Trumping the Knee

So Donald Trump having seen the majority of NFL players take the knee, link arms or not appear on the field and run a weak D*.

He has tweeted (what else) the issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race. It is about respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem. He tweeted this immediately after the tweeted that some fans booed during the National Anthem at those same players.


Now let me get something straight here:

Taking the knee is something those that serve the Country and Flag do to show respect. Respect to fallen comrades.

The take the knee movement that started last pre-season in the NFL after a summer in which a number of innocent African-Americans were shot by white police officers. It started with one player and has spread, this weekend including Baseball and with the backing of other sports.


Also during the civil rights movement in the 50s and 60s taking the knee was non-violent protest of people praying and contemplation.

So Mr Trump is ignoring history and ignoring reality if he says taking the knee has nothing to do about race.

But here's another thing what about those players who didn't take the knee. Many of them this weekend stood behind and beside their team mates. Instead of hand on heart as normal many of these linked arms. Just like this:

Yes as Martin Luther King Jr and others marched to Selma they too linked arms in the same way. The symbols that teams across the NFL showed on Sunday from London to LA have everything to do with race. The continued racism of some and oppression of black America.

Some of those who have song the Anthem in recent weeks have also started to take the knee. So you can sing the Anthem showing you love for the nation and still protest that the America you want can be better, can be greater.

Now back to those who booed the plyers who took the knee. A lot of this happened during the national Anthem. Not a peaceful protest but a verbal one. Surely that is disrespecting the flag, country and anthem.

So Donald if you truly want to make America great you have to do so for all Americans. You have to respect all the cultures that make up the culture of America. Respect those who exercise their freedom of speech as enshrined in the Bill of Rights to protest peacefully, even if that protest is against you. Indeed you should defend their right to protest, even if you disagree with what that say as long as they do it in a peaceful, non-violent way, even if that protest is aimed at you. That Mr President is democracy. That Mr President is the land of the brave and the home of the free.

If you respect their rights as enshrined in the Bill of Rights maybe then you will show the respect to your office that is yours in passing.


*Defence for non-NFL fans

Trump's Presidential Oath

News is coming from the head of Donald Trump's hacking de facto transition team that the Presidential Oath will be slightly different from those of past Presidents. Here is the exact wording:

Перед тем, как войти в исполнении его канцелярии, он должен принять следующую присягу или торжественное обещание: - "Я торжественно клянусь, что буду добросовестно исполнять должность президента Соединенных Штатов, и воли к лучшей из моей способности, сохранять, охранять и защищать Конституцию России

Melania will be holding this bible for the oath taking ceremony.

What Mark Longhurst and Sky News didn't realise about Pulse attack

Last night during the Sky News paper review at 10:30 (it wasn't repeated at 11:30) Owen Jones, who is someone I admittedly don't always agree with tried to make the point that the attack on the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando was a direct homophobic attack. In a heated exchange in which Mark Longhurst the host and Julia Hartley-Brewer tried to down play the homophobic element of the attack Longhurst said "you don't have ownership of this horror cause you're gay."

I for one, and reading social media late last night, must of the LGBT+ community were outraged by such a reaction. We saw that comment for what it was a white, straight, cis-gendered, male not understanding that an attack on a minority grouping is not merely an attack on freedom, or an attack on humans having fun. This WAS and attack on the LGBT+ community. It was the realisation of many in the LGBT+ communities' worse fears.

If ISIS are throwing people some as young as nine off buildings in the areas they control for believing them to be gay, and they are carrying out attacks in the west, who might they attack here? Well of course one of the worse fears is that someone would claim to attack a gay venue or event in the name of IS. This is what happened in the early hours of Sunday morning and it is now the worse mass shooting in American history. So yeah the LGBT+ community can see that Owen Jones was right this was an attack on LGBT+ people. It was the realisation of our worst nightmare write large of the situation in our world today.

Julia Hartley-Brewer dismissed the attacked as "mad and bad" or as a "lunatic" bit for whatever reason he drove 90 miles and had premeditated to carry out this atrocity. The use of such words do not reflect what happened. This was someone with a seriously different world view to the established liberal, western mentality, even more so that the small c conservative mentality. But there are other people with a similar mind set out there who may well be planning something similar: a similar act to instil terror in the LGBT+ individuals.

In other words an Act of Terrorism against the LGBT+ communities.

Yet Sky News chose to mock the use of those words from someone who identifies as a gay man, someone in tune with the fear that is flowing out there amongst LGBT+ viewers. They negated the sense of terror that many LGBT+ people had heightened as a result of this attack, the mocked it in a way which is in itself homophobic in nature by ignoring the real concerns of all those individuals and merely seeing this in their own eyes.

It is therefore not surprising that I see that the segment which even Sky had deemed that they could not repeat has gone viral for all the wrong reasons.

 

All I want for Christmas is....

 This is Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona. He is a man who it would seem has set himself up for a pretty busy advent season this year.

Why?

Well in his sermon on Sunday he said it was possible to cure the world of AIDS by Christmas. Here we were over 30 years after the outbreak of this disease and he apparently has the solution within 4 weeks. No wonder he is going to be busy.

He is going to have to produce his solution and distribute it to the 35 million people world wide living with HIV/AIDS world wide in a little over 25 days. Not to mention the 5,753 new cases who will be diagnosed every day during his quest.

But is he going to be handing out a vaccine and cure to those 35 million people of whom 3.2 million are aged less than 15? No.

His solution instead is to go out there and stone all the gay and bisexual men out there. Even my his own reckoning of 1.6% of the USA population being gay and 0.7% bi that is approximately 7,344,107 US citizens he would have to kill to eradicate the 2.3 million cases of HIV/AIDS in North America, Western and Central Europe. That is before he deals with the situation in Europe. And that is but the tip of the iceberg.

But in Sub-Saharan Africa with 24.7 millions cases and most of those countries cracking down on homosexuality hard finding 24.7 million gay and bisexual men is bound to be hard. Here of course the spread of HIV is largely through heterosexual intercourse, hence the large number of women infected and the large number who pass it on to their children as a result.

So merely getting rid of all the gay and bisexual men in the world would not be enough. He's also have to stone all the people who have had more than one sexual partner in their life just to be certain.

But the biggest task before he sets out to possibly kills probably over 50% of the world's population to be absolutely certain is one even taller order. However, it is one that I'm sure a Pastor whose church claims to be faithful the word would want to do. It is to obey the practical example of Jesus. When they brought an adulterous woman to Jesus wanting to stone her to death he responded to them "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

So I'll make a deal with Pastor Anderson. If he can find someone without sin to cast that first stone I will meet up with him. I'd like the local police to be present and a few television crews to witness his start of cleansing the world of AIDS. To see the effect that finding this righteous man stoning a gay man who is not living with HIV or AIDS will have on the 35 million who would still be living with HIV/AIDS.

Eric Cantor effectively elected Dictator of the USA

For the last 16 days only the leader of the Republican Party (the majority party) or his designate has had the ability to move an amended join resolution of the House and Senate. Why? Because on 1st October the Republican led house moved to change centuries of House standing orders. So now you know that only person had the power to reopen the US Government and he wasn't elected to rule over the USA, by all the people, but merely by the 750,000 people or so of the Virginia's 7th Congressional District. Of whom 222,983 gave him their vote. His name is Eric Cantor, his party's 241 other representatives elected him the dictator of the USA at the start of this month.

NRA Fact and Cost Check

So the National Rifle Association have finally spoken after the shootings at Sandy Hook. Basically they have said "Don't take our guns away, but place an armed police office at every school."

So lets look at the stats:

There are 98,917 public schools and 33,366 Private schools (2009-10 figures)

At a mean $26.74 per hour (2010 national mean), say a 40 hour week to cover arrival and departure times as well as teaching time that comes to $141.5Bn M per week

Typically with 36 weeks per year that is $5.094 Trillion Billion per year

Now there are only 644,300 Police Officers in the whole of the United States, therefore during the school year 132,283 of these or approximately 1 in 5 will be spending their entire working week on school protection detail. So there would have to be some sort of scheme to overcome the short fall in crime prevention, investigation and protection of the general public.

Now surely we can find cheaper ways to protect the school children from the bad men with guns, rather than having good guys with guns (another NRA quote) there?

Update sorry I was miscounting my zeroes Billions were millions and trillions merely billions

"The streets of heaven...

...are crowded with too many angels tonight." from The West Wing

The news from Newtown, Connecticut today is not good.

A man walked into an Elementary School, for children aged 5-11 and opened fire. 18 young children died at the scene, 2 more died at the nearby hospital. Six adults were dead in the school teachers and/or administrators, there is also another adult dead in the town.

This is more school children killed, at a far younger age, than the Columbine shootings.

Already the two sides in America are taking sides on the issue of gun control and the right to bear arms. The actually second amendment read at the time it was suggested:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Now the state funded militias are what has become the National Guard. So these are the regulated people that now for the security of a free state should have the right to bear Arms. The militia at the founding of the Union was any citizen that could fire a rifle but these days that has change, national service is not required and the threat of the occupying force coming back to claim its territory. 

No doubt the argument will rage again. But 20 children possible as young as six lost their lives today. They were no armed but a man in his twenties was, and came into their classroom and took their lives. How is the security of those children protected when everyone can get hold of a firearm. 

I'm not going to look solely at the raw figures of over 30,000 gun related homicides but look at it per capital.

In 2011 there was 9 gun related deaths per 100,000 of the USA's population. To be fair only 3.25 were from homicides or unintended reasons (the rest were suicides). 

Switzerland where ever man over 18 and under 60 has a fire arm as part of he nations defense force the figure was only 6.4 of which 0.73 were homicides or  unintended. In France the total was 3, 0.06 from homicide, UK 0.22 total 0.03 by homicide. German figures indicate 1.1 all of which are recorded as homicide.

But, I'll conclude as I began. The streets of heaven are crowded with too many angels tonight, so here is that clip.

 

Animation of a rousing Obama speech

I have been somewhat quiet this week because the power cable to my laptop failed in the earlt hours of Monday morning. A smartphone is only good for so much.

Plus I'm not feeling great these last few days so have spent much of it in bed.

However, this just needs sharing

USA making history for all the wrong reasons #London2012

So all three Jamaicans are into the final of the men's 200m.

Wallace Spearmon - but is he unique?

But there is something amiss. From the USA only Wallace Spearmon will line up alongside them.

So I decided to look up the record books to find out if this had ever happened before, I will of course ignore 1980 which the USA boycotted. Firstly before 1960 there were only six lanes on the bend of the tracks, but even then we go back many years still searching for such an event.

The music that plays before each medal ceremony is a clue as to who the last American to be the sole representative in the 200m final, but not it was not 1924. It was however, 4 years later and the man in question was Jackson Scholz . Although as Charlie Paddock and Henry Cumming both of the USA were fourth and the next fastest losers in the semi finals it isn't really as poor a show.

So I'm now wondering if in any of six games that the event has been run were there less and one American in the top 8?

Jackson Scholz (number 566) last time sole American in 200m final

Not in 1924 where a certain Eric Liddell's bronze, behind Scholz and Paddock prevented them taking the top four places and a certain Harold Abrahams was the sixth man in the final.

Nor in 1920 when Paddock was again stuck in silver behind team mate Allen Woodring with another in fourth with Great Britain again denying the clean sweep. So we have to look pre-Great War.

In 1912 the top three were again USA, USA, Great Britain with two more Americans in the final.

1908 there were only 4 lanes but the USA still managed half the finalists and two of the medals though Canada took gold in the first London Games. 1904 in St Louis they had all four finalists and in 1900 there were two of the four finalists again from the USA.

Therefore on a equal basis the USA have never failed to get at least two men into the top 8 of the 200m in history! Only once before in 1928 have they failed to get two men into the final.

So Maurice Mitchell posting the only the eighth fastest loser time (outside the top two in the three semis) and Isiah Young posting the slowest of the 23 men who finished have set a little bit of USA Olympic history that nobody was expecting.

Looks like David Cameron wants a Big Secret Society

Generated via RedKid
Based on characters by Charles M. Schulz

First we have the Snoopy snooping row today we hear that the Conservatives want more closed, secret court hearings.

The issue is over whose say so court proceedings should be secret. Cameron says it should be the Ministers, but Clegg is saying this power should not go to Parliament but remain with the judiciary. Maybe David Cameron fancies himself as the next James Bond (which after all is just 4 years older than the PM as a film franchise) with Theresa May as Q, but there is too much talk from the Tories about subterfuge at the moment.

Thankful this time it appears that Clegg has taken the bull by the horns before it even contemplates the merest possibility of bolting from through the doors of Westminster, saying:

"[Security Services] cannot be allowed to ride roughshod over the principle of open justice".

Clegg has even said that the Tories have gone about announcing legislation in a "blunderbuss" fashion, the past few days when there have been leaks about secrecy legislation plans being a case in point. Spuriously coughing out a worst case scenario that may have been discussed that in no way would get approval by the Lib Dems, hence making us look bad only to then come in later with another proposal that is less scary after all the initial accusations have passed and nobody gives them as much attention.

However, Nick Clegg has told the National Security Council that the Lib Dems will not back legislation that allows more court hearings and inquests behind closed doors. The excuse from Ken Clarke that the USA are  afraid of the openness of UK judicial proceedings is not a valid one. The USA had long held secret, closed sessions of their supreme court sometimes subpoenaing witnesses at the last minute. They are one of the most secretive states in the world at times for all the appearance of openness on the outside.

Their failure to ratify Protocol I and II of the Geneva Conventions and other Internation Human Rights Conventions, or at least without much alacrity means that the USA is one of the least accountable countries in the World to everyone else. Their use if extraordinary rendition and sanctioning of evidence obtained through torture are things that aren't to be held in esteem. Indeed their retention of capital punishment would make them ineligible for membership of the EU. So the USA is hardly an example of being above board in terms of judicial practice, so the fact that they fear handing over secrets that may expose some of the practices mentioned in an open review is hardly a cause to hide those ourselves.

The Conservatives want secrecy, the Lib Dems want openness. We know how the secrets of the MPs expenses went down with the general public, so how on earth do the Tories think that keeping something so fundamental a secret is going to go down? I'm glad the Lib Dems are in government at the moment and are campaigning for openness and the retention of open justice.

David Cameron is not so much wanting a Big Society as to still be the member and leader of a Secret Society it seems.

George Clooney and Martin Luther King III Arrested for Sudan Protest

Following a protest outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, George Clooney, Martin Luther King III, Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern; Virginia Democratic Congressman Jim Moran; and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People President Ben Jealous have all been arrested.



The arrests came as the campaigners were raising the issue of the humanitarian crisis that is happening at the border between Sudan and South Sudan. Yesterday Clooney was at the White House to discuss the issue with President Barack Obama. As you can see the protest was a peaceful one and those arrested did not resist being cuffed by the US Parks Police.

Here is what George Clooney was saying outside the embassy just prior to his arrest.

1st Amendment Censorship, Texas Abortion Law and Doonesbury Day 4

Today Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury strip gets even more cutting on the issue of Texas Abortion Law.

To be fair the use if the word rape is inaccurate. As rape has to be the penetration without consent of a penis. However, the emotion scarring may well be the same. The fact that the largely Male republicans in Texas were the ones who passed this law means that the emotional consequences of such an intrusion have probably not been given the weight they deserve.

If you are not getting you're regularly scheduled Doonesbury in your paper in the USA. I hope you enjoy.

1st Amendment Censorship, Texas Abortion Law and Doonesbury Day 3

Day 3 of Garry Trudeau's take on the Texas Abortion Law strip for Doonesbury brings in the name of Texas Governor and former GOP Presidential Candidate Rick Perry who signed the law into being.

The doctor is reading the prescribed words regarding abortion as obviously he cannot be trusted to aim the words at the recipient as he would be discussing cancer or HIV with a recently diagnosed patient.

© 2012 Garry Trudeau , Universal Press Syndicate 

1st Amendment Censorship, Texas Abortion Law and Doonesbury Day 2

Garry Trudeau carries on with is Doonesbury strip looking at the Texas Abortion Law.

Today it features a legislator called Sid Patrick an amalgam of Sid Miller Texas Representative and state Senator Dan Patrick.

Miller when talking about cuts to Planned Parenthood clinics last year said, women who lose their family planning provider can find services elsewhere at "faith, community-based pregnancy care centers". Of course these locations unlike Planned Parenthood don't provide any type of medical care, no cancer screenings, STD Tests, Pap smears or oral contraception.

The 'slut' part of the cartoon refers to the comments that Rush Limbaugh made recently on his right-wing radio show at a student who testified before a congressional committee about the increasing cost of birth control. He referred to her, as she said she had to ask partners to help pay for the cost of this as a 'slut' and an 'prostitute'.

Anyway as I promised this week, I'll be running the Donnesbury strip so here is today's.

© 2012 Garry Trudeau , Universal Press Syndicate 

1st Amendment Censorship, Texas Abortion Law and Doonesbury Day 1

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

I've watched this weekend anxiously my own political party have a heated debate on a key issue of health reform. Each side was allowed to put its case. 


Listening as I often do, through the wonders of the internet, to American radio and TV, or reading their press I know that sometimes that debate is stiffled. Pro-Choice and Pro-Gay messaging is often knocked down, without any balance of the argument from the other side. This from a country that loves to talk up the freedoms granted to their citizens by their bill of rights, which includes the 4th Amendment above.


You see there is a freedom of speech and the press. Yet this week certain parts of the press are using their freedom to stifle one of their syndicated cartoon writers freedom of speech via their publications. Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury strip holds the mirror up to the bi-polar nature of American political thought. Where, you are either for or against something it seems, you cannot see good points of something while objecting to it overall. 


This week, the target of the cartoon in the Texas State Abortion Law which now requires women seeking an abortion to visit the abortion clinic twice! The first is 24 hours before the abortion can be carried out is so that a sonogram can be taken of the fetus. The mother can opt out of seeing the images and hearing the heaertbeat, but must listen to the description of the sonogram. There is also at this first visit be advise as to the risks, alternatives etc. before the mother is sent home to sleep on the matter. 


It forces the mother who probably already has taken sometime thinking about the decision to even attend for an abortion, to spend another night having been introduced to the fetus and given all the information that she wants. Both the added time penalty and this wait between the actions on day one and the termination are seen as adding emotional strain to women who are already going through all sorts of turmoil. 


However, the cartoon which tries to point out the turmoil from the women's perspective has been pulled from it's syndication slot in some papers, or moved from the family to editorial section of others. The reason supporters of this Law give for it is that it serves educational and awareness purposes. I would argue that pulling the Doonesbury cartoon removes the education and awareness from the women's perspective to a lot of America.


If you are reading this and can't find this week's Doonesbury in your paper you will probably be able to find it online at their website. But as a counter to those who want to censor freedom of speech I'll be displaying this week's strips.

© 2012 Garry Trudeau , Universal Press Syndicate

US Department of Homeland Security claims the Interwebs for Barry O and his heirs

Apparently because this website is hosted by a dot.com not a dot.com.xx everything that happens here is owned by the USA.

It has therefore come to my attention that I have failed in my patriotic duty, therefore please all stand for the national anthem of the interwebs.

Thank you for being inspirational Congresswoman Giffords

A little over a year ago I suspect like most other people in the UK I couldn't tell you the name of the Representative for the Arizona 8th District in Congress.

But when she was holding a Congress on Your Corner event in the Safeway store in Casas Adobes, to the NW of Tuscon her name became etched on many people's memory. Not because she was going out to meet the people but because of the actions of a gunman who shot her and , killed a staffer, a Federal Judge, 3 pensioners and a girl born on 11 September 2001 (yes that 9-11). Eleven others were injured in the shooting.

That congresswoman was Gabriele Giffords. Her recovery since then has been long and arduous, but none the less a little miraculous. She survived a head injury and has spent the past year getting back her motions, her speech, her cognitive functions, if not her memories of the day those shots rang out.

When she appeared in the House of Representatives on 1 August 2001, her first appearance there since the shooting, to vote in support of raising the debt limit ceiling, she received a standing ovation from her colleagues. She had previously been seen in public on 16 May at Kennedy Space Centre to see the launch of the last USS Endeavour Space Shuttle mission under the command of her husband Captain Mark E. Kelly. On that mission her wedding ring went into space with her husband while she kept his on earth awaiting his return.

On Sunday she announced that she would be stepping down from Congress this week, as she still had recovery ahead. However, she also promised that we hadn't seen the last of her and that she will be back. I certainly hope so.

So Gabby I wish you well as you continue to recover and I hope that the world has not seen the last of you as an active politician. You thank the people of the Arizona 8th for their patience, of the world for their prayers, but I'm sure we all want to thank you for the inspiration you have been over the last year.

Here is her announcement video.

Romney got owned by Gingrich

When Associated Press finally join the other news organisations a whole half hour after the pools close you know the exit polls had to be clear. CBS and Fox had taken all of 4 minutes, ABC and CNN eight.

As I write this with 85% of the results reported the result in South Carolina is (final result in red):

• Newt Gingrich 40.4% 40.4%
• Mitt Romney 27.1% 27.8%
• Rick Santorum 17.4% 17.0%
• Ron Paul 13.4% 13.0%

That is as much of an owning of a state result as Romney managed in New Hampshire. In fact it is more so. But then like New Hampshire the winner came from a neighbouring state.

So where does that leave the Republican party nomination race as they head to Florida.

First up Gingrich has the momentum, but as was pointed out in the coverage I heard he is not on every state's ballot at the moment. He says that if he is nominated he will challenge Obama to seven three hour dabates. He is talking like a winner after tonight, he is talking about taking on Obama not his opponents. 

Romney took a bit of a pasting here. Before his supporters knew the cameras were live you saw the frowns. He outspent Gingrich with $2.4m of ad buy to $612,000. So although he is getting his message out there one thing is lacking. The exit polls revealed that he had lost his lead in who do see most likely to beat Obama in November. That honour now goes to Gingrich, possibly because of the way he ended up swinging from the start of the debate on Thursday, when a week ago that was Romney. 

Romney also came out swinging at Gingrich saying that as he'd never run a state or a business. The counter punch came when Newt said he was the only speaker in the supporters' lifetimes that had supervised four consecutive balanced budgets. The fight is on.

Rick Santorum has done well enough to stay in the race. His speech was one that would allow him to be an asset to whomever happens to win this race. Indeed he opened in praise of his colleague in the House of Representatives. As I said earlier if he didn't put up a good position here he may as well pack up and head home. As it is he has done enough to keep on with the fight. He will be waiting to see if Romney and Gingrich manage to destroy each other in the crossfire they are aiming at each other, he may well be the man to pick up the pieces and be the compromise candidate if things get so nasty as to make both of them a political liability.

As for Ron Paul, this was Christian country and his liberal message may not have gone done well with some of these southerners. But he carried on and on and on in his speech with his economic vision. However, he is the only man left in the race who has not yet won a statewide poll.  He said he will carry on, there are some caucusing states coming up where he has done well. He will still have picked up delegates here and as he said in his speech, before giggling his giggle, winning delegates is the name of the game. Wow! How insightful.  

So all four are left in, nobody was knocked out yet and this race is far from over and may well get even nastier in the weeks ahead. If it does it could still stir things up even more. But tonight Romney was owned by Gingrich. At point I tweeted that the Romney gap was closing....but only between him and Santorum as Gingrich edged further ahead as the results mounted up.

Strong redrafted by Rick Perry

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian, but you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our former speaker can’t celebrate an open marriage with his mistress in Washington as his wife at home. As President, I'm sure that Gingrich's war on Clinton will not stop him having sex with that woman, or that woman, or that woman. And I'll fight against liberal attacks on his sexual history of cheating on his wives. Faith made America strong. It can make The current Mrs Gingrich strong again. I’m Rick Perry and I approve Newt Gingrich.

The original ad is below.



Yeah believe it or not on the day that the second wife of Newt Gingrich revealed he wanted an open marriage when he confessed to his six-year affair, has suspended his campaign. This man of faith who doesn't think gays can enter monogamous marriage, or serve openly in the US Military, is backing the hypocrite who ordered the equiry into the Lewinski affair before saying goodnight to his wife while his mistress was beside him in his bed.

Now that is a strong choice, NOT!


Update Having just read that Newt Gingrich is offering senior appointments to GOP endorsers. Oops that is another contravention of the US Constitution after saying he will over rule the Supreme Court earlier. So Perry is endorsing a felon, see below:

TITLE 18 > PART I > CHAPTER 29 > § 599§ 599. Promise of appointment by candidate

Whoever, being a candidate, directly or indirectly promises or pledges the appointment, or the use of his influence or support for the appointment of any person to any public or private position or employment, for the purpose of procuring support in his candidacy shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if the violation was willful, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

Not all the world speaks English (American) #GOP

Considering that Nick Clegg can speak Dutch, Spanish, German and French as well as English of course which while this polyglotism is astounding is not shunned by British voters the same is not the case it would seem in America.

First of all there was shocking adverts by a group supporing Ron Paul about the fact that former US Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman might be able to communicate in Mandarin.



Now the fact that an American who spent 2 years in French in his youth can speak, shock horror, French has been attacked in this add from Newt Gingrich.



It is bad enough that most Brits think they should be able by with just English. I've spoken enough conversational Spanish, German and Russian to get by with greeting etc. but to use being able to speak to some of the 94% of the world who don't speak English as their first language, or some of the 75-90% who speak it as a second language is an atrocious sign of how little America and especially Newt Gingrich cares for foreign affairs.

The attacks on Chinese speakers of which 2 million existed in the 2000 US Census and French 1.6m shows that Gingrich and Paul are even not aware of the continuing diversity of the constituency that they wish to represent.