Peddling slurs for Peden!

I'm all in favour of a good debate. I'm all in favour of democratic elections. Let the people decide. But on the facts. The Lone Star Times appears to be a front organisation for Chris Peden, the Republican opponent of Ron Paul in the 14th district.

They have a banner suggesting that a politician can't run for two offices. Since when, is my reply! A "Let's Help Retire Ron Paul" message that backfires on the logic.

But the really nasty bit is calling him "Herr Doktor" implying "zanier beliefs and rhetoric". The piece is written with innuendo and sarcasm. Dr.Paul has just as much belief in principles as I'm sure Mr. Peden has. You don't have to be packaged "as a pro-family, pro-life Christian conservative who believes in free markets, smaller government and individual responsibility" and suggest that others who don't fit this exact pattern are somewhat falling short on principle. Dr. Paul is actually quite similar, but I would never suggest the same!

Peden has been a member of the same church since 1977 and said he will not move to Washington, D.C., if elected, but rather fly there every Monday and return home on Thursdays to spend time with his family and “be at my church on Sunday mornings, like you're supposed to be.” Sounds far too much like goody-two-shoes for my liking, but there you go!

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Text driver jailed for bike death

A woman who sent a text message on her mobile phone whilst driving, and killed a cyclist because she wasn't concentrating, has been jailed for four years. Seeing as she will be out in two, a couple of years in prison may act as a salutory lesson for her and a warning to others.

Every morning that I walk my two young children to school here in Solihull, I regularly see motorists driving whilst using handheld phones. Today was no exception. For some, it is a total disregard of the law. Yesterday, as I glanced a woman she tried to put the phone to her chin, as if she had an itch! The arrogance is overwhelming, the lack of personal integrity is extremely sad. It just goes to show we live in a selfish society.

The most common perpetrators are those going to the local Mercedes dealership, white van drivers, and men in executive cars! So a well-paid job and a well-suited executive is no bar to law-breaking. As Hampshire Police have stated, "It's pretty routine nowadays at the scene of these serious or fatal accidents to seize drivers' mobile phones, and to have them analysed to see if the phone has had anything to do with the driving standards involved. In this particular incident, it transpired from a phone analysis that there was phone use close to the time of the incident." WARNING?

The fact that this behaviour is known to cause death should be reason enough to stop the practice. I hope Kiera Coultas, the woman in question, will ponder her actions and come out a better person.

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When do we know if a crime is a crime?

The more time passes the more the centre of the British Establishment appears befuddled and unsure. So many recent occurrences of sleazy activity and dodgy dealings have been happening, that the poachers and gamekeepers are into a severe bout of cross-dressing. Not only that their traps and shotguns are going all over the place.

The latest farcical nonsense is that of Sir Ian Blair (himself a subject of recent scutiny) writing a letter (or getting a senior officer to do it for him) to John Lyon, the House of Commons Standards Commissioner complaining that the matter of Derek Conway's financial irregularities had not been referred to him. Blair said there was an agreed protocol to pass on such information to the Metropolitan Police Service. John Lyon's office thinks there is no protocol requiring him to explain the reasons to the police. A case of too many Commissioners spoiling the arrangements?

Ian Blair told the Metropolitan Police Authority that "there is a protocol. The protocol was agreed with the previous Parliamentary standards commissioner. It doesn't appear from the face of it that that protocol was fully followed in this particular case." The trouble here is that we are being policed and governed by people who have mostly been shown to have their own problems with regard to integrity. How they can sit in judgement, well......?

A protocol is only an understanding. It seems that we have passed this point of having protocols. The only thing these people will comprehend is a very short law, written with very big letters, telling them exactly what they can and can't do!

Why on earth, after all the publicity, over the last ten years at least, do these misunderstandings and "breakdowns in communication" carry on. We need TRANSPARENCY in Parliament and TRANSPARENCY in the Police! Until that happens, it's just a case of pot calling the kettle black!

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Democracy grows via internet!

I came across this site via the British Democracy Forum. It is called Votewise and was started in September of last year, so is around six months old. It was started by Mark Bell and Tony Parsons, both of whom should be congratulated for a brilliant idea. The only "political party" not given ANY publicity on their site is that of the Abstentionists! Those not voting in elections now don't have the excuse to say they don't know who the candidates are or when the election is!

This all goes to show how good the internet can be in disseminating information for the better. Maybe Mark and Tony can offer the concept to less democratic parts of the world?

All candidates in the UK should get on this site as soon as possible. Otherwise, what's the point of standing in the first place? A good example of the three main parties not doing anything is here! Come on, your polling day is on March 13th in Vale of White Horse, Wantage Charlton ward. Why the relunctance?

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Ron Paul - A New Hope!

Ron Paul has brought a new dimension to this campaign - HOPE! Who can fault his campaign? The Revolution continues..............

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Huckabee has a wistful moment!

A lot of people think that Ron Paul should give up, saying his presidential bid is a hopeless cause. That's not the point, a I keep saying. The whole thing this Revolution is about is changing the system of government. Most of the same people think that Mike Huckabee should give up. But Huckabee has a message, just like Paul and McCain, so is entitled to promote it.

Huckabee entertained and campaigned yesterday before 500 admirers in a Rhode Island hotel ballroom as he boosted his never-say-die campaign for the GOP presidential nomination. I like Huckabee's reasoning on his continued campaigning. He says, in a moment of very straight candour, "“In politics the unexpected is the expected. John McCain might have an implosive moment tomorrow. This race is still on.” Now, I doubt if Huckabee is hoping that John McCain falls under the proverbial bus. He is just stating the obvious. McCain might find something comes up to shock him rigid. If it does, it will be interesting to see if the press is in "I told you so" thought mode.

Former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan once famously described the worst thing that can befall a prime minister (or presidential candidate, I suppose) is "Events, dear boy! Events", by which he meant the same as Huckabee does. The current Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, could hardly have envisaged the Northern Rock fiasco, the missing child benefit CDs, or the Labour Party funding rows engulfing him as events.

Interestingly, the Republican convention is in St.Paul. Huckabee may be hoping for a political conversion by the party on the road to Minneapolis. For me, and very many others, it would be a fantastic moment of history if Ron Paul made good in Saint Paul. I live in hope!

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EU President says "nothing to do with me, guv"!

The EU President of the European Parliament, Dr Hans-Gert Poettering, has an ostrich's view of the report on EU staffing expenses. (Reported this morning on the Today Programme). The EU hierachy is desperate for the brown envelope fraudsters not to be found out. They are a bunch of hypocrites. This is a gravy train that has to be stopped before we all hit the buffers.

Dr. Poettering says he is "rather helpless" in getting the report on financial corruption published. What a crock from the doc!

We are currently having our Prime Minister ramroad through Parliament the Treaty, which he says is not like the Constitution. What hogwash! This PM, a part-time MP job-sharing with an MSP, has shoved Prudence out of his house to walk the streets, he has lost much in the way of personal integrity, he is grumpy and moody, and he has the gall to suggest that the people don't matter. By signing up to the Treaty he is signing us up to the type of corruption that the EU Doc has no control over!

Gordon Brown must realise that the vast majority of this country now thinks this Treaty is bad for the UK. But, heck, we don't matter. Just let the snouts keep sniffing, that's the message from our Gordon. After all, his tetchy response to David Cameron yesterday at PMQs shows he has very little concern for "standards"!

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Ron Paul gets Ben Bernanke to admit "I don't have good grades"!

This piece from CNBC is a real showpiece in how the Western world's economy, and that of the US in particular, is run by people who don't really do the right thing or seem oblivious to what their jobs are all about. Ron Paul here gives Mr. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman, something to think about. It seems to me that Bernanke is running things on a wing and a prayer. He looked decidely uncomfortable. Bill Griffeth, always the smooth operator, comes in on this piece with his suggestion that people "may not agree with Ron Paul politically", as if that is a pre-requisite when conducting interviews.

Interesting that CNBC on their site give no reference to Ron Paul, but give Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., flattering positioning by mentioning that he offered the Fed chief some sympathy. Bachus said, "There is perhaps no other public figure in America who has been subjected to as much Monday morning quarterbacking as you have over the past six months". Well, on the evidence we see here, Mr. Bernanke has admitted his "grades" don't pass muster, so Mr. Bachus is a bit flowery in his praise!



I hope people see this tape. Republican voters in Texas should take on board Ron Paul's message. The middle classes in America are being squeezed. They don't want it to get so bad that the pips pop out! Mr. Bernanke doesn't seem too sure about the economic outcome. He even suggests that sub-prime mortgage lending is a positive force, if done properly. I hardly think the word "proper" sits well with this form of financial sleaze!

Rest assured John McCain won't kick ass with him. But Ron Paul as President? Wow! These quack inflation curers will be put out to grass!

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Huckabee talking up a win in Texas

Mike Huckabee is getting all excited, like a high school boy eyeing up a Prom date! He said a victory in Texas would change "the discussion and the dynamics of the race." That would be so, I rather think! "It will prove once again that I am winning in the states that really are the Republican, conservative-based states," the former Arkansas governor told supporters in Dallas. If it's all fair and above aboard, he may well do so. The state Republican Party is controlled by those who would tend to support his platform, if not necessarily him as a candidate.

Kelly Shackelford, president of the Free Market Foundation, said Huckabee is the choice for the state's conservatives. "Conservatives across Texas are being encouraged to fold up their values and go home," Shackelford said. "We're saying, 'Don't do it. Stand for what you believe. Vote for your values, vote for Mike.' " Sounds like he may get a good chunk of votes.

The Republican primary has been glossed over a bit. The press has been concentrating on the dress code of the two Democratic contenders. My appreciation of elections is that when the press turn and blink they sometimes miss what's going on. If Huckabee does win Texas they can't be in "I told you so" mode because they never did!

In all this, Ron Paul will come in with a respectable showing that will prove him right in remaining in. The Republican Party high command still has a tough time convincing the rest of us that John McCain is the right guy at the right time.

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South African outcry over "racist" video

Following on from "doing unto others", there appears no let up in nasty behaviour in the world. Apparently several white students in South Africa face criminal charges after allegedly forcing black campus employees to eat food that had been urinated on. This is exactly what a law on hatred should be about. Stopping nasty people doing nasty things.

A video has surfaced which appears to show the students instructing five elderly workers to drink beer and perform athletic tasks. At one point, the University of Free State employees are apparently forced to eat food which has been urinated on. This is just the base level that hatred can get people to go to. We talk of the depths that humanity goes to when we think of wrongs, and we talk of heights when we think of good achievements.

These students do themselves no good. They achieve no status other than with like-minded louts. The world now knows that there is still a mountain to climb in South Africa as far as some people are concerned. Let's hope the opinion unleashed against them will bring them to there senses.

The very first thing they should do is to apologise to their victims!

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Freedom of speech versus freedom of expression?

I'm fairly conservative, but not rampantly so. I believe in a certain amount of live and let live. That's why I say I have a slight libertarian streak. If a theatre producer wants to put on a play about a subject I find offensive, my view is to let him get on with it. However, I won't be paying good money to go and see the production. I'm not in favour of censorship just because something upsets my personal ideas.

However, I would suggest that there are limits such as stopping live bestiality on the stage. These actions require penalties in a decent society. But in the main it's live and let live. Freedom to express an opinion is also freedom to upset or distress. But it should never lead to personal violence or exclusion.

The Government is currently planning to put into the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill a clause making a criminal offence of inciting hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. Sounds fair enough, but would it be plainly so? Amongst all the jargon and New Labour-speak in this Justice Department leaflet (page 135) is an undertaking not to criminalise religiuos belief or expression. I have to believe that the Government is true to its word in that they are NOT preparing legislation to criminalise orthodox Christian belief that homosexual acts are sinful. I would wholeheartedly concur that those who purport to vilify homosexual orientation by inciting violence and violent acts should receive the penalties of the law.

A group called The Christian Congress for Traditional Values is campaigning against the bill. They say "The Government opposes a freedom of speech clause and says that religious liberty will not be affected. However, the offence is very widely drafted and without an exemption Christians would be prevented from expressing strong opinions." Steady on! Strong opinions? I doubt if Jack Straw would flinch over strong opinions. But he could well do so if agitation was happening that whipped up hatred. I don't see where these "Christians" feel hard done by on this.

The case against the Government over the adoption laws was quite another matter, because there they were trying to force people to go against conscience. Here they are merely trying to outlaw hatred.

I would have thought a traditional value of Christianity is "do unto others as you would like done unto you". But then I'm a poor wretch of Anglo-Catholic and not given to the strictures of a protestant mindset!

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"Did the Earth move for you, darling?"

The stock-in-trade joke of many a gagsmith came very much to reality last night. I only knew of the biggest earthquake to hit Britain in 24 years this morning, on the school run. One mother was saying someone she knew had slept throught it. That's the whole thing about earthquakes in Britain. You only know about them in the morning! Most of the regular tremours are put down to sleeping problems. It would never occur to most of us to think the Earth actually had moved in the night!

On the Richter scale the quake was about 5.2. Helpfully, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) claimed that, while the event was "light to moderate" on a world scale, it was "very significant", given the UK's relatively uneventful seismic history. So the Earth did move for some. Thankfully, without any trauma or troubling aftershocks.

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Runway protesters on roof of House of Commons!

Following on from the protest at Heathrow Airport, as I write this post, five protesters from the campaign group Plane Stupid have managed to scale the walls of the House of Commons and are on the roof. Having unfurled banners, one of which links BAA, the Heathrow Airport management company, to the decisions made under the roof, the protesters are causing the parliamentary authorities yet another security headache.

I very much suspect that the Government will try to turn this towards security and blame the protesters as irresponsible. As if the New Labour regime has no responsibilities for the security of the Nation. They were instrumental in causing unrest across the Islamic world by their support and involvement in a cack-handed invasion of Iraq. Many of the security lapses are because lowly-paid foreigners are used by the "security industry". New Labour needs to be a party to the solutions, not act as a lofty onlooker carping about the disruptive peasants!

One of the roof protesters, Richard George, 27, from London, said, “I am stood on the roof of Parliament because the democratic process had been corrupted. The aviation industry had taken full advantage of a weak Prime Minister to get the Heathrow consultation fixed. It does not even consider global warming despite everything Gordon Brown has said about the environment and despite the massive impact aviation has on the climate.”

The Third Runway issue could well have a corrosive impact on British democracy. New Labour has a proven record in spin and deception. The BBC are reporting today that business is lobbying hard for this runway, on the "evidence" that the City of London could well lose its primacy in world financial markets. Seeing as the financiers, bankers and general money changers saw nothing wrong in lending money to loads of penniless paupers, dressing the loans up as "sub-prime", these are the very last people we should be listening to!

If democracy gets trampled under foot, or people's perception is that democracy is being usurped, then we are in for troubling times. The Government cannot ride roughshod over the people. They do so at their peril.

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TV's top 25 put-downs published

The top 25 put-downs in TV history, as chosen by the Radio Times magazine, from American and British TV, have been published. I particulary like the J R Ewing one. "Ray never was comfortable eating with the family - we do use knives and forks." Brilliant!

I actually watched Caroline Aherne as Mrs Merton on The Mrs Merton Show. She said, without pausing, to Debbie McGee: "So what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?" The poor Debbie wasn't sure how to take it, but smiled professionally, of course!

Put downs have been around for a long time. My sister has a gay friend who is extremely good at such things, but only he could get away with it. I would be perceived as being nasty or clever, so have never really attempted it. Oscar Wilde was good also - "The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable" was a great line about foxhunting. Winston Churchill once, or infamously, said to Lady Astor, "I may be drunk, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly". That was a bit cruel in my books, but it was a typical Churchill put down.

The list is here.

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Heathrow Greenpeace protesters bailed

The Greenpeace protesters, who yesterday climbed on the tail of a British Airways plane, have been released on bail. Police arrested them on "suspicion" of criminal damage (scratching the paintwork?) and of being in a restricted area. The latter is more critical. BAA have a very casual approach to security, it seems. The trouble is the place is like a rabbit warren. Given also that most people working there are too busy or reluctant to bother with checking up on "strangers" it is relatively easy to get through for the determined person.

The Government cracks down on occasions, with restrictions on hand luggage, but the real problem isn't the holidaymaker or businessman, it's the vast army of transient workers, with large numbers of agency staffers. Adam isn't known to Eve in the place, at times. BAA always talks of how wonderful everything is, but these events keep reminding us how wrong they are!

The only thing that prevents a would-be terrorist from getting to a plane is the fact that there are deterrents, such as the profiling and screening. But there appear to be precious few positive procedures to stop those masquerading as staff from getting through.

It will now be up to a judge to determine whether this was so serious as to warrant a hefty sentence or that it was something of little significance other than a publicity stunt. We await the findings!

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Paul versus Peden - Ron has him on the ropes!

Chris Peden is an odd cove it seems to me. He is challenging Ron Paul in the 14th District for Congress. Much of the attacks on Ron Paul have been about three things. First, he's not a proper Republican. Second, he's got a poor voting record in the House. And third, he's not for national security by being anti the Iraq conflict. Of course, it's twaddle. Who is to say what a proper Republican is. Most large parties in the Western world, which are capable of governing, are big tents, with a kaleidoscope of opinion within. A 100% voting record does not indicate good representation. It merely shows that the member is prepared to vote for party above principle! And a good conservative can see the futility of going into a conflict without adequate planning or even consulting with friendly countries beforehand about likely problems. If the Bushwhackers had bothered to ask, say the Swedish embassy, about probable outcomes assuming plan A went ahead, they may well have avoided the mess they later found themselves in.

Peden is a typical model candidate. All shine on the outside. A bit different on the inside. This is a nice contribution from Reason Online by David Weigel. David reveals than Peden has spent -

1. Nearly $3,900 to Houston-based Ignite Marketing for campaign materials
2. About $8,000 for campaign signs
3. Nearly $20,000 to DC political consultants at Marsh Copsey and Associates. (Marsh Copsey didn't end up producing anything for the campaign—the relationship ended without ads.)
4. $679 to his 17-year old daughter Brittany for "contract labor"

Why would a man who has such neatly packed views, without it seems, a problem in expousing them, pay some "political consultants" to do nothing?

And what of his daughter? Even by today's standards $679 is pretty good pocket money!

I fear that Peden is more of a stooge than he cares to admit. I hear Ron Paul's doing OK in the local opinion polling. I wonder if any of this is a contributory factor?

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Is Hillary playing fair with Obama?

It is alleged that Hillary Clinton has given a nod and a wink to a photo of Barack Obama dressed in East African traditional clothing to be passed around. This was taken during a visit in 2006 to Kenya, his father's homeland. The gist of this is to make him look a bit foreign! Well, I remember pictures of her without contact lenses. I'm not going to show them as it wouldn't be right, would it? How many Scots Americans wear tartan kilts? Not a lot different, I'd say.

Come on Hillary, play the game! You know he looks good in a suit. What do you look like first thing in morning? Oh, I must stop......

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Pakistan sabotages YouTube website!

The Pakistani Government, ever aware of those against it and ever aware of the world outside, has seemingly had a hand in blocking access to the popular YouTube website because of content deemed offensive to Islam. Apparently the authorities were upset about the Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad that have outraged many. That was some time ago. Why now? Is the President trying some sort of charm offensive to stay in power?

One report said a trailer for a forthcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, which portrays Islam in a negative light, was behind the ban. Whatever it is, the Pakistani high command does itself no favours in peddling some sort of homemade Sharia law in the hope of frightening internet users. Decent Muslims won't be downloading the stuff anyway. It's more likely to be curious stooges in a back office in Islamabad!

Censorship like this does no good. It just fuels controversy, intrigue, and conspiracy theories. What plonkers!

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Pilot sacked after fly-by stunt in big Boeing!

Just as I was posting about the trials and tribulations of being a pilot and how it can be sometimes stressful, then this happens. A British pilot (letting the side down?) has been sacked after performing a low-flying stunt with a brand new Boeing 777. Captain Ian Wilkinson flew the Cathay Pacific plane within 28 feet of the ground with its undercarriage raised, at Boeing's Seattle airfield. And he had VIPs on board. Fly-bys happen - but not without warning!

They must have had their lunches come back up through their noses as they saw the ground come towards them. What was he thinking of?

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Obama moves onto Ron Paul's territory!

Barack Obama is making quite a big deal over US trade at the moment. I wonder why? He has criticised the NAFTA agreement, but doesn't say much more about it. Funny how this is reported as a normal political dialogue between two leading contenders for the Democratic nomination, but when Ron Paul raises it (a longstanding policy issue) it is derided by the media.

The truth is these agreements like NAFTA suit Big Business and Big Government together. A kind of Tweedledee and Tweedledum of world trade. Let the little guy sink or swim on his own account, the big beasts are carving it up as they go along. The European Union is all about regulation, red tape, and, when confronted about spendrift activities, red herrings!

If Obama is moving towards proper free trade, proper fair trade, and proper inter-governmental agreements, then welcome aboard. Otherwise it's a Johnny-cum-lately approach, just for the day!

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Is McCain American enough to be President?

This was raised, as it has been elsewhere, by David Grossman of the BBC. The Founding Fathers of the US Constitution were keen to see that only "natural born" US Citzens (over 35 years old as well!) were able to run for the office of President. That little bit of legalise has been tested by previous contenders. John McCain is in the limelight now on this because he wasn't born in the United States, but in "territory" in the Panama Canal Zone.

The present governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, will not be able to be president. Interesting topic, interesting debate. As Sylvestor Stallone said on the BBC's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross recently, "We're a whole nation of immigrants - so why not!"

Here's the BBC's contribution -

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Co-pilot dies during plane flight

Sometimes in the news events happen in a series, rather like waiting for a bus. All of a sudden, three turn up at once. Manchester Airport, which had an emergency landing last week, has seen another incident, this time the co-pilot of a holiday flight to Paphos was suddenly taken ill and died.

The GB Airways Airbus A320, with 156 passengers on board, was diverted to Istanbul yesterday afternoon. The airline said, "It is with deep regret that GB Airways can confirm that the First Officer on flight BA 6826 from Manchester to Paphos, Cyprus died during the flight."

None of these incidents are real cause for alarm with regard to safety. The only alarm is to the friends and family of the co-pilot. We cannot determine the time or place of our death. Most of us will go in some form of relative obscurity. Those that are in a more public position, whether famous or not, are likely to have a publicity attached if the circumstances dictate.

Safety on planes is paramount, but all of us who get on planes, whether for business or pleasure, should spare a thought for the ones up front. It is not all Rambo stuff and can be quite tedious, and stressful at times. Getting us safely to our destination is an unseen task mainly.

"Our thoughts and condolences are with the first officer's wife and family following this tragic news," the GB Airways spokeswoman said. Quite right.

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Ron Paul on campaign trail in Austin, Texas

You have to hand it to the TV anchors and reporters in America. Ron Paul stays the course, but they can't help themselves but use phrases like "despite the odds" and "long-shot candidate". Considering they have suggested all this from the outset is rather like a steeplechase with mile-high fences. You have to knock the fences down before you can have a proper race!

Here's a report of Ron Paul outside the University of Texas on Saturday. 4,000 turned up which tells you something!

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UK orders broadband future review

The government has said it will review the future of broadband internet in the UK amid calls that it should help firms pay for installing new infrastructure. I welcome this, although it has been given a lukewarm reception by some "analysts". Ian Watt is head of fixed-line research at Enders Analysis. He says that "the business case for next generation access is weak, Virgin Media already has a high speed network and Sky has a strong hold of the premium content that users might actually pay for". In other words, it's all working fairly well now.

Is Mr. Watt on the side of the providers or the users, or is he trying to be an honest piggy in the middle? I ask, because internet provision in the UK can be clouded in mystery. A mystery as to why it doesn't always work!!

It's easy for those using the old phone lines. Send a few pulses down the line and hope for the best. Those at the very end get "dodgy plus", those nearer the telephone exchange get by OK. If a user is tempted to complain, they get told "have you checked your computer?".

I would suggest that Virgin Media (on cable) and Sky (on satellite) can almost guarantee a reasonable service, but it does go wrong on occasions.

The truth is that the capacity does not allow for download optimum, which is all users downloading mega files at once. It's always going to be touch and go. Look at the internet traffic like motorway traffic. Being stuck on the M42 watching a plane land at Birmingham Airport and thinking of your holidays is very much like be stuck on a premium line phone call involved in a "dialogue" with your service provider!

The review should look carefully at whether the ISPs are conning us, giving us a good service or are just plain incompetent! We need to know.

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Ron Paul and Fox News - Seconds out - Round Two!

I do love the way Fox News runs their news items in these elections. This is a great piece. Watch out for reporter Carl Cameron, whose only claim to fame seems to be "making it up as he goes along"!

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Ralph Nader to run for president

Meet the Press and Meet the Candidate! Ralph Nader has announced that he is running for the White House for the umpteenth time. He said most Americans are disenchanted with the Democratic and Republican parties. I'm not sure that's wholly true, but let's not spoil the message. He claims that none of the presidential contenders are addressing ways to stem corporate crime and Pentagon waste and promote labor rights. Has he got temporary memory loss? Ron Paul has mentioned it, so has Obama, I believe Hillary Clinton has too. Mike Huckabee is not in favour of corporate crime, in fact who is, apart from those involved in it?

One thing his previous running mate, Peter Camejo, said that rings true is, "You've got to keep running to raise the issues that are never discussed. There's a whole series of issues that only a Ralph Nader would raise." Very well said. But then I believe that that is true of Ron Paul.

Let's wait and see if Mr. Nader gets a drubbing in the media!

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What Ron Paul's opponent really thinks!

Chis Peden is the "conservative Christian" aiming to unseat Ron Paul in the 14th District in Texas. One wonders if Peden believes all his lines, or whether he's being encouraged by a Republican high command keen to get rid of Dr.Paul.

Peden was asked by a reporter from the Dallas Morning News if he would do any better than Ron Paul in a Democrat dominated Congress. Peden thought a bit, then said, "I have a very attractive wife not because I'm a very attractive guy. I wore her down!". So he is implying that the way to get things done for your district is to wear your opponents down. Boy!

Now I realise this was said mostly in jest (about his wife!), but he sounds a bit like he means it. He portrays himself as everything he thinks Ron Paul isn't - a loyal, mainstream conservative Republican. But what is Peden all about?

According to Bill Quinn, the budget and accounting officer at Texas Chiropractic College, it's all a shady effort to knock Ron Paul off stride in the presidential fight. Could be! Quinn is a Paul supporter - "He's got my vote. He votes his principles". Whatever it is, the media and the Republican establishment have done everything they can to make Ron Paul look awkward and foolish.

What they don't seem to realise is that this doesn't stop in November. It's ongoing!

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Virgin Atlantic to plough the fields for biofuel flights?

Sir Richard Branson is promoting biofuels for the aviation industry. One of his Virgin Atlantic planes is going to take off from Heathrow for Amsterdam, with one engine guzzling vegetable oils or the like. It sounds good, but is it?

The problem I see is that the airline companies have been targeted by the global warming warriors and told to do something about aviation fuel and how it pollutes the environment. So Branson and Co come up with biofuels. But then the eco lobby start muttering about the fields being used for growing the crops that will be turned into these fuels. Can't win, can you?

I would have thought that biofuels would be better used in cars and ground transport generally and that the aviation industry sticks to getting cleaner emissions from planes. Some crops can be given over to the fuel industry, but land for food would not be so diminished.

Friends of the Earth say Branson is involved in a gimmick, but they only seem to carp and not help create the solutions. It may all fail, but unless you try how do you know?

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Dustin The Turkey plucked from six finalists to be Irish Eurosong entry!

Dustin the Turkey? I'd never heard of him until yesterday, but now not only the UK, but the rest of Europe and possibly the world will know of him. He is a children's TV puppet that is extraordinarily popular on Irish TV. Put he is probably idiosycratically so. Certain things fondly appreciated within countries do not necessarily travel beyond their boundaries. The turkey now represents Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade in May.

When Ireland separated from the UK, the country went just at the time when television was becoming an invention that would eventually dominate home entertainment. The Irish Republic did not and does not, in the main, receive British TV programmes unless people live close to the border with Northern Ireland. A separation in TV land has occurred. Some years ago, the Irish politician Conor Cruise O'Brien lamented the fact that Ireland was seen as a TV backwater by some. He hoped for BBC programmes for Ireland. In this regard, the border with North and South divides television thinking, appreciation and understanding. Is the Turkey as familiar in the North? Probably not.

Dustin's vote success has divided opinion within Ireland too. Some say it is demeaning having a puppet represent your country. Others, obviously those who voted for the Turkey, think it all great fun. Watch Dustin here (including the fat lady? who's waiting to sing at the GOP Convention!). A squawky rendition of fowl singing?

RTE, the national broadcaster for Ireland, will now have to promote the bird for all they're worth unless they and the turkey get stuffed at the contest. A Serbian stuffing with nuts and spices!

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FEC Poses Fresh Problem for McCain

The US Federal Election Commission has put a spanner in the works as far as John McCain is concerned. He recently criticised Barack Obama over spending, but now it appears he could be tied up in regulation detail that will cause him trouble indeed.

The Washington Post blog has a good explanation of the problem he may face. Politics is never easy at the best of times, but McCain has made a stand on certain issues. If these unravel in front of him, he may look vulnerable.

He is also being challenged in the press concerning the reliabilty of his assertions over lobbyists. The Guardian/Observer says - "Whiff of scandal envelops McCain's campaign - The Republican frontrunner faces fresh allegations over lobbyist links" - and it looks like something people are right to question.

Could it become a two-horse race yet?

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Can Huckabee win Texas?

Mike Huckabee's strategy now is getting a deadlocked convention. Ron Paul is also thinking along these lines, although he has ventured to use the phrase "a brokered convention", suggesting more dialogue rather than arm-twisting. The plain fact is now that John McCain, who was declared the front-runner by the big shot papers, suddenly got a side-swipe from the New York Times and people starting talking. Why? What are they hoping for? It seems odd, that they praise him as a man of principle, then have a go. The lobbying was always known.

McCain is touted by the pollsters to win the Texas primary by 12 clear percentage points. But Huckabee is showing a strong second place. Huckabee is now thinking, as he told a San Antonio radio station, ""If we win Texas, I think it changes the dynamics of this race. It could well go all the way to the convention. If the convention delegates pick the president, chances are they would pick the most conservative. I would be the one they would end up picking, if that’s the criteria." Could it be so?

I'm wondering if somebody has kept the fat lady talking in the foyer of the theatre before she comes on stage to sing!

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"On The Make, On The Take" - Libertarian Party makes a stand

The UK Libertarian Party, only recently formed and launched, has come out with some strong policies and a determination to show where things are going wrong. It has to be said that MPs don't exactly get the same working conditions as lesser mortals. Their conditions are quite a bit better.

They have long stated that their jobs are precarious because of the fact they can be booted out at elections. But then who has a job that is safe? Certainly not the staff at Northern Rock, or the countless temporary workers, or those in contracting industries. It's a merry-go-round for lot's of people. Why should the modern day MP be any different?

In Victorian times, parliamentarians looked upon Parliament as an extension to their clubs. It was the follow-on from school and university. It allowed time off for winter holidays, grouse shooting, and generally carrying on as they saw fit. 18 weeks off from the House is a lot. OK, some work in their constituencies, but most will probably just be taking it easy. Ministers may be more tasked, but seeing as each ministry has a number of "spokespersons", it won't be every day that they are called upon to make a policy announcement or do something pressing. The plain fact is that when the House of Commons isn't sitting, the press takes little or no interest in what they get up to. So we are left none the wiser.

Democracy! Don't you just love it?

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The Iseman cometh! Is McCain able to defend himself?

John McCain made much of the fact that he had no truck with lobbyists. Now it appears he's had some truck with at least one. In this matter, I for one, think it inconceivable that anything familiar in the biblical sense took place with Vicki Iseman, the lobbyist in question. I just don't think McCain is that sort of a guy.

However, politically it makes him look a bit awkward. Apparently he admits now to having quite a few "friends" of this nature, the lobbying kind. McCain said he had done nothing that would conflict with his ethical standards, but it does make his original protestations that he never dealt with lobbyists look a bit thin on reality.

According to ABC News, McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates. He can't maintain the fiction of never having been into pork-barrel politics, when these guys are so close to his heart and his head!

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When a New Labour lie is just "in good faith"!

David Miliband takes the biscuit sometimes. He has now admitted two US "extraordinary rendition" flights landed on UK territory in 2002. New Labour always protested their innocence on this one, no doubt not wanting to upset George Bush, a man known to play fast and loose, not only with democracy but human rights also. Tony Blair never thought these flights wrong. Partly because his New Labour denial mechanism told him so. I do hope the Roman Catholic Church is teaching him the difference between right and wrong!

Miliband said he was "very sorry" to have to say that previous denials, made in "good faith", were now having to be corrected. He said the flights had only come to light after a US records search and said the US shared the UK's regret. Oh, my my! And all this after Amnesty International, the churches, nearly the whole political opposition to New Labour and countless other people were asking what was what and when was when.

Quite frankly, I don't believe Miliband. A weasel would be more honest in describing the facts!

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MP was bugged twice, report says!

So much for declaring it was a one-off! Mr. Sadiq Khan is an MP in the British House of Commons. He represents ALL the people of his constituency of Tooting, as is the customary situation for MPs within the "Westminster model". He went to visit a constituent in prison, who happened also to be an old school friend. Mr. Khan was bugged by the police.

The BBC has found out that senior police officers who ordered the recording of the conversations did not know who Mr Khan was, but junior officers did. Well, what an extraordinary turn of events. Are these top cops saying all Asians look alike, or that they must be suspect in some way, or that they don't cut the mustard as citizens? It never occured to them to ask who was being bugged. And what of the "junior officers"? Did they think it a wheeze to keep quiet about Mr. Khan? TWICE!!

It is a disgrace. So much for diversity training. They arrest a drunken undergraduate for calling a police horse gay, but have not the wit to find out who our parliamentarians are.

And an ex-police intelligence officer at the prison said he faced "sustained pressure" to bug Mr Khan. So somebody knew who he was at senior level. There used to be a time when the phrase "Heads will roll" was said. Not any more!

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Lone Star hack tries a Lode Star attack on Paul!

Here's another hack who professes cluelessness over Ron Paul's GOP bid. He goes by the prosaic handle of RickG. Rick doesn't know why Dr. Paul entered the race. He thinks he may have a big ego. The whole thing remains a mystery to Rick. Well, Rick the only thing I can think of is you're thick!

Of course, Rick knows why Ron Paul is in the race, just like he knows why the others entered. It's just that he wants to be difficult. "It's a mystery to me, since his “message” is being almost universally ignored at this point anyway," says Rick. Doesn't it occur to this scribe that the reason the message got lost was exactly because the media ignored it.

So Rick turns his gaze to a certain Chris Peden, who is a chippy guy trying to unseat Dr. Paul in his congressional district. Peden has a nice line in saying that Dr. Paul shouldn't run for President whilst being in Congress. Well, that puts paid to the hopes of loads of American politicians. Do you have to be an-ex Senator/Representative to run for another office?

Peden also declares "I support fighting the Global War on Terror", and makes it sound like a virtue. If only he knew. He rubbishes Ron Paul, but I guess he's not that far removed in agreement on smaller government. "I'm a Pro-Family, Pro-Life Christian conservative who believes in free markets, smaller government, and individual responsibility." How does being pro-life stand with mutilated children in Baghdad? How does pro-life sit with Death Row? How does pro-life measure up to the wonders of Saudi justice? There are more such abuses of life in the world, but Peden means on one thing by it.

Mr. Peden should examine his Pro-Life Christianity and see if it squares with the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the makers of global war on terror, for they shall see...what, exactly?

It's all Jekyll and Hyde politics. We need an end of it. Mr. Peden needs to go back to the drawing board!

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Obama has plenty to smile about

For me the Democratic presidential race is over. Obama will be the nominee. His persuasive powers have garnered a coalition of almost all groups in the USA bar the neo-cons! White women, young professionals, blacks, hispanics, gays, the lot, it seems. This is because he comes across as a man who fits the 21st Century.

People, not just in America, want an end to sleaze, spin, and sophistry. They don't want a president who just blinks after a massive hurricane disaster which nearly wipes away an historic city. They don't want any more Guantanamos. They don't want credit crunching, crooked bankers, and Wall Street fatcats calling the shots. They want a country run by a decent person for decent people to live in.

Now I'm not generally inclined to support the Democrats over the Republicans. If I were an American, I'd be actively seen as an Episcopalian Republican-supporting slightly libertarian type. Not that I don't get worked up about things. I do. That's why Ron Paul is a breath of fresh air in the Republican Party.

John McCain will also be the nominee for his party. However, he won't win the presidency. I don't say that with glee rather sadness. He doesn't get it, in my mind. He is tempting himself to portray Obama as a vacuous change merchant. He will be the solid character guy. Sorry, that won't wash. McCain either sees that Americans generally are fed up with being told its un-American to complain about the system of government, or he goes out like Goldwater rather than Dewey.

McCain is edging up from his support level of a third to that of half the Republican vote. Not yet a ringing endorsement. The Ron Paul revolution will continue, because much needs to be done. Mike Huckabee also can lay claim to a tranche of support. If McCain is sensible, he will accommodate the opinions of those in the party who are not so sure of him.

But it is Obama that is leading the way. He does have plenty to smile about.

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Restaurant owner gives "F" this and that message to diners on bill!

What is it with restaurant owners in Britain? Most of them seem to be either running cheesily posh establishments with over priced food or they are in dire need of the Gordon Ramsay treatment. By that I mean the expletive deleted results rather than the verbal delivery.

In Joe Delucci's Italian restaurant in Bird Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire, some diners made the grave mistake of complaining about the service. Instead of being given a proper response, they got a rude message on their bill. "Check out the check, bozo!"

The owner, a Mr Langsdon, said the message had been meant to be seen only by kitchen staff and he did not know how it ended up as an item on the receipt. He said, "That shouldn't come out on the bill, so we've got to find out what's gone wrong there. But we have apologised unreservedly to the girls concerned and said that they're very welcome to come back and have a free meal and we'd like them to." Mr Langsdon is being highly disingenuous. He doesn't need to find out what's gone wrong, he needs to shape up and admit his restaurant doesn't always measure up service-wise!

It's about time the British took the restaurant trade by the scruff of the neck and told them that high prices, dodgy food, and poor service will no longer be tolerated. Mr Langsdon adds a 10% service charge automatically - regardless. The American system of tips, speaking one's mind and a considerable amount of competition between restaurants makes for a much more enjoyable time all round!

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Paul's small government message inspires locals

This from NewarkAdvocate.com which shows that Ron Paul is still galvanising small groups across the USA. More than 20 people crowded into a small room in a building in North Park Place, Newark, Ohio on Sunday to hear and support a message most of them thought has been lost.

Jody Jooss, a Ron Paul fundraiser, says, "It is about getting the American people to come together to hold our congressmen accountable. We are hoping this can be an area in the community where people can go for resources and education and to try to take our country back." And David Ryon, who is running for the 12th District seat, said he was inspired by Paul's message. "I was thinking about leaving the Republican Party last year. I thought it was me; I thought I had drifted away," he said. However, after listening to Paul, Ryon said he realized that wasn't true. "I realized the party had drifted away. The Republican Party believes in small government, lower taxes, less spending, but they don't. They have been spending. They have been taxing."

Yes they have! Spending and taxing, like it was going out of fashion. Say one thing to get elected, do another thing after polling day. Very dodgy, indeed.

That's why Ron Paul's message resonates with the people and not the media moguls, preaching pundits, and chattering cash spenders (other peoples' money!).

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BNP's website 'the most popular in politics'

This doesn't surprise me, as the BNP is a source of morbid curiosity to some and excitable outrage to others. But they can't help themselves but take a look. However, this group is not the main section that gives the party 51% of all political party hits in the UK.

The BNP has achieved a popular internet base because it has a professional-looking site with interactive information on it. Taking a look in no way suggests support or admiration. Whatever one's view of this party, it has done something that no other British Nationalist party has done, and that is to get large numbers of votes (last Euro elections) and to get over 50 councillors elected (including in my own backyard of Solihull!).

I occasionally view the site, not because I'm overawed with Nick Griffin and his crew, but because I'm keen to see what they're up to. You can't oppose a political doctrine if you don't know what you're opposing. The New Labour poncy approach of high-faluting distancing does no favours. In fact, it causes a lot of the problems.

Direct challenge on policy works. Making martyrs of them, like bogus trials, certainly doesn't!

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Any more sex and it's jail, says judge!

A brother and sister fell in love after meeting as adults. Danielle Heaney and Nick Cameron share the same mother but have different fathers. As they don't look in the least alike they can pass so easily for a pair of young lovers no different from any other. They grew up apart after Nick was placed in foster care as a child, and only met as adults in August 2006. Since that date they became lovers, but now are in a position of refraining from sexual activity but remain "infatuated with each other".

Their mother, Susan, has all but disowned them. "What you are doing is morally wrong," she has said. To add confusion to this heady mix, there appears to be a condition known as Genetic Sexual Attraction which is a recognised psychological phenomenon. It sometimes affects siblings or blood relatives separated at birth, who then meet later as adults. The term is believed to have first been coined in America in the 1980s by a woman called Barbara Gonyo, who wrote about the unexpected lust she felt for the adult son she'd given up for adoption 26 years earlier.

I would have thought that we are going to experience far more of this phenomena, especially with divorce, marital breakdown, children with different mothers/fathers, etc. Secrecy and fear hide themselves behind such events. We need to be more supportive of parents in the first place, rather than looking on in grand isolation.

Earlier this month the pair were put on a year's probation by Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court after admitting incest, at an earlier court hearing. They were warned that if they had sexual intercourse again they could face a jail sentence of up to two years. Nick says, "Obviously there have to be boundaries, because incest is illegal in this country, but maybe, with counselling, we can move our relationship on to a more normal brother-sister one."

Couselling may be one thing, but making sure that parents and carers do not let their children end up in such an agonising situation would be a good start for change.

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Northern Rock rendered to rubble - then nationalised!

The Government has got itself into a sorry state of affairs. Incompetence, bungling, and general sophistry have all led us to this. The Governor of the Bank of England wanted a "midnight solution" but suggested this was outlawed by the EU. Subsequently we were told he was wrong. Whatever, we are now left with a taxpayer liability approaching £100 billion and a part-time MP as Chancellor looking every inch as if he were a badger caught in the headlights of some mad young stockbroker's Porsche!

So it is to be nationalised. The Government and the banks have got us here. Angela Knight of the British Bankers Association limply implies that all this is to do with the credit crunch, as though that is some frightful epidemic from overseas that has hit us rather like avian flu. If she was still a Tory MP, I wonder if her approach would be the same?

We must be mad letting the some of the people that run our institutions run them. They are not "fit for purpose" and should leave now. The shareholders are threatening legal action that could tie up the Treasury in knots for years.

This won't be that temporary, but it could so well have been settled by a "midnight solution". What fools we are!

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Delia deals out the chicken shit to Jamie Oliver and Co!

Delia Smith was once the butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth pin-up cookery queen of the BBC. She came up with all sorts of wholesome food, described in rather bossy tones. No drooling over the food like the Barefoot Contessa!

Now Queen Delia has decided to cash in on what she delicately calls cookery cheating. The supermarkets and food producers are all over her like a rash. She's not cheating on spreading her favours though. They all get equal measures. She's got some great idea about making a shepherd's pie, which was topped with frozen mashed potato from the Aunt Bessie's range. Heinz, who make this, are predicting a rise in sales and are highly excited. Delia claims she's not benifiting from the supermarket sales. Maybe not directly, but via some sort of circuitous route to her coffers, no doubt!

But the real rub is that she poo poo's the stance of Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in campaigning against chicken cruelty. "I'll stick to teaching people to cook. I can't get into the politics of food." No, maybe not, but she can certainly make a buck or two from some poor clucker's misfortune to have spent it's life in a cage!

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Portuguese Government makes sardines out of small parties!

The Portuguese were never really very good at democracy. We're now being run in Europe by a Portuguese, José Manuel Durão Barroso, and he gives scant regard to democracy and democratic values. Referendums are to him what Mrs. McCain senior thinks her son will be to the Republican Party faithful.

The rogues in Lisbon have decided that, from March this year, no political party may legally exist unless it has 5000 members or more. Where on earth is a fledgling political party going to get such numbers from in order to start?

The new law stinks! It is manipulation of the first order. The names and addresses of the members must be given to the Portuguese authorities. Big Brother wants you for his own! Of the fourteen political parties that exist in Portugal today, only four will be allowed to exist after March 2008. This great wrong has been exposed by Nigel Farage, MEP, leader of UKIP.

Democrats around the world should know what a stiflingly bureaucratic nightmare these weasels that run the EU have created.

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Purnell plays housey housey with allowances!

New Labour are a real shower! The latest scoundrel to be caught in the headlights is James Purnell. He's not done anything illegal, but it's iffy all the same. The cheeky chappy has two homes. OK as it stands, but he declared one to be his primary residence for the tax authorities and declared the other his primary residence to the Commons authorities. Just so he could benefit from a tax wheeze.

Called the "sideburned schmoozer" by his colleagues, he's now been outed as a sleaze-bag too! Don't they ever learn?

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Opinions of Paul were not sought in poll of Texas Primary Voters

The Texas Credit Union League has come up with a Poll of Texas Primary Voters. Usual stuff in what is becoming the usual manner for conducting this presidential election. The poll, which sampled 400 members of each party (it has a margin of error of five percentage points) asked various questions. About the economy, Iraq, terrorism, etc. On the Republican side, it comes out putting Huckabee four percentage points behind McCain. Shows the Texas Republicans aren't ready for the fat lady's song yet!

But one glaring piece of info comes right out from the page of this report. They didn't bother to ask people what they thought of Ron Paul. Another poll that puts the politics of the pundit before those of the public!

Democracy! Don't you just love it.

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It's "More Than a Feeling" Huckabee gets told!

Mike Huckabee has a feeling he might do well in the primaries still to come. He may get enough support to give the Republican Convention the feeling that a real debate on policy needs to take place. However, he's stirred up feelings with a man who doesn't share his feelings. Tom Scholz, who wrote the 1970s smash hit song "More Than a Feeling" claims Huckabee is using the song without his permission. Oh dear, bad feelings.

Huckabee's band is called Capitol Offense. Good name for a band using a song that the writer doesn't want used as he's supporting a candidate in another party, namely Barack Obama!


More Than A Feeling Lyrics

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"Permit me to have a permit, please", smokers to ask!

Another New Labour stooge has come up with a wheeze to help smokers overcome their wheezes! He wants them to opt-in to the smoking culture by filling out a form. He thinks this will put them off smoking before they start. This financially dodgy-thinking former chairman of Health England goes by the posh name of Julian Le Grand. I suppose a New Labour type couldn't get a better name.

He thinks £10 annual licence would help them kick the habit. To be fair to this logic (but only a bit!), I would think it a real hassle filling out the form, especially if there were hundreds of irrelevant questions on it. But that's where my support ends.

The real problem here is that it would cost TEN times as much for bureaucrats to vet the wretched things. Not only that, it would give the authorities unwarranted information about people.

Stephen Pound, a not-so-New Labour MP, quite rightly says it is "completely insane”. He added, “I hope they consider this for five minutes then spit it out. It is crazy and will divert attention and money from the real issue - helping people to give up smoking.” Hear! Hear!

Professor Le Grand (professing what, exactly?) should think before he speaks, because this sort of stuff just makes a mockery of good governance. And what of the smokers who don't fill in the form? Perhaps they can be locked up in the smoking chamber at East Midlands Airport!

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Romney sees good business deal in McCain endorsement

Mitt Romney has eventually decided to endorse John McCain. It's not exactly brotherly love, more a decision taken by a businessman looking at a bad set of accounts. This makes it more than likely that McCain will get the nomination, but he won't get the hearts and minds so easily.

Romney declared that there was "no doubt in my mind that this individual should be the next President of the United States. I am officially endorsing his candidacy and today I'm asking my delegates to vote for Senator McCain at the convention. This is a man capable of leading our country at a dangerous hour. Senator McCain understands the war we're in, the necessity of victory, and the consequences of surrender. For him national security is not just another agenda item, it is the abiding concern and responsibility of the nation."

This is the whole thing, isn't it? Why are so many American politicians (and British ones for that matter!) Jekyll and Hyde characters. McCain talks of 100 years if necessary to win the war. Romney's just burbled a load of nonsense. How can he talk of victory if he doesn't know what the war is intended to do? This will go on for a 100 years if they cannot get two brains to think of a remedy.

And linking national security with the mayhem in Iraq is less than edifying. National security in America can only be assured in this context if the warmongers see sense and PLAN for a reconstruction rather than hope for a "victory". No Arab is ever going to believe the Western coalition if it all sounds like a one-sided walkover.

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Ron Paul's Revolution rocks a Fact(or Fiction?)Check.org writer!

Ron Paul is beginning to rub up the various think tank thinkers and political pundits that abound within the American chattering class. One such organisation is FactCheck.org who have set themselves up as "Fact" monitors, where in fact they are just putting forward their views as much as Ron Paul is.

They, or more particularly writer Joe Miller, rubbishes Paul's assertion that the NAFTA Super Highway is contrary to American interests. Whether there will be a highway of such a nature is something of political opinion. Ron Paul thinks it will happen. This all sounds like the old Common Market of Europe saying it would never be a European Union.

Joe Miller has his views. He doesn't have facts any more than Ron Paul does. Politics is about the perception of motives, views and actions. If FactCheck.org thinks their "facts" are just staring at a line in the sand, then this organisation is based on a fiction.

Miller also casts doubt on Ron Paul's $1 trillion per year spending. It all depends Mr.Miller. If you're in favour of squandering money on an Iraqi war without having written down ANY plan for reconstruction, then the present situation is certainly not a free lunch. A lot of what is being spent overseas is backed up by spending domestically.

Joe Miller doesn't have "facts". He has his view on how the money is spent or not spent. FictionCheck.org would be a better name or maybe FantasyCheck.org!

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The miserable parsimonious Mr.Brown!

The Ministry of Defence has long been bleating that they have given good and proper support to the British Army fighting this terrible conflict in Afghanistan. At times one wonders if King Canute has not come back to life and is secretly offering advice from a back room somewhere.

Today the Government has been heavily criticised for leaving the army so poorly resourced. Two coroners have laid into the Government by denouncing the level of support. Oxford assistant coroner Andrew Walker accused the MoD of "a breach of trust" over the death of Capt James Philippson. Mr Walker said, "They (the soldiers) were defeated not by the terrorists but by the lack of basic equipment. To send soldiers into a combat zone without basic equipment is unforgivable, inexcusable and a breach of trust between the soldiers and those who govern them."

He recorded a narrative verdict in which he said Capt Philippson was unlawfully killed. Unlawfully killed! All the time this conflict has been going on, we've had half-hearted support and weasal words. No wonder, because it comes from a government that has lied and fixed things to suit its own ends.

The MoD has admitted an "administrative error" led to a 25-day delay in getting equipment to the front line. Is this all they can come up with? The lives and deaths of our soldiers are an "admininstrative error"? Why do we let them get away with it?

The father of Capt Phillipson quite rightly says today that the previous Chancellor kept money from going to the army. He called him, "the miserable parsimonious Mr.Brown" and under the circumstances no other comment really suffices.

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Obama and McCain forge ahead

Whilst it is not over yet, it would be a poor commentator who felt that both Barack Obama and John McCain were not on course for their party's respective nomination. I see Obama as the obvious choice for the Democrats. Why? Because he will attempt a better change in the American system of governance than Hillary Clinton. The fact that she is losing her base of white women, black middle classes and the educated young to Obama is a signal that the race could be over for her.

Some have suggested that Obama is untried and untested as a national politician, and is too young for being President. That's baloney. No one is too young or too old, it's what they can offer and achieve that matters. In that, Obama is succeeding in getting a coalition of all sorts behind him. That's leadership!

McCain on the other hand has only managed to get his own supporters to support him. He is still seen as being a man of contradiction, one who lacks conviction, and who does not appeal to the conservative-minded. He will have a tough job on his hand to convince many Republicans that he is their man.

They say a mother knows her son(s) best of all. John McCain mother talks of the party holding its nose. McCain will need all the perfumes of paradise at the convention. Maybe he might do it. Who knows?

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John McCain on the issues - like the Roman god Janus!

The Roman god Janus had his name given to the month of January because he looked two ways. Looking back at the old year and into the new. On some issues, John McCain takes after Janus, by looking at a subject in two ways!

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GOP divided in Washington State caucus

The Republican Party is having its caucus in Washington State and it seems that John McCain is only slightly ahead of Mike Huckabee, with Ron Paul a close third. Even with Mitt Romney leaving the stage to powder his nose he has managed a sizeable chunk of support.

Is this race a done deal or what?

The Seattle Times has been following 500 or so eager Republicans debating the finer points of policy. In one precinct, four Paul backers and three McCain supporters debated the Iraq war while trying to persuade the other side to switch. Keith Neanover, 26, who served a yearlong tour in Iraq as an Army platoon leader, told the Paul faithful their conspiracy theories are wrong and that the Iraqi people were excited about starting their own government. "Trust me, it's not about the oil," he said. "I was over there. It's about democracy."

Yeah, that would be OK, except that to label Ron Paul's campaign as "conspiracy theories" is not what it is about. There is no conspiracy about the war. It's about how it was started and conducted. Hardly a conspiracy. And Keith - you're a bit naive to think it's not about the oil, because if the oil went elsewhere, such as Europe with euros, I think George W. Bush would be rattling a few cages. And if it's democracy, make sure you give the best advice possible. We don't want them having hanging chads and electronic voting glitches, do we?

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Dead man lay under sofa for 10 years!

I'm forgetful, but if a pal of mine stayed stuffed under the sofa for 10 years I'd think it might just jolt my memory. But then I haven't got mental problems as such. Life can be bizarre at times.

Alan Derek, 68, who has admitted to having "mental problems", kept the body of his pal hidden under an upturned sofa. His pal, whom he'd given a room to as a lodger, apparently just died whilst sitting on the sofa TEN years ago. Alan must have panicked, fearing the council would evict him for having a lodger, and just turned the sofa upside down with the body of his pal underneath.

Neighbours complained for years about the stench coming from the flat. Council officials did nothing. You'd think someone would have had an inkling that the foul odour was worth investigating. The thing that springs to my mind is that many council officials think that social housing people should just get on with their privations and poverty, so long as they don't default on rent or cause trouble in the streets.

Now Bristol City Council has launched an investigation into the death. Nothing much to investigate, I'd say. These investigations, reviews, commissions, call them what you like are there to save the faces of the bureaucrats.

The only real investigation is to see whether Alan Derek is suffering from a severe rhinitis condition. If the stink was that great, he needs a nose job complete with a whole new olfactory system!

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Huckabee still hounds McCain

Despite coming under pressure to quit the race, Mike Huckabee has scored a considerable success in winning two of the three state primaries this weekend. Huckabee has every right to remain in the race. The whole idea of primaries and caucuses is for ordinary folk to have a say in who gets to be the party nominee. It just goes to show that they aren't going to be a pushover by the manipulators.

John McCain may be a very brave man, he may very well look after the United States to the best of his abilities, but he keeps saying and doing things that put people off. Whatever the pundits say, he only has a third of the Republican Party base on side. He may look good in delegate count but there is a large slice of the American population that still thinks twice!

Mike Huckabee is after the so-called conservative vote and is still a force in this arena. In that, he strikes me as being a tad more genuine than Romney. Ron Paul is on a mission to rid the US of big government, unnecessary taxes, inflationary tendencies and the current penchant to meddle in people's freedom. Both need to stay in the race so that there is a proper debate at the convention.

The BBC is promoting McCain as the "all but assured" candidate. The but is the thing!

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Ron Paul to fight on in leaner condition!

Ron Paul is being seen by some as thinking of opting out of the race. This is because he sent an email to supporters.

"Let me tell you my thoughts. With Romney gone, the chances of a brokered convention are nearly zero. But that does not affect my determination to fight on, in every caucus and primary remaining, and at the convention for our ideas, with just as many delegates as I can get. But with so many primaries and caucuses now over, we do not now need so big a national campaign staff, and so I am making it leaner and tighter. Of course, I am committed to fighting for our ideas within the Republican party, so there will be no third party run. I do not denigrate third parties -- just the opposite, and I have long worked to remove the ballot-access restrictions on them. But I am a Republican, and I will remain a Republican."

A brokered convention was the aim, seeing as how Ron Paul's ideas were being sidelined. But by going on to the finish, two things will emerge. He will continue to be seen as a contestant so there will be debates and discussions. And his ideas will go forward to the convention, backed up by as many delegates as can be garnered.

John McCain would be a fool to ignore the significant feeling within the USA, and outside, for the ideas that Ron Paul puts forward. There is still work to be done.

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Archbishop and Ron Paul opposite ends of media spectrum!

I've been musing on the way the media has the power to give someone a bashing or a trashing or offer a lauding and promotion. Or they may just ignore you!

The Archbishop of Canterbury has been given a right pasting by the UK press, most of whom are secular sedantrists who find it excrutiatingly hard to comprehend what he was on about. No matter, the readers like a good bit of bish-bashing, so let it rip! He's high up on the percentage for "Main Newsmaker" category. Possibly in the 90% mark.

Ron Paul, on the other hand, is in the "let's ignore the bugger" category, in the vain hope that he may go away quietly. So he's in "Minor Newsmaker" category, if there is such a thing.

Both men are being used by the media for their own ends. Objective journalism, well-researched knowledgeable stories are a thing of the past. It's all soundbites and computer copied stuff. It's pandering to the masses, so long as they don't get uppity. Any cerebral journalist gets a hard time.

Thank God, literally, for the internet. We can strike back!

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Islam in English Law - by the Archbishop of Canterbury

This is what the Archbishop of Canterbury is talking about. Should there be a case for Sharia law in certain civil matters. It exists already. It's very interesting how he has been castigated by people who appear not to have understood his approach. But then they may not want to.

What I'd say to the politicians and press commentators who are going on about "British" law, is that the laws of England are quite capable of embracing contextual differences. It is not a case of Sharia law usurping English law, but of existing within it, if that is what is wanted. I would think it highly unlikely to move forward, given the current viewpoint, but then we haven't had the debate or even a review! Its been interesting watching the detractors of the Archbishop wobble between English law and "British" law, with frowns and furrows of brief concern. They put their prejudices before the facts, that's the trouble.

Unless all devout Muslims, mostly wearing "Islamic dress", who are in favour of such a move, are deported or told to knuckle under, it will remain a fact that there are differences. It always amazes me that those chattering liberals who profess faith in a multicultural society, only want it as such when it suits them.

It is also a pity that the intellectual capacity of our national leaders has fallen so much. But then I'm old enough to remember people saying of the late Iain Macleod that he was "too clever by half"! Doesn't pay in England to think outside the box.

The people of England, in their secular ways, want the Archbishop of Canterbury in some ecclesial box where no jokers pop out!

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OFFICIAL! - Ron Paul gets stiffed by US Media!

You couldn't make it up, could you? In the Land of the Free, the only man campaigning for FREEDOM is denied proper access to the "Mainstream Media". Would you want American democracy in its present condition exported to your country?

Ron Paul has set alight a new Revolution. The suits and the slickers want him silenced. They allow Clinton and Obama to go on talking about "Change" but this is not about changing your government, it's about making sure that the government respects and honours your freedoms. No good being a free person if all you get is being stuck in red tape, regulation, and/or redneck rhetoric!

Guess what? Journalism.org have been doing some fine stuff checking up on who gets mentioned most. Ron Paul is not there in the "Main Newsmaker" category (50% or more of the story content) or even "Significant Presence" (between 25% and 50% of the story content). Not a dickybird!!

Wouldn't you think that a candidate who can raise so much online cash, has ballot disputes in several primaries, is courting the young voters as well as the old, has controversial views (for some!) and is DEFINITELY NOT QUITTING might just get SOME Significant Presence? After all, Bill Clinton is high up on the list and he isn't in the race. Put his ratings and Hillary's together and they're stellar. Obama beats the lot. So no level playing field. Have you tried playing cricket on a gridiron? It's definitely not cricket and neither is this.

Democracy? Don't you just love it! That's why we need the Ron Paul Revolution.

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