AND HERE ARE THE BBC HEADLINES....(translated)
1. MARK THATCHER...shouldn't he be in jail and his evil mother with him?
2. ABU GHRAIB...shouldn't Rumsfeld resign?
3. GCSE's....aren't our kids just getting brighter and brighter?
4. Weather....isn't all this rain evidence of global warming?
The Ulster Unionists and Lost Principles
Colm, in a response to one of my recent blogs, told me I knew 'in my heart of hearts' that devolved government was just around the corner in Northern Ireland. If the sentiments of Reg Empey are anything to go by, I fear Colm could well be right.
It is bad enough for the DUP to give every indication of the supremacy of power over principle. But, when that chorus is embellished by similar sentiments from the other main player in Unionist politics, my emotions ricochet from searing anger to contemptuous resignation. Both parties are, in one way or another, implying that stuffing their MLAs with pound notes at the end of every week is far more important than taking a principled stand with a better chance of keeping the Union intact.
Reggie wants the Assembly to be given collective power should efforts fail to resurrect the Executive. What is wrong with Direct Rule, may I ask? A sizeable proportion of the Catholic community sees nothing wrong with decisions being taken in London (the seat of sovereign government); Protestants are virtually united in their unwillingness to tolerate armed separatism wielding power in Belfast; and the Province has had two years or relative stability. However, stability does not reward 100+ amateurs with fiscal munificence does it, Reggie?
Perhaps the biggest scandal concerning the Assembly is its sheer size. London, the largest city in Europe with a population fast approaching 8 million, is stewarded by an assembly of 25 members. Wales, with a population of 3 million, has a 'National Assembly' of only 60 members. Why the hell should Northern Ireland be hampered with a bloated seat of administration totalling 108 participants? Yet, we hear nothing of this scandal from Empey - or indeed from the new power-hungry DUP. I'm hoping that one day, those in the upper echelons of each party will have a chance to meet ordinary Unionists and maybe, just maybe, take on board their concerns. By doing so the £ signs will be lowered from their eyes, but at least they'll be able to sleep more soundly at night.
EXODUS.
It seems that with the nauseating rise in anti-Semitism in la belle France, jews living in France are choosing to return to Israel This summer has seen record numbers of jews - up to 50,000 - deserting the glories of the Riviera for the glory of Netanya and Eilat.
Yossi Borniche, a 58-year-old pharmacist who immigrated from France last year and is now living in Netanya, said coverage of Israel in the French media contributed to his decision to leave. “There is very biased news against Israel,” he said. “For me it was very hard to be a Jew there. It’s not a pleasant place to be now.” He said one of his daughters who lives in an upscale Paris neighborhood had the mezuzah on her door smashed. “Always, always, every day something else happens. It’s hard to live with,” Borniche said.
The French media - anti-Semitic - surely not????
BLAIR FOR THE COURTS?
It seems that Tony Blair may soon be put in chains and dragged in front of the Courts for his war crimes! It appears that BBC Newsnight has discovered that the Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price will be launching a bid tomorrow to impeach the Prime Minister for a variety of things, primarily for allegedly taking the country to war on a false prospective.
Leaving aside just how wacko the Plaid Cymru party is - wouldn't it sum up modern Britain for the PM to be indicted for just once actually making a courageous and moral decision. The people in Iraq appreciate Blair even if those in Cardiff and the valleys don't. There's lovely! Maybe the Welsh who support Plaid Cymru should have been living under the tyrannical jackboot of a megalomaniac to appreciate the stupidity of their political representatives comments. (Mind you.....)
ISRAELI VERSION OF POLITICAL SURVIVOR!
From Steven Plaut
"Announcing the new Israeli Reality Show "Israeli Political Survivor"
In the show, assorted people seeking to become political leaders go to
the ISLAND and then there are votes to see who gets dismissed. The only
problem is that whenever there is a vote to make one of the contestants
leave the ISLAND, ... they don't.
In the first vote, Shimon Peres is voted off the ISLAND but then does
not leave. Then Ehud Barak is voted off the ISLAND, and leaves but for
only a short break and comes back in order to introduce new FEAR FACTOR
into Israeli lives. Bibi Netanyahu gets voted off the ISLAND after
offering its bungalos to the PLO at Wye, but never leaves. Amram Mitzna
gets voted off the ISLAND but the Ariel Sharon announces he will be
standing in for Mitzna and representing him in all new rounds."
EDWARD DE VERE - THAT'S SHAKESPEARE TO YOU!
I was reading Hamlet the other week (for the laughs) and marvelled at the skill of the author. I refer, of course, to Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford and England's greatest writer. For those who doubt this -please read this short article by Joe Sobran....your view of the Bard may never be the same again.
I have been a confirmed Oxfordian for some years now and found that by understanding the man, the works make much more sense. Hamlet, in particular.
Here's a few interesting points;
‘Polonius’ in Hamlet is comparable to Oxford’s (live) guardian, Elizabeth’s prime’ minister William Cecil, Lord Burghley. In that play, the character as did the live statesman (both) issued good advice or maxims which are incredibly similar: Polonius to son Laertes and Burghley to son Thomas Both Hamlet and Oxford killed a man; and a terse summing up of other facts of Oxford’s life is similar to that which one writer sees, and sums up, as the life of ‘Bertram’ as depicted in ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’
bed; and there is rumour of at least one homosexual affair; one of his troupes was “Oxford’s Boys”; as with Bacon, sexuality is mentioned arising out of the Sonnets
Hackney, and was buried in either the local churchyard, OR, suggests a later writer, in Westminster Abbey
"V- DAY"
Here's a very interesting article taking issue with the idea behind Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues." It's written by a a woman but it sums up my own views on "empowerment." Rather than a vaginal dinner for V-day, how about a red rose for Valentine's Day?
A TRIBUTE TO BILL CLINTON.
So, William Jefferson Clinton has returned to the Emerald Isle. Such an important event requires a few words about the great man....try these....
"It is reasonable to believe he was a rapist fifteen years before becoming president, and that as president he launched cruise missiles against Afghanistan (a nearly empty terrorist camp), Sudan (a pharmaceutical factory) and Iraq to distract attention from problems arising from the glandular dimension of his general indiscipline. As president, he was fined $90,000 for contempt of court and there is no reasonable doubt that he committed and suborned perjury, tampered with witnesses, and otherwise obstructed justice. In the words of Richard A Posner, Chief Judge of the Seventh Circuit Court, Clinton's illegalities "were felonious, numerous and nontechnical" and constituted "a kind of guerilla warfare against the third branch of the federal government, the federal court system." Clinton is NOT the worst President the republic has had, but he is the worst person to have been president."
So wrote George Will in 2001 and who can disagree?
Welcome to Ireland, Bubba Bill.
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