Wednesday, March 26, 2008

NUT vote against the Army!

But who cares? Did anyone ask this bunch if ignorant people, who could not teach their way out of a paper bag what they thought?

No.

So who cares?

I don't.

The NUT are an anachronism in much the same way as Arthur Scargill's NUM was. Useless and pointless, devoid of thought. Where they differ if course is that at one time the NUM had relevance, the NUT never have.

Iain Dale has this, the BBC going overboard on positive coverage of the NUM has this, this, and this.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

More dire news for Labour! 13% behind in a new ICM poll

According to a new poll in todays Guardian by ICM the Conservatives are 13 points ahead of Labour.

The Conservatives are on 42% (+2), Labour on 29% (-2) and the Liberal Democrats are on 21% (+1).

So it looks like firm swings to the Conservatives and Boris Johnson is ahead in the London Mayoral elections.

The only thing we Conservatives have to fear is complacency. That said we need to be fiscal Conservatives before tax cutting ones. The state of the public finances is horrific.

Politicalbetting has this
whilst Iain Dale has this.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Conservatives 16% ahead in latest poll as Labour drop to an all time low!

There is a YouGov poll in tomorrows Sunday Times which has the Conservative party on 43% (+3), Labour on 27% (-6) and the Liberal Democrats on 16% (No change). This is a good pol for us and terrible for Labour. It would give David Cameron a majority of 122 which is staggering.

There is also a poll by ICM in the News of the World which gives the Conservatives 40% (+3), Labour 31% (-3) and the Liberal Democrats 20% (-1). That would lead to hung parliament with the Conservatives as the largest party on 313 seats compared to 259 Labour.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Geraldine Ferraro stands down!

Well, I just heard it on ABC news.

So much for the cover the Clinton campaign has given. She should have been fired ages ago.

Barack Obama is only where he is because he is a black man!

According to Geraldine Ferraro, a senior member of Hilary Clinton's campaign team.

Geraldine stood as the VP candidate with Walter Mondale in 1984.

Upon getting some flack for these ridiculous remarks, she said that people were being racist because she was white.

Hilary Clinton has "regretted" the comments, but not fired her, and has sent people out to defend her. See this thread on politicalbetting.com and look at the MSN video for how well this is going down.

The bizarre thing is that it may be true that candidates who are not white males may well get where they are when they would not if they are white males. (Geraldine maintains he would not have got there if he was a black woman). However Barack Obama is one of the greatest orators I have heard speak, on a par with people like Michael Heseltine, maybe even above. In short he could turn up at Klu Kux Klan meeting and stand a good chance of getting a standing ovation.

There is no one in American politics, and possibly world wide politics today who is as good at inspiring people.

Barack Obama is where he is today despite being black. If he was white this contest would have been done and dusted months ago. He is simply the best public speaker of his age.

JFK was no Barack Obama. He is simply that good.

Bio Fuel duty set to rise by 20 per litre?

Alistair Darling gave the budget today, as expected.

His forecasts were somewhat more rosy than most independent commentators, and he did not do that much.

He did put up cigarettes, beer wine and spirits though, so the ferries are going to be busy.

The one thing he did not mention but is hidden away in the red book is the removal of the tax differential on bio fuels, worth something like 20p per litre, effective from 2010 where it will according to chapter 1, page 9, raise £550 million.

According to various other bits of the red book (See pages 7, 89, 95, and 107) this is all to encourage sustainable bio fuels, via the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation or RTFO. Hooray I hear you say! (Or not as the case may be). However the problem is there is no corresponding account of how much the RTFO will cost the treasury.

In short the government is either taking £550 million by ditching the tax differential on bio fuels, a very un green measure, or it is not accounting for the RTFO in which case the budget has got yet more dodgy figures in it.

Good eh?

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

A difficult budget

Alistair Darling will present his first budget today. We already know it is going to be a bit of a dogs breakfast, because of the hurriedly announced measures in the pre budget report to "shoot the Tory fox" have been found out. They neither shoot the Conservative foxes, nor do they answer the questions the Conservative policies proffered.

However, it goes deeper.

This budget will be the most difficult since 1997, when Labour came to power. It will in fact be worse than that and probably be the worst since 1991.

Labour inherited an economy in good shape, with good prospects, but has squandered that.

I have no doubt there will be rabbits from the hat, but once on the plate and examined there will not be much meat there. Instead expect the chancellor to dodge the golden rules by moving the goal posts.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

What is the punishment for unauthorised reincarnation?

Some time ago, China passed a law which made it illegal for Tibetans to reincarnate without permission from the state.

This is of course bizarre on a number of different levels.

Firstly, a supposedly atheist country China, is in its laws, accepting religion. Secondly by laws, it seems it intends on controlling the supernatural.

However, you do have to wonder what the Chinese government proposes to do with offenders.

Imprisonment?

The death penalty?

And if the death penalty, what do you do with repeat offenders?

Re offending not normally a problem you have when the penalty is death, but in the case of reincarnation, it clearly could be.

The Chinese are of course nuts. They can't control the people of Tibet because the do not want to be controlled. China is in fact an imperialist power just like Russia occupying lands that are not theirs gained by conquest and held by force, unlike the British Empire which has relinquished all land gained by force where it is not held by consent*.

*Diego Garcia excepted as a Labour government sold its people down the river handing the land over to the USA for a military base and therefore not holding that land by consent. In all other territories, the land is held by the consent of those who live there.