Janet Richardson, 73, who was being carried off the ship on a stretcher, dies after falling into sub-zero ocean A British tourist who fell into the North Sea in sub-zero conditions as she was being carried on a stretcher off a cruise ship has died. Janet Richardson, 73, from near Penrith, Cumbria, was taken ill on the Ocean Countess and fell into the sea while being stretchered onto a rescue vessel. She spent eight minutes in the water before being rescued and taken to hospital in Norway. The grandmother died on Thursday evening at Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle. Richardson had begun to suffer internal bleeding on the voyage from Hull to Norway on a trip to see the Northern Lights with her husband George, 78. The captain of the Ocean Countess, operated by UK company Cruise and Maritime Voyages, had called for a rescue boat to take her to hospital. However, while the rescue teams were moving her on a stretcher to a rescue boat, she fell into the sea – which was about -3C at the time. The incident is under investigation by the cruise company and the Norwegian rescue authorities. She was eventually transported to hospital in Bodø, Norway, accompanied by her husband, who remained by her bedside for several days before she was airlifted to Cumberland infirmary. In a statement, North Cumbria University Hospitals said: “It is with regret that Mrs Janet Richardson passed away on Thursday evening, 21 April. Respecting the family’s wishes, we have no further comment at this time.” Norway Europe David Batty guardian.co.uk
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Labour heavyweight says Labour voters should unite in support of alternative vote to prevent Tories from keeping grip on power Former cabinet minister Peter Hain has called on Labour voters to put aside their contempt for Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and say yes to the alternative vote to prevent the Conservatives from keeping a grip on power. Backing business secretary’s Vince Cable’s call for an anti-Conservative coalition to deliver a victory for the yes campaign , Hain said Labour supporters should take a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stop the Tories from snatching government from the progressive majority of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. Lib Dem MP Cable said the moment had come to end the dynamic in which votes for the three progressive parties were split under the first-past-the-post voting system, allowing the Conservatives to win overall majorities on a minority of the vote. Hain, the chair of Labour’s national policy forum, said he agreed with Cable but was concerned that many Labour voters had been put off from voting for AV in the electoral reform referendum on 5 May because of the Liberal Democrats’ embrace of rightwing Tory policies in the coalition government. “I very much agree with Vince Cable’s argument,” said Hain. “There is a natural progressive majority in Britain, which has been thwarted by first-past-the-post, with the Tories consistently elected with less than 50% of the vote. “The problem is, many Labour voters have been so contemptuous of the way in which the Liberal Democrats have been swallowed up by a rightwing Tory government that they may vote no. People see Nick Clegg as completely contaminated by a Tory ideology; he’s tied to them like an umbilical cord. It places a millstone around the neck of the yes campaign. “My appeal to them is to ignore the Liberal Democrats and vote yes out of principle. It is a once-in-a-political-lifetime opportunity to get a fairer voting system that could ensure a progressive majority is not denied by the Tories as so often has happened.” Hain warned colleagues who supported the no campaign that a defeat for AV would result in the coalition government being strengthened and “the Tories smiling smugly”. “I cannot understand my Labour colleagues who join hands with David Cameron on this when a victory for the no campaign will strengthen Cameron,” he said. He argued that, while a win for the yes campaign might not bring down the government, it could put the brakes on the coalition pursuing a rightwing free market ideology, including the controversial shakeup of the NHS. He said victory would enable the next general election to be run under AV, which would give progressive Labour and Lib Dem voters a better chance of ending the Tories’ hold on power. A TNS poll published on Saturday gives yes campaigners cause for hope after previous polls have suggested leads for the no campaign of as much as 16%. The new poll found that 34% of people oppose AV but 32% support it. After breaking down voting intention by party, most analysts believe the support of Labour voters – nearly evenly split – will be crucial to whether the change to the voting system goes through. Cable’s intervention came after a week in which Cameron hit the road to press for a no vote and dismissed accusations he had reneged on a deal with Clegg that he would take a back seat in the debate. Lib Dems have been struck that Cameron appears to take no responsibility for the attacks on the deputy prime minister in Tory no campaign leaflets that encourage people to punish Clegg for “breaking promises” in government. He undermined Clegg further by saying he defended the allocation of internship placements to the children of friends and colleagues, therefore showing no regard for one of Clegg’s policies for improving social mobility. Alternative vote Electoral reform AV referendum Peter Hain Liberal Democrats Conservatives Labour Nick Clegg Vince Cable David Batty guardian.co.uk
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• Hit F5 in frustration because our auto-refresh is broken • Email scott.murray@guardian.co.uk sending chat, but no banter Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) West Ham United: Green, Jacobsen, Gabbidon, da Costa, Bridge, Spector, Noble, Hitzlsperger, Sears, Cole, Ba. Subs: Boffin, Tomkins, Boa Morte, Kovac, Piquionne, Obinna, Keane. Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, David Luiz, Terry, Cole, Essien, Mikel, Lampard, Kalou, Drogba, Malouda. Subs: Turnbull, Torres , Benayoun, Zhirkov, Ferreira, Bertrand, Anelka. While we’re waiting, time to address more serious issues. “Rodney wasn’t a Charlton fan, his Mum was,” insists Owen Worth, with reference to the fact that Charlton was also the character’s middle name. “He used to support Chelsea. There are many references to this in a number of episodes. Also I doubt Vince would have fitted in with the Shed End in the 1980s.” I take your point. Though Stamford Bridge has always been a broad church. I was looking at young Mr Pinner as a kind of prototype Tim Lovejoy. Team news: Fernando Torres is on the bench again. Oh Fernando! West Ham meanwhile will be missing Matthew Upson, out with a chest infection, joining Footballer of the Year Scott Parker on the sidelines. Full line-ups coming your way soon. Anyway, the football. Chelsea need to win, to retain a slim hope of winning the title. West Ham need to win, every point vital in their relegation battle. And poor Fernando Torres, dreaming of 2008, really needs a goal. This could be a cracker. Anyway, in lieu of a solemn hymn, here’s a blast of the original theme to Only Fools and Horses: It was written by Ronnie Hazlehurst, incidentally, subject of the only other Memorial Minute-By-Minute in the history of the Guardian . Big fan of Ronnie’s, but not sure the 1970s-style light entertainment segue into the episode works so well here. Probably for the best that it was replaced by Sullivan’s own themes (which have, on the DVDs, airbrushed Hazelhurst’s first-series theme totally out of the picture, a Stalinist revision that’s not really on, but now’s probably not the time). Anyway, all together now: God bless Hooky Street… None of the characters in Sullivan’s work appear to have supported either of the teams playing tonight. Wolfie Smith, eponymous star of Sullivan’s first hit, Citizen Smith, was a Fulham fan. Del Boy and Rodney, meanwhile, were Charlton Athletic supporters. No idea who Penny Warrender from Just Good Friends cheered on. Vince looked like he might have been a Chelsea fan, though. Yes, he could easily have been a Chelsea fan. John Sullivan RIP: A sad day for anyone who sat cross-legged in front of the television during the 1970s and 1980s, as one of the finest sitcom scriptwriters in the history of com dies. So this has got nothing to do with football? So sue me! West Ham United Chelsea Scott Murray guardian.co.uk
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Syria MPs Nasser al-Hariri and Khalil al-Rifae walk out of parliament as unease grows over government’s violent tactics At least 10 mourners were killed in Syria as pro-democracy protesters buried their dead after the bloodiest day yet of an uprising against the county’s authoritarian government. Two politicians also resigned from parliament in a sign of growing unease at the government’s use of lethal force. Nasser al-Hariri, a member of Syria’s parliament from Deraa, told al-Jazeera Arabic TV: “I can’t protect my people when they get shot at so I resign from parliament.” Minutes later a second politician, Khalil al-Rifae, also from Deraa, resigned live on the channel. The resignations – the first during this crisis – were a significant sign of unease at escalating violence. Security forces again opened fire at funerals for Friday’s victims, where large crowds of mourners were chanting anti-government slogans. A witness in Izraa told the Observer that five people from nearby Dael and Nawa were shot dead at the entrance to the town . “They were attempting to come to the funerals of 10 people killed on Friday,” he said. He insisted the security forces and army were responsible. News agencies reported that at least two mourners had been shot dead by snipers in Douma, a suburb of Damascus, and three in the district of Barzeh. Human rights organisations and activists said at least 76 people and possibly more than 100 were killed during the largest and bloodiest protests yet on Friday, as the unrest continued into its eighth week. Many were shot in the head and chest, and mosques were used as hospitals. Al-Jazeera reported accounts of Syrian security officers entering hospitals and clinics to take the dead and injured to military hospitals in an apparent attempt to cover up casualty figures. Local human rights organisations claimed some Syrian Christians were among the dead. Christians, who make up around 10% of Syria’s population of 22 million, are largely supportive of the regime due to fears of a backlash by the Sunni Muslim majority. The claims could not be independently verified. Easter celebrations, in which parades of children and families usually flood the streets of Damascus’s old city, have been cancelled. It is unclear whether this was a decision by Christian leaders or if the government had put pressure on them in a bid to prevent large gatherings. With the death toll since 18 March now above 280, international condemnation of Syria has begun to grow. Barack Obama issued a strongly worded statement calling the violence “outrageous” and said that it should “end now”. As in other protests that have swept the Arab world, social media have been one of the powerful tools of protest, subverting official channels. Amateur video footage of bloody scenes continued to emerge from the protests. In one video, posted on YouTube, a man tells how security forces killed his son and left him to die. As the situation escalates, Syrian observers said the government had made it clear that it intended to cling to power with the use of violence, despite attempts at reform. “They want to push demonstrators to the limits,” said Ayman Abdel Nour, a Syrian dissident based in Dubai. He still believed that President Bashar al-Assad had time to show that he was serious about reform. But after Assad recently lifted the country’s state of emergency, abolished the security court and appointed new governors in Latakia, Homs and Deraa, other commentators said he was running out of options. Protesters have responded with a new round of chants. “We want the toppling of the regime,” said a resident of Ezraa, a small southern town that saw one of the highest death tolls on Friday. “The blood of our martyrs makes this our responsibility now.” Activists acknowledged some concerns that protesters, who have been overwhelmingly peaceful so far, will be tempted to take up arms in self-defence. Syrians say weapons licences are hard to come by for non-Baath party members, but many people in the tribal southern region own guns. The regime still retains the loyalty of the military and leading businessmen as well as many among the country’s minority communities. In the streets of central Damascus, many say they would rather stick with stability than take a risk on what would come if Assad’s regime was to fall. Syria’s government, which has continued to blame the deaths on armed gangs, expressed “regret” at Obama’s sharp condemnation of Friday’s violence. “It isn’t based on a comprehensive and objective view of that is happening,” it said in a statement posted on the official Sana website. It added that Syria viewed Obama’s comments as “irresponsible”. The statement came as al-Jazeera correspondent Cal Perry was ordered to leave the country, adding to an almost total blackout on independent and foreign media. Katherine Marsh is the pseudonym of a journalist living in Damascus Syria Middle East Arab and Middle East unrest Bashar Al-Assad Katherine Marsh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …NY Times Poll: 47% of Republican Voters are Birthers and the Times buries it.
April 23, 2011 No CommentAnother huge poll and guess what? Almost 50% of Republicans believe President Obama is not born in America. That’s a John Birch Society mentality people From the New York Times article that appeared on the newspaper’s website Thursday morning, came this passage [emphasis added]: A plurality of Republican voters, 47 percent, said they believed Mr. Obama, who was born in Hawaii, was born in another country; 22 percent said they did not know where he was born, and 32 percent said they believed he was born in the United States. The remarkable poll result was just the latest indication of how the-world-is-flat-type of conspiracy about the president’s birth certificate has thoroughly infiltrated the Republican Party and conservative movement in America, to the point where nearly half of Republicans believe the lie. (Take a bow Fox News.) To the point where half of Republicans don’t think Obama is eligible to hold office. You’d think it would be a big story since it came from the NY Times, right? Nope. They made it disappear. First, in the original article, the newspaper completely buried the birther lede. Rather than highlighting the blockbuster poll finding, the Times gave the embarrassing news only a glancing reference and stuck the results deep down in the story, devoting just two sentences to the birther revelation. Sidestepping the thorny issue, the Times instead pegged the news story around the fact that Republican voters aren’t enthusiastic about their possible White House candidates. (Hint: That’s not exactly breaking news.) Second, the much-talked about birther passage from the Times’ polling piece soon disappeared; it was removed from the original article, without explaination. Readers now clicking on the Times link, which continues to whip around the Internet, aren’t informed that a plurality of Republicans believe Obama was born in a foreign country. In fact, readers aren’t told anything about those results. (A different article in the Times today makes a passing reference to the poll’s findings.) For some reason yesterday, the Times’ birther scoop disappeared. Dave and I called this first in our book, Over The Cliff, when we discussed at length how the GOP and FOX News mainstreamed their Bircher side into the mix so they could whip up opposition to Obama. Now they have to live with it, but why did the NY Times bury it? At least Andrea Mitchell did a segment on this today on MSNBC.
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enlarge On Friday, Senator John McCain became the highest ranking American political figure to meet with the Libyan rebels. But while his declaration that “they are my heroes” doubtless was well received in by the anti-Qaddafi fighters in Benghazi, McCain’s track record should give Americans good reason for concern. After all, this is the same John McCain who called Ahmed Chalabi a “patriot,” offered cash and support to the Nicaraguan Contras, defended Oliver Nort h and casually declared, ” we’re all Georgians now .” Two years after McCain traveled to Tripoli to meet with Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi (above), the failed Republican presidential nominee returned to the country to back the insurgents now opposing him. As the AP reported : McCain, one of the strongest proponents in Congress of the U.S. military intervention in Libya, said he was in Benghazi “to get an on-the-ground assessment of the situation” and planned to meet with the rebel National Transition Council, the de facto government in the eastern half of the country, and members of the rebel military. “They are my heroes,” McCain said of the rebels as he walked out of a Benghazi hotel. A few Libyans waved American flags as his vehicle drove past. Of course, McCain over the years has had many heroes. Among them were the Nicaraguan Contras . By all indications, then Congressman and later Senator McCain shared Ronald Reagan’s assessmen t that the rebel forces trying to overthrow the Sandinista regime in Managua were “the moral equivalent of the Founding Fathers.” But months before the Reagan administration ramped up the Iran-Contra operation to skirt the 1984 Congressional ban on aid, McCain was lending his name to dubious efforts to arm the right-wing fighters. As the AP explained in October 2008 : The U.S. Council for World Freedom was part of an international organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America. The group was dedicated to stamping out communism around the globe. The council’s founder, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, said McCain became associated with the organization in the early 1980s as McCain was launching his political career in Arizona. Singlaub said McCain was a supporter but not an active member in the group. In a 1986 interview, McCain said he has resigned from the group and asked that his name be removed from their letterhead. “I didn’t know whether (the group’s activity) was legal or illegal,” he said, “But I didn’t think I wanted to be associated with them.” Perhaps, but McCain remained committed to supporting the Contras themselves. As the Washington Post reported on February 9, 1988 (via DailyKos ): Nicaraguan rebel leaders, scrambling for a survival strategy in the wake of congressional refusal last week to appropriate new aid funds, pleaded today for independent financial contributions from U.S. supporters to two private foundations based in Washington. The contra leaders said Republican presidential candidate Robert Dole recently contributed $500 to rebel coffers, and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) donated $400. As it turns out, the biggest beneficiary of McCain’s Iran-Contra largesse may have been its central figure, Oliver North. Back in 1986 and 1987 , as the New York Times noted, John McCain “defended Ronald Reagan during the Iran-contra inquiry.” As a 2006 profil e later detailed, that defense by the self-proclaimed foot soldier in the Reagan revolution extended to one of the scandal’s key perpetrators, then Lt. Colonel Oliver North: He empathized with his fellow Vietnam veteran Oliver North, a central figure in the scandal. “Some of these people like Ollie North,” he explained to Michael Killian for the Chicago Tribune (July 29, 1987), “who saw their comrades and friends spill blood and die on the battlefields in a war that they believe the politicians wouldn’t let them win–I think that leads to a mind-set which could rationalize deviating from the established rules and regulations.” Those “established rules and regulations” were also known as laws of the United States of America. Regardless, John McCain’s days of aiding his favorite insurgencies were far from over. And in the run-up to the war against Saddam Hussein, the cause was Ahmed Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress . As early as 1997, Senator McCain was pressuring the Clinton White House to set up the Chalabi’s INC as a government-in-exile. And from the moment George W. Bush sauntered into the Oval Office, McCain was pushing Chalabi’s cause. As ThinkProgress documented: McCain welcomed Ahmed Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), to Washington and pressured the administration to give him money. When General Anthony Zinni cast doubt upon the effectiveness of the Iraqi opposition, McCain rebuked him at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. In 2003, McCain joined four other Republican senators and asked Bush to “personally clear the bureaucratic roadblocks within the State Department” that blocked increased funding for the Chalabi’s group. Also that year, McCain said of Chalabi, “He’s a patriot who has the best interests of his country at heart.” As it turned it, that country may have been Iran. Arrested in Iraq just months after attending President Bush’s 2004 State of the Union address, Chalabi was, U.S. commander Ray Odierno acknowledged in 201 0, “influenced by Iran.” That embarrassment didn’t prevent would-be President McCain committing another one in July 2008. Anxious to play up his supposed national security credentials, McCain jumped at the chance when Russia and Georgia came to blows . By the time hostilities commenced in South Ossetia in August 2008, McCain’s animus towards Russia, which he repeatedly pledged to eject from the G-8, was already the stuff of legend. But seeing an opportunity to capitalize on his perceived advantage over Barack Obama on national security issues, McCain moved quickly and aggressively to commit the United States to Georgia’s defense. On his campaign bus in Pennsylvania, McCain told reporter s, “I think it’s very clear that Russian ambitions are to restore the old Russian empire.” Three days later on August 14, 2008, McCain penned the now-famous Wall Street Journal op-ed “We Are All Georgians” which opportunistically appropriated global sentiment towards the United States after the horror of 9/11: “As I told President Saakashvili on the day the cease-fire was declared, today we are all Georgians. We mustn’t forget it.” Of course, the press corps, bought it hook, line and sinker, a fawning over McCain’s supposed international leadership that continues to this day. After announcing that “Georgia dominates the Sunday shows,” Politico on August 17, 2008 declared, “McCain reopens the national security gap.” There was, of course, a problem with John McCain’s dangerously reckless bellicosity on behalf of Georgia, “this small democracy, far away from our shores, [which] is an inspiration to all those who cherish our deepest ideals.” He was wrong. In the fall of 2009, a report commissioned by the Council of the European Union found that Georgia “started unjustified war.” While the EU analysis placed blame on both Tbilisi and Moscow for what transpired, it rejected the Georgian government’s explanation that the attack was defensive. As the BBC reported : “The shelling of Tskhinvali (the South Ossetian capital) by the Georgian armed forces during the night of 7 to 8 August 2008 marked the beginning of the large-scale armed conflict in Georgia,” the report says. It adds later: “There is the question of whether [this] use of force… was justifiable under international law. It was not.” While Georgia protested those conclusions, Commissioner Jorg Himmelreich described in the New York Times “the decisive role that the United States played before, during and after the conflict.” By late 2010, revelations from U.S. diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks showed that “Washington relied heavily on the Saakashvili government’s accounts of its own behavior.” Mercifully, few in the U.S. listened to McCain or his grandstanding. But in January 2010 ceremony in Tbilisi, John McCain was honored as a national hero by the country he put first – Georgia. But that was then and this is now. And now, John McCain doubtless believes, today we’re all Libyans. (This piece also appears at Perrspectives .)
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• Hit F5 or refresh for the latest (sorry, auto-refresh down) • Email rob.smyth@guardian.co.uk with your thoughts • Keep up with all today’s goals on our live scoreboard • And follow live in-running league tables 3.30pm “Ha,” says Andrew Buddery, “and after a blissful winter following your cricket coverage, I’d forgotten how much of a wind-up merchant you are when writing about football. Good afternoon, Rob!” That would be quite funny if it actually meant anything. 3.29pm “Your description of Kuyt’s contribution to Liverpool’s opener confirms he has a big touch for a short player,” says Ian Copestake. Is 2010-11 the season in which English football learned to stop worrying and love Dirk Kuyt? 3.28pm: SPURS 1-1 WEST BROM (Pavlyuchenko 27) The underused Roman Pavlyuchenko whips in a fine equaliser from 20 yards. Benoit Assou-Ekotto wasn’t on the field, but I think just his mere presence in the ground was the inspiration for the goal. 3.27pm karma department It’s now Hull 1-3 Middlesbrough, with Julio Arca the scorer. 3.25pm: LIVERPOOL 2-0 BIRMINGHAM (Kuyt 23) Ben Foster makes two great saves from Luis Suarez and Dirk Kuyt, but Kuyt bounces to his feet to put the loose ball into the net. 3.24pm: PORT VALE 0-1 STOCKPORT (Elding 20) The great escape is on! You heard it here last. 3.23pm “Surely its fair to point out that the reason Benoit Assou-Ekotto was beaten by Odemwingie is that he was actually injured in the challenge and has had to be substituted?” says Andy Buddery. Well, it might be if I was watching the game. But we’re in England, and in England we can’t legally watch 3pm games, so I was basically paraphrasing what was said on Soccer Saturday. Take it up with Phil Thompson. After a blissful winter of doing cricket, I’d forgotten how sensitive football fans on the internet can be. Two grown men are, you know, allowed to have two different opinions without one of them being unfair, or a rotter, or a deviant, or a wally. 3.22pm: WOLVES 1-0 FULHAM (Fletcher 21) I can’t keep up with all this. What day is it? Who am I? Are we all free? Anyway, Wolves have scored, a smart header from the underrated Steven Fletcher. Wolves are far too good to go down, surely? 3.20pm: ASTON VILLA 0-1 STOKE (Jones 20) Just as people were starting to say nice things about their style of play, Stoke actually score from a long throw: taken by Rory Delap, headed in by Kenwyne Jones. 3.18pm “One for the bloopers tapes here,” says John Ashdown. “After a decent opening from the home side, Bristol City win a corner and Steve Simonsen flaps it into his own net. A quite stunning piece of ineptitude.” We should open a book on what time Ashers completely loses it, rises to his feet and flings his laptop onto the pitch in disgust. I’m going for 3.21pm. 3.17pm: BLACKPOOL 0-1 NEWCASTLE (Lovenkrands 17) It’s all over for Blackpool, isn’t it? Charlie Adam is caught in possession – there’s a shock – and it results in a goal for Peter Lovenkrands. 3.16pm “Assou-Ekotto has been one of our best performers this season,” says Jack Howes. “He’s a class player who admittedly is prone to the occasional error. However to say he has had a shocking season is complete and utter bollocks. Alan Hansen proved he doesn’t watch football when he lambasted him a while back on MOTD. You’ve been too busy watching the cricket Rob.” I like Assou-Ekotto a lot, as a player and a bloke, but he’s been ragged in almost every game I’ve watched this season. Just my opinion, it’s not going to kill anyone. ‘Shocking’ was hyperbolic though, it’s true. 3.15pm “In that photo montage at the top of the page,” says Phil Sawyer, “why is Alex McLeish licking Ian Holloway’s ear?” Never mind that: what position is Roy Hodgson assuming with Mark Hughes at his feet? 3.14pm: BRING BACK PHIL BROWN Make that Hull 1-2 Middlesbrough , with Scott McDonald scoring two goals in a minute. 3.13pm Blimey, these clockwatches are a bit lively, aren’t they? It’s now Hull 1-1 Middlesbrough, with Celtic legend alumnus Scott McDonald equalising for Boro. 3.12pm I wish we had a journocam on John Ashdown this afternoon: his beloved Sheffield United have gone 1-0 down at home to Bristol City – thanks to an own goal from their keeper Steve Simonsen. 3.10pm A nasty incident at the Stadium of Light. After a clash of heads, and over six minutes’ treatment, Phil Bardsley has been stretchered off to be replaced by Anton Ferdinand. So Sunderland are down to 10 men. 3.07pm: LIVERPOOL 1-0 BIRMINGHAM (Rodriguez 7) A dismal first touch from Dirk Kuyt creates the opening goal for Liverpool. He miscontrolled the ball so badly that it went five yards in front of him, but it inadvertently set up Jay Spearing for a long shot that was spilled badly by Ben Foster, and Maxi Rodriguez was first to the rebound. 3.06pm: SPURS 0-1 WEST BROM (Odemwingie 5) Spurs will go fourth if they win today. So, what with them being Spurs , they are behind. Benoit Assou-Ekotto’s shocking season continues when he is outmuscled by Peter Odemwingie, who runs through and gives West Brom the lead. 3.04pm I haven’t seen Soccer Saturday for months, since they took Sky Sports News off Freeview. It’s like being back in the bosom of an old friend. Actually, that’s far too weird a turn oh phrase. Whatever. Hull are beating Middlesbrough 1-0, thanks to Jay Simpson. They might well make the play-offs, although they would still be in the Premier League if they hadn’t driven that crazy maverick genius Phil Brown out of town. 2.59pm “Are you interested in updates from bottom of the Championship?” says my colleague John Ashdown. “Here at Bramall Lane, stunning Easter sunshine has become torrential rain, a neat meteorological metaphor for Sheffield United between 2006 and today. The Blades can’t quite get relegated today, but the final nail is three-quarters of the way into the coffin anyway. Interestingly we’ve got four special guests on the pitch pre-kick off – Jeff Eckhardt (Sheffield-born, 74 apps), Tony Philliskirk (son on the home bench, 80 apps), Wayne Allison (cult hero, 73 apps) and Earl Barrett. Quite what Earl Barrett is doing there I don’t know – he made five appearances on loan in 1998. And was abysmal.” Wash your mouth out with gin, Ashdown. Earl Barrett has three England caps, and no bad players have ever played for England, and especially not under Graham Taylor. A nice accompaniment to today’s match between Brighton (93 points) against Southampton (77 points) 2.53pm “You’d think sex and monster munch would work, wouldn’t you?” says Dan Smith. “But you’re just left shamefaced with crumbs in the bed and a flamin’ hot burning sensation. Are you covering Chesterfield away at Oxford this afternoon?” Where do you think I’m typing this from? Sheff Utd v Bristol City team news Sheff Utd Simonsen, Lowton, Maguire, Lowry, Mattock, Williamson, McAllister, Montgomery, Quinn, Slew, Henderson. Subs: Aksalu, Doyle, Bogdanovic, Kozluk, Collins, Philliskirk, Riise. Bristol City James, McAllister, Nyatanga, Stewart, Spence, Adomah, Elliott, Cisse, Woolford, Maynard, Pitman. Subs: Gerken, Johnson, Clarkson, Skuse, Wilson, Campbell-Ryce, Stead. Referee Andy D’Urso (Essex) Port Vale v Stockport team news Port Vale Tomlinson, Yates, Collins, Owen, McCombe, Dodds, Griffith, Roberts, Robert Taylor, Marc Richards, Justin Richards. Subs: Martin, Kris Taylor, Haldane, Rigg, Morsy, Sutton, Davis. Stockport Glennon, Halls, Assoumani, Brown, Goodall, Mainwaring, Wallace, Vincent, Poole, Griffin, Elding. Subs: McLoughlin, Lynch, Fisher, Rose, Darkwah, Whitehead. Referee Peter Quinn (Cleveland) Brighton v Southampton team news Brighton Ankergren, Calderon, Elphick, El-Abd, Painter, Bennett, Bridcutt, Sparrow, Dicker, Barnes, Murray. Subs: Brezovan, Dunk, Kishishev, Sandaza, Wood, Noone, Navarro. Southampton Davis, Butterfield, Jaidi, Fonte, Dickson, Chaplow, Hammond, Gobern, Do Prado, Lambert, Forte. Subs: Bialkowski, Richardson, Seaborne, Lallana, Connolly, N’Guessan, Stephens. Referee Scott Mathieson (Cheshire) Liverpool v Birmingham team news Liverpool Reina, Flanagan, Carragher, Skrtel, Robinson, Meireles, Spearing, Lucas, Maxi, Kuyt, Suarez. Subs: Gulacsi, Cole, Kyrgiakos, Ngog, Poulsen, Shelvey, Coady. Birmingham Foster, Carr, Johnson, Jiranek, Ridgewell, Larsson, Bowyer, Gardner, Fahey, Hleb, Jerome. Subs: Doyle, Phillips, Bentley, Derbyshire, Parnaby, Beausejour, Davies. Referee Howard Webb (S Yorkshire) Tottenham v West Brom team news Tottenham Gomes, Kaboul, Gallas, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Van der Vaart, Huddlestone, Modric, Bale, Pavlyuchenko, Defoe. Subs: Cudicini, Lennon, Jenas, Crouch, Bassong, Sandro, Pienaar. West Brom Carson, Reid, Meite, Olsson, Shorey, Brunt, Mulumbu, Scharner, Thomas, Odemwingie, Vela. Subs: Myhill, Tchoyi, Pablo, Morrison, Fortune, Cox, Jara. Referee Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire) Blackpool v Newcastle team news Blackpool Gilks, Eardley, Baptiste, Evatt, Crainey, Vaughan, Adam, Southern, Phillips, Campbell, Taylor-Fletcher. Subs: Kingson, Ormerod, Varney, Cathcart, Puncheon, Reid, Beattie. Newcastle Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Barton, Nolan, Tiote, Gutierrez, Ameobi, Lovenkrands. Subs: Soderberg, Perch, Ryan Taylor, Ireland, Steven Taylor, Ranger, Kuqi. Referee Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire) Aston Villa v Stoke team news Aston Villa Friedel, Walker, Dunne, Collins, Luke Young, Downing, Petrov, Reo-Coker, Ashley Young, Bent, Heskey. Subs: Marshall, Pires, Agbonlahor, Albrighton, Makoun, Clark, Cuellar. Stoke Begovic, Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson, Pennant, Whelan, Delap, Etherington, Jones, Walters. Subs: Sorensen, Collins, Fuller, Pugh, Diao, Whitehead, Faye. Referee Chris Foy (Merseyside) Wolverhampton v Fulham team news Wolverhampton Hennessey, Stearman, Craddock, Berra, Ward, Guedioura, Henry, O’Hara, Jarvis, Milijas, Fletcher. Subs: Hahnemann, Kightly, Ebanks-Blake, Vokes, Hammill, Mancienne, Foley. Fulham Schwarzer, Baird, Hughes, Hangeland, Salcido, Davies, Sidwell, Murphy, Dempsey, Gudjohnsen, Dembele. Subs: Stockdale, Kelly, Johnson, Etuhu, Kakuta, Zamora, Greening. Referee Michael Oliver (Northumberland) Sunderland v Wigan team news Sunderland Mignolet, Elmohamady, Turner, Onuoha, Bardsley, Henderson, Cattermole, Colback, Sessegnon, Gyan, Welbeck. Subs: Carson, Zenden, Malbranque, Muntari, Riveros, Meyler, Ferdinand. Wigan Al Habsi, Gohouri, Alcaraz, McCarthy, Gary Caldwell, Watson, N’Zogbia, Cleverley, Boyce, Rodallega, Diame. Subs: Kirkland, Thomas, Di Santo, Moses, Gomez, Sammon, Stam. Referee Lee Probert (Wiltshire) The 3pm Premier League games We’ll also be keeping a third of an eye on some of the important matches in the Football League. Aston Villa v Stoke Blackpool v Newcastle Liverpool v Birmingham Sunderland v Wigan Tottenham v West Brom Wolverhampton v Fulham Preamble Gormless posturing, casual racism and the intrusive shrill of ambulance sirens. It can only mean one thing: just another Friday night out with the Guardian Sport team St George’s Day. And on this most important day for all Englishmen, today’s clockwatch will celebrate the best league in the world. The Bundesliga. Okay, it won’t, because we don’t do Bundesliga clockwatches, but there’s a vaguely interesting point here. Well, a point. In England it has almost become a truism that the Premier League is the best league in the world. The observation is a constant, and only the justification changes. So, a couple of years ago, when the Premier League was woefully uncompetitive but consistently dominant in Europe, it was the best league in the world because it had the best teams. Now, even though England are miles behind Spain in Europe, the Premier League is the best in the world because somebody new broke into the top four!!!! it is so competitive. It’s irrational, disingenuous and simplistic, not to mention a load of fresh horse pucky. You can’t quantify how good a league is, based on the number of points it takes to win it, or the points gap between top or bottom, or the number of European Cup semi-finalists. The best league in the world is not necessarily, for example, the one with the best teams. You have to take a valued judgement based on all kinds of factors: the sheer quality of the best teams, the openness of the competition, the remorselessness of the title run-in, the attacking intent of the teams, the atmosphere at the grounds, the ratio of cheats to men, and so on. If you do that, you’d have to be either completely off your rocker or high on the paint you’ve just applied to your face in the shape of the St George’s Cross to think that the Premier League is the best in the world at the moment. Right here, right now, it’s in a rare old state. Indeed this has been, by a reasonable distance, the worst Premier League season since the competition began in 1992. The quality has been shamefully low, and just about the only thing going for it is the fact that we still have a race at the top and bottom of the table (which is a bit like giving a stupid kid a gold star at school for spelling his name correctly). That relegation battle will look a lot clearer after this set of 3pm fixtures, which involve 10 of the 12 sides who could still feasibly go down. Perhaps the most important match is Blackpool v Newcastle. Blackpool have been in freefall, with only five points from the last 13 games. They still have games at White Hart L ane and Old Trafford, and if they lose today it is hard to see them staying up. That would be a huge shame because, as David Lacey wrote on these pages today , they have been one of the few joys of a forgettable season. Like Luton in 1982-83 and Foggia in 1991-92 – they are a newly promoted side who have given the rulebook the finger and decided to attack and enjoy themselves. Is there anything better in life than a newly promoted loose cannon? Yes, obviously – there’s the physical act of love, and Monster Munch – but it is still one of the most enjoyable things in football. That’s why, even if Blackpool are relegated, we will remember them far longer than we will the Wolverhampton, West Ham, Wigan, Blackburn, Birmingham, Sunderland, Stoke, Fulham, West Brom, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Bolton, Everton, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United sides of 2010-11. Premier League Championship League One League Two Rob Smyth guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Wingnut Allen West Slams Obama’s Statesmanship While Calling Him A "Low-Level Socialist Agitator"
April 23, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Fox News was just jam-packed with fail yesterday, but here’s one for the record book. Wingnut Allen West using the most vitriolic language ever while slamming the President’s speech last week. To quote John Cole, it sounds like someone got his little fee-fees hurt. Allen West’s meteoric rise in a predominantly Democratic district is one of those things that disturbs me on a near-daily basis. His military background, his insanity, and the amazing amount of money put into his campaign makes it feel like a steal, not a win. Is it just me, or is it bizarro to slam another’s ‘statesmanship’ while calling them pinko commie bastids? Watch Greta try and rehabilitate some of the worst of what he said: VAN SUSTEREN: Did you hear what Congressman Allen West said? Well, hold onto your seat. He compared President Obama to a dictator. The Congressman made those remarks during a recent appearance on the Laura Ingraham Show. And to be specific, Congressman West said President Obama showed “third-world dictator-like arrogance” during his budget speech. So, what did he mean? Let’s ask him. Congressman Allen West of Florida joins us. Good evening Congressman, those are pretty tough words for the president. I know you have a lot of passion about your views, but the words. Any – uh – You want to do a do-over on that or you stand by those words? WEST: Oh, good evening and Happy Easter, Greta. And I do stand by those words. Perhaps one of the things that many people need to understand is that the truth needs to be said. When I go around and I talk to people down near my district and we get phone calls — That speech that was given Wednesday was absolutely beneath the statesmanship or the atmosphere or the aura or the personality that the president should show. I am sick and tired of this class warfare, this Marxist demagogue-ic rhetoric that is coming from the President of the United States of America. It is not helpful for this country and it’s not going to move the ball forward as far as rectifying the economic situation in our country. And I’m not going to back away from telling what the truth is. Let’s just stop right there. Is there some exemption that says members of the United States Congress have the absolute right to sling around meaningless loaded slanderous terms with abandon while setting a different standard for the President? While I’m at it, I’d like to add that Allen West’s authoritarian military “listen to me and STFU” attitude does nothing to make him look even a little bit authoritative. He just looks like a swaggering bully with a very small man-part that he’s compensating for. Picking it up, Greta is desperately working the rehabilitation angle. (Not really, but it provides contrast, I suppose) VAN SUSTEREN: I understand your passion, I understand your politics. You’ve certainly — you’ve been a passionate — WEST: Greta, it’s not about passion. But it’s not about passion. It’s about time people stop– [crosstalk] — playing the games. VAN SUSTEREN: And I’m in total agreement. I’m just curious as to whether calling him a ‘low-level socialist agitator’ or to compare him — to use a reference to Reverend Jeremiah Wright that the ‘chickens are coming home to roost’ — if that really is helpful to advance your, your — the great depth of your conviction. WEST: There’s a great depth to my conviction. Part of my conviction is telling the truth. I don’t think it’s very presidential when Barack Hussein Obama refers to my colleague Paul Ryan as a simple little accountant either. Breaking in here to point out the use of the President’s full name with emphasis on the middle name while using Ryan’s first and last names only. More “statesmanship”? Back to the action… WEST: So I think that when you look what at a community organizer is turning out to be it does seem to be like a low-level socialist agitator. When you look at the economic situation that we have to have a gentleman in the White House who never has really run any type of business or organization — I myself as a company commander, as a battalion executive officer and as a battalion commander have many time [sic] had to balance budgets and uh, take care of units and operate a budget. So I think it does come back to experience. And when I talk about the chickens coming home to roost, when we continue to play this election cycle American Idol in the United States of America this is what we end up with — with someone who is really not in tune with the American people. Look, Greta, the bottom line is this. The people of North Carolina who have suffered all of these tornadoes are suffering. This President is out campaigning and raising money out there in California. This is not how we’re going to turn the ship around in our country. VAN SUSTEREN: And you know, I think those are fair, uh, fair criticisms of the President vis a vis North Carolina. And also whether he has the experience, you know, you make the lemonade stand reference, whether he has the experience to run. I think that’s fair. It was the more sort of ratcheted-up rhetoric… It goes on about Jeremiah Wright and lemonade stands, but you get the flavor from this. There is something really cynical about Republicans using Allen West to flog the president. The message is “See, we’re not racists. Even black guys criticize him. It really IS about policy.” To which I will leave the retorts in the hands of my African-American friends out there. After this small dose of Allen West, I’m inclined to agree with those who think the wingnut bubble may be about to burst.
Continue reading …College Grads Taking Low-Wage Jobs Because They Can’t Find Career Work. Welcome To The World Of The Mal-Employed!
April 23, 2011 No Comment“Mal-employed.” Yeah, that’s a good way to put it . Don’t expect that to change anytime soon, either. After all, as GE CEO Jeffrey Imwalt recently said, companies are no longer moving companies overseas chasing cheap labor. They’re moving to China, India, Korea and Brazil because that’s where the emerging markets are. These corporate parasites bought themselves giant subsidies and offshored their jobs. In other words, they sucked us dry and left us to rot. Maybe it’s time we stopped encouraging kids to go deeply in debt to get college degrees: These three Chicago women share more than just scraping by with low-paying jobs: They all have master’s degrees and are unable to find work in their specialty areas. There’s even a name for their situation. They are referred to as mal-employed, a term coined in the ’70s for college graduates who could not find jobs that require a degree. Instead, they settle for low-skilled jobs. Even in rosier economic times, people with college degrees sometimes can’t find jobs in their fields. But their numbers and the trend show no sign of easing during the slow and bumpy recovery from the recession. Nationwide, about 1.94 million graduates under age 30 were mal-employed between September and January, according data compiled by Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. Sum said mal-employment has significantly increased in the past decade, making it the biggest challenge facing college graduates today. In 2000, Sum said, about 75 percent of college graduates held a job that required a college degree. Today that’s closer to 60 percent. Though the economy is growing and new jobs are being created, Sum said, those graduating in June are not likely to see major improvements. About 1.7 million students are projected to graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree and 687,000 with a master’s, according to the U.S. Department of Education. “We are doing a great disservice by not admitting how bad it is for young people (to get a job),” Sum said. And the longer college graduates go without working in their field, the harder it is to land interviews for jobs where they would use their degree.
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Security forces injure three in Douma and fire at mourners approaching Izra’a to stop them attending mass funeral Syrian security forces have opened fire on mourners at mass funerals for pro-democracy protesters killed in the bloodiest day of uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Troops injured at least three people when they fired live rounds at a funeral in the Damascus suburb of Douma, while mourners approaching the southern town of Izra’a were shot at to prevent them from attending another mass funeral, witnesses told Reuters. One of the witnesses at the Douma funerals told the news agency: “I saw three people falling on the ground, one of them had blood gushing from his mouth. I could not tell whether he was hit in the stomach or the chest.” A second witness said pallbearers abandoned coffins they were carrying and ran for cover when the funeral came under fire. One witness who had come to Izra’a to attend the burials of at least 12 people shot by security forces on Friday told Reuters: “There was a heavy volley of gunfire in our direction as we approached Izra’a to join the funerals of martyrs.” Across Syria on Saturday tens of thousands of mourners demanded the “overthrow of the regime” on at funerals for around 100 protesters killed by the security forces on Friday. Mourners at the funeral in Izra’a chanted: “Bashar al-Assad, you traitor. Long live Syria, down with Bashar.” Activists said on Saturday that at least 100 people were killed during Friday’s protests – raising the death toll from their estimate on Friday of at least 88 civilian casualties. Demonstrators were killed across the country, from the port city of Latakia to Homs, Hama, Damascus and the southern village of Izra’a, the group said. Security forces around Damascus and other key cities ignored appeals to eschew violence, opening fire with live rounds and using teargas against several pro-democracy protests, activists and witnesses reported. The crackdown on the protests have continued despite a string of government concessions earlier in the week, including the lifting of the hated 48-year-old emergency law. The White House urged Damascus to follow through on promised reforms. Barack Obama called on the Syrian government to stop using violence against demonstrators and accused Assad of seeking help from Iran. “This outrageous use of violence to quell protests must come to an end now,” Obama said. “Instead of listening to their own people, President Assad is blaming outsiders while seeking Iranian assistance in repressing Syria’s citizens through the same brutal tactics that have been used by his Iranian allies.” British foreign secretary William Hague condemned the “unacceptable killing of demonstrators” and called on Syrian security forces “to exercise restraint instead of repression”. He said the authorities should respect the “people’s right to peaceful protest”. Syria Arab and Middle East unrest Bashar Al-Assad Middle East David Batty guardian.co.uk
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