Ok, I think there is a time and a place for this expenses row that is the political talk at the moment.  I do not agree with MPs that misuse the expenses system, but I don’t think it’s all their fault, the system is broken.

But I think the outrage that is coming from primarily conservative newspapers like the Daily Mail is really faux outrage. It all political. If there wasn’t an election that was taking place next year then I believe that this argument had some merit.

The fact is Gordon Brown, a man who I have not defended often, is just being kicked when he is down.

Why don’t we actually have a conversation about issues which are negatively effecting the progress of our country right now, like the economy, education and our health care system. After the election, let who has been elected propose new measures to reform the expenses system.

Its a distraction which I am not going to pay attention to at all.

Starting from NOW. (I will say that the picture of the MP monkeys is funny) Ok, NOW.

I am a huge fan, but damn Eminem has real problems. Who the hell makes a song like this?

Let me say something controversial, I downloaded the album…BUT I plan to buy it anyway, cause truth be told, its the best rap album I have heard since Nas’ last year. You dont hear the usual drug dealer talk, the usual money talk (even though he is a millionaire) and the usual ‘I’m a G’ talk. Yes he’s out of your mind crazy but then again most genuises are.

(Many people will know that I regularly write from American centrist blog The Moderate Voice. Here is my latest post)

The world of Anglo-American politics can be a funny place indeed. In the space of 14 years we have seen the British Conservative Party struggle for it’s political life and social relevance while conservatism in the United States was gaining a second wind through the leadership of Newt Gindgrich and his ‘Contract with America’ initiative.

As Gingrich, George W Bush and Karl Rove ushered in a new era of ‘compassionate conservatism’ and a ‘permanent Republican majority’, the British Conservative Party struggled with their identity as they tried to combat a new Government with a large majority in parliament and a young popular Prime Minister who gave the youth and middle class a sense of hope – hope that ‘things can only get better’ (sound familiar?).

In 1997 the Tory Party decided to rebuild them selves under the stewardship of William Hague. As a leader Hague was an admirer of the ‘compassionate conservatism’ of the Bush administration. He also made no bones about his admiration for Margret Thatcher and made it his top priority to give Britons ‘back their country’ from asylum seekers who he saw were crippling the resources of the Great Britain.

Mr Hague guided the British Conservative Party to a landslide loss of epic proportions in the 2001 General elections.

2001 saw the turn of Ian Duncan Smith as leader of the opposition, a man who to this day I could not clearly articulate what he stood for. His lack of political ideas were only compounded by his utterly horrifyingly awful public speaking performances. His only redeeming political attributes was that he gained the endorsement of Tory standard barer Margret Thatcher.

Mr Smith was beaten in a no-confidence vote in 2002.

2002 saw the rise of the old Tory war horse, Michael Howard. Unlike his previous Blair era Tory party leaders, Michael Howard was a steady political operator who had the wit and the guts to effectively debate the Government on economic issues. Mr Howard also managed to take the shine out of Mr Blair’s premiership by challenging him on issues such as the Iraq war. Howard demanded that Mr Blair resign on grounds that he misled the parliament on the issues of Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction.

Although Mr Howard did lead the Tory party to another defeat, he did stop the bleeding. He gained 33 seats and more importantly, he showed that the Labour Party machine can be defeated if the Tory party fought on tried and tested conservative issues.

Mr Howard’s problem (which he shared with his three predecessors) was that the British electorate just couldn’t relate to him. He was too old, he was bolding (an issue he also shared with his previous leaders) and the emerging tech savvy generation were just not interested in him, or his politics.

The three British Conservative Party leaders were men of the past. These were men whose political identity could be firmly traced to the Thatcher era – thus they fought the same battles as they did during Thatcher’s reign, articulating those same ideas in the same exact ways, not realising that the country in which they aimed to lead had changed. Also, none of the three men were in tune to the growing environmental concerns of coming generation.

The Conservative finally saw the error of their ways by electing a young, media savvy and articulate leader David Cameron. As a leader he is environmentally aware (a very important characteristic which can not be overlooked), he is far too young to be a Thatcherite, he is socially aware of views from the growing British ethnic minorities and he understands that Image is vital in today’s media frenzy world.

Cameron’s moved early to establish a new tone to the way Conservatives communicated to the electorate in Great Britain. He replaced the well known Conservative torch logo with a greener more modern image of the green and blue tree logo. Why? Because Image matters. He was replacing the old with the new. The fossil with the renewable element. He was effectively drawing a line between his predecessors (Thatcher as well) and himself.

Although I agree that British politics is very different to its American counterpart (admittedly we lean a lot more to the left side of the Isle) Cameron still holds firm the key Conservative ideals; fiscal constraint, strong national defence, less government and individual freedom.

David Cameron has shown that these ideals can coexist along with ideals such as being environmentally responsible, being ethnically – socially aware and putting more emphasis on the ‘family’ without the exclusion of the gay community. Put it simply a guy who agrees with him 75% of the time is not his enemy.

I have tried to retell this story in the most basic and simplified way as possible because I believe that the Republican Party could spend a decade in the political wilderness, in the same way as the British Conservative Party did. The defection of Arlen Spector should be an alarm bell for the Republicans because even though he left the party for 99% selfish reasons, the 1% reasoning that the Republican Party has left him and is becoming more of a far right exclusionist party is a viable argument.

Conservatives have to face facts, demographics are against them. They are operating in a country that is becoming more and more disinterested in their social political positions. They also have to expunge the ghosts of their pasts, I am not only taking about George W Bush, but I am also referring to Ronald Reagan. Like Ms Thatcher to Conservatives, Mr Reagan looms among most Republican leaders with a shadow so large that it threatens to swallow them whole.

They must break with the past, start fresh and forget the culture wars. They have to become a big tent party again, a party of ideas not social litmus tests.

I am under no illusion that this film is a masterpiece. But I can sit down, with pop corn in hand and enjoy this film immensely.

Sometimes you don’t want to use your brain when watching something on the telly and this just about ticks every box for none brain use fun.

Oh and by the way, Anthony Hopkins is a prostitute to bad films. I mean this guy is a world class actor. What the hell is he doing in a film like this?

But Ricky Hatton got so outclassed that it wasn’t funny.

We should have know, there were clues to how this fight was going to go before it actually took place.

First and foremost, Hatton’s trainer Mayweather Snr did not give his fighter the best chance possible in succeeding in this fight. It was reported that he was always late to training sessions, sometimes not turning up at all and that he was a disruptive influence on the rest of team Hatton.

Secondly, the way each walked into the ring was very telling indeed. Hatton looked very tense and uneasy while Manny couldn’t look more relaxed if he tried.

But all that doesn’t matter. Hatton lost because he belongs to the old British style of boxing, substituting technical ability for brute strength. Today’s international boxers land more punches with more frequency than the majority of British boxers.
All in all, I feel sorry for Hatton. At least he tried to better himself. At least he was brave enough to test how far his powers in boxing would take him and for that I respect him.

Chin up Hitman.

I really don’t know how I feel about this.

I have always made fun of Man Utd and Chelsea fans for being foreign owned and how they have been banked rolled by sugar daddies (more Chelsea than Utd), now my beloved Arsenal are going to be in the same category.

Is this where the english game is going? Do you have to have big money behind you to compete in the Premiership?

What Arsene Wenger has done for Arsenal has been incredible. If you think to where we were when he took over and where we are now, this guy should have the infinite support of all Arsenal fans. Yet these past two seasons he has been treated like crap by a small section of fans who are impatient for success and want the Arsenal team to start delivering now, at all costs. Maybe this ‘at all cost’ mentality has driven this emergence of a man who was not so long ago shunned by our board.

I can say this, I’d rather have Stan Kroenke than that Russian Man Utd supporting fella (no offense to Russians).

Maybe I am behind the times, but I would love to see the club 100% owned by an Arsenal supporter.

Enough is enough. I just can’t take it anymore.
What gives Barack Obama the right to show up, regular, unspectacular, un-presidential guys like myself? What have I done to Obama? I have shown the guy nothing but support and when I have critisized him, I believe I have been fair and provided examples of my disappointment.

Not only has this guy rose from State Senate to the Senate and to the Presidency in a super quick time period but now he has to go and start showing off his basketball skills on Youtube no less where all the women of the world can witness his awesomeness.

Why? Why do you need to show off? Your the President of the United States. You ride in a limo called the Beast for Christ sake. Dude, you have a fleet of your own helicopters and people stand up when you walk into a room.

YOU HAVE YOUR OWN DAMN PLANE!

So was there any need for this:

Now I gotta convince my girlfriend that I too can amount to somebody – even though I can’t shoot free throws like the President.

Damn you, B.

please cope with me, trying to update the site, taking longer than i thought

I saw him last year and it was one of the most remediable experiences of my life. He was simply amazing, even at this stage of his career. Just a special special musician.

this last vid is just incredible

This guy is insane. Hiphop is truly global now.