Oozing out...

(New) Labour are oozing out of power, like a handful of mud, slime or shit - or all three - that oozes through your fingers as it is squeezed (if you do that sort of thing please wear rubber gloves). First the cynical budget that will lead to [at least] "Two parliaments of pain" (Robert Chote, IFS) last week and second, Gordon Brown "was last night forced into a humiliating retreat over MP's expenses to avoid defeat in the Commons."

"Ministers are now frantically seeking a compromise deal after accepting that the proposed flat-rate allowance for attending parliament, announced with great fanfare five days ago in a ground-breaking YouTube video, would be rejected in a vote."

They have no idea, they are thrashing about in their - hopefully very painful - death throes but at the same time they are NOT doing what is best for the country. And now I'm doing what I keep telling others not to do: to be complacent. It's not over until it's over...so let's just get it over with, quickly! Brown has no mandate, no authority, no ideas, no logic, no common sense, no right to run the country down. Please go. Follow that link to sign the petition: "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to resign".

Oozing out...

(New) Labour are oozing out of power, like a handful of mud, slime or shit - or all three - that oozes through your fingers as it is squeezed (if you do that sort of thing please wear rubber gloves). First the cynical budget that will lead to [at least] "Two parliaments of pain" (Robert Chote, IFS) last week and second, Gordon Brown "was last night forced into a humiliating retreat over MP's expenses to avoid defeat in the Commons."

"Ministers are now frantically seeking a compromise deal after accepting that the proposed flat-rate allowance for attending parliament, announced with great fanfare five days ago in a ground-breaking YouTube video, would be rejected in a vote."

They have no idea, they are thrashing about in their - hopefully very painful - death throes but at the same time they are NOT doing what is best for the country. And now I'm doing what I keep telling others not to do: to be complacent. It's not over until it's over...so let's just get it over with, quickly! Brown has no mandate, no authority, no ideas, no logic, no common sense, no right to run the country down. Please go. Follow that link to sign the petition: "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to resign".

Osburh's offspring...

Today, the Feast of St. George, is the National Day of England: the English people are a nation and ethnic group native to England who speak English. Their country has had a significant historical, cultural and legal impact on the whole world.


23rd April was also the date of the beginning of the reign of Alfred the Great - clearly one of the best kings ever and the only English monarch to be nicknamed "The Great" but it was his grandson Athlestan the Glorious who became the first King of England i.e. bringing the whole of England under one ruler for the first time.

That's not all: "April 23rd, the happy conjunction of St George’s Day and Shakespeare’s birthday should be a love feast for England to which all are invited." [Telegraph]

Osburh's offspring...

Today, the Feast of St. George, is the National Day of England: the English people are a nation and ethnic group native to England who speak English. Their country has had a significant historical, cultural and legal impact on the whole world.


23rd April was also the date of the beginning of the reign of Alfred the Great - clearly one of the best kings ever and the only English monarch to be nicknamed "The Great" but it was his grandson Athlestan the Glorious who became the first King of England i.e. bringing the whole of England under one ruler for the first time.

That's not all: "April 23rd, the happy conjunction of St George’s Day and Shakespeare’s birthday should be a love feast for England to which all are invited." [Telegraph]

Open opus...

Well, as an update to my Omnifarious Obama post, after Chavez presented Obama with Eduardo Galeano's book 'Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent' it has sold over 50,000 copies [BBC] and is still flying off the shelves. Verison in Spanish in PDF format HERE courtesy of Marxismo Org (hehehe) Needless to say it is uncomfortable for the Spanish (naturally) the English (via Portugal: "CONTRIBUCIÓN del oro de Brasil al Progreso de Inglaterra"...and later the British!) and the Americans. The first part of the book is entitled " La Pobreza del Hombre como resultado de la riqueza de la Tierra" Translated: "The poverty of Man due to the Wealth of the Earth" (or perhaps more literally "...due to the riches in the ground!)

"Rather than chronology, geography, or political successions, Eduardo Galeano has organized the various facets of Latin American history according to the patterns of five centuries of exploitation. Thus he is concerned with gold and silver, cacao and cotton, rubber and coffee, fruit, hides and wool, petroleum, iron, nickel, manganese, copper, aluminum ore, nitrates, and tin. These are the veins which he traces through the body of the entire continent..." Monthly Review Press

Open opus...

Well, as an update to my Omnifarious Obama post, after Chavez presented Obama with Eduardo Galeano's book 'Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent' it has sold over 50,000 copies [BBC] and is still flying off the shelves. Verison in Spanish in PDF format HERE courtesy of Marxismo Org (hehehe) Needless to say it is uncomfortable for the Spanish (naturally) the English (via Portugal: "CONTRIBUCIÓN del oro de Brasil al Progreso de Inglaterra"...and later the British!) and the Americans. The first part of the book is entitled " La Pobreza del Hombre como resultado de la riqueza de la Tierra" Translated: "The poverty of Man due to the Wealth of the Earth" (or perhaps more literally "...due to the riches in the ground!)

"Rather than chronology, geography, or political successions, Eduardo Galeano has organized the various facets of Latin American history according to the patterns of five centuries of exploitation. Thus he is concerned with gold and silver, cacao and cotton, rubber and coffee, fruit, hides and wool, petroleum, iron, nickel, manganese, copper, aluminum ore, nitrates, and tin. These are the veins which he traces through the body of the entire continent..." Monthly Review Press

Chelsea have beaten Arsenal in an FA Cup tie for the first time since 20th January 1947, bollocks (by which I mean that I'm pissed off, not that the statistic is wrong). Maybe Wenger was saving players, after all Adebayor did five minutes work, AGAIN. Anyway, "Drogba kept his head when Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianski lost his six minutes from time" [The Independent]

Still after the Champions league QF last Wednesday against Villareal and today's Arsenal v Chelsea SF, let's look at what's coming...

--Tuesday, 21 April 2009, Barclays Premier League: Liverpool v Arsenal
--Wednesday, 29 April 2009, UEFA Champions League: Man Utd v Arsenal SF, L1
--Tuesday, 05 May 2009, UEFA Champions League: Arsenal v Man Utd SF, L2
--Sunday, 10 May 2009, Barclays Premier League:Arsenal v Chelsea
--Saturday, 16 May 2009, Barclays Premier League: Man Utd v Arsenal

And in between that lot we have Middlesbrough, Portsmouth and Stoke to play too.

Chelsea have beaten Arsenal in an FA Cup tie for the first time since 20th January 1947, bollocks (by which I mean that I'm pissed off, not that the statistic is wrong). Maybe Wenger was saving players, after all Adebayor did five minutes work, AGAIN. Anyway, "Drogba kept his head when Arsenal keeper Lukasz Fabianski lost his six minutes from time" [The Independent]

Still after the Champions league QF last Wednesday against Villareal and today's Arsenal v Chelsea SF, let's look at what's coming...

--Tuesday, 21 April 2009, Barclays Premier League: Liverpool v Arsenal
--Wednesday, 29 April 2009, UEFA Champions League: Man Utd v Arsenal SF, L1
--Tuesday, 05 May 2009, UEFA Champions League: Arsenal v Man Utd SF, L2
--Sunday, 10 May 2009, Barclays Premier League:Arsenal v Chelsea
--Saturday, 16 May 2009, Barclays Premier League: Man Utd v Arsenal

And in between that lot we have Middlesbrough, Portsmouth and Stoke to play too.

Omnifarious Obama...

President Barack Obama meets Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez again, this time he appears to be saying 'what is this, is he blowing me a kiss?' Click on the first picture to see another image of how many see Obama's moves. In the second photo - note the finger - it's more of a 'What the f... is this?' [AFP Link] They were meeting at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago and although the meeting seemed friendly enough Chavez set the tone when he gave the U.S. President the book "Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina": The Open Veins of Latin America (1971) by Eduardo Galeano. This is the Uruguayan author's best known book and analyzes the (nudge nudge) "brutal exploitation of Latin American resources by the U.S. and European powers. That book, now a classic, was published at the beginning of an especially turbulent period of Latin American history." "By multiplying seldom heard voices, Galeano refutes the official lies that pass for history—his work represents an eloquent, literary incarnation of social justice." [From Scott Witmer's intervew with Galeano: Writer Without Borders.]

Only yesterday Chavez was hosting The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) a leftie fest that was held intentionally to coincide with the two-day Summit of the Americas. They decided the Summit's draft final statement was "insufficient and unacceptable", especially as Cuba was (still) excluded despite Obama wanting to establish "a new beginning" with them. The ALBA statement read, "We contend there's no consensus for adopting that draft statement and we propose an exhaustive debate". In keeping with his normal hyperbole Chavez also said that the first order of discussion in the debate should be how...

"capitalism is bringing about the end of humanity and the planet."

[AFP on Google News][Agency Photos]

Update: a new bestseller is an Open Opus...

Omnifarious Obama...

President Barack Obama meets Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez again, this time he appears to be saying 'what is this, is he blowing me a kiss?' Click on the first picture to see another image of how many see Obama's moves. In the second photo - note the finger - it's more of a 'What the f... is this?' [AFP Link] They were meeting at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago and although the meeting seemed friendly enough Chavez set the tone when he gave the U.S. President the book "Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina": The Open Veins of Latin America (1971) by Eduardo Galeano. This is the Uruguayan author's best known book and analyzes the (nudge nudge) "brutal exploitation of Latin American resources by the U.S. and European powers. That book, now a classic, was published at the beginning of an especially turbulent period of Latin American history." "By multiplying seldom heard voices, Galeano refutes the official lies that pass for history—his work represents an eloquent, literary incarnation of social justice." [From Scott Witmer's intervew with Galeano: Writer Without Borders.]

Only yesterday Chavez was hosting The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) a leftie fest that was held intentionally to coincide with the two-day Summit of the Americas. They decided the Summit's draft final statement was "insufficient and unacceptable", especially as Cuba was (still) excluded despite Obama wanting to establish "a new beginning" with them. The ALBA statement read, "We contend there's no consensus for adopting that draft statement and we propose an exhaustive debate". In keeping with his normal hyperbole Chavez also said that the first order of discussion in the debate should be how...

"capitalism is bringing about the end of humanity and the planet."

[AFP on Google News][Agency Photos]

Update: a new bestseller is an Open Opus...

Odd occurances (11)...

As if the Labour Party didn't have enough problems: Labour ballot box 'tampered with' [BBC] The by-elecion, in South East London (Erith and Thamesmead) is taking place because the current MP John Austin is retiring (Great timing John) Before this tampering episode he himself had already lodged one formal complaint with the party's general secretary because campaigners had been overly enthusiastic in encouraging local members to sign up for postal votes...you can imgine this replicated over the whole UK, a dodgy super-high postal vote is becoming about the only way the corrupted à la banana republic, sleaze-ridden Labour Party could have a success in the next General Election. Interestingly in this super-safe (one presumes!) Labour seat - majority or ten thousand or more - the candidates "include Georgia Gould, the 22-year-old daughter of Lord Gould, a key aide to Tony Blair during his time as prime minister." Perhaps another look needs to be taken at the 'shock' Labour hold of Glenrothes where...

"...some areas where the votes were being counted and collated were obscured from view. ...[The Electoral Commission] also voiced concern over aspects of the arrangements for postal voting."

And there's more: (Yorkshire Post) "One of Yorkshire's best known Labour members has launched a ferocious attack on the party and Gordon Brown"... "Alice Mahon, a Halifax MP for 18 years and a party member for more than 50 years, has resigned her membership of the party saying she can no longer stomach how it operates". h/t Guido.

Update 7pm (BST) In Message 230 on Guidos' blogpost Susan Stevens says - regarding another reason for Alice Mahon's resigning her party membership - "the method of selection of the Calder Valley Labour candidate last week. This is Cherie Blair’s step-mum, Steph Booth, who won with a majority from a large number of postal votes against another woman who had a majority of those present at the meeting." My emphasis.

The pattern is clear...any investigative journalists up to it?

Update 9pm (BST) Well it shouldn't be difficult to find something: The Halifax Courier says: "She was chosen in favour of the Mayor of Hebden Royd, Sue Press, at a packed meeting of Party members in Mytholmroyd Bowling Club last night." Clearly giving the impression that the packed meeting voted for Booth, except that they didn't: the Yorkshire Post tells us that Mrs Booth won by an almost 2-1 majority, 95-52 but of the 95 cast for Booth 73 were postal votes and for Susan Press only 17 were postal votes. h/t John BM

Odd occurances (11)...

As if the Labour Party didn't have enough problems: Labour ballot box 'tampered with' [BBC] The by-elecion, in South East London (Erith and Thamesmead) is taking place because the current MP John Austin is retiring (Great timing John) Before this tampering episode he himself had already lodged one formal complaint with the party's general secretary because campaigners had been overly enthusiastic in encouraging local members to sign up for postal votes...you can imgine this replicated over the whole UK, a dodgy super-high postal vote is becoming about the only way the corrupted à la banana republic, sleaze-ridden Labour Party could have a success in the next General Election. Interestingly in this super-safe (one presumes!) Labour seat - majority or ten thousand or more - the candidates "include Georgia Gould, the 22-year-old daughter of Lord Gould, a key aide to Tony Blair during his time as prime minister." Perhaps another look needs to be taken at the 'shock' Labour hold of Glenrothes where...

"...some areas where the votes were being counted and collated were obscured from view. ...[The Electoral Commission] also voiced concern over aspects of the arrangements for postal voting."

And there's more: (Yorkshire Post) "One of Yorkshire's best known Labour members has launched a ferocious attack on the party and Gordon Brown"... "Alice Mahon, a Halifax MP for 18 years and a party member for more than 50 years, has resigned her membership of the party saying she can no longer stomach how it operates". h/t Guido.

Update 7pm (BST) In Message 230 on Guidos' blogpost Susan Stevens says - regarding another reason for Alice Mahon's resigning her party membership - "the method of selection of the Calder Valley Labour candidate last week. This is Cherie Blair’s step-mum, Steph Booth, who won with a majority from a large number of postal votes against another woman who had a majority of those present at the meeting." My emphasis.

The pattern is clear...any investigative journalists up to it?

Update 9pm (BST) Well it shouldn't be difficult to find something: The Halifax Courier says: "She was chosen in favour of the Mayor of Hebden Royd, Sue Press, at a packed meeting of Party members in Mytholmroyd Bowling Club last night." Clearly giving the impression that the packed meeting voted for Booth, except that they didn't: the Yorkshire Post tells us that Mrs Booth won by an almost 2-1 majority, 95-52 but of the 95 cast for Booth 73 were postal votes and for Susan Press only 17 were postal votes. h/t John BM

Odd occurances (11)...

As if the Labour Party didn't have enough problems: Labour ballot box 'tampered with' [BBC] The by-elecion, in South East London (Erith and Thamesmead) is taking place because the current MP John Austin is retiring (Great timing John) Before this tampering episode he himself had already lodged one formal complaint with the party's general secretary because campaigners had been overly enthusiastic in encouraging local members to sign up for postal votes...you can imgine this replicated over the whole UK, a dodgy super-high postal vote is becoming about the only way the corrupted à la banana republic, sleaze-ridden Labour Party could have a success in the next General Election. Interestingly in this super-safe (one presumes!) Labour seat - majority or ten thousand or more - the candidates "include Georgia Gould, the 22-year-old daughter of Lord Gould, a key aide to Tony Blair during his time as prime minister." Perhaps another look needs to be taken at the 'shock' Labour hold of Glenrothes where...

"...some areas where the votes were being counted and collated were obscured from view. ...[The Electoral Commission] also voiced concern over aspects of the arrangements for postal voting."

And there's more: (Yorkshire Post) "One of Yorkshire's best known Labour members has launched a ferocious attack on the party and Gordon Brown"... "Alice Mahon, a Halifax MP for 18 years and a party member for more than 50 years, has resigned her membership of the party saying she can no longer stomach how it operates". h/t Guido.

Update 7pm (BST) In Message 230 on Guidos' blogpost Susan Stevens says - regarding another reason for Alice Mahon's resigning her party membership - "the method of selection of the Calder Valley Labour candidate last week. This is Cherie Blair’s step-mum, Steph Booth, who won with a majority from a large number of postal votes against another woman who had a majority of those present at the meeting." My emphasis.

The pattern is clear...any investigative journalists up to it?

Update 9pm (BST) Well it shouldn't be difficult to find something: The Halifax Courier says: "She was chosen in favour of the Mayor of Hebden Royd, Sue Press, at a packed meeting of Party members in Mytholmroyd Bowling Club last night." Clearly giving the impression that the packed meeting voted for Booth, except that they didn't: the Yorkshire Post tells us that Mrs Booth won by an almost 2-1 majority, 95-52 but of the 95 cast for Booth 73 were postal votes and for Susan Press only 17 were postal votes. h/t John BM

Online options...

One to watch: I've just spent a while reading a few posts over on "The World's First Diplomatic Blogoir", good look, nice 'feel' and well written by Charles Crawford. The Easter weekend's 'Smeargate' hoohah is what led me there, from comments in the Guardian as I recall, but I was struck by a couple of paragraphs that chimed entirely with my own opinion, firstly, as a memo to whomever forms the next UK government:

Be grown-up. Restore and respect Standards and the very idea of Standards - and then take the political hits you deserve when you fall below them.

And help the media grow up too, by not sitting senior journalists in a high chair and feeding them mush.

And secondly, from the post "Who Dominates The UK Blogosphere?", a post that arose due the attempted spin and excuses for the reasons why Smeargate happened at all i.e. as a counterbalance to a [wrongly as it turns out] perceived rightwing dominance of political blogosphere.

"So what in fact is striking about the Labour/McBride fiasco is that it was based on seriously incompetent analysis combined with vanity - an attempt in a crass top-down way to set up and control some sort of Leftist Guido lookalike, merely because Guido had been rooting out some painful stories about Labour machinations which otherwise might have been kept away from public scrutiny.

Why on earth did they think that this was necessary/desirable - and could work?"

Indeed, well said Charles...and careful with that addiction (WWW) !

Online options...

One to watch: I've just spent a while reading a few posts over on "The World's First Diplomatic Blogoir", good look, nice 'feel' and well written by Charles Crawford. The Easter weekend's 'Smeargate' hoohah is what led me there, from comments in the Guardian as I recall, but I was struck by a couple of paragraphs that chimed entirely with my own opinion, firstly, as a memo to whomever forms the next UK government:

Be grown-up. Restore and respect Standards and the very idea of Standards - and then take the political hits you deserve when you fall below them.

And help the media grow up too, by not sitting senior journalists in a high chair and feeding them mush.

And secondly, from the post "Who Dominates The UK Blogosphere?", a post that arose due the attempted spin and excuses for the reasons why Smeargate happened at all i.e. as a counterbalance to a [wrongly as it turns out] perceived rightwing dominance of political blogosphere.

"So what in fact is striking about the Labour/McBride fiasco is that it was based on seriously incompetent analysis combined with vanity - an attempt in a crass top-down way to set up and control some sort of Leftist Guido lookalike, merely because Guido had been rooting out some painful stories about Labour machinations which otherwise might have been kept away from public scrutiny.

Why on earth did they think that this was necessary/desirable - and could work?"

Indeed, well said Charles...and careful with that addiction (WWW) !

Onwards, outwards...

Ripples...A Downing Street spokesman said: "The prime minister has accepted Mr McBride’s resignation" and "‘Brilliant’: the lurid lies of sex and drugs", Isabel Oakeshott, Deputy Political Editor with at least two articles in tomorrow's Times HERE and HERE. Or link through image for Sunday's News of The World full coverage.

Ian Dale has much more (hat-tipping Guido)

Update Sunday 12/04 11:35 CEST: Gaby Hinsliff, political editor of the Observer today on blogging and the "British blogosphere taking their first big political scalp" - not sure that's the first, is it? - but ends on a great quote from Alex Hilton a leftwing blogger (labourhome.org and Recess Monkey) and what Gaby calls "perhaps the left's nearest equivalent to Guido Fawkes"; speaking of Labour's need for more firepower online,

"It's good that they now understand there is something that needs to be understood. But bad that they don't understand what it is."

Classic, but worth noting that whilst Hilton IS a leftie blogger, Guido ISN'T a "right-wing blogger", he has laid into the Conservatives on many occasions ( Spelman, Conway - and others with their snouts in the trough) with the same gusto, it just appears that Labour have more to offer, as a target that is!

Onwards, outwards...

Ripples...A Downing Street spokesman said: "The prime minister has accepted Mr McBride’s resignation" and "‘Brilliant’: the lurid lies of sex and drugs", Isabel Oakeshott, Deputy Political Editor with at least two articles in tomorrow's Times HERE and HERE. Or link through image for Sunday's News of The World full coverage.

Ian Dale has much more (hat-tipping Guido)

Update Sunday 12/04 11:35 CEST: Gaby Hinsliff, political editor of the Observer today on blogging and the "British blogosphere taking their first big political scalp" - not sure that's the first, is it? - but ends on a great quote from Alex Hilton a leftwing blogger (labourhome.org and Recess Monkey) and what Gaby calls "perhaps the left's nearest equivalent to Guido Fawkes"; speaking of Labour's need for more firepower online,

"It's good that they now understand there is something that needs to be understood. But bad that they don't understand what it is."

Classic, but worth noting that whilst Hilton IS a leftie blogger, Guido ISN'T a "right-wing blogger", he has laid into the Conservatives on many occasions ( Spelman, Conway - and others with their snouts in the trough) with the same gusto, it just appears that Labour have more to offer, as a target that is!

Oncoming obit...

...for New Labour spin-doctors? The fastest apology on record may indicate that this may well be the case with at least one well know spinner in the do-do: before the ink is dry and before most people even know what's going/gone on , Number 10 is saying sorry [BBC]

"Downing Street has apologised for e-mails sent by one of Gordon Brown's senior officials which reportedly discussed smearing top Conservatives."

Sounds as if the infamous New Labour spin-cycle subterfuge centrifuge is about to throw out two more clots: Derek Draper and Damian McBride are in the thick of it. More details and the source of the story from Guido at Order-Order:

"It is about a poisonous long term smear operation based in the heart of Downing Street and run by the prime minister’s press and political adviser, Damian McBride. Names will be named and shamed…"

Oncoming obit...

...for New Labour spin-doctors? The fastest apology on record may indicate that this may well be the case with at least one well know spinner in the do-do: before the ink is dry and before most people even know what's going/gone on , Number 10 is saying sorry [BBC]

"Downing Street has apologised for e-mails sent by one of Gordon Brown's senior officials which reportedly discussed smearing top Conservatives."

Sounds as if the infamous New Labour spin-cycle subterfuge centrifuge is about to throw out two more clots: Derek Draper and Damian McBride are in the thick of it. More details and the source of the story from Guido at Order-Order:

"It is about a poisonous long term smear operation based in the heart of Downing Street and run by the prime minister’s press and political adviser, Damian McBride. Names will be named and shamed…"

Ordinary order?...

Ordinary order?...NO. My Lord...of the Dance. My child, and what did you do before this?

Anna Nobili is no ordinary nun...

"The 38-year-old used to be a lap-dancer, and spent many years working in Italian nightclubs." Now she is using her obvious talents in a different way; she says that the church is veruy open to what she does and that

"she has noticed that bishops, and priests in general, are struck by this new form of expression."

I bet they are! She changed her life years ago after a visit to the shrine of St Francis in Assisi. "My body has changed, so the way I dance has changed too." Just as well as part of Anna's good work is dancing in hospitals and prisons, I imagine the robes stay on! (Link to Alicia Trujillo's BBC article by clicking on the picture)

Ordinary order?...

Ordinary order?...NO. My Lord...of the Dance. My child, and what did you do before this?

Anna Nobili is no ordinary nun...

"The 38-year-old used to be a lap-dancer, and spent many years working in Italian nightclubs." Now she is using her obvious talents in a different way; she says that the church is veruy open to what she does and that

"she has noticed that bishops, and priests in general, are struck by this new form of expression."

I bet they are! She changed her life years ago after a visit to the shrine of St Francis in Assisi. "My body has changed, so the way I dance has changed too." Just as well as part of Anna's good work is dancing in hospitals and prisons, I imagine the robes stay on! (Link to Alicia Trujillo's BBC article by clicking on the picture)

Omphaloskepsis over Obama...

"Obama: the right man at the wrong time", wonderful write-up by Gideon Rachman in the FT (link through image below)

"And so it was that Barack Hussein Obama visited Europe. In London, he rescued the world economy. In Strasbourg, he healed the Nato alliance. In Prague, he rid the world of nuclear weapons In Ankara, he reconciled Islam and the west. And on the seventh day, he got back on to Air Force One and disappeared into a cloudless sky."

"Was it all a dream? I fear so"... ..."When Mr Obama won office, The Onion, a satirical magazine, greeted his victory with the headline “Black man given nation’s worst job”. Watching Mr Obama’s progress around Europe this week, this seemed a reasonable summary of the situation."

What we have just witnessed was a glorious tour when the whole world watched as all of Europe listened with bated breath, hanging on his every word, his every action. Crowds of cheering, clapping happy Europeans that, when all is said and done, and despite the Obamamania - even from Prime Ministers and Presidents - will do...nothing. They will navel-gaze though not from any purpose of meditation but to block out and ignore their inablity to act on what needs to be done.

omphaloskepsis n. - contemplation of the navel for the purpose of obtaining philosophic calm.

Omphaloskepsis over Obama...

"Obama: the right man at the wrong time", wonderful write-up by Gideon Rachman in the FT (link through image below)

"And so it was that Barack Hussein Obama visited Europe. In London, he rescued the world economy. In Strasbourg, he healed the Nato alliance. In Prague, he rid the world of nuclear weapons In Ankara, he reconciled Islam and the west. And on the seventh day, he got back on to Air Force One and disappeared into a cloudless sky."

"Was it all a dream? I fear so"... ..."When Mr Obama won office, The Onion, a satirical magazine, greeted his victory with the headline “Black man given nation’s worst job”. Watching Mr Obama’s progress around Europe this week, this seemed a reasonable summary of the situation."

What we have just witnessed was a glorious tour when the whole world watched as all of Europe listened with bated breath, hanging on his every word, his every action. Crowds of cheering, clapping happy Europeans that, when all is said and done, and despite the Obamamania - even from Prime Ministers and Presidents - will do...nothing. They will navel-gaze though not from any purpose of meditation but to block out and ignore their inablity to act on what needs to be done.

omphaloskepsis n. - contemplation of the navel for the purpose of obtaining philosophic calm.

Overflowing obloquy...

Nest-feathering like never before; who do these greedy shits think they are? Who do they think they are kidding? "Home secretary says inadvertently claiming for two pornographic films was an 'embarrassing mistake' but it should not override 'good work' she has been doing" (link through image). Seriously, who is she trying to kid? Clearly the aim is to try and make out that it was only a video or two...if only! The myriad expense claim stories now coming out (and there is most definitely more to come) are getting almost tiresome! The dead cat bounce expected by the G20 boost for Brown has turned into a putrified-moving-by-maggot-power bounce as the latest poll "reveals huge public backlash over MPs' expenses". Is there anyone at Westminister actually in the job and doing the job for the benefit of their constituents or the country? Are they ALL a bunch of thieving, deceitful, immoral spongers?

Obloquy: n. - abuse; disgrace.

Overflowing obloquy...

Nest-feathering like never before; who do these greedy shits think they are? Who do they think they are kidding? "Home secretary says inadvertently claiming for two pornographic films was an 'embarrassing mistake' but it should not override 'good work' she has been doing" (link through image). Seriously, who is she trying to kid? Clearly the aim is to try and make out that it was only a video or two...if only! The myriad expense claim stories now coming out (and there is most definitely more to come) are getting almost tiresome! The dead cat bounce expected by the G20 boost for Brown has turned into a putrified-moving-by-maggot-power bounce as the latest poll "reveals huge public backlash over MPs' expenses". Is there anyone at Westminister actually in the job and doing the job for the benefit of their constituents or the country? Are they ALL a bunch of thieving, deceitful, immoral spongers?

Obloquy: n. - abuse; disgrace.

Operant opinion...

If you have half an hour why not listen to the revelations of the wholesale greed and blatant financial transgressions, these are based in Wall Street but a lot of it is very pertinent too to the UK's own problems: "The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One." Bill Moyers on his Journal interviews William K. (Bill) Black: [Transcipt] [Video] For me it is the clearest and easiest to understand explanation yet of what went wrong and why, the deceit, fraud, vested interests and greed; also how it could have been avoided, what needs doing now and why there doesn't seem to be any great effort by politicians or the powers that be to investigate or to bring justice to bear on those responsible. Read of the lack of integrity and of a real MORAL crisis.

BILL MOYERS: You're describing what Bernie Madoff did to a limited number of people. But you're saying it's systemic, a systemic Ponzi scheme.

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Oh, Bernie was a piker. He doesn't even get into the front ranks of a Ponzi scheme...

"So, now we get in trouble, and what do we do? We adopt the Japanese approach of lying about the assets."

"...the Secretary of the Treasury, and others in the administration, with the banks, are engaged in a cover up to keep us from knowing what went wrong?"

"They're scared to death of a collapse. They're afraid that if they admit the truth, that many of the large banks are insolvent."

"...regulation means that cheaters don't prosper. So, instead of being bad for capitalism, it's what saves capitalism. "Honest purveyors prosper" is what we want."

"We're hiding the losses, instead of trying to find out the real losses. Stop that, because you need good information to make good decisions, right? Follow what works instead of what's failed. Start appointing people who have records of success, instead of records of failure. That would be another nice place to start."

Operant opinion...

If you have half an hour why not listen to the revelations of the wholesale greed and blatant financial transgressions, these are based in Wall Street but a lot of it is very pertinent too to the UK's own problems: "The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One." Bill Moyers on his Journal interviews William K. (Bill) Black: [Transcipt] [Video] For me it is the clearest and easiest to understand explanation yet of what went wrong and why, the deceit, fraud, vested interests and greed; also how it could have been avoided, what needs doing now and why there doesn't seem to be any great effort by politicians or the powers that be to investigate or to bring justice to bear on those responsible. Read of the lack of integrity and of a real MORAL crisis.

BILL MOYERS: You're describing what Bernie Madoff did to a limited number of people. But you're saying it's systemic, a systemic Ponzi scheme.

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Oh, Bernie was a piker. He doesn't even get into the front ranks of a Ponzi scheme...

"So, now we get in trouble, and what do we do? We adopt the Japanese approach of lying about the assets."

"...the Secretary of the Treasury, and others in the administration, with the banks, are engaged in a cover up to keep us from knowing what went wrong?"

"They're scared to death of a collapse. They're afraid that if they admit the truth, that many of the large banks are insolvent."

"...regulation means that cheaters don't prosper. So, instead of being bad for capitalism, it's what saves capitalism. "Honest purveyors prosper" is what we want."

"We're hiding the losses, instead of trying to find out the real losses. Stop that, because you need good information to make good decisions, right? Follow what works instead of what's failed. Start appointing people who have records of success, instead of records of failure. That would be another nice place to start."

Obama's objectives...

Update, 9pm BST: "Analysis: Obama's trip: Big cheers, some results"(Jennifer Loven, Associated Press) [Link] Fair enough; Obama still has to outline the nuclear question thereby making good a campaign promise to rid the world of nuclear weapons, this will be when he gets to Prague. By the way, I'm only doing this update because I love the picture from El Periodico with Gordon Brown...I know he's not, but he does APPEAR to be pleading for Obama not to leave him! (image left, photo credit: AP / MICHEL EULER)

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No, not Carla! Although you couldn't blame him! Obama seems to be having a very successful tour reaching at least concensus on what one assumes are all his objectives: agreement of funding in London - albiet mostly recycled; agreement and a new US- France entente cordiale:

"Thanks to the great leadership of President Sarkozy, courageous on so many fronts, it's hard to keep up,"

Not what I've heard! Carla looks very happy...and gorgeous! (that's my excuse to post an image!)

"The energy that he has brought to foreign affairs is something that I think we've all benefited from."

Obama said - pleasing double entendre enthusiasts everywhere [Link]; but I jest and I digress: agreement in NATO, more Euro troops to Afghanistan; agreement with what appeared to be a very buddy-buddy relationship with Dmitry Medvedev, Russian president, when they met face-to-face for the first time in London at the G20, "both agreed on fast-track negotiations to slash their nuclear stockpiles by about a third from the end of this year" [Guardian] (between them they have 96% of the world's nuclear arsenal) "Barack Obama's new offensive against nuclear weapons"..."Radical drive among series of measures to improve security" [Radical? You can't say that in the same sentence as Obama or people may recall his past, Acorn etc.] Anyway, these objectives dovetail nicely with NATO. Today John Tanner, President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, raised "three key points that we NATO parliamentarians believe are critical to our Alliance; the mission in Afghanistan, our relationship with Russia, and the need for a new Strategic Concept." The third meaning encorporation of assorted NATO actions re piracy, cyber defence etc. He went on to say, regarding NATO/Russian interests, that despite the fact that they do not always coincide...

"...there are important areas where they do. We must build a relationship to address our common strategic interests."

No doubt one of those 'common strategic interests' would be their own nuclear disarmament and the "unclear" problem from the obstreperous outsiders.

Obama's objectives...

Update, 9pm BST: "Analysis: Obama's trip: Big cheers, some results"(Jennifer Loven, Associated Press) [Link] Fair enough; Obama still has to outline the nuclear question thereby making good a campaign promise to rid the world of nuclear weapons, this will be when he gets to Prague. By the way, I'm only doing this update because I love the picture from El Periodico with Gordon Brown...I know he's not, but he does APPEAR to be pleading for Obama not to leave him! (image left, photo credit: AP / MICHEL EULER)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No, not Carla! Although you couldn't blame him! Obama seems to be having a very successful tour reaching at least concensus on what one assumes are all his objectives: agreement of funding in London - albiet mostly recycled; agreement and a new US- France entente cordiale:

"Thanks to the great leadership of President Sarkozy, courageous on so many fronts, it's hard to keep up,"

Not what I've heard! Carla looks very happy...and gorgeous! (that's my excuse to post an image!)

"The energy that he has brought to foreign affairs is something that I think we've all benefited from."

Obama said - pleasing double entendre enthusiasts everywhere [Link]; but I jest and I digress: agreement in NATO, more Euro troops to Afghanistan; agreement with what appeared to be a very buddy-buddy relationship with Dmitry Medvedev, Russian president, when they met face-to-face for the first time in London at the G20, "both agreed on fast-track negotiations to slash their nuclear stockpiles by about a third from the end of this year" [Guardian] (between them they have 96% of the world's nuclear arsenal) "Barack Obama's new offensive against nuclear weapons"..."Radical drive among series of measures to improve security" [Radical? You can't say that in the same sentence as Obama or people may recall his past, Acorn etc.] Anyway, these objectives dovetail nicely with NATO. Today John Tanner, President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, raised "three key points that we NATO parliamentarians believe are critical to our Alliance; the mission in Afghanistan, our relationship with Russia, and the need for a new Strategic Concept." The third meaning encorporation of assorted NATO actions re piracy, cyber defence etc. He went on to say, regarding NATO/Russian interests, that despite the fact that they do not always coincide...

"...there are important areas where they do. We must build a relationship to address our common strategic interests."

No doubt one of those 'common strategic interests' would be their own nuclear disarmament and the "unclear" problem from the obstreperous outsiders.

Obstreperous outsiders...

Both Venezuela and Iran could be considered outsiders to the "New World Order" (yawn). They are also overt resisters of "Western" restraint or control and they are both oil rich. Whilst all eyes were on Obama and Co., Hugo was in Tehran [El Universal, Spanish] inaugurating a joint development bank: the new Bi-National Iranian Venezuelan Bank "Ha nacido el banco. Es un acto histórico. Se hunde el imperialismo y sobre sus cenizas nace un mundo nuevo y seguro que está aquí. Venezuela e Irán sí estamos creando soluciones para la independencia y la felicidad de nuestros pueblos"

"A bank has been born. It is a historic act. Imperialism is sinking (has failed) and here, from its ashes, a new and safe world is born. Venezuela and Iran are creating solutions for the independence and happiness of our people"

The new bank was announced last year and will be based in Tehran; it will finance development projects in both countries. Currently it's unclear what those projects will be...UNCLEAR? Is that spelt correctly?

Obstreperous outsiders...

Both Venezuela and Iran could be considered outsiders to the "New World Order" (yawn). They are also overt resisters of "Western" restraint or control and they are both oil rich. Whilst all eyes were on Obama and Co., Hugo was in Tehran [El Universal, Spanish] inaugurating a joint development bank: the new Bi-National Iranian Venezuelan Bank "Ha nacido el banco. Es un acto histórico. Se hunde el imperialismo y sobre sus cenizas nace un mundo nuevo y seguro que está aquí. Venezuela e Irán sí estamos creando soluciones para la independencia y la felicidad de nuestros pueblos"

"A bank has been born. It is a historic act. Imperialism is sinking (has failed) and here, from its ashes, a new and safe world is born. Venezuela and Iran are creating solutions for the independence and happiness of our people"

The new bank was announced last year and will be based in Tehran; it will finance development projects in both countries. Currently it's unclear what those projects will be...UNCLEAR? Is that spelt correctly?

The rape of prudence: worse than the cost of World War? It could be..."the terrifying total of our national debt...", click on the image for a link to the Daily Mail's write-up from February, just in case you missed it; I thought it an appropriate time for a little reminder and what's worse is that even this isn't the whole story!