant things in the modern world is the way in which people seem to feel the need not just to win the argument, but to belittle and destroy those who disagree.

Dawkins however decreed (to a disappointingly large level of agreement from his auience) that religious belief was not worthy of respect, and for that he is a tosser.

More Fringe Fun.

I had great fun at a fringe event in the freedom zone this evening.

 

Former Libdem spin doctor Mark Littlewood effectively proposed the libdems become little more than unelectable intellectual point guards for the Tories, promoting liberal ideals not yet acceptable to the public but nudging opinion towards them, and sir Michael White decried the way in which politicians are continually assumed to be the lowest and most dishonourable forms of life imaginable, uttering what must surely be the heretical statement that George Bush isn't actually stupid.

 

Next stop Richard Dawkins.

Conference time.

I've missed the last two conferences through injury and not being a tory respectively, so with this year's conference being on my doorstep I decided to rejoin and attend.

The events in the main hall are of course the usual dross, with a steady parade of PPCs and wannabe PPCs trotting up to deliver their bromides in the hope that they will get a few moments coverage to give them a boost.

My fringe calender is seemingly at risk of turning into a Donal and Dale tour, so I shall be adding a couple of other events for a bit of balace. Redwood tomorrow should be3 good, and if I think I will be able to resist the urge to call him a twat I might go and watch Richard Dawkins at the Conservative Humanists this evening.

Last night I went to a fringe about the future of Scotland under a Tory government, and overall, I came away thinking that There is a real possibility that played correctly, Scotland could provide the tories with the same opportunities that Quebec gives their Canadian counterparts, although of course Cameron is no Stephen Harper. One thoght which did occur however is that there seems to be limited consistency of principle. David Mundell said last night that the tories would oppose a referendum being held on Scottish independence because they disagree with the idea of scottish independence, yet to the best of my knowledge, tory policy remains that there should be a eferendum on the EU constitution despite the fact that they are opposed to the EU constitution.

This morning there was an Electoral Reform Society discussion about lowering the voting age to 16, and while I remain open to being convinced, they have yet to do so. The chairman, in a strictly impartial fashion honest guv, outlined the arguments at one point, but managed to contradict himself by both extending the "well you can do this that and the other at sixteen" argument while calling unified age of majority issues a red herring.

There was also ainteresting session on freedom and the internet, which basically consisted of a discussion of issues around blogging. Setting aside Guido's rather disturbing orange trousers, it was all good stuff, and I came away feeling rather less disturbed by my half dozen unique hits a week.

Wall Street bailout

Being of a somewhat right wing bent, I am not entirely happy with the idea of government bailouts, but it is not the rightness or wrongness of the bailout which is currently exercising me.

Watching Question Time and This Week last night, it was amazing how many people were criticising the bailout, not on the grounds that it was morally wrong, but because the $700,000,000,000 figure mooted was in their opinion considerably more than the assets in question were worth.

The purpose of the bailout however is surely to provide liquidity to the markets by replacing the toxic packages with cash which the financial institutions can then use (hopefully more sensibly than previously) to get the economy moving again.

It is quite understandable that the avewrage person on the street might not understand this, I am far from expert myself, but one would have hoped that the panellists on both shows would have more of a clue. Perhaps they should put Guido on this week instead of Portillo, it would certainly be more entertaining.

Women against Palin :P

Jo Christie-Smith has a post about Sarah Palin which is indicative of everything which is wrong with the left.

She claims to be uncomfortable with the sexism suffered by Palin, yet because Palin does not subscribe to the holy writ of the sisterhood, Christie-Smith dismisses her as a pseudo feminist and asserts that she is suffering from "false consciousness".

This line of attack gets it the wrong way round however. At risk of being eviscerated by the sisterhood for presuming to offer an opinion, it is women like Sarah Palin, who dare to differ, and who succeed through effort who are a positive, feminist, role model. Women like Christie-Smith who seem to believe that proper women would all toe the same line if they only knew what was good for them (after all, that is the underlying principle of the ridiculous "false consciousness" concept) who should be shunned.

The post also goes into the tired old inexperience shtick, conveniently as always forgetting that Obama has never run anything. For someone who claims to be against the sexism of others' attacks, the line

Or would the fact that she has been pulled in as a vapid symbol, lacking in
experience, knowledge and so lacking in any real comprehension of the
complexities of life that she looks for her answers in religious dogma?

seems inappropriate.

Not just the USA

It seems to have got lost in the excitement of the US presidential election and Gordy's difficulties here, but Canada is holding a federal election at the moment as well.

It is still early days, but the combination of Stephane Dion's charisma (somewhere between Gordon Brown and Michael Meacher) and an impressive election machine look set to return Stephen Harper to Sussex Drive, perhaps with a majority.

DNCer backs McCain

It seems that there is a DNC member about to endorse John McCain.

Obama supporters will no doubt dismiss her as a disgruntled Clintonista and the nutroots will probably try and paint her as some sort of fringe fascist in the same way that they did Zell Miller four years ago, but it is difficult to see how this can be anything other than more bad news for Obama.

Whatever their individual motivations, he now has a member of the DNC and a US senator from his own party openly supporting and campaigning for his opponent.

Every day I get more and more confident that things might work out well this November after all.

Play Fair boys.

There was a piece in the Sun yesterday (I was bored while waiting in chinese takeaway) talking about Brown sufffering death by a thousand cuts, and it stated that the danger for Labour was that they destroyed Brown without actually replacing him. It seems however that this has advanced into reality.

The anti Brown plotters seem incapable of persuading a credible challenger to throw their career down the toilet by actually declaring against him, but the credibility of both Prime Minister and government drop daily.

If it were a boxing match, the referee would have stopped the fight, but the lack of an alternative means that the plotters just keep kicking the corpse. I may loathe and despise the labour party, but this has gone beyond funny and is now just pitiful.

Bouncing along.

The conventions have been and gone, and both candidates have benefitted from whatever bounces they will generate.

The result is that McCain is up 50-46 according to Zogby, 54-44 according to USA Today/Gallup, 48-47 accoding to Rasmussen and tied according to CNN. The RCP acverage has McCain up 47.5 to 45.

Interestingly, the only one of those to poll likely voters as opposed to registered voters is USA Today/Gallup.

Also of note is that the intrade odds have narrowed to 53-47 in Obama's favour having not so long ago been about 3-1.

None of this amounts to a whole lot with a couple of months left to go, but what looked like being a sure thing for the Democrat now looks a whole lot less certain. Indeed, all things remaining equal (which of course they will not) I would go so far as to say it favours McCain.

There will no doubt be lots of predictions to come, so I will stick my neck out and make mine now. McCain wins by 295 electoral votes to 243.

We're doomed. (possibly)

The sun ran a story a few days back about how the experiment to be conducted a CERN next week could result in the creation of a black hole and the destruction of the earth.

It was a surprisingly (by Sun standards at least) non sensationalist article in that it did at least acknowledge that there were some scientists who feel that this is unlikely, but the overall tone was very much one of it being reckless and irresponsible. It also referred to attempts by some other scientists to get the experiment stopped.

I doubt I'm in the majority here, but I find myself firmly in the get on with it ad be damned camp. One of the things which makes human beings such a wonderful and successful species is the sense of curiosity. Be it the urge to see what is over the next hill or across the ocean, or the impulse to see what happens when I mix this with that, this curiosity has lead us to accomplishment and understanding, and it should be encouraged.

And if it all goes wrong, at least it will be over quickly.

Sarah Palin's daughter is pregnant.

There are stories apearing (I saw it in the Telegraph, but it is elsewhere as well.) that Sarah Palin's teenage (but legal) daughter Bristol is pregnant. A statement from the Palin family states that she will be marrying the father.

The fact that the story is being released by the Palins at this point shows that the lesson of 2000 (when the democrats released a story about George Bush having been in trouble for drink driving 72 hours before the election). There will be time for the story to die off before the election.

I think that the attitude of the Palin family is praiseworthy as well. Commenting on the pregnancy, Palin states that the parents will have the support of the family, but will learn the difficulties of yung parenthood. As a governor, Palin is clearly in a position to cushion her daughter from the realities of the situation and from any inconvenience. That she is making her daughter face up to her responsibilities while promising to support her suggest she will not.

No doubt a few religious nuts will wish to criticise Bristol Palin and her boyfriend, but I hope most reasonable people would join me in wishing them a happy future.

Abortion rights and wrongs.

On my morning flick through my favourite blogs I spotted a story on Iain Dale's blog (The Desperation of the Left to Kill Sarah Palin's Candidacy: No 94 ) about a post on Daily Kos purporting to show that Sarah Palin is not in fact the mother of her fifth child, but it's grandmother.

There are various discussions online about veracity of the claim, and I don't intend to go into it here, but while following the arguments I came across a couple of responses which I found quite disturbing. A couple of people said that because Palin did not, upon discovering her child would have downs syndrome, immediately have it aborted she was morally wrong.

I make no bones about being generally anti abortion, but it was not the posters' obviously pro abortion opinions which distressed me as much as the fact that far exceeding the usual mantra of a woman's right to choose, they were seeming to suggest it was both insane (one of the posters referred to needing a "brain implant") and imoral not to abort the child.

I have not children at all, and do not know anybody caring for someone with down's syndrome, but there are many parents out there who readily talk of the issue in positive terms. Any disability will make life more difficult for all concerned, but to suggest that it should lead to the child being automatically exterminated without even having the chance to lve is unforgiveable.

Regardless of whether one agrees with Palin's views on abortion, to criticise her for holding to those beliefs despite the difficulty for herself and her family is a step to far.

McCain Picks Palin

It seems John McCain has stuck to type and taken a risk in his choice of running mate. Instead of a safe picking some middle aged white dude like Romney, he has tapped Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

Having a female running mate will help feed the doubts of any feminists unsure of supporting the man who beat the best chance yet of a woman president (helped even more by Palin's gracious comments about Clinton) and her impeccable conservative credentials will help pacify the base.

Her enthusiasm for challenging the ethically challenged in the Alaska republican party show that she is no pushover and will no doubt hold her own against Biden.

There will no doubt be many more twists and turns over the next two months, but in this McCain done good.

Gary Glitter

Gary Glitter is a vile man who engaged in unspeakable acts. It is entirely right that he be required to register with the authorities, and that they should keep tabs on him.

It is however unreasonable that the gutter press continue to hound and pursue him incessantly. It is unreasonable that he be plastered across newspaper covers and television news bulletins destroying any prospect of a private life.

Glitter has served his sentence, and the best thing he can do now is fade away andlive out the rest of his life in obscurity. The corollary of this is that he must be allowed to do so.

The authorities have a role to play in protecting society from Glitter, the press do not.

McCain's a Nazi so na na na na na.

A video backdrop to Madonna's latest tour features a montage of tyrants, including the likes of Adolf Hitler and Robert Mugabe. It also includes John McCain and Mike Huckabee.

Godwin's law states that as an internet discussion proceeds, the likelihood of one side invoking Hitler/Nazism tends to one, and that unless it is a legitimate comparison that person is deemed to have lost the argument.

Only the most deranged members of the Daily Kos fringe believe that McCain is in any way comparable to Hitler, but the fact that his celebrity friends feel the need to stoop so low shows how little substance there is behind the froth.

Madonna should stick to what she knows best, showing just enough flesh to shift a cd.

C. Difficile on the march.

The government likes to say that it has got MRSA under control, and indeed the number of MRSA related deaths has gone down slightly since last year.

Unfortunately, it seems that clostridium difficile infections are rising rapidly, having doubled in two years.

We go to our hospitals to be healed, but it seems that in the modern health service we run the risk of contracting unpleasant and potentially fatal infections while we are there.

The first principle of medicine must surely be to first do no harm, but the conditions our hospitals have to operate under to meat the governments beloved targets mean that frequently they are doing harm.

Before dictating how many ingrowing toe-nails must be treated each week, the department of health should concentrate on ensuring that those who go in to hospital do not come out more ill than when they started.

Witch cleared.

A court in Switzerland has cleared the last witch executed in Europe, some 200 plus years after the event, and declared her to be a victim of judicial murder.

While I support the right of those wrongfully convicted to appeal their sentences, surely there must be some logical limit. Are we to go through history, retrospectively overturning any sentence for something we now consider absurd? Are we to pay reperations to the descendents of those executed for witchcraft?

Any family members still alive will not be tainted by something now widely seen to be laughable, and 225 years later, there will be nobody still alive who suffered personal loss or hardship as a result of her execution, so why not let sleeping dogs lie instead of raking over the mistakes of history.

Bullshit BingObama

It goes without saying that the BBC's coverage of Obama's convention speech will be positive, so it is redundant waiting for them to start.

In my younger days, one of the few highlights of NUS conference was the "Bullshit Bingo" card produced in a rare moment of utility by the Labour Students. In honour of the beebs NUS style balance and impartiality, I am resurrecting it.

Simply cross of the words below as they are uttered by the enraptured reporter, and if they complete the set, shout bullshit at your tv/radio.

Free speech UCU stylee.

There's a story doing the rounds about the Harry's place blog being dropped by its ISP following a libel complaint from one Jenna Delich. (Apparently the fact that the article in question referred directly to a post made by Ms Delich on the UCU activist list is irrelevant.)

The offending post was one drawing attention to a post by Ms Delich, linking in a positive fashion to a piece on David Duke's site. (For those unfamiliar, David Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the knights of the Ku Klux Klan and general all round tosser.)

Ms Delich followed the link with the comment

"No comment necessary. The facts are speaking for themselves"

which any reasonable person would agree is an endorsement of the article to which she was linking.

Harry's place have thankfully been able to find a more robust ISP, and will hopefully be able to continue operating free from harrasment. It is however a sad indictment of the hard left that when presented with a situation like this, the first instinct is not to appologise for the mistake (If it was such) but to attempt to shut down the site which embarressed them and to maliciously accuse their opponents.

More data incompetence.

It seems that nobody working for the government is capable of basic data protection.

The Court Service have apparently sent confidential and sensitive documents relating to a major prosecution to the recycling centre rather than destroying them. This is another case where the information could jeopardise lives if it got into the wrong hands.

How many more times will this happen before proper measures are put into place and follwed.

Windfall Whackjobs.

A bunch of labour MPs (apparently over 80 of them) are calling on Gordon Brown to impose a windfall tax on energy companies.

Attacking "obscene profits" and other such left wing favourites, they are arguing that the government should retroactively decided to take another bite of the already taxed profits of the energy companies and use the money raised to subsidise those they consider worthy. In typical moonbat fashion however they fail to consider the implications of their proposal.

The money to pay the tax has to come from somewhere, and that is either from increased charges to the customers, eliminating the benefit of the handouts, or from a reduced return to shareholders.

The latter might not seem so bad, until one considers that the biggest shareholders in privatised utilities tend to be pensions funds, and thus any reduction in shareholder returns adds yet another blow to pensions to those they have already suffered over the past ten years.

Son of Hamas leader converts.

The 30 year old son of a leading figure in Hamas has converted to Christianity.

Mosab Hassan Yousef says that a lot of the bad image Palestinians have (He obviously doesn't watch the BBC or read the Guardian) is due to the misdeeds of their leaders and he hopes that his coversion might lead his former coreligionists to revise their positions regarding torture, mutiation and the destruction of alternative civilisations.

No doubt we will see the usual suspects coming forward to denounce him for speaking out, and there will quite possibly be protests and maybe even attempts on his life. We should however praise him. To stand up for ones beliefs, especially when to do so imposes exile and the risk of murder, is admirable and we can only hope that his actions prompt some people to think.

The taliban are human too.

Lyse Doucet, a reporter for (shock horror) the BBC, reckons that the media are failing to report the humanity of the Taliban.

Apparently we should all be admiring the diversity and humanity of an organisation who killed people (yes, women are people) for uncovering their faces or trying to get an education and who banned television.

I have no objection to people holding, or indeed spouting crackpot views, but I do object to them being paid by my taxes to do so.

Just who calls the shots?

The Telegraph are reporting that there will be a reshuffle after the Labour conference, but that it will be fairly small, with the Blairite pretenders to the top job keeping their positions.

Apparently the Brown loyalists wanted Miliband and Purnell moving, but they said they wouldn't accept other jobs, and the feartie from Fife lacks the bottle to call their bluff.

A Prime Minister who cannot enforce their own choices as to who holds the great offices of state is seriously lacking in authority, and it provides yet more evidence that Mr Brown may remain in office but seems not to be in power.

Cashing in.

In her new book, Carol Thatcher describes her mother's decline into dementia.

While one can but sympathise with someone having to deal with the decline of a parent in this way, it seems unconscionably tacky to go public in what can only be seen as an attempt to increase sales.

This is in stark contrast with the way the Reagan's handled the announcement that he was suffering from alzheimers with a dignified and touching public letter.

Miss Thatcher would have served her mother better either by arranging for a simple statement to be made outlining the facts, or by leaving the matter in private until after her death.

Biden it is.

So Barak Obama has confirmed the speculation and announced Joe Biden as his running mate.

Donal and Guido seem a little jubilant, and Iain Dale is certainly a bit dismissive, but I don't think this is as bad a move from Obama as the concensus on the right would suggest.

Biden's long service in the senate gives the inexperienced Obama the chance to say that he will have people around him who know the system, but he can maintain his change theme by reminding people that he is top of the ticket.

Obama's biggest weakness isn't that he is inexperienced and beholden to the moonbats, the media are doing a fine job of concealing and where it cannont be hidden mitigating that. Obama's problem is that every time he opens his mouth he seems completely detached from the culture of the american heartland. Talking about buying arugula from organic healthfood shops is spot on for San Fransisco, less so for Peoria. The comments about blue collar america clinging to god and guns is not the way to win their votes. Biden can be a windbag, and he has a history of saying unfortunate things (not least plagiarising neil Kinnock). He is however very good at presenting a blokey, average Joe, persona. This was a key part in Bush winning his elections, and for all his faults, Biden will be an asset to the ticket.

Is the government taking the piss?

The first time the government loses some data you might wish to criticise them but it is, if not acceptable, at least understandable. The second and third times it is neither acceptable nor understandable nor forgiveable as they should be on their guard. The amount of times it has happened over the past year or so however leaves one to ask whether we (generally speaking, I don't think I'm in any danger of being in the latest batch) are the victims of some dreadful prank where whereby the departments have to find ever more ridiculous ways to lose our data.

Rest easy though, the company being blamed for the latest fiasco are a major contractor on the identity card/database project.

I very nearly wet myself.

I appologise for having been a bit USA focussed recently, but I just saw this advert and very nearly wet myself laughing.

Youtube clip

Republican Opportunities.

I blogged a couple of days ago about the fact that John McCain is currently in a better position than George Bush enjoyed in 2004, but while things continue to move his way (The RCP "No Toss Up" prediction now has McCain leading 274-264, and the intrade figures have slipped a little more towards him), most would agree that Obama remains the favourite.

This however represents an opportunity. In 2004 the Republicans were able to concentrate on mobilising the base, and make a case based on the inadequacy of Kerry. Barring major unforseen events, that will not suffice this time. They are going to have to present solid reasons why they should win.

These reasons exist, but the necessity of frameing them means that should McCain win, he will have a roadmap already in place. Having ambled across the line in both his elections, as much on the basis of who he wasn't as who he was, Bush was a much vaguer proposition. This difference could also benefit Republicans in congressional races both this year, and in 2010.

Republicans at all levels face a hard fight this year, but they may emerge the better for it.

Update:
A new poll has McCain 5% ahead as they head to the conventions

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

40 years ago yesterday, Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces invaded Czechoslovakia because they were unhappy about the liberalisation policies of the "Prague Spring". Today, Russian forces continue to occupy Georgia, and the Russian government have rejected a French resolution at the UN on the grounds that it called for their removal.

In both cases, the Soviet/Russian government have taken the internal policies of a tiny neighbour, in no position to threaten them, to be inimicable to their interests and invaded to impose their will by force.

In 1968 as in 2008 there was criticism, although notable silence from the left (Has anyone heard from Tony Benn or George Galloway on this). It would be over twenty years however before Eastern Europe enjoyed freedom.

The agreement between Poland and the USA over the missile defence system, which was undoubtedly accelerated by the Georgia crisis, is a welcome step, and there are mutterings about accelerating the admission of the Ukraine and Georgia into NATO. It is to be hoped that this happens.

While it is not always possible to directly and militarily confront an aggressor such as Russia, the lesson of the cold war is that we must always stand firm. The people of the countries under threat had to wait decades to enjoy their freedom, and we must do everything we can to ensure that they don't lose it.

What's going wrong?

Growing up in the UK I have got used to the glorious failure school of sporting endeavour.

We turn up, give it a good try and lose. By rights Chris Hoy should set off at blinding pace, and give a moving interview to the beeb about how disappointing it was when his wheel came off on the final lap. The rowers should sink, and Rebecca Adlington would have got cramp.

Somewhere along the way we seem to have started winning things though, and this is thoroughly un-British.

Then I read todays papers and all became clear. It's all John Major's fault for setting up the lottery. Whoever thought he would still be to blame all these years on.

It just goes to show, traditions aren't always good.

Obama behind Kerry.

National Review have a fun post which will send shivers down the spines of the left (those who have spines anyway.)

It gives links to the electoral-vote.com website contrasting their current prediction with the one from the same point four years ago.

Four years ago they had Kerry up 317 to 202, today they have Obama up 273 to 250.

I am not saying that this means McCain is going to win and do so by a bigger margin than Bush, but when taken in conjunction with the Real Clear Politics average which shows Obama ahead by 275 to 263 (RCP have Obama up by only 0.5% in Indiana and 2.3% in Minnesota, either of which would put McCain ahead), it suggests that the race remains a toss-up. It is worth noting that Intrade has Obama leading McCain by about 3-2. Not long ago it was nearer to 3-1.

Events between now and November will no doubt determine the election, and those could cut either way, but the events at the moment are good for McCain. Barring something extreme happening, this looks set to be a squeaker.

Cameron steps up.

It would be something of an understatement to say that I have not been David Cameron's biggest fan. I have often found him to be a bit frothy and am sufficiently ideological that I do not consider poll ratings to be sufficient to justify anything.

The past few days however have seen Mr Cameron come into his own. At a time when the British government have dithered over what should be an easy call, Cameron has acted decisively and unequivocally. In flying to Georgia and stating his support for them so categorically, he has planted the Tory Party firmly on the right side of the argument.

The contrast between Cameron going to the scene and Brown and Miliband's dithering and mealy mouthed response is striking. Keep it up "Dave", you might not be so bad after all.

Poland now Russian nuclear target.

A Russian General has announced that Poland is now a nuclear target.

The general has said that by agreeing to host elements of the US missile defence system, Poland is making itself a target, and that Russian rules of engagement permit the use of nuclear weapons.

It has been clear for quite some time that Putin and his puppet in the presidency are intent on trying to revive the glories of the USSR, and having met with success in Georgia, they are throwing their weight about a bit more.

The cold war was won, and the USSR brought down when Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan stood up to the Kremlin, and it is to be hoped that this lesson is remembered by their successors.

Wrong City

Birmingham City Council have admitted that they spent £15,000 sending out self congratulatory pamphlets bearing an image of Birmingham Alabama rather than our own fair(ish) city.

Setting aside the pratt factor of getting the wrong city, it begs the question "why are they wasteing the money on that."

No doubt the council are proud, and not unreasonably so, to have achieved their recycling targets early, but that could have been communicated on their website, and through the local press without it costing the hard pressed taxpayers of Brum.

£15,000 is not a lot when compared to the total budget, but it sets the wrong example. Sort it out Whitby.

Elf n' Safety strikes again.

Council officials in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, have decreed that after 150 years, the town clock must be replaced with an electric version because it is too dangerous to replace it.

This seems more than a little dubious. There are no handrails, and apparently there is no space in the clock tower to enable sufficient safety devices to be installed, but this seems daft. there is no reason that anchor points for ropes could not be affixed to the walls of the tower to prevent the winder falling, and if it were felt necessary, the person could wear protective head gear.

Yet again, the obsession with avoiding any element of risk is taking priority over sense and respect for our heritage.

Honour our heroes, you must be joking.

Donal Blaney has a post about the shameful treatment of a serviceman returning from active duty in Iraq.

This story, along with others such as the abuse of RAF personnel in Peterborough, shows the disgraceful way in which some morons treat the very people who put their lives on the line to protect us.

Cross Country trains should be ashamed, and I shall take great pleasure in telling them exactly why I shall be boycotting their services in the future.

It never rains...

It shows quite how bad things are getting when even The Sun's sport pages are laying into the Prime Minister.

In their preview of the Premier League they have allocated each club a "Celeb they would be" and given a brief description of why. Most of them are the sort of lightweight fluff (Lindsay Lohan, Keira Knightly et c.) that one would expect from The Sun. Stoke City however have be given Gordon Brown, and the reasoning seems quite good.

Stoke - Celeb they would be- Gordon Brown.

Everyone knows them now - but in 12 months time they'll be gone and probably forgotten. Well out of his depth in the premiership.

(The switch between 'they' and 'his' was The Sun's)

A bit harsh on Stoke if you ask me.

Reasonable Chastisement.

I've just been listening to the Jeremy Vine show on radio 2 (mercifully Vine is absent) and one of the stories they have been discussing is that of a child smacking case.

A thirteen year old girl was banging on the neighbours windows in the night, so her father not unreasonably smacked her. Rather than accept her punishment and ponder on why people might not want their windows banging on at night, the revolting little brat phoned the police.

As a result, her father was carted off to the police station, DNA registered and after being questioned, released with a caution.

It is bad enough that this child's first instinct was to involve the police, but what makes it worse is the overreaction by the police themselves. It is quite wrong if a parent beats up a child, but in this case, as both the parent and the child admitted, the punishment consisted of a single slap. The police should have the sense to exercise reasonable judgement. This man is now on the DNA database and has a caution on his record for the horrendous crime of being a good parent.

One of the gravest problems society faces is the growing number of children who seemingly acknowledge no authority, and parents exercising no control over their children. The police actions in this situation have made it that much harder for those parents who do try to control their children.

Golden Attitude.

Michael Phelps won yet another gold medal this morning equalling the record for the most gold medals won, and he is likely to win more.

His talent is indisputable, but it is refreshing to see that he seems o have the personality to match. In his frequent interviews he comes across as both a pleasant individual, and as a gracious competitor.

It's a shame that British loser Blake Aldridge can't follow the example. His petulant outburst a disgrace suggesting that he needs to read his Kipling.

Playing games with Colombia

There's an interesting piece on NRO about the US Colombia Free Trade Agreement (Colombian Crossroads)

In it, a Republican congressman argues that in not holding a vote on the agreement, the Democrat controlled congress is failing not only their own constituents, but also Colombia, one of the USA's most reliable allies in a region where there are few.

There are many arguments in favour of free trade, but the Democrats in congress are not inclined to make them, prefering to pander to their hard left base and the fears of blue collar voters in the mid west.

Most Colombian goods already enter the USA relatively freely, so the cost to the US is relatively limited, in return for which they open up Colombian markets to their own goods and give political help to a friend. They can rest assured that if they fail to give President Uribe this boost, the thug in Caracas will use it to make mischief.

John Edwards

John Edwards (former and at one point possible future vice-presidential nominee) has admitted to having an affair with a woman of questionable history. (to quote the Telegraph "Earlier this week, the novelist Jay McInerney, a former boyfriend, claimed that Miss Hunter was the inspiration for Alison Poole, the 'cocaine-addled, sexually voracious' lead character in his book Story of My Life, published in 1988")

In response to the story, Edwards' wife Elizabeth says

"I am proud of the courage John showed by his honesty in the face of shame."

.

Surely courage would have been to make the story public (and not by burying it in the news that his wife's cancer was back either) before the press got hold of it. Instead, Edwards denied it for nine months, and admitted it only because the National Enquirer got hold of some incriminating photos.

.

Edwards is to take a paternity test, but this is essentially froth. Having lied to the public for so long, Edwards must surely have now proven himself unsuitable for high office

Update:

It seems the mother has ruled out a paternity test.

Back to the future?

The Telegraph has a piece today (Brown and Darling revert to type) about the gloomy economic outlook leading Brown and Darling to retreat to their inner beliefs.

Unfortunately for us, these are the very beliefs which the Tory party had to fight so hard to discredit in the Thatcher years.

Putting right the effects of 40 odd years of Keynesian consensus was a long, painful and divisive process. Thatcher had the necessary iron character to do so, it remains to be seen whether the same can be said of Cameron.

Russian Troubles.

The ongoing Russian invasion of Georgia poses problems for the west.

The Georgiian president, Saakashvili, is an ally in a region where Russia is increasingly flexing its muscles, and he is the elected leader of a free country.

Set against this is the fact that the people of South Ossetia have voted in favour of independence, although we don't know how freely that referendum was conducted.

The idea of western military intervention is frightening, but it is difficult to see any other way to prevent the Georgians being completely overwhelmed. It is imperative that the utmost diplomatic pressure be brought to bear, but I fear that yet again the United Nations will prove to be utterly ineffective.

Random Cowardice.

Random House have announced that they will not be publishing "The Jewel of Medina" for fear that it might lead to violence.

The book tells the story of A'isha from her betrothal to Mohammed at the age of six until his death.

This decision amounts to a pre-emptive surrender to the thugs who try to restrict free speech.

The author of the book, Sherry Jones, is quoted as saying "I have deliberately and consciously written respectfully about Islam and Mohammed", yet it is inevitable that some of the extremists would have sought to stir up hatred and violence against it. Instead of surrendering to this however we should stand up to it. Every time these people succeed in shutting down free speech they will be emboldened in trying again.

One day, we may regret that we did not stand up for freedom of speech when we had the chance.

Galloway spouts.

I was unable to watch the Olympic opening ceremony as even NHS admin staff have to do some work, but I was listening to Radio 2 which had some coverage.

Some bright spark decided that it would be a good idea to have George Galloway on offering his opinions and suffice to say he remained true to form.

According to Galloway, the UK will be unable to provide a similar level of spectacle because we aren't centralised and regimented enough. I guess it will be of great comfort to all those (and their families) who have lost their lives and liberties to the oppressive regime.

Who needs freedom of speech or conscience when you can put on a snazzy shindig for for world media.

Getting it wrong.

Like a lot of people, I thought that the Libdems got it right in their last leadership election. At the time it seemed that Nick Clegg, a seemingly decent chap, eloquent and personable, would be a significant step forward from the uninspiring Sir Menzies Campbell.

Clegg was towards the right of his party, and would be able, or so we thought, to hold the line against the Tories, while taking advantage of disaffection with the Labour government, holding on in the south and pressing in to the northern cities.

Reality has of course proven us to be utterly wrong. The Libdem standing in the polls has receded even further, and is now some 6% lower than it was in 2005. They face a wipeout in the south (perhaps the one scrap of comfort for Clegg in this is that his biggest leadership rival, Chris Huhne, is almost certain to lose his seat), and their prospects in the northern cities are based on the collapse of the Labour party.

It seems that the Libdems themselves recognise the shortcomings of their leader. In a poll on LibDem Voice (LDV survey) Clegg has come in fourth most impressive. This would not be a problem if he were surrounded by a sea of talented people, but given the mediocrity of his team must be a cause for concern. (Vince Cable is the only person to get a rating above 7, and this remember is a survey of LibDem members.)

Nick Clegg has clearly failed to sieze the opportunity, and it the window has probably now closed. The vast weight of speculation is quite rightly on Gordon Brown's future, but it is worth considering that there is just as strong a case for a new LibDem leader.

Either way, it goes to show that the received wisdom is often wrong.

Treatment Choices

The decision by NICE that the cancer drugs bevacizumab, sorafenib, sunitinib and temsirolimus do not offer value for money (BBC story) has attracted a lot of coverage today, and the usual collection of critics have surfaced to attack the decision.

There have been lots of people saying that all treatments should be available, free of charge (presumeably they would allow the prescription charge regime to apply) to everyone, regardless of cost. This is of course utterly impractical.

Every day new treatmets are discovered, but these discoveries are the result of long and costly research. The drug companies need to recover the costs of this, so the treatments are necessarily costly. Whoever said that an AIDS pill may only cost cents but the first one cost billions was on the mark.

There is only a finite amount of money available, and healthcare is not the only responsibility of government, so we are left with a dose of reality. If the NHS makes all treatments available to all patients, regardless of cost, then we would end up in a situation where you would be fine if you fell ill in April or May, but would otherwise have to wait until there was more money available to treat you.

This issue, and it is by no means the first time it has arisen, demonstrates why it is in practice impossible to have universal healthcare, free at the point of access, from cradle to grave. Healthcare provision will always be a matter of balancing cost with provided coverage. If this lesson were learned, we could perhaps move to a more liberal system whereby the state concerned itself with only the most basic matters and with emergency provision, allowing people to keep a little more of their hard earned money, with which to decide what level of provision they wished to take out to supplement this.

Give the Dark Knight a chance.

The BBFC have come in for a lot of stick recently for the 12A certificate given to the new Batman film. The general thrust of the criticism, from former tory leader Iain Duncan Smith among others, seems to be that the film exposes children to excessive and depraved levels of violence that might not have been anticipated by parents. This criticism misses two key points.

Firstly, the age of criminal responsibility is ten years old. The law holds that a person of ten years old is sufficiently mature to know that the acts depicted are unacceptable and illegal should they be considering committing them themselves, but the critics are then suggesting that a person two years older is not capable of making the same judgement when seeing them performed on a screen.

Secondly, the criticism is predicated on the notion that parents have no role or responsibility in the process. The certificate allows younger children to attend if accompanied, but there must surely be an obligation on the part of the accompanying adult to ensure that the film is suitable, and on the part of the parents to ensure that the accompanying adult, should it be someone other than themselves, is fit to exerc ise that judgement. All films are subject to a plethora of reviews, and it would require minimal effort for the parents to establish the nature of the film before granting or refusing permission to watch the film.

Unfortunately, Mr Duncan Smith and his fellow critics have fallen for the siren song of Nanny and the theory that she knows best.

French involvement in Rwandan Massacre?

The beeb is reporting that the Rwandan Justice Ministry has released a report accusing the French government of complicity in the 1994 genocide. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7542418.stm

All nations have questionable moments in their history, but the recent nature of this gives great cause for concern. The French foreign ministry are quite reasonably witholding comment until they study the report, but this provides a fine example of why our governments should be wary of international grandstanding and holier than thou pontificating of the type favoured by the Chirac administration at the UN.

Cabinet Excursions.

The news outlets are reporting that the next Cabinet meeting will take place outside London, most likely in the West Midlands.

The theory goes that by holding the meetings outside the Westminster bubble the government will become closer to the people and more responsive to our needs. In reality it is a political stunt. The current prediction on the Electoral Calculus website has Labour to lose seats in Birmingham, Coventry and Dudley, and a few local news stories would no doubt be appreciated by their beleaguered local candidates.

I am all for politicians being held to account by voters, but barring the unlikely event of the meetings being open to the public, what practical difference does it make whether the meeting is held in an office in London or one in Birmingham. Unless Jack Straw has developed the ability to suck in the opinions of passing locals by some osmotic process, there is no gain.

Ministers and officials will however have to travel down from London, wasting both time and taxpayer's money (and what's the betting they don't come on the megabus) which could be better spent trying to sort out the mess they've made of the country. There is also the question of where the meeting would be held, and at what expense.

If Gordon Brown wishes to try and limit the damage at the next election, he should renounce pointless stunts and concentrate on running the country. Perhaps then he would be held in less contempt.

Something New.

This is my first post on my first Blog.

If you found your way here then you have my gratitude and my sincerest hope that you bear with me as I try to find my voice.

I am not arrogant enough to hope to match the quantity or depth or the more established bloggers, but I hope to post on a daily basis on whatever is exercising me that day.

I hope that what I have to say is of interest or amusement to you.

Pete