It’s laughable, really.

The Irish Government tonight vowed to give “whatever support it could” in the
hunt for one of Spain’s most notorious convicted ETA terrorists wanted
by Interpol. Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos, who was released from
jail in August, is believed to still be in Ireland, having applied for
a passport at the Spanish Embassy in Dublin three weeks ago.  The convicted terrorist, who was released in August, is now wanted
by a Spanish judge to answer charges that he praised or supported
terrorism in a letter on his release in the summer. Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said Gardaí would give whatever support they could in the hunt for Inaki. “As
far as I’m concerned and the Government is concerned, Ireland should
not have terrorists, either indigenous or foreign, on our shores,” he
said.

Well, Dermot, I am sure you do believe that. However it also strikes me that if I consider the success rate of the Irish Government in tracking doiwn the legion of IRA terrorists operating within the State over the decades, I would say that Mr Chaos is probably safe enough.

Also interesting that he chose Ireland as his preferred destination post-prison. Must have been the weather I guess….?

Here is a good example of how slow Joe Biden – the man with foreign policy experience – was thinking a few weeks AFTER 9/11…..I hope Sarah Palin reads it. I also wonder why the MSM is so slow to investigate these on the record utterances from Obama’s chosen running mate? Experience should be as open to scrutiny as inexperience!

“At the Tuesday-morning meeting with committee
staffers, Biden launches into a stream-of-consciousness monologue about
what his committee should be doing, before he finally admits the
obvious: “I’m groping here.” Then he hits on an idea: America needs to
show the Arab world that we’re not bent on its destruction. “Seems to
me this would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for
$200 million to Iran,” Biden declares. He surveys the table with raised
eyebrows, a How do ya like that? look on his face.

The
staffers sit in silence. Finally somebody ventures a response: “I think
they’d send it back.” Then another aide speaks up delicately: “The
thing I would worry about is that it would almost look like a publicity
stunt.” Still another reminds Biden that an Iranian delegation is in
Moscow that very day to discuss a $300 million arms deal with Vladimir
Putin that the United States has strongly condemned. But Joe Biden is barely listening anymore. He’s already moved on to something else.”

I see that Bette Midler has decided to save the planet …and stop touring globally.

“Over the years, the number of trucks that I have behind me has
grown exponentially and I don’t really like that, I don’t like wasting
the gas. Fourteen trucks, that’s a lot of gas. So I decided I’d stay put for a while.”

Obama supporting Bette cares about the planet and she is putting her mouth where her money is.

She has also just landed a $13m residency in Vegas.

Clearly there is no connection between landing this vast residency ideal and her planetary largesse. Right?

Did you see that John McCain has suspended his campaign? Read this statement from McCain and then ask yourself which Presidential candidate is showing real leadership – they key characteristic of a good President.

“America this week faces an historic crisis in our
financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If
we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our
economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life
savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay
their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be
impacted. We cannot allow this to happen.

Last Friday, I laid
out my proposal and I have since discussed my priorities and concerns
with the bill the Administration has put forward. Senator Obama has
expressed his priorities and concerns.This morning, I met with a group
of economic advisers to talk about the proposal on the table and the
steps that we should take going forward.I have also spoken with members
of Congress to hear their perspective.

It has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the
Administration’ proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table
will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.

Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington
after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. I have spoken to
Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to
join me.

I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership
from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is
time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must
meet until this crisis is resolved.I am directing my campaign to work
with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to
delay Friday night’s debate until we have taken action to address this
crisis.

I am confident that before the markets open on Monday we can achieve
consensus on legislation that will stabilize our financial markets,
protect taxpayers and homeowners, and earn the confidence of the
American people. All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set
politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.

Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time
of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now. Americans across
our country lament the fact that partisan divisions in Washington have
prevented us from addressing our national challenges. Now is our chance
to come together to prove that Washington is once again capable of
leading this country.

Do YOU think that a culture of risk aversion is creating a cruel society? So says an adviser to Gordon Brown. Instead of showing kindness, people prefer to do nothing for fear of being sued, says Baroness Neuberger. She
says attempts to eliminate all risk are preventing even small acts of
kindness such as putting a comforting arm around the shoulders of a
hospital patient.

She’s right.

I have been invited to go on the BBC tomorrow morning – The Nolan Show – to discuss this topic around 9.30-10am.

Personally I point the finger of blame in three directions.

1. The lawyers. There is no doubt that the enthusiasm amongst legal beagles to chase compensation claims on every front contributes massively to the fear of doing anything society we now live in.

2. Ordinary citizens. If we allow ourselves to be scared of doing the most basic acts of humanitarian kindness, then we must accept  the consequences. They also seem to think they are entitled to sue everyone and anyone these days and so we can’t just blame the lawyers!

3. The Government. Labour has presided over a decade or more of this relentless risk aversion. It is responsible for the vast public sector and this is where the do nothing cancer originates. Now I fully accept that there are many kind people in all walks of life but government could make life easier for them by supporting them when they bring a little kindness to the hurt, the lost, those in pain and those in need. They have failed miserably in this regard so perhaps Julia Neuberger could start with a word in the shell-like of her boss, and saviour of the universe, Gordon Brown!!

What say you on this topic? Who is to blame for our culture of risk – of doing anything  such as a teacher putting a plaster on a child’s knee if it has been cut whilst playing in school. Let’s be hearing from you…   

Hyscience writes:

“I’m glad someone finally came out and said so besides me; the real conflict that divides Americans is character.  (my emphasis)

And Terrence Jeffrey has nailed it: Some of us rely on ourselves, while the rest rely on the federal government and politicians who exploit that reliance to gain and maintain political power, and those corporate bureaucrats who exploit that reliance to get money.

Most of us who are self reliant will be voting for John McCain and Sarah Palin; virtually all of those who rely on the federal government and politicians who exploit that reliance to gain and maintain political power, and those corporate bureaucrats who exploit that reliance to get money will be voting for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”

I don’t claim to know all the ins and out of the sub prime and credit crashes that have hit us all so hard. City bonuses in my opinion are pretty grotesque and doubtless City practises were dodgy.

Why hasn’t anyone mentioned the dolts who took out mortgages and credit they were never going to be able to pay off?

The companies that serviced those mortgages were dispicable with their % rates.  But as now it turns out the people who took out those mortgages were no better or worse than people who willingly leech off the welfare state. 

The American punter picks up the cost of all that via a nationalisation programme that would make Clement Atlee’s eyes water (to quote Pub Philosopher).

Taking on a mortgage or any kind of credit is a serious business and if you cannot afford it then don’t take one out. If you do you should not default on it.  Maybe I’m old fashioned. 

From The Times

This is not politics, this whine for more pudding from Labour’s nursery. It is religion – the dreary moralising Methodism of the British Left that caricatures behaviour as naughty or nice, rather than as clever or stupid. Someone has forgotten who borrowed all the money. This is not a tale of City greed v the downtrodden working man. It is the triumph of mass consumption over class privilege; it is about the homes, but it is also about the cars, the flatscreen TVs, the racks of Primark frocks, the consumer detritus that litters a million British working-class homes. It is the lifestyle of people who a quarter of a century ago were struggling to fill the gas meter but who last year took a foreign holiday.

It was those blood-sucking vampires at Canary Wharf who made possible the Great Spend of the Millennium, when a cheap loan became available to all. Are these Labour preachers oblivious of the great capital transfer to the poor that took place over the past 15 years? Who stood behind the toxic mortgages underwritten by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Blue-collar America. Who borrowed from Halifax, the former building society that clings to the apron of Lloyds TSB? British working men and women.

I think it is shameful the way in which the British government has sold off British Energy to a company in which the French Government has a majority share. In essence, we have just contracted out our future reliance on nuclear power to the French and so we will be at the mercy of future French political priorities. This is all because the UK government is not prepared to invest directly in future nuclear power provision and so this now shifts that particular requirement to the French. The question then becomes how can we protect British consumers from future French cost price exploitation? Is there not a real danger that we will poay more to cross subsidise French consumers energy costs? Where is the legislative provision to prevent this? It doesn’t exist – Labout are too busy prostituting our energy needs to the highest outside bidder to worry about such details.

Would YOU be surprised to hear a pig grunt? No, me neither.

Would YOU be to surprised to hear a convicted terrorist boast of his evil past? No, me neither.

However it seems we may be alone in that regard with the news that an alleged political storm has erupted over a controversial BBC TV documentary on the IRA Maze prison breakout.

Unionists
attacked the content of Monday night’s programme in which Sinn Fein
junior minister Gerry Kelly relived his role in the 1983 escape.  Both the DUP and Ulster Unionists warned that his contribution would have ramifications for political talks.  On the show, Mr Kelly showed no sign of remorse and he also coldly recounted shooting a prison officer in the head. Another guard, James Ferris, died, two were shot and 13 stabbed by the fleeing inmates. DUP
chairman Lord Morrow of Clogher Valley said the programme vindicated
his party’s view that “it would be unacceptable to have Sinn Fein in
control of any element of policing and justice”. It reaffirmed it was not the time for transferring the powers to Stormont, he said. And Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said he could not believe the Sinn Fein minister’s lack of remorse and insensitivity.

Of course IRA gangsters show no sign of remorse for their crimes, in fact they are proud of them. Scum like Gerry Kelly are only behaving as I would expect – with the BBC helpfully providing a forum for such depraved recollections. Does Gerry regret the bullet he fired into the prison officers head had not killed him outright? The REAL disgrace here is the hypocrisy of the DUP and UUP who act ever-so-outraged at the behaviour of their esteemed colleague in government. They know damn well the pedigree and attitude of Sinn Fein/IRA and all this faux outrage is designed for the cameras. Behind the scenes, they are pals. Spare me the false outrage.

Anyone who doubts the pathology underlying a significant section of Islam should reflect on the words of Omar Bakri Mohammed, the Lebanon-based Muslim preacher,
who has claimed suicide bombers could attack the Paul McCartney concert in Tel Aviv marking
Israel’s 60th birthday.

The much admired Islamic preacher described Mr McCartney as
“the enemy of every Muslim” adding: “If he values his life, Mr
McCartney must not come to Israel. He will not be safe there. The
sacrifice operatives will be waiting for him.”

Now it is obvious that McCartney is a drippy hippy but I see no harm in him playing a concert in Israel – his musical pedigree speaks for itself. Mind you, with the prospect of an exploding Palestinian somewhere in the crowd, McCartney may want to practise the speed with which his group enters and leaves the stage – a band on the run in the truest sense of the word!