Balls-Up Balls Must Quit Over Cock-Up

When the SATS marking shambles was taken away from ETS back to the government's quango, it was pointed out here that schools secretary, Ed Balls' excuses had been blown right out of the water. He should be taught a lesson and quit. 

Now the firm responsible for this summer's national test marking, ETS Europe, has had its contract scrapped, in any any other circumstances this would make his position untenable. 

The secretary of state must have signed off the original £156m contract, taken briefings from his officials over the mess, authorised the switching back and the scrapping of the contract. So he is responsible. If he didn't, then who's running the country?

But instead he squirmed and just looked shifty - claiming it was not his fault. 

Shadow education secretary, Michael Gove, said: "Ministers bear direct responsibility for signing up with a firm that let down children and teachers so badly." A view shared by LibDem Vincent Cable. 

The sheer arrogance of a government minister, who can hide behind weak excuses while the fiasco unfolded, leaving parents and youngsters frantic with worry, is quite beyond belief.

These get-out clauses used by ministers for big IT projects are a scandal. Ministers are accountable and responsible. And if they don't like that, or they preside over a cock-up, they should quit the job.

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Out Of Iraq And Into Afghan Fire

Reports of UK troop withdrawals from Iraq in the coming months, is an ominous sign of the impending escalation in Bush and Blair's legacy of the increasingly hopeless war in Afghanistan. 

But Iraq is not the real problem. The real problem is in Afghanistan, which is rapidly turning into the new Vietnam.

In June, it was clear a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq may be made by the end of the year, paving the way for over-stretched troops to be switched to Afghanistan. 

The announcement is nothing new and this timetable has already been set by Washington.

The UN mandate for US forces occupying Iraq runs out at the end of the year and an illegal occupation is not an option. Iraq will strike a security deal with the US and the UK but only if this includes dates for the withdrawal of foreign forces.

A usual MoD spokesman is quoted as saying: “As a key Coalition partner, the US is intimately involved with the development of our future plans.”

Bush needs a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq for his legacy and the presidential election campaign.

Brown needs the withdrawal to try to rid New Labour of the Blair legacy in the run up to the next General Election. He faces a call to do something about troops in Iraq ahead of September's Labour Party conference and he needs to save face after popping up in Basra during the election-that-never-was and raising false hopes of troops withdrawals.

The UK still has more than 4,000 troops holed up near Basra after striking a deal with the local militia not to interfere. The UK has traditionally and historically kept a base in Southern Iraq and that will not change. It will just be smaller. 

Former infantry commander, Col Tim Collins, is reported in the Telegraph as saying for Britain to win back the respect and trust of the Americans after the “defeat” in Basra, it would need to “step up to the mark” in Afghanistan."

And that US 'special relationship' lies at the heart of the matter. 

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Clinton's Name Goes In Hat For Democrats

The race for the White House has taken a new twist, with Clinton confirming her name will be placed in the nomination at the DNC, later this month, which could force a roll-call vote of the delegates. Clinton has been playing her cards close to her chest but now she could be set to rain on Obama's parade at the Democrat National Convention (DNC) in downtown Denver.  

The official announcement ends weeks of speculation over Clinton's position, since she was careful to only suspended her campaign following the US Primaries.

At the beginning of the month, the Orange Party asked if Clinton was still in the race.

That followed increasing doubts over Obama, when his star started to fade and he was described as a "presumptuous, presumptive" senator, following his European 'Audacity of Hope' tour. 

Since then, Obama has failed to make in-roads in the opinion polls. Questions have been raised publicly over his fund-raising and links with dodgy Chicago politicians. And there's increasing internet speculation over his eligibility for the presidency and his Birth Certificate.

In a YouTube video of a California fund-raising event, posted here, Clinton did not rule out having her name put in the nomination and a roll-call vote. And husband Bill was decidedly lukewarm when asked about his support for Obama.

Clinton picked up about 18 million votes and nearly 1,900 delegates in her primary battle against Obama, who got more than 2,250 delegates. 

But Clinton supporters want to force a roll-call vote to show the extent of support for the New York senator and are also planning rallies at the DNC in Denver, along with TV and press adverts, to express their frustration with the Party’s presidential primaries.

The Obama campaign was quick to spin Clinton's move, saying it will "unify" the Democrats, as well as "honour" Clinton. But that didn't cut the ice with anyone.

Hillary is expected to address the convention on August 26, while husband Bill is due to speak the following night.

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Doubts Over Obama's Citizenship And Name

Bloggers in the US have unearthed what's claimed to be a school registration form, showing Barack Obama registered under the name Barry Soetoro, with Indonesian citizenship, adding further speculation over his citizenship and eligibility to run for president.

The document lists Barry Soetoro as a Indonesian citizen, born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, and shows his step-father listing the boy’s religion as Islam. 

The photo of the alleged form (click image to enlarge) was  taken by an Indonesian Associated Press reporter and photographer. 

The AP caption reads:

“This registration document, made available on Jan. 24, 2007, by the Fransiskus Assisi school in Jakarta, Indonesia, shows the registration of Barrack Obama under the name Barry Soetoro into the Catholic school made by his step-father, Lolo Soetoro. The document lists Barry Soetoro as a Indonesian citizen, born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, and shows his Muslim step-father listed the boy’s religion as Islam. (AP Photo/ Tatan Syuflana).”

If true, the AP photo fuels further speculation over Obama's citizenship and eligibility to run for president as reported here. In addition, it calls into question his bar application to the Illinois Supreme Court over providing former names.

Conspiracy theory, lies and  smears, or the truth? 

There's speculation the Republicans had this a while ago, along with Obama's Birth Certificate - but are holding back, until after the official Democrat nomination in just over a week's time. 

Only questions over Obama's "American roots" have been placed in the US Main Stream media, along with a passing reference to "Barry" buried deep inside The New York Times.  

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Govt A-Level Sham Fails Students

The government has failed its A-levels once again with today's record results, as sixth-formers jump around clutching their fantastic results only to turn round and see everyone is a winner, waving the same fantastic results. 

Ministers and quangoland lackeys, trotted out their well-worn phrases - 'How dare anyone put them down. We all should be celebrating their hard work, not criticising them'. 

But that's not the point, as noted in the today's Guardian.

Time and again, New Labour's 'record A-levels' has been exposed as a sham. A deliberate ploy to try to hit ridiculous targets of 50% in higher education and keep down the unemployment figures. 

They've tried every trick in the book to boost the pass rate and inflate the grades. Making exams easier, watering down exams with course-work, introducing soft subjects, skewing the statistics and tinkering with the grade boundaries. 

It's all a far cry from the days when bright, hard working sixth-formers would be rightly rewarded for their efforts, with a well-earned place at a proper university, studying a proper subject. 

And that applied just as much to the youngsters from working class backgrounds, as it did to the kids from the posh schools, which most of New Labour's top ministers attended. 

Now, for many students, it will a couple of years at Smalltown Polytech - rebranded Bigcity University - 'studying' Media and Computer Games. Until they get fed up and leave. 

Faced with the grades sham, the proper universities are trying to keep up standards by introducing their own entrance exams, because the A-levels are not worth the paper they are written on.

Disillusioned overseas students are being used to prop-up the cash-strapped rebranded polys and offered 'rotten' degrees for their efforts.  Home students are enticed with the sop of easy subjects, with the word 'studies' in the title. Without an A-level gold standard, the student drop out and failure rate at the so-called 'universities' is soaring.

Soon A-levels, in England at least, could be a thing of the past. To be replaced by vocational 'diplomas'. Industry chiefs recently warned the government what everyone else has been saying for ages - the new Diplomas to replace academic A-levels aren't worth the paper they're written on. 

So what next for the failed education experiment? Raising the school-leaving age is a neat way of taking the NEETS out of the rising unemployment figures. Then just give away the A-levels as a School Leaving Certificate. All students get results and everyone passes. 

In the shallow, fantasy world of New Labour, everyone's a winner - except the students, schools, parents, universities and this country's future. 

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Another Chinese Olympic Fakeaway

That little girl who sang at the opening Olympic ceremony was only miming. The real singer was shunned because her face didn't fit. It's another Chinese fakeaway.

First we had to peer through the smog and pollution, to be told by Chinese authorities it wasn't smog - it was "just another misty day" in downtown Beijing. 

Then we were told the fireworks display, beamed around the world for the opening ceremony, was all computer wizardry, "because of poor visibility."

The BBC has kindly reported the whole sorry saga here. 

Apparently the organisers needed a girl who was "flawless" with a good image. "The reason for this is that we must put our country's interest first," said a spokesman.

So, is that giant Chinese basketball player really seven foot tall - or is he on stilts?

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Inflation 'Spinning' Out Of Control

The government's own official and well-spun inflation figure is hitting 4.4%, craftily masking the true rise. Things must be really getting bad for the economy.

The UK's annual rate of inflation rose to 4.4% in July, up from 3.8% in June, as measured by the government's consumer price index (CPI).

The CPI is a neat little device used to set inflation at whatever the government wants it to be - usually around 3%.

It works by taking anything that's a huge inflation buster out of the equation - and then, a cunning weighting is dropped in to make those final tweaks and adjustments.

CPI inflation figures are kept artificially low by the government, because they fix public-sector pay rises, regardless of the obvious huge hike in food and fuel bills. 

Inflation used to be measured by the retail price index (RPI) - but New Labour ditched that in 2003.

The CPI may be a less effective measure of price rises than the old RPI, but it's much easier to manipulate. A point made repeatedly by the Conservatives.

The jump in inflation from 3.8% to 4.4% was the biggest monthly change in the annual CPI rate since records began in 1997.

More holiday reading for beleaguered Brown and his doomed chancellor, Alistair Darling. 

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Blair's Key Role In Georgia Conflict

A key meeting in London last year between Blair, government ministers and the Georgian president, may have helped set the wheels in motion for the conflict which exploded with such fury in the Caucasus. 

The situation in Georgia never held up to close scrutiny. Here is a president who speaks perfect English - with all the style and language of a US or UK politician. Mikheil Saakashvili is an expert at manipulating the media and in particular the BBC. He speaks in front of the shield of an EU flag and the umbrella of NATO.

 

His forces were exceptionally well-equipped and very well trained. Launching  a sophisticated attack on South Ossetia with missiles, tanks and ground troops required a lot of training and a lot of cash. 

Bring them together and you have Blair - and Bush. 

The Georgian president visited the UK in April 2007, for meetings with Blair and Defence Secretary, Des Browne. 

The official news release from the 'President of Georgia' here, reveals a lot about the Bush/Blair position on Georgia, UK investment in the country and the part Georgia  plays in supporting US and UK troops in Iraq.

The official news release said: "Blair said that the UK would certainly advocate NATO membership for countries which show such support to Britain in Iraq-related issues."

And it goes on: "Prime Minister Blair drew special attention to economic co-operation between the two countries and noted that British investment in Georgia was increasing." 

The release quotes Blair as saying: 

"Georgia will be a reliable partner for NATO. London supports your country's accession to the North Atlantic alliance. I believe that Georgia has worked hard over the past few years and deserves our support. I know the opinion of other European leaders on this issue. I call on the leaders of other countries to support Georgia's quick accession to NATO. Georgia has worked quite actively to promote the interests of the West. This is confirmed by the presence of Georgian troops in Iraq. We will continue to work actively with your country's government on issues concerning Georgia's membership of NATO in the future." 

At the meeting, Saakashvili said that there is currently $200m of British investment in Georgia.

Saakashvili also met Defence Secretary, Des Browne, to discuss "Georgia's integration with NATO and defence and security issues." The Georgian president went on to meet then Chancellor, Gordon Brown.

Saakashvili is big pals with Bush also. The US government paid for his law training at the Colombia Law School and George Washington University. He went on to work for a New York law firm, before heading back to Georgia. 

Part of the US-Georgia deal was a $64m plan to equip the Georgian army - The Georgia Train and Equip Program (GTEP). Two hundreds US special forces troops were sent to Georgia to train the Georgian army. 

US military help continued with the  Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program. Part of this program helped prepare Georgian troops for operations with the US led forces in Iraq.

These points are made also by former Soviet leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Mikhail Gorbachev, writing in today's Washington Post. who warns that "geopolitical games are dangerous anywhere, not just in the Caucasus."

The UK government should look hard at its own foreign policies, before blaming everything on Russia. 

 

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Meddling EU Must End Georgia Madness

EU diplomats are desperately trying to broker a peace as its political leaders are forced to face up to the disaster they have helped to create in Georgia. As Charles King, writing in the US CSMonitor, argues, the 'Russo-Georgian conflict is not all Russia's fault'.

There seems to be no end to the fighting, despite reports that Georgia has ordered its forces to end hostilities in South Ossetia. 

As noted by the Orange Party  here, the Russian Bear sleeps with one eye open. Politicians in the UK and EU leaders should have realised that, instead of interfering in the tinderbox of the Caucasus.

Any pretence that the EU is just an economic organisation and doesn't dabble in foreign and military matters were exposed, when Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, appeared on TV in front of an EU flag. Thinking he could hide behind an EU and indeed US shield was a seriously misjudgement. 

The UK may be forced to live with Blair's legacy but most EU nations have no taste for war. But the rapid, unchecked expansion of EU power, has allowed it to develop foreign and military policies, now being played out in the Caucasus.

It was Bush and the EU who gave military and political support to Georgia through the Train and Equip military assistance programme, to encourage them to come under the NATO umbrella. That was a red rag to the Russians. 

It was Bush and the EU who helped build the gas and oil pipelines that gave the Georgian president the confidence and cash to flex his muscles in South Ossetia. 

The US has its own agenda in Europe, but the last thing Bush wants is another war in the last few months of his watch. And the diplomatic activity behind the scenes with Russia will be intense.

When the EU gets involved in a such a potentially volatile area, without a true understanding of the consequences, it's the people who suffer.

This comment posted on the BBC website still echoes the feelings of many young Russians:

"It's really upsetting that people are dying. It's difficult to say who is right or wrong. The people are suffering from the bad manners of the politicians. The Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili has no common sense. It is beyond comprehension that he wants to resolve things this way."

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Johnson Can Swing It For Labour

The battle between New Labour and True Labour, highlighted by the Orange Party on a number of ocassion,  may come to a head with a Johnson-Cruddas ticket, the only way forward for the Party to challenge and expose the weaknesses of the Conservatives. 

What the Conservatives, SNP and most of the media liberal elite fear most, is a true Labour Party fighting an election under a true Labour banner.

Both Conservatives and SNP know they are not 'winning'. It is New Labour that is 'losing', because the public's fed up with Brown and the New Labour project.

Both parties want Brown and New Labour, in whatever guise, to limp along and self-destruct. The heir-to-Blair, Miliband, would be a gift for both parties and an election disaster for Labour.

Johnson is working class with his roots in the Labour movement. Like fellow Hull MP, Prescott, he's bemused by the whole New Labour project but was happy to go along for the ride. 

With big business Labour donors deserting in droves, the trade unions have a new confidence not seen since Blair and the gang highjacked the Party and finally crushed any influence they had left in them. 

Voters have seen through the New Labour sham. But turning to the Conservatives in England's Labour heartlands is a hard decision, so too with the SNP in Scotland. 

The LibDems are going nowhere. Thoroughly pointless Clegg, blustering around, is a liability.

Miliband and the Blairites are crawling out of the woodwork,  the few Brownites left are  trying to cling on to power. 

The next few weeks will be critical for the Labour Party ahead of September's Party conference. 

Johnson would be a 'safe pair of hands' until a general election in the Spring.

With Johnson at the helm, along with Cruddas (and McDonnell), the Labour Party would have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

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EU Meddling Sparked Georgia Tinderbox

The Russian Bear sleeps with one eye open. Politicians in the UK and EU leaders would do well to remember that, instead of interfering in the tinderbox of the Caucasus.

There seems to be no end to the fighting, despite reports that Georgia has ordered its forces to cease fire and offered to start talks with Russia over an end to hostilities in South Ossetia. 

Any pretence that the EU is just an economic organisation and doesn't dabble in foreign and military matters were scotched, when Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili was given the oxygen of publicity, appearing on TV in front of an EU flag. Thinking he could hide behind an EU and indeed US shield was a seriously misjudgement. 

It was Bush and the EU who gave military and political support to Georgia through the Train and Equip military assistance programme, to encourage them to come under the NATO umbrella. That was a red rag to the Russians. Historically they're a nation paranoid about threats of invasion.

It was Bush and the EU who helped build the gas and oil pipelines that gave the Georgian president the confidence and cash to flex his muscles in South Ossetia. 

The US has its own agenda, but since when did the EU have a foreign and military policy?

EU diplomats are now trying to broker a peace - its political leaders only now waking up to the disaster they have helped to create.

When the EU gets involved in a such a potentially volatile area, without a true understanding of the consequences, it's the people who suffer.

This comment posted on the BBC website echoes the feelings of many young Russians:

"It's really upsetting that people are dying. It's difficult to say who is right or wrong. Russia is defending its own citizens and it did try to persuade Georgia to stop. Russia was forced to start military action. The people are suffering from the bad manners of the politicians. The Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili has no common sense. It is beyond comprehension that he wants to resolve things this way."

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