Friday, November 20, 2009

Going Cold Blackberry

Guido’s Blackberry is dead.  They can’t deliver a new one until Monday.  The spare phone in the bottom of the drawer just makes and receives calls and you can text (by pressing keys four times to get the right character).  It doesn’t even have a camera.

No Twitter, no Facebook, no Bloomberg, no Reuters, no live securities prices, no mobile trading, no MMS texts, no email, no real-time feed update, it all just seems very quiet.  The information tsunami has evaporated.  Guido is in a virtual limbo.  For a news junkie this is terrifying.

Disconnected…

Friday Caption Contest (Curried Expenses Edition)

Yes Ms Palin, Britain Does Have NHS Death Panels

When Sarah Palin said Obama’s healthcare plan would result in “death panels” that would see bureaucrats making subjective judgements on life and death, she was  furiously howled down by Obama supporters.

So how should we describe the expert panel of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, which decided that patients will be denied a new cancer drug on the NHS under draft guidelines, because it is too expensive?

Charities are outraged people with advanced liver cancer are to be refused life-extending Nexavar.  Andrew Dillon, of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence said: “The drug does not provide enough benefit to justify its high cost.”

Andrew Dillon, the CEO of N.I.C.E., is a career bureaucrat, not a doctor or a scientist.  He runs the system that says there is a cap of £30,000 per patient for a quality year of life.  If the panel determines that a “quality year of life” will cost the NHS more than £30,000, you are dead…

Half-a-Billion People Told Name of Their New Emperor President

The 500 million people of Europe have a new president, not one of them was troubled with the requirement to cast a vote.  Actually that is not quite true, 27 politicians decided unanimously who to appoint. Soviet Politburos invariably came to unanimous consensus decisions, it is a characteristic of  undemocratic systems that deals are struck and favours traded.  Baroness Ashton, the new British High Representative has never been democratically elected to any position, ever.  The perception is that she owes her rise to high office in EUGov to being married to Blair admiring, Labour leaning pollster Peter Kellner of YouGov.

With a Belgian President, plus a capital and parliament in Brussels, the EU has some of the attributes of a new Belgian empire…

Three Months Later, Megrahi Lives

It was only 90 days ago that we were told that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi had only three months to live.  Well he lives and breathes today.  Officials in Libya last week confirmed that Megrahi had been discharged from Tripoli Medical Centre.

Colonel Gaddafi’s regime has publicly declared its hope that “a miracle from God” would preserve al Megrahi’s life.  Guido is ashamed to say that he is a bit more cynical…

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Harman Denies Charges

The CPS statement said: “The Crown Prosecution Service has decided there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to prosecute the Rt Hon Harriet Harman MP for the offences of driving without due care and attention and driving whilst using a handheld mobile telephone in relation to an incident on 3 July 2009.”

A spokesman for the Labour deputy leader said: “Ms Harman strongly refutes the allegations but is co-operating with police.”

Original story from early October was covered on the blog here.

Harman was on the mobile when she crashed into a parked car without stopping to leave her details. Under the 1988 Road Traffic Act, any driver involved in a collision with another vehicle is required by law to stop and give their name and address, as well as details of the vehicle’s owner and the vehicle’s registration. Not exactly Chappaquidick Bridge, but that she drove off telling a witness ‘I’m Harriet Harman – you know where you can get me…’ is a little high-handed…

+++ Gordon X-Factor Dither +++

News just in that he is now backing Jedward after previously saying they were no good. He can’t even make his mind up about what music he likes…

UPDATE : According to the Sun, Gordon told This Morning how much he loves The X Factor today – but then embarrassingly got Danyl Johnson’s name wrong:

The Prime Minister was discussing the ITV1 hit during an interview on  when he referred to the teacher as “Daryl”.

Loser Labour Candidates Want Electoral Reform Shocker!

Thirty-four Labour PPCs  have written to Gordon begging him for a referendum on reforming the electoral system to be the final installment of his outgoing scorched earth policy.  The letter that has the backing of the left-wing front-group “Vote for Change” reads “we do not believe that Labour will benefit at the next general election unless voters see that we are prepared to actually deliver a chance of real change.” All very nice, but it doesn’t take long before you see their true reasons for wanting the vote:

“A referendum on polling day on a system that delivers real voter choice would see hundreds of Liberal Democrats switching to Labour, hundreds more stay-at-home Labour supporters coming out to vote for the government and every Tory opponent on the back foot trying to explain why the failed old system is worth keeping and why Cameron wouldn’t give the people a say.”

A quick look through these thirty-four wannabes shows that just one of them – former Portillo slayer and 2005 Enfield loser Stephen Twigg  - has any chance of winning their seat. With the average losing majority (at the prevailing polls levels) expected to be 28% no wonder they are so keen on widening the goalposts, just look at the predicted* majorities they are up against:

Would they be backing the vote if the odds were not overwhelming stacked against them?

Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Ken Andrew, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Carshalton & Wallington, is obviously happy he got married. So happy he put it on his leaflet (full size) delivered to the electors of Carshalton & Wallington.

Guido thinks Pam looks good, wonder what Pam thought of her wedding photos being used for propaganda purposes?  It is a sweet love story of two widowers finding love and marrying.  Mrs Fawkes very firmly ticks the no publicity box and wouldn’t even let Guido post pictures of the Fawkes’ girls looking cute in pink Conspiracy Member” T-shirts…

Guy News Special :
Fact Checking Labour’s Party Political Broadcast

The Labour blogosphere campaigned to make an internal party YouTube hit “Against All Odds” their Party Political Broadcast.  With a little bit of help from Bad Al Cambell, John Prescott and Twitter Czar Kerry McCarthy it was used as a cheap and cheerful official broadcast last night.  Congratulations to Ellie Gellard, the teenage tornado of Twittering who led the campaign.

The Guy News reporting team of Emily Nomates and Tory Bear have produced a special cheap and cheerful fair and balanced report.  Warning: may contain humour.




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James Macintyre shows his political judgement..

“I am going to stick my neck out and say that — contrary to conventional wisdom — Tony Blair will emerge as the unexpected winner of the race to become EU president tonight.”



Flat – no positions +40.82%
As at 1757 GMT 16 Nov 2009
+CRUDE (DEC)
Flat – no positions
+30.08%
As at 0630 GMT 16 Nov 2009
-GOLD (DEC)
As at 0701 GMT 10 Nov 2009
Flat – no positions +57.16%
As at 1450 GMT 6 Nov 2009


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