T_i_B
T_i_B's JournalIt's time to demolish the myth about Tony Blair
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/owen-jones-its-time-to-demolish-the-myth-about-tony-blair-7808282.htmlTake the privatisation of the NHS. Under Blair, private sector involvement began to flourish and a commercial directorate was set up in the Department of Health. Gove is now expanding Blair's Academy schools programme, and free schools are a logical extension of them. The Coalition trebled the tuition fees that Blair introduced. Across public services, Blair expanded the role of the private sector though not as fast as he would have liked, thanks to internal party opposition. But Cameron is taking this "reform" (the Blairite and Tory code word for "privatisation" ever further. "Public sector reform" has come up in the many conversations Blair has apparently had with Cameron, and I'm sure the ex-PM has had much advice to offer.
It was the murderous invasion of Iraq described by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan as "illegal" that, for many, makes Blair unforgivable rather than a mere disappointment. It competes with the expenses scandal for the damage it did to faith in politicians. While in power, he courted despots like Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, whom he described as "immensely courageous and a force for good" when the Egyptian people rose against him. Today, the man who partly justified the invasion of Iraq with Saddam's sickening human rights record is being paid $13 million to advise the brutal dictator of Kazakhstan.
His defenders argue that Labour could not have won without him. It is a myth. Black Wednesday in 1992 finished off the Tories, and Labour enjoyed subsequent massive poll leads under John Smith. Of the five million votes that Labour lost in its 13 years in power, four million went awol under Blair's leadership. It wasn't so-called "Middle England" that deserted the party. According to Ipsos MORI, while middle-class professional support for Labour declined by five percentage points between 1997 and 2010, support among skilled workers plummeted by 21 per cent.
Hatred of those on benefits is dangerously out of control
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/owen-jones-hatred-of-those-on-benefits-is-dangerously-out-of-control-7763793.htmlSix of the biggest disability charities have warned that the campaign of demonisation by both journalists and politicians has led to a surge in abuse towards people with disabilities. According to Scope, two-thirds reported abuse in September last year, up from 41 per cent just four months earlier.
But this campaign helps sustain public acquiescence in a massacre of the welfare state. George Osborne plans £10bn of further benefit cuts; Cameron's parting spinmeister Steve Hilton has proposed £25bn. Half a million people are to have their disability living allowance taken away, even though the estimated fraud rate is just 0.5 per cent. People with serious illnesses are being stripped of their employment and support allowance, after undergoing the horrendous (and often humiliating) ordeal of a points-based assessment by French corporation Atos. One man with a degenerative lung disease, Larry Newman, was awarded no points just a few weeks before he died of his illness. Under New Labour (let's not forget who started this), one woman had her benefits cut after missing an assessment appointment because she was in hospital having chemotherapy for stomach cancer.
But we rarely see this reality: it is intentionally hidden from us. The Government and much of the media divert anger from those who caused the crisis, to your "scrounging" neighbour down the street. And so we end with Carole Malone arguing that a family whose children died in a fire brought it on themselves. It is beyond shameful. And it must be challenged.
From the Telegraph article.....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/9238358/MPs-phone-hacking-report-Rupert-Murdoch-not-fit-person-to-run-News-Corp.htmlThe report says: On the basis of the facts and evidence before the committee, we conclude that, if at all relevant times Rupert Murdoch did not take steps to become fully informed about phone-hacking, he turned a blind eye and exhibited wilful blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications.
This culture, we consider, permeated from the top throughout the organisation and speaks volumes about the lack of effective corporate governance at News Corporation and News International.
We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company.
George Washington named Britain's greatest ever foe
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9204961/George-Washington-named-Britains-greatest-ever-foe.htmlThe American was voted the winner in a contest run by the National Army Museum to identify the country's most outstanding military opponent.
He was one of a shortlist of five leaders who topped a public poll and on Saturday was selected as the ultimate winner by an audience of around 70 guests at a special event at the museum, in Chelsea, west London.
In second place was Michael Collins, the Irish leader, ahead of Napoleon Bonaparte, Erwin Rommel and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
George Washington named Britain's greatest ever foe
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9204961/George-Washington-named-Britains-greatest-ever-foe.htmlThe American was voted the winner in a contest run by the National Army Museum to identify the country's most outstanding military opponent.
He was one of a shortlist of five leaders who topped a public poll and on Saturday was selected as the ultimate winner by an audience of around 70 guests at a special event at the museum, in Chelsea, west London.
In second place was Michael Collins, the Irish leader, ahead of Napoleon Bonaparte, Erwin Rommel and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Local government, London Mayoral & London Assembly elections 3rd May
It's that time of year when I do the obligatory thread about the elections that are on this year.
We have a number of local elections as always, the London Mayoral race with Boris Johnson & Ken Livingstone as the frontrunners and London Assembly elections. A number of places are also holding referendums on whether or not to have an elected Mayor.
No local elections where I live so I'll be looking over the border to South Yorkshire to see if the Liberal Democrats continue their decline on Nick Clegg's doorstep. Sheffield is also one of those places having a Mayoral referendum, although I have yet to come across any interest in that matter whatsoever.
Come to think of it, I would expect voter turnout to be even worse then usual this year, which is never a good thing.
As always feel free to comment on what local elections are on where you live, any local issues and how much or how little campaigning is being done by political parties where you live.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_local_elections,_2012
http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/how_do_i_vote/registering_to_vote.aspx?
Premier league boss claims China stole egg foo yung from Sheffield
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/sport/sport-headlines/premier-league-boss-claims-china-stole-egg-foo-yung-from-sheffield-201203155013/THE chairman of the premier league last night accused China of stealing great British recipes like egg foo yung and Szechuan chicken.
Sir Dave Richards insisted eggs were first mixed with foo and yung in Sheffield more than 1,500 years ago and then a 'Chinaman hypnotised everybody and made off with the pot'.
He said: "And 70 years ago my Uncle Eric invented spaghetti, went to bed and woke up the next morning to find he had been kidnapped by Mussolini." Richards then stepped on a roller skate and went hurtling through a jam factory before crashing head-first into a wasps' nest.
He added: "Pele's from Huddersfield."
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Sheffield United 0
THIS CITY IS OURS, THIS CITY IS OURS F**K OFF UNITED THIS CITY IS OURS
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17093412
The stupid is indeed strong with James Delingpole......
.....I would have posted this in the good reads forum, but it's not a "good read". It is in fact the most hilariously idiotic article I've read in a long time. Anyone would think that this is a parody but those of you aware of Delingpole will probably be aware of his long track record of loony drivel.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100137740/why-im-rooting-for-barack-obama/
Agreed: the damage President Obama has done to the US economy with everything from Ben Bernanke's insane money-printing programme, to his cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, to his ban on deep-water drilling to his crony capitalism hand-outs to disaster zones like Solyndra to his persecution of companies like Gibson is incalculable. And, of course, if he gets a second term the damage he and his rag-bag of Marxist cronies at organisations like the Environmental Protection Agency manage to inflict on the US small businessman trying to make an honest buck will make his first term look like Calvin Coolidge on steroids.
So why do I think this would be preferable to a presidency under Mitt Romney? Simple. Because I've seen what happens, America, when you elect yet another spineless, yet ruthless, principle-free blow-with-the-wind, big government, crony-capitalist RINO squish. His name is Dave Cameron and trust me, the cure is far worse than the disease.
Astroturfing: what is it and why does it matter?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/08/what-is-astroturfing?CMP=twt_guAlthough usually associated with the internet, the practice has been widespread ever since newspaper editors first invented the letters page. Pick up any local paper around the time of an election and you will find multiple letters from "concerned residents of X" objecting to the disastrous policies of Y. Similarly, concerned residents often turn up on talk radio shows and even in campaign literature, although the latter can prove more dangerous, as Labour party activists posing as residents in Greenwich discovered a few years back.
To overcome these dangers, most astroturfing now takes place on the forums and comment sections of blogs and newspaper websites. Here, individual astroturfers can leave comments under numerous identities with little fear of discovery. Discovery does occur, however, and in 2008 one member of Boris Johnson's campaign team was caught posting comments on blogs critical of his boss without sufficiently concealing their identity. A few years later, another member of Johnson's campaign was found posing as a concerned Labour supporter trying to prevent Ken Livingstone from being the party's candidate for mayor.
None of these British examples comes close to the sort of operation seen in Russia. New forms of software enable any organisation with the funds and the know-how to conduct astroturfing on a far bigger scale than even the Kremlin could hope for. As reported by the Guardian, some big companies now use sophisticated "persona management software" to create armies of virtual astroturfers, complete with fake IP addresses, non-political interests and online histories. Authentic-looking profiles are generated automatically and developed for months or years before being brought into use for a political or corporate campaign. As the software improves, these astroturf armies will become increasingly difficult to spot, and the future of open debate online could become increasingly perilous.
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