America a View From Over Here

New Blog

2010-10-04T13:52:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, I have a new blog one with a less specific subject matter.... So please join me at The Grasshopper. No major subject just anything i feel like talking about... Though i will talk about some American stuff too :). Hope to see you there!

the junior christian science bible lesson show

2009-09-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

I have been looking for this clip for sometime and Ive finally found it. Its from a public broadcast channel and is called the the junior christian science bible lesson show , it surely is the work of the devil! Or a genius!

Firstly, i think you must be a rather disturbed child to watch and enjoy this show, the puppets are the most ungodly looking thinks i have ever seen, trampy and sinister is i think the best way to describe them. I think modern children and even children of the 90's older than 6 or 7 are aware of production values of some kind, which this show is completely lacking in. I'm guessing here that its aimed at ages 4-8 years old, yet they talk about all kinds of drugs. I'm pretty sure i was unaware of crack cocaine until i was at least 14, in the sense i did not know the specific names of drugs. I knew of drugs and i knew they were bad and that was enough. Maybe i lived in an innocent world i don't know but it seems a little to heavy for a young audience.

From an adult point of view the show is immensely entertaining, you can appreciate the awful puppets the rank colours and the complete lack of effort to match the puppets mouths with the words they are supposed to be saying, in a completely satirical way. Andy Nyman is spot on about Albert Hermann, he very well could have been the man in charge of Buchenwald. My personal favourite bit has to be when the other puppet that looks like Albert tells his story about his ex wife who now has a crack habit...... that is so mental.

Capitalism: A Love Story

2009-08-25T00:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the trailer for Micheal Moore's Film Capitalism: A Love Story....

Well it looks like your standard Moore documentary, which means it will probably be good. One other good thing is the trailer music which is M.I.A's song Paper Planes, great song and she is HOT!!!! too. :)

Boycott Scotland!?

2009-08-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

Morten Morland The Times

I am utterly undecided whether it was right or wrong to release Abdel Baset Al-Megrahi who was convicted over the Lockerbie Bombing. According to reports he is suffering from prostate cancer and he may have only 3 months to live. Yet this is the only man to be convicted for the deaths of 270 people in the Lockerbie Bombing in 1988. He was finally convicted in 2001 but Hans Köchler (who was a UN observer) "characterized the initial trial verdict of 31 January 2001 as "inconsistent" and "arbitrary". On the day of the announcement of the appeal verdict (14 March 2002) he described the dismissal of the convicted Libyan national’s appeal as a "spectacular miscarriage of justice".

Last week Al-Megrahi was released on "compassionate grounds" and return to Libya to die, by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

Kenny MacAskill and Scotland are now taking the brunt of American reactionary's forces, all too quick too pass there own judgement and level thier own punishment. MacAskill was following the rule of law, the system of justice that the Scottish people haven chosen to live by. Alex Salmond the First Minister (a man who i dislike very much i may add) i think sums up Scotland's position and why they had to do it...

I said at the top of this that i was undecided, i have changed my mind. After reading up and watching somethings my view has changed, reading over what i have wrote already i can see what my position was all along. It was not wrong to release him. Al-Megrahi has 3 months to live, whether he ends his days in Prison or in Libya is no longer relevant, he is going to die. 3 more months is not going to be reparation for those who have died and to keep him in prison in my opinion is morally wrong. Scotland is bound by its laws and they followed them to the letter in releasing him and that is not a bad thing. It is a noble act that follows the law of the land and nothing else, not pressure from America or Westminster nor the grief of those who have died. That is the point of having a justice system, it is concrete and all empowering and not to be changed on a casual whim.

Almost all the flack has come from the USA. A country whose laws do not allow for compassion.

MrNobody808

There are those in America that do not agree including Obama and Clinton. This is issue is black and white to them, that he was convicted and thus must die in prison. That is American justice but not that of Scotland. The most irritating and ridiculous campaign has begun, its like its 2001 all over again. Some unknown peoples have started this website boycottscotland.com to punish not only Scotland but the United Kingdom as a whole. They say.....

The government of Scotland has decided to release convicted Lockerbie terrorist bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi on "compassionate grounds."

The government of the United Kingdom has washed its hands of the entire affair, allowing the Scottish government total freedom in taking this perfidious action against the families of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103.

The British Government has not intervened because this issue is entirely Scottish, it is not within the jurisdiction of the British Government to do anything about it. Scotland has its own Parliment and its own laws that are not subject to Westminster control. Not only to blame Scotland for following the rule of law they also blame the whole UK for not acting to stop it when they have no power to do so.

Unless the Scottish government rescinds this decision to release al-Megrahi, and if the British Parliament continues to avoid intervening in the matter, we urge all Americans to protest this action by boycotting the United Kingdom and Scotland in full. Don't travel to Scotland or do business there (or in the United Kingdom in general) and don't buy any British or Scottish products.

Ultimatley the plan for these guys is to rename some sort of food stuff in protest over this...

Most especially after the horrific events of 9/11, the world needs to be reminded that terrorism must be punished and never rewarded. Terrorists must never be shown compassion or mercy, for these people have no respect for human life. The British, who ironically have themselves been victim to numerous acts of terrorism on their own soil, seem to have forgotten.

Maybe if we showed more compassion and mercy they would be less willing to bomb us? This is the most ignorant and irelevent argument founded on the excact principles which Americans claim to be against.

Lest there be any doubt, this boycott is not aimed against the people of Scotland or the United Kingdom, but against the governments of Scotland and Britain.

Oh really so who the hell do you think it will hurt the most? It is a direct attack on the people of Scotland. Arse.

So is the boycott of Scotand and the United Kingdom going to include Televison, Penecilin, the telepone, the jet engine, THE INTERNET!!!

The facts are, Scotland followed its laws, Westminster has no power to change that decision, the guy is dieing and the American argument is inhuman. It is not a valid argument to say, he is a terrorist thus he shows no mercy or compassion so we must intern do the same to him. That is not the foundation stones of western beliefs, but i am not surprised at the American reaction at all, typically American is all i can say.

"Cake is a made up Drug....... by sick Bastards"

2009-08-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Your child could be splatted... by a roboplegic wrongcock
Brass Eye Paedophilia Special

Ive been following American news for sometime now and getting most of it from American news networks. Previously anything i heard i had seen or read in the British media. There is a stark difference in style between British and American news reporting, especially how it is reported on the television. But there are some similarities, i would say that many of the American news (Fox mostly) networks are ever so similar to the British tabloid press, sensationalist, hypocritically moralistic and down right GUFF!

British news thankfully has not descended into the Partisan warfare of American News Networks (yet!), mostly because the BBC sets a certain standard of neutrality and quality that other networks try to emulate. You will never see on British TV presenters bragging about the ratings of their news cast and channel compared to others....... The British media is not perfect though and as such it has been at the butt of many a satire show, which segways perfectly to what i really want to talk about...... The most Important TV show of the 1990's..... Brass Eye.

Brass Eye was the creation of Chris Morris and is a satire on how news is presented in the press. Broadcast from 1997 the show made lots of stupid people very angry, and i love it when a show does that.

It was conceived as a sequel to Morris's earlier spoof news programmes On the Hour and The Day Today, and satirised the media's portrayal of various social ills, in particular, sensationalism and the creation of moral panics.

Its genius, i would show you a clip now but all the Youtube Video's have been disabled but here is one from The Day Today.....

Brass Eye only lasted one series and had a one off special show as it created such a moral storm in the media.......

Brass Eye aroused considerable controversy when it was first broadcast, primarily because prominent public figures were fooled into pledging onscreen support for fictitious, and often plainly absurd, charities and causes.

Morris highlighted how easy it was to get well known public figures to talk about and pledge support for things that they had no knowledge off. The first and only series was brilliant, covering the topics off.......

"Animals" (29 January 1997)
"Drugs" (5 February 1997)
"Science" (12 February 1997)
"Sex" (19 February 1997)
"Crime" (26 February 1997)
"Decline" (5 March 1997)

These shows as good as they are, pale in comparison to the very controversial Paedophilia Special. Making comedy out of Paedophilia! Not really, it was comedy about how Paedophilia was reported. An excellent satire on such a unspeakable problem in comedy circles.

In 2001, the series was repeated, along with a new show, which tackled the subject of paedophilia and the associated moral panic prevalent in parts of the British media at the time following the death of Sarah Payne, focusing on the controversial 'name and shame' campaign of the News of the World. This included an incident in 2000, in which a paediatrician in Newport had the word 'PAEDO' daubed in yellow paint on her home.

Around 2000 complaints were received regarding the show, and some politicians hastily spoke out against Morris. Beverley Hughes described the show as "unspeakably sick" (while admitting that she had not seen the programme) and David Blunkett said he was "dismayed" by it. Although she did not criticise the show, Tessa Jowell was reported as asking the Independent Television Commission to revise its rules to allow such a controversial show to be prevented from broadcast even though she had not watched the actual episode of the show. There was also a vociferous tabloid campaign against Morris, who refused to discuss the issue. The episode went on to win a Broadcast magazine award in 2002.

The show caused a furor among sections of the British tabloid press. The Daily Star printed an article decrying Morris and the show, apparently unaware of the piece's ironic and hypocritical juxtaposition with a separate article about the then 15-year-old singer Charlotte Church's breasts under the headline "She's a big girl now". Similarly, and also with no hint of irony, the Daily Mail featured pictures of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who were 13 and 11 at the time respectively, in their bikinis next to a headline describing Brass Eye as "Unspeakably Sick". Defenders of the show argued that the media reaction to the show reinforced its satire of the media's hysteria and hypocrisy on the subject of paedophilia

The reason i bring this up is that the traits that Morris highlighted in Brass Eye are oh so evident in American News, Bill O is an obvious example of that, it was noted by Charlie Brooker that Bill O raged against "permissive society" at one point then sits there drooling over Bikini clad girls the next. Further to that there is the whole abortion issue which resulted in the murder of George Tiller.

I would love to see what would happen if Brass Eye was Broadcast in America, i could only imagine the complete hypocracy of the many News moralists...... LMFAO

There are plenty of clips on youtube heres the link..... Brass Eye

The Mormons

2009-08-19T23:45:00.000-07:00

The hotel where i work has been invaded by Mormons or as some people i know call them Morons. There is some sort of Mormon God Squad convention going on so the place is absolutely full of Americans, their arrival got me thinking though, what do i really know about Mormons....... Well as it turns out not alot, this is what i know.

1. They love this guy called Joseph Smith.

2. They claim the Israelites where from America. Or something like that.

3. Some but not all think Polygamy is Cool.

4. They like Utah.

5. There's something about Gold Plaques but I'm not sure what that's all about.

And that's it really..... And what have i learnt since they arrived...

1. They all seem very nice ands polite.

2. They are all very very very very very boring.

3. They can't drink anything with caffeine in it. WTF.

4. They look like a cult when their all in those suits.

I am not a believing man, you may have guessed that already, but I'm always intrigued by religious groups especially strange and more obviously more made up ones. Which Mormonism is. It seems to me blatantly made up and was made up for one single reason. That reason is Mr Smith wanted a more direct connection between America and Jesus. That whole concept is wrapped up in American Exceptionalism, that America is something more, something greater and something God given. So what is the best way to show that, start an American version of Christianity. That's the way it seems to me anyways, though my knowledge about Mormons is limited this is the impression i get.

This month has been really busy with various religious types staying in the hotel, a few weeks back i met the Islamic version of the Pope, the guy who does stuff in Mecca and now more Mormons than i can really handle.

How the hell did we get involved!

2009-08-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

Somehow we in Britain have been dragged into the Healthcare debate in America by a couple of British Conservatives and the Republicans. Much to my dismay our very own conservatives have been bumming up to their Republican brother by criticising the National Health Service. Here is Daniel Hannan MEP who i see is a complete moron on Glenn Becks show.

Jesus Christ!!! What a load of CRAP! Obama is not even proposing an NHS style system in America and if he was he would be right to do so. What is most annoying for me is people like Mr Hannan are using the NHS as a political football in America but I'm sure as hell he wouldn't try it here because he would never win re-election. Some of the things that have been said are so wrong it angers me to within an inch of breaking my computer.

The National Health Service has become the butt of increasingly outlandish political attacks in the US as Republicans and conservative campaigners rail against Britain's "socialist" system .........Top-ranking Republicans have joined bloggers and well-funded free market organisations in scorning the NHS for its waiting lists and for "rationing" the availability of expensive treatments......As myths and half-truths circulate, British diplomats in the US are treading a delicate line in correcting falsehoods while trying to stay out of a vicious domestic dogfight over the future of American health policy.....Slickly produced television advertisements trumpet the alleged failures of the NHS's 61-year tradition of tax-funded healthcare. To the dismay of British healthcare professionals.
The Gaurdian

This has been big news here and the Conservatives are getting alot of bad press from it, even the right wing newspapers are getting stuck in as they know unlike the Conservative Party (who are aload of rich Eton boys lacking any knowledge of how life is for the rest of us) that the NHS is very popular and its almost political suicide to talk like they have.

David Cameron's claim that the Tories were the party of the NHS was blown to pieces yesterday as colleagues lined up to rubbish the health service.

The Tory leader was left reeling when a second Conservative MEP waded in to back up Euro MP Daniel Hannan's astonishing attack on our dedicated and professional hospital staff.

Roger Helmer said Mr Hannan had "done us all a service". He added: "If the Americans came to me and said would you recommend us taking up a system just like the NHS, I would say 'No'."
Dailly Mirror

The Labour Party has come back at them, which is good to see here Peter Mandelson says it how it is.

The NHS IS NOT PERFECT, but at least you will get treated unlike 50 million Americans that wont, Mr Hannan talks about "horror stories" well the American system has alot more than the NHS. On the NHS they will stitch all your fingers back on not one of your choosing because the insurance company will not pay for them all. The NHS will treat your heart condition and will not make you wait 3 years for medicare because you have no insurance.

Yes there are waiting lists, yes every now and then bad things happen in the NHS but that does not make the NHS a failure. At least in the end you will get treated unlike so many Americans that wont because they cant afford it. If British Conservatives want to go down this road they will surely lose the advantage that they have won in the last few years and rightly so. Because when it comes to the crunch the people of Britain would never swap the NHS for anything like the American System.

American Review Show

2009-08-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to say that the American Review show will air on Wednesday at 11am GMT, If thats to early for you well I'm glad to announce that it is repeated on Sunday at 1pm which is a far more civilised time! You can listen online at www.preston.fm

Enjoy x

Charlie Brookers new show

2009-08-01T23:40:00.000-07:00

Charlie Brooker has a new show yaaaay and its been showing for a few weeks now on channel 4 and its awesome. I only mention this because he has enlightened me to one of the most crazy TV idea's ever. Its insane! I hope I'm not building this up to much!!!! But first here is Charlie Brooker talking about said new show.....You've Been Watching.

Now time for the insanity!!

Yes that really was the IRA vs The Taliban!! Made into some sort of TV reality for your viewing pleasure on a show called Deadliest Warrior. Right first up i would like to say the IRA and the Taliban are not Warriors they are cowards full stop and so can not be warriors. I would like to know who thought this was a great idea? To watch some fictional battle between two terrorist murdering bastard groups in a car park or junk yard? Only an American!! That's sounds harsh but its true, also i really don't think the IRA would win, that's just blatant American loyalty and idealism about the Irish republican movement, where facts and reality just don't matter.

Best American Bands of the 80's?

2009-08-01T01:07:00.001-07:00

Ive been sitting around here considering who where the best American Bands of the 80's and im really struggling to think of many at all that i really liked. To much of 80's American music was what i call Cock Rock, bands like Aerosmith, GNR, Motley Crew etc and i really hate all of them. So my scope is rather limted. The only two i could think of were.......

1)The Pixies

Doolittle has to be one of the greatest American Albums ever and it came out barely in the 80's. I love this album its an absolute classic.

2)Sonic Youth

Another amazing band thats still going today with a cataloge of brilliant albums. However thats it my my mind runs dry after this, i did consider Talking Heads but they are a late 70's band that crossed over into the 80's.

So let me think of some British ones and see if im as bad at remembering or the 80's was as barren as it seems. We had a great alternative scene in the 80's with some truly awesome bands.

1)The Smiths

2)Joy Division

3)The Chameleons

4)Stone Roses

5) Depeche Mode

6)The Cure

Right i think i went a little mad there, really there has to be more American bands than i can think off!! Any ideas??

No healthcare for all is tyranny

2009-07-30T23:26:00.000-07:00

After thinking about the healthcare debate in America, i have come to some conclusions about having or not having universal healthcare.

Those who are fighting Obama's healthcare reform (which seems to be getting weaker and weaker by the week) remind me of the worst traits of the old aristocracy in Europe, IE selfish, immoral and most importantly hypocritical. The European aristocracy in it hay day gorged on decadent banquets in their huge mansions while people starved even those that where working 10/12 hour days. They sat idle with their fortunes and disengaged from the daily struggles around them. In politics they supported only what was more favourable for themselves no matter at what cost to the ordinary human being. They where the first to cry they where patriots but last to help their fellow countryman. Today this is what some of the American elite stand for.

Firstly i will qualify what i mean by elite and that is those who earn a great deal of money and by this i mean millions of dollars a year. It is they who are at risk of being taxed just that bit more to help their American brethren. They earn a great deal of money, so much so they will never have to worry about medical insurance and even never take out insurance, they are free of that burden, as i am here in the UK. Not having that burden and being as the aristocracy was in Europe separate from those people who are not as lucky as they, they do not feel for their burden. Their ignorance is conducive to their wealth and as such in the selfishness they fight against a healthcare bill that would help give 50 million Americans a little bit more liberty.

I would not like to be one of those 50 million Americans who don't have healthcare, i am even unable to comprehend how that feels, the constant worry of what happens if i or my partner or my child becomes sick. I would not like to be all those other Americans who are struggling to pay for insurance and all the other costs of life and the terrible realisation that you may not be able to cover it all. With all these sort of pressures these people are not truly free in my eyes.

Glenn Beck stands in staunch opposition to reform, he is a man who not so long ago signed a 50 million dollar contract for just his radio show. He will never have to worry about his health insurance, or anything else financially that the average plebeian has too. He is the epitome of aristocrat selfishness and he will list all the bad words (MARXIST,SOCIALIST,SOCIALISED,FASCIST,COMMUNIST,CANADA,FRANCE) he can think of to make you think universal healthcare or healthcare reform along Obama lines is going to destroy America. Beck does not want it because it is of no benefit to himself, but rather it will help those undeserving cretins that prop up the American style class system.

America has always promised liberty for its inhabitants and alot of the time for certain sections it has succeeded. Yet the last bastion of tyranny still stands in America, bad, sporadic, unfair and overpriced healthcare.

lmao

2009-07-08T12:38:00.001-07:00

Love it!!

Conservatives are the new liberals???? I dont think so.

2009-07-05T04:38:00.000-07:00

I was just cruising round YouTube and came across this rather delusional vlog, the gentleman was alluding that Conservatives are now the new liberals. lmao. He frames his argument in a very specific way that is so acute its moronic.

WATCH.....

Ok where do we start.......

Well lets start with his perversion of the linguistic definition of Liberal, he places the term Liberal as meaning 'going against the grain of society' or 'storming the intellectual castles of that time' or 'stands in opposition to popular thinking', he frames this thought in the Civil Rights Movement and being liberal in that period did mean you where out of the mainstream to a certain extent. But that does not define what being a Liberal means. I think instead of trying to define what liberal means by looking at what liberalism stands for, he is framing it in a historical sense, where he relates the rise of liberalism and the decline of conservatism as pertaining to what being liberal means. Lets take a look at what the dictionary says....

Liberal

–adjective
1.favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.
2.(often initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform.
3.of, pertaining to, based on, or advocating liberalism.
4.favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.
5.favoring or permitting freedom of action, esp. with respect to matters of personal belief or expression: a liberal policy toward dissident artists and writers.
6.of or pertaining to representational forms of government rather than aristocracies and monarchies.
7.free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward foreigners.
8.open-minded or tolerant, esp. free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc.
9.characterized by generosity and willingness to give in large amounts: a liberal donor.
10.given freely or abundantly; generous: a liberal donation.
11.not strict or rigorous; free; not literal: a liberal interpretation of a rule.
12.of, pertaining to, or based on the liberal arts.
13.of, pertaining to, or befitting a freeman.
–noun
14.a person of liberal principles or views, esp. in politics or religion.
15.(often initial capital letter) a member of a liberal party in politics, esp. of the Liberal party in Great Britain.

Certainly conservatism pertains to several of the above definations of the meaning of liberal, but not the majority. Above is what Liberal means, that is the definition and is concrete in our time.

Just because conservatism is now not the mainstream socio-political thought, does not make it the new liberalism. What i get from this vlog mostly is that this guy is pissed that most things are liberal, the usual moaning from conservatives. He is upset that conservatism is now in the position that Liberalism was in a few decades ago and thus he is trying in his delusions to place today's conservatism in the same paradigm as liberalism in the past. He, it seems, is relating things in a binary way in my opinion, IE good and bad, up and down, past and present. A method for understanding the real world that is utterly obsolete and incapable and has always been so.

I know i must not be the only one!

2009-06-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

I really don't think I'm the only person thinking this and some people may get upset that i do but isn't Micheal Jackson's death being blown out of all proportion in the press!

on the front page of the USA Today it says "Music icon, 50, helped shape a generation" really? what generation? not my generation (not anybody that i have personally met anyway) and not me. I get the fact that he was a big pop star, who could dance a certain way and somehow changed from black to white apparently with out surgery. But to me he was just another Pop Star and one who made too many bad decisions. It is sad that he has died, terribly sad at such an age as 50, which is so young, yet to my mind there are greater people, greater Americans who will pass away who will never get the attention they deserve, who have done more for people in America and around the world.

I have read a few comments by people about Micheal Jackson some, as there always are, give him merits that i believe to be untrue. Such as this from Beyonce Knowles "Micheal Jackson has made a bigger impact on music than any other artist in the history of music", i cant help but disagree with that, Jackson was world famous and good at what he did but i can't consider him as the greatest musician ever! Talented yes, greatest ever, no. Right this seems like abit of an attack at Micheal Jackson but it wasn't meant to be, more at the media really. I will just say that i am not a fan of Micheal Jackson. So i watch the creepy voyeurism that is permeating our televisions and newspapers with a certain disgusted disengagement.

It is almost pornographic the way some of the media has delved into this, on the news channels they played over and over the 911 call, then debated possible causes of death and who was who, then there were pictures of his body being moved too and as the days have progressed there have been the pictures of his children plastered all over TV and newspapers, which was something Micheal Jackson did not want. All the while they sell there adverts and build a bigger profit, nice and respectful like!!!

What i find most disrespectful is the blanket coverage that it has got and maybe I'm being cynical here, but it seems to be a ploy to boost ratings and sales. Am i rightfully cynical? I think so, it has happened before see the Jade Goody death, media feeding frenzy just a few months ago here in the UK. In respect of there differing statures of fame, Jackson's death is going to blow the hideous drawn out 'watch jade die' reality news fiasco out of the water.

FW Amenesty Email

2009-06-22T23:31:00.000-07:00

I received this yesterday and thought i would forward it on to all my viewers, as part of the treacherous nation of Britain, i will be doing my bit by doing as Amnesty ask.....

Dear Supporter,

I'm sure you will be aware of the disturbing news coming out of Iran over the last week or so.

Getting this information is becoming increasingly difficult as the Iranian authorities are attempting to suppress information by blocking websites and severely restricting foreign media - but we can show them that the world is still watching.

After the disputed election results of 12 June, hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets of Tehran and other cities to protest. But in Iran, expressing your opinions can be dangerous - dozens were arrested and by the end of last week Amnesty had recorded at least 10 deaths. On Friday, the situation was further inflamed when, rather than appealing for the security forces to exercise restraint, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared that further protest would not be tolerated - effectively condoning the violent actions of the security forces.

This did not deter more demonstrations on Saturday - defiant and courageous people are continuing to exercise their right to peacefully assemble and express their dissent. As we have seen, they are doing so despite great personal risk.

Amnesty has issued an Urgent Action appeal in support for the people of Iran and the right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression - please email the Iranian Ambassador in the UK.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Kristyan Benedict
Campaign Manager - Crisis Response & Country Priorities

I need you!

2009-06-16T01:54:00.000-07:00

Right i have gone and done something that is maybe more than i can handle right now, but i have done it anyway. I have just pitched my new radio show idea and they have given me a slot eek!

My new show is called The American Review! and it will be a monthly news/comment show about whats a happening in grand old USA. So what do i need you for? Well a few things actually :).

Firstly i would like to have anyone of you out there to do a report for the show, ie and audio report about anything news wise that you would want to talk about for say 4-8 mins, dont be put off by that as we can do lots of little things to fill out your report so you dont have to talk for all that long! The first report that i would like would be about Obama start at being president, any volunteers? If you vlog that is great as you can record your report as you would a vlog and upload it to youtube and i can record the audio from there. Then i do some editing trickery and then you will be on the radio. You could do a one off report or you could dare i say have a regular spot!!!!!

Secondly i would love it if you could also keep me informed of any good sound bites of news IE and Obama speech or some stupid limbaugh has said that kind of stuff and point me in the direction where i could go and record it! if you could that would be awesome. Im also doing a spot called Blog watch were i will be looking at what has been going on there blah blah blah so (alana you well into that stuff hint hint!!) i would me most happy if you could pass on any interesting links also.

Any help you can possibly pass my way would me much appreciated, oooo and yeah if any of you are good at making like music for titles etc get intouch. Im a cheeky bugger!

cheers xxx

The Extreme Right Dissimulation

2009-06-12T23:45:00.000-07:00

In the wake of the vile Holocaust shooting in DC there has been some talk about the rising threat from the extreme right, there is no doubt that since Barack Obama became President, the far right has become more vocal and seemingly more willing to act. There are many different slurs used to attack Obama from that side of the political spectrum, but most importantly these slurs lack consistency and can truly be seen for what they are my the vast majority of people.

James Von Brunn claimed that Obama was controlled by the Jews, thous crafty Jews who control the world. Von Brunn is also a holocaust denier, so to attack the Washington Holocaust Museum was to this man a reasonably target. This whole Jewish conspiracy has long been peddled on the far right and rarely it passes over into the mainstream in modern times. But this idea that Obama is controlled by the Jews is very popular in certain parts of the right, however in the Conservative Christian corner they are very Pro-Israel and thus pro Jewish. Obama has been attacked by the Christian Conservatives for his tough stance on Israel. But what is more confusing from the outside is the attacks that emanated from the Presidential race from various types of republican supporters was that Obama was a Muslim and an Arab. Then there is the ridiculous Birth Certificate non-issue, here the right claims he was not actually born in Honolulu but in Kenya. So what is Obama? A Jewish owned, Muslim Arab from Kenya?

If you are going to attack President Obama with these kinds of slurs would it not be best to have some coherency?

There are very few if any Muslims or Arabs in the world i would imagine that would be willing to be "owned" by a Jew, and I'm pretty sure there are no Kenyans willing to be subjugated by anyone especially if they have whiter skin! They have had that experience already. For any of this to be true we would have to live in some sort of alternative reality, it is that far fetched.Yet it all persists in the lower regions of insanity and is rarely denounced by the Republican party. They dare not stand up to these people as the are the Republican base, the financial support and their core vote. From Palin rallies where supporters chanted "kill him" to the front door of the Holocaust Museum the Obama conspiracy continues in all its vile incoherency and utter ignorance, and shows the endemic hatred of the right in all its extremes.

Finding some Solace in American Politics!!!!!

2009-06-08T00:18:00.000-07:00

Well over recent months i have been inclined to focus on American politics over my own countries for many reason. I have always been interested in American politics and culture and that's why i started this blog. Though i am interested in and followed American politics, i have always took an active interest in my own countries too. But right at this very moment i am finding more solace in American Politics than the politics of Great Britain and that is a very strange thing to say. American politics is not something you think of as comforting, but over recent months it has been more comforting than whats been going on here. I would describe the last few months as a pure shit storm raining down on the populace of Great Britain and its all a stinking, putrid mess.

I'm tired and fed up of it all. To be honest I'm confused too and I'm not sure what to say about it. A lot of what is happening here is down to the recession and the consequences that is having on people and they are angry and spiteful and hateful. They are inflamed by the press and the greed of politicians, they were pushed to the brink and now they have followed through.

The shit storm is a press led shit storm in my view, playing straight into the hands of those the majority don't want to be associated with. Let me explain the shit storm. There are a few fecal components to it.....

1. The recession (and all the various turds it has plopped out)

2. MP expenses Scandal

3. PM Gordon Brown (who in my view is getting alot of undue shit)

4. Bankers/Banks

5. "British Jobs for British People" (stupid crap)

I don't need to say anything about the recession, but the MP expenses scandal i will, it appears that many MP's have been claim vast amounts of tax payers money for things they shouldn't, from all political parties. This has reflected badly on these said main political parties and reform is now on the books. Gordon Brown has taken most of the shit for all this, especially from the press, why i am not so sure, he did not invent the system, he does not control all MP's and what they claim for, he has not obstructed reform and has been blatantly honest about it all. This however has been jumped on by the press and has produced public anger to the verge of lynching. Add all the five above things up and you have a public (or certain parts of the public) who are willing to soil themselves and do something stupid, for example vote for the British National Party(if you don't know who they are wiki them).

Now today The BNP have two European ministers including Nick Griffin himself, who represents my area, and are now able to claim European funding! We have democratically elected racists! Not only that we have elected the anti EU UKIP party as well, what the hell for? GGRRRRR what a waste of time and money.

So this had led me too seek solace in American politics, where though it has its own shit storms and stupidity at least they seem to be going forwards instead of backwards.

If I was Dick Cheney

2009-06-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

I would have laser eye treatment.

65th Anniversary of the D-Day

2009-06-04T04:48:00.001-07:00

June the 6th marks the 65th Anniversary of the D-Day landing's, the day when thousands of allied troops stepped onto French soil to mark the beginning of the end of Nazi dominated Europe.

To mark the event there will be over the weekend a series of events to remember the sacrafices of those brave soldiers who fought and died against tyranny. These events will be attended by the heads of states of all countries involved, including President Obama, except sadly the Queen. President Sarkozy see's the event according to reports as "primarily a Franco-American" affair and thus has neglected to invite the British Head of State, the Queen. Not only is this bad manners towards the Queen, the only surviving Head of State who served in uniform during WWII, it is also a complete revision of History along Hollywood lines.

To say D-Day was "primarily a franco-american" affair is delusion of the greatest degree, but in France this is the way it is remembered by many and in the States i guess if you go off what is seen in Hollywood movies it was an all American affair with bit parts from the British and the Canadians. I dont know why it has come to this, why we have been forgotten on foriegn shores for our role in freeing France and Europe, but we have.

On D-Day itself there were 61,715 British troops and around 22,000 Canadian troops that made up the British Second army that landed on Juno, Gold and Sword Beaches. The American force totaled roughly 75,000 and what about the Free French? Only 900 landed that day out of a force of 400,000 Free French, most of which were not French but from Africa. I am not excluding the role of the Free French, they played there part and i except that, but why do they today dismiss the British effort, and soil the names of our dead, with reckless actions.

In 1940 France capitulated and under the Petain Government joined the Axis which left the the British Commenwealth to fight alone. And we did for two whole years, until America finally got involved after Pearl Harbour.

I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once more able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.

Even though large parts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.

Sir Winston Churchill

While the French surrendered and helped the Nazis, even sending Jews to die in Polish death camps, we fought on alone. We fought and won the Battle of Britain, we defeated the Nazi's as they tried to abliterate our cities and break our will like they had so easily done to the French. We fought the them in Africa too and won. Then as Churchill hoped in 1942 America joined the cause.

We paid the highest price out of all the Allied nations, that war bankrupted us, destroyed our cities, killed our youth and led to the dissolution of our Empire. We paid the price for French freedom aswell as our own, while America emerged as the richest and most powerful nation in the world.

The Film Saving Private Ryan has been critisied for its all American portrail of D-Day with only fleeting comments about the allies, for example "I think that Montgomery is overated" which upset a few people here.

However those in Britain who take an interest in the historical accuracy of the film and its veterans were irate (and that is putting it politely) that the only mention of the British on D-Day (40% land forces, 35% airborne troops, 50% aircraft and 75% of naval forces + the three main operational commanders 1. Land = Monty 2. Air = Lee-Mallory 3. Naval = Ramsay) get one mention in the whole film 'I think that Montgomery is overated'

I can understand to a certain extent a movie about the American experience of D-Day, that is fine but you should never forget who else was there (check out the aweful BS movie U-571, thats how Hollywood can really re-write history). This is but a little side issue in the amniesia of our allies.

Back to the major issue here,the 65th Anniversary of the D-Day will now be attended by Prince Charles after France finally offered a formal invertation, however the Queen was unable to attend as there was not enough time to organise the security and cancel engagments. An interesting note on this is that President Sarkozy only changed his mind about inviting the Queen after President Obama rang him and told him that the Queen must be represented! Thank you President Obama.

Many British and Commenwealth who under the British Crown died for the Liberty of France and Mr Sarkozy in his wish too hog the limelight with President Obama has shown complete and utter disrespect for those British soldiers, not only by not inviting the Queen, but more so in calling D-Day a franco-american affair.

This is about as patriotic as i can get and not something i usually get myself worked up about. But this has really p****d me off.

The American Taliban

2009-06-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

I am a lover of truth, a worshipper of freedom, a celebrant at the altar of language and purity and tolerance. That is my religion, and every day I am sorely, grossly, heinously and deeply offended, wounded, mortified and injured by a thousand different blasphemies against it. When the fundamental canons of truth, honesty, compassion and decency are hourly assaulted by fatuous bishops, pompous, illiberal and ignorant priests, politicians and prelates, sanctimonious censors, self-appointed moralists and busy-bodies, what recourse of ancient laws have I? None whatever. Nor would I ask for any. For unlike these blistering imbeciles my belief in my religion is strong and I know that lies will always fail and indecency and intolerance will always perish.

Stephen Fry

Abortion can be something horrid, it is an action not to be taken lightly, it is an act no one wants to have to do, it is not the perfect solution, it is not (in a perfect world) what should be done. However we live in a world full of horrors and reasons and wrongs. There are hundreds of reasons why women choose this path and they choose it because it is their RIGHT to do so.

Scott Roeder is a man, a man who will never understand or even relate to the possible reasons why a woman would have an abortion. George Tiller is a man who to a great extent understood those reasons. So his death is to be mourned, while Roeder is hailed as a hero by terrorist friends.

George Tiller was a mass-murderer. We grieve for him that he did not have time to properly prepare his soul to face God. I am more concerned that the Obama Administration will use Tiller's killing to intimidate pro-lifers into surrendering our most effective rhetoric and actions. Abortion is still murder. And we still must call abortion by its proper name, murder.

Randell Terry

The history of the Pro-Life movement is long and complex, the basic tenants of it are formed from Christian writing. Pro-life Christians cite many Biblical passages in support of their position, including the following:

Psalm 127:3: Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from him.

Leviticus 24:17: "[The LORD said:] If anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death."

Proverbs 6:16-17c: "There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood...

Psalm 9:12: For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

Psalm 82:3-4: (3) Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. (4) Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked

The abortion issue is wrapped up in Christian Fundamentalism and hard line conservatism which has polarised the issue some what. Many in the Pro-life movement now seem to me, to be just the American equivalent to the Taliban, imposing their "morality" on women and those that want to help women. They are stoked by religious fervour and conservative rhetoric to fight abortion in anyway possible.

Bill O in particular has come into criticism over the Tiller murder, who he often referred to as "Tiller the Baby Killer". O'Reilly had since 2005 talked about George Tiller on the O'Reilly Factor 29 times and twice sent reporters to Wichita to "stalk" Tiller.

O'Reilly didn't tell anyone to do anything violent, but he did put Tiller in the public eye, and help make him the focus of a movement with a history of violence against exactly these kinds of targets.

Gabriel Winant

The Hypocrisy of all this, which there always is in America, is the idea of Liberty. Bill O'Rielly and others on the Right, harp on about Liberty most of the time and this guy or that guy is taking your Liberty, yet on this issue they are so willing to take that liberty of choice away. Liberty is freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, according to choice. Or does that only aply to men?

Is Liberty not a woman, personifying freedom from despotism? Yes Liberty is a woman. Ironic!

If i was Dick Cheney

2009-06-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

I would shut the hell up...... Enough said!

Sotomayor Nomination

2009-05-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

Ive been watching this since her nomination for the Supreme Court was announced a week or so ago, I think the whole process is very interesting, it doesn't happen like this here in the UK. By that i mean we don't cover it in the media to the extent that it is in America when we appoint a Judge to the High Court. Also the way in which we appoint a High Court Judge is different, The Prime Minister does not nominate someone and as far as i can tell does not really get involved in the process, rather it is left to a cross party Parliamentary Commission to take applications for the position and then choose said applicant.

The process in America is alot more political it seems, which I'm still unsure about whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. Ive also watched with great interest the reactions of various parties to her nomination, the most predominant comments on her however have come from the Republican side who seem to be following there defunct policy of, what ever Obama does good or bad we are going to fight it, and this is certainly one of these moments.

The most reckless comments come from the usual suspects, Limbaugh, Beck and Rove et al. Limbaugh and Beck are calling her a racist and a bigot, Beck in one of his now regular bizarre moments on his radio show made some rather backward comments. That also contradicted what he was saying on his TV show.

Rove however is what i would call a "cheeky bastard", when he makes comments about Sotomayor's intelligence. Mr Rove should look back into his own past and he will see how he was in and out of college trying to avoid the Vietnam Draft! Sonia Sotomayor went to Princeton and graduated second in her class, that's second at Princeton, so that really first in most other colleges in America. How can you call someone an "intellectual lightweight" who has graduated from Princeton? You don't work yourself up to the level of getting nominated for the Supreme Court without the highest level of intelligence.

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama made this comment about Sotomayor, he was expressing his "concern" over her nomination.

a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life....It goes against the great heritage of American law that calls for judges to be a neutral umpire

I do hope when he says "It goes against the great heritage of American law that calls for judges to be a neutral umpire" he is excluding Alabama and various other Jim Crow states from that "heritage". I don't think 50 years constitutes the use of the word heritage in the case of Alabama.

If we take a look at some of Sotomayors ruling's over the years you can see she has made some decisions that the Republicans support with all their heart. She upheld the Bush administration's implementation of the Mexico City Policy, which states that "the United States will no longer contribute to separate nongovernmental organizations which perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations." Sotomayor held that the policy did not constitute a violation of equal protection, as "the government is free to favor the anti-abortion position over the pro-choice position, and can do so with public funds. Could you find a more Republican cause than abortion?

One last thing i want to mention is the role off Affirmative Action in this, do i think its a good thing to have another minority on the Supreme Court? Yes! If Affirmative Action has got Sotomayor there it is a good thing? Yes! America is not made up of just white 40 year old + guys!

Overall the comments made about Sotomayor are at best childish, at worst racist and sexist. There has been so much of it you could write an essay on it.

The best article i have read on this comes from the Guardian by Scott Lemieux, it finishes with this last paragraph which i thought was great....

During the confirmation hearings, some viewers will note that criticisms of Sotomayor are likely to focus on decisions deferring to electorally accountable officials in cases involving workplace integration, firearms rights and eminent domain. While substantive disagreement with any of these decisions may be reasonable, Democrats should make clear as often as possible that the canard that conservative don't want to use the courts to aggressively enforce conservative outcomes to various policy disputes is completely false.

Two Birds with One Stone

2009-05-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

Everybody lets give the people of Hardin, Montana a big round of applause for standing forth and offering to take Gitmo prisoners! The town continues to offer is services and its unused 27 million dollar Prison Facility.

Hardin, population 3,400, sits in the southeast corner of Montana, in the state's poorest county. Its small downtown is almost deserted at midday. The Dollar Store is going out of business. The Hardin Mini Mall is already shut. The town needs jobs -- and fast.

Hardin borrowed $27 million through bonds to build the Two Rivers Regional Correctional Facility in hopes of creating new employment opportunities. The jail was ready for prisoners two years ago, but has yet to house a single prisoner.

This town has been on hard times for many years, while the rest of the country was booming, Hardin was struggling and still is. They borrowed millions to build this facility and for two years it has stood unused. While people stand around in congress saying "where the hell are we gonna put these terrorists!". The answer is Hardin Montana! Here we have a town that is struggling, there is no other hope for this town than the Prison facility they invested in. And they unlike the rest of America are willing to take the "risk" of having Gitmo detainees.

"Housing potential terrorists in Montana is not good for our state," Max Baucus, the state's senior Democratic senator, wrote to Smith. "These people stop at nothing. Their primary goal in life, and death, is to destroy America."

Would you rather have a prison full of convicted American sex offenders or a prison full of unconvicted foreign terrorists in your town? if you had to choose? I know who i would choose.....

To be honest i don't reckon that one of these terrorists, if one did escape in Montana would get very far or do very much! And would have very little impact on his ultimate goal of "destroying America", Mr Baucus Senior Democratic Senator of Montana. The longer this discussion goes on the longer Gitmo is a tool for recruiting more terror groups, the longer this goes on the longer the tyranny of Mr Bush continues to the ultimate detriment of America and Hardin Montana continues to live on the breadline.

American Skinheads

2009-05-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

There really are people who are more ignorant, hypocritical and retarded than the Republican Party! They are called Skinheads! From what i have read this is a growing movement in the States, still the numbers are rather small but there are groups to be found in every State. This strain of Skinheads believe in White Power and White Power alone and this is why i am writing this post as they forget the roots of the Skinhead movement.

The Skinhead movement evolved out of the MOD youth culture here in Great Britain in the 1960's, i don't know how aware of the MOD's you are but it was a rather big part of musical youth culture. Significant elements of the mod lifestyle included pop music, such as African American soul, Jamaican ska, and British beat music and R&B. The first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian (specifically Jamaican) rude boys and British mods, in terms of fashion, music and lifestyle.

The origin of the Skinhead movement is multiculturalism, the mixing of American, West Indian, British, Black and White musical forms and culture. However the movement was high jacked by white nationalist such as the National Front and Combat 18. From then on in the Skinhead movement has become seen as a racist movement. A great movie about this is This Is England by the brilliant Shane Meadows......

If your interested in this at all, you should see This is England, but if not its still a great movie.

Some late 1970s skinheads also liked certain punk rock bands, such as Sham 69 and Menace; and by the late 1970s, the Oi! sub genre was embraced by many skinheads and punks. Musically, Oi! combines elements of punk, football chants, pub rock and British glam rock. American Oi! began in the 1980s with bands such as The Press, Iron Cross, The Bruisers,Anti-Heros and Forced Reality. American skinheads created a link between their subculture and hardcore punk music, with bands such as Warzone, Agnostic Front, and Cro-Mags. The Oi! style has also spread to other parts of the world, and remains popular with many skinheads. Many later Oi! bands have combined influences from early American hardcore and 1970s British streetpunk.

The American movement comes from the British one, more than anything the American form has picked up the racist, nationalist elements that had high jacked the British movement. Their ignorance is laughable, they neglect the history and origins of the musical culture that started their movement, not only that they ignore the the history of modern music too, so intrinsically linked to African American culture as it is. How bankrupt their ideals are when you just consider this fact, without even going any deeper is immensely funny.

The American Skinhead gangs have aligned themselves too Nazism and seem to idolise the Swastika as used by the biggest retard of them all Hitler. The problem with that is the swastika is an ancient symbol that was stolen by Hitler and has been used in many cultures through out the world, it is not a symbol of whiteness or "Aryan" supremacy, no matter how hard they try to make it be so.

Louis Theroux a British TV documentary guy did a show on American Skinheads its worth seeing and at times it is very scary and sickening so here's the link

Skinheads

I Feel Guilty

2009-05-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

I found this video on YouTube and i have to say, it made me feel just a litle bit guilty, watch it and see what you think.

You never know the story of many peoples lives and what makes them who they are and well i think this is one of those moments for me. In Harper Lee's amazing book To Kill a Mocking Bird, Atticus Finch the father of the family says something to this extent... •"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Though i do not agree with Glenn Beck on most issues, i can actually see how he has got to this particular way of thinking. He obviously has some major issues that come across in a very odd fashion and to some extent i think that these issues amplify his political ideals. I find myself trying to reason this, but i can't, i just don't agree with what he says and thinks and wants. That video has made me a little confused.

Feedjit Watch, Wilkes- Barre

2009-05-22T08:20:00.000-07:00

This Feedjit app that i have added to the page is really keeping me amused as i see more people than i thought coming to my page. also it tells you where they are from which i absolutely love. So in response to this I'm going to start a new posting theme called Feedjit Watch. Where i pick a certain place of Origin from the Feedjit app and talk about it a little. Today I am going to take a look at Wilkes-Barre PA, as i have seen it a few times already.

Wilkes-Barr, Pennsylvania

Wilkes-Barr is located in the North East of Pennsylvania and has a population of around 43,000. Founded in 1979 by John Durkee (as far as i can find out) it was named after two British radical politicians, John Wilkes and Isaac Barre who where strong supporters of colonial Americans. For a large part of its history the mining of anthracite coal was the main industry of the town but my 1959 the mining of coal was essentially ended with the Knox Mine Disaster. It seems the town is in somewhat of a decline, since the 1930's the population has almost halved.

It seems to be a place that attracts Presidential candidates such as JFK,Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, Mr Bush and of course President Obama as can be seen below and many many more.

Reasons to go to Wilkes-Barre

You can Fly to and from Belfast! From Wilkes-Barr/Scranton International Airport.

Looking at some of the images that come up when you search Wilkes-Barre there are some very handsome buildings, however these all seem to be in Black and White so its hard to say if they are still there.

"Armed men loyal to Pennsylvania twice attempted to evict the residents of Wilkes-Barre in what came to be known as the Pennamite Wars. After the American Revolution, the conflict was resolved so that the settlers retained title to their lands but transferred their allegiance to Pennsylvania". The Pennamite War ehh!! That sounds interesting.

HBO recognizes Wilkes-Barre as the birthplace of modern cable programming. In November 1972 (coincidentally the autumn that followed Hurricane Agnes), 365 subscribers of Service Electric Cable were the first to receive HBO's service.

George Catlin was Born in Wilkes-Barre and became well known for his paintings of Native Americans.

There was a Saint living in Wilkes-Barre too!! St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre real earthly name Alexis Toth. There cant be too many Saints in America! I wonder what miricale he performed??

Reasons not to go to Wilkes-Barre

They dont have these anymore......

Come on how cool are those buses/tram things? If they where there now we would all be going to Wilkes-Barre to ride them.

It is said that one of the longest home runs in history was hit in Wilkes-Barre. Baseball Boring.....

It Floods a little every now and then!

Best Wilkes Barre Fact

0.03% of the population are Pacific Islanders!! i work that out as around 1300 people!! My maths may be wrong though! Still how cool is that, im pretty sure there arnt that many Pacific Islanders where i live!

Overall thoughts of Wilkes-Barre

Its worth a visit, and im guessing that since the population is declining its a cheap place to buy a house! Also Bring back the Bus/Trams!!!

Glenn Beck brought back down to earth

2009-05-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

This is a fantastic clip from the View, where Whoopi Goldberg and Mrs Walters (lol) show the nation that Glenn Beck is a dirty little liar. I bet he didn't sleep well after this, i know i wouldn't especially if i had just got my ass verbally kicked about on TV by the View women.

Watch him squirm!

As much as i hate Glenn Beck i find it really hard to watch, as it is so awkward and uncomfortable to watch him be destroyed. What i also like is how quite the two conservative ones are, Elisebeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepard, (from what i have seen they seem conservative) I don't think they enjoyed that at all!

War on Terror hasnt made you safer

2009-05-21T06:01:00.000-07:00

It has finally come to fruition that the War on Terror has not made America safer as four men are arrested in in New York for attempting to blow up two synagogues and planning to shoot down American military planes. What comes as a massive surprise to many Americans is that three of the men are American nationals and what we would call homegrown terrorists.

It has long been said here in the UK and across Europe that the War on Terror had driven many western Muslims towards extremism and the London bombings are the primary example of that. Those attacks were carried out by British born Muslims who had been directed towards extremism by the perceived anti-Muslim policies of the British government and its conduct in the War on Terror.

It is some what fortunate that the FBI was lucky enough to find this group and its assumed leader James Cromitie (in the picture below), who does not look very terrorist like to me!

The arrests followed an investigation carried out with the help of an informer and detailed in an affidavit from an FBI special agent, which was obtained by the New York Times:

James Cromitie appears to have been at the centre of the investigation
The first meeting recorded between the informer and the suspect who is mentioned most often in the FBI account, James Cromitie, took place in June 2008 in a mosque in Newburgh, New York state.

The suspect said his parents were of Afghan origin and he was upset about the war there, according to the affidavit. He said that if he were to die a martyr, he would go to paradise, and spoke of wanting to do "something to America".

If the above is true and it was the War in Afghanistan that helped to make James Cromitie a terrorist, then i think its about time people like Dick Cheney shut up about how they made America safer. As the truth is they have not! What they have done is made America even more unpopular in the Muslim world and now it has even made American nationals terrorists. Well done War on Terror!

I now stand and wait for the tsunami of fear to spread across America, as it inevitably will. For the strongest most powerful nation in the world, Americans do get rather scared when stuff like this happens (well thats how it seems on the TV).

Four Million and Growing.....

2009-05-20T01:46:00.000-07:00

Hamburgers, Basketball, Stars and Stripes, Cowboys and freedom are all things that i think of when i think of America. They are all American icons worldwide (and I'm sure that list could be much longer) but there is one other thing that comes to mind when i think of America, guns.

America is well known for its guns and the rights of Americans to own guns and to a visitor to your shores as i have been this is something you think about on the plane. I know at State level rules vary from state to state and gun ownership is more prevalent in some than others, but when you have watched enough Hollywood movies and trash TV like the Worlds Wildest Police Chases (the name is all wrong it should just be Americas Wildest Police Chases as they only ever have 0ne clip from abroad) you get a rather dim view of guns in America.

We have guns here in the UK too, however to own one you have to have a reason IE you are a farmer or a hunter and then and only then you can own a rifle or a shotgun. Handguns are banned outside of shooting clubs as far as i am aware and you are not aloud to own one outside of that setting. And as such our gun mortality rate is rather low, especially in comparison to the US. I have never seen a handgun, semi automatic etc and never wish too, there is no need for such weapons.

I really don't know to what extent gun ownership is viewed to be a positive thing in America but since President Obama took office the NRA has reported a massive rise in membership.

Gun stores and the NRA are both benefiting from the concern that gun rights will be sharply curtailed. NRA officials said thousands more are joining each month, and its membership is now about 4 million.

"We have grown by hundreds of thousands of members, and that is because the American public wants their freedoms protected," LaPierre said. "They see threats out there. They see statements made from the attorney general, from [Democratic Sen.] Dianne Feinstein and other people. They say, 'I'm ready to defend my freedom, and one thing I'm going to do is join the NRA.' "

4 million people at first seems a rather small amount when you compare it to the entire population of the US, but arnt these 4 million the most fanatical about gun ownership?

The number of background checks conducted on gun purchasers each month rose from the previous year, topping a million beginning in October, FBI statistics show. In April, there were 1,225,980 requests, an increase of almost 400,000 over the same period last year.

I would have thought nearly all the 4 million NRA members would own a gun or many guns already so when you look at the massive rise in background checks you are led to presume more Americans are looking to arm up.

After all that has happened in regards to mass killings over who knows how many years. America is still in the same place it was and has always been on the gun issue, backed in to a corner. America is pend in by groups such as the NRA and the unwavering,as holy, as if god wrote it himself and i think out of date (on this issue) constitution.

"Whenever they can, wherever they can, the Democrats want to take away the rights of law abiding citizens to own and purchase a gun, a right that is guaranteed under the United States Constitution,"

Micheal Steel Chairman of the RNC

I am not going to do the usual argument about the constitution, its says arms blah blah blah, its true but it has been done over and over. But it seems to me that it is the democrats over the years that have wanted to address this issue, address the fact that nearly 12000 Americans die a year from guns and every now and then some kid turns up at school and shoots the place up. There is an argument to be made here about Liberty, is the Freedom to own a gun more important than the lives of 12000 people every year? Is a gun not a tool to curtail someone elses Liberty either by threat or action? And if so what effect does that have on the Liberty of the majority or the whole?

I really don't think the President Obama is going to act against this anytime soon, he has alot on his plate but i do think that eventually he will and so do many gun loving Americans as they flock to the NRA and the local gun shop.

If

2009-05-18T07:09:00.001-07:00

If you need prompts hidden in your food to make your dinner conversation witty and articulate; if it takes a cockney thug to make you read the business section of your paper; if your kitchen is made out of paper; if you have a silver sixpence with jabba the hut on one side and queen Victoria on the other; if your barber causes time to stand still; if you are quite partial to two bags of fish and chips and six tiramisus; if you know what's big and small at the same time (a big egg); if you know what makes an acceptable pasta sauce; if you know that the badgers are running the golf sales; if you know what Scottish Heaven and Scottish Hell look like; if a village sniper seems a convenient way of adding excitement to life; if you think that Alan Shearer is in East 17; if you think that the Christians probably deserved their fate at the coliseum; and if you know that everyone is a twat, including yourself.....

Then I like you.

In the Loop, The Thick of It, (America on my Box)

2009-05-17T23:40:00.000-07:00

Armando Iannucci is a fantastic and brilliant man, and his new movie In the Loop is just another edition of his excellence.The movie is based the cult show the Thick of It, which details the working days of politicians and civil servants. It would be best described as a comedy drama and is just a genius satire of the workings of government.

So here are two clips of the original show the Thick of It...

And this is the trailer for In the Loop which is out now.....

Living with "Socialised Health Care"

2009-05-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

After talking about my perceptions and understanding of the American health care system i thought i would just speak a little about the National Health Service.

Like i said yesterday, up until a few years ago the NHS was something that i took for granted, believing with a great deal of naivety that this was a standard, a right in all western nations. Unfortunately its not and i am grateful do have such a service in my own country.

The NHS service was setup after the Second World War in 1948 so for 61 years it has been meeting the health care needs of the UK. I believe it to be one of the greatest gifts of government to the people of this country ever and i am right, it is a gift and something few or if any politicians would do today.

If i was to have an accident tomorrow and i needed an ambulance, an ambulance would come and take me to the hospital, no extra charges, its already been paid for in taxes. If i get an abscess in my mouth (like i did a few months back) i would go to the dentist or in my case the emergency dentist who then gave me a prescription for antibiotics, which i take to the Pharmacy and pay the standard price of £6.95. This is the price of all prescription medicine whatever it is. If i need to see a doctor at all i just go to my local doctor whom i have already registered with and see him, with an appointment of course. No extra cost its already paid for with taxes.

The taxes i have paid covers the cost of nearly everything and subsidises the cost of drugs. So the financial impact of being ill or injured is almost non-existent. If your illness is something that will keep you out of work for more than a week, the doctor will write you a note to give to your employer which entitles you to be payed during your illness. This only lasts for a certain amount of time as dictated by the doctor until you are fit to work again.

That is a very brief summary of what the NHS covers, my own experiences of it have always been good. As a child i and also my sister spent abit of time in hospital, i had several operations which of course did not cost my parents anything. Since then i have had to visit the hospital on very few occasions, thankfully, but i know it will always be there when i am in need of it.

Of course there are problems with the NHS, if you watch Sicko, Moore really does portray a rather rosy picture of it. There are waiting list problems for certain treatments, there are not enough NHS dentists etc.... But the way i look at it is, the NHS is an inclusive service, we let everybody into the line, we do not deny treatment to those who are in need of it and thus me must take the rough with the smooth when it comes to certain problems. This does not mean we except them but we tolerate them and we work to make it better.

Some in America who are against "Social Health Care" cite the waiting lists here in the UK and other places as one of the reasons to resist against it. But i would say that there are 50 million people not using your health care system, that is one in six Americans so you are not going to have to wait! By refusing universal health care it limits the number of people who can seek care, so damn right your waiting lists are going to be shorter.

I would rather wait for care, than to be seen right away if it means everybody gets health care. It may not be perfect here in the UK but at least we know that we are doing something for every person that lives in this country.

I really dont understand Healthcare in America.

2009-05-14T01:46:00.000-07:00

I have really been wanting to talk about this for a while as it is something that interests me alot but also confuses me too. Here in Blighty we have what you would call "socialised health care" or what we like to call the National Health Service. A service that meets the needs for every person in this country, medically. This system is all i have ever known and one i have taken for granted. I always assumed that this was the same in every civilized, modern, western nation up until a few years ago. Of course this is not the case.

As i understand it in America you take out insurance which covers your medical needs or you receive some sort of cover through employment. But how does this work? Are there different plans? A plan for Broken legs? A plan for Cancer? Do you have to pay more if you are gay for a plan that covers HIV?(that last one sounds bad, but it is a stereotype that sticks, but its completely not the case). Or is it that you just pay a set amount depending on which company you use that covers all possible illnesses?

As President Obama is looking at making the health care system better over there, i decided to have a look around and see what stories where coming out and what others where saying about health care in America. This video i found on youtube i think is a good summary of some of the rubbish that is being propagated about "socialised health care".

If you managed to stay awake through that short, monotoned, factless, dull but oddly amusing video, i bow to you! Well there are a few things in this video that i take issue with, so i will go through them one by one.

Rationing of health care - i have never in all my life heard such babble, never have i heard that a patient in the UK has been turned away because they are too old and so do not represent value for money! That i wonder could be used as an argument against the current system in America where they seek loop holes in insurance policies so they don't have to pay for treatment!

"Boss'in" doctors - Don't doctors get told how they can treat a patient already by the insurance company's? When there is profit involved I'm sure that is the case.

Calling up the Government - I'm rather amused at the thought of that....

Doctor "Hi is that the White house? Can i give Jess here some medicine?"

Faceless Evil Muslim Communist White house official possibly Obama himself "Hell no, its not cost effective!"

Best Health Care in the World - I think you will find that the country with the best health care in the world is *Evil cackle* FRANCE! That is according to the World Health Organisation. America appears at number *drum role* 37! Some surprising countries with better health care are Costa Rica, Dominica, Chile , Morocco, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Luxembourg, Andorra and Iceland (this probably is not true anymore as they have gone bust as a nation). The UK manages a respectable 18th *gentle round of applause*, not bad for socialised health care.

There is one last thing i want to mention that the video above touches upon briefly but before that here is a clip of an interview with Tony Benn from the film Sicko.

As i said there was something in the first video that i wanted to talk about and that was a highly indoctrinated comment on people having to pay for those who were undeserving of it such as "illegal immigrants". The 'gent' only specified illegal immigrants in the video but i would like to look at a wider picture. I find this sort of mentality, individualistic, selfish and heartless and i believe that these sort of people don't just apply this sort of thinking to "illegal immigrants" but also to jobless and poor people too. I find it repugnant that just because a person is not at a financial level to afford health care, what ever their reasons, should be denied it. I find it abhorrent that some place the thickness off their wallet over the health of a fellow human being. I say some, but over the years it has been the majority. "If you can find the money to kill people, you can find the money to care for people" is what Tony Benn said and i totally agree. A healthy nation is a productive nation, is a happier nation. I could here go on and make analogy after analogy but i will refrain from doing so, it would be futile.

"socialised health care" is not a perfect system, no system is but i am sure it is the most moral and caring one.

Are you single and lonely?

2009-05-13T00:23:00.000-07:00

Why not get yourself over to Sean Hannity's Dating page 'Hannidate' (im serious here i am not joking at all, he really has a dating page called Hannidate) where you can find like minded Conservatives!

Hannidate - The place where people of like conservative minds can come together to meet. Whether you are looking for a life partner, or just someone to hang out with, here you'll be able to find exactly who you are looking for, locally or around the world. It's fun, interactive, safe and anonymous - until you decide to take it further. It's FREE to join, post your profile and to contact that special someone!
Create your own FREE dating profile, you can even add multiple photos of yourself!
Check out the range of membership benefits, services and how it works here. We invite you to become a member of our online Hannidate community and enjoy an active, social life with rewarding experiences.

(is 'hang out' code for something else?)

You can find your perfect match with Hannidate! Lets meet some of Hannidates members.....

First up is Anderson who describes himself as....

5'10", athletic, toned body. I'd say my best feature is
my smile and eyes. I usually dress trendy/casual. It's way
too humid and warm here in Miami for
suits....Honestly! CONSERVATIVE

Ok seems like a nice fella, what does your tag line say?????

Water board Hillary!

Hmmm maybe not so nice after all, so who else have we got.... GOPboy! Ok so lets see what he says....

Hey, I'm just a simple down to earth kind of guy. I work
hard and love harder. I might look tough, but I need
someone to hold me and give me a massage when things get
stressful. I love camping and the great outdoors. In
addition, I can not get enough of Project Runway on the
Bravo channel.

Oh that's very normal for a guy who calls himself GOPboy are you still a boy? Lets find out some more....

I'd say I'm pretty fierce. Usually, you can find me in a
stereotypical cowboy style with a twist. Think Lonesome
Dove meets Tootsie. I have great abs that give even
hetro guys doubts.

*chokes on coffee* What your GAY? But..... this is a conservative site how can this be. Ok so maybe you can be gay and conservative, I'm making a fuss about nothing, your probably quite liberal for a conservative and rather open minded considering your a Gay conservative i can dig that...

I'm looking for someone that will nurture me. I would hope
you have as much passion for the conservative movement as
you do for me. No minorities please.

No F***king way, your a racist gay conservative! That is the ultimate irony, you must be part of one of the smallest minorities in America (a Gay Conservative) and yet you have the front to be fussy....

Well i think i will give up on trying to find new Friends on Hannidate!!!

Justice, Free Speech, Stephen Fry and Micheal Savage?

2009-05-11T07:13:00.001-07:00

From my last three posts myself and Alana from Random Thoughts of a Crazy Liberal have had a little debate over Justice and Free Speech in regards to Micheal Savage and his being banned from the UK and also about some certain things Stephen Fry has said in a video i have posted earlier. I thought it would be good to write a full post on this and on what i thought. I will try and expound a general British point of view on these subjects.

This all started with Alana thinking about something that Stephen Fry said in regard to the Constitution when talking about the differences between Americans and the English. The basic outline of what Stephen Fry said was, that in the Constitution the Americans place Liberty at the top and thus Free Speech becomes more important than being Just. And on this point Fry said that this was a difference between our two nations, in that we as a people in Britain place Justice as being more important than Free Speech.

I do not think that i need to tell you what Free Speech is all about, however i think i shall talk a little about what Justice is and what that means for a Just State on a very basic level as my skills as a philosopher are somewhat limited. Basically, Justice is the concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, fairness, religion and/or equity. John Rawls would argue that Justice is a social contract between individuals, societies and government that assures that all are entitled to being treated fairly. I think that one of the main British concepts of Justice is fairness and that is something which our society holds with some importance. For me if a government treats its populous with fairness in regards of justice, the end product is the liberty of the individual to the extent that he can be free until his actions become unjust. True Justice has no boundaries, it swallows all parts of society and thus treats all with fairness. However for justice to work a nation needs to instill justice into all institutions and covenants to be truly just. Thus in this respect i see justice as more important than Free Speech.

I am not saying that Free Speech is not important, it is, but it is not as important as Justice, you only have to look at certain periods of American History to ascertain this. "All men are created equal..." is one of the most important lines in the Declaration of Independence, however in reality in America this was not the case as it did not include the Chattel. And as such this can be seen as unjust, but in that period of history i believe it to be somewhat harsh to argue about justice and injustice. But if we look at the civil rights movement there is a better example and a better debate. The civil rights movement was a fight for justice. a fight for equality in the eyes of the law. The movement used the limited freedoms they had to fight their injustice, it was Justice that gave them their rights as equals.

When i think about Liberty and Free Speech and especially in relation to the Constitution i wonder what defines there boundaries? There is no definition of what Liberty is or how far it should go. Liberty is not and can not be endless and has as some point to be curtailed. As liberty has the habit of placing one persons Liberty over another and i would argue that it is Justice that defines the boundaries in every society, culture and nation. So then Justice must be more important than Liberty?

Justice then is the act of not placing one man or woman above another, it is the essence of freedom and fairness in a good healthy society.

So now to Mr Savage, was it right for the UK to ban him from entering the UK? I would say yes (but then i am rather biased on this issue). As far as i know he has never condoned violence or tried to create it, but the things in which he believes and espouses to the 8 million people who listen to his show are things that place (in regard to the Gay Issue here) one man or woman's liberty over that of another. That may be his beliefs and he is free to have them, especially with in his own society, however he is not a member of my society, my nation. And as such my nation can say NO, we do not wish to have you here. However as a just nation Mr Savage can take this issue and seek Justice in the Law courts if he wishes.

Savage Update

2009-05-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest on Michael Savage and his banned entry from the UK, apparently he is going to take us to court and ask his listeners not to travel to the UK. I think however his listeners are not the type of people who travel well! or travel at all.

America on my Box .Stephen Fry.

2009-05-05T01:45:00.001-07:00

I was prompted to post this after reading Stephen Fry's letter to his younger self on Alana's blog Random Thoughts of a Crazy Liberal. I have to say Stephen Fry is one of my hero's, i have the up most respect for this man. Here is a clip from an interview with Clive Allan and they are talking about the difference between Americans and the English, at the start you will hear him mention his trip across America this has already been doe and made into a TV series(the trailer of which is at the bottom of the post).

While I'm talking about Stephen Fry, i urge you to read any of his books, there all amazing, his autobiography especially. Also have a look at some of the comedy stuff that he has done, i recommend Blackadder! Oh and QI which isn't comedy as such but is well worth watching.

I can not say how much i love this man, he is a British institution and my idol.

Stephen Fry in America Trailer below!

News Flash- Micheal Savage Band from the UK

2009-05-05T00:08:00.000-07:00

Micheal Savage the ignorant talk radio broadcaster has been band from entering the UK, reports the BBC. Savage has been named on a list of people who would be denied entry to the UK if they did try to enter the country, released by the Home Office today.

Other Americans on the list are of course the Phelps family, who were recently turned away and Grand Wizard Stephen 'Don' Black of the KKK (OMG are they still going? i thought everyone would have got bored of the whole white gown riding a horse lynching a black man thing). These are of course obvious choices. Most other black listed individuals are Islamic extremists or Neo-Nazis. So its a good list for Mr Savage to be on, he fits right in.

Did you know his real name is Michael Weiner? No wonder he changed his name!

Christians seem to support torture!

2009-05-04T01:38:00.001-07:00

This really didn't come as a surprise, but Christian America is in favour of torture according to a recent PEW poll.

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

I have been often told 'Jesus was a Radical in his time'. which if the stories are true he was. Even if they are just stories, the character of Jesus is still radical (his claim to being the son of god being the most radical). Jesus' beliefs were against the grain of his time and thus people perceived him as a danger, a danger to their hegemony and way of life. And because of this Jesus was hunted down and tortured to death.

Me myself not being a Christian, but knowing just a little about it would have guessed (and bet my house on it) that you could say this about true Christians, 'Christians do not torture, nor do they support it'.Well in most cases i would stand by that comment, but not when it comes to America, because there is one reason why a majority of Christian Americans support torture, Conservatism.

Christianity has been polluted by Conservatism and politics, the act of trying to politicise Christianity has taken it away from values that are unchristian and inhuman. What sort of religious person supports torture? Not a true one!

Here below in full is the PEW poll....

The polling question actually used the word torture and not enhanced interrogation techniques, which is even more worrying. I imagine that if the polling question had used enhanced interrogation techniques, those in favour would have been even higher. I would genuinely love to see the same poll question asked to British Christians, i would bet that the vast majority would be strongly against it, I'm almost sure of it. I feel like this because i know British Christianity has not been violated by neo-conservatism and does not get their world view from Fox News etal.

I'm a Jolly Banker, Jolly Banker am I

2009-05-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.

Freeman and slave, patrician and plebian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed. Marx, Engels, Communist Manifesto.

Its probably never a good idea to quote Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels when talking about American Politics, it is something that just isn't done or done enough! With that in mind however I would like to add something new to that above quote just after guild-master and journeymen, banker and average American.

I think Keith Olbermann says it best...

Keeping people in there homes has to be a good thing! Its good for the people who could lose there home, its good for there neighbours, its good for the banks and its good for America as a whole. As far as i can see it is more money lost for the banks who have foreclosed on a property that could have been paying money back, instead of owning a property that in most cases is unsellable on this financial climate. But then again i am not a banker, I am but a simple pleb who is having to deal with what they have done wrong.

So Banks are using your money to screw you over and your representatives are taking it! Welcome to democracy everyone! How can this be, how can banks have the balls to do this? And how can your elected officials accept it and let them have their way? It is an outrage,the more you think about it the more outrageous it becomes. Lets think about these mortgages that are failing? Who created these mortgages? The Banks Who sold these mortgages to people who possibly couldn't afford them? The Banks! And who is now having to save these said banks because they sold unrealistic mortgages? You. It is totally the banks fault, nobody elses, they created these sub prime mortgages and made them available and sold them, they new the risks and lost. Yet they are not willing to pay for that, they are not willing to help those they screwed over and now they are screwing them over with your money, with the help of your elected officials. And then they wonder why people want to string them up from the nearest tree!

Woody Guthrie America's greats folk artist, who vividly captured the Depression and the dust bowl era wrote a song called Jolly Banker and for me it still applies today...

My name is Tom Ranker and I'm a jolly banker
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I
I safeguard all the farmers and widows and orphans
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I

If you show me you need it, I'll let you have credit
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I
Just bring me back two for each one I lend you
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I

When money you're needing and mouths you're feeding
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I
I'll check out your shortage and bring up your mortgage
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I

When your car you are losing and sadly you're cruising
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I
I'll come and foreclose, take your car and your clothes
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I

When the bugs get your cotton, the times they are rotten
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I
I'll come down and help you, I'll rape you and scalp you
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I

When the landlords abuse you, or sadly misuse you
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I
I'll send down the police, keep you from mischief
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I

I HATE TO SINGLE YOU OUT AGAIN ...BUT YOU PISS ME OFF!

2009-04-27T23:45:00.000-07:00

I don't really mean to pick on this guy but he really does piss me off with the stupid things he writes. Its Inner Banks Eagle AGAIN!!!!!

As usual IBE quotes an article from somewhere that he agrees with, this time the Canada Free Press a conservative website. The article discusses the validity of the CO2/Global Warming link. This is not a one off article, the Canada Free Press has taken up the Global Warming is a lie so the Socialist can take over and kill us all stance with vigour, with its own dedicated section on the site. Now here is the said quote...

The term “greenhouse gas emissions” is either deliberately misleading or indicates complete ignorance of the science, or both. What they really mean is CO2, yet it is less than 4% of greenhouse gases and the human portion a fraction of that. Why do they want it reduced? It is not a pollutant and not causing global warming or climate change. Reducing it is completely unnecessary and harmful for the plants and will cost trillions. They propose energy alternatives that are potentially more dangerous because they don’t work and can replace only a fraction of existing energy sources. This pattern of identifying the wrong agent of change, blaming humans, and proposing inadequate replacements at great cost is not new. We saw very similar events and sequences with claims that Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) was destroying the ozone layer.

The Article is written by Dr Tim Ball a very big global warming skeptic. Carbon Dioxide is the second most abundant Greenhouse Gas behind water vapour. Yet it can contribute up to 26% of global warming effect. There is alot of science here that is so intense that i can not go into it, but the overall view is Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas, thus it does contribute to Global Warming. However what i think Dr Ball is getting at is that we have placed alot on the reduction of CO2 to fight global warming even though he thinks Global warming is a myth. Cut to graph.....

The graph here shows several lines indicating levels of CO2, Temperature etc.... As you can see temperature levels are at there highest for many thousands of years as are CO2 levels. If I'm not mistaken the globe has got hotter. An argument often made is that CO2 levels often rise after the temperature has already increased and thus it can not be the cause of global warming. On one level they are right, this does happen, CO2 levels do rise after the temperature has gone up, as this graph shows. But let me argue this from a different angle, it is quite possible that CO2 is not the whole reason for global warming! Yes i said it! However CO2 is the only thing we can control, out of all the greenhouse gases, the major ones are water vapour, Carbon Dioxide, Methane and Ozone, CO2 is the only one we can stop pumping into are atmosphere. And as it is the second largest contributor to the greenhouse effect it is are best possible plan of attack to reduce it in order to stop or slow global warming.That is why governments are attempting to reduce CO2 emissions.

Back to the main theme of this post, here is a small quote from IBE in response to this...

There is no chance that anyone politically inclined to believe in environmental hysteria will ever accept that banning DDT was a con, that banning CFCs was a con ... and that banning CO2 is going to be the biggest con of all. In every case their opposition is political and not scientific. In every case the extremists spent a huge amount of effort to denigrate anyone who dared to question their half baked ideas.

Half baked? opposition is political and not scientific? Hmmm..... Pot.... Kettle.....Black, me thinks.

Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring back in the 60s and brain washed an entire generation into believing that a fairly manageable misuse of the greatest mosquito treatment ever invented could only be resolved by a total ban of the chemical. The consequence? As of a few years back, 30 million human beings have died from malaria since 1970. By 1960, over 500 million people had been saved by the near total eradication of malaria. Its return as a major cause of death and misery from brain damage is totally attributable to the lies that Rachel Carson wrote in her fraudulent book. Yet 98% of liberals are "positive" that Rachel Carson saved the world. They still believe her non sense to this day. Nothing will dissuade them. Nor do they seem to care that 30 million people have died and millions continue to die because of her stupidity.

The above quote is what really led me to write this post, I have never heard of Rachel Carson or the book she wrote, but if she has managed to brainwash most of the world i think i better read her book. DDT or Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane as it is better known is an insecticide, which was widely used to kill mosquito's and as a consequence helped to almost eradicate malaria. What IBE says here is absolute, unadulterated crap, DDT is banned in most developed countries as a pesticide, however as part of malaria control it is not band. You can and people still do use DDT to fight malaria, why it is not used as often as it did before? Its because the Mosquito's have become immune to it. You could say they have evolved! DDt is also considered harmful to humans and that is why is was banned as a pesticide in the US and in other nations too.

Lets have a little more from IBE....

There is excellent science that some of the greatest periods of environmental and human progress were during periods of the earth that were much warmer than today and with CO2 concentrations hundreds of times higher than we currently experience. All you need to recognize the corruption of the concept that CO2 is a danger is to study the medieval warm period a thousand years ago, or even better the Holocene Optimum following the last ice age ten thousand years ago. The Optimum lasted for thousands of years and had higher temperatures and greater CO2 concentrations and yet it was the period of mankind's development of much of our culture and the foundations of much of our science. How bad could it have been?

Holocene Optimum!? Jesus IBE at least your not a creationist! Otherwise you couldn't make this argument. The Holocene Optimum was caused by a small change in the earths orbit of the sun. See Malinkovitch Cycle. The Holocene Optimum did occur at a time when Humanity was in the midst of starting civilization, however what IBE disregards here is the impact that such an occurrence like the Holocene Optimum would have had on an extremely small human population. Again cut to graph.

The human population of the entire globe 10000 years ago was around about 10 million, i would argue that the Holocene Optimum would have had a very small effect on this population in contrast to what we might have to face. We are talking about 10million highly mobile people who new and understood nature, who did not have to stay in one place, who had no fixed dwelling and plenty of space to find the means to live, the contrast with ourselves is black and white. The problem with IBE's comment is that he looks at this through 21st century eyes and relates the survival of are ancestors in the Holocene Optimum to the right wing myth that global warming will not effect us. There are nearly 6 billion people on this earth and even now we can not feed them all, if all off humanity lived at the current level at which the United States population is accustomed we would need six more earths to do so! This is why governments are fighting to change how we all live, to lessen are dependence on fossil fuels, they will not last for ever. We need to adapt to a new world, a world where we have to change and exploit the wealth of our planet in a good way, in a way that is less harmful. If we do not change Inner Banks Eagle you can strike off that outrageous comment that liberals have 30 million peoples deaths on there hands as there will be hundreds of millions more on yours.

War is Peace

2009-04-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

We all i think by now no what 'waterboarding' is, how it works, what it does and does not do. The majority of the world and the majority of Americans and i would say almost all Americans pre 9/11 would believe it to be torture.

The dictionary says torture is 'the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.' That is what torture is, Amnesty International describes 'waterboarding' like this 'You are tied to a board, your ankles, wrists, chest and head strapped firmly down. Water pours onto your face, flows up your nose, into your mouth, down your throat and fills your lungs and stomach. This is waterboarding.'

The basis of the Bush Administration argument that 'waterboarding' is not torture, is that it is not painful in the physical sense. Reports of which have confirmed this.

The following is a transcript of the 1947 court proceedings in the trial of a World War II Japanese war criminal: Chinsaku Yuki. He was accused of the torture and murder of Philippine civilians, and ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison. This exchange is between the American prosecutor, Col. Keeley, and Filipino lawyer Ramon Navarro, who was subjected to waterboarding.

When Yuki could not get anything out of me, he wanted the interpreter to place me down below. And I was told by Yuki to take off all my clothes, so what I did was to take off my clothes as ordered. I was ordered to lay on a bench and Yuki tied my feet, hands and neck to that bench, lying with my face upward. After I was tied to the bench, Yuki placed some cloth on my face. And then with water from the faucet, they poured on me until I became unconscious. He repeated that four or five times.

You mean he brought water and poured water down your throat?

No sir, on my face, until I became unconscious. We were lying that way, with some cloth on my face, and then Yuki poured water on my face continuously.

And you couldn't breathe?

No, I could not, and so I, for a time, lost consciousness. I found my consciousness came back again and found Yuki was sitting on my stomach. And then I vomited the water from my stomach, and the consciousness came back again for me.

Where did the water come out when he sat on your stomach?

From my mouth and all openings of my face ... and then Yuki would repeat the same treatment and the same procedure to me until I became unconscious again.

How many times did that happen?

Around four or five times, from two o'clock up to four o'clock in the afternoon. When I was not able to endure his punishment which I received, I told a lie to Yuki ... . I could not really show anything to Yuki, because I was really lying just to stop the torture.

Was it painful?

Not so painful, but one becomes unconscious — like drowning in the water.

Like you were drowning?

Drowning. You could hardly breathe.

So by some accounts, 'waterboarding is not painful in the physical sense. But what about mentally? Does water boarding inflict mental pain or anguish? According to Dr John Keller who deals with the survivors of torture and is the director of Bellevue/N.Y.U. Program for Survivors of Torture says that it does.

'Some victims were still traumatized years later', he said. One patient couldn't take showers, and panicked when it rained. 'The fear of being killed is a terrifying experience', he said". Keller also stated in his testimony before the Senate that "water-boarding or mock drowning, where a prisoner is bound to an inclined board and water is poured over their face, inducing a terrifying fear of drowning clearly can result in immediate and long-term health consequences. As the prisoner gags and chokes, the terror of imminent death is pervasive, with all of the physiologic and psychological responses expected, including an intense stress response, manifested by tachycardia (rapid heart beat) and gasping for breath. There is a real risk of death from actually drowning or suffering a heart attack or damage to the lungs from inhalation of water. Long term effects include panic attacks, depression and PTSD. I remind you of the patient I described earlier who would panic and gasp for breath whenever it rained even years after his abuse

In my mind, waterboarding equates to torture and has been considered so by the US previously. In an interview sometime back Dick Cheney seemed to verbally agree that waterboarding was not torture.

Hennen: "Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?"

Cheney: "Well, it's a no-brainer for me, but for a while there I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in."

I disagree Mr Cheney! Waterboarding is Torture! Your pro waterboarding statements are based wholly on some crafty semantic loop wholes you extracted from lawyers that for a small time allowed you to negate American and International Law.

You have got to admire the way in which the Bush Administration went about this, in the fallout of 9/11 they peddled fear that allowed them to convince a nation to go to war, convince a nation that Saddam Hussein was an ally of Osama Bin Laden and had vast stocks of WMD and convinced a nation that torture was fine, it was OK, it was for there protection. When i think about this, i am reminded off something Hermann Goering once said...

The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any nation.

The current battle in America over is it torture or is it not, is a battle waged with semantics. On the right the use terms as Enhanced Interrogation Techniques that attempt to hide the true nature of those techniques. This is what we call in the UK 'spin'. By this we mean that you take a subject that may be good or bad and you change the meaning of it and this is what the right is trying to do at this very moment.

Mr Bush once said....

I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, were really talking about peace.

And when they say we are talking about Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, we are really talking about Torture!

America has to step up and show us all that they do not condone torture, that they do not believe that is is OK to commit torture and bring those who made it OK to justice. I have listened and listened to Cheney, Rove and Fox seeking to slither out of this with words, words that mean very little to what they stand for and words allude so negatively to the Obama administration. Words that equate themselves as good American patriots and on the other hand Obama as the outsider, the socialist etc....

Newswipe takes a look at Fox News (America on my box)

2009-04-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

Finally someone in the UK, who works for the BBC has finally thought it was a good idea to take a look at Fox News. Newswipe is a show that takes a satirical look at news coverage and bemoans the woefulness that is our nations very own news. But to but it all into perspective Charlie Brooker takes a quick look at Fox.

Most people in the UK think of Fox as the people who brought us the Simpsons and Family Guy and thats it. They are not aware of the news channel or what it stands for or what sort of craziness goes on there. So i was positively orgasmic when someone else in my country talked about it.

It is only the first part of this video that talks about Fox News and the rest of it goes on to talk about Quantatitive Easing, what ever that is. Any

I recommend this book,

2009-04-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

I am almost finished reading this excellent book on the meaning of Fundamentalism. It was written by Malise Ruthven a Scottish author, who is well known for his work on Islamic affairs and Fundamentalism. Here is a bit of a blurb about this book.....

Since the end of the Cold War, fundamentalism has been seen as the major threat to world peace, a conclusion that was burned into our consciousness on September 11th and that is reinforced almost every day in the Middle East. But what exactly is fundamentalism? Here is the first book to explore the real nature of secular and religious fundamentalism worldwide, highlighting the many different forms fundamentalism can take. Examining Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu sects, Malise Ruthven offers a sweeping look at this phenomenon, examining its historical, social, religious, political and ideological backgrounds and providing a critical view of the burgeoning literature on this highly diverse set of movements. Fundamentalism, he concludes, is a problematic term that defies easy definitions. Coined by American Protestant evangelicals in the 1920s, the word's meaning has expanded to include radical conservatives and ideological purists in many spheres of activity, not all of them religious. Fundamentalism embraces Islamic radicals in the Muslim world as well as the militant Israeli settlers who oppose them. It has been used to describe Sikh, Hindu and even Buddhist nationalists who seek to justify their political agendas by reference to divine edicts or religious tradition. Ruthven agrees that there are some 'family resemblances' between different fundamentalist movements, especially over concerns of national identity and gender, but he ultimately questions its usefulness as a term. One of the world's leading commentators on Islam, Malise Ruthven writes with a clarity and directness that never fails to engage the reader. In this superb volume, he guides us through what is clearly a complex topic, but one that is vitally important in the modern world.

As i have said, i have found this book an excellent read and one that i have learnt alot from. Basically the book deals with the meaning of the word fundamentalism and how it is applied to forms of religious and secular extremism. The book opens with a small discussion about the word fundamentalism and its origins, which originated in America and was created to describe a certain sect of Protestantism that arose in California in the 1920's.

The book also looks as Islam, Hinduism and the awful practice of Sati, Judaism and a little at Sikhism and Buddhism. All of which have elements that have at times been described as Fundamentalist.

I highly recommend this book if you do have an interest in one of the most important issues of our time!

My new favourate cartoon

2009-04-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

This is my new favourite cartoon, The Adventures of Puffin Cat! Behold the Greatness that is Puffin Cat, the moral foundation of the Union of Soviet Republics!!!

Shut Up

2009-04-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

Is anyone still listening to Dick Cheney? I bloody hope not. I have seen some of his Hannity interview and again his disregard for human suffering does not surprise me even a little.As usual he went about telling us all how well torture worked and how it saved America from further attack and without it there would have been another major attack on American soil and millions of Americans would have died! Well that's an exaggeration, but you get the gist of it.

Well were do i start with this, Chavez! So the Bush Administration just ignored him! Great policy!Ignoring someone will not not make them go away or even change the way they act. Chavez was actually democratically elected and is not a dictator, what America's problem with him is, is that he is a Socialist!!!! He may be a son of a bitch but he is not Americas son of a bitch and that is a major problem. America needs to interact with these people, they will never change if they feel like they are being ignored or treated badly.

Mr Hannity, America appeased Hitler too! Also though you helped win the war, you didn't start to fight until 1941. America is not the sole winner of World War Two, you seem to be forgetting the Soviet Union, who played a large part in it. Further more Hitler was democratically elected (though he used some pressure tactics) he only became a dictator when he used a loop hole in the American written constitution to gain absolute power. This was a repercussion of the Great Depression that started in America. However i am digressing....

So is Obama apologising? I hope so! America has alot to apologise for over the last eight years. It is great to see a President again who is willing to interact and be humble and not one who thinks that America has the right to trample anyone who gets in there way. America's way is not the only way and it certainly is not always the best way. I do not believe that Obama will let any nation take advantage of America, if anything his stance towards the world is welcoming and very positive, that is a good thing. America wont be seen as the bully, which it has been for may years.

Just because you may have got some good information (and i stress may) does not make torture right. It s is even more wrong when you claim that the nation you are doing it for is the 'leader of the free world' and is built on the principle of liberty. There are those who will claim that America was founded on Christian principles, and that these principle place them above others morally. Where is the Christian morality here? That is not what i perceive as a Christian act, and why are the christian right supporting torture? Or is it OK because you don't have to act Christian to none Christians? If anything in my mind the Christian right should be asking for the prosecution of the Bush Administration as much as or even more than the left.

My sentiments towards Dick Cheney are summed up in this next video, from a band called Brakes......

The stupidity of Teabagging

2009-04-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

The Tea bagging parties that have been going on in various states across America are completely ridiculous but fortunately, unintentionally hilarious. This has been picked up on all over the world, not because it is a valid response to a perceived threat but because 'tea bagging' means something completely different. The fact that this has been overlooked by though's who organized it does not surprise me at all. Though it is a term that is not all that well known, i think that at least someone somewhere involved in this would have said 'oh jebus we can't use this term, it will make us look stupid'.

One response here in the UK made me giggle, a gentleman wrote a letter into the Times about the Tea bagging parties....

Sir, The picture caption of a participant in a tax-filing-day protest in America informs us that the reason he is festooned with tea bags is to echo the Boston Tea Party in 1773 (In my view, April 16). Tea bags, despite their ubiquity, bear only a passing resemblance to the commodity employed there. Fortunately, the real thing is still available for those discriminating enough to prefer it.

Tony Phillips

Chalfont St Giles, Bucks

I couldn't find a more British response, until i found this just underneath.....

It's not discrimination, but habit that makes people prefer leaf tea. Tea bags are perfectly adequate to those used to them. Proper tea is theft (Karl Marx).

Charles Bockett-Pugh, Sandhurst,

Basically here in the UK we have taken your debate over taxation and made it into a battle between leaf tea or tea bags!

On a more serious note, what is this all about? Well as far as i can tell this is a Republican lead protest that is harking back to the 'patriotism' of the Boston Tea Party. The intention being that this in someway reflects on Obama in a bad way, that he becomes a figure similar to King George the III of England. With out going into the whole Boston Tea Party thing, something that i think is part of American Mythology as and act of patriotism, the likening between the two is of the up most stupidity. The Republican tea bagging parties are a reaction to Obama sorting out the mess of Republicans. They should be tea bagging themselves rather than Obama and the democrats. Obama has had to spend all this money because of Republican stupidity and as far as i am aware Obama has not put any taxes up as yet. And if he does it will be the richest people in America who will face them.

We are in the midst of the biggest economic downturn since the depression, you can not beat this with no government spending. If the Republicans were still in power now it would not just be bad news for America but for the whole world.

As well as this there are certain undertones being expressed at these Tea bagging parties, something that the Young Turks have picked up on.

Burn the books someone says!! Jebus is America turning into 1930's Germany? Who has been listening to Glenn Beck just a little? There is nothing more sinister than burning books! That is an evil, a disgusting evil.

The Glenn Beck Animated Series Needs to be Made!

2009-04-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

After watching this, which i thought was quite funny and not to dissimilar from the real thing, i thought that some animator somewhere was missing a trick here. Glenn Beck the Animated Series needs to be made! Think about it is would be great.

I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of He-Man or Thunder Cats..... Becks HQ would be of course a Fox TV studio inside the Alamo from which he would plan his attacks on the evil lord Obama and the Mexicans. His goal to save America from Communists, Taxes, Atheists, Gun abolition, slavery, the UN, the French and total destruction. The fate of his life to fight lord Obama was decided in a dream where a white bearded old man told him it was his duty as a conservative, Fox TV host to make sure Obama fails.........

There are endless possibilities with this, storyline after story line. It has to be made lol.

Another thing too, on the Glenn Beck website you can buy a rocking Obama for your car dashboard. Although its a blatant attempt a mockery, Obama thinks he is Jesus hahahahahaha, not funny, i do like it alot, its kind of funky. Its the only thing in Glenn Becks online shop that i would describe as funky or good.

There are some very lame products on sale, one of my favourite lame products is "WISDOM (LIMITED EDITION STUDIO ARTWORK)", it says in the selling blurb "INSPIRATION for this art deco painting came from Glenn Beck's life-long love of the fresco over Rockefeller Plaza" and the prints "are numbered and signed by artist and Glenn" wooow and only 75 dollars. Here it is in all its glory...

Hmmmm not impressed? Well what about this for your new born child a Glenn Beck Programme Onesie!!?

You love it i can tell, other products brought to you from the Save America with Glenn Beck before Obama Destroys us All (and make Glenn Rich) Foundation are as follows, Mugs, Travel Mugs, RamaHanuKwanzMas cards, Glenn Beck Hydro-Carbon Powered Eco-Vehicle bumper sticker (this is to stop Hippies keying your SUV), Glenn Beck Duct Tape (with this Disclaimer Duct Tape cannot prevent your head from exploding, but it will make it easier to locate the pieces afterwards.), Glen Beck Hats Shirts Books and last of all a product called Hate U which means hate you and there are various ways in which Glenn Beck products can help you display this message.

Hello everyone

2009-04-10T12:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, logging services will resume as normal soon. I have just been away on a little trip to Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire. Was a much needed break from work and i very much enjoyed nice walks in the countryside, large amounts of Real Ale and some lovely dinners in country pubs.

So i will be back soon, tomorrow probably with some more America related posts.

American Media

2009-04-02T02:36:00.000-07:00

Since i started this blog, i have quite frequently watched the different American media outlets, mainly the television news sources and the newspapers, with a bit of talk radio too. From all that i have seen it is very apparent that the American media is highly divided. You Americans will know what i mean, you watch one show if your Conservative and another if your Liberal. This i find really strange as here in the UK a similar division is only apparent in the printed press and not on the television or radio.

This makes American political observation rather exciting and at times extreme. As much as i love Keith Olbermann (and i do i want to adopt him as my second father) i know he has a political agenda that is left and progressive and vice verse for Bill O, Limbaugh, etal.

Here in the UK you really just don't get this divide, political reporting is far more neutral. This is mainly because of the BBC, who as part of the license fee have to follow strict rules on impartiality and thus we have a higher bar of neutrality to meet than say in the US. The whole American system of political reporting is very strange to me, with one network pandering to conservative thinking and others to liberals.

However entertaining this can be, i really do think it is detrimental to political thinking and very lazy, people rather than forming there own political ideals from neutral fact, are told what to think. Its a system that is open to abuse and if you tell me different i still wont agree, who monitors and controls the output of news shows?? (this sounds rather communist) but there should be some form of regulation? there might well be but it does not seem like it when Glenn Beck is telling us is crazy fantasies and Rush Limbaugh is having a go at immigrants and Bill O is saying rather disgusting things about rape victims. I am picking on the conservative shows abit here. So here are a couple of clips of how it is done here in the UK, starring Jeremy Paxman from the BBC programme Newsnight.

Paxman is always in the face of any politicians that he interviews from whatever party and whatever country and this is a good thing. He is always trying to put them on the back foot and keep the pressure high. This i think is great as it really makes it hard for them to spin doctor their way out of any questions they don't want to answer.

In the US, it seems that republicans tend to go to Conservative programmes and Liberals to their version, so i ask how can you get good truthful straight answers when the majority of shows are loyal to one political party?

I'm not 100% sure on the situation myself but this is something that i have perceived over the last few months. There may be an entire whole network out there that is completely neutral and fair but I'm not aware of it. Finally i will say that the Liberal side is far more neutral than the Conservative, from everything that i have seen, maybe the liberal side is the neutral side i not to sure anymore.....

Obama in the UK for the G20

2009-04-01T03:43:00.001-07:00

Above is the video of the Obama's arriving at Downing Street this morning for the G20summit among other things like meeting the Queen. The summit is due to last for three days and is probably the most important meeting the G20 has ever had, as all sides find common ground to fight off recession. As usual however there will be the expected protests from anti-globalisation groups, which has at times in the past erupted into violence.

Obama and Brown go into this G20 meeting on similar ground and looking to use similar means to fix the problem, however other G20 nations do not agree with the approach.

Speaking at a joint press conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in central London, Mr Obama admitted that there were differences between the leading nations at the G20 table, but said that he had come to "listen, not to lecture".

Yet in a warning clearly directed at nations including France and Germany, he said that the world must act to prevent a 1930s-style depression. He said that the US was committed to doing "whatever it takes" to boost international growth.

Telegraph

Mr Brown will also meet Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, Hu Jintao, the Chinese president and Taro Aso, the Japanese prime minister over the course of the three days.

I have been trying to find out when President Obama will get to meet the Queen but i haven't found that out yet. This will be a great moment, i always enjoy the Queen and President meetings. Overall the Queen has met every President since 1951 except for Lydon Johnson, that's an impressive record for a none American.

Top Ten American Women I Have a Love Thing For!

2009-03-31T00:40:00.000-07:00

Partly inspired by some videos i watched on the Young Turks, i thought i would do my own list of the Top Ten American Women I have a Love Thing For. This was a very hard list to compile when i actually thought about it deep down! But through some hard fought soul searching i have managed to bring together my final top ten.

10) Edie Falco aka Carmela Soprano is my first pick at 10, Why some of you may ask? I don't really know but i guess i just love here character in the Sopranos. Its an odd choice i guess but i think she is hot still, though i don't think i would risk messing with Tony's woman!

9) I really don't think this takes too much of an explanation, this is Jaime Pressly of My Name Is Earl fame. Love her in that show and i really have a thing for the hickness of her character. She is just very beautiful and very sexy and i like her alot. Again i don't know if its the character in the show or what, that makes me like her more than i should. But there she is in all her glory at number 9.

8) This was a tough one, should she be higher? Well what ever Sarah Chalk ala Elliot Reed of Scrubs is number 8 on the list. So far they have all been blondes, i dont have a thing for girls with blond hair honest its just the way its worked out. Again she is super pretty and im sure my mother would approve too.

7)If Sarah Palin was more like this lady she would definaitly be elected in 2012. Lisa Ann of various pornographic movies fame but better know for the now classic blue movie Nailin Palin. I thought long and hard over whether i should have had Sarah Palin herself here over Lisa Ann! But i decided that Lisa Anns politics were more liberal (obviously) and there for more appealing to me.

6) Right lets get make this clear she did not get here because of those pictures, this is purely based on other things. Not any naught nude pictures that she sent to her boyfriend ok! I just think Vannessa Hugdens is rather cute, girlfriend material if you will. She looks so small and cute and like she needs to be looked after, however im sure thats not the case.

5) Kathy Foster bassist for the band the Thermals, Yummy! I love rocky girls, and she is rocky and in a band and dresses cool and is HOT. Very much my type of girl. And she is from Oregon a state that if i would very much like to live in. If i was cool enough i think i would ask her to marry me!! What i will say is i dont think she is conventionally beautiful, she has her own thing going on and it totally works for her.....and me too.

4) This is old school but Gillian Anderson was and is hot. I especially like 1990's Scully. Like all teenage boys who watched the Xfiles the first time round i had a crush then and i still do now. I dont think Gillian Anderson has been that sexy since, and now probably never will be but she's still up there on my list.

3) Right let me say the shameful thing.....I LOVE THE GILMOUR GIRLS. I do really, it sucks you in and thenm you cant help but want to listen to there fast talking! Lauren Graham is the best thing about the Gilmour Girls for me though. And if i lived in Stars Hollow i would kick Luke's ass for her!!!

2) Very close to being number one. I really do love Carla Espinosa. I find her latin features very attractive she is almost perfect. Here in the UK you can imagine that we dont have very many latin women!! The weather is not good enough so i have to admire from a far. Some of my mates dont get what i see, i dont no why though i think she is very very pretty, obviously pretty.

1) Cat Power aka Charlyn Marshall is the best thing to gome out of Georgia since Route 85. She is a fantastic musician and hot to boot. God bless America for giving the world Cat Power. I dont know what it is about her i love, i never know why i just do. Anyway she is my number one American Woman i have a Love Thing For!

LOL I.B.E.

2009-03-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

We don't often think of why our founders created the government it created, nor do we often remember their warning that our system would only work for a moral people. I wonder whether that means our system is doomed to end now that secular humanism has ended the moral foundation of our nation?

One of my little pleasures in life is to look at my blogger dashboard and see what Inner Banks Eagle has written recently. He is always a source of bewilderment and hilarity that brightens up my day. The above quote is just another instance of this.

So where do i start? Well Morality! What IBE is saying i think, is that America is less religious and thus less moral, i say this as he mentions secular humanism. Morality is not exclusive to religious people, far from it, many immoral people are religious. Morality is not even the dominant currency of his beloved Republican Party as recent times have shown. The main aspect of this though is his little jibe at secularism and humanism.

Like i said, to be none religious is not to be immoral i think the majority of normal people would agree. To be good to your fellow human does not need the prerequisite of religion to exist, i know this because i am here and i am good to my fellow human beings. One example of morality i will make is with my own country, some of the most immoral acts that my nation has undergone on foreign lands has been done when this nation was at its most religious, for example slavery, my nation was the largest exporter of slave labor in the world. Where was the religious morality then? You can not define religion and secularism with morality, morality transcends both.

Humanism by nature is secularist, this does not make it immoral. I would argue on the grounds of morality that humanism far surpasses religion, that said I'm biased. Humanism is about affirming the dignity and worth of all people, is that immoral? It is about the process by which truth and morality is sought through human investigation and as such views on morals can change when new knowledge and information is discovered, is that immoral? What makes it immoral to IBE and others like him is that is places the significance on human understanding of the world over mythical and transcendental justifications, is this Immoral? No, no and no.

The IBE quote comes from an article called Why Be a Conservative? and thus his comments are political as well religious ones. IBE's jibes at secularism and humanism come from from his conservative politics that is deeply endowed with religious 'morality'. But what especially urks him and his fellow conservatives is the progressive nature of humanism, it is the modern day Theory of Evolution. Humanism relies on the human understanding of the world so when that changes so does humanism, this is unfathomable to the conservative religious as they attempt to devolve back in time. Conservatism is about not changing or if change has to happen it goes back to something from the past, it rejects almost all forms of progress and denies rational thinking.Its a sad state of affairs when this is the second largest political group in the worlds most prominent democracy and 'leader of the free world'.

Lets take it back to the Founding Fathers, IBE says 'We don't often think of why our founders created the government it created, nor do we often remember their warning that our system would only work for a moral people', why did the founding fathers create the system of government in the way they did? Why did they separate religion and politics? IBE the founding father did this because they were well aware of the religious turmoil in England and Europe, they knew about religious persecution, that's why many of them where there. William Penn did not leave England for fun, he left because he was a Quaker, he left persecution from those in power. There was no religious morality in England and the last thing the Founding Fathers wanted was to replicate that in America. The truth is America was created by secularism and humanism, the founding fathers decided that a secular state would protect the freedom of the the many religious groups from the persecution of another. And that act if anything is an act of humanism in my eyes, they through the understanding of their world created an idea of moral government that protected the equality of the citizens of the United States of America.

The 'moral foundation' of America is not religion, the foundations were built on secularism and humanism and that has always been the case.

Afghanistan is a total failure so far!

2009-03-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

As President Obama commits more soldiers to the war in Afghanistan lets look at the success of Operation Enduring Freedom (or should that be Operation Enduring Occupation). In the wake of 9/11 and the realisation of who was actually involved in it Mr Bush and his 'team' set out to destroy Al Qaida and those who supported them, this obviously meant people like the Taliban. Which at that time i agreed with and still do, the Taliban are extremists who will kill anyone who does not conform, so it was in my eyes a good thing to remove them from power. However the way in which the war has been executed has been thoroughly flawed.

The War officially began less than a month after 9/11 and its main aim was to help the Northern Alliance to overthrow the Taliban. This was achieved with relative ease with no major US or UK ground Forces involved. Kabul and Kanduz both fell to the Northern Alliance in November of 2001. The end of the Battle of Tora Bora signalled the end of the initial Taliban resistance, with most of Afghanistan being under the control of the Northern Alliance, Tribal Leaders and latterly US and UK forces. The objective was achieved with no major invasion by allied forces.

The removal of the Taliban by early 2002 was a good result at first glance, the ease in which it was done however was not all that great. Maybe this planted the seeds of opening a second front sooner than before on the war on terror? I have always believed that whatever the circumstances Bush was going to invade Iraq, but with Afghanistan seeming so easy and all but over i am sure this perpetuated the Iraq conflict sooner.

America and Britain did not finish the job in hand before they invaded Iraq. Afghanistan was not over. In 2003 the Taliban and Al Qaida emerged again, this ultimately lead to the involvement of NATO in the Conflict, as America and the UK split there resources between Afghanistan and Iraq. Who would have guessed a few years ago that the Iraq issue would be over before the Afghan one!?

There are lesson to be learnt for the future, one of them being when you take up a noble cause to take out the Taliban and Al Qaida you do not corrupt it by Invading another country on the pretence of WMD and cynical links with terrorism. I think things would have turned out better for Bush if he had stuck to the main conflict, the main goal of what he had to face and that was to destroy Al Qiada and the Taliban. The consequences of the Iraq war are many, I would argue that there is an increase in anti- Americanism in the Middle East and most Muslim countries and no doubt there are alot more terrorists because of it. The poor planning of the aftermath of the war led to thousands of deaths as the insurgency grew and almost overwhelmed an unready American and British force. You can not deny that Iraq took precedence over Afghanistan, it did, so much so that we almost all forgot what was going on there.

Afghanistan is not yet free of the Taliban, so we can not claim that this goal was met. Neither has Osama Bin Laden been caught or killed, another main objective failed. Most importantly of all the conflict has not made that part of the world safer, it has made it alot worse. The Taliban short of a home are now in Pakistan, a nuclear armed nation. A nation that is failing, a nation that is struggling to cope with a growing Taliban presence within its borders. Prior to the war, Pakistan had control over the situation to a certain extent but not anymore. Is Pakistan going to be another arena in which America will have to entrench itself? Possibly. The situation there worsens day by day, and some area's are now under the complete control of the Taliban. Sharia Law rules ove many. After all this, America is not safer, America has now got the stigma of the crusader in the Muslim world. It has not completed the objectives that were set out at the start by Mr Bush and Co and has so far completely failed in my opinion.

So as for President Obama and the Afghan Surge, well he has to do something and the surge is probably his only option. Afghanistan has been neglected and he has taken over a conflict that has the power to destabilise that entire region. He must act and quash the Taliban and Al Qiada. The surge also has the ability to get America and NATO out of there sooner rather than later and that has to be a good thing. But i cant help but think that Mr Bush and his negligence of Afghanistan will ultimately lead to more conflict in that region whether it will reappear in Afghanistan after America has left or next door in Pakistan. This begs the question then, does America have the stomach to go back if this is the case?

Off topic.... Completely

2009-03-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Well this post has absolutely nothing to do with this blog at all, it has nothing to do with America or anything even related to it. In fact this is about all the shit that's going on in my life at the moment. I just thought i would right it down as i haven't really spoken to anybody about it yet and i don't even think i want too.

I think at some point in your life you reach a point when you realise how crap things can be, whats worse is i have got to this point because of things that have happened to other people, two of my friends. I am lucky my life is going ok, things could be better but they are not bad not even close.

The first thing that has happened recently is that a very good friend who works with me on nights has been laid off. But its more complicated than it seems. My mate is Chinese he came to Uni here and has been working for a year at our work. When he started they gave him a one year contract as that was as long as his Visa. So this year has gone by and he renewed his Visa which cost £500. This was fine as we needed him at work still and there would be no problem getting a new contract. However there is this guy who has been on the 'sick' for 2 and a bit years who also works nights, and he has decided to come back. The problem with this guy is, he is completely useless, i can not put into words how bad he is at his job. There is no comparison between my friend and this guy. Add to this that he is a massive trouble maker and is a burden to the team, this of course has upset the whole group of us that work together that this guy has come back, and because of the coincidence of the Visa renewal they have laid of my mate. Furthermore the people upstairs new this might happen but said absolutely nothing to any off us, the guy had been working on days for 3 days before anything was said! Why the hell did they not let us know that this might be the case? Why didn't they tell my mate this might happen so at least he could plan ahead? Instead of wasting £500 on a new Visa? Its so fucking shit! So now my mate is going to leave in a few days, we only found out last week. They have gave him no warning. Who the hell do i work for!

This is bad and is making me feel like shit at work, plus i have to re-train this guy! its bloody ridiculous. Its a good job that I am looking for a new job as i cant stay there much longer. It just full of company people out to screw each other over to look good and get their fucking promotions and new cars.(i work for an American company btw lol)There has been a complete lack of compassion and understanding, i even heard one manager make a joke of it, which has sent me into a complete rage! Well all this work stuff is bad enough but the issue that has manifested itself off late has knocked me for six.

At Uni i became best friends with one of my flatmates, we did everything that mates do together, we would spend days playing computer games without sleeping, go on massive drinking sessions on a whim, go to football games and just hang out. We lived together for three years before he moved in with his girlfriend. He once said to me that i was like a brother (he already has a brother) and i felt the same. When i was in a crappy relationship he was there to help me and i for him too. We were good mates. After uni i stayed here in Preston and he went back to Manchester, though it is not far between the two we didn't see each other as often as we should have. This i now regret with all my heart.

It all started with strange phone calls and text messages, asking questions about incidents that happened at Uni. Questions like 'do you remember when we went to that bar and i beat that guy up?'. The answer was that yes i remember going to that bar on that night but the fight never happened. Then after some time these stories would become more elaborate and wild, with claims he new this famous person or he wrote the script for this TV show. When this started, he was only like this in txt messages and when i saw him in person he wouldn't even mention it. I didn't know what to make of it all. There was a long period where we didn't speak because we both were working alot and you know it was just at the bottom of the list. I know now that over this period thing were getting worse. I spoke to his girlfriend one day on the phone and she told me some stories about what was going on. My mate had become paranoid, he was saying things like that house had been bugged and when i spoke to him later he was telling me that he thought his girlfriend had cheated on him with a mate. I would bet both my arms that his girlfriend didn't do that because i know her and i know she wouldn't do that. So things were bad, but he was seeking help. He went to the doctor and sometime later they sectioned him for a while. They gave him medication and he was somewhat more normal.

Around October last year he rang me and it finally hit home hard that he was not best friend that i knew anymore. He was super paranoid but worse he was saying that he thought he was the son of god. He was telling me stories that he cured people and all that sort of shit. I know this was craziness because the old mate i knew was an atheist. My best mate had descended into a different world, he was officially mentally ill. I can explain my feeling on this, but it hurts alot. So over the last few months we have just tried to help, i talked to him but i don't think i did it enough. I didn't know how to deal with it, i tried my best to just be truthful. I wasn't there for him as much as i should have been.

A few days ago i got a phone call from his sister saying that he had run away as he was going to be sectioned again. He had stopped taking his medicine and was as worse as ever. His sister was phoning round everyone that he knew to see if he was there. He wasn't with me. This left me really worried and i contacted anyone i knew that he may have gone too. He wasn't with anyone. Days past and i checked my email to find a message from him. I have thought about putting that email up here but i cant, i couldn't. But basically it said that he had come to see me but he couldn't find me, he didn't know where i lived. But on top off that he was going to kill himself that night, i didn't get this email until the morning. I thought he was dead and i completely shit myself. I was nearly in tears fearing the worst, the things he wrote upset me more than i can ever say and i still cant get them out of my head. I am crying as i write this, it just upsets me so much. I phoned his mum straight away and i am very thankful to say that they had found him alive and had got him home.

After i new he was ok, i just cried, i have not done that for a longtime. I couldn't stop. I have no capacity to deal with it. It pains me so much to not understand or help my friend. To know that there is nothing i can do to make him better, nothing. His life is over and mine is not. He his never going to be normal never going to enjoy the things that i will. Never going to share anything. He is not the man i knew and loved anymore. May be this was not a good idea to write this, i don't know as it just upsets me more. Well i think this will do.

My American Music 0.4

2009-03-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't done one of these for a while. So here is one. This is The Bloodhound Gang a band i first heard when i lived in Scotland back in the 90's. The song that i heard was called Along Comes Mary and i was totally obsessed with it, it was one of those songs that you would listen too alot.

OMG, Youtube has got so bad, I cant get hold of the Proper video for Along Comes Mary because 'it is not available in your country'. What the hell! Well anyway there is the music. The Bloodhound Gang are not really the sort of band that i am into if you go off my entire record collection. I cant say exactly what it is i like about them, i just do. Another song that at time i listen to alot is Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo, which has the strangest lyrics. My favourite being 'retro-fit the pudding hatch oooo lala'.

Only America could produce a band like this, there sound is pure American. Though many millions listen to this kind of sound around the world it cant be replicated in my opinion. It comes from some form of American culture that can not exist anywhere else i think.

Whats he doing on American TV?

2009-03-24T00:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday i switched on my TV and by some fluke it was on the channel More 4, usually its on Sky News or BBC 1. Otherwise i may have missed this. The Daily Show titles where just coming on and i thought great i will watch this. To my surprise the guest for the show was Ian McShane, do you know him? Well apparently he is the star of a TV show called Deadwood!? I have never heard of it but it is on the TV over here i have since found out.

Well Ian McShane is English and is better known in the UK for a TV show called Lovejoy (the old ladies loved that show). An English actor on American TV is not surprising but it is when he comes from my hometown Blackburn.

Ian McShane was born in Blackburn in 1942, his father was a professional football player at Blackburn Rovers but more famously for Manchester United. He has been working in TV and Film since the 60's and has been in loads of great things like Kung Fu Panda, Sponge Bob and Miami Vice. But i didn't know all this, he just disappeared from the UK as far as i was concerned so its great to see a home town boy over there!

This gives me a chance to talk about my hometown a little, a place that is relatively small but has an interesting past.

Blackburn lies at the heart of Lancashire which is the Birth Place of the Industrial Revolution. The town itself was a centre of Cotton manufacturing and being the place where the 'Spinning Jenny' was invented by James Hargreaves. The revolution propagated the growth of what was a small town in the 18th century into one of the largest producers of cotton cloth in the world. The importance of cotton and the Industrial Revolution is deeply engraved on the town even though the trade has long since gone.

The town motto is 'Arte Et Labore' which is Latin for 'By Art and By Labour', this is also found on the Club crest of Blackburn Rovers. I wont go on about the Rovers, all you need to know is they are a good football team with a long history and the team has done alot to raise the profile of the Town.

Blackburn is also mentioned in a song by the Beatles, 'A Day in the Life' of Sargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band has these lyrics 'I read the news today oh boy. 4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire. And though the holes were rather small, they had to count them all. Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall'. This is probably the only musical mention of the town.

Gandhi once visited Blackburn during his campaign to boycott British textiles, the main purpose of which was to talk to the British people most affected by it. The local workers famously showed him solidarity in his political struggles and he stayed overnight with a local poor cotton-weaving family living in neighbouring Darwen. There is an Old Cotton Mill in Darwen which was named India Mill in recognition of his visit.

A few years back we also had the pleasure of Condoleezza Rice visiting with then Foreign Secretary and MP of Blackburn Jack Straw, she visited a few places around the town including my sisters school and Ewood Park the home of Blackburn Rovers. There were a few protests as there is a large muslim community. But mostly it went well. Here is the only video i could fined of it, please ignore the Beatles music!

There is one other Blackburnian who has left these golden shores for America and made it onto TV, that is Jon Walmsley better known as John Walton in the Walton's.

Somebody from Blackburn was in the bloody Walton's how cool is that, i loved that show as a kid!!

Your Wrong is like My Bad

2009-03-19T04:24:00.000-07:00

At first i accepted my mistake, but not anymore. I have made the decision that 'Your Wrong' is correct. DB and Alana both pointed out that i wrote 'Your Wrong' when it should have been 'You're Wrong' i accepted this at the time as it is my nature to be modest and very British about it. However i am now going to argue that what i wrote was right.

'Your Wrong' is like 'My Bad'! The use of 'Your' is all about ownership thus when i wrote 'Your Wrong' i was stating the Popes ownership of his wrongness! When you say 'My Bad' you are accepting your ownership of badness thus 'Your Wrong' is the term used to state someone elses wrongness!

As a member of the Country that invented English i have natural superiority over the language than say an American. As an Englishman i get to decide the rules of the language we gifted to the world. Well that's what i tell you Americans when i have fucked up anyway. lol.

This Should Be Funny

2009-03-19T04:06:00.000-07:00

Mr George Bush is to write a book on 12 of his most important decisions, I'm sure this is going to be full of laughs.

If his book is anything like his out going speeches, its going to be full to the brim with self important, indulgent, historically flawed justifications. So what can we expect too see in this laughable attempt to justify Mr Bush Presidential inadequacy?

There was no warning of any impending terrorist attacks on mainland USA? So i went and did other things instead.

We thought Saddam really had WMD and so did the Brits! I am only as good as what i am told by Dick and Don!

Curtailing US citizens liberty with the Patriot act was hard but it was needed to fight Terrorists!

God sent me on this Crusade!

I did everything i could (weeks) after Katrina.

The Economic Crisis had nothing to do with me it was the Democrats and Clinton's fault.

History will Judge me as the Greatest President ever.

Blah Blah Blah Blah.......

It seems to me that Bush is attempting to write his own history, a history that is somewhat different to reality. Good luck with that Mr Bush..... I don't think somehow you will manage it well not outside America anyway. As i am sure there will be the loyal few who will succumb to your distorted, fact less view of events.

The best show on TV

2009-03-18T01:39:00.000-07:00

This is a clip from one of my favourate shows on TV called QI. It is hosted by Stephen Fry one of my idols!! He is my living god and someone i look up to.

Anyway this is an interesting clip about why Christmas Day is on the 25th of December..

Pope Cartoon, he is wrong.

2009-03-18T01:11:00.000-07:00

Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong.
Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong. Your Wrong.

My impression of New York

2009-03-16T00:30:00.000-07:00

Last year i went on holiday to New York for the first time, it was also my first time in the States. As an American Studies Graduate i should have done this before but better late than never.

As we all know New York is world famous and very very iconic, for many many different reasons. Such great movies as Crocodile Dundee have been filmed there lol (love that movie) and it has been a centre of music for decades. Also lets not forget the very big buildings and stuff. So its a very cool place to go on holiday.

Me and Miss Liberty

We visited New York in April last year and i was expecting it to be cold. Myself and all my stuff that i had packed were very surprised to find that its was 30c when we arrived. I was not prepared. Its a great flight over from the UK, i got as close as i ever will be to Greenland which is cool. We landed at JFK in the afternoon and not looking forward to American Immigration. If you are not an American, American Immigration is very scary and the immigration officers are very nasty looking. As it turns out they were not as bad as we thought they would be. But still scary.

From the airport we traveled by Taxi to Manhattan and we discovered that New York inhabitants are very un-courteous drivers and that is not excluding our taxi driver! Who in between shouting at other drivers, pointed out land marks and said things like 'that's where they filmed that scene in Men In Black'.

The most exciting part of the Taxi ride was for me personally was when Manhattan came in to view. This is a view that i have seen so many times in Films and on TV programs that it was almost unreal when it was in front of my very own eyes. As this view got closer and closer the nature of the size of these buildings that make up this iconic skyline became apparent. I mean there huge!

Our Hotel was the Pennsylvania across from Penn Station and Madison Square Gardens, to get there we had to go through Time Square. I think i metaphorically shot my load when we drove through it as i realised where i was.

The Pennsylvania is a 2000 room hotel and was built in 1919. That is all great but it turns out that is is a bit of a budget hotel and on seeing my room i was a little disappointed. I soon changed my mind when i saw my sisters room. At least i had a view of Madison Square Gardens, she had a view of brick walls and air conditioning units. Actually the room did grow on me and by the end of the stay i did like it alot. When i went to the bathroom it reminded me of the film Midnight Cowboy, i don't know why i don't remember any major Bathroom scenes in that movie or if that would be a good or a bad thing.

Empire State Building

As soon as we checked in and sorted our room, we went out and visited our first attraction which was the Empire State Building. Luckily this was just behind the hotel and we were there in 5 minutes. To enter any major New York landmark these days you have to go through alot of metal detectors and get felt up too. This level of security was a bit of a culture shock, we don't as far as i know do this in England. Anyway, its a great building to visit, unfortunately for us it was under abit of a refurb so there wasn't much to see inside, but that's not what i was interested in. The views from the top are amazing, the true vastness of New York becomes apparent and yes people do look like ants below. I stupidly didn't take my camera.

After we had done the views we eat in a bar/restaurant in the Empire State Building, which was good. Mt First American Meal was of course a Hamburger, and i was lost for words when the waitress asked me how i liked my burger? rare, medium or well done? What? Its a burger not a steak!! I got it medium/well done.

Day two we visited the Statue of Liberty, its not as big as you think it is! Damn cartoons had ruined it for me! Nonetheless it was well worth the visit to see such an icon. The Seagulls were big though. From liberty Island you get a great view of Manhattan and Jersey too.

Liberty Island and Manhattan

The Mrs and New Jersey

From Liberty Island we headed to Wall Street and were welcomed by lots of Soldiers with machine guns off whom we did not take pictures. I'm sure there are alot more there now.

Where the robbers live

Wall street is only worthy of a quick visit as there isn't really that much too see or do so we moved on to our next destination Ground Zero. What can i say about this place? Its crazy. Th vast size of the hole left is enough to make you wince, it is spookily silent except for the heavy machinery within the site. It is really hard to comprehend what happen there. While we were there some very very ignorant guy was taking pictures, but he was soon stopped by the biggest meanest looking New York Builder. Why would you want to take a picture of that i don't know.

Me and Time Square

Time Square was next, it looked big in the Taxi but was even bigger on foot. It wasnt quite dark when we went to take pictures so its greatness was not on full show.
After along day site seeing its good to go for a beer, i recommend you do not go to the Hard Rock Cafe, its rubbish, instead find a decent Irish Bar with good beer. This we did, we went to lol the Blarney Stone next to are hotel. The blatant over the top pastiche Irishness did not turn us away and we drank many beers including to my delight some Newcastle Brown Ale. This night however was more lively than usual as it was derby day, New York Rangers verses New Jersey Something? It was Ice Hockey! And New York won.

In the Blarney Stone one of the strangest things i have ever heard occurred. This was an Irish bar, with Irish people in it and yet there were loads of people singing about Rangers lol New York Rangers that is. If you are at all aware of the soccer teams Glasgow Celtic and Glasgow Rangers you will understand what i am talking about. This was very surreal.

Me and a statue of famous Scottish Poet Rabbie Burns in Central Park

I was reluctant to have my picture taken with good old Rabbie Burns as i have tried to disregard my Scottish childhood. However he lived in the area where i did so i did. My Question is why is there a statue of him in New York? He isn't that good.If you ever go to Central Park go rowing in the lake its lots of fun plus the water is full of Terrapins!

Another must visit place is MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). I knew from the moment i was going to New York that i was going to go there. One of the best Museums i have ever been too. The MOMA Shop is great too i could have spent loads in there.

The Lower East side is the sort of University living area as far as i could tell and i felt right at home there. Great bars with live music, i went to one gig hoping too see a New York band but it ended up being some English group lol. Its a really fun place at night, during the day i went to some of the shops and to a place called the Cakeshop which was full of super cool musician types playing with there keyboards.

The only issue i had when i was in New York was one night when we went for a meal, and on the menu there was a section entitled Chefs Irish Recollections. On this Irish section of the menu there was Fish and Chips!!! That is not Irish, that's like saying the Hamburger is Canadian! There where other things too that i have never seen on an Irish Restaurant Menu but i have seem a hundred times on English Menu's. What the hell is that all about?

I loved New York, it was the best Holiday i have ever been on and its an Amazing city. I only wish i had had More time there as my trip was only 5 days. This did not give me enough time, i had to do the tourist bit first. I found most of the people to be very friendly and i met and spoke to some very dodgy looking guys from the Bronx selling perfume outside Macy's, it was stolen stuff i guess. Macy's is man hell by the way, i lost my girlfriend in there for about an hour. So if you do get the chance go to New York its fantastic.

Beezlebub return!!

2009-03-14T11:35:00.001-07:00

I would just like to say that i would very much like to see Beezlebub posting again!
I do enjoy her post on Common Nonsense. Beezlebub return for Allah's sake!!

Maybe its a good sign, maybe Obama is making a better America and poor Beezlebubs fantastic pessimism is going to waste as there is little to be pessimistic about anymore.... I think that's my optimism righting that sentence.

Anyway i am sure i am not the only one who wishes to see Common Nonsense return to the fold.

Just a quick word on Jon Stewart

2009-03-14T11:06:00.001-07:00

I finally got to see the Cramer v Stewart interview today and what impressed me the most was Jon Stewart.

Jon Stewart is a comedian and what he does is take the piss out off everyone and anyone which is good, but i thought in this interview he tamed it down and was very serious and professional. The questions he asked and the statements he said were brilliant. Top notch journalism.

It just leaves me thinking where the hell is the rest of the press on this? Who are they working for? And why the hell was it left to a 'comedian' as Cramer put it to stand up on this issue?

I think the Daily Show really made CNBC and other similar channels look amateur with a brilliant well thought out interview with Cramer. It was so good in fact i started to feel sorry for Cramer and i think it was fairly brave of him to go on the show and make some kind of response.

Next up , Rick Santelli Please!! LOSER!

Obama hates us apparently

2009-03-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure exactly how long Obama has been in power now, I'm guessing it must be around 50 days. As far as the first 50 days of a Presidency goes its been eventful, especially on the Republican front. Could they possibly do anything more to show they hate him and want him to fall flat on his face. They will do their up most to make this happen even if this means screwing over America too. Well that's the way it seems to me.

On one hand i laugh at their futile, bile filled, embarrassing and frankly ridiculous arguments they vomit on to our TV screens, Radio and on the Internet. On the other, i think are their those who listen and believe it, believe it all? And i think yes. There always will be. Overall though if you are of some intelligence you find their verbal spooge rather funny and as yet not too tiresome in that respect.

Every now and then something they say and propagate really gets me annoyed and the other day i came across one such thing.I had seen some stuff previously to this in ignorant and speculating newspapers over here, but that is what it all is, speculation. However after Gordon Browns visit to Washington this has been picked up by the Right in America, what I'm talking about is that Obama apparently hates the British.

Barack Obama is filled with more hate than any President since Nixon. I wonder just how many Obama supporters really know this man? He despises Western Civilization. He does not see England as the nation of William "Wilbur" Wilberforce and the abolitionist movement which ended slavery throughout most of the world. Obama sees England, and Western Civilization, as the major force for evil in the world.

Inner Banks Eagle

The above comment comes from a Blog called Inner Banks Eagle who i have commented on before. In the Oval Office their were three busts of Lincoln, Roosevelt and Churchill. Now there is only Lincoln, one of Obama's heroes, apparently to this blogger and others on the right including some of the less trustworthy of the British press this was a snub to the British. The bust was actually loaned to President Bush just after 9/11 as a gesture of unity between the two countries. Loaned is the important word in that sentence.

A White House spokesperson says the Churchill bust was removed before Obama's inauguration as part of the usual changeover operations, adding that every president puts his own stamp on the Oval Office.

Huffington Post

I could understand if the Bust had been in the Oval Office since the Second World War and had become a fixture, but that simply is not the case it was loaned to Mr Bush who no longer works in the Oval Office. Like anybody who leaves a place of work you take what is yours with you and you return what you have borrowed before you go. Here is another quote from Inner Banks Eagle.

Did you know that Barack Obama despises Winston Churchill? Obama is so supportive of his grandmother's version of history, an impossible version, that he casually insulted our most important ally. Most important ally at least prior to the ascendancy of Barack Obama. The key point though is that Obama is wrong about the history on which he bases his hate.

Inner Banks Eagle

So Obama despises Churchill! Because some one returned a bust that was loaned and not given, even before Mr Obama was inaugurated, i don't think so, 2 + 2 = 5. The History he is referring too is of course the Mau Mau Rebellion in Kenya which was suppressed by the British the Colonial power in the 50's, at which time Churchill was Prime Minister. The British suppressed and at times harshly this anti-colonial rebellion. At this time Obama's relatives where there, his grandparents. It has been said that his grandfather was tortured by the British and who knows it could of happened, I'm very sure that things like that did happen and i know for sure many many Kenyans died. It is the nature of war and colonialism. So i am pretty sure that his grandmother had a pretty low opinion of the British and rightly so. But does this make him a British hater? Or make him despise Churchill? I m not so sure. Granted he might not have such a high opinion of Churchill as many others in America as his own family have felt the other side of the sword.

The United States has long overtaken its enfeebled parent Britain in wealth, power, and adherence to the principles of western civilization. It is not news that England is slowly committing suicide by multi-cultural ism, immigration, and liberalism. Are we far behind? Shouldn't we cherish our relationship with Old Blighty?

Now Obama adds a sinister rebuff to what will surely be a long list of high crimes and treasons before he's done with us. In a stunning slap to the face of our greatest ally, Obama has removed a bust of Winston Churchill,

Rebel Rebel

This last quote from a site called Rebelrebel i find more of a snub than anything that Obama has done. Firstly the writer pretty much rips us to pieces and then after that calls us Americas greatest ally. The use of the word 'sinister' is confusing, what is sinister about it? is there a bomb in the bust? Is Obama trying to kill the British? And btw Old Blighty is doing fine with Liberalism, multicutralism and immigration.

There are several other reasons that have led some to think that Obama hates the British, one of which i find highly amusing.

Brown presented Obama with a pen holder crafted from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President (whose sister ship, HMS Resolute, provided the wood for the Oval Office's desk), Obama offered up ... 25 DVDs of American movie classics.

nydaileynews

Isn't that amusing, so what Obama is rubbish at getting gifts it does not mean he hates the British. Obviously PM Brown thought about it more and was out to impress with such a thoughtful gift and President Obama probably felt abit stupid handing over a load of DVD's that we can buy over here already. But this again is not a snub in my eyes. 2 + 2 = 5.

At what point will they stop with these conspiracy theories, Obama does not hate Britain. I think the so called special relationship is fine, maybe yes it is not as close as under Bush or Clinton but this has only just begone. The Bust thing is a none issue it all happened before Obama even entered the office. The historical baggage is a none issue to, as Obama is all about the future, if he cant even bring himself to prosecute those in the Bush Administration because it would be counter-productive why is he going to hold something over an entire nation, America's best ally, from a past issue that happen 50 years ago. I don't think Obama is like that. As for the right wing their attacks on Obama continue to astound me, most are blatantly wild fantasy's and misguided historical fact spoken by ignorant fools. I am pretty sure they think Obama is a Communist or Terrorist or Both, Spy sent to Destroy America and the West from with in.

American Religious Identification Survey

2009-03-11T13:31:00.000-07:00

I really meant to talk about this yesterday but got distracted by other things. There is a new ARIS Poll out this week that looks at the Religious make up of America and how it is changing over the years. The last ARIS poll was back in 1991 so i expect there will be many ups and downs for many religions and non-religions too.

First of all good news is More Americans are Atheists or Agnostics. It is estimated that 15% are now non-religious that is about 34.1 million people that is up from 8.2% in 1991. That places Atheism as the third largest religious grouping in America just behind Baptists at 15.8% and Catholics who are still the largest group at 25.1%. However both Baptism and Catholicism have both declined over the last 18 years according to the poll. I have never enjoyed reading USA Today as much ever, so here is some of the highlights for you....

Among the key findings in the 2008 survey:

-- So many Americans claim no religion at all (15 percent, up from 8 percent in 1990), that this category now outranks every other major U.S. religious group except Catholics and Baptists. In a nation that has long been mostly Christian, ""the challenge to Christianity ... does not come from other religions but from a rejection of all forms of organized religion," the report concludes.

-- Catholic strongholds in New England and the Midwest have faded as immigrants, retirees and young job-seekers have moved to the Sun Belt. While bishops from the Midwest to Massachusetts close down or consolidate historic parishes, those in the South are scrambling to serve increasing numbers of worshipers.

-- Baptists, 15.8 percent of those surveyed, are down from 19.3 percent in 1990. Mainline Protestant denominations, once socially dominant, have seen sharp declines: The percentage of Methodists, for example, dropped from 8 percent to 5 percent.

-- The percentage of those who choose a generic label, calling themselves simply Christian, Protestant, non-denominational, evangelical or ""born again," was 14.2 percent, about the same as in 1990.

-- Jewish numbers showed a steady decline, from 1.8 percent in 1990 to 1.2 percent today. The percentage of Muslims, while still slim, has doubled, from 0.3 percent to 0.6 percent. Analysts within both groups suggest those numbers understate the groups' populations.

So it looks as if Atheism is becoming a more prominent way of thinking amongst many Americans. Which in my eyes is a good thing.

The ARIS research also led in quantifying and planting a label on the ""Nones" - people who said ""None" when asked the surveys basic question: ""What is your religious identity?"

The survey itself may have contributed to a higher rate of reporting as sociologists began analyzing the newly identified Nones. ""The Nones may have felt more free to step forward, less looked upon as outcasts" after the ARIS results were published, Keysar says.

Oregon once led the nation in Nones (18 percent in 1990), but in 2008 the leader, with 34 percent, was Vermont, where Nones significantly outnumber every other group.

Im moving to Vermont! They seem quite a nice lot over there. I always take these sort of surveys with a pinch of salt but the ARIS Poll is the most substantive Poll on this subject in America. I must ask though why does the census neglect a persons religion. I would have thought that if you wanted to record and understand the demography of America Religion would be a good starting point.

The Young Turks picked this up too, i don't know what he is on about at the start of the video but he does talk the poll.

In the last UK poll that i saw it was stated that 74% of Brits called themselves Christian however Church attendance is as low as 7%. Obviously there is a stark difference there and also with the US.

My own view of religious belief is that it is a personal thing, i don't agree with organised religion. If you believe in god and you believe in the teachings of the bible fine, but you don't need to organise into a group over it.

Anyway i thought it was interesting that Atheist make up a rather large group with America today and like Cenk says they are a very unrepresented group of people politically.

A Basic History of the Troubles.

2009-03-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a very basic history of what we understatedly call the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Preceding this there is a long history between the British and Irish in Ireland as you may well be aware. The British tried many times to Conquer Ireland and bring it under British Rule and finally it happened in 1603. Since then there has been various uprisings against British Rule and treatment of the Irish. The role of the British in Ireland is frankly shameful and i can see why many at that time hated the British.The Irish were treated as second class humans which i can not defend the British for, however this was the nature of colonialism and this is what happened in most places.

Basically the British ruled Ireland, both politically and Religiously. The country was split down religious lines the lower classes were catholic Irish and the upper classes were Protestant English.

The Irish state was created in 1920 and the two state solution was agreed apon, this meant that Ireland split into the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, A referendum was held on the future of Northern Ireland. This decided whether it would join the Irish Republic or stay with the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is overwhelmingly Protestant and they voted to stay with the UK. And thus we have the beginnings of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The remaining Catholics wanted to be part of the Republic and in no way wanted any British control on any part of Ireland. As i have said this is very basic and there are many important events along this long road of history that need to be read to understand what is going on here.

1968 Civil rights protests by Roman Catholics against discrimination.

1969 British troops deployed onto streets of Londonderry after RUC unable to cope with rioting in Bogside

1971 Feb - Gunner Robert Curtis is first British solider to be killed in Troubles.

Aug - internment of suspected IRA members. Led to major recruitment into ranks of Provisionals

1972 Bloodiest year of conflict.

Jan 30 14 demonstrators shot dead by paratroopers in Bogside, Londonderry. British embassy in Dublin burnt down by protestors. Direct rule from Westminster imposed.

1974 - IRA begins mainland bombing campaign targeting pubs and barracks used by British troops and civilians. Prevention of Terrorism Act introduced allowing detention without charge for seven days.

1979 - Bloodiest day of conflict for British with 18 soldiers murdered at Warren Point bombing. Hours earlier Lord Louis Mountbatten, the Queen's cousin, killed by the IRA.

1981 - Bobby Sands and nine others die on hunger strike protesting their right to "political status" as prisoners. 100,000 attend his funeral. Huge surge in support for Sinn Fein, the IRA's political wing.

1985 - Anglo-Irish Agreement introduced giving Dublin some say in Ulster affairs.

1987 - Seizure of a vital arms shipment a major blow to IRA "Tet Offensive" to attack and overrun British bases and shoot down helicopters.

11 civilians killed in Remembrance Day bombing in Enniskillen.

1993 - Downing Street Declaration agrees to the principle that people of Northern Ireland can determine their own future.

Warrington bomb kills two young boys including Tim Parry, 12. Ten civilians killed in Shankill Road bombing.

1994 IRA ceasefire declared with Sinn Fein entering the peace process. Behind the scenes peace talks had been ongoing since early 80s.

1996 US Senator George Mitchell introduces negotiations on IRA disarmament. Talks stall, violence resumes with Canary Wharf bombing.

1997 Tony Blair introduces resumption of peace talks on condition of IRA ceasefire. In Feb Stephen Restorick is last soldier to be killed until Sat March 7 2009.

1998 Good Friday Agreement signed after torturous negotiations. Principle that Ireland can become one country only with the consent of people. Multi-party assembly at Stormont. Agreement introduced by overwhelming majority in a referendum.

Aug - Real IRA kill 29 civilians in Omagh Bombing

2000 Northern Ireland Assembly suspended over IRA failure to decommission.

Real IRA fire rocket-propelled grenade at MI6 headquarters.

2002 Stormont suspended again over allegation of IRA spy ring

2005 Provisional IRA claims it has ended the armed struggle and decommissioned its arsenal.

2007 Assembly reintroduced with Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness, hardliners from extremes of Unionism and Republicanism, respectively becoming First Minister and Deputy First Minister.

Here are a few pictures of murals from across Northern Ireland that symbolise the political and religious division.

I thought that many Americans would be aware of what was going on in Northern Ireland, i just took it for granted that this was world news, but i guess not.

The Troubles Return!

2009-03-10T01:38:00.000-07:00

After Twelve years of relative peace in Northern Ireland you would think that it was all in the past. But incidents over the last few days have brought it all back again.

On Saturday two unarmed soldiers were shot dead as they took delivery of pizzas at Massereene Barracks in Co Antrim. Two other soldiers and two pizza deliverymen were injured. The Real IRA, a splinter group of the Provisional IRA opposed to power-sharing, said it had carried out the murders. It made no apology for shooting and wounding the civilians because, it said, they were “collaborators of British rule in Ireland”.

If this was not bad enough less than 48hrs later a policeman was shot dead attending a call to an area suspected to harbour supporters of the "Real IRA". This is a hammer blow to the Peace Process and the Power Sharing agreement that has been carved out by Irish, British and American Politicians. These people who died are innocent people, they are their to serve and protect. What is even more upsetting is the two Soldiers who died were a few hours away from flying to Afghanistan to fight terrorism.

A comment by one Belfast resident says it all for me and what we might be descending into...

Please let it end now. Let our children know a Northern Ireland I never knew. Let us step back from the edge of an abyss that everyone thought we had left behind; it appears we haven't - we have travelled around the edge of it, and now stand at the other side.

Whats this got to do with America, well America played a pivotal roll in the Good Friday Agreement and the the entire peace process. If it was not for American support especially that of Bill Clinton we would have never progressed this far. I still think that the US has a part to play and hopefully in a way that can take us away from the brink of a new round of Troubles.

America has had a hand in Northern Ireland however for many years, that stretches further back than the peace process and with support for the IRA. I am not claiming that the American Government has ever supported them but there are many groups with in America that have done and still do.

The most prominent of these groups is NORAID (Irish Northern Aid Committee), the group has been accused by various governments of being a front and a financial backer of the IRA. Much of the IRA's weaponry was funded by American Dollars and much of their weaponry was American made such as this Armalite AR-18 below which has since become a symbol of resistance.

The last British soldier to be killed before these latest murders was killed by a Barret sniper rifle made and sold in America. There is a strong and organised support for Irish terrorism in America that has helped fuel the conflict that kills and mames innocent people.

Until 2001 i don't think some Americans really understood terrorism, this was something that happened elsewhere and not with in it own borders. If anything good actually came out of that horrid day in September, may be it made Irish Americans in particular think twice about giving money to the IRA. The US government must become harsher on these people, America knows the pain of terrorism and the evil mess it creates.

What does this mean for Northern Ireland? Who knows! This could be a flash in the pan spurt of killing or we could start heading backwards to the bad old days. I don't know what the Real IRA rational behind this was, i just don't get it. David Aaronovitch sums it up well.

When the guys and gals of the Real IRA sat down and discussed their plans together, rationally, how did shooting these young men and their collaborating pizza suppliers (minimum-wage Poles, armed with mozzarella and tomatoes) fit into their overall strategy? In fact, what was their overall strategy?

When they sat down again in their political guise of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement - the movement that does not like to be called the political wing of the Real IRA, so that's what we'll call them - and after they had dealt with their role in defeating the Lisbon treaty in the Republic, did they consider how a poorly supported return to killing in Ulster might somehow be turned into a magnificent victory, the likes of which had eluded every physical-force republican movement before them? Did they debate just why it was they were more likely to succeed this time? Given that the “armed struggle” (a euphemism for strolling up behind someone and blasting their brains out all over their children) was partly ended through the offices of Sinn Féin, it is interesting how the warriors of the Real IRA seem to have forsworn the obvious tactic of bumping off the Adamsite traitors.

So no, it was the Massereene Barracks. And the one thing that we know about that place is that it was due to close in 2010. They only had to wait a few months, and the occupying forces and their counter-revolutionary fast-food accomplices would have been gone. The hate object would have been removed.

That's the clue. Hatred requires an object. It needs a Jew or a black or a Brit or a Papist, for your KKK man, your stormtrooper, your Gordon rioter or your green fascist to buttress the walls of their collapsing egos. As William Hazlitt put it in his 1826 essay, The Pleasure of Hating: “We have always a quantity of superfluous bile upon the stomach, and we wanted an object to let it out upon. How loath were we to give up our pious belief in ghosts and witches, because we liked to persecute the one, and frighten ourselves to death with the other!”

The shooting wasn't designed to get rid of the British Army; it was designed to bring it back. It was the first atrocity in a desired new cycle of attacks, arrests, martyrdoms, bombings, internments, hunger strikes, funerals, orations, gun-runnings and crying children, which could return us to the Seventies, the golden time of death and certainty.

Best British Bands 0.1

2009-03-09T01:38:00.000-07:00

As some of you may have figured out, music is very important to me. VERY IMPORTANT! And i can be very snobby about it, i can't help it but i think my taste is for the finer musicians and bands out there who don't necessarily make it into the charts.

My favourites bands are a mixture of mainly British and American groups, but i guess i like more British Bands than American ones. Of there are a few Canadian bands that are awesome too.

The main reason for this post and other like it in the future is really i want to promote some great British bands that may not be well known to you guys in the States. However through a few conversations with Alana and Beezlebub i have seen that they are aware of some great British bands.

Today my band of choice is British Sea Power, my all time favourite band. No one gets near them, i have lost count how many times i have seen them live, i have nearly all their t-shirts and even unofficial ones lol, i have mugs, pin badges, patches, Hair Creme and my favourite thing of all a bottle of British Sea Powers Real Ale Sing Ye From The Hillsides. I am an Obsessive.

They are a band that has done well but has never made it into the mainstream (I'm glad). They are a bit eccentric and very very British. Please if you do like some of there music do go out and get their albums, for me the best one is The Decline of British Sea Power, but i also recommend Do You Like Rock Music? Check out there Wiki page too. The link is below.

This is late but lets talk about PM Brown in the USA

2009-03-09T01:13:00.000-07:00

This happened almost a week ago, but like i said i have been back in time to a place where the Internet does not exist, my parents house. So better late than never lets me give a few word on Prime Minster Brown's trip to America.

Well all in all i think it went well, Obama and Brown seemed to get on well and Brown gave a good speech to Congress. Brown and Obama seem to be singing from the same him sheet on important issues like the Economy. Another big issue i think the two greatly agree upon is a new green economy, one that is better for our planet and also parts us from a dependency on foreign energy.

Here in Europe the Energy issue has become a big debate over the last few years as most of our gas and oil comes from Russia and they are all to quick to turn it off, which has happened a few times now. So it would be great to think that the US and the UK could work together on this. What is also great about this is that the Obama regime is very happy to work on this, as after all those years of Bush and his unwillingness to sign the Kyoto Agreement.

Over here Brown's trip was seen as a bit of an attempt to catch some of Obama's "stardust" as a few papers put it. Brown is under alot of pressure and is not doing great in the poles. There is a very good chance that this time next year Obama will be meeting Prime Minister Cameron of the Conservative Party. Touch wood that does not happen. As i feel it would be a real shame that finally we have to centre left governments in our nations at the same time and then that to end by the next election.

Beezlebub made a comment about Brown having a crush on Obama, i think that can be validated! Brown is most definitely a big fan of Obama. Contrast that to Brown and Bush several years ago i can see how Brown might Love Obama.

All in all it was a good trip and our nations are as close as ever!

Its been a while

2009-03-07T00:22:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a few days since i posted anything, i have actually been away to visit my parents (they live 20 miles away not a big trip) and they are stoneage people with no internet (how do you live with out the internet)!! So sorry for the lack of posting i have some catching up to do!!

My American Music 0.3

2009-03-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

Woody Guthrie is a legend, i can listen to him sing all day. He harks back to a time that i can never know, his songs of the Dustbowl and depression are musical history.

I class him as one of the greatest Americans ever, culturally that is. With out Guthrie there would be no Bob Dylan (who was a Guthrie impersonator) or Bruce Springsteen and many many more. The American Folk movement was and is fantastic and Guthrie opitomises the best of it all. He's better than Elvis in my eyes, i never really understood the Elvis thing, i always thought there where more important people than him he wasnt even the first Rock n Roll star, that was Bill Hailley and the Comets.

Anyway this is Guthries alternative American national anthem called This Land top class!

Green Bonds good Idea!

2009-03-01T23:39:00.000-08:00

James Cameron in his Times column today made a great suggestion, that it was time for the Government to set up 'the issue[ing] of bonds - [to] reducing greenhouse gases in our atmosphere - while at the same time kick-starting the faltering economy'.

He has a valid point, the cost of changing the way we live will be billions, but the technology that would be created to do this job would be worth billions for years to come.

We can fix the economy and build a low-carbon world. Take for instance the research and development done in this country on carbon capture and storage - the means by which power stations using fossil fuels and ones yet built can continue to operate without throwing millions of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere.

There are various technologies in play and the UK is a leader in their development. At Imperial College in London and at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and at the universities in Newcastle and Nottingham, an extraordinary expertise has been built up.

I would imagine this would be the same in the States, the people are there ready to work on this, ready to change the way we live we just have to put the investment in. That's why Cameron suggests bonds. We the people would buy these bonds to create the investment, much like the War Bonds of WWI AND WWII.

Huge sums of money would be needed for a complete overhaul of how we produce, deliver and consume energy. The building of a single carbon capture and storage power station will cost around £1 billion. But investment in large-scale low-carbon projects has been limited. Changing government policies, uncertainty about a price put on carbon, inertia and short- termism all stop investors coming forward.

So how to pay for it, how do we find green investors? The answer we've come up with working alongside the top environmental advisor Tom Burke is modelled on the war bond philosophy. We believe that a series of targeted bonds, with their proceeds ring-fenced for investment in tangible green infrastructure, could capture investors' attention whether they be individuals or institutions, such as pension funds looking, as they must, for financial return over many years.

It all sounds alot better than investing in derivatives to me, why? We are investing in something that we all want and need, energy. We all want and need it, be it for homes, work or cars. We are entering an energy crisis, Oil, Gas and coal are not infinite and we need a solution to that. The solution is green technology. And this is the time to invest, so we can stay ahead of the rest.

The world need jobs right now and this could be a great way to do it, people invest and as such they will get a return, it creates jobs and people start to spend again. And we have a better greener future too. Green bonds could work.

The bonds could be fixed or index linked, offering low but stable rates of return over a long period of time, matching that of the assets into which the funds would be flowing. That is to say we would build things to last. They would have the backing of government and the expected cash flows from the projects themselves. These climate bonds would be a sensible way to finance the needed long-term investment in tangible assets that society should have to improve the quality of our lives.

I sense that there is now a will for people to put their money to productive use and not just hope that their bank will avoid buying housing estates in Florida or parcels of debt. There is something powerful in the idea that “My money built that and it works and I use it.” Meaningful work matters too: building things financed by people for a purpose that binds investor and worker and user. In the end people's savings can produce jobs, galvanise effort in a common cause and leave a legacy of lasting value.

I am not an investor, but this would be something i would consider. The benefits of such a scheme could help many many people and that's something i will always be interested in.

The Dawn of Victory, worth fighting for - worth saving for

Prime Minister Brown to visit Washington

2009-02-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

Gordon Brown the Prime Minister of Great Britain is going to Washington next week to speak to President Obama. This will be the second visit for Brown to America as Prime Minister and his second meeting with Obama, who visited the UK last year.

The Times Newspaper says.....

Gordon Brown will seek to make common cause with President Obama next week over the best way to take the world out of recession.

The Prime Minister aims to use a two-day trip to Washington to bond with the US President over the issue

PM Brown will be the first EU leader to visit the States since the election and he will be seeking a common strategy to fight the Global recession. Brown is coming under continued pressure over the state of the economy over here, though i myself agree with the measures he has taken, which are similar to the Obama stimulus.

Both leaders are having to fight against the conservatives within there nations and there attacks on stimulus policies. The Times got a quote from John Podesta who ran the Presidential transitional team, he told the Times....

fiscal conservatives opposed to paying for economic stimulus had showed an “ideological dichotomy” and had a policy vision “fundamentally at odds” with that of Mr Obama.

Brown is pushing plans to take action internationally and the meeting between the two will mainly focus on this as well as certain other issues as Global Warming and Afghanistan.

There were many in the UK who have said that the 'special relationship' between the US and the UK would be over after the election of Obama. I don't know if this will be the case it is really hard to tell. Some have quoted things Obama has said in his books about his fathers treatment by the British in Kenya. Will this effect anything?
I certainly hope not, we the British tend to look west at the United States more than we do to Europe. There is a bond between our nations, we don't always agree with what you do but there is a sense that whatever you do wrong we will forgive you for it. Not like the French!

So lets hope Big Gordon can keep Obama happy and the bond between our nations strong. I hope he does impress as he has a hard act to follow in Tony Blair. Brown will also address congress and that i am sure will make or brake this visit.

Fundamentalism started in the USA

2009-02-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

Fundamentalism started in the USA, specifically i mean the word and the use of that word. No doubt that what we call fundamentalism has existed for hundreds if not thousands of years but the word is about 100 years old.

The word originated early last century and not in the 'bible belt' as you might expect but in southern California. In 1910 Milton and Lyman Stewart two Protestant Christian brothers who made alot of money in the oil business started a 5 year programme of producing a series of pamphlets entitled The Fundamentals a Testimony of Truth. The series contained tracts written by leading American and British theologians and were aimed at stopping what the brothers thought was the erosion of the 'Fundamentals' of the Protestant faith, IE the inerrancy of the Bible, the direct creation of the world by god, the virgin birth of Jesus, the second coming of Jesus and so on...... The Literal Truth.

Three million copies of the Fundamentals were in circulation on both sides of the Atlantic and in 1920 Curtis Lee Laws added the-ist. He declared 'Fundamentalists were those who were ready to do battle royal for the Fundamentals'.

Those who follow the Fundamentals are known as the premillennial dispensationalists or Conservative American Protestants to you and me, one of the central tennets of their belief is that Jesus will return to judge us all. The source of this beleif comes from both the Old and New Testament specifically from the books of Ezekiel and Daniel from the Old Testament and the Revelations of St John in the New Testament. Thus they believe that the end will come at any moment and the righteous will go to heaven and the sinners shall perish.

The coming of the physical millennium (Jesus' return) lies as the basis of three of America's own religions, Mormonism, Seventh Day Adventism and the Jehova's Witnesses. The number of premillennialist Protestants in America who believe that the second coming of Jesus will be followed by a thousand year reign of Christ on earth is estimated conservatively at 8 million.

So Fundamentalism was a term coined to describe a certain part of conservative Protestants denomination and was coined by themselves to describe themselves.However the term now covers a wide range of religions and politics. The Fundementals were a step back to 'tradition' and a reaction to modernity and globalisation. It was specifically a rejection of the post-enlightment world and the difficulties that it caused with Christian belief.

Designating fundametalisms automatically places the designator at great remove from the time when religion thrived as a whole way of life. To identify any one thing or set of beleifs or practices as essential is to diminish other elements of what was once an organic whole.

The Protestant Fundamentalists were and are fighting a losing battle, they hark back to 'tradition' on certain issues, yet other beliefs that form part of the whole are wholley left behind.

Fundamentalists are nothing if not selective about the texts they use and their mode of interpretation.

Even if fundamentalists sometimes say that they take the Bible literally, the facts of Fundamentalist interpratation show that this is not so. What fundamentalists insist on is not that the Bible must be taken literally but that it must be so interpreted as to avoid any admission that it contains any kind of error. In order to avoid imputing error to the Bible, fundamentalists twist and turn back and forward between literall and non-literal interpretation... What they mean and are constantly interpretated as meaning, is that the Bible contains no error of any kind-not only theological error, but error in any sort of historical, geographical or scientific fact.....

The New Testament has 27 books thay convey the word of God, When Christianity began with Jesus it had already had a set of sacred texts. Jesus was a Jew he accepted the Laws of Moses and was presented as an authority of these scriptures and a was known by those who followed him as a Rabbi (teacher). After his death his followers ascribed to Jesus an authority equal to Moses himself, but not just Jesus alone but also his disciples. It was the teachings of the disciples that were written down and over the decades more and more books were written which claimed to be written by the apostles. There are more books written by Paul than the 13 that appear under his name in the New Testament. There were for example the Apocolypse of Peter and Paul but the only Apocolypse in the New Testament is the Revelation of St John.

There where lots of Gospels and the Four in the New Testament are anonymous writings and where only ascrided authors in the Second Century, they are Matthew, John, Mark and Luke. Other gospels are also claimed to be written by the apostles such as Philip, Peter, Judas Thomas (Jesus' Brother), Mary Magdaline and of course the recently found Judas. None of these versions of events make it into the New Testament. To cut along story short, Orthadox Christianity overwhelmed all other forms and formulated the current version of Christian beleif. There where hundreds if not thousands of interpratations of Christs teachings and there meaning. However Christians today have only the censored 27.

There are many issues that the Christian right in America has to face, they will not prove that Intelligent Design is a better version of events than Evolution for example. They are programmed to ignore the inerrency of the Bible, they are unable to offer away in which the Bible should be taken and most of all they do not accept progress. Nothing is static, nothing does not change and that includes religion.

America faces a crisis, the Fundamentalist way of thinking has become prevalent amounst too many. Its selective regressive ideals threatens to retard the development of America.

Life is about choice, i do not wish to stop these people from beleiving what they beleive, but i ask of them to accept that i have a different veiw. However when religion comes into politics or into debate simple logic is thrown out of the window.

Santelli Rant

2009-02-24T00:59:00.000-08:00

Who's fault is it that this recession has happened? Is is the Bush Administration? Is it the Banking system? Hell yes its them. And who out of all Americans is feeling it the hardest? Is it Bush? Is it the Bankers? Hell no! They have got there pay offs and sallied home to there mansions. It is the average American who is being hit the hardest, it is the average American who's home is being foreclosed upon and who has been made redundant.

Yet Mr Rick Santelli brands the average American as a 'loser' because they have no longer the means to pay their mortgage.....

'Losers', that is an absolutely disgusting thing to say, i would wager that the majority of of those who now find that they are unable to meet there mortgage payments are honest, hard working, good Americans. And it is through no fault of there own that they have ended up in the situation they are in now.

As far as i am aware, when you go to buy a house you visit the bank and they say yes or no to giving you a mortgage. They sell you a mortgage that matches your credit and thus you have the money to buy a house. The impitus is on the Bank to decide who is a good risk, thus the rammifications of someone not paying it off is on thier head. You can not blame anyone for taking out a mortgage as the Bank has all the means to guage your ability to pay.

So then how can Rick Santelli stand thier and spout so shamelessly that people who are losing thier homes as losers? It was not these people who directly caused this recession, it was the Banks who sold them the sub-prime mortgage. The very people amoungst which he stands and who jeered and supported him in his un-patriotic and careless rant.

Those unfortunate Americans who are losing thier homes took advantage of what Banks offered, they took the chance to buy thier very own home. They took out that mortgage with out the knowledge that the Banks were selling financial trouble not just for themselves but for the whole world.

This is not the average Americans fault it is entirly the fault of the Banks and Government and the proposed bill by Obama is a noble and caring one. There are many like Santelli who decry this, but many of these have not said a word about the trillions the Bush Administration spent on a pointless war in Iraq.

The Obama bill is for now, for this recession and not forever. It is a reaction to the mess upon which Rick Santelli stands and earns his living. And i say well done President Obama for at least trying to stop many familys becoming homeless and Bankrupt.

The Cuba Question

2009-02-23T12:03:00.000-08:00

that rich island, the key to the Gulf of Mexico, and the field for our most extended trade in the Western Hemisphere, is, though in the hands of Spain, a part of the American commercial system… If ever ceasing to be Spanish, Cuba must necessarily become American and not fall under any other European domination

US Secretary of State James G Blaine 1881

America has for over a hundred years tried to project its power on the well placed Caribbean Island. In the early days it succeeded, being one of the main factors that lead to Cuba's independence following the Spanish American War. The United States held a military presence in Cuba until 1902 after the passing of the Platt Amendment. This Amendment stipulated that the US could intervene in political, economic and military affairs if it was deemed necessary. This also led to the now infamous US military base Guantanamo Bay.

By 1926 the US owned large portions of Cuba, up to 60% of the Sugar industry was controlled by US companies. In 1933 there was a military overthrow of the Cuban government and Ramon Grau became President and immediately nullified the Platt amendment. In response the US branded the new regime as 'communistic' and 'irresponsible'. 1930's saw the rise of General Batista to defacto leader and closer relations to the United States, this began the golden era of US economic domination in Cuba.

Batista had always leaned toward the United States. I don't think we ever had a better friend. It was regrettable, like all South Americans, that he was known-although I had no absolute knowledge of it-to be getting a cut, I think is the word for it, in almost all the, things that were done. But, on the other hand, he was doing an amazing job

US Ambassador to Cuba Arthur Gardner

In 1958 the Cuban revolution started and the US urged by Cuban President in waiting not to supply Batista with weapons, a request which the US accepted. This swung the Revolution in Fidel Castro's favour.

I know Batista is considered by many as a son of a bitch... but American interests come first... at least he was our son of a bitch

William Wieland

President Eisenhower officially recognised the new Castro regime, but relations soon deteriorated as Castro outlined his agrarian reforms. This directly affected US interests who controlled most of the sugar industry and thus US dollars. Gradually the US imposed trade restrictions and as Castro pursued more reform more trade restrictions were implemented. With every reform there was a US counter measure and with every counter measure the US push the Castro regime into offsetting its trade with the Soviet Union.

And the rest of History is well documented from here, we all know what nearly happened and what the consequences could have been.

History tells us that the US saw Cuba as an important strategic asset and thus it set out to make sure that it had some influence over Cuba. In this, the US got what it wanted as well as some financial benefits too. When Castro came to power and played his own game with out the say so of the US that's when relations went sour and Cuba became a willing pawn in the Cold War.

Essentially my view is that the US started the chain of events that almost pushed us to nuclear war, in pursuing its own agenda to secure its own strategic wants the US pushed Castro away from better relations with the States too a position the was directly against, and to the Soviet Union. They have made a martyr of Castro and Cuba.

Castro is not innocent and is no saint but things would most likely be better if the US had not been so aggressive from the out set. Castro and Cuba are an embarrassment to America and a symbol of resistance to other states in South America such as Venezuela.

But the question is what do we do about Cuba now? What will Obama do about Cuba now? Is it not time to make a move and get back to some kind of normality?

I think that this will not happen until Castro is dead and the US will not make any such move until then. However now they have similar issues springing up all over South America and long term damage has already been done. The US has been stubborn and i can see why but i really think they should take a more positive stance than what has prevailed over the last 40 odd years.

Communism is dead get over it

2009-02-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

This is not going to happen to America, not even in the wildest dystopian fantasies of the American right wing that are now preaching a new communist hell for the future of America.

This could only be beaten in the mind of the American 'conservative' with this....

America will neither become completely Communist or Gay, this is not the future for America. It is neither the present too, though many like Alan Keyes would like you to think so. What Keyes has said of late about Obama and the stimulus has been covered by many bloggers already such as DB and the Liberal Journal so i wont go into detail here.

True Communism died in the 1990's and even China is slowly moving away from its Maoist roots but even now when it has died as a political force does the right continue to persist in its attempts to create a new Red Scare. Obama is not Karl Marx or Lenin or Stalin or Castro, his policies are in no way the same as those Communist leaders. No matter how much Keyes and others like him on the right may try to allude.

McCarthy lives on in America and the right is taking his ideas on with renewed vigour in its attempts to discredit President Obama. The problem with McCarthyism is that it is based on the old and now out of date political spectrum. Back in the Fifties it was a black and white issue, left or right but today it is not that simple.

This is the Hans Slomp political spectrum, primarily designed with European politics in mind though it can be applied to America too. By using this chart and looking at the policies of Obama i think you could place him pretty much in the centre. He is not extreme in anyway. The Republicans on the other hand stay firmly in the bottom right of the spectrum, not quite fascist yet.

American Politics has become over simplified, it is not a binary equation. And thus to label Obama as a communist or Marxist based on the old model is utterly wrong. Life isn't that simple.

As much as the right wing want it to be true Obama isn't a left wing mad man, he is a centre-ist. And in that way he is somewhat more conservative than themselves, there is nothing in my mind that would be more conservative than staying in the middle when you could go so far in any other direction.

America is not about to descend into some sort of Marxist State, this will never happen. Socialism in any form is such a repugnant thing to many Americans that it would never get to that extreme. Neither will America be destroyed as Keyes and co assert by socialism, America is at this very moment being brought to the brink because of what the very un-socialist Bush Administration has done.

Bishop Desmond Tutu Amen

2009-02-21T01:00:00.000-08:00

Bishop Desmond Tutu the first Black South African Bishop made a very interesting speech on thursday in London. The Bishop who is very well respected round the world commented exstensivly on the United States and what has happened over the last few years.

During the previous administration's term, I'd been asked to suggest one unilateral magnanimous gesture or action that the incoming US president might make to counteract anti-Americanism abroad. I said that while there were clearly pockets of anti-Americanism around the world, this was definitely not a global phenomenon nor was it directed towards the American people.

What I certainly could attest to was substantial resentment and indeed hostile opposition to the policies of a particular US administration.

I contended, as I do now, that the two are quite distinct and separate.

An elucidating example dates back to the years of the anti-apartheid struggle. The Reagan White House was firmly opposed to applying sanctions against the South African apartheid regime, preferring what it described as "constructive engagement". Many of us were incensed by this policy and opposed it with every fibre of our being.

I probably dismayed many people when on one occasion I was told of the latest Reagan rejection of our call for US sanctions against Pretoria. I retorted, out of deep exasperation, "The West can go to hell!" I was then Bishop of Johannesburg, and some thought it was decidedly un-episcopal language.

I was very angry toward the Reagan administration, but that did not make me anti-American. And that is the point, anger and resentment toward the policies of a particular administration do not necessarily translate into anti-American sentiment.

Remember the extraordinary outpouring of sympathy and concern after 9/11? That surely could not have happened, certainly not on such a vast global scale if people hadn't genuinely cared. Everywhere, virtually.

But what happened that all these positive warm feelings toward the United States were disrupted and turned into the negative ones of hostility and anger?

For those of us who have looked to America for inspiration as we struggled for democracy and human rights, these past seven years have been lean ones.

When war began, first in Afghanistan and not long after in Iraq, we read allegations of prisoner abuse at Bagram air base in Afghanistan and of rendition to countries notorious for practising torture. We saw the horrific images from Abu Ghraib and learned of gruesome acts performed in the name of gathering information. Sometimes the torture itself was couched in the US government's euphemisms - calling waterboarding an "interrogation technique".

To the past administration's record on torture, we must add a string of other policies that have damaged the standing of the United States in the world: its hostility to the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases; its refusal to assent to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; its restrictions on the use of US funding to fight Aids; and the arrogant unilateralism it has employed in declaring to be enemies any countries it deemed "against us" because they were not "for us".

I never imagined in my worst dreams that I would live to see the day when the United States would abrogate the rule of law and habeas corpus as has happened in the case of those described as "enemy combatants" incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay. Or that I would hear an American government and its apologists use exactly the same justification for detention without trial, as had been used by the apartheid government of South Africa - a practice that the United States at the time condemned roundly, as was so utterly right to have done.

So, it was a devastating case of deja vu for some of us, thoroughly disillusioning.

The Bush administration managed to rile people everywhere. Its bully-boy attitude sadly polarised our world.

Against all that, the election of Barack Obama has turned America's image on its head.

I totally agree with everything that he says here and i can also say that the standing of the United States amoungst my own peers was at an all time low until November last year.

I think Obama will bring a better way in diplomacy, i think he as already started to do that and do it well. One thing inparticular which i am happy to see is his willingness to speak to our enemies. It is a necessity to talk to them, if wew dont we will never get anywhere, we will only hate and kill each other. That seems to have been the thinking under Bush.

Bush stated either your with us or against us, which was by all means a threat and i personally dont take threats well so if i was in a position of power in the middle east i would probably have said 'sod off'. Then he likened the war on terror to a crusade!!! That one single word carries such a stigma in the middle east, due to the very messy history between west and east, christianity and Islam etc....

I dont think we will see this sort of incompentacy under Obama, it will be a thoughtful and considered approach and not the 'yee haa' reactions that we have come to expect.

Peace does not come from the barrel of a gun but is achieved when cultural differences are respected and the fundamental rights of all are recognised and upheld.

Bishop Desmond Tutu

Plug for me

2009-02-19T11:00:00.000-08:00

Right i thought i would give myself a plug, tomorrow at 6pm GMT (UK time)my radio show will be on. Its a music show, i don't speak much just for a few seconds at the start, anyways tune in if you can over the Internet.

If your in the states Eastern time would be 1pm, central 12pm ish i guess and west coast 10am.

please follow this link http://www.preston.fm/ and press the listen live button at the top.

Today is the day

2009-02-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

As i write this President Obama should be signing into law the stimulus package and it cant come soon enough.

Obama is also putting together a plan to help stop the escalating of home repossession which is estimated to cost another 100 billion dollars. The effects of the 'Bush Years' are still sinking in and i expect further repercussions to keep arising. Nothing shows how bad things are like a good old fashioned graph.

The Dow in a year has halved in value, its having a shocking time of it and this is being replicated all over the world. So its finally great to see the worlds largest economy take action. I say finally, as i don't count the Bush (non)stimulus. That was a flagrant waste of cash with no oversight on how that money was used, there was no attempt to protect the taxpayers investment.

However Obama has put that oversight into place and more importantly he has cracked down on the excessive bonuses of financial executives which are morally questionable while many lose everything because of those said executives. One of the worst cases of this was when Lehman brothers went bust, Richard Fuld Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lehman Brothers allegedly pocketed half a Billion Dollars. This is greed of the greatest magnitude.

I understand rewarding those who have done a good job blah blah blah but the huge sums of cash handed out to those at the top is disgusting. What does the likes of Flud do with half a Billion Dollars? While those who by fluke of birth have not even had the chance of getting a good schooling or have been brought up in the worst possible parts of cities and towns. While those who have worked hard for their employers, lose their job and their home and their future!

What is even more disgusting is what the Republicans have took upon themselves to do. Party politics has taken precedence over financial recovery, what seems to not register with the Republicans is that there way of running the economy has failed, we had eight years of Republican bills and from that we have landed in this situation now. What further urks me is that they stand totally against this stimulus package unable to comprehend that they are no longer in power and unable to except that fact. They are unwilling to except the concessions that Obama has given them and some how they think that the bill should be on their terms. I don't expect them all to agree but the blatant childish reactions of the Republicans shows that they put getting one up on the Democrats above helping fight this recession.

On the right wing blogs the Stimulus plan has been met with unreserved stupidity, calling Obama anything that relates him to being socialist, wild and crazy accusations of lost Liberty because of this stimulus package (American Politics is a strange beast). On one Right wing site i frequent the author refers to Obama as the 'Magic Marxist Messiah' which is hilarious, Obama is in no way Marxist. Such assertions are ridiculous and shows that their knowledge of Marxism vague if non-existent.

Here are a few right wing quotes from stimulus related blog posts that i found lacking in reality.

The Real Price of Stimulus will be Individual Liberty.

For 40 years a great number of people have warned that continuing the experiment with education, where liberals brain washed our children with socialist dogma, would some day destroy America.

(I would say that what is destroying America at this moment is Liberals, but in the economic sense, Republicans are all about Conservatism but they haven't been very conservative with what they let the banks and corporations get away with, they have been to Liberal. What is destroying America is its inability to accept socialism even in the mildest forms)

Stimulus Fight Not Over

Naturally, we conservatives know this is a terrible idea. This spending bills is ruining our children's' futures. Katy's Conservative Corner opposes any such bill, no matter what "compromise"s are in it. We only support complete defeat of any "stimulus" bill. The new bill will be full of more wasteful spending projects and spending!

(Katy are you on Crack? the republicans have ruined your future, it is there mis-management of the economy that has brought us all into the crappy mess. What do you support? You appose all bills? Did you appose Bush's Bill? The stupidity of this argument in overwhelming)

Surprise! Elections have Consequences!

Democrats have insulted fair and equitable policy making and the American people have had a front row seat to observe their machinations although it was conducted behind a veil of secrecy.

Republican have washed their hands of the calamity which will shortly fall upon our way of life as we know it. Two election cycles have taught all but three of them a lesson. I hate to be a pessimist but we are in for some extremely hard time - dare I say, a political revolution and upheaval?

(How on earth have the Democrats 'insulted fair and equitable policy making' the republicans have turned their back on this stimulus from the start so why should they have a say at all. If the Republicans were more open to concession then maybe Obama would have been more open with you but nay you want it all your way'

All this crap is pissing me off! I have had it with the right wing, i cant stand the way they argue their points, the way they blame everything on Liberals, Socialists, Muslims, Immigrants or who ever is not the flavour of the week.

WHY CANT YOU UNDERSTAND WE ARE GOING THROUGH ALL THIS BECAUSE YOU TWICE VOTED IN A RETARD, TWICE YOU DID THIS AND NOW WE ARE PAYING THE PRICE. THE PRICE OF THIS IS TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS, ITS YOUR FAULT, NOT OBAMA, NOT THE DEMOCRATS, YOUR FAULT!

thanks

America on My Box 0.4

2009-02-13T01:10:00.000-08:00

I am finding it somewhat hard to write about whats going on in politics in the US at the moment, Obama has been in charge for a few weeks now and so far i am happy. But it really is hard to write about happy stuff, so here is another America on my Box.

This is Al Murray Pub Landlord talking about America. Al Murray is playing the character of a stereotypical Landlord in Great Britain and he is brilliant at turning events and things round so that they are favourable to us British.

Anyway enjoy this.....

200 Years of Darwin

2009-02-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

Today, 12th of February 2009 is the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Charles Darwin, this man is one of the greatest that has ever come from this small island called Great Britain.

(The tree of life as sketched by Darwin himself)

I'm not going to go in to detail about the theory of evolution as i am not that intelligent to explain it well. All i know is, is that this theory is the best explanation of how we became human. When he first published his theories he was met with much anger and scepticism which still lingers in various corners of the world. He has however been proven correct by other scientists in the years that followed, Gregor Mendal was the founder of Genetics and the experiments he had with pea plants showed that you could change certain features over generations. Between them both it was proved that a species could change, are current state is not permanent. Then Marie Curie discovered that you could date rocks when comparing the radioactive deterioration within them (that's a lame explanation but i tried) and thus we became able to date how old are planet was, it turned out it was billions of year old and not thousands LMFAO. There are still more scientists who's work has confirmed the ideas that Darwin set out.

I am astonished that there is still today an anti-evolution camp, in the west this is dominated by Creationists who believe in the LITERAL TRUTH of the Book of Genesis. How can this be so? When everything that we have learnt has shown this version of are story to be untrue. There is no logic to there case, it is a matter of 'faith' or to my mind ignorance. The Theory of Evolution does not say that God does not exist, it does not say how life first planted itself on this planet. What it does do is explain how life adjusted to the ever changing environment of our planet, why such creatures like the dinosaurs existed.

This is not 500 hundred years ago where it was still possible to argue that the world was flat or the earth was the centre of the universe or the sun revolved around the earth. Why and how can they put pure faith over scientific logic, when for hundreds of years science has always proved itself right. Science is not perfect as can be seen with the recent MMR Vaccine issue but more often that not science has been right.

The tension between Evolution and Creationism for many many years has been in a very prominent war in the United States of America. In 1925 Thomas Scopes a school teacher in Tennessee was convicted of teaching evolution, how crazy does that sound. In fairness he was breaking the law, the law was called the Butler Act which was passed in January of 1925. But what a law! Even in 1925 there was good evidence that Darwin was right. The law was not challenged again until 1965!!!!! And none other than the Klu Klux Klan supported the law, if ever there was a reason to ditch a law that's one right there.

In recent years there has been a campaign to teach Creationism in science classes in the US, again this is something which i just don't agree with. Yes teach it but in the actual setting of Religious education and not in science classes. There is NO science to Creationism, they have tried many times to create science to back it up but it is a none starter. Creationism is a matter of faith and not Science, if you wish to believe the Book of Genesis that's fine by me that is your faith which is not within my rights to change, but it is not science and therefore it should not be taught as such.

The Christian faith especially the Catholic faith have had no real direction on the Evolution issue. In Darwin's era the Pope forbade any Christian to defend the Theory of Evolution, sounds like the world the centre of the universe argument all over again just this time without the Inquisition. In 1950 however the Pope placed the Catholic church in a place of neutrality and its been there ever since. It is time for the Church to except the Theory of Evolution like they accepted other scientific reason, like i said earlier it in no way says God does not exist, what it does say is that the Bible is not literally true which was very obvious from the start.

On Darwin, this is an important year to remember what Darwin did and what he gave to the world. I am very much enjoying the Darwin season, the TV and newspapers are littered with Darwin related stories.

Making Heroes.............

2009-02-11T00:05:00.000-08:00

I was at first disturbed when i heard that this film was being made and i am even more disturbed now that it has been released. In fact its been out a long while now and i don't like it one bit.

As a none American you always worry when Hollywood is going to produce a film about real events, as examples i will point to Braveheart and U-571, here Hollywood went to great lengths to distort history and i feel that its happening again. The film in question is Valkyrie starring crazy, midget, Scientology boy Tom Cruise. Here is the trailer.....

My problem is that to me it looks like there making a hero out of Colonel Claus Von Stauffenburg, yes this guy actually tried to kill Adolf Hitler, but for god sake he was a NAZI.

I will say i have not seen the film and i will not be seeing the film. I think even from the trailer that Cruises character is being made out to be some kind of hero. NAZI's can never ever be heroes, they can never ever become figures that children look up too. I don't care if this guy tried to kill Hitler, i couldn't give a flying f**k, he is scum like all the rest of them.

What made all this alot worse for me was when i spoke to a Polish work friend who had gone to see Valkyrie. He a Pole who's entire nation was subjected to the sword of the NAZI's and their cruel and inhuman actions was actually taken in that Von Stauffenberg was a hero who was fighting against NAZI tyranny. I was shocked.

What would have changed? Hitler and his close allies would be dead but would that change NAZI policy? Would they have retreated out of France and Poland and Czekoslovakia and everywhere else they plundered, hell no. Nazi'ism was all about that, it was all about making Germany bigger better stronger and all powerful.

Von Stauffenberg hated Jews, he was a NAZI, you joined that party because you hated Jews and you wanted them out of the country or to kill them. You did not join the NAZI Party to sit in fields and make daisy chains, you joined so you could help persecute Jews and Gypsies and anyone else they deemed unfit for Germany. That is no basis for being a hero and that is exactly the foundations of Claus Von Stauffenberg he was a dirty murdering NAZI.

Well done Hollywood, you are a bunch of complete F**ktards.

The Pantene Debate

2009-02-09T11:42:00.000-08:00

Last week i was on Keith Olbermans website watching some video's when an advert for Pantene came on. I was like cool they have that in the states too (some how in this globalised world i still fined the fact that brands exist elsewhere amazing) then the hot young lady said something that made me cringe and even become slightly angry.

How can i get angry over a shampoo advert? It is not the normal thing to do. What it was that had turned my mood was one simple word 'Pantene'! You might say 'so what? What is wrong with that word?' well on a computer screen or on the side of a bottle or just written down that word is fine, it is universal, it means the same to everyone, it is a well known brand of shampoo. However, take that word give it to an American and they say something completely different. This is the American advert, starring Avril Lavine to my dismay... (im told this is not avril but somebody else who looks like her but with a funny name)

And this is the British Pantene advert, starring the mighty fine Miss Klass yummy. Well anyway watch for that subtle yet obvious difference in Pantene.

Did you see it? Did you here it? NO! Well i will explain, in America apparently Pantene is called PAN-TEEN (that is phonetically spelt)!!!!!!! Does that not make you extremely angry? Of course not your American its what you say.

Here and i presume in other civilized parts Pantene is pronounced Pan-ten which to my logic is logical. There is no logic in Pan-teen, what the hell is that? Is Avril Lavene even a teen?

Lets get to the centre of this massive and frankly very important debate, Pantene is spelt P A N T E N E and thus when spoken it doth sound like Pan-ten. There is no ee in Pantene, there are two e's but separated by that very noble n. Hence Pan-ten and not Pan-teen.

Fortunately for me and unfortunately for one poor American i was somewhat still annoyed by this. A few days after the Advert Incident i was in a pub with some Friends still annoyed about Pan-teen but it was at back of my mind. Half way through the night further friends arrived and attached to these was a poor American. Within minutes the annoyance at the back of my mind came out of my mouth. And there it was i said it!! I told this poor American it was Pan-ten and NOT pan-TEEN. He looked at me somewhat confused, my friends looked at me somewhat confused, i looked at me somewhat confused that i had blurted this out to a stranger. So i explained and all began to understand my point.

I think the American thought that it was a little strange that he was now at the centre of the Pan-ten v Pan-teen debate. Poor American. A debate that was somewhat unfairly balanced towards Pan-ten, with all Brits agreeing Pan-ten was the RIGHT way to say it and not Pan-teen. Poor American.

I almost began to feel very sorry for doing this to the American but then i thought at least for once he is not having to deal with all those major political issues that for years have plagued the American traveler abroad.

And thus on that night, upstairs on the corner table in the Adelphi pub it was unanimously voted that Pantene should be said Pan-ten even the American had succumbed to the rants of 8 Brits and several pints and agreed. And thus as if President Obama himself had decreed Pantene will never again be called Pan-teen.

I turned to the American just before he left and said 'sorry mate' which was nice of me i thought and added 'don't even get me started on how you guys say route!'

He left and will probably never go to the Adelphi on a thursday night again, Poor American.

Brit Quiz

2009-02-06T03:03:00.001-08:00

I thought i might make a little Quiz about Great Britain, it might be fun. The idea came when i was watching Family Guy last night and Peter made a reference to Benjamin Disraeli, cut to flash back and there is Benjamin Disraeli saying 'you don't know who i am' which i thought was funny. Maybe a little dig at American intelligence there by Family Guy.

So the rules of this quiz are..... Don't Google the Answer!!! Or i will smack you down. Be truthful and honest.

1)Who was Benjamin Disraeli?

A) Disraeli was twice British Prime minister, and the first and only Prime Minister of Jewish decent.

2)How long has the Queen been on the thrown? (rough estimate excepted)

A)Her Majesty has been on the Thrown for 57 years! Having had Sir Winston Churchill has her first PM.
3) Who was Prime minister before Tony Blair?

A) The very forgettable John Major

4) What is the Capital of Wales?

A) The capitol of Wales is Cardiff, Ive been there its ok.

5) Name 4 Premier League Soccer Teams?

A) Well there are 20 Premier League teams here are a few, Manchester Utd, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Fulham, Wigan, Hull and of Course the mighty Blackburn Rovers

6) Name one Cricket Team?

A) Cricket teams are arranged by county, so for example Lancashire or Yorkshire or Kent would be a Cricket team.

7) Where is a woman's Fanny?

A) A fanny is at the front of a woman not the back ie Front Bum.

8) When is Boxing Day?

A) 26th of December

9)God Save the Queen is the national anthem of Great Britain name one unofficial Anthem?

A) Jerusalem or Nimrod are two unofficial national anthems

10) What is the name of the Scottish National Anthem?

A)Well there is no official Scottish anthem however, flower of Scotland would be the main one if it was as it is used at sporting events already.

11) Who is the First Minister of Scotland?

A) Alex Salmond of the Scottish National Party

12) In what year was the Falklands War?

A) 1982

13)Benjamin Franklin Jnr was a Loyalist or a Patriot?

A) Of Course Benjamin Franklin Jnr was a Loyalist, unlike like his treacherous father ;)

14) Karl Marx Wrote Das Kapital in which British City?

A) London, but was first published in Russia

15) What is the Population of Great Britain? (Rough estimate excepted)

A) 61 Million

Glenn Beck is Mental and Ninja Cat

2009-02-06T02:50:00.000-08:00

Oh My God Glenn Beck is so mental, look into my eyes....... lol

LMFAO, i can hardly watch that, its what we call car crash tv, it really kills me. But it was really funny though. I think a peice of my soul died watching that....We need more of this on TV, more right wing looneys with crackpot idea's. If thats not the craziest concept invented for TV ever i cant imagine what is. Well done Fox and Glenn Beck for breaking the boundaries of sense once again.

Can i also say Ana Kasapian from the young turks is hot!

Also found this on Youtube which its amazing its called Ninja Cat.

This is one of the best cat related videos ever made, however i am disturbed by how many people put pointless videos of there cat on youtube doing nothing at all.

This post has very little relevance to America today, i just felt like waffling.

The new way forward.

2009-02-05T01:45:00.000-08:00

To my Liberal Friends,

It is time for us of the Liberal persuasion to break down the ideological wall that stands between us and our Republican brothers, we must extend a hand of friendship in there time of forlorn hope.

Brothers and Sisters, the Republicans heart is bitter, there skin is soiled and their dreams have dispersed into the political etha. Whilst we stand strong they are falling into the harsh realities of political recession. The Limbaugh has lost its political value and Republicans can no longer rely on the O'Reilly Factor to boost the waining conservative, these are dreadful times indeed.

Liberals everywhere extend your hand, with love in your heart and embrace the malnourished conservative. We as the future must help those who are being left behind this is the Liberal way. Invite them into your home, offer them the sweet beverages of our victory and tell them of our own times in the wilderness, it will be off little comfort to them but we will plant those tiny seeds of hope in their minds again.

The world has changed, the Liberal has changed, all life has changed except for the poor conservative. They languish in the near past, they remember the 'good' old days of stability under a war president, the little stories of My Pet Goat, planes crashing into buildings and the lustful terror it brought across the world. Conservatism thrived on this, but this is the currency of the old world and Conservatives have lost there ideological Stock.

Liberals stand forth and do are duty. Liberals it IS OUR DUTY to bring conservatism in to the future, we must not let them fail, we must adapt them to the harsh realities of the new political future, they must learn the new ways of our system if they are ever going to prosper again.

For those of you who say 'nay we can not help these wretched knaves' i say unto you, THIS IS THE LIBERAL WAY. We are not partisans, we are not political extremists, we are the future and there is no Liberal future with out conservatism.

So stand forth and go to that Republican Blog, go to that church, go next door, attend that Ann Coulter convention and shout 'I AM A LIBERAL AND I AM HERE TO HELP YOU!' Together we can welcome in a new dawn of Liberalism and Conservatism because Brothers and Sisters it is the Liberal way.

God Bless WilyKat and WilyKit

Liberals Ho!

Retarded Article of the Week

2009-02-03T23:41:00.000-08:00

I came across this article via another blog which had the same title its called.............Obama Hates White People and wants them to Die. Have a read of this..

January 31, 2009
Obama hates white people and wants them to die
Rick Moran
With nearly 1.5 million people in the mid-west without power during a cold snap, what other possible reason is there that this new "competent" administration and FEMA would be failing so spectacularly in helping in this natural disaster?

It's got to be that Obama hates white people and wants them to die!

Of course, I am just aping what lefty blogs were saying about Bush less than 24 hours after Katrina's hurricane winds stopped blowing. But AP is reporting that Midwest disaster relief people are none too pleased with our new president's FEMA.

In Kentucky's Grayson County, there are 25 National Guardsmen there to help - but no chain saws to cut away fallen limbs and trees. EM Director Randell Smith is quoted as saying, "We've got people out in some areas we haven't even visited yet," Smith said. "We don't even know that they're alive."

Smith is also quoted as saying that FEMA is a "no show."

What's that? Here we are 5 days after the storm ended and still no FEMA? I demand a Congressional investigation. And let's get all the anchors and media people down here pronto. People's lives are at stake. For all we know, there are babies being eaten and people jumping off their roofs committing suicide because FEMA is nowhere to be found.

And where is our president? Shouldn't he be visiting these ravaged areas? It must be that he HATES WHITE PEOPLE AND WANTS THEM TO DIE. That is the only possible explanation for this incredible failure of our national government to relieve the suffering of these people.

Isn't it interesting that now that we have a Democrat as president that all of a sudden, disaster relief is a state and local matter and the federal government should stand aside and allow them to do their jobs?

Just wondering...

I cant really get over how retarded this article is! Pointless! The guy is trying to make a comparison between to events, however I'm thinking Katrina was by someway worse. Lets look at the details of Katrina for a moment. Hurricane Katrina was the 5th most deadlest Hurricane to have hit America on record, and the sixth strongest overall in the Atlantic. 80% percent of New Orleans was flooded and nearly 2000 people died thats the highest death toll from a Hurricane since 1928. It was a very bad disaster that was handled very badly.

Yes many people said things like 'Bush doesnt care about black people', but in all likelyhood Bush would have had a very different reaction if New Orleans was more white than black in my opninion.

Inregard to whats going on in the mid-west, has nearly 2000 people died? Is it the worst 'cold snap' for 80 years? Is it devastating the mid west so much so that it will take years to rebuild? The answer is NO to all three. There is no comparison between the two events, one was a huge disaster that was badly managed where lots of black people were involved and another is a 'cold snap' that sounds as if it is being well taken care off. If Obama wanted to kill lots of white people he's not doing a very good job of it!

American Ownership in The Premiership.

2009-02-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

Over the last five years there has been an increasing interest in Americans buying English Premier League football teams, currently there are 3 teams in American hands. However the combination of English team and American ownership has had mixed reactions.

In 2005 Manchester Utd were bought up by Malcolm Glazier for about 1.4 billion dollars, however the takeover saddled the club with a 850 million dollar debt from the financing of the deal. This provoked a massive reaction from the fans who were upset that the club had been dropped into so much debt. Also fans before the takeover were in large the main owners of the club and they felt the were losing there say in how the Club was run. Various protests occurred and eventually a break away club was formed called FC United of Manchester. Thus far the debt of the club has not effected onfeild success but many fans have boycotted home games or the team all together due to the Glaziers, but in these harsh financial times it could easily change which seems to be happening at Liverpool who are also American owned.

Liverpool were bought by Tom Hicks and George Gillett in 2007 and at first the new owners were welcomed by fans and players alike. However certain promises of a new stadium and the owners interfering with the managers transfer policies has seen the tide turn against them. Lately it has been reported that both Hicks and Gillett are trying to sell up as they can no longer afford this expensive luxury. Both United and Liverpool though playing well on the pitch are fighting wars with the fans off the pitch. Many argue that American ownership cant, wont, and does not work when it comes to English Football teams. The culture is very different from that with in American sport and i would agree in the case of Liverpool and Manchester United that American Ownership hasn't worked/helped.

However the third club in American hands is Aston Villa who were bought by Randy Lerner in 2006. Villa have been a strong club in the Premiership but for many years they have sat as a mid-table team. When Lerner took over he made no ludicrous promises as Hicks and Gillett did, he didn't saddle the club with unimaginable debts as Glazier did and he didn't draw huge amounts of Media attention which both takeovers of Liverpool and United did. He just got on with what he needed to do and with out in anyway rocking the boat. This has by now payed off as it looks like this season Aston Villa may break into the Top Four which is a big deal. Lerner and Aston Villa are the repost to those who say Americans cant run a Football team.

My American Music 0.2

2009-02-01T23:46:00.000-08:00

Here is another awesome American band from way back when. Creedence Clearwater Revival. One of the only American bands from that era that could hold a candle to the Beatles in my opinion. Fortunate Son is one of those songs everybody know even if you don't know who its by. It comes from CCR's best album Willy and the Poor Boys which got re-released last year. I love this song its there best one followed closely by Bad Moon Rising. So Enjoy!

Republicans what are you doing?

2009-01-31T23:42:00.000-08:00

What exactley are the Republicans doing? I know being childish is part of being a politician but come on these are bad times.

Obama has the power to push through just about any bill he wants with out going to the Republicans, yet with good grace and an open hand he has gone to them and asked for their input. He took what they said and adapted the Stimulis Bill, he changed things for them yet they turn round like a scowlded child and chuck it back in his face.

In times like these party politics must be put to one side and a dialogue between both groups must be opened and encouraged. The unanimous vote against the stimulus is a bitter reaction and very much the kind of thing we saw when Mr Bush was around. I hope to hell that this bill works and we can all victory dance in the faces of those who opposed it.

The Republicans i think should be purging themselves of Bush related ditritus that lurks everywhere with in its ranks, they are tainted goods and do nothing to help the current financial crisis and the bilateral approach to working it all out. They are playing a very risky game and I will say in the words of Rush Limbaugh (almost) 'i hope they fail'.

Keifer Sutherland calls Obama

2009-01-30T09:03:00.000-08:00

Yes i love youtube, yes i spend way to much time looking at peoples often rubbish videos and yes i have nothing better to do.

However i found this which i found quite amusing.

While watching this it reminded me of another show i watched on BBC 4 a week or two back. Basically the program talked about the relationship between Hollywood and the Presidency and how each one bounced of one another. How sometimes Hollywood copied what was happening in real life with the Presidency and then sometimes the other way.

One comparison it made was between Barack Obama and Mathew Santos a Democratic Candidate in the West Wing. According to this Santos was actually based on Obama and you can see the similarities between the two.

Other things that came up where that Presidents on the screen in the after math of Nixon and Watergate tended to be 'bad' or in some way immoral in some of there actions and JFK became the generic looking president in the movies. I found it all very interesting, to see a dialogue between Americas to greatest icons and how they both influenced the other.

The Right has spoken unto thee!

2009-01-28T01:45:00.000-08:00

Well i can safely say that i have had my first comment from the American right wing. I am so happy about it!

Thank you Ted for your comment, it is very welcome and i hope to hear more from you.
So to celebrate this awesome achievement here is what Ted had to say.....

With the mounting job casualties, here's hoping SCOTUS (Supreme Court Of The United States of America) either finds someone, somewhere,[that] has standing to require BHO's(Barack Hussein Obama's) birth certificate or fixes attention on a criminal indictment before he wins his War on Prosperity.

Your comments are very valuable to me and i thank you for that again. I would however disagree with your War on Prosperity comment, i would say that at this very moment there is very little prosperity and there hasn't been now for some months. A war against prosperity right now would in fact be pointless as there is no prosperity to fight. Much like going to Iraq in 2003 to fight terrorists, there was no terrorists to fight and thus was pointless. But eventually in Iraq there were terrorists to fight because we were there. thus if we follow the logic of my argument then in the future there will be while President Obama is in power prosperity. So at that point I'm sure he will fight it. Or he wont fight it because he is not looking for a fight which is the big difference between Obama and Bush.

Again thank you.