Owner: A View from Middle England by Arden Forester URL:http://ardenforester.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 07:00:34 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Expressing Conservative views with a slight libertarian touch. A staunch opponent of political spin and deception. Posts on interesting, topical, and controversial things and hoping my opinions find favour with a wider audience. Site statistics:Click here
Newsreader Carol Barnes dies at 63 2008-03-08 18:26:03 Former ITV news presenter CarolBarnes
has died in hospital aged 63 after suffering a stroke. Tributes have been paid, including this from Dermot Murnaghan, "She couldn't have been kinder, more helpful and caring to someone like me." She was part of the ITV News format for much of the 80's and 90's.Once a stroke happens, and it is severely inflicting, it is more than likely that death follows. Both my parents suffered from strokes. It is still a perplexing subject in many ways. More can be found on the Stroke Association's website.
SimpliFLY! Locks away! 2008-03-07 12:43:29 SimpliFLY is something the American Transportation Security Administration wants us to do. This morning my wife arrived back from Newark, NJ. After a coffee, she went to move her luggage from the hall. "Oh, I've forgotten the lock. I must have been too tired! Oh, well." She then opened her suitcase. Inside was a message from the TSA.NOTICE OF BAGGAGE INSPECTION(part of the message)If the TSA security officer was unable to open your bag for inspection because it was locked, the officer may have been forced to break the locks on your bag. TSA sincerely regrets having to do this, however TSA is not liable for damage to your locks resulting from this necessary security precaution.For packing tips and suggestions on how to secure your baggage during your next trip, please visit: www.tsa.govAll
ABC News misleads public over Ron Paul! 2008-03-07 06:58:02 Spin and deception. It's going on all over the place! Now ABC News
have been trying to suggest that Ron Paul has dropped out of the race. Seeing as they, along with others, have given the idea that he wasn't really in it, they now say he has gone. What they really want is that he goes, by their suggestion! "Ron Paul Dropping Out of GOP Race" they trumpet. When confronted by this, ABC News comes up with "Ron Paul Suspending Presidential Campaign"! Both wrong, but hey, what else do we expect?Why on earth did some hack not think it appropriate to ask the Congressman himself what he intended? Too much of a bother?ABC - Anything But Correct? Get a grip, chaps! You can do BETTER!!In a broadcast to supporters, Ron Paul said that he has made his mark on history. He has also noted, that while McCai
Who is worse at getting the bunce for nowt? 2008-03-07 05:45:12 MPs are an odd lot. They are, in the main, secretive about how much money they slosh around in the way of expenses. Not needing to reveal what they spent £249 on, getting housing allowance on homes to pay for mortgages, etc, etc. But that doesn't stop them talking about others. MPs on the Treasury Select Committee have criticised HM Revenue and Customs for giving senior staff big bonus increases in the last tax year. The bonuses went up by an average of 60% during a year when complaints about tax credits rose and VAT processing targets were missed.Now it is the job of this committee to look at how HMRC is getting on. And some MPs are very good at dissecting the information before the. One MP, who isn't into dodgy dealings, is Vince Cable. He was the acting LibDem leader that everyone thou
Who are they fooling? 2008-03-07 05:21:40 The European Union Establishment is very much a benign version of Putin's Russia, it seems to me. Whereas Putin armtwists with a smile that makes you wonder whether it is malevolent or benevolent, but does it all openly with a "see if I care" look, the EU bosses try it all with a degree of superiority and obstinate determination based on spin and deception.The leaders of most of the European Union countries have declared that there is not much between the old constitution document and this new treaty. It ranges from 88% to 98% difference! Seems they all have their own interpretation - a bit like the Bible!In the UK the vast majority are opposed to the treaty. I'd say about 75/25 is the split. What British people do not want is a controlling, federalist Europe. Contrary to the "pro-European
Fraudulent fraudsters of the EU! 2008-03-06 18:00:10 This is a video of Paul van Buitenen, Dutch MEP discussing the alleged dodgy dealings of EU institutions. I like the Flemish commentator's English - buddies or bodies? He means "bodies" but it sounds like buddies. Freudian slip or the stark truth? Read more:Fraudulent
Ron Paul's lasting legacy! 2008-03-06 17:30:41 Whilst the political commentators were keen to down play Ron Paul
's contributions to the GOP presidential campaign, some of his opponents in the race have come out as the ones who could do better, as school reports may say. In how they behaved!Tom Curry of MSNBC has a fair report on how the campaign went for Dr. Paul. McCain will not get Paul's support as “I don’t consider his positions to be part of the traditional Republican conservative platform.” Many will echo that. Fencemending, honest brokerage and embracing a wider audience may occur to John McCain. He has a conundrum to settle. Does he actually take on the policies of a more conservative nature, thereby possibly alienating Independents who are said to favour him? Or does he stay where he is, risking the support of the more t
Carol Barnes 'close to death' 2008-03-05 18:18:13 Following on from my previous post, the Daily Mail reveals that newsreader CarolBarnes
is unlikely to survive after suffering a massive stroke. Friends have disclosed that doctors predict she will not survive. A friend said, "It is very serious indeed and things are not looking good. She has not been given long. Everyone is absolutely devastated."I remember my father's stay in hospital. It is very much a waiting game, with every day bringing slightly different news, but with reality telling you that nothing much has changed. I felt that recovery in his case was not a pleasant option. Years in a recuperating state, not being the person you were. Strokes are very cruel afflictions. I can feel for her family at this time. Read more:death
The European Union's ideas v. Italy's cultural inheritance 2008-03-05 17:29:10 This I saw on the British Democracy Forum. Very good fun and rings true. Those who are talking of a common European
culture only say so because they want us to think federalism will be all hunky-dory! Let's welcome the things that unite us, but glory in our differences. Read more:ideas
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Dutch MEP Paul van Buitenen makes 'fraud' report public! 2008-03-05 17:11:06 On the very day that our Prime Minister is burbling about being "pro-European" and denying the people the referendum he promised, albeit for a constitutional treaty and not this treaty, even though the authors of the original say the two are 98% similar, we get a chance to see (in Dutch
, so Nick Clegg can read it!) all the gory details of the rackets and rake-offs in Brussels. Dutch MEP Paul van Buitenen has published a confidential internal report
on abuse of staff allowances described by a colleague as "dynamite".It all goes to show that these gravy-train merchants, who have been basically operating a fraud
ulent operation for years, are now, yet again, exposed for what they are. Does Gordon Brown give a fig? Or is he just not bothered, like he can't be bothered to clean up the expense fi Read more:makes
MPs reject EU treaty referendum 2008-03-05 13:30:05 MPs have reject
ed proposals to hold a UK-wide referendum on whether to ratify the EU's Lisbon Treaty. Don't you just love democracy?We are governed by a party which has only 20% of the electorate's support. It is led by a part-time MP job-sharing with an MSP. This man has deceived the country over his relationship with Prudence, who left him and us in the lurch with the Northern Rock fiasco, bad lending policies, higher taxes and a general high-handed approach to opposition.There never was going to be a referendum. The treaty is being pushed through Parliament by two political weasels, David Miliband and Jim Murphy. The people are going to have to think of something else to regain our democratic control over our lives.Frank Field is right. Politicians are held in low esteem and they mostly
Lib Dem EU rebels to quit roles 2008-03-05 12:31:22 I think Nick Clegg has made a monumental error in making his LibDem MPs abstain in the vote for a referendum on the EU Lisbon Treaty. If he has any more resignations, he may be called upon to conduct a Dutch auction amongst the remaining loyalists! And they will lose their seats like headless chickens next time round! Read more:roles
American Airlines takes FIVE on transatlantic flight! 2008-03-05 12:14:22 Yes, no bumping off or bumping up on this flight. There were fewer passengers than flight attendants. I've been to Atlanta on a half-empty Air France flight from Paris and had two lunches into the bargain. These guys must have been spoilt for choice. And able to stretch out. Did they pay economy and get to be in business, I wonder?Environmentalists are up in arms about the flight from Chicago to London. Whilst I agree it seems silly to put five passegers on such a flight, the airline has a point in saying that they were going to take a plane load back to Chicago. Sometimes I think the green lobby moves into zealotry territory and makes itself look foolish.No airline wants to waste money, and I hardly think AA has the desire to do so. Richard Dyer, Friends of the Earth's transport campaigne Read more:Airlines
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A Hodge podge culture for Britain 2008-03-05 08:55:08 Margaret Hodge has always been an interfering type of socialist. Whilst fairly well-off herself, she is one of the Old Labour brigade that has taken on New Labour nonsense. She was a crony of Ken Livingstone's back in the 70's. Now she is Minister for Culture.She has decided to have a go at the Proms, that great British institution which always ends with the Last Night. Ms Hodge thinks the banner-waving, song-singing, and general fun-loving crowd that attends is not representative. Representative of what, precisely?What she is getting at is that she sees very few, if any, black faces there. So she is rumbling around with barby comments about inclusion and exclusion. How does she aim to rectify this? By banning the concerts, or forcing black and Asian people to attend, or saying you can't g Read more:Britain
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Paul's true believers hang tough 2008-03-05 08:04:26 This from the The Post and Courier on Charleston.net via Ron Paul News.South Carolina's Republican primary ended more than a month ago, but Amanda Moore still regularly visits Ron Paul's Lowcountry headquarters in a light industrial building along West Ashley's Belgrade Avenue. She walks past the "Legalize Freedom" posters, past a stack of bright orange "Gun owners for Paul" baseball caps and heads to a desk next to a "Restore the Republic" banner. Moore still sends out regular e-mails updating many of his thousands of South Carolina supporters about the latest in Paul's campaign, but she said her work increasingly is shifting away from Paul's current presidential bid and more toward his message in general. "History will show this is the right message," Moore said. "Twenty years from now,
Ron Paul fighting on two fronts! 2008-03-05 05:07:58 This is a good piece from the Daily Paul. It's about how Ron Paul
has been got at, lied to, trampled on politically, and denigrated - not by Democrats, but by his own party, the Republicans.Two fronts? Yes, the GOP on one side, and the media, mainly Fox News, on the other, although not by all, it has to be said. The Concord Monitor reveals a lot about the GOP.Putting a Democrat up against Paul in the nominee race is one. Ron Paul saw this off. When he eventually won, George Bush, then Governor, "congratulated" him. Carol Paul says, "Ron stopped to see him after the election. Bush just leaned back, had his feet up on the desk, and said, 'Well, you ran one hell of a race!' "Didn't they teach manners at that prep school?
Huckabee bows out of race 2008-03-05 04:40:13 Mike Huckabee
has gracefully retired from the race to become Republican nomineee. That has been "sewn up", as the BBC reports, by John McCain.Huckabee told supporters, "we started this effort with very little recognition and virtually no resources. We ended with slightly more recognition and very few resources. But what a journey. What a journey. A journey of a lifetime."The Republican race will end in the convention in St.Paul with John McCain as the nominee, but unless he is able to accommodate the views of the other candidates who were in the race, he will lead a party that comes grudgingly to the table. The policy menu has to be a damn sight better than the current "Soup of the Day". It has a striking resemblance to the Monty Python Spam sketch. Watch and see if the repetitive mention
Ron Paul wins! Peden's challenge fizzles out! 2008-03-05 04:12:58 Ron Paul won his congressional seat by a whopping margin over the challenger Chris Peden. When all the votes are counted it could be a 70/30 split.Ron Paul said, “some Washington insiders would have you believe that Republicans no longer believe in the principles our country and party were founded upon, but the voters in my district have once again proven them wrong. The message of freedom is popular, and I will continue to trumpet it in Congress and across America as I fight on behalf of the conservative, common sense values which made our country so great.”Great result! The Revolution goes on....................... Read more:Ron Paul
Why Ron Paul matters! 2008-03-04 18:05:55 Forbes.com wrote to all the remaining candidates in the presidential contest to get a view on the issues they believe are the most important ones facing the nation at this moment in time. They don't say what the rest did, but Ron Paul responded.In his comments he says -"The current state of our economy drives home the hard truth that living beyond our means has caught up to us. Oil is over $100 a barrel, the housing market is in sharp decline and the dollar is in a free fall. The national debt now stands in excess of $9 trillion, more than $30,000 per person. The total future debt obligations of the United States, including entitlements, are estimated at around $59 trillion, which equates to over $500,000 per household."I don't know if this election is really about the future of American p Read more:matters
McCain's Incendiary Supporter! Fire and Brimstone for Texans? 2008-03-04 13:20:30 San Antonio televangelist John Hagee has endorsed Republican presidential hopeful John McCain
. Kiss of death or votewinning genius? Hagee seems to me a prize nutter, who in recent years has denounced many a group he doesn't fancy. These include, but are not limited to, Catholics, homosexuals, Muslims and Harry Potter-author J.K. Rowling. He has suggested that Hurricane Katrina was God's wrath for the city's "gay parade" and he has called the Roman Catholic Church a "false cult system." Nice support if you can get it.If a contender for the Presidency thinks this sort of rabble-rousing babble merchant is a suitable supplicant, then I do hope those voting today will stop and think. The message from McCain - Don't bother with the votes of Catholics, gays, Muslims or the legions of Harry Potter Read more:Supporter
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Ian Paisley to quit as First Minister 2008-03-04 12:58:53 Ian Paisley
, scourge of all things Catholic but with a catholic taste for political intrigue (he must have been in talks with nearly every political hue and cry!), whether in the open or behind closed doors. Enoch Powell once said that all political careers end in failure. I don't believe that and in Paisley's case, it's ended on a high! He will continue as an MP and MLA. If he stands for Westminster at the next election, he could end up as Father of the House!I remember the younger model of Paisleyism the night he contested Captain Terence O'Neill's Stormont seat in 1969. Paisley, ever the one with a barb in the message, boomed to the crowd "Tonight Cap'n O'Neill is a MINORITY candidate!". This was because O'Neill had secured less than 50% of the poll, even though he won. However, in many Read more:First
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Huckabee tells Hannity "I'm still in the race"! 2008-03-04 08:55:55 I don't know what it is about Fox News, but they seem to have dimwitted reporters or just plain obtuse and obdurate ones. This Hannity character keeps trying to diss the two remaining challengers to John McCain in the Republican race. Huckabee
is still in it. As he pointed out to Sean Hannity, "You know, the thing I have had to deal with every day is being asked not once but about 10 times a day, "how come you are still in the race?" I give the same answer every time. I still get the same question." Well, you would, from such meatheads!I get the distinct impression that some Americans don't like democracy! What exactly marks out the differences between Putin's ideas on electioneering and those of Fox News? Answers on a postcard to Fox News! Read more:tells
Amateur video sees plane attempt windy landing! 2008-03-04 08:12:12 Landing a plane in strong winds isn't always easy. The German airline Lufthansa said its pilots averted a crash at Hamburg airport after winds of more than 150 mph caused a plane with 130 passengers on board to veer dangerously on landing
. It can't have been pleasant. The airliner grazed its wingtip (you can see this in the video
) on the runway before the pilot wrestled it back off the ground. The amateur video footage shown below was played repeatedly on German television. Maybe to show how good German pilots are! Which, of course, they are. Takes a good pilot to know what to do in such circumstances.The plane came back for a second, successful, landing! Read more:Amateur
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Bob Spink to be first UKIP MP? 2008-03-12 19:58:51 A lot of turmoil seems to have been created at the margins of party politics at Westminster of late. Labour rebels on the EU Treaty. Then Nick Clegg getting his own dose of rebellion. Nothing much to upset the applecart, though. Now there is a minor scuffle going on on the Conservative benches. Nothing much to upset David Cameron's applecart, either. He's on a roll lobbing tart cookers at the grumpy Brown!This little local difficulty is over Bob Spink. He's the MP for Castle Point, and not much in favour of the EU. Apparently he's got a few troublesome types in his constituency (from his point of view, that is). He was due to meet with his local association, but decided he'd jack in being their MP so is going for being an "independent Conservative". Not that that will do him much good. Abo
Updating my site! 2008-03-12 19:25:26 I have decided to give my site a new look. Not quite finished yet, but all this is done in between other things. Much like most other bloggers.Will update more information tomorrow. Lot's going on to talk about in the world, and will comment on the latest news items a.s.a.p!
Heathrow's Huge Hangar! 2008-03-15 08:01:08 Heathrow Airport finally got round to the official opening of the new Terminal 5 yesterday. This futuristic building has so much on offer that apparently passsengers will get through all the checks and security in 10 minutes. According to Ann Macmillan, the resident Canadian Broadcasting reporter in London, this vast open span "village" can get 35 million through in a year! "That's the population of Canada!" she quipped to the BBC. I had visions of a mixed bag of mounties, fur trappers, Inuit, and lumberjacks all trying to pass through. A touch of the Monty Pythons?I do recognise this as a major step forward for the UK' air transport industry. It's only a pity that the management of BAA and British Airways always seem to have problems popping up. The latest is that BA pilots are are planni Read more:Heathrow
Blog Comment Rules 2008-03-13 09:52:36 I've opened up this blog to allow for easier debate and welcome good and expressive comments. The little balloon at the side is the link for making such comments.I look forward to hearing more from my growing band of readers. I also post on the British Democracy Forum, which has inspired me to attempt a move-up in the blogging world. Please be assured of my desire for a healthy debate based on the political interests of the centre right in British and American politics. That does not exclude areas of political thought from elsewhere in the world and from a different perspective from mine.Blogging is one of the joys of the internet. I do not mind comments made in a strong way, but will not allow the use of what the BBC calls "strong language", to you and me swearing and blaspheming. Also, i Read more:Blog Comment
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A martyr from Mosul 2008-03-16 13:18:15 Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul
in Northern Iraq, the highest-ranking Chaldean Catholic clergyman, has been killed after being kidnapped. In all the violence in Iraq, the one thing that never entered the heads of those who perpetrated the so-called "War on Terror", was what would happen if the lid came off Saddam Hussein's political kettle. When the lid was blown off, it allowed all the mayhem that follows when a plan is only on the back of an envelop.I doubt if the Bush administration ever bothered to ask if there were minorities in Iraq. Why, they're all Muslims, aren't they? So the Christians of Iraq fell into the category of easy prey. Five years on and going to church in Iraq is still a dangerous activity. The only thing that kept us in church today in Sparkbrook, Birmingham wa
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