tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75634306517830488502024-02-20T15:35:02.736+00:00The Orator - an independent voice of reason speaking truth to power"The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which seem to us novel and plausible, have been tested before, not once but many times and in innumerable guises; and discovered to be, at great human cost, wholly false."
-- Paul JohnsonThe Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-14167359149300066332010-02-12T10:35:00.003+00:002010-02-12T10:49:41.207+00:00Essential new book - but too late for the election?<div align="justify">My friends, I'm looking forward to reading this <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Politics-Rules-Game-Donal-Blaney/dp/1849540292/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265968204&sr=8-1">new book</a> from the co-founder and Chief Executive of The <a href="http://www.ybf.org.uk/">Young Britons’ Foundation</a>, Donal Blaney. Here's the description of <strong>'Politics: The Rules of the Game'</strong> from Amazon: </div><blockquote><p align="justify"><em>'Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it'. So said Winston Churchill. The same might also be said of politics. "The Rules of the Game" takes a wry look at 65 'laws' by which any smart political observer ought to regulate their conduct if they plan to get ahead and stay there. Such laws as 'Don't Get Mad - Except On Purpose', 'You Can't Beat A Plan With No Plan' and 'Moral Outrage Is The Most Powerful Motivating Force In Politics' whilst previously unwritten, are essential to the progress of any political operator. As obsessed with political history as so many politicians, journalists or students might be, it is remarkable how many times the same problems arise, the same issues are debated and the same (sometimes career-ending) mistakes are made. Written in a wry, amusing and non-partisan style and with up to date references to recent political events including Smeargate, US healthcare reform and the debate on climate change, "The Rules of the Game" is an indispensable guide to politics - wherever you live and at whatever level the game is played.</em></p></blockquote><div align="justify">There are two problems I've identified with it, however. </div><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">First, surely a book about political campaigning ought to have had a publication date earlier than this one, coming as it does so close to the General Election in the UK when everyone will be in campaign mode already. Secondly, was it really wise to publish on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools">April Fools' Day</a>?</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">Anyway, I'm sure it will prove to be a pithy and indispensable guide for future campaigns and meanwhile those who want their daily dose of Blaney wit and wisdom should bookmark his entertaining blog offering provocative and opinionated commentary on politics, current affairs, football and culture, <a href="http://www.donalblaney.blogspot.com/">Blaney's Blarney</a>.</div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-56558445373729533582010-01-18T09:29:00.003+00:002010-01-18T09:37:46.795+00:00Fundamentalist religious response to Haiti<div align="justify">My friends, I don't think I even need to begin to explain why this <a href="http://rightwingnews.com/2010/01/danny-glover-says-%E2%80%98the-wrath-of-gaia-is-punishing-you-haiti%E2%80%99/">ludicrously offensive comment blaming human failings for Haiti's earthquake</a> is indefensibly stupid. I'll just let it speak for itself.</div><div align="justify"> </div><br /><div align="justify">What is strange is how everyone seems to be picking up on <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8460520.stm">Pat Robertson's unpleasant comments</a>, but ignoring this one...</div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-88227207346440677082009-12-10T10:02:00.002+00:002009-12-10T10:11:15.511+00:00The 12 Days of Global Warming<p align="justify">My friends, it's nearly Christmas but we're not there yet. So in the meantime let the people at <a href="http://www.minnesotansforglobalwarming.com/m4gw/">Minnesotans for Global Warming</a> tell you about the 12 Days of Global Warming.</p><p><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JmPSUMBrJoI&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JmPSUMBrJoI&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></p>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-15186818954968129512009-11-24T11:25:00.002+00:002009-11-24T11:33:40.662+00:00Global Warming Quiz Time<div align="justify">My friends, I have little to add to the gathering storm centred upon the leaked emails from the CRU, other than to say that watching the enviromentalists squirm in the corrupt mess of their own making is quite compelling.<br /><br />However, given the lack of detailed coverage by the mainstream media (credit where credit is due, Fox News and the BBC have both covered it), I though this quick quiz will help you all work out what's been going on:<br /><br /><a href="http://uk.asiancorrespondent.com/gavin-atkins-shadowlands/climate-science-the-quiz.htm">So you think you know climate science? - the quiz</a></div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-22875114273712651562009-11-18T15:24:00.003+00:002009-11-18T15:31:44.928+00:00The Watermelon Environmentalists get a new recruit<div align="justify">My friends, remember those Watermelon environmentalists - green on the surface but red when you delve deeper? You know, the one's wanting to use green politics as a means to a socialist end? Well they've a new recruit. </div><br /><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.beatrixcampbell.co.uk/">Beatrix Campbell</a>, the journalist, author, broadcaster, campaigner and playwright, now has a new title to add to her list of achievements - <a href="http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/03-11-2009-Bea-Campbell-PPC-Hampstead-Kilburn.html">the Green Party's prospective parliamentary candidate for Hampstead & Kilburn</a>. </div><div align="justify"><br />So what has her journey been, the route she travelled to reach her Green destination? In her own words ("<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/nov/18/green-party-candidate-communist">Why I turned from red to Green</a>", The Guardian, Wednesday 18th November 2009):<br /><br /></div><blockquote><p align="justify"><em>The communist states of the 20th century did for socialism. I was a dynastic communist – my parents were British Bolsheviks, they were good citizens, and became better when Khrushchev gave permission to criticise Stalinism. All that crashed with the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. They could not relinquish the Soviet Union, and thereafter our family rows were on the terrain of Russia. The worst insult my father could hurl was: "You're just a social democrat!"<br /><br />I remained a communist until 1989, when it was all over. I was part of the anti-Stalinist, Euro-communist wing. We were clever, caused trouble, caught the imagination, but we lost. Or maybe we failed.<br /><br />But it was feminism that clarified the unsustainability of state communism. Macho, manic productionism relies on force, it valorises conquest of nature and other humans. It marginalises the means of reproduction – how societies sustain themselves, breathe, give birth, grow and rest, clean up; how people take care, give pleasure and co-operate. Barbara Taylor's revelatory book, Eve and the New Jerusalem, published on the crest of women's liberation, told the story of industrialisation and socialist politics, utopianism and the co-operative movement. And it tells the story of these radical movements' defeat – by working men organised in their own interests as men.<br /><br />The sexism – and destructiveness – of modernity was not evolutionary, it was a bitter political struggle. The outcome: men's movements masquerading as egalitarian and socialist.<br /><br />Green ideology represents the reconciliation of production and reproduction – that is what yields sustainability.</em> </p></blockquote><div align="justify">So in fact there's been no journey, it's merely that Green politics offer her the same way to achieve what she always wanted to achieve via her "dynastic communism".<br /><br />Well, at least <em>she's</em> honest about it. </div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-41235175949505461752009-11-17T09:47:00.005+00:002009-11-17T10:27:01.734+00:00We're doomed!<div align="justify">My friends, that's surely the message from our very own <a href="http://www.davecov.co.uk/whispersfromwalmington/frazer.htm">Private Frazer</a>, Prime Minister Gordon Brown.</div><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">Remember back in mid-October when <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8313672.stm">he warned us</a> we face a "catastrophe" of floods, droughts and killer heatwaves if world leaders fail to agree a deal on climate change?</div><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">Addressing the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Major_Economies_Forum_on_Energy_and_Climate">Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate</a>, he pronounced there is "no plan B" if agreement is not reached at <a href="http://en.cop15.dk/">December's UN summit in Copenhagen</a>. Warming to his sunny theme he added that negotiators have 50 days to save the world from global warming.</div><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Well everyone, we're now told by none other than <a href="http://www.michaeldantuono.com/portfolio/social-relevence/the-truth.jpg">the Obamessiah</a> himself that time has run out to secure a legally binding climate deal at the summit and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/15/copenhagen-climate-deal-obama">there is no choice but to delay a formal pact</a>. What other conclusion can Frazer/Brown reach than that of our unavoidable and impending doom? Surely we should all start preparing are <a href="http://www.first-aid-product.com/disaster/kits5.htm">Armageddon Survival Packs</a> now.</div><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">That is, of course, unless he was merely grandstanding, simply indulging in empty posturing and hyperbole, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yeA_kHHLow">looking for the crisis which justifies government intervention</a>. </div><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">That couldn't be true...<em>could it</em>?</div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-18599024193155903262009-11-17T09:24:00.004+00:002009-11-18T15:40:43.175+00:00Today's Truth<div align="justify"><strong>“With all [our] blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens – a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.”<br /></strong><br /><em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson">Thomas Jefferson</a> - (1743-1826)<br />US Founding Father, drafted the <a href="http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/index.htm">Declaration of Independence</a>, 3rd US President<br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.american-presidents.com/thomas-jefferson/1801-inaugural-address">First Inaugural Address</a></em><a href="http://www.american-presidents.com/thomas-jefferson/1801-inaugural-address"> - <em>March 4 1891</em></a></div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-35864847281276969812009-11-16T14:18:00.003+00:002009-11-16T14:30:57.698+00:00New cinema advertisement from TaxPayers' Alliance<div align="justify">My friends, as part of the "<a href="http://www.greateudebate.com/order/">Ten Years On - Britain without the European Union</a>" campaign, <a href="http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/">The TaxPayers' Alliance</a> has produced the following cinema ad.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-DxPnjOBlRI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_GB&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-DxPnjOBlRI&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_GB&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Not the sort of thing you expect to see when you're settling down with your popcorn and barrel of Coke at the cinema, but a welcome addition to political discourse in an election season nonetheless. Perhaps this is a sign that mainstream Euroscepticism is finally being accepted as a reasonable and moderate stance? Even the pro-Euro BBC is willing to discuss <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8359160.stm">Divorcing Europe</a> now!</div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-49007556896584099312009-10-27T12:15:00.003+00:002009-10-27T12:22:08.758+00:00A Time for Choosing - Ronald Reagan<div align="justify">My friends, this is a speech he gave 45 years ago to the day, powerful stuff that should still inspire us all today.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lvg7lRsCVJ8&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lvg7lRsCVJ8&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-88607575287541754332009-10-21T10:13:00.002+01:002009-10-21T10:21:04.697+01:00Today's Truth<div align="justify"><strong>"Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges. (The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.)"</strong></div><br /><em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitus">Cornelius Tacitus</a> - (55-117 A.D.)</em><br /><em>Senator and a historian of the Roman Empire.</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>Source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annals_(Tacitus)">Annales</a> (1st century A.D.)</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>Worth bearing in mind when one considers the plethora of new laws enacted by the New Labour government since 1997.</em>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-73060818067572433562009-10-20T10:29:00.002+01:002009-10-20T10:37:54.183+01:00Chuck Norris: An Outlaw's Worst Nightmare<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GQ-lQMUn0xw&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GQ-lQMUn0xw&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-50592119264160844732009-10-20T10:08:00.002+01:002009-10-20T10:33:45.764+01:00Today's Truth<div align="justify"><strong>"It used to be the boast of free men that, so long as they kept within the bounds of the known law, there was no need to ask anybody's permission or to obey anybody's orders. It is doubtful whether any of us can make this claim today."</strong></div><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify"><em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek">Friedrich August von Hayek</a> - (1899-1992)</em></div><div align="justify"><em><a href="http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/">Nobel Laureate of Economic Sciences</a> 1974</em></div><div align="justify"><em></em></div><br /><div align="justify"><em>Source: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Constitution-Liberty-Routledge-Classics-Hayek/dp/041540424X">The Constitution of Liberty</a> (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972), p. 208</em></div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-38432247794418166522009-10-01T13:51:00.001+01:002009-10-01T13:53:56.681+01:00If looks could kill......we'd be holding a memorial service for Adam Boulton right now.<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VLYIQnpMQ_Y&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VLYIQnpMQ_Y&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-9248965809193671612009-09-29T09:31:00.005+01:002009-09-29T09:45:24.102+01:00Today's Truth<div align="justify"><strong>"No matter if the science is all phony, there [are] collateral environmental benefits...climate change [provides] the greatest chance to bring about justice and equality in the world."</strong></div><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Stewart"><em>Christine Stewart</em></a><em> (born January 3 1941)</em><br /><em>Former Canadian politician and Environment Minister</em><br /><em></em><br /><em>Source: </em><a href="http://www.calgaryherald.com/"><em>Calgary Herald</em></a><em>, December 14 1998</em><br /><em></em><br /><div align="justify"><em>Nice one, the mask slips and the truth is revealed - a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eco-socialism#Ideology">watermelon environmentalist</a> (green on the surface, red under the skin) reveals the true motive behind the Global Warmist strategy.</em></div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-4528276903546194702009-09-29T09:08:00.002+01:002009-09-29T09:12:53.600+01:00When is a rapist not a rapist?<div align="justify">When he's a member of the Hollywood elite, clearly. Then it's not "rape-rape" as famed jurist Whoopi Goldberg asserts here:<br /><br /><embed height="412" name="flashObj" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=" width="486" src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1320151605" swliveconnect="true" seamlesstabbing="false" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" flashvars="videoId=42458619001&playerId=1320151605&viewerSecureGatewayURL=https://console.brightcove.com/services/amfgateway&servicesURL=http://services.brightcove.com/services&cdnURL=http://admin.brightcove.com&domain=embed&autoStart=false&" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"></embed><br /><br />How many other types of rapist do you think Whoopi Goldberg would try to defend? None, I expect. </div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-86080569208309488452009-09-24T18:14:00.002+01:002009-09-24T18:20:05.561+01:00Today's Truth<div align="justify"><strong>"Government does not tax to get the money it needs; government always finds a need for the money it gets."</strong><br /><br /></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div><div align="justify"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan"><em>Ronald Wilson Reagan</em></a><em> - (1911–2004) </em></div><div align="justify"><em>Hollywood star, President of the </em><a title="Screen Actors Guild" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_Actors_Guild"><em>Screen Actors Guild</em></a><em>, 33rd </em><a title="Governor of California" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_of_California"><em>Governor of California</em></a><em> (1967–1975) and 40th </em><a title="President of the United States" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States"><em>President of the United States</em></a><em> (1981–1989)</em> </div><br /><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em></div></em>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-38734532896115991252009-09-24T09:12:00.003+01:002009-09-24T09:30:42.358+01:00Tom DeLay dances like a Wild Thing<p align="justify">My friends, there were rumours a while back that <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2008/nov/17/mandelson-strictlycomedancing">Lord Mandelson was keen on appearing on Strictly Come Dancing at some time in the future</a> (presumably when his team are back in opposition next year), there have even been rumours that <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/strictly-come-dancing/6063535/Ann-Widdecombe-would-appear-on-Strictly-Come-Dancing...-if-asked.html">Ann Widdecombe might be up for strutting her stuff on the show</a>.</p><p align="justify">Well now the precedent has been set for politicians on the programme, with former House Majority Leader, Republican firebrand Tom "The Hammer" DeLay. If our Parliamentarians can be this good it would be worth watching:</p><p><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/epZlsCTNegw&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/epZlsCTNegw&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-10461981755004127652009-09-23T15:03:00.002+01:002009-09-23T15:06:56.582+01:00Today's Truth<div align="justify"><strong>"The principle of free speech is no new doctrine born of the Constitution of the United States. It is a heritage of English-speaking peoples, which has been won by incalculable sacrifice, and which they must preserve so long as they hope to live as free men."</strong><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._La_Follette,_Sr."><em>Robert M. Lafollette, Sr.</em></a><em> - (1855-1925)<br />American politician who served as the 20th Governor of Wisconsin (1901–1906) and Republican Senator from Wisconsin (1906–1925), ran for President of the United States as the nominee of his own Progressive Party in 1924 </em></div><div align="justify"><em><br />Source: Speech, 6 October 1917</em> </div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-15563828644618414362009-09-22T09:36:00.003+01:002009-09-22T09:45:53.889+01:00Today's Truth<div align="justify"><strong>"Today, when a concerted effort is made to obliterate this point, it cannot be repeated too often that the Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals -- that it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government -- that it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government."</strong></div><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand"><em>Ayn Rand</em></a><em> - (1905-1982) </em><br /><div align="justify"><em>Russian-American novelist, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)">philosopher</a>, playwright and screenwriter</em></div><em></em><br /><div align="justify"><em>Certainly something to bear in mind when reading the rather different new European Constitution/Lisbon Treaty.</em></div>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-6780611166085806972009-09-21T18:30:00.012+01:002009-09-21T18:53:03.705+01:00P.J. O'Rourke identifies smugness and self-importance<div align="justify">My friends, there's a great profile of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pj_o%27rourke">P.J. O'Rourke</a> in a recent edition of <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/authorinterviews/6209828/PJ-ORourke-a-hellraiser-who-had-to-slow-down.html">The Daily Telegraph</a>. In it he identifies correctly the priggish nature of the Left, even when they are trying to be funny:<br /></div><blockquote><p align="justify">...he criticises the smugness and self-importance that he feels has crept into some political satire – not surprisingly, a trait he sees more on the Left than on the Right. “It does not do for a political humourist to be smug. We’re not offering policy alternatives; we’re pointing out political absurdities. We’re the ones switching on the kitchen lights and watching the cockroaches scamper. But we’re not going in there to stamp on them. That shouldn’t be our role.” </p></blockquote><div align="justify">The piece goes on to mention that he is the most quoted living writer in <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Penguin-Dictionary-Modern-Humorous-Quotations/dp/0141032286/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253555018&sr=1-1">The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Humorous Quotations</a>, and asks P.J. which is his personal favourite:<br /></div><blockquote><p align="justify">...he opts for an observation he made in 1993 that is enjoying a new lease of life today: “If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free,” he famously opined at a gala dinner for the libertarian <a href="http://www.cato.org/">Cato Institute</a> as the then First Lady <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_Clinton">Hillary Clinton</a> pursued her doomed efforts to reform the health care system.<br /><br />“It’s very flattering to invent a catchphrase that sticks around and hear those words being quoted again,” he says, 16 years later. “They probably stand up to analysis and time because they’re true.”</p></blockquote>Quite right, P.J., quite right.<br /><p></p>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-39490049127297423342009-09-21T11:55:00.002+01:002009-09-21T17:51:56.971+01:00Today's Truth<div align="justify"><strong>"We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debt, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our calling and our creeds... [we will] have no time to think, no means of calling our miss-managers to account but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers... And this is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for [another]... till the bulk of society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery... And the fore-horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression."</strong><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson"><em>Thomas Jefferson</em></a><em> - (1743-1826)</em><br /><em>US Founding Father, drafted the <a href="http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/index.htm">Declaration of Independence</a>, 3rd US President</em> </div><br /><em>Source: <a href="http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=459">Letter to Samuel Kercheval</a>, Monticello, July 12, 1816</em>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-21303776870859485172009-09-10T16:20:00.004+01:002009-09-21T17:53:16.041+01:00Today's Truth<div align="justify"><strong>"English character and English freedom depend comparatively little on the form which the Constitution assumes at Westminster. A centralised democracy may be as tyrannical as an absolute monarch; and if the vigour of the nation is to continue unimpaired, each individual, each family, each district, must preserve as far as possible its independence, its self-completeness, its powers and its privilege to manage its own affairs and think its own thoughts."</strong> </div><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Anthony_Froude"><em>James Anthony Froude</em></a><em> - (1818-1894) </em><br /><em>British author and historian </em><br /><br /><em>Source: </em><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/20755"><em>Short Studies on Great Subjects</em></a><em> - (1872)</em>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-76164858079440380562009-09-10T13:39:00.003+01:002009-09-10T13:58:22.895+01:00Andy McNab has the BNP in his sights<div align="justify">My friends, the odious <a href="http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/the-real-bnp/Profile-of-Nick-Griffin.php">Nick Griffin</a> and his fellow sub-moronic racist socialists in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_National_Party">British National Party</a> have managed to upset someone who I wouldn't want to see get angry with me, the British SAS hero turned author, <a href="http://www.andymcnab.co.uk/">Andy McNab</a>.</div><div align="justify"> <br /></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.nothingbritish.com/">Nothing British</a> (the conservative anti-BNP site) is <a href="http://www.nothingbritish.com/09/andy-mcnab-bnp-give-me-my-books-back/">reporting</a> that Griffin and his brethren are attempting to hijack some goodwill aimed at the superb <a href="http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/">Help for Heroes</a> charity by holding an auction for signed copies of two of McNab's best-sellers. McNab's response is most welcome, demanding his books back:</div><br /><blockquote><p align="justify">“When someone called me to say that the BNP was using one of my books in a publicity stunt, I was sick to the stomach.<br /><br />“I served with men of all colours and from many nationalities. They were all equal to me. That’s what the army teaches you. Nick Griffin thinks differently. He thinks the British Army should be for whites-only. He thinks heroes like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Beharry">Johnson Beharry</a>, our only living VC, should be sent back to Grenada.<br /><br />“He doesn’t understand that what makes the British Army great, and what makes this country great. It’s the way we draw together people from all around the world and give them ideals worth believing in: tolerance, fairness, decency, looking out for the little guy.<br /><br />“It’s the British way of doing things.<br /><br />“That’s why I’ve asked for my books back. Because I don’t want anything to help the BNP promote their poisonous politics of segregation and hatred.”<br /></p></blockquote>Here's a tip, Griffin, give them up - <em>don't make him come and take them</em>...The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-13130088350143499312009-09-09T14:46:00.003+01:002009-09-21T17:54:01.652+01:00Today's Truth<strong>"When a government controls both the economic power of individuals and the coercive power of the state...this violates a fundamental rule of happy living: Never let the people with all the money and the people with all the guns be the same people."</strong><br /><br /><em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pj_o%27rourke">P. J. O'Rourke</a> - (born November 14 1947)<br />US humorist, journalist, and political commentator</em>The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563430651783048850.post-43176721154189786972009-07-15T09:34:00.024+01:002009-09-21T17:54:43.412+01:00Hamas Exposes Dastardly Israeli Plot!<div align="justify">Will Israel stop at <strong><em>nothing</em></strong> in its wicked ways? </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1100104.html">News reaches us direct from Hamas itself</a> that a plot to "corrupt the young" of the Gaza Strip has been uncovered. That's right, the aggressive oppressors have been exporting chewing gum laced with an aphrodisiac into the region - <em><strong>chewing gum laced with an aphrodisiac</strong></em>!<br /></div><blockquote><p align="justify">"We have discovered two types of stimulants that were introduced into the Gaza trip from Israeli border crossings," a Hamas police spokesman told the French news agency [<a href="http://www.afp.com/afpcom/en/">AFP</a>]. "The first type is presented in the form of chewing gum and the second in the form of drops."<br /><br />According to the report, the coastal territory's Hamas rulers claim to have detained several members of a gang involved in the import over the last two years who "admitted during the investigation they were linked to the Zionist intelligence services."</p></blockquote><p align="justify">So far the Israeli Defence Forces have refused to comment on the allegations, no doubt shamed by the nature of the plot uncovered by the doughty torturers, er..., <em>interrogators</em> of the Hamas police force. That most taciturn of communicators, nobody from the IDF has been willing to come forward to apologise for their shameless conspiracy, though an anonymous source has broken ranks to be the sole whistleblower: <blockquote><p align="justify">...one army source was quoted by AFP as calling the story "absurd."</p></blockquote>It surely can't be long before the brave crusaders for truth at <a href="http://www.presstv.ir/">Press TV</a> pick up on this?The Oratorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145321295238096765noreply@blogger.com0