Archive for May, 2008
Cluster Bombs – Not the Issue ?
May 30th, 2008 | 
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The other day there was a UN Conference in Dublin at which a treaty to ban the use, acquisition and storage for use by All of Cluster Bombs was agreed, the Treaty itself will be signed in December with each of the approximately 100 nations represented, then ratifying it through their own political processes.
I suppose for the people present and in agreement, this was a “Princess Diana Moment” except on cluster munitions rather than land mines and why not, the same civilian casualties long after the event apply, don’t they ? Unfortunately, the people who didn’t participate were more noticeable than those who did, the USA, Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Israel being particularly prominent.
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TV Drama…
My youngest son at the age of 21 decided to come and live with me, having fallen out with his then girlfriend with whom he was living. This was intended as a temporary measure which was to last 4 years, one house move, require him to have met his future wife and me, to get offered a contract in the US !
But for all that, he is good company and we shared, probably still do, an interest in high quality drama no doubt, something to do with his childhood ! Over those few years we shared many moments; Michael introduced me to Ronin, Jackie Brown, LA Confidential and we shared Shawshank, Pulp Fiction, Leon, Saving Private Ryan and so on. We were already hooked on ER, ‘discovered’ The Sopranos, The West Wing, Six Feet Under and even for a time, enjoyed NYPD Blue but…
In Denial – But Reality Bites !
For some reason best known to themselves, the Daily Telegraph has an “Observer newspaper” and very left wing contributor called Mary Riddell writing for them. Now whilst I think opening up to a broader audience must be a very good idea for any media business in these days but, she seems an odd choice however and in fairness, judge for yourself: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-OAVw8IYZDA.
I tend to find her articles rather odd in a way that is difficult to quite put your finger on but generally amounts to “totally missing the point” and today was no different. Her DT article was headlined; “Prime Minister Gordon Brown, don’t let their style beat your substance.” The content was a total hoot in that she like the Labour Party itself, really haven’t managed to connect any of the dots yet !
Incapability Brown
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The Labour by-election campaign in Crewe and Nantwich has thrown up one of the oddest examples of completely missing the plot, this country has ever seen in recent years. Whoever thought that dressing up people as “toffs” to follow the Tory candidate around to emphasise that he comes from a wealthy background, needs to be fired.
It was made even stranger by the facts that came out about the Timpson Family as a result such as his “stinking rich parents”, fostering about 80 children over the years and he as a Barrister doing lots of Legal Aid cases – not quite the best paid work available, one might note. Plus Tamsin Dunwoody is not a patch on her Mother, who on earth thought ‘parachuting in’ that daft cow would keep up the Labour vote, another candidate who was a “Street fighter for Labour” might have done a whole lot better.
Drunken Teenagers – What to Do ?
To be honest, I find the very question preposterous: “How do we stop children drinking…” we shouldn’t even be discussing this as the “issue” or even in this way. The fact that we do seems to indicate that our common-sense has been overwhelmed by “Human Rights” and a daft New Labour agenda.
Instead of a stream of endless and badly drafted legislation that says specifically, “You may not do this or that…” why don’t we just get back to effective and simple legislation that targets both behaviour and the personal responsibility for that behaviour ?
Where I live, we have a seawall and a broad promenade as a consequence. Of recent times, notices have appeared to say that “Dogs Must be kept on Leads” and “Cycling is Forbidden”.Some people have suggested that a local councillor has a brother-in-law who does signs but, I will have no truck with such malicious suggestions.
Housing and Wealth
We live in a rather odd world full of assumptions concerning all sorts of things one of them being that to “Own one’s own house, is a very good thing” but is it ? And if it is a “good thing”, who is it such a “good thing” for ?
My thoughts about the property that most people own were in no small part started by thinking about old age and people having to sell up in order to move into a nursing home and the fact that many will outlive their capital.
Do They Have the Courage ?
Just like pension reform, politicians will talk endlessly about what needs to be done about looking after an ageing population but the question is, do they have the courage to do anything about it because any solution will be a 40 year haul with complex and ever changing “transition arrangements”.
More than that, not only must any solution be bi-partisan politically today but also have the full support of the British electorate because over that period of time, it maybe that the political parties which exist today could not be around in their present form in the future so, only the electorate can guarantee that the programme is followed through.
Frank Field’s Comments on Brown
There was an article in today’s Daily Telegraph written by David Hughes who writes a political blog in the DT. Below is a comment I sent in to the DT in response which was published. The article summoned up a lot of screaming abuse aimed at Brown from other contributors and the odd, very amusing comment.
By adding the below to my own blog, is really as much as a “note & reminder” to myself to keep on track and to keep focused on the issues. It is easy to drift off course when as a consequence of trying to exploit a different angle on the current news stories. Mr Hughes did this by focusing on the fact that Frank Field’s personal comments about Gordon Brown may have the opposite effect than he intended by creating sympathy for Brown on his own back benches.
Sell By Dates…
Apparently Cherie Blair is publishing some kind of biography shortly and as a practising “Human Rights” Lawyer who had continued her illustrious legal career whilst her husband was Prime Minister, even if buying a railway ticket was ‘too much’ for her, I would say “why not ?” I have never found the idea of Tony Blair as a lawyer credible but, she does work at it.
To my mind, she must have some interesting insights into subjects such as “Human Rights” but set against the realities of political power and influence. Between loyalty to her ‘man’ and loyalty to her avocation, she should have something interesting to say and be well placed to illuminate the conflicts between ethics and personal interests. The fine line between theory and the reality of “the art of the possible”, it could easily be a “must read” for generations to come.
A Time for Change
It is perfectly understandable that media people like journalists, following the outcome of the Local Elections and in particular the ousting of Labour from London’s City Hall, are ever quick to rush into print offering ‘this’ analysis, opinions or ‘that’ advice to the Tories.
And much as I am fond of the Daily Telegraph’s comments section with readers responses to the ‘news’, I suppose it was highly predictable that the “Anti-Dave Brigade” were out in force from the neolithic wing of the Tory Party. I suppose that they are today’s equivalents to the Labour Die Hard’s in the late 90′s when confronted with Tony Blair. However, I don’t feel that the real story has been picked up by the media yet, which is a key moment of change in British Politics.