Just HOW ungrateful are Americans?

I mean all those smiling cheering Europeans taking to the streets for Obama - from Berlin to Paris - made it clear that they want the Messiah into the White House and now comes the news that In a sharp turnaround, Republican John mcCain has opened a 5-point lead on Democrat Obama in the U.S. presidential race and is seen as a stronger manager of the economy, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released today.

McCain leads Obama among likely U.S. voters by 46 percent to 41 percent, wiping out Obama's solid 7-point advantage in July and taking his first lead in the monthly Reuters/Zogby poll. The reversal follows a month of attacks by McCain, who has questioned Obama's experience, criticized his opposition to most new offshore oil drilling and mocked his overseas trip. The poll was taken Thursday through Saturday as Obama wrapped up a weeklong vacation in Hawaii that ceded the political spotlight to McCain, who seized on Russia's invasion of Georgia to emphasize his foreign policy views.

I think that Obama will most assuredly win the race for the Presidency  - of the European Union - were the position open. But Europeans need to understand that for all their cheer-leading and Obama frenzy - American voters make their OWN minds up.Of course there is much time to go but the lesson here is that the American electorate are not the same impressionable sheep that the Euroweenies are .... and November may yet deliver a devastating blow to the Democrats despite ALL the hype.  

I went to the supermarket early this morning, and as I walked out of the parking lot I couldn’t help but notice a large number of anti-war bumper stickers on the SUV’s of my fellow shoppers:  “Peace: An Idea Whose Time Has Come,”  “War Is Not Answer,” War Makes It Worse,” “Peace Now. No Excuses.”

The anti-war left’s approach to international relations is predicated on the assumption that all conflict can be solved with dialogue and goodwill.  The problem with this “diplomacy at all costs” philosophy is that “soft power” is…….soft.  And, the reality of the world we live in is quite hard.   There will always be ruthless bullies, and no amount of conversation and foot stomping is going to deter them from their pursuits. In such cases, the only deterrent is hard power; sometimes, we have to fight.

And so,  this week,  into our hard and unforgiving world, came Putin’s invasion of Georgia. Despite much handwringing and conversation by outraged diplomats, Russia does not seem inclined to leave Georgia anytime soon.  In his article entitled “Peace-at-Any-Price-Peril,” Ralph Peters writes:

“…war has been humankind's preferred means of effecting change.   We're all - right and left - getting an in-your-face lesson about how the world really works. Passive resistance only has a chance when your opponent believes in the rule of law and respect for human rights. Gandhi was effective against law-abiding Britain, but he would've frozen to death in the Soviet gulag - if he'd lived long enough to reach the camps...”  (my emphasis)

I was reading that a man who was caught on camera repeatedly punching a friend's sleeping baby has been jailed for six months.  SIX MONTHS?

The parents of the 20-month-old boy had become concerned about the behaviour of Stephen Carty, 39, and put a camera in the room, Newcastle Crown Court heard.  Carty of, Westfield Park in Wallsend, said he carried out the attack while under "pressure" because his daughter had health problems.  He admitted assaulted occasioning actual bodily harm. The baby recovered.  The hearing heard how the child, who was bruised after being hit on the back, was found covered in vomit after the attack at a house party in Gateshead in May.

Let me say that it strikes me as inconceivable how ANY man could punch a defenceless baby. Such behaviour merits a much tougher penalty than the mere six months behind bars. What sort of freak thumps a baby - and what sort of society produces such monsters?

What are we going to do with Ian Paisley Jnr?

I read that he is "under fire" (Boom Boom!) from both unionist and nationalist politicians after insisting a shoot-to-kill policy against dissident republicans would be widely accepted.

The former junior minister said police should be able to “deploy ruthlessness” in wiping out dissidents before a member of the security forces is shot dead. But my old pal and fellow Policing Board member Basil McCrea said Mr Paisley’s remarks were “very, very detrimental” and his position on the board “must be very suspect”. And SDLP MLA Dolores Kelly said it was difficult to think of anything which would help the dissident cause more than a shoot-to-kill policy. Sinn Fein’s Daithi McKay also warned the North Antrim MLA against attempting to appeal to the “lowest common denominator”. The remarks are likely to be raised at the next meeting of the board early next month. The board has already condemned Saturday night’s rocket attack in Lisnaskea in which dissidents used Semtex and directly led to Mr Paisley’s comments.

Where do we start?

First off, I am ALL in favour of killing terrorists. Thing is, motormouth Ian sits in power with terrorists and so he has no credibility to his wannade bellicosity!

Second, you need to be very careful about what you say here in Northern Ireland when it comes to shooting anyone.

Third up, Northern Ireland is the land where terrorists are rewarded, never challenged, let alone killed. This is just another hollow trash comment from a politician with all the gravitas of Spongebob Squarepants but none of the sartorial elegance.

I see that the trades unions are flexing their collective muscle in the people's Republic of Scotland...

Local services including schools, bin collections and ferry crossings have been disrupted as thousands of council workers staged a 24 walk-out over pay.  Up to 150,000 comrades of the GMB, Unite and Unison unions joined the dispute across the country after rejecting a 2.5% pay deal over three years.

I betcha they will squeeze more money out of the the local government administrators. Scotland is a wonderful place, amazing scenery and very nice people but they have become fixated on the right to welfare, the right  to above inflation wage increases and have become institutionally socialised. Even the Scottish conservatives are liberal. It's a crying shame.Then again, perhaps a nation that can believe in the Loch Ness monster can also believe that inflation has no economic consequences if it is ignored by reckless trade unionists.

The sign, depicting a hunched figure hobbling on a walking stick, was the winning entry in a children's competition in 1981.

Now after 27 years, it is regarded as out of date, condescending and in need of replacement. Age Concern described the figure as outmoded.

"Very few older people are hunched over, with a walking stick. They are assuming everyone who is old looks like that, and they don't," said Lizzy McLennan, a senior policy officer at the charity.

My goodness but these people must have little else to complain about.  I don't see how this sign is in any way offensive but let me ask you what do you think would make a more contemporary roadsign to warn drivers of the elderly crossing the road? I am suprised that the gay lobby have not asked for the signs to be more representative of the elderly transgendered and gay lesbian community. Also what about those elderly who do use walking aids - are they being patronised by having their image removed?

I am pleased to see the British success at the Olympics, though like Mahons I too am operating a one man semi-boycott even though the rest of the family ignore me! However amidst all this Brit medal glory, I have a problem. We constantly hear of the success of Team GB. But my question is; whatever happened to Team UK?

There are athletes competing from England, Wales, Scotland and yes..Northern Ireland. So it is a truly UNITED KINGDOM team that is out there and yet it is habitually referred to as Team GB. GB stands for Great Britain which is England, Scotland and Wales. Do you see the insult this nomenclature represents?  Northern Ireland athletes are as much of  the team as those from any other home nation - so why do we let this pass? I congratulate ALL British athletes - and I wish that we did not all go along with this GB nonsense when in truth this is a UK team and we should demand it is called Team UK. 

So, former pop star Gary Glitter has refused to board a flight to the UK, saying he was having a heart attack! He was earlier deported from Vietnam after spending almost three years in jail for sexually abusing two girls. Glitter, 64, real name Paul Francis Gadd, had arrived at Bangkok in Thailand, where he was to change planes and fly back to the UK. But he refused to leave the airport, demanding to be allowed to stay in Thailand or another Asian country. Thai immigration has declared Glitter "persona non grata" and threatened to return him to Vietnam.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smithh as said on Tuesday it was her view that he should be given a Foreign Travel Order (FTO) banning him from overseas travel.  "I want Gary Glitter to be controlled whilst he's here and I don't want him to be able to go anywhere else in the world in order to abuse children," Ms Smith has also announced plans to tighten controls on the movements of paedophiles. Proposed measures include increasing the length of time an FTO can apply from six months to up to five years and automatically confiscating the passport of anyone subject to an order.

Now I have a few things to say on this,

1. Paedophiles are scum and deserve to be put away for life. End of story. Castration might also be a good idea.  

2. However rapists and murderers are also in this vile category and I see no effort being made to stop them from travelling where they want? If a paedophile is forced to stay in the UK because of his/her crime, why not a murderer?

3. Gary Glitter is a circus freak, I think we can all see that. I have no sympathy at all for him but this is a media frenzy at the moment focused on the fact he is a former pop star career. Every week other anonymous paedos walk free without any attention paid to them.

4. Do you think the State has the right to impose travel limitations of people who have been convicted and paid for their crimes? Or is it OK to single out certain groups for punishment in perpetuity? 

Finally, if Glitter embraced Islam, could he then claim that all he was doing was folllowing the lifestyle chosen by the Mighty Mo?

I enjoyed this take on GOP hope John McCain...

"So, John McCain might pick a running mate that supports abortion rights?, illegal aliens, amnesty, taxes. 

The stunning thing is not McCain’s non-conservative position; rather, it is that some conservatives were actually “alarmed” by his exit, stage left. Example of conservative reaction: “It absolutely floored me,” said Phil Burress, head of the Ohio-based Citizens for Community Values. “It would doom him in Ohio.”  With all due respect to Burress and other alleged conservatives, what is there to be alarmed or floored about? John McCain has never been, and never will be, a true conservative...."

Read  more here.  

To my mind, this is going to be a choice between two pretty dire candidates - McCain is bad and Obama is worse. Hard to imagine that a nation as great as the US ends up with these two bozos. Politics corrupts.

Did you see that Islam has gone sporty? Sprinters have long been squeezing their muscular frames into the most eye-wateringly skimpy, tight and revealing costumes imaginable. But one female athlete at this year’s Olympics is bucking the trend for bulging lycra and naked torsos. In 2004, Bahrain's Ruqaya Al Ghasara, a devout Muslim, was the first athlete to ever take part in an Olympics wearing a hijab.

Today, Al Ghasara won her heat of the women’s 200m sprint at the Bird's Nest stadium - despite being clothed head to foot. Al Ghasara finished first followed by France's Muriel Hurtis-Houairi and Sri Lanka's Susanthika Jayasinghe. Admittedly, Al Ghasara 's hijab is a rather sportier version of the traditional dress. Clinging to her body as she powers down the track the hijab completely covers her head, arms and legs. Known as a Hijood - or hijab combined with a sports hood - the costume was specially designed for Al Ghasara by an Australian sports clothing company.

It allows Muslim athletes to compete while still adhering to the strict modesty required of their faith.

I reckon the big challenge is to get the sporting burqa.

Wonder what you make of the news that the human remains of the five women who were buried alive in the Balochistan province of Pakistan have been desecrated by wild animals and the provincial government has done nothing to provide a decent burial for these victims of honour killings?There's so much wrong here.

First the whole "honour" killings issue. There is, as most of us here agree, NOTHING honourable about honour kiillings. This is just plain sanctioned murder and it is depraved. Why do Islamic teachers not categorically speak out against this? Why the silence? Next, to bury someone alive is wicked beyond belief. What sort of evil drives those who do this?Pakistan is a barbaric hell-hole whose primary export to the world is Jihad and the greater depravities within Islam. It is not our ally.

WHAT fun these Olympics are! There’s certainly a spring in my step. Each time I tune in there’s another one our boys or girls dashing for the line first, giving Johnny Foreigner what for as the band prepares to strike up God Save the Queen again.

We have swimmers winning double gold, the cyclists have given no-one else a look in, the boaters have swept up, it’s gold in track & field and (shock of shocks) we’re even picking up tin in the gymnastics.

Click to read more ...

I read that so called "Peace activists" planning to land two boats on Gaza's shores are no better than "pirates" and will be turned back by the Israeli navy, officials have warned.  Quite right too. These terrorist enablers get a pass from an unthinkingly biased international media but their foolish actions can endanger Israeli lives and so  I welcome this approach and only wish that as pirates, they are treated accordingly and made to walk the proverbial plank.

There is a train of thought that says whilst we may not  be quite ready yet to accept FULL ON Sharia Law, nonetheless we should Muslims operate their own informal social justice systems. Like this?

A devout Muslim ordered two boys to flog themselves until their backs bled during a religious ceremony, a court has heard. In a British legal first, Syed Mustafa Zaidi went on trial for child cruelty after allegedly making the pair flagellate themselves with a bladed whip, as part of a ritual that is centuries old. Zaidi, 44, was taking part in the Ashura ceremony, in Manchester, in which Shia Muslims draw blood by flogging themselves with a whip called a zanjeer."

Amazing to think that these ancient Islamic barbarities are now practised in traditional English locations such as Manchester. The gift of multiculturalism.

I see that Russia continues to occupy Georgia in complete defiance of its alleged committments and all the West can now do is talk. The Sarkozy brokered peace deal has been shown up for what it was - rhetorical soft power with no real meaning. Putin has demonstrated just how impotent the "International community" really has become and the most risible comment I heard was from some internationalist saying that if Russia did NOT withdraw it would risk damaging "its' reputation". They don't get it. Russia is now enhancing its' reputation by proving that the bear is no longer intimidated by paper tigers.  NATO meets today to deal with this - but France and Germany already have flagged up a desire not to actually do anuything that might alienate Russia. Putin must be laughing up his sleeve as this contemptible response to his aggression and expansion plans. Who next?

Background: I found myself explaining to a close friend, not very long ago,  that I am a Christian in search of a Church.  Raised Episcopalian, I now attend a traditional Methodist Church.  My problem is that in  “post-modern, “ liberal Los Angeles, most traditional churches have adopted a relativist approach to religion; there is no there, there. I find myself searching for an unapologetic place for Christian worship. After our conversation, my friend gave me a copy of a book called A Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren.

Apparently, I am not alone in my search for an unapologetic place for Christian worship. Here in the United States, there is a growing, thriving  “nontraditional” Christian community. The largest and best-known of the nontraditional churches is the Saddleback Church in Orange Country, California, founded by Rick Warren.

In addition to the Saddleback Church, Rick Warren founded a network comprised of churches from over 160 countries, from all denominations, numbering in the tens of thousands; the network is  called the Purpose Driven Network. His book, A Purpose Driven Life, is a  runaway bestseller.  
 
Two days ago, Rick Warren hosted a televised event at the Saddleback Church for the two presumptive Presidential candidates, McCain and Obama.   More of a controlled experiment than a debate,  Warren questioned the candidates separately, in front of a live audience and TV cameras. Warren asked each candidate the exact same questions, and then he sat back and let the candidate answer.

The event was titled  “The  Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency,” and  it was, first and foremost, civil.

In a campaign where much has been said about McCain’s age (and none of it  very good), McCain was fast on his feet, direct, and decisive.  In a campaign where much has been said about Obama’s intelligence, ( and all of it laudatory) Obama was slow, and rambling,  and unable, or unwilling, to provide direct answers.   

Full disclosure: I am a McCain supporter. Seek out the event on youtube and judge for yourself.

I read that one of the local morons has once more been allowed out of the collective kennels, and we read of the result. Despite the grave nature of the charge, the culprit will either get his wrist slapped, or three months in a holiday-camp (Young Offenders Institute). However, this is not the first time that such activity has been recorded, as I myself was targeted by another group of clowns with I.Q.'s in single figures some ten-odd years ago. 

Some one knocked on my door late at night some ten-odd years back, and as I walked towards the door with the hall light illuminating my slender figure, I was suddenly targeted by a laser light aimed directly at my eyes. Fortunately, my front door is fitted with double-glazed hammered-type glass, and the laser didn't penetrate with enough power to damage my eyesight. Upon visiting the local 'nick', I was asked, "Did you get a good look at them?"

After a query such as that, do you wonder that nothing more was ever heard about that particular episode?

During the writing of this small screed, I was thinking of inserting an image of the Bow Street Runners, but decided aginst it, as the 'Runners' were an honourable and efficient bunch, who didn't have to think about the thirteen-odd hours of paperwork necessary before setting out to observe a serial burglar or mount a drug-raid; those hours of course being concerned with ensuring the villain's rights are being scrupulously observed at all times, as well as the risk factors to the team. One risk which would of course be written off is the risks attached to the use of dogs, if the target was occupied by Muslims, because the fuzzies have always to be aware of sensitivities in the target culture, and we can't upset the bloody rag-heads can we? Or should that now be 'members of the ethnic Asian sub-culture'?

The war on the British motorist continues. Motorists are now being warned they may face "pay as you drive" road taxes as ministers launch the first ever trials of a scheme that could see them charged for every mile they drive. This will be driven by a satellite tracking a vehicle's movements. Motorists will then receive a monthly or weekly bill which will vary depending on when and where they drove.

Eight areas of the country have been selected by ministers for secret pay-per-mile trials which will begin in 2010 and are expected to pave the way for tolls on motorways.  Motorists face paying up to £1.30 a mile during peak periods on the busiest roads. Gordon Brown was thought to be against national road pricing, a flagship policy of the Blair administration. But the detailed level of planning now underway indicates the issue it set to become a key battleground in the next general election – which is likely to coincide with the trials beginning.

I bet. Labour just wants to punish those of us who have the temerity to drive in our own vehicles. It hates the freedom of movement and independence of thought that this provides us with and that is why this scheme to tax us for each mile we drive - on top of all the other taxes we pay - is given such prominence in their agenda of envy  and hatred.

As the first African American to achieve the nomination of one of the two major party nominations, Senator Obama has to walk a tightrope on what can be a very toxic subject, namely race.  He'll draw the ire of some elements of black and white society (deserved or not), and the praise (deserved or not) of other sections from each society.  Some have said he isn't black enough, while others argue he panders to the black community's more militant element.  Perhaps he has tried to placate everyone, and in doing so, will satisfy no one in the end.  But race isn't the only black and white issue in this campaign.  The questions of the day require serious thought and difficult and sometimes unpopular choices.  The question that concerns me is whether or not Senator Obama is hard-wired to offer pleasing platitudes instead of positions.

He has displayed a tendancy to avoid direct questions at times.  For example, when asked point blank where life begins at a recent forum he answered that ti was above his pay grade.   Whatever side one might come down on, surely that was not a real answer (McCain said conception -  agree or not, but that is called taking a stand on a difficult issue). 

There is a certain amount of pandering that candidates must necessarily engage in as part of the process (I mean is somone really happy to be in Peoria?).  And both candidates have exhibited pandering.   What I think people may look for as the election continues is the politician whose convictions may come through despite the political posturing.   Not all of the issues have a black or white answers, but the eventual answers do require embracing a degree of unpopularity at times.  One should not always try to be pleasing to everyone.  

I read that child-killer Ian Brady - the infamous Moors Murderer - has been complaining he is not paid enough at the top security hospital where is serving his sentence. Mr Brady has a point. He is indeed not paid enough. He is still alive.

Brady was jailed for life alongside Myra Hindley in 1966 for the murder of Pauline Reade, 16, John Kilbride, 12, Keith Bennett, 12, Lesley Ann Downey, ten, and Edward Evans, 17. What a monster and what a disgrace he is paid money!