Politicians Category
Politicans and world leaders making news and in the news, and spouting hot air
Michael White On Cherier Blair, Levy And Prescott’s Booky Wooks
MICHAEL White in The Times Literary Supplement: Cherie Blair and the Tony gang
Prescott’s book, the one with the swear words, was ghostwritten by Hunter Davies, who successfully captures the future Deputy Prime Minister’s tone of voice (“oh aye, we were great little boppers”, he says of his dancing teens) which is cheerfully demotic, often chippy. Levy’s Tiggerish account was polished by another journalist, Ned Temko, who parades all his client’s acknowledged faults, his insecurity, pushiness and vanity, yet renders him hard to dislike. Mrs Blair appears to be her own typist. If she were not a successful QC, her breezy style could earn her a decent living as a magazine writer: her text is peppered with phrases such as “dead impressed” and “dignity is not the word”, and such sentiments as “for me flying on Concorde was a dream come true”.
But her book – the most rounded of the three – is warm, often humorous, at times painfully sad. The generous reader learns to forgive her. “I fancied him rotten and still do”, she says of her husband. The Queen was “clearly very fond of Tony too”. None of which has prevented these three post-Blair autobiographies from being savaged, sometimes in the very newspapers which chose sensational extracts for serialization. To denounce the authors for undignified and mercenary backbiting is to ignore the bargain made: not so much cash-for-honours as cash-for-dignity.
Does anyone buy these books?
Posted: 30th, June 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Politicians | Comments (4)
The Welfare State Generates Wealth, Apparently
Oh dear:
It isn’t capitalism that generates wealth. It’s competition matched by a strong welfare state.
Really?!
Posted: 30th, June 2008 | In: Money, Politicians | Comment (1)
Kevin Ruud’s War On Hypocrisy
ANDREW Bolt looks at Kevin Ruud’s war record:
Here’s Kevin Rudd in Brisbane this weekend, speaking to a welcome-home parade for troops from Iraq:
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd thanked them for a magnificent job.
“Today the Australian nation says thank you to you the men and women of the Australian Defence Force,’’ he said.
“Freedom is not for free – freedom comes at a price and you are our front line in the defence of our freedom.’’
And this:
I have seen you take the great name of Australia to that troubled land and advance the great name of Australia even further…
But here is Rudd last year, on the election stump, scaring up votes:
By anyone’s measure, the Iraq war has failed – and the fallout has been devastating. Four years after the invasion of Iraq, fighting still rages across the country, weapons of mass destruction remain elusive and terrorism has only escalated. According to estimates, the war has killed 71,000 Iraqi civilians (and possibly as many as 600,000) and forced another 2 million to flee their homeland; so far over 3,500 US troops have died, as well as over 150 British and 120 allied soldiers – and the death toll keeps rising. Far from making us safer in the post 9/11 era, Australia’s military involvement in the war has made us an even greater terrorist target.(From the Labor website, but the article has now been removed.)
Freedom comes at a price…
Posted: 30th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
Barack Obama: We’re All Hussein Now
BARACK Obama has a great middle name. And not just for his opponents. No, really:
Barack Obama’s middle name Hussein has been used in some corners as a rallying cry to cast false aspersions against him, but in a growing movement, some of his supporters are adopting his middle name as a show of solidarity with the candidate. […]
“My name is such a vanilla, white-girl American name,” Ashley Holmes of Indianapolis told the [New York Times]. She said she changed her name online “to show how little meaning ‘Hussein’ really has”…
Emily Nordling of Fort Thomas, Ky., said she changed her Facebook account name to “Emily Hussein Nordling”. The 19-year-old said her uncle supported her move, but said her father was not happy with her decision.
“He actually thought I was going to convert to Islam,” Nordling told the NY Times.
Shame for her that Obama’s changing his middle name…
What’s his name?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 29th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (5)
Bill Clinton Isn’t Bitter, Not Really
BILL Clinton is upset – (Via Memeorandum.)
[T]he former president’s rage is still so great that even loyal allies are shocked by his patronising attitude to Mr Obama, and believe that he risks damaging his own reputation by his intransigence…
But his lingering fury has shocked his friends… “He’s been angry for a while. But everyone thought he would get over it. He hasn’t. I’ve spoken to a couple of people who he’s been in contact with and he is mad as hell.
“He’s saying he’s not going to reach out, that Obama has to come to him. One person told me that Bill said Obama would have to quote kiss my ass close quote, if he wants his support…
This news just as Hill backs Obama. Bill and Hillary are as united as ever. Or is Hillary being less then genuine? See picture…
Posted: 29th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (4)
Smells Like Hillary Clinton
“I’m here for my interview,
Mr Clinton”
Posted: 29th, June 2008 | In: Photojournalism, Politicians | Comment (1)
Charlie Beckett: Left Wing Bloggers Are Dull
POLITICAL bloggers:
It seems to me that the Leftwing blogosphere is as knackkered as Gordon Brown’s poll ratings.
I have just been to (half – I had to get back home early, I am a single parent) a meeting where Sunny Hundal had been trying to find common ground with a group of leftish bloggers.
At times it felt like a digital re-enactment of that scene in Life of Brian: “No we’re the people’s front of Judea” etc.
The Online Socialists have various problems.
No-one reads them. Guido Fawkes and his wicked Right-wing pals are far more entertaining and they know how to write for an online audience: scurriously, succinctly, directly. They are much more committed and actually contribute facts, stories and vitriol to the debate.
It’s about vanity…
Posted: 28th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)
EU Says Marijuana Less Dangerous Than Tobacco
ON July 1, the Netherlands will bring in a ban smoking in bars and restaurants. The EU has ruled it so.
The Health Ministry says the ban will apply to coffee shops that sell marijuana. The tobacco is outlawed but the weed is tolerated.
“It’s the world upside down: In other countries they look for the marijuana in the cigarette. Here they look for the cigarette in the marijuana,” says Jason den Enting, manager of coffee shop Dampkring.
Thanks to the EU, stoners will take in more marijuana smoke with each hit.
Is this a sign that the EU considers weed less dangerous than tobacco? And if so, why is cannabis illegal here?
Answers whenever you can be bothered to write in…
Posted: 28th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (11)
2008 Democratic National Convention Is No-Fry Zone
HOW do politicians prove how green they are – and didn’t green used to mean naive? We are what we eat, say the food police.
As part of the effort to make the August 25-28 convention the greenest ever, the Democrats’ guidelines for food catering include one that strikes at the heart of Southern cuisine: no fried food.
No fried chicken. No fried catfish. No fried green tomatoes. No fried okra. No fried anything.
In promoting healthy eating habits, the Democratic guidelines say every meal should be nutritious and include “at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, purple/blue and white.”
“It’s the new patriotism,” says Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, the driving force behind the greening of the Democratic convention.
In short: no American food. It’s the Al Goreans and the foodie priesthood convention. None of the great and good should be seen to be eating hastily prepared, reconstituted rubbish.
Question to US politicos: how can you be full of food when you are so full of yourself?
Posted: 28th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
The End Of The Australian Beer Fridge
IT’S the end of Australia as we know it:
Australians are being urged to ditch the beer fridge in an effort to tackle climate change, but even the politicians spreading the message are finding it hard to let go.
The Northern Territory Government has recommended Territorians “retire” their beer fridges in an brochure sent to residents …
But it seems it could be a case of “do as I say, not as I do’’, for NT Chief Minister Paul Henderson.
“I’ve got a beer fridge, as many Territorians do, and I’m keeping it,’’ he said.
Posted: 28th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (2)
David Davis For Freedom On The State’s Terms
SAYS David Davis on his blog:
The agenda is still out there: today I have been explaining that I am not against CCTV- but if it is going to be used the cameras should be able to provide clear images and all of the evidence should be usable in court. Currently only 20% is usable. At the moment we just have a placebo effect for Citizen UK.
This is “David Davis For Freedom”, it says so at the top of his page. Freedom loving Davis thinks CCTV cameras are fine but should be better so that the state can see us clearly.
Similarly, why should a million innocent people and 100,000 children be kept on the DNA database? This is the state exceeding its powers.
Can the two things be allied?
Is David Davis opposed to 42 days detention without trial because it’s not long enough?
Posted: 28th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
Al Gore Fails To Clean Up Nashville
TO the City Paper, Nashville’s Daily News, where green matters are on the agenda.
If Nashville leaders want to have a dialogue about the state of the environment in the city, they need to begin by speaking frankly. Nashville is one of the most polluted counties in one of the most polluted states in the country.
Nashville, Tennessee..:
Also released last month was a study by the Brookings Institution in conjunction with the Southern Environmental Law Center. That study put Nashville No. 6 on the list for cities in America with the highest per capita global warming emissions.
Nashville, Tennessee, home to Al Gore, leader of the Al Goreans?
Posted: 27th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (3)
Mandela Gatecrashes Gordon Brown’s Party
“I’M 90, you know,” says Nelson Mandela needlessly.
Happily, Nelson’s birthday coincides with the first anniversary of Gordon Brown’s accession to power and the leader has allowed Nelson to appear at his party.
All the leading politicos who have shaped Brown’s career will be there: Bob Geldof, Cherie Blair and Bono.
Following a reading of Gordon Brown: The Collected Speeches by Norman Collier, there will be songs.
The London Evening Standard makes mention of Amy Winehouse. “Amy ‘will leave her sickbed’ for Mandela,” says headline.
And all thanks to the new improved NHS and the celebrated leader’s messianic qualities…
Posted: 27th, June 2008 | In: Celebrities, Politicians, Tabloids | Comments (2)
They Who Would Beat David Davis
26 candidates will contest the by-election sparked by the resignation of Tory David Davis as an MP:
* Grace Christine Astley – Independent
* David Laurence Bishop – Church of the Militant Elvis Party
* Ronnie Carroll – Make Politicians History
* Mad Cow-Girl – The Official Monster Raving Loony Party
* David Craig – Independent
* Herbert Winford Crossman – Independent
* Tess Culnane – National Front Britain for the British
* Thomas Faithful Darwood – Independent
* David Michael Davis – Conservative
* Tony Farnon – Independent
* Eamonn “Fitzy” Fitzpatrick – Independent
* Christopher Mark Foren – Independent
* Gemma Dawn Garrett – Miss Great Britain Party
* George Hargreaves – Christian Party
* Hamish Howitt – Freedom 4 Choice
* David Icke – No party listed
* John Nicholson – Independent
* Shan Oakes – Green Party
* David Pinder – The New Party
* Joanne Robinson – English Democrats: Putting England First
* Jill Saward – Independent
* Norman Scarth – Independent
* Walter Edward Sweeney – Independent
* Christopher John Talbot – Socialist Equality Party
* John Randle Upex – Independent
* Greg Wood – Independent
Posted: 26th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)
BBC’s John Simpson On Manoeuvres With Robert Mugabe
JOHN Simpson, the BBC’s seemingly unsackable puffed-up war bore, says on the BBC website:
It has been done with great brutality, but Robert Mugabe has achieved an extraordinary turnaround here…
The moral is clear: never underestimate Robert Mugabe’s ferocious determination to stay in power
His opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been completely outmanoeuvred.
Just look at those big scars on Mr Tsvangirai’s head to see how he’s been out manoeuvred…
Using sjamboks, army belts and gun butts, the soldiers attacked Tsvangirai until he passed out. One of the soldiers poured cold water all over Tsvangirai to resuscitate him. Tsvangirai regained consciousness again at around 1:30 a.m…. One vicious woman was left to work on him. She removed an army belt from her waist and used it to assault Tsvangirai until he passed out again. ”
— Police Officer, Mail and Guardian
Posted: 26th, June 2008 | In: Politicians, TV & Radio | Comments (13)
Caroline Lucas Eats Locally
GREEN MEP Caroline Lucas wants local things for local people:
She concluded: “A re-localisation of our food systems would allow us take back control of our food from industrialists and financiers, and to feed a growing population in a way that is equitable and sustainable, while safeguarding human health, as well as the welfare of animals and the environment.
Let’s hear it for the Dark Ages…
Posted: 26th, June 2008 | In: Money, Politicians | Comment
How The EU Works And MEPs Don’t
THOMAS Meier shows us how MEPs work. The video features MEPs arriving at the office at 6:45am.
Keen. You betcha. They sign the attendance register on a Friday morning and scuttle off for the long weekend. And because they signed in, they qualify for expenses:
Posted: 26th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (4)
Jeremy Hunt Is On Message
Jeremy Hunt:
Sometimes graffiti – however objectionable and anti-social it is in principle – can be very thought-provoking. There’s a wonderful slogan daubed on a fence alongside the M40 coming in to London which says “Why do I do this every day?” Thousands of stressed commuters presumably pause for a second as they pass it.
On the road?
Posted: 26th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
Naomi Campbell Falls Foul Of Nelson Mandela’s Merchandise Rules
TIRED of having celebrities clutter his house and ruin the carpet, Nelson Mandela has arranged to meet them in London’s Hyde Park.
But not all the great and good have been told and Naomi Campbell stands alone in the corridor outside Mandela’s study waiting to be called in for her photo and a sit on Santa’s knee (it’s him, it’s really him!).
The Star says this is because he “wants to punish the feisty star for wearing a symbolic Mandela baseball cap when she went ‘berserk’ and swore at air-port staff after her bag went missing, sources said”.
We who still have our Free Nelson Mandela T-shirts wonder if we are required to behave a certain way when wearing official Mandela merchandise lest we incur the man’s displeasure?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 26th, June 2008 | In: Celebrities, Politicians, Tabloids | Comment (1)
Democrats For Organic Snacks
WE’RE all green Democrats now, says the Wall Street Journal:
With biodegradable balloons and organic snacks, Democrats hope to stage the “greenest convention” ever when they gather in Denver at the end of August to nominate Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.
The Democrats will arrive attached to said ballons, blown in by a series of handheld wind turbines attached to private jets and limos…
Posted: 26th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
Euro 2008: America Embassy In Berlin Calling Germany
THE American embassy in Germany, tells its peoples:
“Because of the high fan interest in this prestigious semi-final elimination game between Germany and Turkey, there exists the possibility that disturbances, including violent disturbances may occur before, during or after the match, which begins at 20:45”
Take care, under uber alles:
At a minimum, post-game celebrations will likely result in traffic congestion in larger cities. Crowds celebrating previous German and/or Turkish victories have blocked streets and rocked vehicles attempting to pass through them.
Deutsche Welle concludes:
The embassy’s statement makes downtown Berlin sound a bit like Falluja or the Gaza Strip, but DW-WORLD has learned the potential threats run far deeper.
For you ze var ist nofink…
Posted: 25th, June 2008 | In: Back pages, Politicians | Comments (4)
Barack Obama: Hindu God
BARACK atah adonai:
NEW DELHI: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama can now expect help from an unexpected quarter — Lord Hanuman.
All-India Congress Committee member Brij Mohan Bhama has organised a 11-day religious ceremony at Karol Bagh here for his success in the U.S. elections.
The idea of sending an idol of Hanuman dawned on him after friends in the United States mentioned a “prominent American politician who carried a miniature Hanuman idol in his pocket for luck,” Mr. Bhama said speaking on the first day of the ceremony on Tuesday.
“After hearing that, I decided to gift Mr. Obama a larger, gold-plated version along with the wishes of thousands of his supporters in this country,” said the leader struggling to lift the 15 kg, 21-inch brass idol.
He’s got all sorts of stuff in those pockets...
Posted: 25th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (3)
Are You A Right Wing Blogger?
RIGHT-WING bloggers are everywhere. But what kind of right-wing blogger are you?
| How many visitors do you reach per month? |
| Too many to count, and every visit is a vote for me! |
| Hundreds of thousands, because every visit is a visitor. |
| One, two, miss a few, ninety-nine, 4 million. (PS – Can I sell you some banner advertising? Perhaps this nice bridge?) |
| I don’t care about stats. No, really. |
Posted: 25th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comment
Political Quote Of The Day: Jonathan Aitken
POLITICAL quote of the day:
Life on a prison wing can be compared to a rough voyage on a ship. Your fellow passengers are people you would never have chosen to be with in the first place – but by the time you have crossed the bay of Biscay you get to know the cast of characters on board extremely well
– Former Conservative Minister Jonathan Aitken on life aboard the HMP Belmarsh
Posted: 25th, June 2008 | In: Politicians | Comments (2)
