[caption id="attachment_739" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Rest in Peace, little friend"][/caption]
Early reports state he died exhaustion after being over-worked over the past year, and that his over-use had voided his warranty. He will be sorely missed - by President Obama.
So a couple of IT kids set up BorisWatch on Friday 2nd May"Registered on: 03-May-2008" in an attempt to, let's use a block quote here because this is rich;
Enhance the accountability of the new London mayoralty
Fine. Good. Some self-styled ombudsman with a religio-capitalist (Ed: Uh, what) agenda have decided it's up to them to shed some light on the Boris Johnson regime. Editor Nadir Jeewa admits to having been a part of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, "an international pan-Islamist, Sunni, vanguard political party whose goal is to combine all Muslim countries in a unitary Islamic state or caliphate, ruled by Islamic law and with a caliph head of state elected by Muslims". Delightful! While Tom Barry, the "scruffy IT guy working for a major ISP (Virgin, I'm guessing)," was called in 2008 by Andrew Gilligan,
one tireless Johnson-basher
Oo-er.
Regardless, you've gotta wonder what these nerds people who claim to, "read through TfL Board minutes so you don’t have to," (nerd) are doing picking on a modest blog like KeepRightOnline?
Following our story (for which we credited, albeit with a friendly ribbing) BorisWatch on the BBC's inability to get the name of a Transport Advisor to BoJo correct; BorisWatch proceeded to issue these kind words on their blog regarding our coverage.
Oh, and note to tiresome trolls - this isn’t the BBC being biased or unethical merely being crap at reporting on the website and indulging in churnalism, which is hardly unusual or unique to the BBC.
Wait a minute. Isn't that what we put it down to? Or did you just read the headline and nothing else? Goodness me.
Oh and by the way, brilliant IT guys that you are, you have some broken links on your "About" page. You're welcome.
As if the political graveyard weren't replete enough with the corpses of young Facebook noobs, there's one more cautionary tale to add to the pile: whatever you do don't do what Audra Shay, the newly-elected national chairwoman of the Young Republicans, did.
The complaint that 38-year-olds aren't young notwithstanding (Ed: thank goodness we don't have anyone trying to pretend 30-somethings are CFers - whoops!), it's pretty damn stupid of anyone with a pretence to political office to even look like they're condoning racism. Or homophobia or sexism, for that matter.
The comments may have been taken out of context, and the claim to privacy may be fair, but everyone has to agree: giving the media nothing to run is better than giving them a 'conservative is racist' story. Despite the protestations that the media are biased: yes, the media are biased, but they're still the media. Shay may have won, but, with the glare of publicity on her, that'll be the last election she'll ever win.
Racism is an accusation that dogs conservatives: one that is sometimes justified, and one that we have to shake off. If you want to condone racism, you can do it in private. But don't expect your privacy to be respected, don't expect your opponents to have any humour about it, and don't expect people that aren't racist to stand by you.
The Party for Change released this video today, espousing the need for a more responsible approach to international aid, and KeepRightOnline couldn't be more behind it.
The idea of payment upon results is compelling, and one by which we would expect to live our lives here in the United Kingdom for goods or services we procure. Why should we fork out for things which never emerge? This way; we ensure results.
Oops, did I just say that? Okay okay I take it back. But what's up with this? Either we're incredibly ignorant, or the BBC are incredibly stupid. I prefer to assume the latter but am welcome to the former, should someone prove me wrong. A quick look on Google and London.gov.uk has left me baffled still. Props to BorisWatch(though not sure on how sound the site is in general!) for catching this one.
Who is Kabir Das?
UPDATED (see picture): The BBC were apparently trying to name Transport Advisor to BoJo, "Kulveer Ranger." Slight typo then, eh boys? [caption id="attachment_692" align="aligncenter" width="195" caption="Who is Kabir Das?"][/caption]
It's bureaucracy gone mad, I tells ya: [caption id="attachment_680" align="aligncenter" width="468" caption="Said the dog, 'Send back this man. I said I wanted him medium-rare!'"][/caption]
I'm not sure I want to look like these ladies, but I do admire the ability of people like Ann Widdecombe, Gwyneth Dunwoody and Barbara Castle to stick to their beliefs and say what they thought.
[caption id="attachment_667" align="aligncenter" width="178" caption="Liza... outside the Carlton Club. Miss Right?"][/caption] Erstwhile fascist fuglies and Labour ladettes should take note.
This month's issue of The Spectator fights back at climate change campaigners and Captain Planet in spectacular style, with James Delingpole speaking to Professor Ian Plimer: setting the world straight on what he calls 'the biggest, most dangerous and ruinously expensive con trick in history'.
He may have been a Democrat, but Richard Ravitch had the right idea when the Democrat took the oath of office for New York state Lieutenant Governor - in a steakhouse:
They came a little early — I believe it was two men and two ladies — and they were joined by a fifth person and switched to a larger table. They drew out some documents, and they were very excited and everything. Mr. Ravitch said, "This is my favorite restaurant, and I wouldn’t take the oath of office anywhere else."
Mmm! The defection of a Republican state senator probably means Ravitch doesn't need to take office in a hurry, so the whole affair may have been moot, but at least Ravitch got a steak out of it: something that may anger some lefties.
As Joey tells the vegetarian Phoebe in Friends when she has meat cravings: if you're gonna do something wrong, do it right.
Thank goodness. I thought it would never happen. Who's betting Carswell and Hannan are off having a celebratory glass of Pimms, too?
In Totnes, the Conservatives are due to hold 'open primaries' similar to that of the United States, whereby the party will nominate several candidates to run in the General Election for the constituency- and the voters of said area will choose whom is to run. (Bad sentence? 9am? Terrible tube journey? You betcha.)
KeepRightOnline don't want to repeat the BBC News on this, so have a look for yourself. The end product really is a push toward a more 'direct democracy'. A key catchphrase that's been thrown around Westminster for a while now. KRO are proponents, and we're pleased that this is being rolled out. Greater representation is a great thing and no doubt this will invoke more transparency into the political system, should all parties opt in.
If not?
Well let's hope the Tories keep at it, as I preempt this will establish much more involvement and trust from the public toward the party.
It's the post Max Mosley's been waiting for. Three BNP girls - touted the 'acceptable new faces of the unacceptable' - have been interviewed by Vice magazine.
[caption id="attachment_622" align="aligncenter" width="199" caption="There ain\'t no twat on the Union Jack"][/caption]
Some of their interview answers are pure comedy gold:
Q: When people say the BNP is a fascist party, what do you think? A: Fascist – I don’t understand that word.
Q: Think of Nazi Germany, or 1930s Italy. A: I can’t even remember when that happened really, but I’m against them anyway.
Q: You’re against who? A: The Germans. I know that sounds evil… I was brought up that way.
On the pictorial front, usually, here at KeepRightOnline, we're more discerning than our gutter press rivals, so we'd like to apologise for the disruption in that quality control service. But at least these girls aren't as unattractive as their party's neo-Nazi policies. Well, barely. (Ed: Not even. This is a real life munter)
Don't worry, lads. Just lie back and think of England Lanzarote.
And they're at it again. Today in the Standard, the Hon. (questionable) Andy Slaughter hits out at TOP SECRET (OMG Area 51 is real!) Tory plans to oust the 'poor' from Hammersmith and Fulham. Apparently, the leader of the council, one Mr. Stephen Greenhalgh, is planning to reform social housing in the borough with bold moves to ensure that only those who really need it get social/council housing. Drastic!
While Mr. Slaughter is surely of the opinion that we should all live in government designed/built communes, unfortunately, this just won't do for the regeneration and prosperity of what is actually a rather splendid borough. Andy tows nought but party line in his piece defending the rights of those who aren't working to have free £1m+ houses for life. The point is Andy, your government made the mess of unemployment and reliance upon the state. Do you wish to keep on piling the economic burden on HM Government?
Even so, and contrarily enough- the plans are not about ousting the poor or those in need. It's about maintaining reality, so as not to devalue the area. This will benefit everyone involved. Not just the 'rich'. If you stagnate the rent while increasing benefits, you are (quite obviously) creating a ghetto, and convincing people that not working is a great idea! Kudos. Kudos. Kudos.
[caption id="attachment_613" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Facebook if you want..."][/caption]
I almost can't digest my lunch due to Andy's use of the term 'social cleansing'. Try explaining your flippant usage of such a term in discussing council plans to regenerate an area to REAL victims of social and ethnic cleansing.
Special thanks to our reporterinside Iran who wishes to remain anonymous for the purpose of this post. The circumstances for true democracy has become increasingly dire in the Islamic Republic, and the guest author lays with astute insight, just what this means for the people, the country and the international community. Without further ado...
Every time I hear the Supreme Leader’s sermon I realise just how much the Islamic Republic put the ‘IR’ into irony and last week was no different. Threats, lies and the ‘enemies’ dominated the Friday prayers. Surprised much? Not really.
The Iranian people are taking to the streets everyday in numbers unprecedented since the Islamic Revolution with lives lost in the process, yet all the Supreme Leader could do was point his finger around while ignoring the needs and grievances of the overwhelming majority. In Iran, you need not look too far to hear the rage of the people. In the evenings at around 10pm you can hear people chanting “Down with the dictator,” and “God is great,” from their own homes. This is considered to be a ‘safer’ way of demonstrating your discontent with the election outcome.
To begin with, the votes were rigged. No doubt about it. In some parts of the country the voter turnout was above 100 per cent. Now I am not saying that this is impossible, what I am saying is that it is only possible through cheating! The paramilitary wing of the IR used expired identification cards to add votes to the ballot box; this is, however, just one way in which the votes were fixed.
So the elections are unfair, the system is corrupted, the figurehead is not impartial and therefore democracy in Iran is a sham, but what does all this mean about the Iranian system of governance and the future of the Iranian people?
To put it simply, the Iranian people feel that their voices mean nothing, which is a sound analysis given the current system. The immediate cause that triggered the protests was the ‘rigging’ of votes however the underlying causes are structural. Ultimate power lies with the Ayatollah (The Supreme Leader) who congratulated Ahmadinejad’s election victory before the results were even announced. Monkey business (and I’m not just talking about Ahmadinejad’s caricature). The hardliners in the country are not representative of the Iranian nation therefore nor is Ahmadinejad. Essentially, just like the British National Party should not and cannot be representative of the wider British public nor should the Islamist, hardliners in Iran.
Ultimately, the overwhelming majority of Iranians want freedom, liberty and opportunity. For the moment their closest alternative is Mousavi but can he deliver given the current set up of the Iranian system? In short, no and the outcome of the elections spell that out. Mousavi and the reformists in Iran need to decide whether they will side with the people or with the system and since the latter has let them down; it is likely that they will side with the former. This is, however, the BIG question and maybe the determinant factor of how successful the freedom fighters in Iran will be.
Another factor to consider here is the role of the free world. What role will other democracies play in order to support the Iranian cause? Speaking to some Iranians in this country and seeing the situation closely really supports the neoconservative argument. The free world must separate the Iranian people from their government and resist any negotiation with the regime.
To hit the nail on the head, any real progress in the Iranian system can only be achieved once politicians are elected to serve the people in a secular democracy. When the government has its own agenda, naturally, the people are ignored. The Islamic Republic has its own religious agenda and therefore can never be representative of the people.
For the next two days, the world's G8 leaders will be meeting in Italy to discuss the world economy whilst all around is in ruins. Quite literally, actually, as host city L'Aquila was hit by a devastating earthquake in April.
So, as a thoughtful gesture, after the quake, they moved it to the city to "stimulate the economy". Call us old-fashioned, but we tend to think the best way to help people recover from an earthquake is to rebuild their homes: not to host an opulent umpteen-course banquet for our leaders there.
[caption id="attachment_585" align="aligncenter" width="289" caption="Man, that must have been a good party last night..."][/caption]
On the plus side, last year, they spent £142m on policing, as the world's molotov-throwing communist fruitcakes anti-globalisation protesters hit the streets of the host city. Bet the homeless people of L'Aquila can't wait.
The other day, KeepRightOnline dismissed the leftists' bleating about the Conservative's new international development policy as being myopic. We cited schools in Kenya as evidence that the left simply refuses to acknowledge that public services are better delivered from the bottom-up.
Britain's approach is wrong-headed because it is wedded to top-down policies. HMG is the largest funder of state primary education in Kenya. Yet ordinary Kenyan parents complain that the quality is far worse than the indigenous schools that they have established. The Tories are right to suggest that more aid should be given in the form of vouchers so that people – not bureaucrats – can decide how to spend the money.
There seems to be a bidding contest going on as to how much a government - any government - would have to cut from public spending to return the country to fiscal health.
The Labourgraph might be getting a teeny bit sounder now that Jeremy Warner is on-board as assistant editor. After squillions of years at the Independent (where he was probably the least leaf-eating contributor), you'd think he'd bring along his wet ways. But not if his first column - titled 'the City doesn't need any more rules' - is anything to go by:
The FSA's failure in banking oversight is widely put down to the prevailing consensus of the time – that the operation of "light touch" regulation with a minimum of interference was good for the City, good for the economy and therefore good for tax revenues. In fact, there was never any such thing as "light touch" regulation. The establishment of the FSA led to an unprecedented flood of rules and regulations. If all that was required to protect the public from the folly of bankers was more rules, codes of conduct and statements of principle, then the FSA would have been a champion several times over.
Failure by regulators to see the risks was one thing, but by lulling everyone into a false sense of security, instructive regulation also had the perverse effect of making the financial system more irresponsible and therefore less safe.
The absurd New Economics Foundation, darlings of Guardinistas campaigning to stupefy the world save the world, has published what may be the most stupid piece of international research in history. Eschewing traditional economic measures, such as Gross Domestic Product, as bourgeois trinkets, they've ranked countries for their 'Happy Planet Index', taking into account whatever gives them the results they want.
And what results. The United Kingdom (on 43% 'happiness') lags behind dissident-boiling Uzbekistan (50%), monk-bashing Burma (51%), protestor-shooting China (57%), Islamic theocracy Saudi Arabia (60%), and, of course, socialist-wonderland-and-not-at-all-oppressive-all-round-nice-guy Cuba (66%). And it's not just us - just look how bad the US comes out!
[caption id="attachment_551" align="aligncenter" width="375" caption="The worst places to live in the world are in red: sub-Saharan Africa, Iraq... and the USA."][/caption]
But at least we agree on something. We'd rather they lived in Burma, too.
The Chinese government has stamped down - hard - on protests in the city of Urumqi, capital of the central Asian Muslim-majority East Turkestan region. At least 140 people have been reported to have been killed.
In all the violence, the Chinese news agency had this to say:
"Oops! Not again!" was almost the universal response when news of the unrest came Sunday night, when blood tainted Urumqi, with at least 140 lives lost and more than 800 others injured.
"Fiddle-di-dee, looks like we just killed 140 people. How clumsy of us..."
I think most people's reaction was stronger than that.
It's just such a pity that someone like Mr. Murray sets out to intentionally deceive voters with his latest campaign literature scraps below, all the while having been dismissed from the FCO by undermining its operational authority, and furthermore, finagling SIX YEARS SALARY (£500,000!) in compensation (a la taxpayer, nonetheless).
Now rumour is that the wife took off with the cash- we'll see.
We all know the Observer has a socialist agenda to push, but their partisan attack on the Conservatives' new international development policy - of adopting school vouchers to improve standards and bypass corruption - reaches a new low.
To prove it, they quote such impartial witnesses as the government, pressure groups that receive tens of millions a year each from the government, and the UN's education organisation. The UN, of course, gets all of its money from governments around the world, but their representative had the gall to say:
This is using vulnerable people to advance an ideologically loaded, market-based vision for education, which would exclude millions of kids from school. It completely overlooks the achievements of publicly financed, publicly provided education in countries such as Ethiopia and Tanzania.
Wow, he knows two countries in Africa - that's swayed my mind.
The UN spokesperson may have heard of Kenya. It's between Ethiopia and Tanzania: and it's where the Party policy is taken from. More specifically, it's taken from research into education in Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria by that well-known bastion of ideologically-driven free-marketeering: Newcastle University.
They've shown that private schools in such countries have more teachers, get better grades, and cost LESS than government schools, and that vouchers would considerably improve education. Which may be why they tout the new Conservative policy on their front page.
Funny the Observer doesn't do the same with their front page. And I thought they cared about poor people...(Ed: You thought they cared about poor people?!)
Folks, you saw it here first. Ed Hallam, the newly re-elected CWLCF Chairman has had yet another drastic image makeover, some have said under the powerful influence of one Lucy Roblin, chief image advisor to Hallam.
UPDATED: Sources have indicated that Lucy Roblin may not be the Chief Image Advisor after all. That title for the moment goes to (and here comes a whole host of new Hallam rumours: one Arsheen Rajpar of BUCF fame. Keep 'em peeled, people!)
Is he cooking something up for which he needs to look THIS DAMN SPIFFY?
Sarah Palin has announced she's to resign as Governor of Alaska, supposedly sparking rumours she's cranking up a presidential bid. Sources close to Palin are saying she's out of politics for good.
People that want the Republican Party to stand a chance in 2012 (or 2016...) are probably breathing a sigh of relief. People who want their politicians to look hot and talk nasty are probably in mourning.
Over the past week, there has been lotsofToryblogging about gay politics, and the consensus seems to be the mark of true progress is when identity politics cease. The other side doesn't seem to get it. To paraphrase an old poster, "Labour call them gay. We call them British".
Take Ben Bradshaw and Chris Bryant. Two gay ministers are appalled that gay people are voting Conservative, cast unsupported accusations of homophobia at the Tory benches, and have threatened that gays will "rue the day" they turned their backs on them (can I pretend no pun intended?).
The BBC think that there are three gay cabinet members, but that includes the unelected Mandy, leaving two gay MPs in the cabinet (Bradshaw and Nick Brown). There are also two (Duncan and Herbert) in the (smaller) Conservative shadow cabinet. As the Broon would say, there are 0% more gay MPs in the Labour cabinet.
We all have a long way to go, but to treat gay people like idiots, and threaten that they'll 'rue the day' they exercised their democratic right duty to kick out this no-hoper government, would be considered homophobic from the mouth of a straight person.
So it takes a certain brazen dishonesty for Bradshaw to accuse us of homophobia. Then again, it takes a certain brazen dishonesty to be a Labour minister.
Obama is taking to YouTube to answer viewer-submitted questions in a 'town-hall meeting' style at 6:15pm tonight (that's London time, natch).
It's just another indication that he gets the modern world far better than the dinosaurs squandering the Right legacy in the US talking about the Internet as a series of tubes.
Update: If you're not really into Obamania, you can get your fix of American political commentary from Freedom Watch with Ron Paul and other guests at 7pm (again, Zulu Time!).
David Cameron gave a speech to the Party's Social Action Conference today, highlighting the work done by the party's social action why people in politics should engage in social action projects. A lot of people don't buy some of the rationales given for social action projects. Honestly I don't, either - but my co-editor may have something to say about that!
If we want to help charity, we can do on the side, rather than distracting from the political task of undoing all of Labour's misdeeds in government. Certainly, politicians and wannabe politicos would serve their constituents and compatriots better be learning how not to shaft them when in office (by, say, reading some Mises) than by playing with goats in Gateshead.
But, in today's speech, DC did (eventually) identify the right reason the Party coordinates social action, as his final of four flings at the right answer:
We don’t automatically think about what the government should be doing in a top-down way - we start from a position of asking what each of us as individuals, as communities, should be doing.
Damn straight. If we believe that private charity will pick up where government is rolled back, we have to be there to prove it with our own hands: goats optional.
Many may not agree with me on this one, and my co-editor may even have a thing or two to say about intellectual property rights, however given the Pirate Bay's recent announcements that it is;
The market is dictating, from the bottom up, how it wants content and how much it wants to pay. The answer is, in many cases, the big bupkis. But as Radiohead displayed with the InRainbows experiment, there is not just one model to approach the consumer with. The 'experimental rock' giants offered a variety of different methods of purchase, beginning with the free distribution of the album, or choice for the consumer to purchase the collectors box set at £40. Some did the former, some did the latter and some paid 'what they thought it was worth'. The average figures on the last point vary from £2 - £5 per album, but an array of reports suggest that in excess of £10m was made on the album. Of this, the artist should be ready to negotiate heavily with the record label (but that's another issue).
But wait, I hear you cry, "That's all well and good for a band with a following such as Radiohead, but what about the up and coming artists?"
Well, no doubt we wouldn't want to stop anyone making money from their art- the point of the Pirate Bay is liberalisation of the market, if not entire anarcho-capitalisation. If this can go viral, then anything can. Anyone with one iota of marketing sense can capitalise on 4 million plus hits, and if you can't- then that my friends, is survival of the fittest. It's safe to say that labels should be taking risks on artists who are seen to be making waves- they have the cash to front, after all.
Lastly, it's worth mentioning that to rid our radios, and specfically my ear drums of some of this babbling nonsense you hear nowadays, a bit of a more difficult market entry might be just the trick. Artists would make it on merit, not on the back of what they want you to listen to, and let's not forget it was only in 2005 that Sony, Warner and Universal settled out of court to the tune of over $20m (with EMI soon to follow) for payola-type bribery.
The music and film industry are by no means clean. Don't let them paint themselves as the victims here.
So the Institute for Public Policy Research wants us to believe that during a time of growing global instability, rising unemployment and foreign threats, we should slash our defence budget and scrap Trident, the UK's nuclear deterrent?
Well, you read my view on this in the title of this post. What a bunch of bloody buffoons.
Not happy with Brown's acheivements thus far in discrediting the United Kingdon and it's economy (read: our financial crisis, the FSA and the gold reserves, his inability to handle parliament and not forgetting of course, his face) the IPPR now seeks for the UK to hand over its sovereignty, urging, "a broader appeal for Britain to do more to co-operate with Europe and stop relying on the US when it comes to security."
Way to throw it in the face of our special and enduring relationship, boys. If you want to steer the UK toward Europe, you'll need a hell of a bigger ore than that.
In launching the new, centre-right eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists this month, the Conservatives have received an awful lot of flak from the left-wing. We're allying ourselves to fascists (a lie), who celebrate the Waffen SS (a lie), who hate minorities (a lie), and who are alienating us from our moderate allies in Europe.
Well, the last point perhaps held a grain of truth. But Dan Hannan debunked the greater part of the myth that the European People's Party (EPP) that we were leaving (and Hannan had already left!) were moderates, including, as they do, Mussolini's Duce-worshipping grand-daughter, apologists for Austro-fascism and Anschluss, and Spanish Francoists. In essence, they aren't afraid to embrace fascism, so long as the fascists support EU integration.
Wartime animosity between Poland and Germany could resurface after a new election manifesto published by the [German governing EPP-leading euro-fanatical] Christian Democratic Union (CDU) pledged to promote the cause of those expelled. In 1945 millions of ethnic Germans were forced from their homes after a redrawing of the border resulted in their lands becoming part of Poland. ... Erika Steinbach, the leader of the German expellees' movement and an influential CDU politician, has become a hate-figure in Poland, especially after it became known that her family had moved to Polish lands annexed by the Third Reich following its 1939 invasion.
Finally, the BBC have lifted their ban on any story non-MJ related. Now we can more easily find out what's going on in the rest of the world, as told by lefty-expense-claiming-hacks. Joy.
Alan Milburn will step down as an MP at the next General Election. Shocking that another Labour MP has lost complete faith in the direction of the party. (Ed: The party has a direction?)
As Tory Bear has reported already on this, KRO will keep it brief.
Don't Panic Media, whoever they are- have a shoddy excuse for journalism in this video about the "New Young Conservatives". The questions must be asked;
- Why were these hacks allowed to roam free with the camera and microphone at social events? - Why do we tolerate some of the silly things being said by CF members?
Nevertheless, it gives us a good introspective insight into how CF members act and in a few cases, why they think of themselves and 'Young Conservatives'. Things like this can do a great deal of damage to both CF and to the party. KeepRightOnline believes in the right to free speech and free media, but the point is the second event shown in the video was inevitably supposed to be a 'lash up'- having 'reporters' there (for lack of a more derogatory term) is not wise.
KeepRightOnline is proud to say that although they interviewed our editor extensively- he obviously didn't give anything juicy away enough to be featured. No news is good news, eh?
[caption id="attachment_445" align="aligncenter" width="437" caption="John Bercow in front of the Lords"][/caption]
The Commons yesterday appointed John Bercow, known Labour-panderer and socialist-coddler to be the Speaker of the House of Commons. Tory Bear says it best in his snippet from the Standard piece, "New Speaker, New Danger". The Labour Party have decided to play partisan politics with a real chance to refresh the House of Commons, and for this they will go down as perverters of democracy (even further than they currently will).
The row over public expenditure has been hotting up lately, and KeepRightOnline has been KeepingOurMouthsShut until something more evident came to light about Brown's lies. Well, Fraser Nelson delivers a blow to Browns Lies today, in actually costing the cuts.
The fact is that while Gordy B talks a big game about Labour having raised the top rate of tax to avoid public spending cuts, the figures he spouted at PMQs recently just don't add up.
You cannot keep lying to the voters, Brown. I hear in the not too distant future, the public bellowing that terse mantra attributed to your dear chum Sir Alan.
The Young Conservative has a cracking story today about how one of George 'the cat' 'Hussein' Galloway submitted an expense claim on a Back Boris receipt, as distributed by Conservative Future activists during the London Mayoral campaign.
KeepRightOnline don't mean to be akin to salmon on this issue, but it's becoming clearer by day that as far as we have stuck our (the public's) noses into the MP 'Expenses Scandal' (for want of a more recognisable term), what on Earth is coming of it?
The main media organisations are blowing things like black marks well out of proportion. I'm not saying there aren't real stories in this, or that this whole issue is irrelevant (although maybe we wish to consider the outcomes in relation to public sector expenditure on the whole- read: £586.25bn budget in 2008) but the real stories are ones like this, where parties are shown to be clearly fleecing the taxpayers.
The expenses debate may easily have been a stepping stone in evaluating public spending as a whole, and really creating an efficienct government economy, but at the moment, we're still more concerned about duck houses and magazines.
Last night, with millions of others, I gleefully updated my iPhone 3G with the latest 3.0 software, featuring the long awaited Spotlight, Copy/Paste, MMS, Tethering and FindMyiPhone (MobileMe required) features. While many of these are underwhelming (and yes, wait a minute, this is NOT a tech blog)- the FindMyiPhone feature is particularly scary.
Of course unless you're the epitome of naive, you know that cellular phone signals can be tracked anywhere, for the most part- but to show me and map it in Google Maps lends a new and chilling ease to the invasion. I wouldn't be so fussed, as through MobileMe, only I can really access this feature- however the software showed me where I was BEFORE I updated my iPhone last night (on the Euston Road, as above) even though Apple informed me this was not possible as the functionality was not enabled on the previous iPhone 3G software.
So basically... then always have known where I am. It's probably time to stop visiting those bordellos.
Apologies for being MIA recently, for the most part, things are getting very hectic around here.
While many issues spring to mind, the foremost are: a) How the BNP do not matter b) How protests and dispute does notmean that Ahmadinejad didn't win the Iranian Elections
So what'll it be? KRO will tackle these issues as you decide... vote now (and please, no protests!)
So this weekend's flown by and KRO apologises for the lack of any 'general bloggerizing' over the course.
In the realm of UK politics, things are very much the same- we are still held hostage to a shabby and shortfalling Labour government, at which revelations this week proved Peter Mandelson is holding together with no less than a few pills to ease the pain.
Our friends in the Middle-East have had a busy weekend, with the 'shock' result in the Iranian elections (which would have been a shock either way, let's be honest)- and Netanyahu proclaiming that he would support a demilitarised Palestinian state. It's all go.
Sadly, Britain had its first swine flu death, as a 38 year old woman succumbed to the disease, however 'health officials' have insisted that the risk of death from the virus is still very low.
The Tories have outlined their plans for scrapping the primary school SATs and replace them with a Year 7 test, at the beginning of secondary school.
So why all this recapping? Well KeepRightOnline is painting a picture today, of just how ridiculously busy one weekend can be. For those able to keep up with it all, we salute you. More analysis and less re-reporting of new to come... we swear.
Two of the hottest blogs on the block, KeepRightOnline and Sassy Conservative have collaborated on this extra special post-election homage to our beloved David Cameron. Entitled, "True Blue," we hope you enjoy!
The first point to make is that the Conservatives were the only mainstream party to get more votes than last time. The two pro-Brussels parties, Labour and the LibDems, were hammered. Anti-federalist parties won seven out of every ten ballots cast.
Sadly, this news was completely lost in all the noise about the tiny BNP (whose share of the vote, by the way, went down slightly from last time.) Why? Because journalists, like Labour politicians, indulge themselves whenever the BNP comes up. They like to make themselves feel better by ranting about fascism - thereby underlining what nice, caring, anti-racist people they are. The trouble is that, by bigging it up, they give the BNP precisely the disproportionate coverage that brought it its two seats.
By the last week of the campaign, Labour activists had given upon any attempt at positive arguments. Instead, they went around saying: "Vote Labour to stop the BNP". Sadly, their party is so detested that their words had the opposite effect.
Incidentally, I hope Nick Griffin's acceptance speech will finally have driven into the skulls of some BBC reporters that the BNP is not "far Right". The man barely mentioned immigration; instead, he spent all his time excoriating the privatisation of state industries. His is a far Left party: it believes in nationalisation, higher taxes, state subsidies for factories, massive expenditure on the NHS and state pensions and (although it tends to keep quiet about this one) the abolition of the monarchy.
Not that BBC producers care about any of this, of course. For them, "Right-wing" is a handy synonym for "baddie". Anyone who is sufficiently odious - from the revolutionary ayatollahs in Tehran to the Stalinist nostalgics in Russia - is "Right-wing" in the idiom of our state broadcaster. Is Griffin a total arse? Yup. Therefore, to your earnest BBC producer, he must be Right-wing.
Daniel Hannan MEP is a British politician and Member of the European Parliament, representing South East England for the Conservative Party. He presently serves on the Committee on Fisheries and the Delegation for Relations with Afghanistan. Daniel is also a journalist, writing leaders and a blog for the The Daily Telegraph. He has also published several books arguing for radical democratic reform, the most recent being the incredibly sound, "The Plan," which is a KeepRightOnline 'must have'.
It seems everyone's least favourite racist (who's our most favourite? Russell Peters?) was pelted with eggs today by 200+ protestors while giving an interview outside Parliament. I guess the yolk's on him. (Ok, that's enough of that.)
After some hubbub post-election (*sigh*, yes- he was elected to be an MEP) this was always going to be likely, however KeepRightOnline thought perhaps less embryonic ammunition was required. You know... more the kind that does this.
Not that we'd endorse that kind of thing, of course.
This weekend is only going to get more and more interesting. A quick look at the Beeb's Council Election Map tells you one hell of a lot about the current state of this government. It's been a long time since Tories took that many seats, and that many seats in the North, especially. It is a good day.
For all the hoo-hah over the 'other' parties, DC and co. have done extremely well in the UK's local elections this week, and Gordon Brown has shown us yet again why he a sniveling, sorry excuse for a Prime Minister.
KeepRightOnline maintains that this government's mandate ran out long ago, however for it to keep getting worse, and for them to keep clinging on requires a special kind of selfishness, and a special kind of contempt for the British public. Day after day, and resignation after resignation, the situation worsens for government and for country. Walking through Whitehall yesterday, one couldn't help but turn to face Parliament Square and sigh. A sigh for the British public, a sigh for the Labour government and a sigh to quell the overwhelming urge to storm the Palace and demand Comrade Brown's head on a plate.
Sunday will be especially revealing, as if the past few weeks have not been enough. The reason the public did not punish the Tories for the expenses scandal is that the public were indeed not even outraged by the expenses scandal (that's right, I said it). The public, KeepRightOnline feels, were more concerned with the way they have been governed- backed into a corner, surrounded by databases, stealth taxes and stripped of their liberties. The people know that while the Conservatives were just as guilty regarding the expenses, the party acted swiftly, and were certainly not the ones who have created this god-awful mess over the past twelve years.
Gordon Brown, the people are speaking, and they're speaking in the most eloquent and respectful manner- through the ballot box. Will you not now listen? Will you not now show one iota of democratic decency in stepping down and calling a General Election? Are you this pathologically incapable of seeing the writing on the wall?
This moment in history is staring you dead in the face, Brown- and all you can do is look at your shoes and hope it goes away. It will not. We will not. You are done.
KeepRightOnline would like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone who went out and did their democratic deed yesterday. You voted. You made a difference. Regardless of who voted for, you did the right thing.
KeepRightOnline encountered far too many non-voters/abstainers/idiots (whatever you want to call them) yesterday and decided that while today will hopefully be a landslide for the Conservatives, and Sunday will knock Labour into fourth- it's about time we highlighted to those who can't be bothered, just why they now have no reason to complain until the next set of elections.
Kudos also to this man, who has said what dozens of Labour MPs have been dying to say.
Full transcript of the letter: Dear Gordon,
We both love the Labour Party. I have worked for it for twenty years and you for far longer. We know we owe it everything and it owes us nothing.
I owe it to our Party to say what I believe no matter how hard that may be. I now believe your continued leadership makes a Conservative victory more, not less likely.
That would be disastrous for our country. This moment calls for stronger regulation, an active state, better public services, an open democracy. It calls for a Government that measures itself by how it treats the poorest in society. Those are our values, not David Cameron's.
We therefore owe it to our country to give it a real choice. We need to show that we are prepared to fight to be a credible Government and have the courage to offer an alternative future.
I am therefore calling on you to stand aside to give our Party a fighting chance of winning. As such I am resigning from Government.
The Party was here long before us, and we want it to be here long after we have gone. We must do the right thing by it.
I am not seeking the leadership, nor acting with anyone else. My actions are my own considered view, nothing more. If the consensus is that you should continue, then I will support the government loyally from the backbenches. But I do believe that this question now needs to be put.
[caption id="attachment_389" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Do it for a referendum!"][/caption]
Ladies and gentleman, fellow countrymen go forth today and do your democratic duty.
Today you have an opportunity for Vote for Change. To vote for the change we all so desperately need, in these times of economic and political instability.
The EU must hear the British public's voice. Let us be loud and let us be firm.
The Guardian has made yet another cheap pop at the Conservatives' new Movement for European Reform allies, the Polish Law and Justice Party. They demonised the entire eurosceptic movement by citing one MEP, Dr Urszula Krupa:
Global warming is a lie, homosexuality is a "pathology" and Europe is becoming a "neo-totalitarian" regime ... [for this] militant Roman Catholic and strong Polish nationalist
They go into depth about her background and associates at a radio station of which she was once editor. All very damning. Just one problem: she's not a member of the Law and Justice Party.
She is, actually, a member of the League of Polish Families, which is a militant traditionalist anti-capitalist Roman Catholic nationalist party. And whilst some of its members are in the same European grouping as Law and Justice - and will, thus, probably sit with the Conservatives - Krupa does not: she sits with UKIP.
The country breathed a sigh of relief today as criminals wondered whether or not they may soon have someone to fear as Home Secretary.
That's right friends, Jacqui Smith aka Little Miss Porn-Allowance (that wasn't as clever as it could have been) has announced she'll giving up stepping down as Home Secretary before Gordon Brown rearranges the deck chairs on the Titanic churns out the Labour Cabinet reshuffle.
How embarrassing this must be- but we'll bet this delusional hack thinks she's some kind of Jerry Maguire. The only question left to be answer is...
KeepRightOnline's second week of Friday Propaganda brings to you the 2007 Saatchi and Saatchi Labour advert promoting not the Labour Party, or policies, or acheivements, or aspirations... but just a man in a cheap suit on a bad hair day.
Perhaps readers can clarify something for us. Was this supposed to be pro or anti Brown?
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This week as many of you may already know, Former Birmingham University Conservative Future President Dan O Doherty was expelled from the Conservative Party for allegedly wearing a Hitler moustache to a fancy dress party- and then posting a picture of said incident on Facebook. Right, so that's the gist of what's happened- but let's take a moment to analyse the circumstances surrounding this unfortunate incident.
Comments on the article posted on Conservative Home yesterday decried the CF 'Thought Police' while Party Officials are said to have contacted Mr. Doherty to criticize his actions and expel him from the party. That won't be the end of Dan, however. We all know Matt Lewis, of Maddygate fame is said to be active once again in the Conservative Party- for shame I say, but not for the shame of the action, more the shame of the lack of judgement of the individual.
Perhaps one might have felt that no longer being in an executive position within BUCF, he could get away with doing these things? Perhaps it was an alcohol-fuelled student error, which is not a strange thing to happen in an organisation with an average age of 18. True or false, when you're in these societies, in these positions and representing and national political party (on any scale) you need to watch it. WATCH IT. Let it be a message to the lot of us.
Quoted as saying, "I don't hate everyone, I just hate women" and known for once defending Enoch Powell's, "Rivers of Blood," speech and then later seeming to backtrack on his endorsement, Mr. Doherty is not a malicious or racist individual, but one perhaps lacking the media savvy and what one might call Diplomacy 2.0 skills.
So once again, Conservative Future is learning lessons- as if the organisation wasn't without it's problems before. KeepRightOnline suggests that right now is the time for strong leadership for CF, and for decisive action to be taken in asking the members if they really have what it takes to represent the Conservative Party proper (this is no reflection on Mr. Doherty). Perhaps some are looking for a title, some are looking for networking or drinking buddies, most of us however, are in it for the good. The good of the party, good of our communities and the good of the country.
Let's KeepRight, people.
Update 26/05/09: Daniel O'Doherty has since commented that the statements made on his Facebook profile, specifically those regarding the hatred of women were in fact satirical and taken from a television show, whilst other quotes in the same vein were friend's quotes, listed in a tongue-in-cheek manner. This blog has, since the original story broke- maintained confidence in Mr. O'Doherty.
The Times this morning has reported that up to 325 MPs will be replaced in the run up to a General Election this year (or next), with up to 90 being voted out and perhaps 230 resigning. That's some good maths, Rupert.
How many ever should choose to go with dignity, or go with democracy- the question must be raised, "Just how many MPs do we need?" The US House of Representatives administers a population six times that of the United Kingdom, with just 435 members. We have 646. Many may argue that this is possible due to the powers that local authorities in the US have, and that's another argument. Safe to say that it works, though- and a more "Direct Democracy" would go a long way in our fair country.
Hannan and Carswell illustrate in the The Plan how an enlarged Commons only serves to shaft the taxpayer, as this bloats the executive with too many portfolios, unnecessary legislation and MPs clutching at straws to justify their salaries.
"As long as most MPs want to be ministers, Parliament will be a creature of the majority Whips, and will fail in it's chief function, namely to hold the government to account... We should create more opportunities for parliamentary advancement, so that it again becomes possible to have an honourable career as a parliamentarian without aspiring to ministerial office."
Here's a new feature we're trying out boys and girls. Every Friday we'll attempt to bring you an interesting piece of campaigning material from across the board. That's right- we're acheiving cross party support... maybe. It's Friday Propaganda!
Today we've chosen to display a wonderful Conservative Future concoction, depicting the Labour government as a enslaving leviathan, hell bent on keeping Britiain under the thumb. The image does well to illustrate that this government has been perpetuating the same insult to liberty and personal responsibility for 12 years.
After the government finally admitted defeat and climbed down from their indefensible position over admitting Gurkhas this morning, Joanna Lumley, friend of ex-servicemen par excellence, gushed:
I would like to pay tribute to Gordon Brown the Prime Minister, a brave man who has made today a brave decision on behalf of the bravest of the brave.
In yet another not so shocking twist- it seems New Labour/Old Labour/Brown Labour have dealt a smashing blow rather than planting the seeds to give way to the green shoots of recovery to the British economy once more.
- Public sector net borrowing rose to £8.46bn this April compared to £1.84bn in the same month last year - Standard and Poors have said Government debt could reach 100% of GDP by 2013 - Triple-A rated Government bonds at risk
The Budget Deficit- Tamed under the Tories, Nuts under New Labour... [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="466" caption="Oh Darling, Oh Darling, Oh Darling..."][/caption]
Strangely tucked away in an article on the BBC Technology page today was a sly reference at what one Gavin Ogden from www.c&vg.com might do given the opportunity to face-map on upcoming Xbox computer games.
"There was talk, a long time ago, about mapping people's faces on to characters," said Mr Ogden.
"However, there were concerns that people would stick real faces on it - such as Gordon Brown - and then spend all day shooting them. The world wasn't ready for that."
I guess that means we're ready for it now! I must confess- I've been picturing Gordo's head on the body of a grunt for a long, long time. Pass the Gravity Hammer.
See National Review Online for a hilarious review of the first hundred days of the presidency of Sarah Palin:
The first 100 days of the Palin presidency, according to a consensus of media commentators, have proven a near disaster. Perhaps it was Palin’s scant two years’ experience in a major government position that has eroded her gravitas, or maybe it was her flirty reliance on looks and informal chit-chat. In any case, the press has had a field day, and it is hard to see how President Palin can ever recover from the Quayle/potatoe syndrome. Here is a roundup of this week’s pundit mockery.
Guess the promise of 'change' from the first female President didn't quite pan out. Does that sound about right? You betcha.
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[/caption]Need we say more? Probably.
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