Oh dear god. As a one time defender of Lembit can I withdraw any positive comments I have ever made about him? He has declared that we should negotiate with al Qaeda. To say this utterly misunderstands the situation surrrounding global terrorism in recent years simply doesn’t do it justice.
I think the best phrase to employ here for Lembit ‘lost the plot’ Opik is simply to say ‘not in my name’ and not in the name of the LDs. However, some further comments pertain.
1. al Qaeda doesn’t exist. It is a loose coalition of weirdos and misfits spread across the world, all of whom take their inspiration from Osama bin Laden, a rich Saudi who somehow lost the plot in the 1980s and decided he wanted to kill all non-believers, or some such tosh which religious nutters have been spouting since religion first began. You can imagine a caveman 50,000 years ago deciding that the other cavemen weren’t worshipping the rock god properly and killing them all with his club, before insisting that the women of the tribe had to cover their heads and stay in the cave all day. Its an argument for atheism – until you see Richard Dawkins boring us all on TV again.
There have been terrible atrocities carried out in the name of ‘al Qaeda’ but it is not a formal organisation and to see it as such simply gives the nutters involved credence. That was George Bush’s fundamental error.
2. The ‘war on terror’ is rather like the Cold War. America started it – admittedly in response to a terrible terrorist attack on their country – America kept it going and America can ultimately end it. Happily it seems a grown up has entered the White House so this looks like it is on the cards.
3. Muslim anger across the world is because muslims in many areas are treated appallingly, not least in Palestine, where the discrimination they face under Israeli occupation would be unthinkable if they were black Americans, for example. If this issue above all others was addressed things would improve dramatically. The comments of Turkish Prime Minister, Reccep Tayyip Erdogan, that he was against the Israel government not Israelis over the callous assault on Gaza was absolutely excellent and demonstrates that Muslims are not all towel headed fanatics but people who just want to be taken seriously – and left alone, no doubt. Perhaps if ‘Western’ countries all agreed not to invade another muslim country for a few years the mood among muslims might improve.
4. The peace in Northern Ireland is a great example of how an abysmal situation can be turned around. However, it has to be recognised that this peace came after years of tough work and – crucially – with the active and (more or less) willing participation of both sides of the argument. Al Qaeda in no way whatsoever represents the muslim world. Its kind of like saying the Mormon Church represents Christians.
I am astonished at quite how ludicrous this proposal is and I am devastated that it has come from a LD MP.
Friday, 30 January 2009
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
WHERE’S THE BEEF, DAVE? SERIOUSLY
Dave was interviewed by Andrew Grice of the Independent. Once again we learn that Dave cares, that Dave thinks the government is sleazy, that Dave would ‘clean up’ the House of Lords, that Dave will make fixing our ‘broken society’ a priority – so that he doesn’t have to do anything too drastic with the House of Lords.
Dave has a furrowed brow. Dave really cares. But Dave says precisely nothing about what he would do if he became Prime Minister. Here, you look.
Dinner with Ann Widdecombe for anyone who can spot a policy in there.
On sleaze, Dave dodges the issue of Tory peers being as bad as Labour ones – if not worse, as they have had more practice. Apparently we only need to ask Lord Ashcroft of Belize about his tax affairs and he’ll tell all. Apparently, a farmer in Gloucestershire has bred a flying pig which also plays the trumpet.
Which all comes down to the key question we should plaster everywhere when the General Election finally hoves into view. To all Dave’s blandishments should come the reply, ‘yes, but what would you do?’
Ooh, is that tumbleweed rolling across this web page?
Dave has a furrowed brow. Dave really cares. But Dave says precisely nothing about what he would do if he became Prime Minister. Here, you look.
Dinner with Ann Widdecombe for anyone who can spot a policy in there.
On sleaze, Dave dodges the issue of Tory peers being as bad as Labour ones – if not worse, as they have had more practice. Apparently we only need to ask Lord Ashcroft of Belize about his tax affairs and he’ll tell all. Apparently, a farmer in Gloucestershire has bred a flying pig which also plays the trumpet.
Which all comes down to the key question we should plaster everywhere when the General Election finally hoves into view. To all Dave’s blandishments should come the reply, ‘yes, but what would you do?’
Ooh, is that tumbleweed rolling across this web page?
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
SEVERN, EIGHT, NINE
The ‘dilemma’ over the proposed Severn Barrage really is a shocker. The newspapers and websites talk about the debate over whether to build the barrage or to destroy thousands of acres of wildlife.
What debate?!
It beggars belief that this is an issue. If the proposed barrage is going to cause as much damage as has been predicted, it should surely – obviously - not go ahead, especially as there are numerous alternatives worth considering, including many based around the Severn itself. Plus it will cost a fortune - £15bn - and no doubt the budget will more than double before it generates a watt of electricity.
Why not put £15bn into offshore wind power? Why not use the money to have a competition for the other companies bidding to build some kind of generation capacity in the Severn to give their ideas a go? The change left over from the £15bn could then be invested in the winning technology to allow us to export it to other countries, thus creating clean energy here and making money from the technology.
I wonder if the government could set up one of its commissions to establish just how thick it is. It wouldn’t need a big budget and it could probably report in a week since the answer seems obvious even to a Gordon Brown.
So here’s today’s wild idea. Spend some of the £15bn setting up a green energy agency, at arms length from the government, run like a private company and with a remit to double its money within ten years through the development of green tech. It wouldn’t need a huge budget, just the wonderful incentive to make money.
What debate?!
It beggars belief that this is an issue. If the proposed barrage is going to cause as much damage as has been predicted, it should surely – obviously - not go ahead, especially as there are numerous alternatives worth considering, including many based around the Severn itself. Plus it will cost a fortune - £15bn - and no doubt the budget will more than double before it generates a watt of electricity.
Why not put £15bn into offshore wind power? Why not use the money to have a competition for the other companies bidding to build some kind of generation capacity in the Severn to give their ideas a go? The change left over from the £15bn could then be invested in the winning technology to allow us to export it to other countries, thus creating clean energy here and making money from the technology.
I wonder if the government could set up one of its commissions to establish just how thick it is. It wouldn’t need a big budget and it could probably report in a week since the answer seems obvious even to a Gordon Brown.
So here’s today’s wild idea. Spend some of the £15bn setting up a green energy agency, at arms length from the government, run like a private company and with a remit to double its money within ten years through the development of green tech. It wouldn’t need a huge budget, just the wonderful incentive to make money.
THERE GO MY PRINCIPLES - CURSE YOU BARACK!
I have to say that this cynic is completely bowled over by Barack Obama so far. His latest move to sent George Mitchell to the Middle East to talk to Israelis and Palestinians is breathtaking, as was his decision to record an interview with the ‘al Arabiya’ TV station in which he said he was willing to listen to Arabs. Blimey!
I remain deeply and depressingly cynical about the whole Israel/Palestine issue as I just can’t see how the Israelis can compromise. They have fought their way into a corner over 6 decades, a corner they can only get out of by throwing away about 90% of the rhetorical arguments they have put forward to justify their existence. The country is based on conflict and it is difficult to see how it can move into a situation where peace is achievable without serious internal difficulties.
Most notably, Israel is increasingly theocratic and a glance over to Iran shows just how successful this model of government is. However, Iran is actually a good example of how things could change, for Iranians remain largely reasonable, open-minded, predominantly young people who tend to treat their ludicrous President with as much disdain as anyone in the West and who retain a practical attitude to their religion. The great thing about people is that they tend to thrive in any environment, even one a bunch of clerics is trying to suck the life out.
Similarly, Israel is infused with genuine democratic principles and an active and principled opposition which suggests that, as in most countries, change is possible and – as with all countries - it will come from within.
Obama has done more in a week than his predecessors managed in 60 years to generate hope for this region. Anyone wishing to cite the pointless handshake between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin which created Palestinian policed penal colonies in the Israeli controlled West Bank, best leave it.
Perhaps most interestingly, Benjamin Netanyahu looks likely to win the coming Israel election. Now he’s an odious little sh*t and a fervent right winger but one thing he did during his previous spell as Prime Minister was to halt illegal settlement building, which suggests that he at least understands to need to heed America’s words.
Above all, Obama signs the fat cheque which goes to Israel every year from the USA to keep the economy afloat and to pay for all those phosphorous shells and nuclear weapons which Israel doesn’t have. Now that’s leverage and for once it seems the US President might just be spitting on his hands ready to pick up this particular lever.
Maybe this time something will happen. If in eight year’s time we have two countries at peace and sharing Jerusalem, I’ll buy a hat expressly to eat it.
I remain deeply and depressingly cynical about the whole Israel/Palestine issue as I just can’t see how the Israelis can compromise. They have fought their way into a corner over 6 decades, a corner they can only get out of by throwing away about 90% of the rhetorical arguments they have put forward to justify their existence. The country is based on conflict and it is difficult to see how it can move into a situation where peace is achievable without serious internal difficulties.
Most notably, Israel is increasingly theocratic and a glance over to Iran shows just how successful this model of government is. However, Iran is actually a good example of how things could change, for Iranians remain largely reasonable, open-minded, predominantly young people who tend to treat their ludicrous President with as much disdain as anyone in the West and who retain a practical attitude to their religion. The great thing about people is that they tend to thrive in any environment, even one a bunch of clerics is trying to suck the life out.
Similarly, Israel is infused with genuine democratic principles and an active and principled opposition which suggests that, as in most countries, change is possible and – as with all countries - it will come from within.
Obama has done more in a week than his predecessors managed in 60 years to generate hope for this region. Anyone wishing to cite the pointless handshake between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin which created Palestinian policed penal colonies in the Israeli controlled West Bank, best leave it.
Perhaps most interestingly, Benjamin Netanyahu looks likely to win the coming Israel election. Now he’s an odious little sh*t and a fervent right winger but one thing he did during his previous spell as Prime Minister was to halt illegal settlement building, which suggests that he at least understands to need to heed America’s words.
Above all, Obama signs the fat cheque which goes to Israel every year from the USA to keep the economy afloat and to pay for all those phosphorous shells and nuclear weapons which Israel doesn’t have. Now that’s leverage and for once it seems the US President might just be spitting on his hands ready to pick up this particular lever.
Maybe this time something will happen. If in eight year’s time we have two countries at peace and sharing Jerusalem, I’ll buy a hat expressly to eat it.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
POLITICAL KUMQUAT
I did the www.madeitallup.politics.com test and found that I was to the left of 47% of fishermen but my views on vegetables ranked me as 53% to the right of the Dutch. On satellite proliferation I found I was 38% above people called Susan but 43% below ‘Colins’.
Perhaps the most interesting result was that my underwear is 9% to the right of me, which means that I am technically a naturist, although in fact I have always favoured large boxer shorts which would encompass this percentage shift. Thank heaven I don’t wear thongs!
The overall result was that I was a resident of Omsk but that my parentage was south east Asian, with just a hint of Welsh. Politically, I am apparently a Czech Socialist.
All very interesting and I think it shows that Barack Obama was an inspired choice after all.
Erm…
Perhaps the most interesting result was that my underwear is 9% to the right of me, which means that I am technically a naturist, although in fact I have always favoured large boxer shorts which would encompass this percentage shift. Thank heaven I don’t wear thongs!
The overall result was that I was a resident of Omsk but that my parentage was south east Asian, with just a hint of Welsh. Politically, I am apparently a Czech Socialist.
All very interesting and I think it shows that Barack Obama was an inspired choice after all.
Erm…
REASONS TO PITY THE USA
Because their President felt the need to take the oath of office a second time just to make sure. I mean, just how anal is this? We’re talking ‘colon’ here, aren’t we? Or maybe ‘epiglottis’.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
HALF A CHEER
Well, I've just read Obama's speech and I have to say I was impressed because it was mostly outward looking, focused on the world. He dealt with Islam positively and he also signalled his clear intention to get out of Iraq. He also addressed the issue of climate change. Well, dip me in honey and throw me to the proverbials...The tenor seemed overwhelmingly global in scope, even in his historical analogies.
Mind you, it feels kind of awkward that, when he talks about the founding fathers facing 'the enemy' when Washington was founded, he means us...Still, best let bygones be bygones on that one.
How about that, he's weakened my cynicism in his first Presidential breath. Maybe things will change after all.
Mind you, it feels kind of awkward that, when he talks about the founding fathers facing 'the enemy' when Washington was founded, he means us...Still, best let bygones be bygones on that one.
How about that, he's weakened my cynicism in his first Presidential breath. Maybe things will change after all.
O BLA DI, OBAMA, LIFE GOES ON, OOOHHHH
The Independent calls today ‘a day for hope’ as Barack Obama prepares to assume the role of US President. Hmm.
The residents of Gaza probably don’t have too much hope, having once again been abandoned by the USA in the face of the savage Israeli onslaught.
The troops in Afghanistan may not be infused with hope as they face the rabid, illiterate madmen of the Taliban daily.
The residents of Baghdad may struggle with hope as they face the daily risk of bombings, which haven’t stopped, even if they have fallen off the news radar.
The orange-clad residents of Guantanamo Bay may feel some small stirrings of hope as Obama has pledged to close the centre down – but if I were them I wouldn’t make any plans too soon.
Can the steadily heating atmosphere experience any emotions? If so, I wonder if one of them is hope at the promise of the new President?
But at least George W. Bush has gone. That in itself is reason for huge relief and perhaps a little hope. The Economist has an article which asks the rhetorical question about whether ‘Dubya’ could be considered the worst President ever. It’s a good question and, given the self-serving havoc he wreaked across the Middle East, its one I have a clear answer to.
As for Obama, well, he’s clearly important in the racially divided USA but I just can’t quite buy into the hype about him. I would like nothing more than to be proven wrong in my doubts but history makes me cynical.
I would love to see him grasp the Israeli nettle and bring peace to that region, in turn completely neutering the idiotic terrorists who claim to act in the name of Islam. Will there be two states at peace in historic ‘Palestine’ in four (or eight) years’ time? Pregnant pause time…
I would love to see him focus the USA’s considerable resources on addressing climate change. I would love to see him engaging more with the myriad international institutions which America so often brushes aside in the pursuit of its own goals. Will the USA rediscover its international role over the next four (eight) years? Oh, there’s that silence once again…
I’m not confident.
I’m not seeking to spoil the mood; its just that with all those bodies rotting in Gaza and all those families living half starved among rubble, I just can’t quite bring myself to feel that hope…I shall perhaps comfort myself with the reassuring thought that the families of the 4 Israelis who lost their lives can feel suitably ‘avenged’ by the deaths of 1,300 Palestinians.
Anyway, good luck Mr Obama, you’re sure as Hell gonna need it. I genuinely wish you well - and if you prove my doubts about you and your country wrong I shall be delighted.
The residents of Gaza probably don’t have too much hope, having once again been abandoned by the USA in the face of the savage Israeli onslaught.
The troops in Afghanistan may not be infused with hope as they face the rabid, illiterate madmen of the Taliban daily.
The residents of Baghdad may struggle with hope as they face the daily risk of bombings, which haven’t stopped, even if they have fallen off the news radar.
The orange-clad residents of Guantanamo Bay may feel some small stirrings of hope as Obama has pledged to close the centre down – but if I were them I wouldn’t make any plans too soon.
Can the steadily heating atmosphere experience any emotions? If so, I wonder if one of them is hope at the promise of the new President?
But at least George W. Bush has gone. That in itself is reason for huge relief and perhaps a little hope. The Economist has an article which asks the rhetorical question about whether ‘Dubya’ could be considered the worst President ever. It’s a good question and, given the self-serving havoc he wreaked across the Middle East, its one I have a clear answer to.
As for Obama, well, he’s clearly important in the racially divided USA but I just can’t quite buy into the hype about him. I would like nothing more than to be proven wrong in my doubts but history makes me cynical.
I would love to see him grasp the Israeli nettle and bring peace to that region, in turn completely neutering the idiotic terrorists who claim to act in the name of Islam. Will there be two states at peace in historic ‘Palestine’ in four (or eight) years’ time? Pregnant pause time…
I would love to see him focus the USA’s considerable resources on addressing climate change. I would love to see him engaging more with the myriad international institutions which America so often brushes aside in the pursuit of its own goals. Will the USA rediscover its international role over the next four (eight) years? Oh, there’s that silence once again…
I’m not confident.
I’m not seeking to spoil the mood; its just that with all those bodies rotting in Gaza and all those families living half starved among rubble, I just can’t quite bring myself to feel that hope…I shall perhaps comfort myself with the reassuring thought that the families of the 4 Israelis who lost their lives can feel suitably ‘avenged’ by the deaths of 1,300 Palestinians.
Anyway, good luck Mr Obama, you’re sure as Hell gonna need it. I genuinely wish you well - and if you prove my doubts about you and your country wrong I shall be delighted.
Monday, 19 January 2009
KEN CLARKE - TORY ELEPHANT
I yield to no one [love that phrase: so daft] in my appreciation of Ken Clarke. The smoking, drinking former Health Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and pretty much everything else except Tory Leader is clearly very able but crucially he is also highly entertaining – and there’s a place for that in politics which the lawyers of Labour and the posh PR hacks on the Tory benches woefully lack. It is perhaps a qualification of our own party which we underplay too much that at least we have a few ‘characters’ on our benches, such as Charles Kennedy, the much maligned Lembit and of course Vince.
But that’s a tangent. I want to welcome Ken back and, to quote Graham Taylor, lets all sit back, get the beers in and enjoy the spectacle.
Half the Tory Party hates him as he’s too pro-Europe. The high flyers will be filling their pants as they realise that they will in many cases look sadly lacking by comparison and Dave might just start to regret the promotion if Clarke starts to garner one too many headlines. [Hmm, compromise candidate to be parachuted in if Dave fluffs it up with only weeks to go before the General, anyone?] The recent intake will be petrified about whether they should support him or not. Buy shares in Andrews' Liver Salts!
The LDs might have the most fun on the vexed subject of Europe, one the Tories never resolved. They merely fought to a standstill and looked up to to see that everyone else had gone in for the afternoon lessons.
We don’t do brilliantly in Euro elections as they are fought on national issues, or pointless arguments about the picture on our banknotes [seriously, does anyone care?]. The promotion of the Blessed Ken might put into sharper focus the utter schizophrenia among Tories over their attitude to the institutions.
Bored regular readers of this blog will know that the Tories signed us up to Europe in the first place in 1972 (we joined in 1973, I know, I know); their chief battleaxe signed the Single European Act in 1985 – and at the same time committed us to joining a single currency at some time in the future; John Major signed the Maastricht Treaty which created the ‘Union’ and beefed up the foreign policy element of the whole shooting match. And then the fun started.
John Tory just couldn’t work out what he wanted. These were,after all, a bunch of Jerries, Dagoes and Wops, not to mention the fiendish French that we were now working with far too closely.
Ken always recognised that Britain gets a lot from Europe so it was worth putting up with the bad bits – the craven lack of democracy, the corrupt French model of government, French farmers screwing us all, Silvio Berlusconi, Greece etc, etc. Many of his colleagues saw this pragmatic approach as a betrayal of all we hold dear. We hate foreigners, don’t we?
Apparently, Ken met with Dave and George Osborne at Osborne’s house and he has undertaken to support party policy on Europe. Unfortunately for the trusting Tories, the chances of him being allowed to forget the past in the run up to June are about the same as the chances of Oxford United winning the Champions League. Some things would be nice but they just aren’t going to happen.
I hope our upper echelons will be looking hard at how we play the European campaign. My wish would be that we pretty much ignore Labour, which under Brown doesn’t much like Europe and is therefore collectively pretty grumpy about the whole thing. For this reason it is not really worth engaging with them on the subject. The British government simply behaves like Catherine Tate’s ‘Lauren’ in Brussels [‘Am I integrated? This country – integrated? Single Currency? Are you disrespecting my banknotes? Are you saying the Queen’s a pikey?’ In’it though!’]
Instead, if the LDs could help to ease open the wedge between Tories of varying stripes in their last big contest before the General Election, this would seem to me to be an excellent way to proceed.
Ken Clarke is called a 'big beast' in the latest lazy parlance of politicial commentators and this is possibly a good analogy for once. Indian armies of yore used to take elephants into battle to frighten the enemy. However, these elephants had an unfortunate habit of getting scared by the noise of battle, stampeding and squashing their own side's troops. Is Ken Clarke a reliable pachyderm for the Tories or will he flatten them? Only time will tell.
While we wait let's enjoy the fun. Welcome Ken and bring on the dancing girls!
But that’s a tangent. I want to welcome Ken back and, to quote Graham Taylor, lets all sit back, get the beers in and enjoy the spectacle.
Half the Tory Party hates him as he’s too pro-Europe. The high flyers will be filling their pants as they realise that they will in many cases look sadly lacking by comparison and Dave might just start to regret the promotion if Clarke starts to garner one too many headlines. [Hmm, compromise candidate to be parachuted in if Dave fluffs it up with only weeks to go before the General, anyone?] The recent intake will be petrified about whether they should support him or not. Buy shares in Andrews' Liver Salts!
The LDs might have the most fun on the vexed subject of Europe, one the Tories never resolved. They merely fought to a standstill and looked up to to see that everyone else had gone in for the afternoon lessons.
We don’t do brilliantly in Euro elections as they are fought on national issues, or pointless arguments about the picture on our banknotes [seriously, does anyone care?]. The promotion of the Blessed Ken might put into sharper focus the utter schizophrenia among Tories over their attitude to the institutions.
Bored regular readers of this blog will know that the Tories signed us up to Europe in the first place in 1972 (we joined in 1973, I know, I know); their chief battleaxe signed the Single European Act in 1985 – and at the same time committed us to joining a single currency at some time in the future; John Major signed the Maastricht Treaty which created the ‘Union’ and beefed up the foreign policy element of the whole shooting match. And then the fun started.
John Tory just couldn’t work out what he wanted. These were,after all, a bunch of Jerries, Dagoes and Wops, not to mention the fiendish French that we were now working with far too closely.
Ken always recognised that Britain gets a lot from Europe so it was worth putting up with the bad bits – the craven lack of democracy, the corrupt French model of government, French farmers screwing us all, Silvio Berlusconi, Greece etc, etc. Many of his colleagues saw this pragmatic approach as a betrayal of all we hold dear. We hate foreigners, don’t we?
Apparently, Ken met with Dave and George Osborne at Osborne’s house and he has undertaken to support party policy on Europe. Unfortunately for the trusting Tories, the chances of him being allowed to forget the past in the run up to June are about the same as the chances of Oxford United winning the Champions League. Some things would be nice but they just aren’t going to happen.
I hope our upper echelons will be looking hard at how we play the European campaign. My wish would be that we pretty much ignore Labour, which under Brown doesn’t much like Europe and is therefore collectively pretty grumpy about the whole thing. For this reason it is not really worth engaging with them on the subject. The British government simply behaves like Catherine Tate’s ‘Lauren’ in Brussels [‘Am I integrated? This country – integrated? Single Currency? Are you disrespecting my banknotes? Are you saying the Queen’s a pikey?’ In’it though!’]
Instead, if the LDs could help to ease open the wedge between Tories of varying stripes in their last big contest before the General Election, this would seem to me to be an excellent way to proceed.
Ken Clarke is called a 'big beast' in the latest lazy parlance of politicial commentators and this is possibly a good analogy for once. Indian armies of yore used to take elephants into battle to frighten the enemy. However, these elephants had an unfortunate habit of getting scared by the noise of battle, stampeding and squashing their own side's troops. Is Ken Clarke a reliable pachyderm for the Tories or will he flatten them? Only time will tell.
While we wait let's enjoy the fun. Welcome Ken and bring on the dancing girls!
Friday, 16 January 2009
NOTHING HAPPENING? MAKE A LIST!
Is it me or is there b*gger all going on at the moment?
Sure, the government is planning a third runway at Heathrow. And, er, we’re against it, so that’s that. Some a**e picked up the Mace in Parliament to try to make a point of some kind. He didn’t: all we got was a picture of an a**e grasping the Mace.
The economy seems to be sliding on downwards rather than in freefall but we’ve done the crisis now and moved on, so we can all go to Hell in a handcart pushed by Gordon and Alastair, as long as we can still get regular updates from Celebrity Big Brother.
There might be an election. There might not. I don’t think there will be until 2010. That’s that dealt with.
Barack Obama will be inaugurated as president of the USA on Tuesday. Good for him, but I really don’t care. He’s got a snazzy car, a lovely family and, um, oh yes Bruce Springsteen will play at his party. And…er….that’s just fine but still of no interest whatsoever to me.
A brilliant pilot saved all his passengers in New York and deserves all the praise he will no doubt be showered with over coming days and weeks. A genuine good news story, this one but not one for a Lib Dem blog to comment on.
Oh, and Israel is pounding the Palestinians into dust as it has been doing for decades, while its politicians hide behind the oleaginous Mark Regev, who tells us its necessary to protect nuclear enabled, overwhelmingly well armed Israel from a pretty loopy terrorist group which gets all its legitimacy from, er Israel pounding and starving the Palestinians. Thus the Israel/Palestine merry-go-round spins on to the last Palestinian.
However, having pretty much laid my cards on the table here – well, nailed them down and placed a large magnifying glass above them so no one can be in any doubt that I believe the Israeli Cabinet is collectively responsible for a war crime which will never be pursued because Uncle Sam will make sure it isn’t – there’s not much more to say.
And that’s it. Boring. Will do a jigsaw instead.
Or, I could ape the serious bloggers with 9 wishes for 2009:
1. Ken Clarke comes back. He’s as good as the Tories have got and he’ll rile the Labour government wonderfully. Cue a bit more interest in Parliament, with hopefully some kind of set piece between him and Lord Mandelson. Now that would be fun. He’ll also expose the serious lack of ability of Dave and the crushing nonentity that is George Osborne. As Ardal o’Hanlan might say, careful now, Dave…
2. There is no election, shutting all the febrile commentators up and forcing several of them to retire to Northamptonshire. Simon Carr relents of his lack of awareness of anything going on in Westminster and joins a monastery and Andrew Neill moves to Tanzania to grow lettuces.
3 Nickers finally gets a viable nickname. He cannot hit the big time until he has a nickname - mark my words. Vince, Ming, Chat show Charlie, Paddy – they all needed it to be taken seriously. Nickers will be stuck in a rut as long as he is known as ‘Nick Clegg’.
4 People stop taking Iain Dale so seriously. He’s very good and worth reading occasionally but he is still just a blogger.
5. Following on from (1) above, a serious contender to Dave emerges in the Tory Party. This will require some magic as there is such a dearth of talent in that party but stranger things have happened. Ed Balls, government minister. I’ll say no more.
6. The Euro elections are fought on the subject of Europe. I know! Madness, this one.
7. We actually do well in this PR poll OR we do abysmally in this PR poll and finally someone starts to look again at our slavish adherence to PR as the sine qua non of LDs in power.
8. President Barack Obama actually does something to stop the violence the next time Israel decides it wants to bomb more civilians for ‘peace’.
9. Tottenham Hotspur sort themselves out and remember the game they are supposed to be playing is ‘football’, not ‘let the other team win’.
There you have it. A wish list to put others to shame. Come back in a year to see how much of it has come to pass. I’m pretty confident…well, except for point 9.
Sure, the government is planning a third runway at Heathrow. And, er, we’re against it, so that’s that. Some a**e picked up the Mace in Parliament to try to make a point of some kind. He didn’t: all we got was a picture of an a**e grasping the Mace.
The economy seems to be sliding on downwards rather than in freefall but we’ve done the crisis now and moved on, so we can all go to Hell in a handcart pushed by Gordon and Alastair, as long as we can still get regular updates from Celebrity Big Brother.
There might be an election. There might not. I don’t think there will be until 2010. That’s that dealt with.
Barack Obama will be inaugurated as president of the USA on Tuesday. Good for him, but I really don’t care. He’s got a snazzy car, a lovely family and, um, oh yes Bruce Springsteen will play at his party. And…er….that’s just fine but still of no interest whatsoever to me.
A brilliant pilot saved all his passengers in New York and deserves all the praise he will no doubt be showered with over coming days and weeks. A genuine good news story, this one but not one for a Lib Dem blog to comment on.
Oh, and Israel is pounding the Palestinians into dust as it has been doing for decades, while its politicians hide behind the oleaginous Mark Regev, who tells us its necessary to protect nuclear enabled, overwhelmingly well armed Israel from a pretty loopy terrorist group which gets all its legitimacy from, er Israel pounding and starving the Palestinians. Thus the Israel/Palestine merry-go-round spins on to the last Palestinian.
However, having pretty much laid my cards on the table here – well, nailed them down and placed a large magnifying glass above them so no one can be in any doubt that I believe the Israeli Cabinet is collectively responsible for a war crime which will never be pursued because Uncle Sam will make sure it isn’t – there’s not much more to say.
And that’s it. Boring. Will do a jigsaw instead.
Or, I could ape the serious bloggers with 9 wishes for 2009:
1. Ken Clarke comes back. He’s as good as the Tories have got and he’ll rile the Labour government wonderfully. Cue a bit more interest in Parliament, with hopefully some kind of set piece between him and Lord Mandelson. Now that would be fun. He’ll also expose the serious lack of ability of Dave and the crushing nonentity that is George Osborne. As Ardal o’Hanlan might say, careful now, Dave…
2. There is no election, shutting all the febrile commentators up and forcing several of them to retire to Northamptonshire. Simon Carr relents of his lack of awareness of anything going on in Westminster and joins a monastery and Andrew Neill moves to Tanzania to grow lettuces.
3 Nickers finally gets a viable nickname. He cannot hit the big time until he has a nickname - mark my words. Vince, Ming, Chat show Charlie, Paddy – they all needed it to be taken seriously. Nickers will be stuck in a rut as long as he is known as ‘Nick Clegg’.
4 People stop taking Iain Dale so seriously. He’s very good and worth reading occasionally but he is still just a blogger.
5. Following on from (1) above, a serious contender to Dave emerges in the Tory Party. This will require some magic as there is such a dearth of talent in that party but stranger things have happened. Ed Balls, government minister. I’ll say no more.
6. The Euro elections are fought on the subject of Europe. I know! Madness, this one.
7. We actually do well in this PR poll OR we do abysmally in this PR poll and finally someone starts to look again at our slavish adherence to PR as the sine qua non of LDs in power.
8. President Barack Obama actually does something to stop the violence the next time Israel decides it wants to bomb more civilians for ‘peace’.
9. Tottenham Hotspur sort themselves out and remember the game they are supposed to be playing is ‘football’, not ‘let the other team win’.
There you have it. A wish list to put others to shame. Come back in a year to see how much of it has come to pass. I’m pretty confident…well, except for point 9.
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
NOR EYES TO SEE
I’ve just seen the image of the 10 year old Palestinian boy who lost his eyes in an Israeli air strike in Gaza. Pictures like this always speak more eloquently than words ever can.
I wonder how many missiles this 10 year old sent into Israel? I wonder what he thinks about Israeli ‘security’ now. I wonder how many of his peers will choose ‘peace’ – with an army boot on their necks - as a result of seeing him maimed for life.
I do hope that all those bleating about 'peace', 'security' and 'defending Israel' will give it up and go away now. You've lost. Comprehensively.
I wonder how many missiles this 10 year old sent into Israel? I wonder what he thinks about Israeli ‘security’ now. I wonder how many of his peers will choose ‘peace’ – with an army boot on their necks - as a result of seeing him maimed for life.
I do hope that all those bleating about 'peace', 'security' and 'defending Israel' will give it up and go away now. You've lost. Comprehensively.
Monday, 12 January 2009
JESUS THE JEW
Channel 4 has started one of those documentary series that justify its existence, this time on the vexed subject of Christianity.
Last night was Howard Jacobson’s turn to discuss the fact that, lest we forget, Jesus was a jew. He made the point extremely well and it is perhaps the measure of a good documentary that it leaves you slightly uncomfortable and asking yourself questions, which Jacobson’s piece did. His interviewees were excellent and the points he made extremely piercing. It was also well filmed and the image of him standing next to a pile of crosses in Jerusalem was magnificent and utterly Pythonesque.
Obviously Jesus was a jew and this does tend to be put to one side in the whole religious mumbo jumbo spouted in churches. This is unfortunate as the jewish tradition is clearly central to the religion. It is interesting that Islam, which is so often seen as anti-jewish, recognises that the practitioners of the three religions are all ‘people of the book’ and grants then equal respect, even if many loons around the world distort that religion to attack jews and Israel just as Christianity has been distorted to such ends since it really got going under the Romans.
What came through uncomfortably in the documentary – as it tends to in all such discussions – is the ghastly activities of organised religion to pervert and destroy the essential message in any faith to its own ends. To all those wonderfully entertaining LD atheists out there who scream for the end of religion it is worth reflecting that it is not belief which is evil, it is the perversion of belief for ‘earthly’ reasons, such as the religious and secular domination of Europe or the simple making of money, as a certain litigious American sect might be accused of doing…
The documentary was a great start to the new season and the first 50 or so minutes were fascinating and thought-provoking. Unfortunately for me, Jacobson completely blew his argument out of the water in the last two minutes when all of sudden a gratuitous image of a Nazi concentration camp was thrown up. At this point, Jacobson became a cliché.
Now, it is as obvious and tired as a Harry Hill joke that the holocaust was the most significant event in jewish history since the destruction of the temple but it is unfortunately used perenially as a convenient stick to beat Europeans/Christians/The West with at any opportunity and this was one such opportunity. There is of course much justification for this, given the stream of atrocities meted out to jews by ‘pious’ Christians for centuries in the name of God.
I can also accept that he sought to make the point that it has been the surpression of the jewishness of Jesus which has caused so many atrocities but the holocaust was simply different, on a scale unimagined in past centuries. And it is worth acknowledging – as Hitler himself did – that it was the Armenian holocaust, that is the attempetd destruction of a Christian group by an Islamic country, which inspired him, not the centuries old Christian practice of discriminating against and killing jews in Europe.
The problem with the hurried final reference to the jewish holocaust was that it overwhelmed the earlier points made and the central theme, which was that the jewishness of Jesus and the jewish traditions he grew up with should be recognised and accommodated by Christianity. That was unfortunate as he had argued that point excellently right up to the end.
Last night was Howard Jacobson’s turn to discuss the fact that, lest we forget, Jesus was a jew. He made the point extremely well and it is perhaps the measure of a good documentary that it leaves you slightly uncomfortable and asking yourself questions, which Jacobson’s piece did. His interviewees were excellent and the points he made extremely piercing. It was also well filmed and the image of him standing next to a pile of crosses in Jerusalem was magnificent and utterly Pythonesque.
Obviously Jesus was a jew and this does tend to be put to one side in the whole religious mumbo jumbo spouted in churches. This is unfortunate as the jewish tradition is clearly central to the religion. It is interesting that Islam, which is so often seen as anti-jewish, recognises that the practitioners of the three religions are all ‘people of the book’ and grants then equal respect, even if many loons around the world distort that religion to attack jews and Israel just as Christianity has been distorted to such ends since it really got going under the Romans.
What came through uncomfortably in the documentary – as it tends to in all such discussions – is the ghastly activities of organised religion to pervert and destroy the essential message in any faith to its own ends. To all those wonderfully entertaining LD atheists out there who scream for the end of religion it is worth reflecting that it is not belief which is evil, it is the perversion of belief for ‘earthly’ reasons, such as the religious and secular domination of Europe or the simple making of money, as a certain litigious American sect might be accused of doing…
The documentary was a great start to the new season and the first 50 or so minutes were fascinating and thought-provoking. Unfortunately for me, Jacobson completely blew his argument out of the water in the last two minutes when all of sudden a gratuitous image of a Nazi concentration camp was thrown up. At this point, Jacobson became a cliché.
Now, it is as obvious and tired as a Harry Hill joke that the holocaust was the most significant event in jewish history since the destruction of the temple but it is unfortunately used perenially as a convenient stick to beat Europeans/Christians/The West with at any opportunity and this was one such opportunity. There is of course much justification for this, given the stream of atrocities meted out to jews by ‘pious’ Christians for centuries in the name of God.
I can also accept that he sought to make the point that it has been the surpression of the jewishness of Jesus which has caused so many atrocities but the holocaust was simply different, on a scale unimagined in past centuries. And it is worth acknowledging – as Hitler himself did – that it was the Armenian holocaust, that is the attempetd destruction of a Christian group by an Islamic country, which inspired him, not the centuries old Christian practice of discriminating against and killing jews in Europe.
The problem with the hurried final reference to the jewish holocaust was that it overwhelmed the earlier points made and the central theme, which was that the jewishness of Jesus and the jewish traditions he grew up with should be recognised and accommodated by Christianity. That was unfortunate as he had argued that point excellently right up to the end.
Thursday, 8 January 2009
GIVE PEACE A CHANCE. GO ON, GO ON, GO ON, GO ON, GO ON, GO ON, GO ON!
It seems my earlier item on the 1947 proposal to share the land of Palestine was wrong. I had forgotten the equally far-sighted plan proposed by Saudi Arabia and agreed by all 22 members of the Arab League, with the acquiescence of Hamas and Iran. Adrian Hamilton writes in the Independent:
“But then there's an offer on the table that could overarch and even subsume the basic Palestinian-Israeli discord and that is the Arab League proposal to offer Israel recognition by the whole Arab world in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders.
“First authored by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and revived last year, the Arab peace Initiative has the support of all 22 members of the Arab League and the tacit acceptance of both Hamas and Iran. It would mean the dismantlement of the settlements and the destruction of the security fence. It would involve sharing Jerusalem. There would still be problems of the right to return. But it would finally force Israel and Hamas, Hizbollah and Iran, to put up or shut up over their intentions for peace.
“There it is, in black and white, a deal that could break the pattern of Middle East conflict and satisfy Israel's every concern for security if only someone was brave enough to pick it up.”
This is indeed a bold and acceptable plan to almost everyone. Unfortunately Israel can never accept it because it would require compromise over Jerusalem, upsetting the religious extremists who have their collective boot on the neck of the Israel body politic, the removal of the illegal settlements across the West Bank (ditto) and the need to relinquish the right to draw water from the huge aquifer which lies under the West Bank, which Israel needs to survive.
So two cheers for Saudi Arabia and the normally useless Arab League but it is likely to be a cold day in the Hell that is Gaza before this is agreed.
It is illuminating that the Saudis are the visionaries…
“But then there's an offer on the table that could overarch and even subsume the basic Palestinian-Israeli discord and that is the Arab League proposal to offer Israel recognition by the whole Arab world in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders.
“First authored by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and revived last year, the Arab peace Initiative has the support of all 22 members of the Arab League and the tacit acceptance of both Hamas and Iran. It would mean the dismantlement of the settlements and the destruction of the security fence. It would involve sharing Jerusalem. There would still be problems of the right to return. But it would finally force Israel and Hamas, Hizbollah and Iran, to put up or shut up over their intentions for peace.
“There it is, in black and white, a deal that could break the pattern of Middle East conflict and satisfy Israel's every concern for security if only someone was brave enough to pick it up.”
This is indeed a bold and acceptable plan to almost everyone. Unfortunately Israel can never accept it because it would require compromise over Jerusalem, upsetting the religious extremists who have their collective boot on the neck of the Israel body politic, the removal of the illegal settlements across the West Bank (ditto) and the need to relinquish the right to draw water from the huge aquifer which lies under the West Bank, which Israel needs to survive.
So two cheers for Saudi Arabia and the normally useless Arab League but it is likely to be a cold day in the Hell that is Gaza before this is agreed.
It is illuminating that the Saudis are the visionaries…
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
WHO STARTED IT? WELL, JUST HOLD ON A MINUTE...
Responding to Nick Clegg’s admirably unequivocal statement on the Israeli attack on Gaza, Little Billy Hague (remember him?) said that Clegg was wrong and that Hamas ‘started it’: “It started with the launching of about 300 rockets by Hamas into Israel”.
Good point – but complete nonsense as the excellent Robert Fisk makes clear in the Independent and – rather refreshingly – as the interviewer of the Israeli Ambassador made clear this morning on the Today programme. (You will no doubt realise that in asking a clear, concise, probing question, the interviewer was not Rambling Jim Naughtie).
Good point – but complete nonsense as the excellent Robert Fisk makes clear in the Independent and – rather refreshingly – as the interviewer of the Israeli Ambassador made clear this morning on the Today programme. (You will no doubt realise that in asking a clear, concise, probing question, the interviewer was not Rambling Jim Naughtie).
I'VE GOT A PLAN
Costigan Quist mentions that his plan for peace in the Middle East will be published as soon as he completes it. Well, let me save you the work, ‘Cost’, ‘cause it already exists.
Back in 1947, when much of the world was recovering from the devastation of the Second World War, the newly formed and far more prosaic United Nations devised a plan to deal with the thousands of immigrant Jews arriving in the British ‘mandate’ of Palestine. The idea was for a series of what could be called ‘cantons’ for Jews and Palestinians to live side by side – and hopefully together eventually. They would have had a shared currency and crucially, Jerusalem would have been a united and open ‘international’ city for everyone to live in.
The plan was well thought out but unfortunately it was used by the understandably highly politicised and well armed arriving Jews as a green light to create ‘facts on the ground’ and to develop a contiguous state by force of arms and terror. The devastation that is Palestine, the terrorism of the PLO, Hamas and Hizbullah, the opposition and religious extremism of Iran, the dictatorship and subsequent chaos in Iraq and pretty mcuh every disaster in the region since 1948 is a direct consequence of the declaration of an Israeli state and the failure to recognise the equal right of the people already living there – those inconvenient Palestinians.
The Prime Minister and that wretched, deceitful weasel who claims to represent ‘the West’ (ahem, ‘not in my name’), Tony Blair, can call for a ceasefire and a settlement until they are ‘red’ in the face but until the fundamental right of Palestinians to live in their own country is accepted by Israel – and of course the USA – there will be no peace. That isn’t going to happen any time soon.
Anyway, the plan exists, it is a good one and it remains the only real option. One day, be it next year or in 100 years’ time, it will be implemented. In the meantime, expect more schools to be bombed, more civilians to die, more ‘security raids’ to be carried out by Israel and more Palestinian and wider Arab terrorism aimed at the ‘West’ for its support of land grabs, settlements, apartheid and murder.
Doesn’t that make you feel warm inside?
Back in 1947, when much of the world was recovering from the devastation of the Second World War, the newly formed and far more prosaic United Nations devised a plan to deal with the thousands of immigrant Jews arriving in the British ‘mandate’ of Palestine. The idea was for a series of what could be called ‘cantons’ for Jews and Palestinians to live side by side – and hopefully together eventually. They would have had a shared currency and crucially, Jerusalem would have been a united and open ‘international’ city for everyone to live in.
The plan was well thought out but unfortunately it was used by the understandably highly politicised and well armed arriving Jews as a green light to create ‘facts on the ground’ and to develop a contiguous state by force of arms and terror. The devastation that is Palestine, the terrorism of the PLO, Hamas and Hizbullah, the opposition and religious extremism of Iran, the dictatorship and subsequent chaos in Iraq and pretty mcuh every disaster in the region since 1948 is a direct consequence of the declaration of an Israeli state and the failure to recognise the equal right of the people already living there – those inconvenient Palestinians.
The Prime Minister and that wretched, deceitful weasel who claims to represent ‘the West’ (ahem, ‘not in my name’), Tony Blair, can call for a ceasefire and a settlement until they are ‘red’ in the face but until the fundamental right of Palestinians to live in their own country is accepted by Israel – and of course the USA – there will be no peace. That isn’t going to happen any time soon.
Anyway, the plan exists, it is a good one and it remains the only real option. One day, be it next year or in 100 years’ time, it will be implemented. In the meantime, expect more schools to be bombed, more civilians to die, more ‘security raids’ to be carried out by Israel and more Palestinian and wider Arab terrorism aimed at the ‘West’ for its support of land grabs, settlements, apartheid and murder.
Doesn’t that make you feel warm inside?
Monday, 5 January 2009
TRICKY DILEMMAS WE ALL FACE...
Also on Channel 4 news this evening there was a report on the continued assault on Gaza, which began with pictures of three very young and very dead children being taken to their inconsolable father who quite understandably could not do or say anything sensible faced with this terrible image.
I wonder what this poor man will decide to do when he has recovered some composure. Perhaps he will recognise Israel's need for security and agree that the slaughter of his children was 'unfortunate'. He might also be consoled by the US administration 'regretting' their deaths.
Then again, he might decide that he has nothing to lose by using all means at his disposal to fight the people who killed his family and side with Hamas in seeking their revenge.
I wonder what he will do. I wonder if the deaths of these children will hasten 'peace' in Palestine and Israel or if they will help to sink the two countries further into mutual destruction - if a slaughter ratio of 10:1 in Israel's favour can be considered 'mutual'.
Tricky
I wonder what this poor man will decide to do when he has recovered some composure. Perhaps he will recognise Israel's need for security and agree that the slaughter of his children was 'unfortunate'. He might also be consoled by the US administration 'regretting' their deaths.
Then again, he might decide that he has nothing to lose by using all means at his disposal to fight the people who killed his family and side with Hamas in seeking their revenge.
I wonder what he will do. I wonder if the deaths of these children will hasten 'peace' in Palestine and Israel or if they will help to sink the two countries further into mutual destruction - if a slaughter ratio of 10:1 in Israel's favour can be considered 'mutual'.
Tricky
BLIMEY, GEORGE IS GETTING SERIOUS
Very funny interview with the 13th Baronet Osborne (George to his friends) on the Tories' fantastic new tax plans. Apparently the average saver has around £15,000 in the bank, so the planned 40p rebate for every £100 held will atually amount to a substantial amount. I wish...
Anyway, what fascinated me more than this latst bizarre attempt to fidle the figures was how George completely took on the persona of dear old Tony Blair by adopting his trademark 't' dropping when he wanted to be serious about something and sound more matey.
New Labour, no change.
Anyway, what fascinated me more than this latst bizarre attempt to fidle the figures was how George completely took on the persona of dear old Tony Blair by adopting his trademark 't' dropping when he wanted to be serious about something and sound more matey.
New Labour, no change.
OH, UPSY DAISY, HOW COULD YOU?!
Ooh great, a Daily Himmler subject to excite my wrath early in the New Year. The BBC has announced that it will bring out an Upsy Daisy doll around Easter which has darker skin, apparently better reflecting the character in the TV show.
Well, what a relief this is! Phew and thank the stars!
I shall spend the rest of the day beating by breast and hating myself for my eminent racism I have demonstrated in buying my daughter one of these dolls without even realising that there was any difference. I shall then go home and berate her for not noticing any difference either, the callous child!
Oh the tragedy that one so young could be so vicious and insensitive as not to notice any difference at all and to play happily with a well loved toy which has surely caused riots on the streets of European capitals and war to break out in Bolivia! Shame on her and shame on all children who are happily playing such racist games completely oblivious to any problem whatsoever and, er, not displaying any inkling of prejudice whatsoever.
And shame on the gittish, imbecilic pillocks who think this is in any way a problem at all. It’s a f***ing doll and 99% of people with half a brain won’t have noticed any problem either. It’s. A. Doll.
Well, what a relief this is! Phew and thank the stars!
I shall spend the rest of the day beating by breast and hating myself for my eminent racism I have demonstrated in buying my daughter one of these dolls without even realising that there was any difference. I shall then go home and berate her for not noticing any difference either, the callous child!
Oh the tragedy that one so young could be so vicious and insensitive as not to notice any difference at all and to play happily with a well loved toy which has surely caused riots on the streets of European capitals and war to break out in Bolivia! Shame on her and shame on all children who are happily playing such racist games completely oblivious to any problem whatsoever and, er, not displaying any inkling of prejudice whatsoever.
And shame on the gittish, imbecilic pillocks who think this is in any way a problem at all. It’s a f***ing doll and 99% of people with half a brain won’t have noticed any problem either. It’s. A. Doll.
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