Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts

Sunday, July 16, 2017

New information confirms that Donald Trump begged Prime Minister May to make the press behave before he would agree to visit England.

"So when do you think the British press will like me?" "How do you say 'never' in Trump-speak?"
Courtesy of The Sun: 

The US President made his shameless plea in a private conversation with Theresa May to plan his state visit — now postponed until next year. 

A transcript of the chat, seen by senior diplomats, reveals his touchiness. 

Mr Trump says: “I haven’t had great coverage out there lately, Theresa.” 

She replies awkwardly: “Well, you know what the British press are like.” 

He replies: “I still want to come, but I’m in no rush. 

“So, if you can fix it for me, it would make things a lot easier. 

“When I know I’m going to get a better reception, I’ll come and not before.”

A source said: “He seemed to think the PM would be able to smooth the path for him to get a warm welcome. 

“But she tried to explain she has no power to dictate how newspapers and media might decide to cover his visit. 

“After all, we are not North Korea.

“He said he would not agree a date until people support him coming.”

Apparently Downing Street refused comment for this story. 

Which of course means it's true.

Remember when we first heard about this back in June?

At the time it was refuted as "fake news."

Does not appear to be so fake now does it?

Remind me again Right Wingers, who's the "snowflake?"

P.S. Isn't The Sun owned by Rupert Murdoch?

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Fox News actually asked Dakota Meyer for his advice in responding to the terrorist bomb attack in Manchester.

Courtesy of the Washington Examiner:  

The 28-year-old veteran said it was only a matter of time until a concert terror attack — like the one that killed 22 in Manchester, England, on Monday — hits American shores. 

“I’ve been saying this is going to happen for a long time,” Sgt. Meyersaid. “When is it coming here? I think the only way you get this point across is when you release the gates of hell on them and we start making war so ugly that […] it’s not cool to join ISIS anymore. […] You can guarantee [Mr. Trump is] going to do whatever it’s going to take, no matter if it’s the most popular thing in the court of public opinion. He’s going to do what’s right to protect America.”

When I first read that Meyer wanted to "release the gates of hell" I thought perhaps he meant to send the Palin family over there and tell them it was a birthday party with free booze.

Because you know THAT can get really ugly. 

But then I realized that he was suggesting the idea of sending more American troops overseas, to murder more Muslims, and give the terrorists even more justification for what they are doing.

Just a reminder that the terrorists are not attacking the West because they are jealous of our freedoms, they are attacking the West because they are angry that we have been killing their people for decades.

And under the Trump Administration the civilian death count has dramatically increased.

So I guess Meyer is right about one thing, yes they are most certainly coming here.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Donald Trump demands the right to ride in the Queen of England's golden carriage despite the security risks.

Courtesy of Yahoo News:  

US President Donald Trump is keen to use the Queen's royal carriage to travel down The Mall to Buckingham Palace. 

According to officials, the White House views the carriage procession as an important part of Trump's itinerary for his visit scheduled for the second week in October.

UK security sources have warned that it poses a "monster" security operation, according to a Times report, leading to a lockdown of areas in central London. 

The Metropolitan Police are preparing for one of the largest public order operations in years, as hundreds of thousands of people are expected to come to Westminster to protest at Trump's state visit, which was postponed from earlier this year.

The article goes on to point out that the carriage is a flimsy affair which does not offer the same protection that the a president's reinforced car does against possible attack.

So why, considering the fact that Trump is reviled by many of the people in England, would he so keen on taking such a big security risk?

Ah, well I guess that more or less explains it right there.

Trump's ego demands that he receive the same treatment as his puppet master. 

Personally I don't think that the Queen of England responds well to the demands of bullies sand I hope she refuses Orange Hitler's demand.

Friday, April 14, 2017

It appears that without British secret agents we may never have discovered Trump's ties to Russia. Update!

Courtesy of The Guardian: 

Britain’s spy agencies played a crucial role in alerting their counterparts in Washington to contacts between members of Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives, the Guardian has been told. 

GCHQ first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious “interactions” between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian agents, a source close to UK intelligence said. This intelligence was passed to the US as part of a routine exchange of information, they added. 

Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner circle and Russians, sources said. 

The European countries that passed on electronic intelligence – known as sigint – included Germany, Estonia and Poland. Australia, a member of the “Five Eyes” spying alliance that also includes the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand, also relayed material, one source said.

Actually even after being spoon fed the information it STILL took the American Intelligence agencies an ungodly amount of time to respond:

The Guardian has been told the FBI and the CIA were slow to appreciate the extensive nature of contacts between Trump’s team and Moscow ahead of the US election. This was in part due to US law that prohibits US agencies from examining the private communications of American citizens without warrants. “They are trained not to do this,” the source stressed. 

“It looks like the [US] agencies were asleep,” the source added. “They [the European agencies] were saying: ‘There are contacts going on between people close to Mr Trump and people we believe are Russian intelligence agents. You should be wary of this.’ “

The message was: ‘Watch out. There’s something not right here.’”

"It looks like the US agencies were asleep." Well there's an understatement for you.

Apparently the information was considered so sensitive that it was handled at the :director level" which meant that it was delivered to CIA chief, John Brennan by the director of British Intelligence.

As reported earlier the CIA really cannot investigate American citizens, so the information was then passed on to members of Congress, and from them to the FBI.

I then took the FBI even longer to respond effectively because they were focused on the Russian hackers trying to damage Hillary Clinton, and NOT to help Donald Trump.

Just imagine if the FBI had not had their heads so far up their asses, they could have started to investigate this as early as late 2015. How might THAT might have affected the outcome of the 2016 election?

I swear the more we learn about who knew what and when, the more upsetting it is that things worked out the way that they did.

Update: Oops I almost missed this bit buried in the last paragraph:  

One source suggested the official investigation was making progress. “They now have specific concrete and corroborative evidence of collusion,” the source said. “This is between people in the Trump campaign and agents of [Russian] influence relating to the use of hacked material.”

Well now, THAT is certainly some good news to start off your Friday.

Monday, July 04, 2016

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair may face calls for impeachment in response to new report on the Iraq War.

Courtesy of The Guardian:

Senior figures from Labour and the Scottish National party are considering calls for legal action against Tony Blair if the former prime minister faces severe criticisms from the long-awaited inquiry into the war in Iraq. 

A number of MPs led by Alex Salmond are expected to use an ancient law to try to impeach the former prime minister when the Chilcot report comes out on Wednesday. 

The law, last used in 1806 when the Tory minister Lord Melville was charged for misappropriating official funds, is seen in Westminster as an alternative form of punishment that could ensure Blair never holds office again. 

Triggering the process simply requires an MP to propose a motion and provide supporting evidence as part of a document called the article of impeachment which has no time limit placed upon it. If the impeachment attempt is approved by MPs, the defendant is delivered to Black Rod before a trial. 

A simple majority is required to convict, at which point a sentence can be passed which could, in theory, involve Blair being sent to prison. However, MPs have said the attempt will be symbolic and is unlikely to result in imprisonment.

So it really would only be a symbolic gesture, but still a hell of a lot better than what we have done over here in response to learning that the Bush administration lied us into a war that saw the deaths of thousands of American servicemen.  

At least the Brits have the balls to continue to search for the truth, while in America everybody just wants to move on and pretend that the former administration was not involved in treasonous activities and war crimes. 

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

There are now more non-believers in England than believers. Sooo jealous.

Courtesy of The Guardian:  

The number of people who say they have no religion is rapidly escalating and significantly outweighs the Christian population in England and Wales, according to new analysis. 

The proportion of the population who identify as having no religion – referred to as “nones” – reached 48.5% in 2014, almost double the figure of 25% in the 2011 census. Those who define themselves as Christian – Anglicans, Catholics and other denominations – made up 43.8% of the population. 

“The striking thing is the clear sense of the growth of ‘no religion’ as a proportion of the population,” said Stephen Bullivant, senior lecturer in theology and ethics at St Mary’s Catholic University in Twickenham, who analysed data collected through British Social Attitudes surveys over three decades. 

“The main driver is people who were brought up with some religion now saying they have no religion. What we’re seeing is an acceleration in the numbers of people not only not practising their faith on a regular basis, but not even ticking the box. The reason for that is the big question in the sociology of religion.”

I don't want much folks, but I want to live long enough to see America become a nation where the majority are non-believers as well.

That my friends, will be a great day indeed. 

Saturday, April 23, 2016

You may be cool but you will never be "riding in a car with the Queen of England" cool.

I'm sorry but it seems that everything this President does is extra cool for some reason.

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Furor over Donald Trump's recent remarks reaching critical mass. Update!

You know it has seemed that the Donald was coated in Teflon the way every criticism seemed to slide right off of him without leaving a discernible mark.

However this time Trump may have taken his "politically incorrect" shtick a smidge too far.


Not only did newly elected Speaker of the House Paul Ryan come out strong against Trump's remarks, but even the usually non-partisan reporter Richard Engel could not let this pass:  

"This is really not the country that I know," he said on MSNBC on Monday night. He continued: 

This is not small ball, actually. This matters. It would be interesting to say, "Oh, this is just fun. This is just more, you know, he's trying to score a few points." But the world watches this. The world sees the leading political candidate from one party making these kind of statements and still doing well and having these rallies. ... Those are going around the world right now, and people realize this person is leading in the polls. That must be what Americans think. I was today with an ambassador from the Middle East. Today. And we were talking exactly about this subject. And he said, "Well, people in our country watch what is going on, and it makes us very concerned." So from the world perspective, it is absolutely an image, an impression, a black spot on our collective foreign policy and our conscience. And it also just feeds into the ISIS [Islamic State] narrative.

Ricard Engel is well known for reporting the straight facts, with virtually no political spin, so for him to weigh in like this you have to know that Trump's remarks are upsetting and angering his sources.

In Britain there is already a petition, with well over 200,000 signatures, asking the Parliament to block Donald Trump from entering the UK.

Perhaps even more impactful, at least in Trump's eyes I would imagine, is news that his remarks have pissed off some of the Middle Eastern businessmen that he has long wanted to work a deal with:  

Emirati business magnate Khalaf al-Habtoor only months ago proclaimed his support for the Republican presidential candidate, but that's all changed in the wake of Trump's increasingly incendiary comments about Islam.

"If he comes to my office, I will not let him in. I reject him," al-Habtoor told The Associated Press. "Maybe we can meet somewhere where I can debate with him in a very civilized way, not in the way he approaches people." 

There is no way that I am going to suggest that this is the end of the Donald Trump campaign for President,  because at this point we are so far down the rabbit hole I cannot discern up from down.

However I will say that if this INCREASES his poll numbers, that the Republican party might just as well all start donning their white hoods in public right now.

Because there will no longer be ANY doubt as to just who they are from this point forward. 

Update: Stephen King weighs in as well.
Such a way with words.

Tuesday, December 01, 2015

Private school teacher in England upset that girls today are just "cramming their heads full of facts" instead of focusing on what's really important, finding a man.

Courtesy of the Independent:  

A private school teacher has complained about how "today's girls aren't going on nature walks or learning poetry off by heart - they're cramming their heads full of facts". 

Blanche Girouard, who teaches religious education at the £20,000 a year St Paul's Girls' School, also suggested girls were happier when they were simply expected to marry rather than go to university. 

Writing for The Oldie magazine, Ms Girouard praised an era when "everything seemed to be geared towards marriage" and "parents really didn't seem to care" about educating girls. 

Although she later acknowledges "it seems heinous that parents had such limited ambition for their bright daughters," she adds: "And yet there are aspects of that era that are enviable."

Gee is anybody else surprised that this comes from somebody who teaches "religious education?"

As you can imagine this did not exactly go over well with the parents with students in this school. It's always a little troubling when the person you pay to educate your child, instead slams the necessity for said education.

I kind of wonder if this Blanche woman is not simply expressing her frustration that getting an education interfered with her ability to land a man?

Either way that teacher REALLY needs to be fired.

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Memo found on Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server reveals that British Prime Minister Tony Blair committed to George Bush's war in Iraq before his country even voted on it.

"Where's my flight jacket? I was told there would be a flight jacket."
Courtesy of the Daily Mail: 

The damning memo, from Secretary of State Colin Powell to President George Bush, was written on March 28, 2002, a week before Bush’s famous summit with Blair at his Crawford ranch in Texas. In it, Powell tells Bush that Blair ‘will be with us’ on military action. Powell assures the President: ‘The UK will follow our lead’. The disclosure is certain to lead for calls for Sir John Chilcot to reopen his inquiry into the Iraq War if, as is believed, he has not seen the Powell memo. 

A second explosive memo from the same cache also reveals how Bush used ‘spies’ in the Labour Party to help him to manipulate British public opinion in favour of the war. 

The documents, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, are part of a batch of secret emails held on the private server of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton which U.S. courts have forced her to reveal. 

Former Tory Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: ‘The memos prove in explicit terms what many of us have believed all along: Tony Blair effectively agreed to act as a frontman for American foreign policy in advance of any decision by the House of Commons or the British Cabinet. 

‘He was happy to launder George Bush’s policy on Iraq and sub-contract British foreign policy to another country without having the remotest ability to have any real influence over it. And in return for what? 

'For George Bush pretending Blair was a player on the world stage to impress voters in the UK when the Americans didn’t even believe it themselves’. 

Davis was backed by a senior diplomat with close knowledge of Blair-Bush relations who said: ‘This memo shows beyond doubt for the first time Blair was committed to the Iraq War before he even set foot in Crawford. 

'And it shows how the Americans planned to make Blair look an equal partner in the special relationship to bolster his position in the UK.’

Gee I wonder if THIS was the smoking gun that the Republicans hoped to discover by accessing Hillary's private e-mail server?

What's next, the original Killian documents proving that George W. Bush disobeyed orders while in the National Guard and that pressure was exerted to falsify his record?

The great thing about all of this is that the British are actually investigating their role in the lead up to the two wars and seem willing to hold Tony Blair accountable.

That is a hell of a lot better than we have been able to do over here.

But hey, maybe the fact that this was found in Hillary's private server means she has even more evidence which will force an actual investigation by the next administration?

Oh, now I am getting even more excited about a Hillary Clinton presidency.

P.S. By the way none of this should come as any surprise to those of us who remember the Downing Street Memo.

Monday, October 12, 2015

England has an entire task force dedicated to faith related abuse cases. And they are on the rise.

Courtesy of the BBC: 

The Metropolitan Police said there had been 60 crimes linked to faith in London so far this year. It saw reports double from 23 in 2013 to 46 in 2014. 

Half of UK police forces do not record such cases and many local authorities are also unable to provide figures. 

The NSPCC said authorities "need to ensure they are able to spot the signs of this particular brand of abuse". 

London is unique in having a police team, Project Violet, dedicated to this type of abuse. 

Its figures relate to crime reports where officers have flagged a case as involving abuse linked to faith or belief. Many of the cases involve children.

Here is one such case that was investigated by the task force: 

Ibidapo was trafficked to the UK from Nigeria in 2007, to work as a servant for relatives in the North of England. They accused her of being a witch, stopped her going to school and physically assaulted her. She escaped with the help of a Nigerian woman living nearby. 

"I started living with my aunty at the age of 10, to help her to look after the baby. If my aunty went to work I'd be left with the baby, to do all the housework, wash clothes, cook the food. 

"Each time the children got sick my aunty would accuse me of being the one responsible for their illness, start calling me a witch, start beating me up, and there was a time that she took me down to church, to a pastor. They were calling me a witch, they were using a broom to beat me. 

"Sometimes my aunty would look into my eyes and call me a witch. It made me feel rejected, like I'm nobody."

Religion of course is just a socially acceptable label for superstition, and superstition is the gateway to all kinds of abuse in the name of gods, angels, or demons, or punishment for those who do not share their particular superstitions.

Christians in this country are big on pointing the finger at Muslims in the Middle East who behead, stone to death, and mutilate in the name of their religion without acknowledging the many atrocities still being perpetrated around the world in the name of Christianity.

 “With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” ― Steven Weinberg

Words to live by. 

Saturday, May 02, 2015

Alaska Dispatch tackles the Amy Demboski divorce story, but now I am left with more questions than answers.

As I begin this post I first must confess that I personally never went through the Dempsey/Hyatt divorce file myself down at the courthouse.

Instead, as I reported, I received a call from Bill Fulton about this case, who then sent me the documents that I shared on IM.

It was he and others who did the actual legwork (Except for some internet sleuthing that I did on my own later.), and it was they who decided that I should be the person to take point on the story.

Bill has been a very reliable and honest source of information for me going back a few years now, and I have come to trust him.

We of course realized that once the story was posted that other news sources would do more digging, and invariably come up with information that we did not know. And that's indeed what has happened.

Yesterday the Alaska Dispatch followed up on the story and found some interesting facts.

For instance they learned that Demboski, then Amy Lynn Hyatt, was also in the Air Force when she got married.

Now that is interesting because Demboski was described by her father as "The most military kid that he knew." However she never mentions her service to her country in the biography at her own website:

I graduated from Chugiak High School in 1994 and went on to attend UAA. While working full time, and raising a family, I earned Bachelor’s degrees in Justice and History. I subsequently obtained an MBA, with an emphasis in Finance, from Columbia Southern University. I have spent the majority of the past 20 years employed in the private sector right here in Alaska. My responsibilities included building and managing multi-million dollar businesses. Currently, In addition to representing the Eagle River area on the Anchorage Assembly, I am responsible for the overall management, business development and operations of a business with multiple locations in Alaska.

See? No mention of serving in the military. How odd.

She also of course fails to mention her previous marriage and subsequent dissolution.

The Dispatch also claims that in the beginning of the proceedings that Hyatt and Dempsey claimed there was no child:

Among the statements in the petition the couple swore was true was this: “There are no minor or dependent children born of or during this marriage or adopted during this marriage, and the wife is not now pregnant.”

And that later there was a forged document which admitted to a child, but claimed that Dempsey was not the father: 

A document purportedly signed by Dempsey that sought to amend the initial filing with a reference to the pregnancy and an assertion it was not his child was a “forgery by someone else,” Shortell declared.

Dispatch has a statement from Dembosky insisting that it was not a forgery but in fact a notarized document from Dempsey. Which, as previously stated, declared that he was not the father. 

That must refer to this document:

Which read in full:

"I, Christian M. Dempsey, being duly sworn do hereby depose and say: (And this next part is hand written.) that I am not the father of the child to be born to Ms. Amy L. Hyatt in July 1996."

Dembosky also told the Dispatch this: 

Demboski said she joined the military when she was 18, and married Dempsey while she was in technical training. She said she and Dempsey were deployed to England, and she became pregnant with her daughter. She said she moved back to Alaska for health reasons. She said she received an honorable discharge from the military.

But see now all of that is confusing because the first of the documents I received was this one from April 2, 1996:

Which clearly states:

(resident 10/95 married, no child, 7/96 due) (resident never lived w/Mr., Mr. not the father.)

So they were both stationed in England after being married, and they did not live together?

And as you will notice there is already a statement that Mr. Dempsey is not the father.

Like I said confusing.

Also according to the Dispatch the first attempt at a dissolution did not take, so there was another more successful attempt filed on April 24, 1997, AFTER the child was born.

In this case apparently Dempsey did accept that the child was his, despite working so hard to disprove it in the initial case.

However he also stated that he was unaware of the child's birth until four months after the fact and, though he agreed to pay support, he did not ask for any visitation rights.

That seems more than a little odd. Almost as if in the end he gave in to pressure, but still knew the child was not really his.

Demboski also told the Dispatch that she did not lie under oath, did not remember anything about forged documents, and that she did not remember it took two tries to finally end her first marriage.

Uh huh.

Like I said this article raises more questions than it answers in my opinion, but the one thing that is made crystal clear is that we do NOT want to elect this person to be the mayor of my city.

No way, no how!

Which, if you take a moment to scroll through the comments under this Dispatch article, seems less and less likely.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Sarah Palin pulls out of appearance at Cambridge Union Society. Who could have seen this coming? Oh, everyone?

Courtesy of Varsity: 

In a statement issued this afternoon, the Union said: "We regret to announce that Sarah Palin will not be visiting the Cambridge Union during Lent Term 2015. She is unable to visit this term due to scheduling difficulties, but we are exploring potential future dates." 

Sarah Palin, alongside Stephen Fry, Jon Snow and leader of feminist movement FEMEN Inna Shevchenko, featured as one of the main highlights in the Union termcard announced in January. 

This development comes as the second high profile cancellation the Union has seen this term. Buz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, was scheduled to visit the debating society and was included in the preview of its termcard shown to the press. However, it was later stated that he would not be coming to speak at the Union. 

Thomas Hughes-Mclure, a second-year student at Trinity College, told Varsity he was "heartbroken". 

"This is a heavy blow to an already dull line up, she was the only event I had any interest in attending this term", he continued.

Oh I'll bet he was looking forward to it. I mean who else could they depend on to completely fall apart during the Q and A and to provide high profile coverage from local news agencies?

Let's face facts, it would have been a train wreck of epic proportions.

As many of you pointed out when we first posted about this speech last month.

So the quitter quits again. So predictable.

Update: For those calling for confirmation from other sources.

By the way they are suggesting that the Cambridge Union is exploring an appearance at a later date.

But let's face it, she won't show.

Wednesday, February 04, 2015

While in England Chris Chirstie cancels several media appearances after saying stupid things about vaccinations.

Courtesy of Reuters:  

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a possible 2016 presidential contender, cancelled three scheduled media appearances in the UK on Tuesday, amid a controversy over his comments on measles vaccinations. 

The Republican governor said on Monday parents needed some choice on whether to vaccinate their children, drawing criticism from political opponents who said such a policy could threaten public health. 

His comments came a few hours after President Barack Obama said parents should have their children vaccinated, saying the science was "pretty indisputable." 

Christie cancelled two question-and-answer sessions and a press statement he was due to make after meeting UK finance minister George Osborne. 

"We just decided we're not going to have availability today," said Maria Comella, Christie's head of communications, after the last scheduled appearance was cancelled.

Oh yeah they just "decided" suddenly to have no press availability when the sole reason Christie was in the UK was to talk to the press and get his name out there before launching his bid for the GOP presidential nomination.

Here is how he responded to one reporter who did not get the memo about Christie not taking questions and continued trying to do his job.
Yeah what part of "I said something embarrassing on foreign soil making Americans look like nitwits and now I'm trying to lay low do you not get?"

Okay so should we consider the fact that the Christie team recognized that the vaccination response was ignorant to be progress on behalf of Republicans?

Here let me answer my own question.

Nope.

Courtesy of TPM:  

Yesterday, first Paul tried to get to the right (or perhaps just to the crazy) of Chris Christie by going further than Christie on Vaccine Choice. Then he came out a bit later in the day with his claim that vaccines can cause "profound mental disorders." Now it comes out that back in 2009 Paul told InfoWars channel 'Prison Planet TV' that mandatory vaccines could lead to "martial law".

Well okay then, it looks like the whole GOP clown car is now filled mostly with anti-vaxxers.

Good to know.

Tuesday, February 03, 2015

In article ostensibly about how few people in England have ever heard of Chris Christie, we learn that at least one Londoner would like just one thing from him. To tell that lady in Alaska to shut up.

So this New York Times article was supposed to demonstrate how few people overseas had ever heard of Chris Christie. It does that, but then it also reveals just who IS well know over there, and what the prevailing opinion is of that person.

Courtesy of the New York Times: 

“I’ve vaguely heard of him,” said Michael Rabbett, 67, as he sipped red wine from a plastic cup (“wine beer,” he noted). He paused to let the name roll around in his head. “He’s in the background of my head. But not really,” he concluded. 

Alerted to Mr. Christie’s reputation for voluble candor as well as his party affiliation, Mr. Rabbett asked his own question. “Has he told that lady from Alaska to shut up?” 

No, he was informed. Mr. Christie had not tried to silence the former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. “Well why not?” he inquired.

Well I think we have stumbled across the key to increasing Chris Cristie's visibility and improving his overall reputation.

All he has to do is to tell Sarah Palin to "Shut the hell up!"

After all it's not like telling people to shut up is not in Christie's wheelhouse, he does it all of the time.

And it's not like Palin has not criticized him in the past, giving him every reason to tell her off.

I think he should go for it.

I mean he will still NEVER be President of the United States, but it COULD increase his popularity within his own party and force other potential nominees to follow suit.

Could you just imagine if 2016 were the year that Republican candidates for the GOP nomination all told Sarah Palin to shut up?

I think that might be my version of heaven.

Monday, January 19, 2015

One thing you can say about Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, he never lets the facts get in the way of a good anecdote.

That is an amazing bit of footage.

There is a British reporter, a man who actually lives and reports the news about Britain, telling Jindal that he is mistaken, and yet he continues to stick to his bullshit story about "no go zones."

Here is more courtesy of Raw Story:

 Speaking in London, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana condemned Europe for the existence of “no-go” zones — despite the fact that the Fox News has corrected the statement about them made by guest Steve Emerson four times. But on Monday, Gov. Jindal told the Henry Jackson Society that “in the West, non-assimilationist Muslims establish enclaves and carry out as much of Sharia law as they can without regard for the laws of the democratic countries which provided them a new home.” 

“It is startling to think that any country would allow, even unofficially, for a so called ‘no-go zone,’” he continued. “The idea that a free country would allow for specific areas of its country to operate in an autonomous way that is not free and is in direct opposition to its laws is hard to fathom.” 

When asked about those remarks by CNN reporter Max Ford, the governor said that “I’ve heard from folks here that there are neighborhoods where women don’t feel comfortable going in without veils. That’s wrong. We all know that there are neighborhoods where police are less likely to go into.” 

“I think that the radical Left absolutely wants to pretend like this problem is not here. Pretending it’s not here won’t make it go away,” he added. 

Ford then asked him to elaborate, specifically, about those areas, but Jindal brushed the question aside, saying “I think your viewers know absolutely there are places where the police are less likely to go. They absolutely know there are neighborhoods where they wouldn’t feel comfortable.”

As Raw Story reports Fox News was forced to apologize for those "no go zone" stories not once, not twice, but four different times after they were called out over them by just about everybody. Including British Prime Minister David Cameron who called Emerson "a complete idiot."

So one has to wonder did Bobby Jindal simply not get the memo that the "no go zones" were a bunch of nonsense? Or did he hear that and decide "Screw it. This is too good to let a few facts screw it up for me."

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Celebrating their 200th anniversary, famed debating society in England invites Sarah Palin, among other notables, to speak. Wait, that can't be right.

"Debate? Oh yeah I debate awesome! Debate is where I speak and nobody challenges me right?"
Courtesy of The Cambridge Student:  

Celebrating its 200th anniversary, the Cambridge Union Society has released a sneak preview of the Lent Term 2015 termcard, with highlights including Stephen Fry and Sarah Palin. 

Reflecting on the varied fields of the revealed speakers, Amy Gregg, President of the Union for Lent 2015, commented: “I’m extremely pleased that we have begun our Bicentenary year with such a diverse range of prominent speakers. As ever, the Union strives to offer members the opportunity to engage with some of the world’s most significant and influential public figures.”

So let me get this straight.

This renowned  debating society is inviting the amazing Stephen Fry, an incredibly intelligent and humorous gentleman, AND Sarah Palin, a vapid, infamously unintelligent conservative nitwit?

Seriously?

I have to admit that at first I thought this must be yet another article from a humor magazine, but nope. It is legit.

Here is their description of Palin:

Controversial American politician Sarah Palin will then speak on the 2nd of March. The first female Republican to be nominated for the Vice Presidency, during the 2008 Presidential election, Palin has more recently spent time as a political commentator for Fox News, and has starred in ‘Sarah Palin’s Alaska’, her own reality show. Her book, ‘Going Rogue’, has sold over two million copies.

They are also inviting to speak, along with Fry and Palin,  FEMEN "sextremist" Innan Shevchenko. Who you all may remember as the Ukrainian activist who likes to protest topless.

 
Yep, Palin is going to fit in great.

This is what I found on their home page about the organization:

Founded in 1815, the Cambridge Union is the oldest continuously running debating society in the world, and the largest and most famous society at the University of Cambridge. In 2015, the Union will celebrate 200 years of free speech and the art of debating.

So they are a debating society that likes to invite controversial and eclectic guests to discuss their points of view in front of the students. The appearances also feature provocative questions from the audience which the speaker is assumed to possess the ability to respond to without preparation or relying on notes written on their palms.

In other words they are going to eat Sarah Palin alive.

Here take a look at some video of Russell Brand's appearance in front of the Cambridge Union.

Now Brand possesses quite a nimble mind and has little difficulty responding to questions off the cuff. Those are NOT the qualities that come to mind when one thinks of Sarah Palin.

Oh yeah, they are going to eat her alive.

Tuesday, December 09, 2014

Hillary Clinton hanging out with Will and Kate. Update!

Courtesy of the Daily Mail: 

They are both devoted mothers: Kate has a one-year-old son and is nearly five months' pregnant, while Hillary has a 34-year-old daughter. 

And this evening, the Duchess of Cambridge and US Secretary of State spoke about the benefits of singing to babies at a New York City reception. 

During the event at the British Consul General's residence, the pair also chatted about Kate's visit earlier in the day to a children's center in Harlem. 

The future leader of the United States hobnobbing with the future King of England, isn't that adorable?

And in other news Sarah Palin met this chick.

So hard not to draw parallels don't you think?

Update: By the way there is some buzz around Palin currently because she is scheduled to appear in Iowa next month with about nine potential GOP presidential hopefuls.

Apparently this was enough to get the slow kids on the bus to start conjecturing that she is also considering a run in 2016.

Damn some people just never learn do they?

Monday, October 13, 2014

University students in London have e-mail hacked which results in tons of spam asking them to sign up for porn websites or the Sarah Palin Channel. Not sure how they were able to tell them apart.

"Stop touching yourself, this is not a porn channel!"
Courtesy of the Independent:  

University College London’s (UCL) email database suffered a meltdown last night after a spam email was sent to every student – all 26,000 of them – opening up a black hole of an email thread with as many as 3,000 replies. 

The first message purported to be from the generic email thread of UCL Provost Michael Arthur at 10.47pm last night, simply – and cryptically – reading just “bello”. It is thought it was hacked or at least spoofed. 

With the internal email address of ‘all-students@ucl.ac.uk’ now visible to all, a mass email thread from irritated students commenced and, as you can expect, also had jokers taking full advantage of the security breach. 

In emails shown to the Independent, some recipients began cordially replying “bello” to the initial message, before one understandably exclaimed: “STOP SPAMMING PEOPLE!!!!!!!”. 

Desperate pleads for people to stop hitting ‘reply all’ were left unanswered, as the countless emails kept bouncing into people’s inboxes before the obligatory attempts at humour began. 

“Bello, is it me you’re looking for” was a call ricocheting in the bottomless pit of emails that included sign-ups to YouPorn, the One Direction mailing list, Ukip and the Sarah Palin Channel.

After that #BelloGate started trending on Twitter and when the university students woke up the next morning some of them had as many as 3,000 e-mails to sort through.

I am not sure who thought to include the Sarah Palin Channel in with signups for porn websites, but clearly it was a stroke of genius.

I just feel bad for the poor schlub who paid his $9.95, got out his hand lotion dispenser and Kleenex, and then was confronted with this face.

Seriously, that could put you off masturbation for life!

Sunday, September 07, 2014

In what could be the biggest news story of the day new DNA testing may have revealed the true identity of Jack the Ripper. Oh boy, twelve year old me has never been this excited!

Courtesy of The Daily Mail:

It is the greatest murder mystery of all time, a puzzle that has perplexed criminologists for more than a century and spawned books, films and myriad theories ranging from the plausible to the utterly bizarre. 

But now, thanks to modern forensic science, The Mail on Sunday can exclusively reveal the true identity of Jack the Ripper, the serial killer responsible for at least five grisly murders in Whitechapel in East London during the autumn of 1888. 

DNA evidence has now shown beyond reasonable doubt which one of six key suspects commonly cited in connection with the Ripper’s reign of terror was the actual killer – and we reveal his identity. 

A shawl found by the body of Catherine Eddowes, one of the Ripper’s victims, has been analysed and found to contain DNA from her blood as well as DNA from the killer. 

The landmark discovery was made after businessman Russell Edwards, 48, bought the shawl at auction and enlisted the help of Dr Jari Louhelainen, a world-renowned expert in analysing genetic evidence from historical crime scenes. 

Using cutting-edge techniques, Dr Louhelainen was able to extract 126-year-old DNA from the material and compare it to DNA from descendants of Eddowes and the suspect, with both proving a perfect match. 
The revelation puts an end to the fevered speculation over the Ripper’s identity which has lasted since his murderous rampage in the most impoverished and dangerous streets of London.

Okay no joke sports fans but when I was prepubescent blogger to be I love me some unsolved mysteries.

And the gran daddy of unsolved mysteries was the identity of the White chapel murderer, aka Jack the Ripper, aka could be just about anybody.

Personally I always hoped it would be Prince Albert Victor, mostly because I liked the idea of Scotland Yard possibly keeping the identity secret in order to protect the Royal Family.

Though part of me kind of wishes that the identity would always remain a secret, the part of me that places its faith in science is thrilled to be confronted with yet another incredible breakthrough that can be attributed to DNA testing, which I think we all recognize is the direct result of the research by one Charles Darwin.

See how I did that?