A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece about the Ricin terrorist plot in Britain that turned out to be cobblers. In the piece I linked to an article in the Guardian by Duncan Campbell that took the case to pieces and showed it for the horseshit it was. That piece has now been pulled from the Guardian website for “legal reasons”.
A couple of months back, over at The Yorkshire Ranter, there was a piece about how Americans seem to think the British bloggosphere is effectively nonexistent. It was a prescient post, it seems…
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What exactly to do about the continued disengagement with politics and collapsing voter turnout  now almost the lowest in Western Europe?
Come the weekend, expect plenty of hand-wringing and a barrage of familiar ideas to reverse the decline that puts us well below even similar polities like New Zealand, miles down the OECD voter turnout average (23rd out of 30), but still ahead of Canada (just) and the US. Read More
The Independent: Revealed – Labour’s strategy to block influence of left-wing MPs
David Blunkett, the former home secretary who is expected to return to the Cabinet in a reshuffle on Friday if Labour retains power, told The Independent: “The real danger of abstentions could lead to a parliament where the disaffected determine the policy of the country.
“If the disaffected in the electorate end up with such a small majority that the disaffected in parliament can rule, then it is the disaffected per se in the electorate and parliament that run the show. That is not good for democracy.”
Disaffected. Disaffected.
Disaffected: adj. Resentful and rebellious, especially against authority.
So the tactic to win the votes of the likes of me has been abandoned for one of smears. How very New Labour. This from a man who had to resign from the cabinet over his affair with a married woman. A man set “to return to the Cabinet”. Again, very New Labour.
To borrow a joke from Spike Milligan: As the zoo keeper said when the trussed-up gorilla arrived – it was bound to come.
It’s been said during the election campaign that the war in Iraq and the legality thereof has been the dog that wouldn’t bark. Or, if you’ll permit me, the cluster bomb that didn’t explode.
But then the Attorney General’s advice on the legality, or otherwise, of the war was finally, inevitably leaked.
Immigration policy blogging will be officially closed after today. Just one more pre-election query relating to the Conservative Party’s detailed policy proposals on asylum.
Just for a moment, real politics has invaded my tiny little life. This isn’t an ‘all about me’ masturblog, so I’ll write a couple of paragraphs then shut up.
Two weeks ago, I was in court.
A constant argument of the anti-EU side is that the European Commission is not democratic.
But in the US, the people do not directly elect their president. Sure, they VOTE for the president, but it is the Electoral College which actually makes the final decision. Hence Al Gore getting the majority of the popular vote in 2000, yet not winning the presidency (and that wasn’t a one-off – see also Samuel Tilden getting more than Rutherford Hayes in 1876, Grover Cleveland getting more than Benjamin Harrison in 1888, and even – if you buy the tales of vote fraud – Richard Nixon getting more than John F Kennedy in 1960). Read More
But what point?
Largely that the blogosphere (for want of a better word) contains some genuinely top-notch writers – and we’re collecting them all in one place.
Most bloggers also try to make a point of some kind in each post they make, and here we hope to have a selection of some of the most eloquent, insightful and amusing bloggers going. It’s a kind of showcase, if you will.
Initially this is going to be made up of UK-based bloggers, but largely just because it’s worked out like that – contributors may well expand to include continental and American bloggers at a later stage, as well as people from further afield. Subject-matter wise, the plan is for it to be politics in the broadest sense – any geographical area, anything which is topical and interesting.
But it won’t just be politics. Good writing on pretty much any interesting subject is also going to appear – culture, philosophy, humour, history, whatever – although usually loosely related to topical events.
The emphasis is on being a showcase for what bloggers are capable of. We hope to feature people with a broad range of political opinions and writing styles and, through them, act as a conduit for blogging thought and debate, highlighting good new blogs as well as old favourites. Good writing is all that matters.
We have a few more ideas up our sleeves, and the site will doubtless evolve as more people get involved, so any suggestions or questions are welcome. Feel free to get in touch – we’ll look forward to hearing from you.