Barack Obama - the lost years

Zombietime has an interesting article about Barack Obama's life in New Yourk in the 1980s. Take a look and see what you think.

The great diversion story moves on

The great diversion that is the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand story is now headline news on the BBC. Apparently

"The BBC suspends Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand following the Radio 2 prank phone calls row."

Presumably the BBC would rather lead on this story than the latest economic disasters, the latest Peter Mandelson stories or any negative news about Barack Obama.

Another airline failure and a takeover

I hear that the Icelandic-owned Sterling Airways has cancelled all of its flights, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at London Gatwick and thousands stranded across Europe.

Meanwhile the German airline Lufthansa is to take over the UK carrier BMI. This will give Lufthansa the second-largest number of flights into and out of London's Heathrow, the highest number belonging to British Airways.

"The sacrifice of truth to power"

Melanie Phillips has written a must read article for The Spectator, do read the whole powerful piece but here is an extract:

"At NRO Mark Levin identifies a terrifying historical echo when he shudders that, such is the tide of irrationality running in this campaign, the American public appears to be falling under the cult-like spell of an authoritarian demagogue. He is surely correct. For all Obama’s laid-back, attractive appearance this election is being fought in an atmosphere of menace. Menace in the way ACORN is intimidating voters into multiple registrations. Menace in the way criminal donations to the Obama campaign have been institutionalised. Menace in the serial lies being told by Obama, Biden and the campaign rebuttal team. Menace in the way the few remaining proper journalists such as Stanley Kurtz are finding sources of information shut down and themselves shut out when they attempt to probe Obama’s deeply dubious associations. Menace in the smears and hysterical abuse directed at anyone who questions The One. Menace in the threat of violence if Obama doesn’t win. Menace in the pre-emptive smear that the only thing that could bring about an Obama defeat is the inherent racism of the American voters – a smear that potentially identifies all those who vote against him as public enemies."

Melanie Phillips and Mark Levin are correct. On a smaller scale, I am going out to dinner with two old school friends (both decidedly left of centre); whilst they feel free to demean Conservative politics in front of me, it will not be acceptable for me to express doubts about the sainted Barack Obama. Should I try and enlighten them or do I leave them happy in their ignorance?

Does Barack Obama support slave reparations payments to the same degree as does his friend Dorothy Tillman?

Not heard of Dorothy Tillman, well you should have. The Chicago Daily Observer can bring you up to speed on this "lady" and her relationship with Barack Obama. Unfortunately before you get to that part of the article you will have to wade through a summary of the current legal position of some other of Barack Obama's friends:

"In Detroit, Obama’s pal, former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has plead guilty to an assortment crimes and resigned his office to begin a prison term. Closer to home, convicted political fixer Tony Rezko is due to be sentenced shortly before election day. Reports have indicated that Rezko has begun cooperating with prosecutors in an effort to reduce his sentence. Federal investigators have also conducted a search of the home of Will County Executive Larry Walsh, who served with Obama in the Illinois Senate. Walsh was one Obama’s poker playing friends and questions have been raised about the number of federal grant dollars that Obama showered upon Will County after meeting with lobbyists employed by Walsh."

Presidential material? Well if you remember Bill Clinton fondly then I suppose Barack Obama might be.

Here's a short extract from the rest of the article about Dorothy Tillman:

"In 1991, during the middle of redistricting negotiations, Tillman shocked her colleagues by brandishing a gun during the heated discussions on the aldermanic map. Apparently, Tillman was able to obtain the ward boundaries and election precincts that she desired without bloodshed. Tillman made further headlines during 2000 when she created a controversy by demanding that the Palmer House remove two waiters from a banquet that she sponsored and replace the servers with two African American waiters. Tillman, who made herself a career out of decrying discrimination at every opportunity, was promptly denounced as a bigot. Even Mayor Richard M. Daley rebuked her in a public statement."

As the Chicago Daily Observer wonders:

"One question that Obama definitely does not want to be aired is whether or not he supports slave reparations payments to the same degree as does his friend Dorothy Tillman? It is an open question. Which Obama can you believe? The radical race demagogue of his two books or the nuanced and posturing candidate on the campaign trail? It is a controversial and divisive issue that Obama cannot afford to discuss."

I, for one, would like to know the truth about this matter like so many others, but team Obama have all but closed down debate on the facts about Barack Obama and left the masses with empty slogans to cheer and repeat ad nauseum.

"multiple criminal violations, including possible state and federal racketeering laws" - More ACORN news

Barack Obama's campaign supporters just get nicer and nicer. Here is the latest news from Indiana where:

"Secretary of State Todd Rokita said Monday that his office has found evidence of “multiple criminal violations, including possible state and federal racketeering laws” in connection with fraudulent voter registration applications filed in Lake County.

Rokita said many registration applications filed by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, had incomplete information or indications of fraud or forgery."

Isn't it odd how the US MSM and the BBC are trying to ignore the ACORN story, it is almost as though they want Barack Obama elected regardless of what methods are used.

Gordon Brown and "celebrity culture"

I have blogged before about Gordon Brown's avowed wish to mark the end of "celebrity culture"; here I remarked upon his comments about Shilpa Shetty and his drinks with Kylie Minogue, here I blogged about the celebs that he had invited to Chequers, here I blogged about his appearance at an awards ceremony, here I blogged about his anniversary message to the Countdown TV programme and here I blogged about his rumoured offer of a job to GMTV's Fiona Phillips. More recently I blogged about Derek Draper's comment about Gordon Brown:

"He also shies away from today's celebrity culture, thinking much of it schmaltzy and insincere."

That's the Derek Draper married to GMTV's Kate Garraway, that is.

Anyway, I see that Gordon "quickly onto the bandwagon" Brown has now issued an opinion about the Jonathan Ross & Russell Brand story. The BBC dutifully report that

"PM Gordon Brown has criticised Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross for their "inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour" on Brand's radio show.

He said the BBC and watchdog Ofcom must take "appropriate action" over four prank calls made to actor Andrew Sachs and broadcast on 18 October.

...

"This is clearly inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour, as is now widely recognised," Mr Brown said.

"Ofcom have said they will investigate the matter and it is for the BBC, the BBC Trust and Ofcom to take any appropriate action.""

"A serious man for serious times"?

How long before the book burnings start?

Trixy has the details of another authoritarian over reaction:

"Listening to the Today programme this morning I heard an item which shocked even cynical old Trixy. In summary, an author had a long standing arrangement with Hackney Library to launch his yet-to-be-published book, at their invitation. Just a small launch in a community facility for an author who takes a keen interest in local affairs.

So why did the council order the library to halt the plans? Because, in previous articles, the AUTHOR HAD BEEN CRITICAL of the Olympics.

AND?

...

...on what level does this mean he shouldn't be allowed to read some of his book in a local facility which he helps fund through his taxes? Along, of course, with the Olympics he dares to speak out against. Taxes don't take into account personal preferences of the payer, do they.

Who are these petty local government pen pushers who look longingly at the totalitarian measures our government are putting into place and seek to emulate them."

Well said, Trixy. The totalitarian instincts of so many politicians, national, local and of course supra-national, scare me - I really believe many of them would be capable of the sort of "policies" towards the general population that we hoped had died with the end of the Third Reich and the Soviet Union.

Vote Obama - more emotional blackmail

Emotional blackmail, yelling at parents, threats, just an average Barack Obama campaign tool. From the team that brought you Sarah Silverman with such delightful sentiments as

"If they vote for Barack Obama, they're going to get another visit this year. If not, let's just hope they stay healthy until next year."

Barack Obama and factcheck.org

If you read the comments to some of my pieces on Philip J. Berg's case that Barack Obama is inelgible to serve as US President, you will see that I have an upset correspondent. He seems a little slow and so I have had to explain things to him over and over again. You can read his comments and my replies after this piece and this piece.

"smrstrauss" seems to place great reliance on factcheck.org "confirming" that Barack Obama's Hawaiian birth-certificate is legitimate. I have had to point out the links between Barack Obama and FactCheck.org.

As I said to "smrstrauss" -

"So the organisation that you and other trusting people are relying upon for "fair" fact checking is, as the left would say in the UK, "institutionally biased" in favour of Barack Obama."

If you are interested in this rather murky area, can I recommend some further reading:
1. Purple Vote
2. Death by 100 paper cuts
3. Blogs4McCain who provide this very useful clarification:

"Clarification: The connection between Obama and Ayers is through the Chicago Annenberg Challenge that received money from the Annenburg Foundation, but the Chicago Annenburg Challenge Challenge and the
Annenburg Foundation are not directly connected philosophically. The earmark Senator Obama requested was for the Annenburg Foundation, which funded the Chicago Annenburg Challenge and also funds FactCheck.org. Obama is tied to both groups one via earmark, the other via direct participation, however, Ayers is not directly connected to FactCheck.org."

I hope that makes matters clear. Meanwhile the majority of the US media and the BBC in the UK push the 'vote Obama' "narrative" and "worry" that only white racism could prevent his election.

The LA Times and the tape of Obama toasting "radical" Rashid Khalidi

The truth about Barack Obama is emerging slowly but surely. He and his team have done a good job until recently in suppressing negative stories and crying racism when they do emerge but the tide cannot be held back forever. The latest story concerns a 2003 farewell party in Chicago at which Barack Obama lavished praise on the guest of honour, Rashid Khalidi a former mouthpiece for master terrorist Yasser Arafat. The National Review reports that:

"The party featured encomiums by many of Khalidi’s allies, colleagues, and friends, including Barack Obama, then an Illinois state senator, and Bill Ayers, the terrorist turned education professor. It was sponsored by the Arab American Action Network (AAAN), which had been founded by Khalidi and his wife, Mona, formerly a top English translator for Arafat’s press agency."

Do read the whole of that piece and then take a look at Gateway Pundit's piece on this matter which wonders (as does The National Review) why the LA Times might be keeping this video away from public view:

"the newspaper says it will not release the tape of Obama toasting radical Rashid Khalidi at a Jew-bash in Chicago".

As the National Review ask:

"Let’s try a thought experiment. Say John McCain attended a party at which known racists and terror mongers were in attendance. Say testimonials were given, including a glowing one by McCain for the benefit of the guest of honor ... who happened to be a top apologist for terrorists. Say McCain not only gave a speech but stood by, in tacit approval and solidarity, while other racists and terror mongers gave speeches that reeked of hatred for an American ally and rationalizations of terror attacks.

Now let’s say the Los Angeles Times obtained a videotape of the party.

Question: Is there any chance — any chance — the Times would not release the tape and publish front-page story after story about the gory details, with the usual accompanying chorus of sanctimony from the oped commentariat? Is there any chance, if the Times was the least bit reluctant about publishing (remember, we’re pretending here), that the rest of the mainstream media (y’know, the guys who drove Trent Lott out of his leadership position over a birthday-party toast) would not be screaming for the release of the tape?

Do we really have to ask?"

What are the odds on the BBC reporting this story or will they stick to Sarah Palin's wardrobe and reporting "plans" to assassinate Barack Obama. The bias of the US and UK media (especially the BBC) during this Presidential election campaign has been almost unbelievable, I would say criminal.

Andrew Sachs' granddaughter

Various sites are now showing some "details" of Georgina Baillie aka Voluptua, Andrew Sachs' granddaughter and the subject of Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross's "humour". If you want to see what the fuss is about then Right Celebrity and The Daily Mail may be of assistance, as could Quintessential comedy. Alternatively, you could go straight to Voluptua's page Satanic Sluts where you will learn that Voluptua has Vital Stats of 36 26 36 (666) 5"5 and:

"Likes: Cock rock, Cage dancing, Making vampire films, Chocolate covered strawberries,
Being alone sometimes, Being in good company, Piercings, Leather jackets

Dislikes: Shallow people, Narrow minded people, Chavs who yell things at me,
Having to sell out to earn money, Public transport, Dead fish

Kinks: Forcefulness, Gentleness."

You will also find some photos that may not be safe for work (NSFW) but oddly appear not to be blocked by my content filtering software.


Regardless of how Georgina Baillie chooses to make her living, what Brand and Ross said was highly reprehensible and beyond decent limits.



My humble apologies for misspelling granddaughter as grandaughter in my original title for this piece. Interestingly this mistake has resulted in a large number of hits on this piece as a google.co.uk search for "Andrew Sachs grandaughter" puts this blog at position 2. Maybe I have stumbled on a trick to get up the Google rankings, using plausible misspellings!


Update:
It appears that Google takes account of misspellings and I am at position 2 for Google searches for "Andrew Sachs granddaughter" as well. This is interesting and also means that as at 18:25 tonight (28 October) I have over 100 people "on" this blog, virtually all looking at this page. I am conflicted; whilst I appreciate the traffic, this is a serious political blog not a scandal sheet. New visitors, maybe you could assuage my feelings of guilt by reading a couple of my political articles whilst you are here...

State Control

"The slide towards authoritarianism is happening; right here, right now. The government is slowly taking control of what you eat, what you drink, who and how you fuck, what you can say and what you can eat. It is doing it in a slow, paternalistic way and I believe the politicians think they are acting in the best interests of the nation. But there is no positive outcome if this slide towards total state control is allowed to continue. The best case scenario is that you are allowed to live comfortably as long as you do not dissent; the simple truth is that a continuation of the drift towards authoritarianism means the day will come when you will not have the freedom to think or choose for yourself. The loss of freedom is like cancer; it will spread slowly but surely across all parts of society until our liberty has been utterly eaten away and we are left with nothing but a half-forgotten idea of what freedom was."

Do read the rest of this excellent article at The Appalling Strangeness".

Are you looking forward to chaos on the streets of Shepherds Bush, the A40, the Uxbridge Road and Holland Park?

The Westfield Shopping Centre opens on Thursday 30 October and any one living near it or travelling past it on the A40, the Uxbridge Road or around Holland Park can expect jams, jams and more jams.

Westfield's site glibly promises

"Tube, bus, train, bike or car - however you prefer to travel, it really couldn't be easier to get to Westfield London. Two new stations (tube and rail) have been built, plus a new bus station right next door. You won't even have to carry your gorgeous new purchases home. Use our Home Delivery service and your bags will be delivered right to your doorstep."

Somehow I think the reality will be thousands of cars jamming up the Green and the Holland Park Roundabout and blocking my access to Notting Hill.


Interestingly I found an article from The telegraph Property Section from October 2006 that reports:

"A new shopping mall will transform the area. But will it raise standards enough to have an effect on house prices? ... A three-bedroom terrace house just to the south-east in sought-after Brook Green, W14, fetches around £800,000, easily £300,000 more than an equivalent property north of Goldhawk Road in Shepherd's Bush, W12. Only a few hundred yards separate the two postcodes, but it is an economic Grand Canyon.

But now there is a buzz in the petrol-fumed air, a sense that the long-promised property boom could finally be about to happen. And it is all because of a new shopping centre at White City, in the eastern corner of Shepherd's Bush, close to one of London's toughest housing estates.

The giant £1.6bn steel-and-glass Westfield London will be twice the size of Brent Cross, the massive centre off the capital's North Circular ring road. When it opens in 2008, it will hold more than 350 shops (including a "luxury" mall), 40 restaurants, a cinema and a gym. The Australian developers are also overhauling Shepherd's Bush Green and expect the scheme to trigger £1 billion of local regeneration, including new social and private housing....

Canny investors moved in as soon as the project began in earnest around 2000. A three-bedroom house north of the Goldhawk Road (once bandit country in property terms because of its transient, poor population) has gone up from £300,000 to £500,000 in that time.

American-born Chris Conklin has a knack of buying into areas just before a boom - first Notting Hill, then Queen's Park and now Shepherd's Bush. "The area really feels different to when we moved here three years ago," he says. "It was pretty scruffy and there were lots of 'For Sale' boards. Now there are virtually none and everyone wants to live here."

Even 18 months ago when properties in other areas struggled to make their asking price, he says that wasn't the case in W12. "Now prices are really moving again," he adds. Conklin has heavily invested in refurbishing his three-bedroom home in Stowe Road. It is for sale for £615,000, up from a typical £330,000 for an unmodernised house three years ago, through Faron Sutaria (020 8740 7766).

The Westfield London effect has accelerated in the past few weeks, since the coverage of the star-studded launch party. "There has been huge excitement, from locals and people outside the area," says Kerr. "That includes many who wouldn't have looked at Shepherd's Bush before. It will no longer be just a 'suburb' but a smart part of central London."

He claims properties sell in 48 hours - to investors, families and professionals. But how much of that is really due to the mall rather than the shortage of decent properties affecting buyers all over London?"

I wonder how happy the "canny investors" are now as house prices dive across London and they are stuck with a property in Shepherds Bush?

Peter Mandelson is telling half the oligarch story; ID cards will be next Labour deception

Philip Johnston in The Telegraph writes about Peter Mandelson, here's an extract:

"As Lord Mandelson said, in his position it was inevitable that he would meet industrialists, financiers and businessmen like Mr Deripaska. This is undoubtedly true, though why it is also necessary to go on holiday with them is not fully explained.

He promises to be more careful in future: by this he means more circumspect about those with whom he consorts, rather than less cavalier with the facts.

Indeed, this whole business has followed the template drawn up at the birth of "New Labour", of which Lord Mandelson was one of the proud parents. It does not necessarily tell outright lies (OK, it does, just not all the time) but nor does it ever tell the whole truth."

and how the Labour government are trying to justify and will try to keep on with the ID card scheme. What Philp Johnston does not explain is that the ID card scheme is all about the National Identity Register and further controlling the UK public.

The twenty second winner of the weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

"THE first thing to remember when considering Peter Mandelson’s version of events is that he is a proven liar."

That was Trevor Kavanagh in an angry piece in The Sun.
"No shit, Sherlock"

Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand update

Should someone take a read of the following extract from the Malicious Communications Act 1988 Section 1 as amended by Section 43 Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. It applies to offences committed from the 11th May 2001 onwards

"(1) Any person who sends to another person
(a) a letter, electronic communication or article of any description which conveys
(i) a message which is indecent or grossly offensive
(ii) a threat or
(iii) information which is false and known or believed to be false by the sender or
(b) any article or electronic communication which is, in whole or part, of an indecent or grossly offensive nature, is guilty of an offence if his purpose, or one of his purposes, in sending it is that it should, so far as falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above, cause distress or anxiety to the recipient or to any other person to whom he intends that it or its contents or nature should be communicated.

(2) A person is not guilty of an offence by virtue of subsection (1)(a)(ii) above if he shows
(a) that the threat was used to reinforce a demand made by him on reasonable grounds and
(b) that he believed, and had reasonable grounds for believing, that the use of the threat was a proper means of reinforcing the demand.

(2A) In this section 'electronic communication' includes _
(a) any oral or other communication by means of a telecommunication system(within the meaning of the Telecommunications Act 1984 (c12));

-----------------------------

Not long before someone makes a formal complaint to the police I would have thought?"

Ross and Brand in court, "wesult"!

More US politics double standards

CBS report that :

"A Halloween decoration showing a mannequin dressed as vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin hanging by a noose from the roof of a West Hollywood home is drawing giggles from some passers-by and gasps of outrage from others.

The mannequin is dressed in brunet wig, glasses and a red business suit. Another mannequin dressed as John McCain emerges from a flaming chimney."

Can you imagine the furore if an effigy of Barack Obama was shown hanging from a noose or emerging from flames? Double standards and the usual intolerance of the left.

Barack Obama is Tony Blair to the power of three

Barack Obama's plans for the "redistribution of wealth"

Don't listen to BaracK Obama and his campaign's denials without listening to his own words. "Spread the wealth around" is code.