Adonis Arrogance Over Academies

The Blairite Adonis plan for a huge expansion of City Academies, revealed in yesterday's Sunday Times, took many in government and the Labour Party by surprise. Adonis and his pet project have been lying low recently.

Schools minister Lord Adonis, the architect of the programme, had the arrogance to say:

“My motto as an ardent Blairite is, in the master’s words, what matters is what works ... We will make a political decision in due course on where we go beyond 400. On the basis of the results and the demand, the only issue is how far. We have 100 opening in 2010. ”

Many have seen through the academy programme as nothing more than a clever way of building schools under the discredited PFI scheme, to keep the building off the public balance sheet. 

Then handing them over to an army of non-elected education consultants and bureaucrats in privately managed academies, out of the control of the local education authorities. Pupils and targets are manipulated to suit their own ends.

As observed here, expanding the academies programme further will result in more schools branded as 'failures'. 

The government has already earmarked 638 schools in England as 'failures' under the National Challenge programme. They face funding cuts and a switch to the academy programme, unless they meet unrealistic government GCSE targets.

Adonis is well-suited to the task. As Andrew Adonis, Blair gave him a peerage in 2005. A neat way of getting Blairite sympathisers into the heart of govenment. His elevation to the House of Lords, paved the way for his appointment as a government minister. 

So here we have a non-elected, non-democratic minister, not an MP, coming up with a plan to increase the number of undemocratic, unaccountable schools. That's probably why he's comfortable using the royal 'we'.

The teaching unions and true Labour Party members are incensed at the idea of more Blairite academies spin and see it as a further example of the Blairite stranglehold on the New Labour government.

In a delicious twist of irony, it was the city academies which first blew the whistle in the 'Cash for Honours' political scandal - when academy business backers were given peerages in return for New Labour Party loans - first exposed by the Sunday Times. 

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Obama Sells Soap Powder Dream In Denver

The greatest sham on earth hits town this week. 45 years to the day since Martin Luther King gave hope to the world, Obama will try to sell his soap powder dream, at the Democrat convention in Denver - all perfectly stage managed, to be played out in Obamarama on prime-time TV and newspaper pictures, with Obamaoverload in the US and here in the UK.

It won't be Obama who first takes the spotlight. That will be Chicago lawyer wife and mom, Michelle, who will begin the 'dream theme' of the four-day Obamafest. 

With Obama's background causing a bit of confusion among voters and delegates, it will be left to Michelle to kick off proceedings and hit the race issue head on. 

As a true black American, Michelle speaks with a heartfelt and sincere voice - and can hook into Obama's central theme of the 'dream' - and place civil rights leader Martin Luther King, early in people's minds. 

Obama, will pick that up later, during his 'acceptance' speech, perfectly timed for the 45th anniversary of King's "I have a dream" speech of August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

For four days and nights they'll be wheeled on stage and on screen. A film featuring Obama in all-American scenes, family members telling his American story, Obama's side-kick Joe Biden, old party hands like Edward Kennedy, Bill and Hillary Clinton and powerful House of Representatives speaker, Nancy Pelosi. 

Along with walk-on appearances by 'ordinary' Americans and a sprinkling of 'celebrity stars'. 

And there will be no plain convention hall with a stuffy old lectern for Obama Superstar. He'll be outside in front of the assembled multitude, in the Invesco Field stadium, before a cheering throng of thousands.

It won't be all plain sailing for the Chosen One. Behind the scenes is Hillary Clinton. 

A growing and increasingly vocal band of Clinton supporters and delegates have gathered at Denver. 

There's the thorny issue of Clinton's name on the roll-call vote for nomination and whether she'll release her delegates to Obama. And a US lawsuit filed by a Clinton supporter, designed to halt Obama's bid for the presidency and nomination. 

Meanwhile, McCain TV ads and YouTube postings, are showing up Obama's 'cult of personality' and question his choice of windbag running-mate, Biden, over Clinton.

US voters want two basic things from their president - a firm hand on global Islamic terrorism and a steady and responsible hand on the economy. 

Selling a dream, packaged up like soap powder, is not the way to win them over.

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'Obama Bin Biden' Bumper Sticker Bonanza

You've got to hand it to the Americans - they sure know how to turn a buck.

No sooner had the text message gone out to the party faithful, announcing silver-haired loser, Joe Biden, as Obama's running mate, than 'Obama Bin Biden' stickers started to fly off the presses, pop up for sale on the internet and onto car bumpers. 

This one's from CafePress and apparently they're selling like hot cakes. The advertising blurb reads:

Tell the world how you feel! Our bumper stickers are perfect for expressing yourself while cruising down the highway or just for posting on the wall.

• Measures 10" x 3"

• Printed on 4mil vinyl using water and UV resistant inks - means no fading in the sun or bleeding in the rain.

Apparently the site has no political allegiance - just an eye on the chance.

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More Schools To Be Branded 'Failures'

Government moves to privatise state schools and hand them over to undemocratic business backers, are revealed in today's Sunday Times, with plans for a huge expansion of the flagging academies programme.

Last week's GCSE results showed, once again, how schools are being forced to play the education system and fight government obsession with league tables, to produce record GCSE results, to stave off closure and meet unrealistic targets. 

The government has already earmarked 638 schools in England as failures under the National Challenge programme. They face funding cuts and a switch to the academy programme, as the government hands them over to the vast army of education consultants and bureaucrats in privately managed academies.

Now the Sunday Times reports that Blairite academies architect, schools minister, Lord Adonis, is planning an expansion of the academies beyond the current target of 400.

Teaching unions and true members of the Labour Party will be incensed by the idea of a further 'focus on failure and closure' to switch to academies and see it as another example of the Blairite stranglehold on the New Labour government. 

Adonis, is quoted as saying: “My motto as an ardent Blairite is, in the master’s words, what matters is what works ... We will make a political decision in due course on where we go beyond 400. On the basis of the results and the demand, the only issue is how far. We have 100 opening in 2010.”

So just who is the royal 'we' that Adonis refers to? Certainly not the non-Blairites in the government or Labour Party, the teaching unions or the parents who have to put up with the hype and spin of the shallow academies. 

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Obama Faces Court Case In President Bid

The US Main stream media won't touch it, but doubts over Obama's eligibility to run for President just won't go away. Now a US court has been asked to stop Obama's bid for president and nomination at this week's Democrat convention. 

The move comes as bloggers, from all shades of political opinion, are becoming increasingly frustrated that allegations over Obama are being ignored.

The action, reported widely by US bloggers, comes from Philadelphia attorney, Philip Berg, who has filed a lawsuit in the Pennsylvania District Court against Obama, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC). 

Berg applied for an injunction preventing Obama from continuing his candidacy and a court order preventing the DNC from nominating him this week. The action claims Obama is constitutionally ineligible to run for and hold the office of President.


Berg, a Clinton supporter, is a former chair of the Democratic Party in Montgomery County, former member of the Democratic State Committee, and former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania. 

According to Berg, he filed the lawsuit for the "health of the Democratic Party" and "to avoid the obvious problems that will occur when the Republican Party raises these issues after Obama is nominated."

The action centres on claims reported by the Orange Party here, over Obama's citizenship and eligibility, raised by his Indonesian school record and an internet post of his Birth Certificate which has been claimed to be a fake. 

Meanwhile pressure is mounting on the FEC to investigate Obama, with more than 5000 signatures collected in an on-line petition, calling for his candidacy to be halted.

Moves for a temporary restraining order were denied by the Pennsylvanian judge Barclay Surrick, but the exhibits were taken into evidence. Judge Surrick decided to leave the case open, until the outcome of this week's Democrat nomination was known.

Yesterday, as "Obama Bin Biden" car bumper stickers appeared in the US, Obama and his newly selected running mate, silver-haired loser and windbag, Joe Biden, held a huge rally in Springfield, Illinios, for the benefit of the Obama faithful and the media, with our own cheerleaders from the BBC and Sunday Times. 

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Data Loss Sparks Fresh ID Card Fears

Fresh concerns have been raised over the government's controversial ID cards after it emerged the firm in the memory stick shambles is at the centre of the £20 billion home office scheme. 

The home office has suspend its three-year contract with PA Consulting following the loss of a memory stick containing data on 84,000 criminals.

PA Consulting was contracted by the home office last year to track offenders through the criminal justice 'JTrack' system. 

The data was not encrypted and contained names, birth dates, prison release dates and home detention curfew dates.

PA Consulting Group was awarded a development contract for the ID cards said to be worth £10 million in 2004, under the then home secretary, David Blunkett.

The same company was used by the government to set up the chaotic Criminal Records Bureau IT project.

The ID card scheme is coordinated by the Whitehall & Industry Group (WIG) which includes 39 civil servants, and 40 consultants from PA Consulting, the government's private sector 'development partner', and three on secondment from the passport service, the metropolitan police and a management consultant company.

The Telegraph has revealed that PA Consulting has been paid more than £240 million for government contracts in recent years.

This includes £100 million by the home office for the ID scheme and other work and £35 million to work on new biometric visas for the foreign office.

The Telegraph report adds: "Between 2004 and 2007 the company also picked up at least £31m from the Department for Work and Pensions, £20m from the Department for Communities and Local Government, £17m from the Ministry of Defence, £16m from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, £9m from the Department for Education and its successors and £3.5m from the Cabinet Office."

Announcing an inquiry, the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, said the data stick loss was "completely unsatisfactory" and the home office had suspended its contract for the company to run the JTrack scheme. 

Conservatives have accused ministers of a "massive failure of duty", accusing them of attempting to shift the blame and say the government must urgently examine the implications of the latest fiasco for the £20 bilion ID card project.

The loss of the memory stick is the latest in a string of data blunders by government departments who have awarded massive contracts to private IT firms. 

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Obama Picks Kinnock Copycat Biden

The Chosen One has chosen silver-haired windbag, Joe Biden, as his running mate for the White House. The decision was due to be revealed by text message to the Obama faithful, as part of the campaign hype to whip up interest. But in the end it was leaked out by the media.

The Obama campaign tried to wrong-foot the Clinton and McCain camps with the late announcement and the choice of an all-American guy with Washington experience. But, after Biden earlier cast doubts on Obama running for president, the McCain camp was quick to put out this YouTube put down.

Biden, with the looks of a younger McCain, has a background in law, experience of foreign policy and a reputation as a "remorseless gabber", as one columnist put it. 

Over here, he was known as the Kinnock Copycat. Biden shot to fame in 1987, when he was accused of plagiarising a speech by Labour Party leader, Neil Kinnock. A video of his admission, made by rivals, cost him his shot at the presidency.

Obama-Biden (no relation to anyone else with a similar sounding name), made their first campaign appearance together at a rally in Springfield, (Illinois not Simpsonland), ahead of next week's media circus, also known as the Democrat convention (DNC).

Unlike presumptive nominee Obama, Biden was vetted by the Democrats. So it seems there are no skeletons lurking in that cupboard. In a clear snub to Clinton, she, apparently, was not even part of the vetting process. 

Faced with a revolt by Clinton delegates and McCain riding high in the polls, the Obama camp has resorted to damage limitation, with Obama-Biden being sold as the 'dream' ticket. 

The Denver DNC is a chance to show very public support for the Democrat nominee and running mate in the full glare of the media. 

But with both Obama and Clinton names in the hat, it could still go either way.

Clinton's huge band of supporters and delegates face a choice. Continue to support Clinton as the nominee, or go along with the Obama-Biden dream. 

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Come Back Gordon The Economy Needs You

The economy's at a standstill. GDP growth at it lowest for 16 years. It's worst than the last time we were told the economy's in meltdown. While we batten down the hatches, is our illustrious leader here helping us weather the storm? 

Well no. He's having his picture taken with the troops in Helmand and the Afghanistan president - then off to Beijing for another photocall. All to capture the headlines and be duly posted up on Brown's new No 10 website. 

Any small crumb of comfort or reassurance from any government minister would help ease the anxiety. But don't hold your breath. 

Although we do now have this piece of Brown reassurance that suddenly popped up  at 4.27pm in the Telegraph.

Blair was left to strut around as the world statesman while 'prudent' Brown 'looked after' the shop. But Brown can't pull off that one. For him, it's still the economy, stupid. 

It almost makes you yearn for those dulcet tones again - I'm just doing my job and looking after the economy. Or maybe not.

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BBC's Part In McCain Homes Sting

The BBC can be so dumb and so biased. When it comes to the US elections, they really should be more careful. It's a very dirty business. The BBC has fallen for the oldest trick in the book. They were part of a sting that back-fired. 

The row, over how many homes Republican hopeful McCain has, came during an interview with reporters from the Politico web-site, who planted the question. McCain replied "I think - I'll have my staff get to you."

That's fine - all part of the tricks you'd expect in the campaign.

Quick as a flash, a video was posted on YouTube with Obama accusing McCain of enjoying a lavish lifestyle and showing he owned lots of luxury homes. 

Amazingly the BBC is quite happy to report the part it played in the sting. Its own filed report on the BBC website tells us:

"The independent (sic) internet video that triggered the row was produced by Robert Greenwald, an Obama supporter who has put together a number of web videos in support of the Democratic hopeful."

"BBC correspondent Katty Kay spoke to Mr Greenwald as he was making the video, before the furore erupted ... BBC's Katty Kay followed the makers of the video as it was being produced."

They knew what was going to happen all along. Then it all back-fired for BBC/Obama. 

In the world of negative campaigning, you don't just attack the opponent with all guns blazing. You lie in wait and ambush them with a more damaging counter-claim. And that's what the McCain camp duly did. 

Out of the back-pocket came the reply video on YouTube - accusing Obama of "getting help" from convicted Chicago crook, Tony Rezko, to buy his million-dollar mansion in Chicago. The McCain camp said a convicted felon had help Obama to buy his home.

So on the one hand, we have a rich white-haired dude who owns lots of big houses - on the other hand, we have the Chosen One who gets his luxury pad with the help of a Chicago crook.

Stay out of it BBC - you are dealing with the big boys here. 

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