Author: Londonbear

On Tuesday the Sun newspaper had a big hagiography of Blair including a shirtless picture of him and an interview with his wife who implied he is a “five times a night man”. The front page was a picture of Blair and his wife and the oversize headline “Why Size Matters” This multipage spread in the (Rupert Murdoch owned) Sun was picked up by the (Rupert Murdoch owned) Sky News. Today The Sun reported the Sky News correspondent (yes they do cross-promote like this for free):

“”I just want to ask you quickly — is it really five times a night?”

Mr Blair blushed and said: “What?”

Sky News: “That is what Cherie said in the paper.”

Mr Blair: “I think that was a joke. I clearly hope so. At least you’ve made me blush — first time in the campaign.”

The Blairs opened their hearts about love, marriage and family in our interview.

Political experts yesterday said they believed it would increase Labour’s vote by boosting interest in the election and showing the PM as a loving husband and dad.

How the Blairs defy the Catholic Church below the fold.
Unusually for a British politician Blair makes much of his Christianity. Although his wife is a supposedly devout catholic, he is not but has Marian tendencies. Hetnds to make a big show of attending catholic services. At John Paul II’s funeral, Cherie was in full black mantilla.

All well and good. And as good Catholics the pair have bred three more devotees. The two older boys are at university, indeed the couple purchased two apartments for one of them to use. (These were later sold off when they had to put the deposit down on their £5 million house in a fashionable London Square) Cherie has also produced a sprog since they have been in No 10, indeed they kicked Gordon Brown out of the apartment in No 11 Downing Street as it was bigger for the Blair family. I suppose Brown living over No 10 makes up for Blair hanging on past his use-by date and keeping Brown waiting to succeed.

Now with all Blair stories there is a bit of inconsistency when you look at them closely. How come Tony “Five times a night” Blair and Cherie “my daddie played Alf Garnett’s son” Booth have only had three kids? With artificial birth control being considered a sin, did Cherie have something to Confess all those years?    

After yesterday’s marathon I thought you might like a bit of light relief. (The real excuse is that I have been out at the LibDems London Rally and should post about that but I left it a bit late).

Anyway, onto the beef. You thought you have a perky number in Laura Bush. She is a lapcat compared to the first lady in Kenya. If you missed it, she has gone into the offices of a newspaper in Nairobi and slapped down at least one of the journalists for criticising her.
The story goes back to last Saturday. The outgoing local director of the World Bank was having a party in the garden of the house he rented from the President Kibak after he moveed into the Presidential residence. Kibak had kept a building in the compound for his own use Presumably he likes to get away from one or other of his two wives who reportedly hate each other.

Lucy Kibak, the senior wife recently announced that her husband would seek re-election in 2007. Kibak is thought to have suffered a stroke and may be incompetent to run the country so this is a bit like Nancy announcing Ronnie Raygun was after a second term.  

Lucy crashed the party saying the music was too loud and trying to disconnect the amplifier. She did not help the situation by putting down the director’s mother for bringing him up badly as she was leaving. She have also complained to the local police station.

Now the press in Kenya is not as deferential as it used to be when Arap Moi was in power. Tapes of the incident were played on the radio and the papers reported the row in detail. In retrospect they ought to have known what they were letting themselves in for.

Tuesday Lucy stormed into the offices of the main paper, She plonked herself down in various editor’s chairs complaining about the “lies” and demanding the arrest of the reported who wrote about the party. When a photographer tried to get a picture, she slapped him round the face and tried to wrestle the camera from his hands.      

Tuesday was World Press Freedom Day

Sixty years ago today the Soviet Red Army took Berlin. One year ago I was standing in line at the Immigration desk at Stanstead Airport, near London after a short break. Last Tuesday I went to a meeting of the residents of the apartment block I live in and watched the news on TV when I got home. Three seemingly unconnected events but which form part of the reasons I am fervently in favour of the European Union and believe that, despite all its faults, it is a powerful force for the general good.
Europe is steeped in its history. I live in converted warehouse used to store rum that could well have been used to pickle Nelson for his return from the victory over the French at Trafalgar. A few metres away there is a flagpole supposed to mark the place where Francis Drake laid his cloak over a puddle for Elizabeth I. If I go there and look right I can see the Greenwich Observatory that marks the borders of the east and west hemispheres. On the left, just round the bend in the river, is the spot the Pilgrim Fathers departed from before they stopped in Plymouth prior to the Atlantic crossing. While my place is unusual, it is not uncommon to literally trip over history across Europe but these last 60 years may well be the most significant.

Even as the taking of the Reichstag was being replayed for the cameras, the Iron Curtain was descending across the middle of Europe. The survivors of millions of Soviet deaths had driven the Nazis from the outskirts of Stalingrad spurred on by the violation of Mother Russia and the horrors that had been found in the concentration camps. After an epidemic of rape by the soldiers, the leaders of The USSR set about building a buffer between their old allies and their borders. This was of course a direct result of the agreements about post-war influence hammered out between a dying Roosevelt and crafty Stalin.    

At that time much of Europe lay devastated. The captured Reichstag was virtually a burnt out shell but still was more complete than most of the city round it. Cathedrals from Coventry to Cologne lay in ruins. The docks of England and Germany had been set to the torch to stop supply transport. Historic Dresden had died in a firestorm for no good purpose. Vast armies had rolled across the continent flattening anything that stood in their way. The suffering was not over. That winter was one of starvation and intense cold.  Yet from those ashes there was hatching a phoenix. Visionaries in Germany and France realised that by taking the production of primary war materials out of the control of one nation, they could stop the cycles of war that had plagued Europe for a thousand years. From iron and steel, co-operation went on to rebuild food production so the famines of the post-war period would not return. The European Project had been born.

The other side of the Iron Curtain had a mirror organisation, COMECON that essentially was to integrate the economies of the eastern half of Europe with the USSR in a complex series of swapping. Mandated economic targets meant absurdities like the way nail factories met their quota. As the targets were based on weight, they made a few giant unusable nails at the end of the year. The comedy of this contrasted with the iron control the USSR attempted to use. Protests against their rule were put down. In 1968 tanks rolled into Wenceslas Square to snuff out “communism with a human face”  Alexander Dubcek had promised in the Prague Spring. He was spirited off to Moscow and is believed to have been tortured. On his return he survived but was exiled to a menial clerical job in the forestry service. A student, Jan Palac set fire to himself in protest on the steps at the top of the square, falling opposite the statue of King Wenceslas that represents the spirit of the nation. He died in agony some days later. The day after the invasion I was at a Promenade concert in the Royal Albert Hall. Mstislav Rostropovich was to solo in Dvorak’s cello concerto alongside a Russian orchestra. The atmosphere was electric. Plain clothes policemen were liberally sprinkled among the audience, very badly concealing their identity by their dress and the way they studied the programmes. They were there to stop protests but the music became the protest. As the symphony evoked Dvorak’s homeland, Rostropovich wept for Czech democracy. We wept together.  

Twenty one years later the people of that country threw off their oppression in the Velvet Revolution. Dubcek returned to lead the national assembly. In those heady years at the end of the 1980s, the walls fell. In the ceremony marking the formal reunification of Germany they sung a special version of the music that had been adopted in 1972 as the European anthem. For the only time the opening word of the Ode to Joy, “Freune”, Joy was replaced with “Freiheit”, Freedom. By last year many other countries had broken from the ties with the old Soviet Union. Slovakia and the Czech Republic had peacefully undergone the “Velvet Divorce”. Slovenia had emerged from the bloody break-up of  Yugoslavia. Three of the old Hanseatic League had torn themselves from Russia to become the independent Baltic States. Malta, Cyprus, Hungary and Poland made up the 10 nations that joined the EU last year, which takes me back to that line at Stanstead.

I took a fancy to going to Prague for their accession to the EU. In part this was to have the rare opportunity of departing to a “foreign” country and coming back from another part of the EU. I had a deal of fun getting the people at the duty free shop confused when I left as the regulations changed while I was to be away. As well as the sightseeing opportunity it was also a sort of pilgrimage to close for me that time since 1968. Booking a very cheap budget airline ticket and a quick phone call to a pension made it a done deal. I had a wry smile at the little old guard tower on the riverside that most people ignore. Their {not so} secret service had only fairly recently relinquished their control of it which started so they could observe the dissident playwright to lived in a family home nearby. It had thou been a bit redundant after the playwright became the country’s president. I also wanted to lay some flowers on the Palac memorial. This is on the spot where he fell and consists of the paving sets (cobbles) rising over a hump as if they were covering a human form.  In the middle of a bustling cosmopolitan city it is easily overlooked by those not in the know.  

May 1 2004 changed the geography of Europe, the countries we grew up calling “Eastern Europe” took their real place in the centre of the continent. For the people the changes may be subtle at first. Like the girl next to me in the line at Immigration. She was holding her Czech passport and was looking at the little registration card that you may be familiar with. Although she was in the right line – for EU Citizens, she asked me if she had to fill it in. I had to smile as I answered “no, you are part of the Union now”.

The Accession has been a worrying time for the EU15. There were many scare stories here about thousands of Roma flooding into the country, which of course did not happen. There are many challenges like getting the Roma real rights in, especially, Slovakia. On the other hand we have started to see the benefits. It makes me convinced that in the long term we will be able to bring most of the rest of the continent into the family. Those who may not be ready or willing will become good neighbours. The Project is not complete and may not be so for another 50 years but there is a bright and above all peaceful future out there.  

In the UK there is a real shortage of both professionals like doctors and skilled manual workers like plumbers and painters.  The unemployed from the new states are helping to fill these vacancies. The external redecoration on my building was mentioned at that meeting last week. Everyone found the Hungarians who did it very hard working and efficient (and some thought them quite fanciable as well).        

On the television news when I got back Tuesday night were pictures of protests in Belarus on the anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. An elderly man was being pushed to the ground by police. In his hand was a small flag. A flag that has represented freedom and aspirations for the future in many recent street protests from Georgia to Ukraine and even Lebanon, that most European of countries at the east end of the Mediterranean. A circle of twelve gold stars on a background of blue.

The UK’s Liberal Democrats have used their 5 minute “party election broadcast” slot on British TV to show Blair as a boy crying “WOLF” about the Iraq WMDs.

In another development the top secret minutes of a meeting in July 2002 have been leaked. These clearly show that Blair had agreed there should be regime change and that events at the UN should be engineered to allow the war. Advance planning had already taken place in the Pentagon.
First the broadcast. In th UK parties are not allowed paid advertisemnts on TV but are allocated free time on all the analog terrestrial channels. The number and time are dependent on a calculation based on previous results and the number of seats they are standing in.

Tonight the LibDems used the opening sequence to tell the story of a boy who claimed there were wolves in the wood.  The local wolfman, Hans, went into the woods but found no trace of the wolf.

Then the boy showed his friend Howie (Michael Howard, Tory leader) a picture of some sheep. The boy told Howie that this clearly meant there were wolves. Wolves were know to wear sheep’s clothing so the sheep in the picture were really wolves. This time everyone went out and searched the woods. Still nothing was found.

By this time everyone started to doubt the boy but he refused to apologise. “We may not have found a wolf but clearly there were wolf-related activities” he said.    

The full version should be available from this page on the LibDems’ site later but in the meantime the second one on car salesmen has a fun opening too.

The next development is far more serious and has implications for Americans. You have probably already seen some of it on Kos. The top secret minutes of a July 2002 meeting have been leaked and published by the Sunday Times. Present were Blair, senior members of the Government, Military, Intelligence Servie and unelected government advisers including Alistar “sexed-up dossier” Campbell.

Yhe meeting started with the intelligence chief giving a summary of the position. All emphases are mine.

John Scarlett summarised the intelligence and latest JIC assessment. Saddam’s regime was tough and based on extreme fear. The only way to overthrow it was likely to be by massive military action.{Note this is an asesment, it is not fact} Saddam was worried and expected an attack, probably by air and land, but he was not convinced that it would be immediate or overwhelming. His regime expected their neighbours to line up with the US. Saddam knew that regular army morale was poor. Real support for Saddam among the public was probably narrowly based.

“C”  reported on a visit made to Washington where the war was being planned and was inevitable. Nothing at the UN would change this.

Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime’s record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.

The two military options being considered by the Pentagon were describe. The second is the closest to what eventually went down.

(a) Generated Start. A slow build-up of 250,000 US troops, a short (72 hour) air campaign, then a move up to Baghdad from the south. Lead time of 90 days (30 days preparation plus 60 days deployment to Kuwait).

The figure is significant as those numbers were not actually reached. This could have something to do with troops intially being sent to Turkey, refused passage to Iraq and still in transit when the invasion started. It does however indicate that the plans were not fully in place at the start and that there was indeed a “rush to war” as many claimed at the time.  

The nest extract will be of particular interest in the US as it shows that Bush was using the situation to party advantage

The Defence Secretary said that the US had already begun “spikes of activity” to put pressure on the regime. No decisions had been taken, but he thought the most likely timing in US minds for military action to begin was January, with the timeline beginning 30 days before the US Congressional elections.

The Foreign Secretary’s comments do much to destroy the case for the war but also show that the plot to manipulate the UN was in place

The Foreign Secretary said he would discuss this with Colin Powell this week. It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided. But the case was thin. Saddam was not threatening his neighbours, and his WMD capability was less than that of Libya, North Korea or Iran. We should work up a plan for an ultimatum to Saddam to allow back in the UN weapons inspectors. This would also help with the legal justification for the use of force.

The Attorney General made it clear that regime chane was illegal under international law. The only legal way was to get UN Security Council approval. The referemce to earlier UNSC resolutions is a precuror to the caveats he gave in his draft Opinion the following March. That was the subject of last week’s leak.

The Attorney-General said that the desire for regime change was not a legal base for military action. There were three possible legal bases: self-defence, humanitarian intervention, or UNSC authorisation. The first and second could not be the base in this case. Relying on UNSCR 1205 of three years ago would be difficult. The situation might of course change.

This document may not be the nail in Blair’s political coffin it might seem at first. Voting factors make a complete change-round unlikely although there is a possibility of a hung parliament and a probability of a much reduced majority. It is however prima face evidence that this group coulld be guilty of “war crimes”, more specifically Crimes Against Peace in that they were planning an agressive war.

The qustions for Blair are not going away. As Charles Kennedy says at the end of the LibDems PEB, the matter will continue to dog him throughout the upcoming lame duck period.

[From the diaries by susanhbu.]

The USAID Famine Early Warning System Network has put an “Emergency” red famine warning on Zimbabwe.

The report on their site is very neutral and does not lay the blame where it firmly belongs, at the feet of President Mugabe. Political repression involving the use of farm takeovers and their handover to his cronies and control of the distribution of the main staple foods by the Army was emboldened by the failure of the Western nationst to make an adequate response to his stealing the last elections earlier this year.

The country is producing one third of its annual consumption of maize. It used to export this grain and was the “breadbasket” of southern Africa. Initial examination of the crop predictions show that the crop failure has been most sever in the provinces in the south. This area abutts South Africa where hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans have fled to survive as illegals. The total Zimbabwean diaspora is put ion the millins.

I need to do some more research into the details on this but it looks like there is a causal effect between emigration and crop failures in the south. The other map show the black market price of maize in different areas. At first sight, it looks like the highest prices are in areas where the anti-Mugabe MDC got the most votes. Presumably this means that there are greater amounts slipping out of the government warehouses in the cheaper areas. If the political-geographic supply link is borne out, it would confirm the threats made at the elections to force people to vote for Mugabe.

The best way wof illustrating this would be to have a map of the outcome of the 2005 election results. So far I have not found one so if anoyone does know of any, please let me know. The only areas that look like they have lower prices but support for the MDC are around the capital but I seem to remember the results were mixed anyway. Mugabe would anyway ensure a good supply for his hangers-on in Harare.

As you can infer this is a bit of a work in progress so any useful links would be gratefully received.

For a new take on the British General Election, view the movie here.

http://www.theuncredibles.co.uk/

(Quick note for US readers, the Conservatives use blue as their national color, the Labout Party red and Libdems yellow)

Sorry about the short entry but Welshman’s excellent background piece is off the radar on the lists.

Unfortunately I have not been able to find a reference to the hilariously bad opening of UKIP’s election broadcast featuring a blue/green rubber “EU” octopus ravaging London.
Update [2005-4-29 12:42:54 by Londonbear]: Now linked below the fold

Now that’s not a headline you would associate with Britain but yet another wide preconception has been challenged this week.

In a worldwide competititon, a small resturant in a town outside London has been named the best in the world. Four out of the top 10 and fourteen out of the top 50 are in Britain,
These are extracts from the Guardian article.

The Fat Duck, the pioneering British restaurant that introduced the world to delicacies such as sardine on toast sorbet and bacon and egg ice cream, has been declared the world’s best place to eat.

Chef Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant in the Berkshire village of Bray topped a list of the world’s 50 best restaurants which was unveiled in London last night.

Fourteen British restaurants were included on the list chosen by a panel of more than 600 chefs, food critics and restaurateurs, who considered culinary excellence, service and the overall dining experience.

The Fat Duck’s success pushed last year’s top restaurant, The French Laundry in California, into third position behind Spain’s legendary El Bulli. Only six New York restaurants made the Top 50 including Thomas Keller’s Per Se in seventh place and Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Jean Georges in ninth.

The strong showing by British restaurants was endorsed by John Willoughby, the executive editor of New York-based Gourmet magazine. “Our position is that London is the best city in the world to eat in right now,” he said. “Everyone here is amazed at the quality and the breadth of the restaurants.”

Top 50 places to eat

1 The Fat Duck Bray, Berkshire

2 El Bulli Montjoi, Spain

3 The French Laundry Yountville, California

4 Tetsuya’s Sydney

5 Gordon Ramsay London

6 Pierre Gagnaire Paris

7 Per Se New York

8 Tom Aikens London

9 Jean Georges New York

10 St John London

11 Michel Bras Laguiole, France

12 Le Louis XV Monte Carlo

13 Chez Panisse Berkeley, California

14 Charlie Trotter Chicago

15 Gramercy Tavern New York

16 Guy Savoy Paris

17 Restaurant Alain Ducasse Paris

18 The Gallery at Sketch London

19 The Waterside Inn Bray, Berkshire

20 Nobu London

21 Restaurante Arzak San Sebastián, Spain

22 El Raco de Can Fabes San Celoni, Spain

23 Checcino dal 1887 Rome

24 Le Meurice Paris

25 L’Hotel de Ville Crissier, Switzerland

26 L’Arpège Paris

27 Angela Hartnett at the Connaught London

28 Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons Oxford

29 Le Cinq Paris

30 Hakkasan London

31 Cal Pep Barcelona

32 Masa New York

33 Flower Drum Melbourne

34 WD50 New York

35 Le Quartier Francais Franschhoek, South Africa

36 Spice Market New York

37 Auberge de l’Ill Illhaeusern, Alsace

38 Manresa California

39 Restaurant Dieter Muller Begisch Gladbach, Germany

40 La Maison Troisgros Roanne, France

41 The Wolseley London

42 Rockpool Sydney

43 Yauatcha London

44 The Ivy London

45 Gambero Rosso San Vincenzo, Italy

46 The Cliff St James, Barbados

47 Le Gavroche London

48 Enoteca Pinchiorri Florence

49 Felix Hong Kong

50 La Tupina Bordeaux

I know Welshman is organising a more serious look at the issues and policies raised during the general election in the UK. Hopefully these occasional entires will give you an insight into some of the less serious or quirky aspects of the process.

Week one of started with a bit of a phoney war.  After an election is called there is a “washing up”  period in Parliament to get non-contentious or urgent bills enacted before Parliament is finally dissolved.  This time the main party leaders decanted to Rome for the Pope’s funeral  on Friday and the service in Windsor for Charles and Camilla’s wedding.  

The last business of the Parliament is for the Commons to be summoned to the Lords by Black Rod to hear these bills getting Royal Asset. The formula for this is for the name of the new Act to be called out and the Clerk of the Lords confirming Assent using the Norman French “La Reyne le veult” or “the queen wills it”. As with all Acts, a copy is made on a vellum roll and kept in the Victoria Tower at Westminster. Various Roayl Commissions are then read out. These order the calling of a new Parliament under the nominal oversight of a group of Peers from all the main parties who have been sitting through the process in full regalia. A further Commission effectively orders the Law Lords to carry on their work.

At the end of the ceremony there are no longer any Members of Parliament. Existing MPs continue to get their salary for a further month but are banned from their offices.  They cannot refer to themselves as MPs and lose all rights of access to non-public areas of the Palace of Westminster.

So what of the main parties?  Well they have all launched their manifestoes this week with varying degrees of success and their plans have been subject to late PM Harold Macmillan’s “Events, dear boy, events”.

Liberal Democrats

Having barely recovered from the funeral and wedding, Charles Kennedy was rushed off the campaign to attend the birth of his son. This meant that there were some great photo opportunities when the baby was taken home as his wife gave birth in St Thomas’s Hospital which is directly across the Thames from Parliament. The manifesto launch had to be delayed a couple of days as Kennedy took paternity leave. A couple of sleepless nights also led to some of the financial details of  the property tax proposals coming out slowly at the early morning launch..

Conservatives

The Conservatives let it be known they do not want to be known as “Tories” as these were Irish brigands.  This announcement may have been under the influence of their Australian campaign guru who helped  their PM John Howard get re-elected. He is also responsible for their rather creepy slogan “Are you thinking what we’re thinking?”  Much amusement was caused when it was discovered that this is also the catchphrase of a couple of cartoon bananas in the Australian ABC children’s program “Bananas in Pyjamas”.

The Toeies’ leader Michael Howard was famously described as “having something of the night about him” by a fellow tory MP Anne Widdecombe when he was Home Secretary (justice minister) in the last Conservative government  Howard is the son of Jewish refugees from Transylvania so the combination of the two has led to his portrayal in cartoons as a Dracula figure. Widdlecombe herself is a rather striking figure as is nicknamed “Doris Karloff”. She figured in one of the big Tory gaffs this week. . She had been pictured with the MP for Dorset South, Ed Matts at a rally in support of some asylum seekers from Malawi   He had been holding a picture of the family and she had a poster saying “let them stay”. For his election material, Matts had doctored the photo so instead of the family’s picture, he was holding a placard saying “Controlled immigration” and Widdicmbe’s slogan  was now “not chaos and inhumanity”.

Labour

On Monday the Labour Party showed its first 5 minute election broadcast. Directed by Anthony Minghela of  “The English Patient” fame, this was a soft focus love-in between Blair and his Chancellor (finance minister) Gordon Brown. Brown is widely seen as Blair’s successor in waiting and there has been a long rivalry between them. Prior to his election as Labour leader, it is believed there was an agreement at the Granita Resturant that Blair would stand down in Brown’s favour during a second term. When he announced he woul d fight for a third term there was a distinct chill between them. Brown had been the election supreme for the party at the earlier elections but was replaced this time and there was wide-spread shumours that he would move to the Foreign Office after the election. The dispute showed in the body language in the broadcast. In the few shots they were shown together they seemed to be trying to turn their backs on each other. Later at a press conference Blair virtually guaranteed Brown continuing in the Chancellor post which raised speculation of a “Granita 2”.

The launch of their manifesto was one of their usual stage managed efforts with a series of podia for keynote speakers  set in front of the rest of the Cabinet. Unfortunately the effect was a downmarket version of the set of “The Weakest Link”. One person being kept under wraps is the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott (I can hear the cries of  “WHO??” now). Prescott is an “old Labour” relic who started off in the trades union movement as a bar steward on a ship. He is touring the country rallying the Labour troops in private meetings. As well as being able to teach Bush a thing or two about garbling English, he is a bit of a bruiser. At the last election an egg-throwing protestor felt his fists. Prescott’s nickname “Two Jags” refers to his liking for Jaguar cars that did not go down too well when he was given responsibility for public transport.

Cars also provided the final “event” of the week for Labour.  On Friday it was finally admitted that the MG Rover plant in Birmingham would have to close with many thousands of lay-offs there and in supply companies. The last British owned mass car manufacturer, the group had been purchased in a buy-out from BMW who retained the Mini car and name. The final straw was the failure of a link up with a Chinese company.. Much of the blame is being pointed at the owner/managers who had  the support of the Blair government at the takeover. An alternative offer would have meant more redundancies a few years back but the terms would have been many times more cash than the workers will be getting now. Ramifications of this are likely to continue well into the campaign. The plant is in an area where there are many Labour held marginal seats.

Americans will remember that the usual St Patrick’s Day invitations were withdrawn from Sinn Fein by all parties this year in favor of the family of a murder victim. The McCartney family are strong supporters of the Republican cause but are being denied justice in the murder of their fiance and brother. Robert McCartney was killed in a fight which is believed to involve members and elected represntatives of Sinn Fein.

Now with the general election upcoming, their campaign is obviously becoming embarrassing for Sinn Fein and the McCartney family are starting to get threats and intimidation. The piece below the fold is a quote of the entire article from the Guardian as it tends to move archive pieces behind a pay wall.

Angelique Chrisafis, Ireland correspondent
Friday April 15, 2005
The Guardian

Police were last night investigating a claim by the sister of the Belfast murder victim Robert McCartney that she was intimidated by republicans and told to leave her home.

Paula McCartney, 40, a mature student with five children, said she was visited at around midnight on Wednesday at her terrace house in the small Catholic enclave of Short Strand in east Belfast.

Ms McCartney said a relative of a Sinn Fein member suspended over her brother’s killing threatened that she would be “put out” of the area. She was warned not to distribute leaflets publicising a vigil for her brother, who was allegedly murdered by IRA members after an argument in a bar.

Mr McCartney’s fiancee, Bridgeen Hagans, said she was also threatened and told to leave the area with her two sons, aged two and four.

One month after the family took their campaign for justice to Washington, no one has been charged with McCartney’s murder and his sisters say witnesses have been intimidated.

On Wednesday, Ms Hagans and four of the McCartney sisters pushed slips of paper through letterboxes in Short Strand, announcing a vigil on Sunday outside Magennis’s bar where Mr McCartney was attacked. Paula McCartney said that on one street a crowd of 12 men and women gathered shouting abuse about Mr McCartney and shouting sexual obscenities at the sisters. They told Ms Hagans to move out of the area.

Ms McCartney said the crowd was “a minority, a dangerous minority. They are intent on oppressing and intimidating people…

“We believe their aim was to engage us in a physical confrontation in an effort to damage the campaign. But we didn’t rise to the challenge.”

She said the crowd included relatives and associates of people believed to be involved in Mr McCartney’s killing and the subsequent cover-up. A senior republican who the family allege was involved in the murder was standing nearby but not taking part.

Ms McCartney had contacted police. She said the majority of Short Strand residents had been supportive and Sunday’s vigil would go ahead.

Sinn Fein councillor Joe O’Donnell said: “I seem to be coming to the conclusion that it was a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other with regards to the abuse and threats which passed back and forwards between some residents and some members of the McCartney family. I am trying to reconcile and mediate in the situation. I have to keep an open mind.”

The McCartneys denied being threatening or abusive.

The SDLP deputy leader, Alasdair McDonnell, said: “There are no two sides to this story…This was a naked attempt to silence them [the McCartneys] and drive them out.

“Sinn Fein may claim to support the family, but the reality is that on the ground, Sinn Fein and the IRA are clouding the issue, covering up the truth and trying to silence the voices of those who demand justice.”

guardian.co.uk

Very full exposure was given yesterday to a device given to him by his daughters. If used properly, this could induce him to commit suicide or become incapable.
We now know that Dubya has been given an I-pod by his kids (whether Queen Elizabeth has been given a We-pod has not been revealed). Used properly this could induce Dubya to commit suicide or become incapable by hitting the bottle (again).

The theory goes back to 1992 when Stack and Gundlach published a paper on the effect of country music on the incidence of suicide. http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=95183303

This demonstrated that the suicide rate is considerably more in areas where country music is popular. This seemed to be a result of the lyrics concentrating on the breakdown of relationships, drink and violence and the prevailing gun culture in those areas.

The paper was disputed at the time by country music radio stations and the producers. What did happen however was that lyrics became much lighter and the genre moved towards more popular themes.

Now a song has been issued that has all of the factors that seem to lead to suicide. “Whiskey Lullaby” has a broken relationship, drink and depression leading to the gun suicide of the “hero”. In turn this leads to guilt, depression and suicide in his lover. http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bradpaisley/whiskeylullaby.html

Stack and Gunlach are busy correlating those areas where the song has its highest plays and the incidence of suicide. Unfortunately this work will take possibly 5 years to produce results but if we could get the White House to turn on Dubya to Brad Paisley’s music…….