Telegraph – A Doomsday Machine for Parliament
Chicken Yoghurt – Bill and Coup
Chicken Yoghurt – Myrmidons are made of this
Kill the bill. Save. Parliament.
Kill the bill
Posted in Tony 'King Blair
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Why you should march this weekend
Independent – Blair on Iraq: ‘I’d do it all again’: Unrepentant and unmoved in spite of the rising death toll, Tony Blair has declared that if he was faced with the same circumstances, he would support the invasion of Iraq all over again.
And it looks like he’s going to get his chance… Iran is next.
Jack Straw beats the drum here. (Related article here.)
Yesterday, the White House released George W. Bush’s second term National Security Strategy (document | fact sheet).
It reaffirms the doctrine of pre-emptive war.
Here, it should be pointed out that a 1986 law requires that this strategy be revised annually, but this is the first new version since 2002 (source). Ignore the wrist-slapping that Bush is sure to avoid and instead consider this; the first revision was essentially a declaration of war against Iraq (money shot)… and this second revision is essentially a declaration of war against Iran.
DailyKos: See what just happened? Think back to 2002/2003 – the argument against Saddam from the Administration was that he had actual WMD’s. The uranium allegations were the icing on the yellowcake, so to speak, as it raised the fears of a “smoking gun in the form of a mushroom cloud.” Yet, the uranium was only one part of the entire case that Colin Powell made before the UN on February 5, 2003. Yet, as everyone soon became aware after the invasion of Iraq, there were no actual WMD’s in Iraq. The Administration had egg on its face, and critics such as Joe Wilson helped provide the egg cartons. But, now, with this new document, that scenario will not happen again. The Bush Administration is no longer interested in actual weapons programs or evidence of weapon development. Their entire anti-nuclear proliferation policy now will rest upon the presence of fissile material in a country.
Meanwhile, Condi is out and about describing Iran as a central banker for terrorism.
There’s no denying it any more… the stage is being set for a repeat of the Iraq disaster.
This weekend, there will be over 200 demonstrations worldwide to mark the third anniversary of the illegal invasion of Iraq, and to call for peace and sanity. I urge you to attend.
Posted in The War on Stupid
3 Comments
Dreams come true
Last week, it came to my attention that the American Dream had come true for one little boy with autism. So far so good. Well done, Jason McElwain. Seriously.
But when the nickname ‘J-Mac’ is applied and George W. Bush takes time out to hug the kid in public (“I’ll call you J-Mac, you call me G.W.”)… I’m sorry, but I find it hard not to vomit.
Still, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe that I have found next week’s Feel-Good Story Of The Year.
Britney may as well retire now. This kid is going to be a star and nothing is going to stop him.
Posted in Video
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Engage brain. Win a sofa.
A bit of work for you, folks:
The upshot for British bloggers:
Blog about your sofa – or perhaps someone else’s – and you would win a sofa… a pretty nifty one, at that (you get to choose your own size, style, colour and fabric).
Pretty straightforward, yes?
Have fun…. and good luck.
(Note – Those of you sitting in the cheap seats may choose to submit an entry via email.)
Posted in Search Engine Optimisation
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Remind you of anything?
Scotsman – Gawker ‘stalker map’ tracks celebs: A row is brewing in New York over a new website that can publish details of celebrity sightings in the city within minutes – complete with a map pinpointing exactly where the star was spotted. Popular gossip site Gawker.com’s “stalker map” uses the Google map service to plot the location of the famous face as soon as possible after the tip comes in. Some readers even send in their spots straight away from their BlackBerry email devices and two interns have been employed to sift through the messages, so close to real-time tracking movie stars, such as Julia Roberts, is possible.
This post contains a typical explanation/disclaimer from Gawker.com: Sightings are sent in by readers and fact-checked by no one. Some may, yes, be fabricated – it’s up to you to smell a rat. A reminder: Mapped pinpoints are posted anywhere from 15 minutes to a couple of hours from when readers first send them in, which provides an ample window for celebrities to move about before facing certain death exacted by their violently obsessive fans.
I’d like to think that there’s a clear difference between this and keeping a ruthless, sadistic maniac off the streets…. but do correct me if I’m wrong.
Posted in Teh Interwebs
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Another Guantanomaly
Independent – MI5, Camp Delta, and the story that shames Britain: Bisher al-Rawi and Jamil el-Banna are among eight British residents who remain prisoners at the U.S. Naval Air Station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They are jailed because British officials rendered them into the hands of the CIA in Africa, a fact that may explain why the British government refuses to intercede on their behalf. Bisher and Jamil have been wrongfully imprisoned now for more than three years. This is the story of their betrayal by the British government and their appalling treatment at the hands of the CIA and the U.S. military.
Hang on… Africa? Weren’t all these men arrested in Afghanistan? In a cave? While shaking hands with Osama bin Laden?
Posted in It's War! It's Legal! It's Lovely!
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Responsible foreign policy
Independent – Britain and US complicit in Jericho raid, says Abbas: Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, condemned the armed Israeli raid on Jericho’s prison as an “ugly crime that cannot be forgiven” yesterday and strongly implied Britain and the US had been complicit in it… In his second uncharacteristically strong denunciation of Britain and the US, Mr Abbas said that the Israeli force had arrived on Tuesday within 10 minutes of the three British monitors abandoning the jail. “I’m giving the facts,” he added. “They [the monitors] left at 9.20am and the Israelis came in at 9.30am. How can we explain that?”
And now, here’s that same story in a single picture.
Posted in It's War! It's Legal! It's Lovely!
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Yarrrrrr… it be mutiny!
Oh dear. Someone forgot to tell Jack Dromey that Tony Blair is the captain of good ship Labour, and the only man who can safely navigate it through the treacherous waters ahead.
BBC– Labour loans to be investigated: Labour’s treasurer has revealed that he and other elected officials did not know the party had secretly borrowed millions of pounds last year. Jack Dromey said he will investigate the issue with the party’s general secretary and report next Tuesday. His comments follow a furore over three men recommended for peerages after lending Labour money. Unlike donations, loans do not have to be declared. Mr Dromey said Downing Street had not shown enough respect for the party. He is calling on the Electoral Commission to investigate the issue of political parties taking out loans from non-commercial sources.
Guardian – An Exocet across a reeling Downing Street
Times – Loans secrecy improper, admits Labour official
Independent – Another Labour donor walks away from peerage
FT – Labour launches inquiry into loans to party
Scotsman – Labour treasurer launches ‘cash for peerages’ inquiry
The ScumSleaze row mars vote win
MEMO
To: Cap’n Blair
From: First Mate Campbell
Subject: Booty
Message: I be certain we can blame this on the cabin boy, but be sure to withdraw yer willy before ye be pointin’ the finger.
UPDATE – Remember, folks… it is unthinking acts of rebellion like this and this that hand power to the Conservatives… not Tony Blair’s continued insistence that his is the only vision for the future.
UPDATE – BlairWatch – Beyond Snouts in the Trough: Labour’s False Accounting?
UPDATE – Purchase a virtual peerage. (Can’t I just *loan* them the money?)
Posted in Tony 'King Blair
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Power!
Following the news that wholesale gas prices quadrupled on Monday, we’ve had a series of comforting brown-outs (voltage drops) in the Guildford area over the last couple of days. Tickles dark corners of my memory, so it does….
Posted in Inneresting
2 Comments
Enter the ‘official’ police ‘web blog’
The Policeman’s Blog – More Police Blogs: (T)hese ones won’t be appearing on the sidebar because… well have a look and decide for yourselves. See what happens when Britain’s public sector takes a viable concept (in this case a blog) and adapts it for it’s own purposes. The result is enough to make one kill oneself.
Never Trust a Hippy – They’re all at it now…: Why does this remind me of that scene when Lt Hauk takes over the broadcast in Good Morning Vietnam? “Ho ho ho Frenchy!”
An hour after reading it, I’m still laughing at that comment by Paulie. It’s spot on.
(Here’s a 715Kb MP3 reminder for those who feel they need it.)
PC Copperfield brings the following to our attention:
Official West Yorks PCSO Blogger Mark Dunkley
Official South East Kent Blog
But if you visit Mark ‘Dunker’ Dunkley’s blog, you are also invited to find out ‘what it’s like being special’ over at The Diary of Special Constable 8554 Mary-Ann Ferry.
Awww, they’ve even included her Special number. Bless.
The icing on the cake is the repeated description of the Dunker abortion as a “web blog”… complete with inverted commas.
This development follows a recent attempt to weed out or reign in any independent police bloggers, which led to the retirement of the World Weary Detective.
(I really must thank whoever scraped these monstrosities from the bottom of the bucket; I have to chat with some councillors on Thursday and this has provided me with three excellent examples of What Not To Do.)
Posted in The Political Weblog Movement
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