We're back

Colonel Gaddafi, Sarah Palin, Michael Portillo, Charles Murray and other reasons why we were away in August.

With the summer break over too quickly, it's about time this blog awoke from lethargy. To start with, during August we were quite intrigued, pleased, saddened and pissed off (depending on the topic) by:

1) How the multi-million dollar Health Insurance industry in the US unleashed their political guard dogs to wage war on Barack Obama's health reform. Sarah Palin's "death panels" speech will go down the pits of history as textbook political lying;

2) How the Tories in the UK scored a spectacular own goal as rat-faced 'rising star' Daniel Hannan MEP went on Fox News to badmouth Britain's NHS, hence making a mockery of David Cameron's vows to defend 'free' NHS;

3) How the death of veteran Senator Ted Kennedy will leave a massive void in US politics, but may actually give Obama's health care reform bill an unlikely boost;

4) How, a mere days after the scandal of one of Lockerbie's bombers returned to Libya, the two biggest political clowns (and supporters of the hairdye industry) of the undemocratic world, Colonel Gaddafi and Silvio Berlusconi got together in the wake of the 40th anniversary of Gaddafi's coup d'etat;

5) How Michael Portillo dropped one as he quoted right-wing race supremacist Charles Murray as someone to look up to on social policy and welfare reforms. "State handouts devalued education, discouraged work and marriage, encouraged teenage pregnancy and undermined parental authority", Portillo says. But why is it that more substantial welfare systems in continental Europe have not produced the same dysfunctional results as in Britain? If hordes of teenagers up the duff are the consequence of welfare, why is it that teenage pregnancy is not a problem in most Western European countries? Do your homework, Michael, will you?

6) How German left-wing party Die Linke pulled off a spectacular victory in Germany's local elections, proof that tiptoeing around New Labour-style takes you nowhere.

7) How Birmingham's own race riots on August 8 drew the country's attention to this beautiful city for the wrong reasons.