Labour, Brown Lose Big in Glasgow
The Scottish Nationalist Party took one of Labour's safest seats in a rather dramatic and unexpected upset that marks yet another setback for British prime minister Gordon Brown: Unfortunately for Labour, Glasgow is only the latest in a string of woeful electoral performances for the party under Mr Brown’s leadership. His party lost the London mayoralty to the Conservatives; it was ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 26, 2008 19:19
Obama Running Away with European Vote
Barack Obama would easily win the presidency if the citizens of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom were doing the voting rather than Americans, Gallup reports. Unless I've missed something, Europeans aren't eligible to vote in our elections. These surveys nonetheless provide interesting insights into how different cultures view things. Gallup's Zsolt Nyiri, Frank Newport, and Jeffrey Jones provide ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 23, 2008 12:07
British Burglars Could Go Free!
The United Kingdom is seriously considering doing away with prison sentences for scores of "lesser" crimes, Home Affairs Correspondent Tom Whitehead reports for the Daily Express. Hundreds of thousands of crooks could escape jail every year under the proposals by advisers to the Lord Chief Justice. Those sentenced to short, sharp shock jail terms of less than 12 months for “less ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 9, 2008 15:54
Huzzah for Provincialism!
Today's Outrage of the Day on the right side of the blogosphere regards this latest bit from Barack Obama, regarding the need for our educational system to get better at teaching other languages. Now, I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that. But understand this. Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English -- they'll learn English ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 9, 2008 11:05
Racist Toddlers
A bizarre story in the London Telegraph, "Toddlers who dislike spicy food 'racist,'" is getting some play, thus far only from conservative blogs. The National Children's Bureau, which receives £12 million a year, mainly from Government funded organisations, has issued guidance to play leaders and nursery teachers advising them to be alert for racist incidents ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on July 7, 2008 15:20
Welcoming Our Robot Overlords
It appears that the British military, in conjunction with private industry, has begun building Skynet:With the launch of a new communications satellite, the British military has completed a highly advanced network that will allow robotic military units to be controlled at long range. Sound vaguely familiar? They actually named the thing Skynet. When the T-1000s come knocking, keep an eye ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on June 16, 2008 12:13
Living for Big Brother
Pubs in Yorkshire are being ordered to require patrons to remove their hats. Why? Because the hats are making it hard to identify people on CCTV.Pubs in Yorkshire have been ordered to ban people from wearing flat caps or other hats so troublemakers can be more easily recognised. The Park Hotel in Wadsley, Sheffield, is the latest to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on June 9, 2008 16:22
Question Time for the USA
Christopher Hitchens draws attention to a proposal by John McCain that received scant attention when announced last week: "I will ask Congress," said the presumptive Republican nominee, "to grant me the privilege of coming before both houses to take questions, and address criticism, much the same as the prime minister of Great Britain appears regularly before the House of Commons." Hitchens is ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on May 19, 2008 12:58
Overseas Venue Shopping
Floyd Abrams notes the rise of a troubling new trend: In recent years, English libel law has come to have a disturbing impact on the right of Americans to speak out. England has become a choice venue for libel plaintiffs from around the world, including those who seek to intimidate critics whose works would be protected in the U.S. but might ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 30, 2008 07:04
UK Court Invalidates Terrorist Asset Freezing
Counterterrorism Blog: UK Court Invalidates Terrorist Asset Freezing Regime as Unconstitutional Today, the UK's high court invalidated the country's asset freezing regime against terrorists, ruling it to be unconstitutional. The ruling has been described as devastating to the UK's strategy against terrorism. It was based on the court finding that the UK government could not simply implement UN Security Council resolutions ...Posted in Outside The Beltway | OTB on April 24, 2008 13:59
