A History Minded Jesse Jackson In Dublin: Photos

THE former presidential candidate Reverend Jesse Jackson – he was going to be the US’s first black leader – has been to Trinity College on his way to address the College Historical Society, in Trinity College Dublin.

Ah, history:

Anorak

Posted: 22nd, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comments (2)

Blackburn Chicken Plucker Insults Blackpool Donkey Botherers

BLACKPOOL Councillor Simon Blackburn (Labour) was watching his Blackburn Rovers side draw 2-2 with mighty Blackpool when he noted on Facebook:

“oh my actual God… the donkey-botherers are 2-0 up thanks to two of the worst refereeing decisions ever! :(“

Yeah, that what we thoght. he is so out of touch:

* Oh my actual God is “OMAG”

* Ever is “Eva”

* Anyone who uses an emoticon is of questionable morals.

Anorak

Posted: 22nd, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment

Michael Gove Loves Written Exams Because He Was Good At Them

MICHAEL Gove, in charge of education matters for the coalition, has lost it. He wants schools to just be about creating students ready for more schooling. Education is no longer a means to an end – it is a life-long processs. Forget about the quality of the degree and satisfaction from life. Just sit down, shut up and get your certificate.

The fresh meat enters at one end and emerges gooey and pliable from the other:

New-style league tables are to be created showing how many children at each state secondary go on to graduate with an honours degree.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, said the move would encourage schools to make pupils “university-ready” and ensure they are given decent advice to pick the correct courses.

Anorak

Posted: 21st, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comments (2)

Real Nick Clegg Found Alive And Chained In Tory Party Basement

PHEW! The real Nick Clegg has been found alive in the Tory Party basement. The other one – the Clegg who wants students to pay more for education and supports war in the Middle East – is an impostor…

Anorak

Posted: 21st, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)

How Good Barack Obama Is Nothing Like Bad George Bush

FIRST the good news: Barack Obama is not the first American leader heading to the Middle East to overthrow a local nutter. The last one was called George Bush – and Obama is most definitely not him. No way. This ain’t no Iraq. This is Libya.

Says Barack Obama:

“The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”

Don Surber corrects him:

Actually, he does. It’s called the War Powers Act. It has been around since 1973.

Anorak

Posted: 20th, March 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comment (1)

It’s Hard to Make A Joke About Obama – If You Don’t Try

IT’S hard to make a joke about Barack Obama – if you don’t try…

Anorak

Posted: 20th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment

Gaddafi Might Laugh: Libya Carved Up By Belgium And Friends

COLONEL Gaddafi, the old gangster, might laugh. This is how his country is being carved up by the great and good. The leaders of countries various held a chat for the Support of the Libyan People at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France.

All the big knobs were there – not least of all Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme (he’s the head of a country that in February became the title holder of the longest period any country has gone without a government – longer than Iraq).

Anorak

Posted: 19th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comments (2)

French Nuclear Debate Breaks For Row Over MP’s Parked Car

THE nuclear crisis in Japan is being debated in France. But there is a more pressing matters: independent member of parliament Maxime Gremetz’s storm into the committee room to moan that his car has been blocked in.

Science committee chairman Claude Birraux thunders:

“That’s enough! This is unworthy!”

Anorak

Posted: 18th, March 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comment

Barack Obama Wins At Everything: Graphic Proof

BARACK Obama wins at everything – even when he’s not entered the contest…

Old Mr Anorak’s US kinfolk Iowahawk prepares the bracket:

Anorak

Posted: 17th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment

Susan Boyle Spotted At Glasgow’s Stow College Student Protest

WAS that Susan Boyle’s daughter amid the students of Stow college dressed as zombies to besiege the Scottish parliament, in Edinburgh.

The students says education cuts will transfer over half of Stow courses to the new City of Glasgow College. The Scottish elections are on May 5. (Susan Boyle is away…)

susan-boye-student-glasgow

Image 1 of 5

Anorak

Posted: 17th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comments (2)

Silvio Berlusconi’s Bunga Bunga Dance With Manuela And Marianna Ferrera

SILVIO Berlusconi’s Bunga Bunga circus introduces Manuela and Marianna Ferrera, the 25-year-old twin sisters famed for their occluded fronts as scantily clad weather girls on Italian telly.

(Lembit Opik, the former LibDem MP who dated a Cheeky Girl and a weather girl, might consider the Ferrera twins his fated match. Italy has Silvio. The UK has Lembit Opik. Discuss.)

Having already met Miss Italy Ambra Battilana, 18, and model Maylin Aguirre, 28, we now meet two more of the 33 women who, allegedly, attended Silvio’s candlelit dinners.

Says Silvio:

“The truth is the justice of these gentlemen [prosecutors] is senseless. They have named 33 women who will spend the rest of their lives with the mark of being prostitutes. Instead they are just ladies whose only crime was to take part in dinners hosted by the prime minister where there were also three musicians and six waiters present. They were elegant dinners. The girls would then have a dance in the disco – on their own because I don’t like dancing. Nothing else – then all this comes out. It’s unbelievable.”

Anorak

Posted: 17th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment

The Libyan Rebels Are Revealed: Mustafa Abdel Jalil’s Government Of Chance

COLONEL Muammar Gaddafi is all set to crush the rebels. President Obama has done nothing other than erode the power of the West with his torpor. But one question: who are the rebels? Let’s see:

The BBC says they are the “opposition”.

Canadian TV says the spokesman is one Mustafa Gheriani. Al Jazeera says he’s the spokesman for the “February 17th Coalition, an anti-government group”.

So. What of the Transitional National Council in Benghazi?

And then there is the National Libyan Council:

Hafiz Ghoga, a spokesman for the council based in Benghazi, told a news conference that Gaddafi was using “African mercenaries in Libyan cities” which amounted to an invasion of the oil producing North African nation. We call for specific attacks on strongholds of these mercenaries,” he said, but added: “The presence of any foreign forces on Libyan soil is strongly opposed. There is a big difference between this and strategic air strikes.”

What are the aims of the council?

“The council declares it is the sole representative all over Libya,” former justice minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil told a news conference…

Anorak

Posted: 17th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)

Barack Obama Is A Crushing Failure: He Cares Not For Europe Nor Libya

SO. Now we know. While Libyan revels fight Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Barack Obama sits on his hands. Obama is all smiles and no substance. In doing nothing the West tells the world that suppression wins.

Hosni Mubarak might lament that fact that he went without turning his Army on the people. Had he done so, Obama would have done nothing, just as he does with Gaddafi’s Libya. Obama set himself up as the antidote to George Bush. But would Bush have acted now? Would Bush have seen the rigged election that kept the bellicose Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power as a just cause? A war that prevents something wrong from happening is just cause.

In 1993, the US Catholic Conference said just cause for war was defined as:

Just Cause: force may be used only to correct a grave, public evil, i.e., aggression or massive violation of the basic rights of whole populations.

Anorak

Posted: 17th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comments (6)

Students Binned On Whitehall

ON Whitehall, Westminster, a group of students stand with a cardboard cut out of a skip in protest against youth unemployment.

Yep. A few minutes later someone tossed in an old washing machine, an ethical foreign policy, an empty suit, a LibDem manifesto…

Anorak

Posted: 16th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)

LibDem Protest In Photos: Fighting Nick Clegg’s Anti-Smoking, Anti-Protest Illiberal Party

THE LibDems are under the cosh in Sheffield. Outside their fortified conference, students are demonstrating. Hey, it’s your right to protest. And the liberals are all about freedoms and protecting them. That’s why they’re hiding behind a big fence and supporting a ban on the display of tobacco products in shops.

Anorak

Posted: 12th, March 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comments (2)

Conservative Councillor Banned From Wearing Clothes That Might Expose His Genitals

PETER Goody, 62, a naturist and Conservative councillor at Snaresbrook on Redbridge Council, did not expose himself to a nine-year-old girl while cutting a hedge in his swimming trunks.

At Waltham Forest Magistrates Court,  Mr Goody, says:

“I put swimming trunks on, simply because it seemed the sensible thing to do. I was aware that they did have the tendency to slip. I decided that if they did slip down, I would hitch them up.”

Anorak

Posted: 12th, March 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comments (5)

Would Be LibDem MP Beat Family Cat To Death

MIKE Dixon was the LibDems’ prospective parliamentary candidate for Birmingham Northfield. He stood for election three times. He lost three times. He is unlikely to get the job now tht he is in jail for using a walking stick to beat to death Tipsy the  family cat.

The story goes that when Tipsy scratched one of Dixon’s grandchildren at his home in Kidderminster, Worcs., he reacted.

Anorak

Posted: 12th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment

Libya And The IRA: Gaddafi’s EU And Sinn Fein Friends Vote Against No-Fly Zone

GADDAFI’S Libya still has some pals in the European Union. The EU press office tell us:

“‘EU governments need to stand ready for a decision in the UN Security Council on further measures, including the possibility of a no-fly zone’,” in compliance with a UN mandate and coordination with the Arab League and the African Union stressed MEPs in a widely-backed resolution (584 in favour, 18 against, 18 abstentions). During the debate, only the GUE/NGL group was against this idea.”

Anorak

Posted: 11th, March 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comments (2)

John Smyth, Iris Robinson, A Pipe Bomb And Kirk McCambley’s Cottage

TO Northern Ireland, where Democratic Unionist candidate John Smyth Junior has been attacked with a pipe bomb.  The device was thrown through his bedroom window shortly before 4am today. First Minister and DUP Leader, Peter Robinson came to check out the sheets and feathers.

Incidentally, Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service will not be bringing a case against Robinson’s wife Iris over her role in helping her toyboy lover set up in business.

Anorak

Posted: 11th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment

Nick Clegg Refuses To Flinch As he Hides Behind The Police And The Barriers

SAYS LibDem leader Nick Clegg on the even of the LibDem’s conference in Sheffield 2011:

“We are in this for the long haul. We are going to keep our nerves. We are not going to flinch.”

Well, there’s no need to flinch with 1000 police on duty and barriers surrounding Sheffield City Hall to keep the masses at bay…

Anorak

Posted: 11th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comments (3)

Students Want To Kidnap Nick Clegg: No-One Would Pay the Ransom

A £2 MILLION  “ring of steel”, we are told, is being thrown around a “defiant” Nick Clegg, amid claims that he is at risk of kidnap by critics in his own constituency. Police are erecting a 6ft fence (note the “feet” for this Euroslime trash) around Sheffield City Hall to protect the Lib-Dim leader at his party’s spring conference.

This comes about after “aides” to Clegg yesterday went running to the plod to tell them that students are plotting to kidnap him in protest at his U-turn over university tuition fees. More than 10,000 student and union activists opposed to the Government’s “cuts” will take to the streets tomorrow and on Saturday to denounce the Clegg, MP for Sheffield Hallam.

Anorak

Posted: 11th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment

Labour Party Says Ed Balls Talk Balls: Fact

THE Labour Party delivers the Headline of The Day, about Ed Balls. Is this a sign of in-fighting?

Anorak

Posted: 10th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment

Topple The Tyrants Squat Gaddafi’s London Mansion: Photos

COLONEL Gaddafi, the squatter king of Libya, is watching his son Saif’s multi-million pound home in London being occupied by a squatting collective called “Topple The Tyrants”. The Spokesman is calling himself Montgomery Jones. Any actual Libyans in the house on Hampstead’s borders? Jones says “we have people from the Middle East and we’re hoping to disseminate the protests more widely”.

Anorak

Posted: 9th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)

Police Complain Of Being Bullied: Time For An Irony Overload

I DUNNO which invites more incredulity – the fact that the police are weeping in their cups about being “bullied“, or that the Cleggerons, having upset just about all their natural constituencies – to the point that they need armoured cars and constant police escorts – have now upset the police to such an extent that they now want the right to strike.

All this comes on the back of the review by Tom Winsor, commissioned by the current administration, which recommends cutting back on police allowances and overtime payments, to the extent that up to 40 percent might lose £4,000 a year … although, alarmingly, the rest would gain by up to £2,000 a year.

Anorak

Posted: 9th, March 2011 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)

A Pictorial History Of The Suffragettes: When Brave Women Fought Hard And Dirty To Be Heard

IT’S International Women’s Day. Right now in Saudi Arabia, women are thinking that much harder about not voting. Women’s suffrage goes on.

In London, free and talented women like Paloma Faith, VV Brown, Annie Lennox and a 105-year-old former suffragette named Hetty Bower went to the statue of Emmeline Pankhurst in Victoria Tower Gardens.

Says Anorak reader Robert Carter:

It’s a shame that we need to have a single day a year to remind us that women are the equals of men. But, for the other 364* days, people do seem to forget. * It has been pointed out that next year is a leap year – so it’s 365 international men’s days, in fact.

Women’s suffrage is no lacy artefact. Women’s rights are hard won. It was brutal.

Stones were thrown through the windows of Buckingham Palace. They were kept for posterity by Queen Mary. A small explosive device was placed in Westminster Abbey. The villain left behind part of her feather boa.

Arson attacks against property held by political figures, railway stations and even churches, increased in number as the struggle for women’s rights became more militant in nature. The Tea Pavillion in Kew Gardens was torched.

Anorak

Posted: 8th, March 2011 | In: Key Posts, Politicians | Comments (2)