It looks like America is getting a bit bluer. Of course this is still an early poll. Only a few more weeks to go.

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

…that during the last eight years of a Republican president,  the U.S. has come to resemble an increasingly socialist-like state.  From time to time, I hear someone accuse Obama of wanting to turn the U.S. into a socialized state due to his proposal for nationalized health care.   This article sums up recent events better than I could. In the end, wouldn’t it be better to actually get something useful from our government if it’s going to be nationalizing key industries with our tax dollars?

The entire situation is upsetting.  Free-market capitalism has been the supposed bedrock of American values and independence.  Yet all it’s earned us as U.S. citizens is a projected $4000 per person to go towards nationalizing wall street and the banking industries.  Yet, because we are scared of admitting to ourselves that perhaps the “American Way” hasn’t put us ahead of anyone else in the end (if you need proof look up recent exchange rates for the U.S. dollar) we will continue to shout for less regulation and smaller government only to have our government swell and take more and more from us while returning very little that is actually useful to our daily lives.

Here’s something to think about, can you argue with this statement?:
“The average American is working two and half jobs, gets two weeks off, and has all the employment security of a one-armed trapeze artist. The Bush Administration has preached the “ownership society” to America: own your house, own your retirement account; you don’t need the government in your way. So Americans mortgaged themselves to the hilt to buy overpriced houses they can no longer afford and signed up for 401k programs that put money where, exactly? In the stock market! Where rich Republicans fleeced them.”

-BILL SAPORITO Time magazine/CNN.com

Its almost time to spend a bit of money to become Apples guinea pig. The iPhone is here as of right now.

I heard you have to have a lifetime contract. They have the right to up the price at any time and remove parts of the service. The battery wont be covered under any warranty so youll have to spend more money sending in your all in one phone back to Apple (ie. like most iPods).

Dont be surprised when you discover that you are being tracked by the government. The iPhone has a GPS chip for that. Somehow I think Bush, Cheney, AT&T and Steve jobs are all bedfellows. Maybe the iPhone is funding the war… and the terrorists and it is also the cause for most of the world hating the US.

The US military investigated building a “gay bomb”, which would make enemy soldiers “sexually irresistible” to each other, government papers say.

Read more here

And then there was this…

Well, there are so many things going wrong in the world today that it would be to easy just to jump onto Biblicone and apologise or extend sympathy for every killing, war, accident, tsunami, famine, etc.   We (I) wouldnt get much ranting done if that was the case, but there has obviously been quite a bit of chatter over this side of the pond regarding American gun laws and so forth since the V Tech shootings, and I have decided to fling my opinion out into the wind. 

The UK has a gun law. It basically states that “you can’t have one”.  But that does nothing to deter the flood of such weapons on to British streets; predominantly city and poorer communities, and the use of such is always criminal.  Still, as long as our Police don’t carry them then I suppose everyone can carry on pretending it isnt really an issue.  Our teenagers prefer to get drunk and kick the crap out of property or other people, but they can’t have a gun.  Thats fine.  Thats what happens over here, but that isnt to say I don’t understand that guns are part of American culture and so it shouldnt be changed purely on a few incidents.  I ride motorbikes and am lucky enough to have survived flying up the road at break neck speeds (without bike) all because of a patch of oil.  But, I know how dangerous bikes are and so do many thousands of others who venture out on the mad mile every Sunday, just to go faster than the chair they whizz round the office in and feel a little bit of freedom.  People die on bikes.  Statistics tend to show that bikers dont survive accidents and regardless of the amount ot accidents on any one road, bikers still wang it like demons and I have never met anyone who has sold their bike saying “It’s too dangerous” and nor would Government dare change this culture.  So, why the hell do we go on about gun laws in the US? In my mind it’s the same.  I might be wrong, but then I carry a gun in my job and so Im fairly relaxed about it all. 

Anyway. Rant over. 

Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, 25, from Berkshire, England, died in an attack by US warplanes in Iraq in March 2003.  It was a “Blue on Blue” incident, and not one of malice. But, the inquest into his death is causing quite a bit of news over here, primarily because of the cockpit footage (with sound) from the A10 Tank Buster, which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) denied the existence of.  And then, when the video did come to light, the MoD refused to enter it into evidence at the hearing because it was classified Secret (within the collective agencies).  Things being as they are, the video entered the public domain soon after when a tabloid managed to get a copy of the footage and the video was subsequently declassified by the US in order for it to be viewed at the inquest.

Well, apart from the egg on the face of the MoD, which is not the most trusted office at present (in the eys of the public), and whether it will have to answer for its denied stance, is whether the pilot(s) of the aircraft involved will face a court regarding their actions.  Allegedly, the pilot(s), not yet named, are still serving, have been promoted (one to colonel) and are teaching novice pilots how to fly.  Bear in mind that the same pilots were apparently novice in 2003 also.

Having watched part of the footage, heard the recorded voices and read the transcript of the incident, I don’t suspect anything above and beyond a blue on blue, which although tragic and sad is an unfortunate occurrence in war.  But, I do harbour other concerns regarding the way Britain willingly handed over four bankers to US courts for trial on some money/fraud incident, yet when the shoe is on the other foot the US doesnt appear so willing to show openess.  Now, I understand it can be fragile, but I very much doubt the classification of the footage served to protect any deeper operational need other than to perhaps avoid what may (hopefully not) move on to a hunt to identify the pilots.

The important part. The only part is putting to rest an incident whereby soldiers of the same coalition happened upon each other and a death ensued.  Perhaps we can learn why.  Perhaps we can learn how not to let it happen again.

If you are interested in reading up on this story and keeping abreast, follow the BBC.  Strangely, I didn’t find mention of it on a US Site, but I am probably mistaken.

Whilst the Americans cannot be legally obliged to help, they should do so, bearing in mind they are our allies

Constitutional Affairs minister Harriet Harman

Look again. It was a question not a statement. Actually, in the run for the 08 US presidency it excites me that she is going for it.  Sure, Im a Brit and I don’t have a say..and nor would I probably vote for her anyway. But, I’m glad she is going for it.  Does she have a chance?

Who is she? The first former First Lady to go on to hold elected office, she is now serving as senator for New York. Declared her intention to stand with an “I’m in” note on her website on 20 January.

Hillary Clinton

Why take her seriously? Unbeatable name recognition and unmatched fundraising ability make Hillary – no surname necessary – the clear front-runner for the Democrats. She has tried to stake out a position as a centrist in her six years in the Senate – and finished her 2006 Senate re-election campaign with $20m in the bank.

What is going to stand in her way? If Bill Clinton remains a divisive figure in American politics, that goes at least double for Hillary – some estimates say one in three Americans would never vote for her. And the US has never yet elected a woman president.

What would happen if a female won?

 

OK… They executed Saddam after a way too long public spectacle also referred to as a trial. And this solves what? Does anyone remember the name Osama Bin Laden? hmm. Where is he? Why hasnt he been executed? Whats going on? Whats the point of our 3000+ dead US soldiers in Iraq? Wasnt Bin Laden last seen in Afghanistan… not Iraq?