Deputy Labour Leadership Contest

Labour deputy leadership: support grows for Cruddas

MP shortlists divide candidates

Labour's deputy leader contenders are split on the idea of shortlists made up only of people from ethnic minorities.

Hazel Blears, Jon Cruddas and Peter Hain told a hustings event in Leicester they backed such lists to boost the numbers of black and Asian MPs.

Alan Johnson and Hilary Benn said they were not persuaded. Harriet Harman did not say whether she backed them or not.

For a while now I've been puzzled why there was little competition for Leader of the Labour Party but there is more activity with the position of Deputy Leader.

Its to do with party politics, by becoming Deputy Leader of Labour they are getting top of the tree in the party, a way to shove two fingers at your colleagues plus the possibility of Gordon Brown appointing them to a plumb Cabinet post.

Civil Liberties 3

Increase in anti-terror targets

Counter-terror police have recorded a 37% increase in "suspicious reconnaissance" of potential targets in the first four months of 2007.

Metropolitan Police commanders said the "undiminished" threat level justified the continued use of random stop-and-search powers.

But they accepted the reasons for almost 23,000 stops under anti-terror laws in London needed more explaining.

Campaigners say anti-terrorism stop and searches "criminalise" communities.

However, the Home Office may expand the powers yet further.

What the police need is more money and manpower, not more bloody laws.

The British Police have plenty of laws to deal with terrorism yet the government has to create more and more authoritarian laws, just because they make good headlines.

John Reid even wants to bring back the Sus law and he didn't bother to consulting the judges.

Some Good News For a Change

Campus extremism request rejected

Lecturers have voted unanimously to oppose government plans urging them to fight against extremism on campuses.

They had been asked to monitor and report suspicious behaviour amongst Muslim students.

But at the University and Colleges Union annual conference in Bournemouth, delegates rejected the demands, saying they amounted to spying on students.

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said student trust would be undermined by fears of a "quasi-secret service".

Well this is good news, I find it appalling that the government plans to make lecturers spy on their students, focusing on Muslims, is this what Britain has come too? That we cannot even trust students? A sorry state of affairs if this is what the government wants to do, going the authoritarian route.

Things I Really Don't Understand

World's first creationist museum opens in Kentucky

The world's first creationist museum, which tells visitors the Earth is only about 6,000 years old, has opened its doors in the American midwest.

The Creation Museum claims dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex lived alongside ancient civilisations but were strictly vegetarian before the Fall of Man and that the Grand Canyon was created by Noah's flood.

Some 4,000 people visited the Kentucky museum on its first day yesterday while demonstrators protested outside and a plane towing a banner reading "Thou shalt not lie" circled overhead.

hmm T-rex and humans living side by side?

COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I find it very hard to understand why certain sections of human society believe in this tripe.

I'm no dino expert but wouldn't it be impossible for humans and dinosaurs to live together? Where is the scientific proof?

Sounds like the guy who created this Creationist Museum has watched too many episodes of the Flintstones and/or One Million Years B.C.

Civil Liberties 2

Ihre Papieren, Bitte!

Reid's 'stop and question' powers for police are 'UK's Guantanamo'

John Reid has provoked a civil liberties storm and a cabinet split by floating plans to give police sweeping new anti-terror powers to stop and question anyone in the street.

The Home Secretary was accused of taking a further step towards an authoritarian state as the "draconian" proposals were condemned by politicians of all parties as well as by human rights and Muslim groups.

Strengthening police powers to stop passers-by is being considered among antiterrorist measures to be announced before Mr Reid steps down on 27 June, when Tony Blair leaves office.

John Reid deserves a long holiday in Guantanamo Bay. Authoritarian wanker

This does not surprise me, he is a former Leninst and a drinking buddy of the Bosnian Serb mass-murderer Radovan Karadzic.

Ballet Blogging

Darcey Bussell and Jonathan Cope in Prince of Pagodas

Civil Liberties

PM's secret stalker squad has power to detain indefinitely

A new national anti-terrorist unit to protect the Prime Minister and the Royal Family from stalkers has been secretly set up with powers to detain people under mental health laws.

How very Soviet.

Blair sparks row with bid for anti-terror powers

LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - Civil rights and community groups criticised a proposal by British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday to give police broad powers to stop and question people as part of a new anti-terrorism law.

Critics said the proposed measure risked alienating the Muslim community whose support the government needed to combat militants and an opposition politician said Blair was pushing for the powers of a police state.

An interior ministry spokeswoman said the government was looking at including the "stop and question" power in new anti-terrorism legislation.

Whenever Blair and NuLab encounter a problem, their first instinct is heavy handed statist authoritarian solutions which don't work!

These types of laws are open to abuse if an even more authoritarian unscrupulous government took over. Blair has been busy laying the groundworks for a police state

Music Video Blogging

The Chemical Brothers - Setting Sun

Lebanon

New US military aid for Lebanon

US military planes have delivered more equipment to the Lebanese army, as its stand-off with Islamic militants at a Palestinian refugee camp continued.

Palestinian PM Fouad Siniora again called on Sunni militants inside the camp to surrender or face army action.

He was speaking after the leader of Shia militant group Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, said Lebanon should not be part of a US war on al-Qaeda.

The stand-off at the Nahr al-Bared camp near Tripoli is now in its seventh day.

Why is handing out more weapons to a violent conflict even being considered? I mean handing out military supplies is just going to fuel the conflict, shouldn't the goal be trying to like reduce it!

The power of the arms trade and the millions made off it, is very repugnant.

Friday Opera Blogging

Mirella Freni sings the Monologue from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur.

Friday Cat Blogging


George sitting in the kitchen


Heidi looking a bit serious

Movie Review - Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At The Worlds End


Went to see see Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At The Worlds End today with my mother, brilliant movie - Johnny Depp is divine! Not a film to watch if you suffer sea sickness or vertigo.

Johnny Depp does a better Keef than Keef.

The sound was just right at the cinema, you could hear the creak of the ship and the crash of the waves. As i said, not a film if you suffer sea sickness.

The action sequences were great, loved the massive sea battles. There were also plenty of twists and turns, kept you guessing till the very end, many thrilling moments. The SFX was also very impressive.

I give this film a 10/10, go see it, argh me hearties.

Immigration

Migration figures explode claims of east European invasion

Only 8,000 Romanians and Bulgarians came to work in Britain in the first three months after their countries joined the European Union on January 1, according to official figures published today.

Although ministers are being cautious, the figures appear to explode claims by anti-immigration groups that 300,000 would "flood in" from Romania and Bulgaria in the first 20 months of EU membership.

The Home Office figures show that 10,418 Romanians and Bulgarians applied for permission to work in Britain between January and March this year, of which 7,935 were granted. The figures include 2,660 who registered as self-employed and 200 who described themselves as "self-sufficient". About two-thirds were Romanian.

Not very surprising really, the same claims were made when countries like Poland joined, the tabloid press were going on about being 'flooded', but it was all bullshit.

Monday Music Video Blogging

The Chemical Brothers - Out of Control

Sunday Fun

I am an "animal rights extremist"

TAKE OUR QUIZ Find out if the government thinks you are an animal rights extremist - click here

Hometown blogging

Earlier today my niece, her parents, her gran and me went for a stroll to the park by the Crammer, a pond only filled by rainwater.






Just peeping from behind the trees is St James Church and its graveyard, which borders the Crammer

Saturday Duck Blogging

Gordon Brown - PM elect

Brown: A quest fulfilled

After waiting 13 years to acquire his crown, Gordon Brown is king without a contest. For more than a decade Brown endured phases of misplaced hope when he assumed that Tony Blair was about to stand aside. Even worse, there were periods when he wondered whether he would ever get the top job. Yet when the moment arrives the victory is secured in advance. At yesterday's news conference, Brown's every word and phrase were chosen to address the strange challenge of an easy victory. In his opening sentence he declared he was humbled at the level of support. He was careful not to convey delight or complacently arrogant euphoria.

Brown apparently can only deal with one problem at a time, which is fine when your in the Treasury, case you are dealing with numbers, facts and figures.

but being a PM means you have to deal with multiple events, manage government departments, charm foreign leaders

Brown is a control freak and likes to micromanage everything, and being PM will unravel this and before you know it Brown will have a complete metal breakdown.

Friday Cat Blogging


George in birdwatching mode


A shot of George's head


Heidi the mad one


Heidi also birdwatching

Recipe Blogging - Fruity Flapjacks



Makes 16

You Will Need:

4 tablespoons golden syrup h/t to reader jawbone for the link
200g (7 oz) brown sugar
250g (9 oz) butter
350g (12 oz) porridge oats
150g (5 oz) mixed dried fruit, like cherries, cranberries, apricots or prunes (chopped if necessary)
Optional: 3 pieces of stem ginger, finely chopped

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150oC/300oF/gas 2. Lightly butter a 20 x 30cm (or similar sized), 4cm deep baking tray

2. Put the syrup, sugar and butter into a large saucepan. Place on a medium heat until the butter has melted and everything is bubbling and caramel-coloured. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the oats, dried fruit and stem ginger. Pour mixture into the baking tray and press it down with the back of a wooden spoon to make it smooth and flat.

3. Bake in the preheated over for 40 to 45 minutes. Leave it to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before cutting into portions with a sharp knife. Don't take the individual flapjacks out of the tray yet though; leave them until completely cool then use a fish slice or spatula to get right down to the bottom of the tray and lift them out.

This is a recipe from Jaimie Oliver, for Red Nose day this year. My mum had been looking for a good flapjack recipe as she had trouble in the past making them, so she was delighted that this worked.

The flapjacks are delicious and a favorite of my niece.

Palestine


Palestinians evacuate a wounded woman from her destroyed house after an Israeli air strike in Gaza May 17, 2007.

REUTERS/Suhaib Salem

Israel hits Hamas targets in Gaza

At least two Palestinians have been killed in a series of air strikes on targets across the Gaza Strip.

A car carrying members of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, was destroyed on Thursday, killing one man, while another died in an attack on a Palestinian security force building.

At least 32 people were injured, including a number of children, when an F-16 fighter jet "decimated" the Executive Force building in central Gaza City, Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh said.

Really sucks in Gaza at moment, the infighting is causing much misery to the populace, if the Palestinians are not getting blown up or killed by Fatah or Hamas, but they also have an Israeli excursion to deal with.

my friend in Rafah cannot believe that Palestinian is fighting fellow Palestinian, it saddens him greatly.

So another 'success' to chalk up to the Bush Junta!

Blair, Just Go Already!

Bush and Blair reaffirm alliance

Tony Blair and George W Bush have reasserted the strong links between the United States and Britain.

The British prime minister is on a final trip to Washington before stepping down at the end of June.

The two leaders have been close allies over the past six years, and praised each other's record.

Mr Bush called the British PM "a clear, strategic thinker". Mr Blair said the US president had been "unyielding, unflinching and determined".

I love this quote from a MP backbencher who was a vocal opponent of the war, he was a panelist on Have I Got News For You, a current affair quiz/comedy show with Paul Merton and Ian Hislop (editor of Private Eye), each week there is a guest presenter.

"I don't care if he goes down in history as a combination of Florence Nightingale and Alexander the Great, just so long as he stuffs off"

Thursday Ballet Blogging

Viviana Durante and Bruce Sansom dance the Act II Pas de deux from Kenneth MacMillan's Anastasia

Attempt at humor

Care for a threesome later?

REUTERS/Jim Young

Iraq

War-torn Iraq 'facing collapse'

Iraq faces the distinct possibility of collapse and fragmentation, UK foreign policy think tank Chatham House says.

Its report says the Iraqi government is now largely powerless and irrelevant in many parts of the country.

It warns there is not one war but many local civil wars, and urges a major change in US and British strategy, such as consulting Iraq's neighbours more.

The report comes as Iran said Iranian and US diplomats would hold talks on 28 May on the security situation in Iraq.

George Bush really has the crappy touch, through sheer greed and incompetence they have turned Iraq into chaos, set back Womans rights by several cetunries, reopened sectarian wounds and caused misery to minorities.

Tony Blair's legacy will be Iraq, his hands stained with the blood of Iraqis.

Iraq

The War That Never End Contiues

Six hurt in attack on Baghdad Green Zone

At least six people were hurt in a mortar attack on Baghdad's Green Zone today - the second attack on the high-security compound in as many days.

A US embassy official said around nine mortar rounds were believed to have exploded, but gave no further information on the casualties.

Scores killed in Iraq chlorine bomb

Iraqi police say 32 people have been killed in Iraq's Diyala by a truck bomb carrying cylinders of toxic chlorine gas.

Officials said on Wednesday that the blast occurred at about 7.45pm [1745 GMT] on Tuesday in the mainly Shia village of Abu Saydah, about 40km northeast of the predominantly Sunni town of Baquba.

Last week The Guardian had a huge photo spread in the centre of their paper and is showed the US army in this small town and they had a 3inch mortar

In a small town! not the most accurate of weapons if you don't know where and what you are firing at and are bound to cause the death of innocent civilians.

I'm no military expert, but even I can see that the US military tactics serve them well on a open plain, they can marmalise an opponent, but when it comes to small urban environments, 3inch Mortars don't really suit it.

Seems to me US military tactics are to turn an entire place into rubble, like they did with Falluja.

Monday Heidi and George


George on top, Heidi in the tunnel


Heidi saying 'why you bothering me with your camera?'


George resting after enjoying eating roast chicken pieces

Random Musings

Last night me and my dad were watching this program about Gordon Brown on Channel 4 and one of the ads during the break was for Christian Aid Week, the focus being on providing fresh water pumps, and my father could not understand how these LEDCs (Less Economically Developed Countries) could afford to buy armaments but can't provide a water pump, which aren't expensive.

He wondered whether they are ashamed that they have to rely on rich western nations to build their water pumps.

That there must be something deeply wrong when a countries government cannot even provide fresh water for its peoples but will spend billions on the latest weapons

Gordon Brown 2

Brown to make education a 'personal passion' as PM

Gordon Brown will announce a £35m-a-year drive to improve numeracy in schools as he promises to make education his "personal passion" when he becomes Prime Minister.

I'm pessimistic about things improving once Blair has gone, I think they'll get worse myself.

I won't be surprised if the Tories get into power again, if Gordon Brown messes up big time and has a complete nervous breakdown. Waiting quietly will be Alan Milburn, no doubt ready to swoop in the first time Brown makes a error.

while the Lib Dems have been totally useless since they got rid of Charles Kennedy and moved towards Orange Book policies - The neoliberal decay of the Lib Dems

Monday Fun



h/t Sadly No

Gordon Brown

Brown plans 'eco-towns' and cheaper housing

Brown facing McDonnell challenge

Left-wing Labour MP John McDonnell is hoping to challenge Gordon Brown for the Labour leadership.

He is the chancellor's only rival after ex-minister Michael Meacher agreed to stand aside as part of the left-wing MPs' agreement to pool their support.

Mr Brown says he "welcomes" a contest, but it is still not clear Mr McDonnell will get the backing of 45 Labour MPs which is needed to enter the race.

I think Gordon Brown is going to have a nervous breakdown, he is such a control freak and being PM will be much more difficult than being in the Treasury

Apparently he can only deal with one problem of at a time and when your PM your dealing with events plus the various governmental departments, not just facts.

He is into micro managing, which is always annoying, and his policies are so byzantine, so complicated, why I don't know.

Music Blogging

If you need to cleanse your pallet from kitsch Eurovision songs, then this will help it

Joy Division - Transmission



h/t to Zap Rowsdower

And the winner is.....

Serbian ballad wins at Eurovision

Serbian singer Marija Serifovic has won the Eurovision Song Contest at a ceremony in Helsinki which saw the UK's entry coming joint second-last.

Serifovic's powerful ballad Molitva had been second-favourite with bookmakers in the run-up to the competition.

She scored 268 points, beating Ukrainian drag queen Verka Serdyuchka into second place. Russia third and Turkey came fourth.

The Balkan vote an important factor, too strong to over come

The voting as little to do with musical talent, its all about awarding points to your friends and neighbors.

Western European states hardly got a look in, I think the Eurovision is worth watching for making sense why Europe has issues and beyond their borders.

The UK got 29 points and 12 of that was from Malta, no doubt from Ex-pats.

The real star of the entire contest was the light show, just fantastic.

Cheesy Europop

Jaana Pelkonen and Mikko Leppilampi are the hosts for a TV show expected to attract 100 million viewers globally. (BBC)

Eurovision under way in Helsinki

An estimated TV audience of 100 million is expected to watch this year's Eurovision Song Contest from Helsinki, which is now under way.

In all, 24 nations are competing, with Ukrainian drag queen Verka Serdyuchka as the bookies' favourite, just ahead of Marija Serifovic from Serbia.

Viewers can vote by phone and text message once all acts have performed.

Maria Sestic of Bosnia-Herzegovina was first on stage, with the UK's entry, by Scooch, 19th in the running order.

Scooch - singing Flying the Flag - said it would be "really difficult" to follow the Ukrainian favourite.

The Eurovision Song Contest shows up the fact that European nations still remain entrenched in their historical and cultural differences, and which countries stick together, goes someway to enplaning why the EU has had such trouble with the constitution.

National pride and pure cheese sums up The Eurovision Song Contest.

Friday Opera Blogging

Carreras and Izzo D'Amico in the 1st Act duet from Verdi's Don Carlo

Friday Cat Blogging


Heidi sunning herself


Heidi enjoying having the sofa all to herself


George in his usual place


George looking fearsome (but I think he was caught mid yawing, you can see his pink tongue and sharp teeth)

The End Is Finally Here!

Blair to stand down on June 27

· PM: I did what I thought was right
· 'May have been wrong' on Iraq
· Says UK is 'greatest country on earth'

Tony Blair today announced he was stepping down after 10 years as prime minister and 13 as Labour leader.

The prime minister told a crowd of supporters at Trimdon Labour club he would stand down as PM on June 27. He will tender his resignation to the Queen on that day.

In an emotional 17-minute speech, he said the judgment on his 10-year administration was "for you, the people, to make". Mr Blair paid special tribute to his wife and children "who never let me forget my failings".

He's finally going, hooray!

Blair has left an Iraq drenched in blood, a NHS in crisis, prisons full to bursting, created more laws criminalizing British life, an increased in inequality, cash for honors, PFI, the list is quite long, probably the only positive thing was N Ireland, but that was started by John Major and devolution, originally John Smith's idea.

When Blair first came into power, I had just started comprehensive school, now he is going, I am just about to finish university, what will the next 10 years be like?

His smarmy lack of substance CoE Vicar personality will no longer grace our screens, he'll end up with some cushy speaking circuit, probably in America.

Not that things will get any better under Brown, he is just as much an architect of NuLab as Blair and will further entrench its policies.

Around the blogosphere on Blair stepping down

Blair Out.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

Blair: victim of the myth of leadership

The Long Goodbye

Those Blair achievements in full

B-Day

A Date For Your Diary: June 27

An appropriate tune, and one of my favorites

The Doors - The End

Ballet Blogging

Le Spectre de la Rose

Nina Ananiashvili (Young Girl) & Faroukh Ruzimatov (The Rose)

Music by Carl Maria von Weber

Choreography by Mikhail Fokine

Friday Fun - Do You Agree?



h/t Hecate

Friday Cat Blogging


George yawing, Heidi thinking


Heidi washing George's neck


Heidi having a cat nap


George getting high on catnip

Happy Post

My dissertation has finally been handed in, which has made me very happy and to top it all off the weather is absolutely gorgeous here in Swansea.

So in celebration Darcey Bussell performing the Rose Adagio from The Sleeping Beauty

Happy May Day!


Palestinian protesters scuffle with Israeli border police during a demonstration marking May Day at the Qalandiya checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 1, 2007.
REUTERS/Oleg Popov

Blair's bloody legacy: Iraq

On the 10th anniversary of Tony Blair's election as Prime Minister, an exclusive poll reveals 69 per cent of Britons believe that, when he leaves office, his enduring legacy will be the bloody conflict in Iraq

Seven out of 10 people believe that Iraq will prove to be Tony Blair's most enduring legacy, according to an opinion poll for The Independent to mark the 10th anniversary today of the election victory that brought him to power.

As the Prime Minister prepares to announce his resignation next week, the survey by CommunicateResearch reveals that 69 per cent of the British public believe he will be remembered most for the Iraq war. Remarkably, his next highest "legacy rating" - just 9 per cent - is for his relationship with the American President, George Bush.

Four years after the US-led invasion, Iraq still dwarfs all other issues. Only 6 per cent of voters believe Mr Blair will be remembered most for the Northern Ireland peace process, which he will hail as an important part of his legacy when self-government is restored in the province a week today.

Has it really been 10 years of Labour in power? How time passes so quickly.

1997 I had just started Secondary School, and I was not that interested in politics, so Labour being swept into power didn't register much.

Later on when I took AS/A Level Government and Politics I started to be interested in current affairs and started reading blogs before finally setting up my own. Around the same time the UK, USA and their Coalition of the 'Willing' decided to make the fatal error of invading Iraq, which saw hundreds of thousand protest against it and critics of the war attacked disgracefully, that if you didn't support this war it made you a 'traitor' and 'Islamofascist' and it is with a heavy heart that much of their criticism were spot on 4 years later.

Blair and NuLab have let Britain down, with their PFI scams, the Iraq invasion, curbing civil liberties and so on.

Ken MacLeod's latest novel "The Execution Channel" brilliantly deals with these issues, crafting a sublime blogothriller which has depth, well worth taking time out to read.

May Day Related Posts

Mayday: north and south.

Sell in May?: not today

The Ethics of Labor Struggle: A Free Market Perspective

Blair clapped out as he says: 'I'm quitting next week"

Celebrating 10 years of the Downing Street Echo

Shamelessly nicked Trot joke for May Day

*Have not been blogging much as have been working furiously on my dissertation, which is now complete*