Veteran model makes rookie mistake.

I never cease to be stunned by the fact that someone who should know better makes statements like this and sound like complete jerks.  Take veteran model Lauren Hutton.  Digital Spy reports she has criticised the HBO hit show, and new movie "Sex In The City" for portraying single women as sluts, without having ever seen an episode!

Perhaps if she'd seen it, she wouldn't have made that comment.  Why comment you've never seen?  I will at least try and watch a show if I'm going to comment on it.  I did actually watch SATC and I enjoyed it.  I don't believe for one micro-second that it portrayed single women as sluts, rather that it showed the problems that we all experience when dating, both men and women.

Lauren, I have no doubt that you will never read this blog post, but if you did, I would say this; don't make a mistake like that one again.  Don't comment on something without watching it first.  It sounds unprofessional.

UK Viewpoint on the DNC meeting.

I have written my first Daily Kos diary entry, with the same title as you see here.  You can read the full piece here, but here is the introduction to the diary entry.

For those of you who do not know me from the Viewpoint blog, where I talk about Life, The Universe and other strangeness, I am a UK citizen, an observer of events, looking for truth and sense in a world, both regular and political, that often seems senseless.  Hence my viewpoint being a UK one.

Now, to someone who participates in a one member one vote system like the UK's, I find the whole US system of primaries and caucuses before we even get to the election itself to be far too long, cumbersome and difficult to understand.  But out of all the campaigns I have followed since 1984, this one has gone on far longer than any other, like watching all six Star Wars films in one sitting, or all 3 extended cuts of Lord Of The Rings in one go, with more holes and caveats than a badly-plotted B-movie.

So this weekend's DNC meeting to decide the fate of the delegates of Florida and Michigan, is just another one of those holes that, towards the end of the film, has to be filled.  But at the moment, there seems to be no solution that would satsify all parties.  Nothing unusual there then!  The question though, that will be on the minds of the DNC Rules Committee will be, Is there a solution to this whole issue of Florida and Michigan's Democratic Party primaries, and if not, what can be done to avoid this whole debacle happening again?

Sienna Miller in leather as The Baroness

The Daily Mail has pictures of a dark-haired Sienna Miller, dressed in head to toe leather for her role as The Baroness, in Paramount's GI Joe movie, which is due for release in 2009.

She looks hot in leather and obviously seems to be enjoying herself.  If you don't know, The Baroness is a villainess who works for COBRA, GI Joe's enemies.  Former Doctor Who Christopher Ecclestone is playing Destro, whilst Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Brendan Fraser, Rachel Nichols, Dennis Quaid, Ray Park, Marlon Wayans and Jonathan Pryce also star.

Ordinarily I probably wouldn't have looked at this movie, as I wasn't originally a big fan of the animated series.  After these pictures however, I think I might just take a peek.

Dick Martin 1922-2008

Not many double acts that launch on the comedy circuit actually last.  Some of the most successful have been Eric Morcambe and Ernie Wise, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and then there was Dan Rowan and Dick Martin.

They'd started in the 1950s as a double act on the circuit, and had managed to last, despite a failed attempt at a Hollywood movie in 1958.  Then NBC tapped the duo to act as hosts for a summer replacement show in 1966, replacing temporarily "The Dean Martin Show", which by the way continued until 1974.  As a result of that summer replacement, came in 1968 what is regarded as a legendary American comedy show.  "Rowan & Martin's Laugh In"

Through 6 seasons, Rowan & Martin, and their ensemble cast, including announcer Gary Owens, and actresses Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin, laughed and smiled there way through many different types of sketches, including The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award, The Mod Mod World, The Farkel Family, and Laugh In's Look At The News, which somehow, and don't ask me how, managed to correctly predict that Ronald Reagan would be president in 1988, and that the Berlin Wall would be destroyed in 1989!!!

Laugh In's 6 season run ended in 1973 when the show was axed.  But the show had made a star of Goldie Hawn and when it was revived as a series of specials in 1977, made another star in Robin Williams who went on the next year to star in "Mork And Mindy"  It also paved the way for "Hee Haw", "You Can't Do That On Television" and "Saturday Night Live".

So, to round off the tribute, I'll present, courtesy of YouTube, some highlights from the show.

Say good night, Dick!

Bob Schieffer's Weekly Commentary: Remembering a fighter.

Bob Schieffer remembers a friend and an advocate for cancer awareness, who fought some tough battles as Chief Of Staff for President Jimmy Carter, but his toughest battles were fought outside Washington and were his most personal.

Read it here.

Lindsay Lohan a lesbian?

Once again, I touch back into the territory of celebrity "news" and gossip-mongering to slap it back down all over again.

This time, reports surfacing on Fox News, People.com and E! Online that Lindsay Lohan, part time actress, sometime party girl and full time attention seeker, apparently was inseparable from deejay Samantha Ronson, on a private yacht in Cannes, France.

I've said this before and I'll say it again.  WHO CARES?

The fascination of the celeb-obsessed side of the media with every little detail of a celebrity's life, and especially the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and co, is something I can't understand.  This stuff bores the hell out of me, and I'm sure many others too.  We don't need this kind of information.  I'm sure Lindsay Lohan and he so-called "girlfriend" don't want that kind of attention.  They just want to live their lives, so let them.

Keith Olbermann Special Comment: Hillary Clinton, you invoked a political nightmare?

This is the third Special Comment from Keith Olbermann in two weeks.  He rarely does quite so many in that shorter space of time, but whilst the first two railed against President George W Bush, this one railed against Senator Hillary Clinton for invoking the memory of the death of Robert F Kennedy during the 1968 primary election process.

 

 

WIth so much American political history steeped in assassinations and attempted assassinations, even as recently as 1981, I have to agree with Keith, invoking even the word assassination during any election process is practically criminal.

Worst Person In The World: Rear Admiral Mark Buzby

This is another one of those "who?" moments, but the Friday fools gold medal goes to Rear Admiral Mark Buzby.  Who?  He's the Commander of the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo Bay.

Dishonourable mention to CNN's Lou Dobbs, who obviously hasn't learned from the likes of Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Brian Maloney and Michael Savage, that by rejecting Media Matters or going up against them, you are going into a fight against yourself and your own words!  Heck, I don't think there's a conservative around who's learned that yet!

Michael Savage and Brian Maloney try to tag team Media Matters and lose!

Michael Savage is another of these D-list conservative talk show hosts who aspire to the level of a Sean Hannity or a Rush Limbaugh or a Bill O'Reilly.  Unfortunately, the level they aspire to is 4 levels below sanity, which is still at least 3 levels above them!!!

Savage demonstrated that twice this week, in spades!  On May 20th 2008, he basically mocked Ted Kennedy despite claiming he was doing otherwise.

Of course, Media Matters reported this, and then the next day, the Savage decided to fire away at Media Matters.  Too bad he forgot to bring any ammunition!!!

And then, uber-conservative radio commentator, Brian Maloney, on his blog which he calls "The Radio Equalizer", which is about as equalised as a badly tuned radio, accepted the tag from Michael Savage to fire off at Media Matters, only he too had forgotten to load any ammunition.

It doesn't matter how many times these people try and claim that Media Matters is funded directly by George Soros, Bill O'Reilly had already undone them, on his Fox News Channel show, which showed that George Soros does not fund Media Matters directly.  The equivalent would be Bill O'Reilly giving money to an organisation, and then that organisation then decides that with the money they've fundraised, including Bill O'Reilly's, that they would fund the Media Research Center, and then Keith Olbermann coming on his MSNBC show and saying "Bill O'Reilly is directly funding the Media Research Center.  It simply would not be provable, and this George Soros directly funding Media Matters claim isn't provable.

It doesn't matter if you tell a lie once, twice, ten times, a thousand times or a million times, a lie is a lie is a lie!

But back to Michael Savage, whose mocking of Ted Kennedy not only overstepped lines of taste and decency, but pushed him down another 10 levels of sanity in one go.  I would not defend this guy at a sanity board hearing, even if offered $1 million.  He has little sense that now is not the time, if there ever will be another time, to discuss what conservatives feel Ted Kennedy did wrong.  That is like kicking a man when he is down, and caving his chest cavity as a result.

Perhaps Michael Savage should look at filling his cranial cavity with a few essentials.  Like rules of taste and decency.  Like rules on how to behave.  Perhaps he might even spare the time to put a few facts in there instead of the usual Republican spin-doctrination that usually seems to come out of his mouth.  I'll not hold my breath waiting... and as for you, "Maloney Baloney", you need to re-equalise.  Too much treble, not enough bass.  Too often spouting nothing more than right wing talking points.  It's time you got acquainted with some facts.  You know, facts.  Hard, strong, undeniable facts.  Not flimsy, weak, unprovable spin and propaganda.

Worst Person In The World: Oliver North

Oliver North picked up his second gold medal of the week, which must be a record for him, for criticising a translator at Gitmo for saying that detainees had charged that the Koran had been desecrated in prison there.

 

 

Dishonourable mention to Comcast who fired Bill O'Reilly's competitor from his Inside Edition days, for criticising Bill O'Reilly!  Hmm, Comcast getting a little bit FOXed these days???

Laura Ingraham's Talking Points Memo: Obama wants you to give up your SUV?

Laura Ingraham again subbed for Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday night, but this time, she was actually allowed to deliver a Talking Points Memo. 

I guess this was to prove that Talking Points and Bill O'Reilly are not one and the same.  Even if that is the case, Laura went so far over the top and over the edge of the cliff that she started the show as a laughing stock!  Obama said that the US cannot expect the world to look at them driving their gas-guzzling SUVs and sticking two fingers up to the rest of the world, and like it.  Laura accused him of wanting the US to give up it's sovereignty and hand over its liberties.  She also said that he wanted the US to ask permission of the European Union before they did anything that might be considered to be environmentally unfriendly.

She then spouts off about liberals wanting to outlaw the American way of life!  Greed is the American way of life???  I think you've been watching too much Gordon Gecko!

And as if that was enough, she then said that liberal climate change policies are designed to subjugate the American people into a way of life that is decided overseas.  Way to go, combining climate change with xenophobia!!!  That's a link a sane person wouldn't make!

Laura, is it any wonder that you're a D-List conservative talk show host, with opinions that constantly get a failing grade?  I find it hard to believe that Bill O'Reilly would have made this Talking Point, even though he's said some ridiculous things in the past.  Climate change policies are about ensuring this world's survival for future generations, about keeping it liveable for humans.  Your idea of what climate change is, is about as far away from anything factual, as Pluto is from the Sun!  You desperately need a re-education in the subject, Laura, before you make comments like that one again.

Worst Person In The World: Hugh Hewitt

Hugh Hewitt was Wednesday's winner of the "coveted" award.  Now, some of you may be wondering "Who is Hugh Hewitt?"  Well, he is a blogger on TownHall.com and host of a D-list conservative radio talk show, on the Salem Radio Network.  How appropriate is that?  Salem, as in witchhunts.

 

Dishonourable mention to former Governor and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney for trying to do a political hit on Obama, and just making himself look stupid, especially becuase, at least officially, Putin is a former president of Russia now.

McCain goes off the deep end!

It seems to be a little early in the election campaign to be ranting like this!  Marc Ambinder reports that John McCain basically told Obama not to be a demagogue!  Well according to the Free Dictionary, a demagogue is...

"...A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace..."

Erm, isn't that what President Bush did?  And isn't that what McCain is trying to do in this election?

Karl Rove Subpoenaed!

Crooks and Liars is reporting that House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has issued a Subpoena to former White House Deputy Chief Of Staff and current Fox News Channel contributor and analyst Karl Rove.

Rove seems very happy to talk in the public arena of cable news and in the print media, but he is unwilling to discuss it with the people who really matter.  He can always plead the fifth amendment, but that will convict him in the public arena as surely as his words will.

Obama is almost the nominee, so why is Clinton still running?

According to the figures on the MSNBC website, Barack Obama needs just 65 delegates to achieve the Democratic Party nomination.

Barack Obama	1,961 delegates
Hillary Clinton	1,784 delegates

The target is 2,026 delegates.  Obama is so close to the nomination.  There's only 3 Democratic primaries to go.  Puerto Rico on June 1 and both Montana and South Dakota on June 3.  Puerto Rico has 55 delegates available whilst Montana has 15 and South Dakota has 16.  That totals 87 delegates.  Whilst Obama is not expected to win 65 out of those 87 delegates, it does appear that the remaining Super Delegates will push Obama over the line.

Pollster.com reports that according to the polls, in Puerto Rico, Clinton holds a 13 point lead, 50% to 37%, with 13% undecided.  That poll however was released back in April, so we have no current polling to tell us what the current situation is.

The last poll done in Montana was pre-2008. and that showed Clinton in a 112 point lead, but only 29% to 17%.  We need more information.

In South Dakota, in a poll released back in April, Obama had the 12 point lead, 46% to 34%, with 10% claiming undecided.

Nationally, Obama has at least a 16 point lead over Hillary Clinton according to the two latest polls.  Gallup puts it at 55% to 39% whilst Zogby puts it at 59% to 33%, a massive 26 point lead.  It seems pretty certain to me.  Barack Obama will be the nominee, and it seems pointless for Hillary Clinton to even try to continue.

Yet, she shows no signs of coming close to admitting defeat.  She almost seems to be in denial.  The trouble is, when a Democratic Party candidate starts acting and sounding like a Republican candidate, then it's time to stop.  Hillary, you started sounding like a Republican about 2-3 weeks ago.  You started acting like a Republican, when you failed to deal with Geraldine Ferraro.

It's time you left the campaign trail behind for 2008, and throw your weight and political influence behind Obama.   Do it for the party, if you can't do it for yourself.

American TV Icon: Julie Newmar aka Catwoman

Laura Ingraham subbed for O'Reilly last night, so no Talking Points Memo.  However, O'Reilly had pre-recorded a segment with Julie Newmar, better known to us bat-fans as Catwoman from the 1960s TV series 'Batman'

Now, very little real time was spent on the actual interview, but I'll forgive them that.  They did show a lot of Julie Newmar's work both from Batman and from other material she had done before Batman.

 

 

Not only is Julie Newmar a TV icon for the role, but the whip-cracking feline fatale has gotta be regarded as one of the most iconic characters in television.  She was an on-screen dominatrix, long before that kind of fetishistic imagery was even considered to be fashionable.

Julie Newmar's Catwoman has to be one of the most indelible images in my whole life, and I have been a bat-fan and a Catwoman fan for more years than I care to remember.  I have to admit I also liked Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman in the 1992 move Batman Returns.

 

 

And unlike some, I completely got the Halle Berry 2004 version of Catwoman.  I still feel that her "Razzie" award was unfair, but full credit to her to actually turn up at that ceremony to accept it in person!  I understand she is only the third person person to ever accept a Razzie at the ceremony, and so far, the only actress to do so.

Make no mistake, Catwoman, the feline fatale, is iconic.  The catsuit, the whip, the way she dominates her male underlings, she is a dominatrix.  One that is as popular and enduring today as she has always been.  I dare say there will be other cat-women on screen over the years, but few will ever match the original performances on the 1960s TV series Batman, of Julie Newmar, the original screen Catwoman.

Worst Person In The World: Oliver North

Former Iran Contra Colonel Oliver North wins the award this time for saying that Barack Obama was wrong to look at talking to Iran and quoting John McCain who said that "...you can’t have these kinds of unconditional, no preconditions discussions with despots and dictators..."  This from then guy who co-ordinated sales of American weapons to the military of Iran!

 

 

Dishonourable mentions go to William Kristol, whose memory seems to be failing and his research non existant, and also to Rush Limbaugh, who tried to do rebuttal on Barack Obama by slamming an 1996 online essay about the Great Depression, written by someone who was a tenth grader in 1996!

Senator Kennedy has a brain tumour.

CNN and MSNBC are amongst the news sites and networks covering the news that Senator Edward Kennedy (Democrat: Massachusetts) has a malignant brain tumour, according to doctors treating the senator at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

The news has overshadowed the primaries in Kentucky and Oregon today, where a total of 103 delegates are up for grabs.  If Barack Obama manages to win a majority of those delegates, he'll be so close to the winning line that Hillary Clinton will have to admit defeat.

But my thoughts and prayers are with the family of Senator Kennedy and the whole Kennedy clan.  I wish Senator Kennedy all the best.

O'Reilly vs Olbermann. The feud heats up

Okay, so this feud between Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann has now exploded all over the internet. Both TV Newser and Inside Cable News are all over this story, and especially the article written by Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post.  Newsbusters has the story as well, Murdoch's US newspaper, The New York Post has also weighed in and not surprisingly, Olbermann Watch has spun the story so hard, that they think they're about to acheive orbit!

Unfortunately, none of them have hit the target!  Most of them get close, but like a bad marksman, they cannot hit the bullseye!   They haven't realised what has really been going on.  Allow the TruthSeeker to explain.

Bill O'Reilly has made a career at Fox News Channel out of presenting himself as part of some no-spin zone.  In reality, he's spinning the items in his show to favour right wing thinking, not necessarily the Republicans, but right wing thinking in general.

Like most people who have a conservative/right wing mindset, Bill O'Reilly is incapable of admitting he ever makes a mistake.  It is part of the conservative/right wing mindset to blame someone else for their error, even when it is their fault exclusively, they will blame someone else, just because they refuse to ever blame themselves.

You will occasionally see or hear an apology from some conservatives for some of the really dumb things they have done, but not every time, and in all the times I have watched Bill O'Reilly's programme, I don't think I've ever seen him issue an apology on his show.

Keith Olbermann on the other hand, when he has made a mistake on air, has apologised on air.  In fact, he's even awarded himself some bronze medals in his "Worst Person In The World" segment for doing so.  The Bill O'Reilly equivalent would be to see Bill call himself a pinhead in his "Pinheads and Patriots" segment, for something like the "Malmedy" incident when he got the details mixed up twice!  But there was no apology then, just an attempt at a get out of jail free card!  And Bill O'Reilly has never called himself a pinhead.

Now, I said most of them got close, but kept missing the reality.  Here's why.

The New York Post rightly pointed out that...

"...Olbermann walked out of MSNBC years ago in a huff after also blowing up at ESPN, so TV insiders are curious if this recent behavior is a sign that history will repeat itself."

But, they also say that...

"...Olbermann recently encouraged management to oust the cable channel's lone conservative, Tucker Carlson, and it's also no secret among producers that Olbermann refuses to introduce Dan Abrams' show, which follows his own."

Those statements cannot be backed up by any independent source.  Also, please note, that the New York Post belongs to the same News Corporation that Fox News Channel belongs to, so if there was a definite dirty tricks campaign eminating from Fox, the New York Post would be an obvious outlet.

Now to Inside Cable News, which is one of my favourite blogs, and Spud, who runs that has a lot of respect from me, for going against the corporate spin that eminates out from the corporate news operations in New York and DC.  But this time, he's missed the mark.  His commentary on the Washington Post story began thusly:

"...The problem for NBC is that Bill O’Reilly has become as adept and skilled at distorting and misrepresenting NBC and GE as Keith Olbermann is at distorting and misrepresenting O’Reilly and Fox. It was all fine and dandy for NBC when it was just O’Reilly and anything Murdoch getting beat up. But now that it’s a two way street, NBC is whining."

This sounds like something out of an O'Reilly Talking Points Memo, or something Fox News' anti-Keith Olbermann specialist John Gibson might come up with.   Spud fails to mention that Bill O'Reilly has always been adept and skilled at distorting and misrepresenting people, organisations and companies he didn't like.  But from what I have seen of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Keith hasn't misrepresented anything Bill O'Reilly has said.  In fact, he's been very specific with quotes from the mouth of Bill O'Reilly himself.  Bill O riles against what he sees as "hate speech from the left", but rarely ever touches on the mass of right wing hate speech that comes out from people like Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and many other right wing talk show hosts and columnists continue to spout on an almost daily basis.

And by the way, Keith Olbermann is the only so-called "left wing loon" that Bill O'Reilly never has mentioned by name, on air.  Not once.  Yet he's happy to name the likes of Rosie O'Donnell, Al Franken and many others.  Instead of directly challenging his opponent, he shoots all around him, at every other target possible closely associated with Keith Olbermann, hoping that one of those damages Olbermann too, but as before, like a bad marksman, he keeps missing the target.  He needs to refocus on dealing with Keith more directly, then he'll look like less of a coward.

Basically, Bill O'Reilly can stop this feud immediately, by stopping lying to his viewers.  He can stop the distorting, the misrepresenting, and start dealing in facts and truth, not lies and spin.  His so-called "No Spin Zone" is spinning so fast, the centrifugal force inside it must be close to fatal levels!!!

But as I pointed out earlier, those of a right wing mindset, will never admit they've made a mistake, so Bill O'Reilly and his so called "No Spin Zone" will end up spinning so fast that it will end up destroying The O'Reilly Factor and Fox News with it.

Bob Schieffer's Weekly Commentary: What a week!

Today on CBS News's Face The Nation with Bob Schieffer reviewed the myriad of political upstaging and weirdness that we had seen in just the past week, even though it felt like a year's worth!

 

 

Who said politics can't be fun???

Regime change for Burma could be appropriate?

ABC News in Australia is reporting that an opposition frontbencher in Australia has suggested that regime change could actually be a workable option in the wake of the military regime's rejection of foreign aid workers and experts. 

Whilst it may have been two weeks since the cyclone hit that caused so much damage and death, I'm not sure that that is the appropriate time to be talking about regime change, whilst so many of the country's citizens are struggling to survive.  I agree that the thought has to be on the table, but I don't think now is the time to be dealing with it.

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo: Obama vs Bush/McCain over talking to Iran.

Bill O'Reilly has a habit of saying things in a way that if you were to read it yourself, you'd think it sounded neutral, but Bill O has a way of making it sound anything but.  In this case, it's Obama vs Bush & McCain over the issue of negotiating with Iran.

 

 

Now, for once, I have to give Bill O some credit for doing a very analytical (mostly) memo.  But as usual, Billy's view is pretty much clearly defined even if he doesn't state it explicitly.

There are two key parts of the memo, which highlight Bill's right-wing sensibilities.  The first is sneakily located just after Bill has played clips from both President Bush and the Obama camp.

"...Now this skirmish is important for all of us. The next president will have to fight Islamic fascism, but the battle plan has to be smart..."

This is a Republican talking point all over.  Unfortunately, the Republican strategy of not negotiating with Iran has done absolutely no good.  And comparing negotiating with Iran to the appeasement of the Nazis that was attempted in the run up to the Second World War, which Bush did in his speech in Israel, is not going to aid the poor view that the world holds about America currently and the Bush administration in particular.

The second key part is right at the end of the memo.

"...Now I'm glad President Bush put this on the table, because Americans have to seriously think about this ongoing terror war, which includes Iran.

Lately, gas prices and health care have somewhat obscured the danger we all face from overseas. But now, it's back in play."

This is simply trying to scaremonger us into voting for McCain and not Obama.  The tactic has worked before, but it will not work again.  By saying that gas prices and health care has 'obscured' the danger, it makes it sound like they are distractions rather than current, everyday, everyperson issues that the administration should be dealing with, rather than obsessing over Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Put simply. Bill O wants McCain to win, not because he actually likes McCain and his so-called Straight Talk Express, but simply because McCain is the least worst option in Bill's view.  Compare this to the likes of Dick Morris and Ann Coulter, whose referencing of The Manchurian Candidate, a film about a former POW who was brainwashed in SE Asia by the Chinese, running for President, makes them appear to be somewhat traitorous to their own cause, especially considering who the Republican candidate is this election year.  Hmm, maybe for 2008, we should consider renaming it "The McCainian Candidate"!!!

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo: Racism and Sexism in the Presidential Race?

Bill O'Reilly continues his vengeance against 'race-baiters' and especially continuing to target Dr Boyce Watkins at Syracuse University.  He then follows this up with referencing an op-ed column in the Boston Globe.

 

 

I do wish Bill would wake up to reality.  There are racists in America and accusing those who highlight this of being race-baiters, isn't exactly helpful.

Worst Person In The World: General Thomas McInerney

Thursday's winner was General Thomas McInerney.  Who?  Well he's a retired general who apparently is on the board of several companies who do business with the Pentagon, and is apparently a military analyst for Fixed Noise! (I have to agree with the Third Doctor Who when he said that he thought 'military intelligence' was a contradiction in terms!)

 

 

Dishonourable mentions go to House Minority Leader John 'Bonehead' Boehner, who accused Obama of describing Israel as a constant sore, despite the fact that Obama actually said that the issue of settlements in the Palestine/Israel war was a constant sore, not Israel itself. 

Holding celebrities to account?

Here on Viewpoint and on TruthSeeker, I do my best to hold politicians, pundits and columnists to account.  I also at least do try and highlight when they get it right too.  But there is a blog out there that aims to point out every famous hypocrite, be they politician or celebrity.

The trouble is, I think they're a little over-zealous with their hypocrisy-hunting.  That or it's a poor excuse to focus on pretty female celebrities, who do seem to be the so-called main offenders according to Deceiver.com.

For instance, a recent post about Heroes cheerleader Hayden Panettiere referenced Murdoch rag The Sun and a story about rumours that Hayden is a lesbian.  Rather than try to deny it, she went completely the other way...

She said: “That’s fine with me. If I’m going to be linked with someone, I could do an affair with Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba or Charlize Theron.

“And Kate Beckinsale is gorgeous. There are so many beautiful girls.”

Well, I can't disagree with her, but I can disagree with Deceiver, and another blog they reference, IDontLikeYouInThatWay.com, who say...

"Her publicists have already tried the Lolita thing, now there are "rumors" that this chick is a lesbian. So basically, they are trying everything they can to turn Panettiere into a sex symbol. In reality, the only thing that might work is a growth spurt and some thigh exercises."

I think that's very unfair, as she is a very sexy looking lady, in a girl next door kinda way.  Deceiver are no better...

"...the only reason she’s obnoxiously propagating this titillating tidbit is that she wants you to picture her making out with women who are way, way hotter than she is, and hope it rubs off on her a little."

Oh come on.  Are you seriously trying to tell me that this a cynical ploy to make her seem sexier?  Kinky Gerlinky has some very sexy pictures of Hayden in a lovely blue dress and thigh high leather boots, and Booted Up has more pictures of Hayden looking very pretty and very sexy in boots.  Boot Lady Teri, who runs the blog and Bootlovers.com, which the blog is associated with, even manages to congratulate Hayden on being a well behaved, decent young lady.

I think she's hot enough to not need any publicist to try and up her hotness.  No, this is much simpler than that.  What Hayden is doing is ending a rumour by not taking it seriously and laughing with it.  And because Hayden has not become the next Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan in the celebrity disaster department, these blogs, like Deceiver, are using every last excuse they can to criticise her and print her pictures.

Sorry, but this is easier to see through than a window!  I don't make a habit of criticising blogs without reason.  After all, most blogs are just ordinary people writing down their opinions, or keeping a diary of events and thoughts, and I'm pretty much the same.  I respect the differences in opinions, with the proviso that there is a factual basis for their opinion.  Opinions just for the sake of opinions is not something I do, and is definitely not something I like other people doing.  But it has to be said, when the truth is that visible, that obvious, and so well established by many other celebrities over the years doing the exact same thing, dismissing a rumour by laughing with it, you've gotta wonder whether the writer of that blog post has an ulterior agenda at work, and I strongly believe they do.

Like most tabloids and celeb-obsessed magazines, these celeb-obsessed blogs are looking for any excuse, however flimsy, to highlight certain celebrities, because they believe, rightly or wrongly, that covering those celebrities will get them readers.  I do understand that certain stories will get readers flocking to a blog, I experienced that myself with the recent Austrian Incest case, which brought more readers onto the blog than ever before.  But unlike the celebrity obsessive blogs, I look for the stories I want to cover, and if that means I get plenty of readers clicking through to the blog, even better.

Deceiver by name, and deceiver by nature.  Deceiver.com flatters to deceive.

Worst Person In The World: Bill O'Reilly

Bill O'Reilly adds yet another Worst Person In The World award to the continually growing collection.  He must have over 300 gold, 600 silver and 400 bronze medals from Keith Olbermann over the years.

 

 

Dishonourable mention goes to Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, who complains that the media has been biased towards Barack Obama, then follows that by saying "We're not complaining."  It would seem to me that Hillary Clinton and her campaign are sounding more and more like Republicans every day.

Keith Olbermann Special Comment: Mr Bush, this war isn't about you.

Keith Olbermann has done one of his most emotional, heartfelt and loudest Special Comments yet on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. 

 

 

I think at the end of the piece, he was a split second away from releasing an F bomb that would have truly exploded very loudly and been heard around the world. 

Crooks and Liars and MSNBC of course have the transcript.

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo: Race baiting part deux!

Why do one story once when you can do the same subject repeatedly and really reinforce your point, even if it is wrong.  It's the old idea of if you repeat something often enough, people will accept it as fact.

He even sends another producer-monkey to do an ambush!

 

 

Make no mistake, race-baiters are BillO's "enemy du jour" and he will stop at nothing to make sure you get the idea that race is an issue in this election, even though Barack Obama has done everything possible to minimize it as an issue.

Worst Person In The World: Roger Ailes

Friday night's gold medal winner (the medals aren't real gold, just gold foil covered chocolate!) was the big boss man himself at Fox News, Roger Ailes.  The reason: firing a 24 year old production assistant who happened to say on-air to Republican presidential candidate John McCain, that she'd voted for him and she knew he was going to win.  Compared to some of the much more ringing endorsements that Fox used to put out for St Rudi of 9/11, that seems a little bit hollow.

Special mention goes to the other big dog of Fox News, ratings big dog Bill O'Reilly for the story I mentioned over on TruthSeeker.  No surprise at all that Keith Olbermann called BillO out on that one too.

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo: Race-baiting in the Presidential Election.

BillO's latest memo on Friday night (he's slipping, he's only done 3 memos this week!) was to those people who he called "race-baiters".  By his definition, these are people who cry "race" at the slightest hint of even a racial overtone.

Calling Washington Post columnist and contributor ot MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann Eugene Robinson a race-baiter, is really just another way at sniping at Keith Olbermann. Sniping at Keith's bosses at NBC Universal and GE haven't helped matters, so Billy boy tries a new tactic. He goes after those contribute to the show. Make the guest analysts seem lousy or biased and you smear Keith by association, or at least that's the idea.

In point of fact, all the Bellow-full of Bluster is doing is making himself look bad, but of course, he doesn't see it that way. In his eyes, nothing could make him look bad.

2 Years of Viewpoint

It was two years ago today that I made my first entry into the world of Blogging with my original Viewpoint blog over on Geocities. Because it was my first blog, I wrote about absolutely anything that interested me. Previously, I had run a TV ident site on there, called Ident City, which has recently been relaunched in the blog format. Viewpoint however was much more generic. The sub-title that I gave the blog was "Random Thoughts about Life, The Universe... and other strangeness."

Times have changed since then, and so has Viewpoint. The blog has adapted into much more of a news and media commentary blog, with a side angle though in some of the more interesting aspects of life. The sub-title for the blog got shortened, and technically added to the title at the top of your browser window. It sums up the blog still, even though most of the posts relate to events in the news and to the wide and wierd world of the media.

Various common titles keep cropping up and have become very much a part of the blog. "Viewpoint Extra" is where I follow up on a particular story with more information. "Viewpoint Original" is a post about a subject that is not in the news, but a piece of original reporting from myself, and "Viewpoint Special" tends to be a special commentary on a particular subject. Most commentaries from me follow one very particular rule. Report the story first, then comment on it. My Viewpoint Specials don't follow this rule, usually because there is so much reporting on it, that a commentary is all that is needed.

Viewpoint also has made use of various other types of posts including roundup posts, where I link together various news stories from around the net. Sometimes they are all related to one story, where others have been mixtures of stories from all around the net.

In the days, weeks and months to come, I will continue to bring you the real news and sensible commentary on the issues and stories of the day. I will also highlight those who say silly things and make ridiculous commentaries without thinking about the consequences.]

Stay sharp!

Viewpoint Extra: Is it time for Hillary to step aside?

In a follow up to my previous post about Hillary Clinton's presdiential campaign, two stories to bring you. The first comes from NBC's Today show where Andrea Mitchell reports on the differences between the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.



Whilst Huffington Post reports that Hillary's husband, former President Bill Clinton, has switched his allegence from his wife to Barack Obama.

I'm afraid I hear The Dead March being played at Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters.

Worst Person In The World: Cindy McCain

Thursday night's honours went to Cindy McCain, the wife of Republican presidential candidate John McCain. Unfortuantely it was not for the revelation on the Today show that her tax returns would not be revealed, but for the statement, made in that same interview that McCain would not be running a negative campaign against Obama. I got news for you, Cindy, he already has!



Dishonourable mention goes to Dick Morris, who channeled Ann Coulter in using an oblique Manchurian Candidate reference against Obama, which given the fact that John McCain is a Vietnam veteran and former POW, leads me down the line of the pot calling the kettle black.

By the way, the interview Cindy McCain gave on the Today show, which they labelled an "Exclusive" is also here.

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo: Obama locks up the nomination.

I've said it once or twice, but Bill O'Reilly and I do not see eye to eye on a lot of things. But I do agree with Bill O on much of what he says in his latest Talking Points Memo, Wednesday night on the Factor. Obama, to all intents and purposes, does indeed have the nomination locked up, and deep down, Hillary Clinton knows it.



I also agree with Bill when he says that the Obama vs McCain race will be intense. And indeed, race will be a factor.

As for VP nominations, I think Barack Obama could do a lot worse than having New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, as his running mate. As for McCain, it is likely that either Senator Lindsay Graham or Senator Joseph Lieberman, the so called "Independent Democrat", will be his running mate.

Worst Person In The World: E. D. Hill.

Wednesday night's winner was E. D. Hill of Fox News Channel. Funnily enough, according to Wikipedia, her real name is Edith Ann Tarbox! You know, Miss Hill, you could have gotten away with using the name Edie, instead of tunring it into meaningless initials!



Dishonourable mention goes to right wing water carrier Rush 'Limburger' Limbaugh, who's "OperationE Chaos" backfired so spectacularly, that he changed his tune and said he wanted it to do that! Is there a Republican in the US who can actually say "sorry, I made a mistake" and then just go oops and get out of the way for a small amount of time, say about 2 years???

Berlusconi - Back as Italian PM!

It was back on May 2 2006 that Silvio Berlusconi resigned as Italian Prime Minister.  Today, he and his cabinet have been officially appointed, again.

 

This makes it Italy's 62nd post-WW2 government.  And since WW2 ended in 1945, 63 years ago, this makes Italy one of the most politically unstable countries in Europe.

 

This is the third time Berlusconi has been PM, and again, just as the last time, because he owns MediaSet, and as PM is responsible for appointing some of the top management at RAI, there is a permanent conflict of interest. 

 

Berlusconi's two previous times as Prime Minister could best be described as mixed.  HIs May 1994 election as PM only lasted until January 1995, due to political squabbles within the coalition.  His election in 2001 lasted much longer than the previous one, almost 5 years in fact.  But the MediaSet/RAI issue dogged his tenure and towards the end of his premiership, investigations into him managed to bring in Labour minister Tessa Jowell and her husband into the controversy.

 

How long Berlusconi will last this time, only time will tell, but you can be sure of this: He will do everything he can to stay in the spotlight, and he will use RAI and MediaSet to do that.  He did it before, and unquestionably, he would do it again.

Viewpoint Special: Is it time for Hillary to step aside?

And now, from Viewpoint, an extra special commentary on the Democratic nomination process.

On Tuesday 13th May, the continuing saga of the Democratic Party nomination process moves to West Virginia. A week later, Kentucky and Oregon. June 1st sees Puerto Rico voting before June 3rd ends the process in South Dakota and Montana. A total of 217 delegates up for grabs.

There are a total of 795 super delegates in this process and so far, 529 super delegates have declared. That leaves 266 super delegates to be declared. Overall, a total of 483 delegates available to Obama and Clinton. Obama only needs 181 delegates whilst Clinton needs 330.

Whilst the maths might say that Clinton can still win this, common sense must be kicking in soon. Clinton needs a combination of pledged delegates and super delegates. Obama mathematically can win the nomination without another super delegate, although in reality, he will need super delegates too. Obama is that much closer to the line and Clinton must realise that soon, the numbers will be against her and there will be no way for her to win.

Hillary Clinton, give up this fight now, you will lose it, without question. What's more, you will have almost single handedly destroyed the Clinton legacy by not knowing that now, IS the right time to bow out. Your chances of winning are slim and you risk doing more damage to the party than anything else. If you truly care about the fact that the Democrats MUST win in November, you should bow out now gracefully and give yourself a chance in 8 years time, to become the nominee again.

In View: The Imperial Party.

I do have a habit of looking for the unusual and the bizarre on the web, and I often go my own way politically. One of the more unusal things I have found on the web is web sites belonging to political parties who are shall we say minor parties. One such party in the UK is The Imperial Party.

Thomas Davison is offically the party's founder and leader, and whilst some of the basic ideals sound fine, once you get to the details, it all falls apart like a house of cards.

“Respect, Honesty, Integrity, Manners, Fair Play”

Sounds almost likeable doesn't it? But read on a bit further...

"...Our party wants back our right to freedom of speech for England and the English People and to reintroduce Christian values into our lives."

Christian values? I wouldn't go shouting that out too loudly, the "Christian Right" isn't exactly the more popular political voice with good reason. I was taught Christianity was about tolerance and forgiveness, two things that I do not see a lot of in the "Christian Right".

"...We will revoke all unnecessary ‘harmonisation’ laws forced on us by the E.U., and revert to Britain’s traditional systems of measurement and practice."

Does this mean you want to take us back pre-decimalisation? Back to before 1971? Why not go the whole hog, and make that a pound is 100 shillings and a shilling is 100 pence. Instantly, you'd reduce the price of the average home from £222,256 to £2,222.56, making house prices much more affordable!!!

"...congestion on the roads will be eased by new lorry-only toll roads for goods vehicles, expanding the breath of our major motorways..."

Lorry only toll roads? In case you hadn't heard, toll roads don't work. They force traffic onto smaller roads, increasing pollution and noise. And as for expanding the breadth of the motorways, everytime lanes get added to a motorway, they fill up just as quickly as the last time they were widened, you can't go on widening forever.

"...Under an Imperial Party government there would neither be tax-avoiders nor tax-victims. A single flat income tax of 25% will keep the treasury full and could reasonably be met by all sections of society. "

Hmm, that's a good idea, but I'm not sure you could keep the single tax rate that low. I'm more inclined to believe it would have to be around 30% or higher to fund the plans of the Imperial Party.

"...With the Imperial Party controlling Westminster, all over-60s will be entitled to exemption from council tax, heating bills, television licences, road tax, bus and tram fares and road tax. Special reduced-rent housing for over-60s only will be built for those who want it, and care homes should and will be provided free as part of the NHS. All pensioners requesting it will receive a liveable, non-means-tested pension, and we shall restore the link with earnings for those as yet not retired. Within a few decades, our Personal Added Tax (PAT) policy will ensure that pensions will remain sustainable and that there will be no ‘crash’."

This doesn't read too well. It looks like it hasn't been costed properly, and the sums just don't seem to add up. The retiree population is growing every minute as we all live longer lives. I'm more inclined to believe these policies will make the crash happen much quicker rather than preventing it. Very populist sounding, but they don't stand up to scrutiny.

"...We will institute ‘new business panels’ across the country, to which those wanting to start a new business may present their commercial ideas; if considered likely to be commercially viable, such new businesses would qualify for grants to help them achieve success."

Again, another great sounding idea, but the reality is you'd be creating regional versions of the BBC show "Dragon's Den". You're going to have an awful lot of disappointed people who won't learn great lessons in life because they tried and failed their own business. Some of these lessons can only be learned the hard way, and preventing people from learning them does not help their personal or business skills development, and I speak from experience.

"... Britain’s economic success and prosperity depends on Her businesses being beneficial to Her; we would ensure all British businesses remain in British ownership, no more the 49% of any business being allowed to fall into foreign hands."

One word describes this beautifully. Protectionism!

"... BBC to end their supposition type news and relay actual news and end the license fee, eventually to be sold off to commercial enterprise as it no longer a neutral , unbiased and independent body."

'Supposition type news'? Do you even know what you're saying? You're saying the BBC does not report facts. And as for ending the licence fee and selling off the BBC, you may as well destory it , for that is what will happen anyway if you sell it off.

"... Police officers to go back to patrolling the streets and given more powers to question and retain suspects, anyone found carrying a gun to be given hard labour for life."

Now how do you juxtapose that with...

"... We reject the creeping Police State being stealthily imposed on us..." Hmm?

You either don't want a police state, or you do, you cannot have it both ways.

"... Speed camera's and traps to be discontinued they are only a means to raise money for local government."

Excuse me, this keeps getting spouted by various political parties. How about some proof, that they are ONLY a means to raise money and NOT a way to catch offenders as they should be caught, in the act!

"... We will reinstate marriage as the basis of the family unit, we will make it harder to divorce; children need both parents who live together."

Erm, hate to break this to ya, but there has never been an official government line on what is a family unit. And whilst I agree that children need two parents who can get along well and live together, a household where the parents don't get along is NOT a good place for a child to grow up. Yet by your policies, you would force families that don't get along to stay together because of the children. Again, you can't have the penny and the bun.

"... All unemployed people to be given training at government centres in needed usable skills, if no work available in area, government will employ person on minimum wage until other work found."

Oh dear, talk about a bloated government. Another idea that sounds good, but hasn't been costed properly.

"... We will end overseas hand-outs. All charity moneys to go to UK causes."

I'm sure Oxfam and the Disasters Emergency Committee will love you guys!!!

This is what I meant when I said that some great ideals are let down by unpractical, uncosted, unworkable policies. This is the 21st cetury now, not the 19th Century!

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo: Fallout from Clinton interview

Bill O'Reilly basically gloated about his interview with Hilary Clinton on Monday night's Factor. But as usual, he couldn't help but stick a few jibes in at MoveOn.org.



Funnily enough I checked MoveOn.org, and surprise surprise, there is no campaign on their site against Hillary Clinton. I think Bill O substitutes the word "liberals" or "progressives" with the term "MoveOn.org and their ilk", to make them sound less reputable and make the Democrats seem less electable.

The reality though is that the words of many Republicans make them and their party seem less electable everytime I hear them. The Republican Party and the conservative movement seem to heading further and further into radicalism and extremity, and that brings them closer to parties like the British National Party and the National Front, and that cannot be good for political discourse, not just in the US, but around the world.

Worst Person In The World: Rush Limburger

Rush "Limburger" Limbaugh takes the top spot in Monday night's Worst Person In The World on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Honourable mentions going to Steve Doocy's son and William Kristol.



Nobody should be able to get away with thinking that a mayor of major city looked more like a shoeshine boy.

Freesat launches in UK

Finally a new competitor to Sky has emerged in the UK. Freesat is a BBC and ITV joint venture designed to provide a subscription free alternative to Sky. Currently with around 80 channels, and more coming on stream soon, Freesat looks like a decent competitor.

All the major channels from BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and S4/C are there with Channel 5 expected to follow soon. News channels are well represented with BBC News, AlJazeera and EuroNews, whilst movie channels are also well represented with the two True Movies channels plus Movies 4 Men. Unfortunately sport is not currently represented on Freesat, but with a currently expected 200 channels expected to be available soon, Freesat could well provide the alternative to paying out a monthly subscription to Sky or Cable that many people have been looking for.

Daily Telegraph lists the most influential Political Pundits, mostly conservatives.

The Daily Telegraph in the UK has listed the 50 most influential political pundits in the US. Crooks and Liars looks at the list with some degree of dismay. Nicole Belle who wrote the post probably didn't know that the Daily Telegraph is the UK equivalent of the Washington Times in political stance.

The full list runs like this, with political viewpoint added...

50 - Rachel Maddow (Lib)
49 - Mary Matalin (Con)
48 - Paul Krugman (Lib)
47 - J. C. Watts (Con)
46 - Mark Levin (Con)
45 - Fred Barnes (Con)
44 - Jeffrey Toobin (Ind)
43 - Paul Begala (Lib)
42 - Bill Bennett (Con)
41 - Mark Shields (Lib)
40 - Tony Snow (Con)
39 - Dee Dee Myers (Lib)
38 - Michael Barone (Con)
37 - Eugene Robinson (Lib)
36 - Newt Gingrich (Con)
35 - Joe Trippi (Lib)
34 - Howard Kurtz (Ind)
33 - Roland Martin (Lib)
32 - William Kristol (Con)
31 - Juan Williams (Ind)
30 - Peggy Noonan (Con)
29 - Ron Fournier (Ind)
28 - James Carville (Lib)
27 - Pat Buchanan (Con)
26 - Arriana Huffington (Lib)
25 - Michael Savage (Con)
24 - Laura Ingraham (Con)
23 - Mike Allen (Ind)
22 - Dick Morris (Con)
21 - David Gergen (Con)
20 - Joe Klein (Lib)
19 - Donna Brazille (Lib)
18 - Frank Luntz (Con)
17 - Andrew Sullivan (Con)
16 - Glenn Beck (Con)
15 - Bill Maher (Lib)
14 - Chuck Todd (Ind)
13 - Keith Olbermann (Lib)
12 - Bill O'Reilly (Con)
11 - Stephen Colbert (Lib - portrays a conservative)
10 - Mark Halperin (Ind)
09 - David Brooks (Con)
08 - Jon Stewart (Lib)
07 - Tim Russert (Ind)
06 - Matt Drudge (Con)
05 - John Harris & Jim Vandehei (Ind)
04 - Rush Limbaugh (Con)
03 - Sean Hannitty (Con)
02 - Chris Matthews (Lib)
01 - Karl Rove (Con)

Can't say I agree with this list. Rove could hardly be described as influential, he's only been a pundit for a few months. Both Olbermann and O'Reilly should rate higher, but that's just my opinion.

Worst Person In The World: Ann Coulter

"Coultergeist" is back, and winning the usual awards, such as Countdown's Worst Person In The World.



Well done, Coultergeist. At least you managed to keep Bill O'Reilly off the top spot.

Boris The Buffoon becomes Mayor Boris of London

When someone says the name "Boris Johnson" to me, lots of things come to mind. His untidy, unruly mop of a haircut is one. His unerring ability to gaffe even the simplest issues is another.

Now, as well as being an MP for Henley at the Westminster parliament, he has been elected as Mayor Of London. His style is known to be eccentic, almost buffoon-like in its eccentricity. A perfect example of this is a comment that was written in a column in the Daily Telegraph in 2004.

"There is absolutely no one, apart from yourself, who can prevent you, in the middle of the night, from sneaking down to tidy up the edges of that hunk of cheese at the back of the fridge."

What brought that line out in the article? Who knows, who cares! Boris's eccentricity and buffoonery are legend, as is his ability to gaffe. Indeed, The Hindu in India, in refering to the election of Boris used the headline "Gaffe-prone Johnson is London Mayor". Amongst the many times he has gaffed are the following...

"...The proposed ban on incitement to “religious hatred” make no sense unless it involves a ban on the Koran itself..." from his Daily Telegraph column in 2005.

"...Yes, cannabis is dangerous, but no more than other perfectly legal drugs. It's time for a rethink, and the Tory party - the funkiest, most jiving party on Earth - is where it's happening..." from his Daily Telegraph column in 2001

"...Look the point is ... er, what is the point? It is a tough job but somebody has got to do it..." upon being appointed Shadow Arts Minister in 2004.

"...I can't remember what my line on drugs is. What's my line on drugs?" During the 2005 UK General Election.

His opinions on people seem to change too. Witness the following quote from 2003 on US Presdient Bush from an editorial in the Spectator.

"...The President is a cross-eyed Texan warmonger, unelected, inarticulate, who epitomises the arrogance of American foreign policy..."

But he wasn't so vitriolic against him in his book "Have I Got Views For You"...

"...Not only did I want Bush to win, but we threw the entire weight of The Spectator behind him."

Now we have a buffoon, running the capital city. The term "political circus" has never been more apt. London is about to become a circus with Boris as a ringmaster in clown's makeup! It could be that Boris's gaffing between now and the next General Election might actually put a dent in David Cameron's plans to be PM. The Conservatives may have won the Battle Of London but they might lose the war as a result. Only time will tell.

The London Mayoral Election Result

Well, about ten minutes to midnight, and the results are finally announced at City Hall. With no single candidate getting over 50% of the vote after first preference votes were counted, it was down to Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone, and despite Ken picking up more second preference votes than Boris, the gap after first preference votes had been too great to make up, therefore, Boris Johnson is the new Mayor Of London.

The capital city, will be run by the biggest buffoon in UK politics.

I'll prove my point in a later post.

Local Elections 2008: England & Wales Local Councils - Results Review

With all 159 councils having declared in the Local Council Elections, it's time to review the results and analyse them.

It's not really surprising what the headlines are. Conservatives gaining 12 councils and 256 councillors, Labour losing 9 councils and 331 councillors. The media is refering to the losses for Labour as huge. Maybe in pure terms of numbers, losing over 300 councillors sounds like a lot, but in analytical terms, it's not nearly such a massive loss.

Remember, this is not 1 election to a governing body, but 159 elections to 159 different governing bodies, in these cases, local councils. When you do the maths, you realise that one average, Labour has only lost the equivalent of just under 2.1 councillors per council. Certainly not anywhere near as impressive sounding is it?

The Conservatives are trying to claim a major success. Yet, there are enough negatves out there for me to suggest that their 'major success' is somwhat tempered. Look through all 159 results and you see some really striking ones.

In Burnley, the council had been pretty much split between LibDems and Labour with Conservatives and BNP way back. However, the gainers from Labour's misfortune this time was not the Conservatives, but the Liberal Democrats who took control of the council with 23 seats to Labour's 12. Neither the Cobservatives (6) nor the BNP (4) gained out of Labour's misfortunes. For David Cameron, the failure make any kind of move in Burnley must be seen as somewhat of a failure.

In Colchester, which had been a Conservative council, albeit only briefly for less than a year, the Conservatives lost seats and lost control of the council. The Conservatives lost 5 seats there, with Labour actually picking up 4 seats, and the LibDems the remaining seat.

Coventry also went against the grain, with just 1 seat out of the 18 seats up for election changing hands, but it went from Conservative to Labour and with it, the Conservatives lost control of the council.

In St Albans, the Liberal Democrats took control of the council, despite the Conservatives having the better performance and gaining 3 seats, compared to the LibDems gaining only 1. But that 1 seat was sufficient to give the LibDems control and rather took the shine off what looked a good performance.

In Oxford, the Conservatives only had two seats on the council before the election. By the end of the night, they had none at all, wiped out. In Sheffield too, the 1 Conservative councillor there lost his seat, and the party is not represented on the council at all.

Add to this councils like Adur, Barrow in Furness, Brentwood, Burnley, Castle Point, Cheltenham, Daventry, Fareham, Kingston-upon-Hull, Manchester, Mole Valley, Rochdale, Runnymede, South Tyneside, St Helens, Stoke-On-Trent, Stroud, Swansea, Swindon, Thurrock, Wallsall, Watford, Waveney, Winchester, Woking and Worcester where the Conservatives failed to gain any seats at all, and it does somewhat take more than an edge of the Conservatives "major success".

There are also councils like Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Gateshead, Gwynedd, Knowsley, Liverpool, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Oxford and Sheffield where the Conservatives haven't even got a single seat on the council, and councils such as Bridgend, Broxbourne, Colchester, Coventry, Derby, Eastleigh, Gosport, Huntingdonshire, Ipswich, Leeds, Oxford, Purbeck, Reigate & Banstead, Sefton, Sheffield, Slough, South Lakeland, Southend-on-Sea and Stratford-On-Avon where the Conservatives suffered losses rather than gains.

Now how major does their success look? It looks rather patchy to me.

Bill O'Reilly Talking Points Memo: Thursday 1st May 2008

On Thursday night's edition of the Factor, Bill O managed the truly incredible feat of linking the Reverend Jeremiah Wright with former left wing radio talk show host, comedian and writer Al Franken. These links are getting more and more tenuous, even more tenuous than a Radio 4 link!



What I find particularly galling is the way he talks about the hate business being good for Wright and his church, yet conveniently forgets about all the money Fox News and their hatemongers, including BillO and Sean Hannity, make. "Fair and balanced"? I think not.

Worst Person In The World: Bill O'Reilly

He's done the Trifecta! 3 days on the trot for Bill O'Reilly as Countdown's Worst Person in the World.



If it hadn't been for Monday, he'd have run the gauntlet!

Pair found guilty of blackmailing royal

BBC News is reporting two men who tried to blackmail a member of the Royal Family have been found guilty of blackmail at the Old Bailey.

We still don't know who the 'minor royal' was the centre of the claims, and we probably never will, but I don't really care. This was pure greed at work. Trying unsuccessfully to sell the story to the papers, then trying to blackmail the royal in question. Greed is never good, no matter what Gordon Gecko said in "Wall Street".

"D.C. Madam" commits suicide in Florida.

MSNBC are amongst the many news sites at the moment reporting the death in Flordia of Deborah Jeane Palfrey. If the name rings no bells, then go back to last year, when the DC Madam scandal was dominating the political headlines in Washington. Republican Senator David Vitter from Louisiana was one of the more high profile names that got caught up in the scandal, but others did not escape scot-free either.

An official at the State Department, Randall Tobias, who was director of foreign aid programs, resigned his post after being caught in the scandal.

Of the usual blog sources that I follow, only Huffington Post has anything on the story currently, with one source suggesting that Deborah Jeane Palfrey suspercted she might be "suicided". She said she would not commit suicide, and if she was ever found dead, it was likely to have been murder. Now, whether this was paranoid ravings, or something closer to the truth, I'm not sure we'll ever know, because the Republicans, and the rest of the DC political establishment would love nothing more than to see this story buried.

Viewpoint Special: The Austrian Incest Case

I know that a lot of you are coming here for more information on the case of the Austrian man, Josef Fritzl, who kidnapped his own daughter and fathered seven children with her.

EuroNews is reporting that Fritzl is alledged to have threatened to kill his incestuous family with poison gas if they tried to escape.

France 24 reports that prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for Fritzl. Although incest and rape carries shorter sentences, they're trying to establish a manslaughter case against Fritzl for the death of the seventh child.

Radio Netherlands Worldwide is reporting that police are asking for information from Fritzl's neighbours in the town of Amstetten.

RTE News is reporting that police are looking into possible links between the incest case, and the case of a murdered teenager in 1986 that has remained unsolved.

SwissInfo is reporting that Firtzl pretended to be his own daughter, in a phone call to his own wife back in 1994.

CNN reports that a tenant in Josef Fritzl's house claims that Fritzl's son was often seen entering the secret basement, an area that Fritzl said was off-limits to his tenant and indeed to his own wife.

All in all, much more information is coming out and we'll try and keep track of it here, as it develops.