25 September 2009

A quiet yet hectic fortnight past

The past two weeks have been non-stop last-minute wedding plans. I'm in-between handing touristy pamphlets to my parents for sightseeing around Dover, printing programmes for tomorrow's ceremony, and eagerly awaiting information on when my best man is arriving in the area after his night in London. All the while, the future Mrs. Missouri Expatriate is most deservedly sleeping in after another late night at work. One major disadvantage to planning a wedding on 6½ weeks notice: work schedules don't budge as easily.

So tonight marks my last night as a figurative free man. And more likely than not, there will be a belated tribute to Arthur Guinness (as last night was the 250th anniversary of the creation of Guinness – brilliant!) tonight, coupled with a nervous sleep at home and the possible sneaking-in of Mizzou Football's game at Nevada tonight (which kicks off at 2 am UK time).

All the while, the stench of Kirkcaldian absurdity has skyrocketed the past fortnight. His attorney general, the Baroness Scotland, has been fined £5000 (roughly $8500) for hiring a housemaid from Tonga unable to prove her right to work in the UK, under a civil law pushed through the House of Lords by the Baroness herself two years ago. Now comes the Telegraph today claiming, alongside plugs for their book due out in high street book stores this November, No Expenses Spared, saying that the guys who tipped the paper off about the claims of duck moats, gardening bills, potentially fradulent mortgages, and Sky Sports subscriptions were military soldiers taking on extra jobs during their time off so that they can have extra money to buy bulletproof vests and their families' Christmas presents.

I'd lambast about this, maybe dismiss any last remote chance of Gordon Brown pulling off a Truman '48, but we're about to deliver the helium for our wedding balloons to the evening venue. (Oh, and if you really want that book now, you can shell out an extra three quid and buy it directly from the Telegraph.)

11 September 2009

Just as the dirt was settling at Arlington…

It's been two weeks since the late Senator Edward Kennedy was interred at Arlington National Cemetery. And as Kennedy's colleagues return to session and debate healthcare, across the pond one politician isn't done with the tributes.

Former Conservative leader Michael Howard, in his weekly missive published in his district's papers, expressed displeasure toward the tributes of the Massachusetts Democrat which implied that only left-wing leaders are capable of showing concern for the underprivileged. In the column Howard writes of how the right cannot concede the moral high ground when it comes to delivering on policies. Additionally, he claims that every Labour government has left power with unemployment higher than it was when they entered 10 Downing Street, and that while the left can show they care about the issues affecting underprivileged voters, they are not competent in dealing with them.

Howard, however, does not go into detail of any particular cause taken up by Kennedy, the Labour Party, or any left-leaning government, and relies on calling successful the Centre for Social Justice, a think tank created by Iain Duncan Smith. Smith, Howard's predecessor as leader of the Conservatives, was forced to step down in October 2003 following a no-confidence vote by his own party, which occurred during an investigation into how much he paid his wife to be his secretary. While Smith was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, inaccuracies in his résumé and his general ineffectiveness during Prime Minister's Questions dogged his two-year turn at the helm.

It is dangerous for one to believe or say that anyone who does not lean for one political party or persuasion must invariably not care about the disadvantaged. And yes, there are right-leaning politicians who show care and successfully deliver for the underprivileged, and conversely left-leaning politicians who are more interested in proposing programmes to help but only for the sake of lining one's pockets or garnering insurance re-election votes. Ultimately, it cannot come down to party-wide politics for voters to truly determine which candidate will best deliver and serve them. Specific solutions must be proposed, backgrounds proven, and risks evaluated.

Senator Kennedy will be remembered for his persistent and adamant support for his liberal causes and beliefs, including his partnering with George W. Bush to push through the education act No Child Left Behind. One wonders if MP Howard is wondering how glowing a recap of his 26-year career in the Commons will be when his tenure comes to an end no later than June of next year.

10 September 2009

This commuter won't like driving in Wootton Bassett either

As the casualty count soars higher in Afghanistan for both British and American troops, so too are the funeral processions for the soldiers killed whilst combating Taliban insurgents. In the UK, more soldiers have died in the War on Terror in Afghanistan than in Iraq, and many of these fallen men and women in uniform have been honoured upon their return to their native soil by way of a casket procession through the Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett. Here, the high street has closed down in the mid-afternoon as the caskets move slowly away from the nearby Royal Air Force base in Lyneham and toward a coroner's hospital office in Oxford. Townspeople and veterans of prior wars line up on the streets hours before the procession makes it way through the town.

One such person who might find this a terrible traffic tie-up recently made herself known in suburban St. Louis this week. A woman wrote a letter of complaint to Jefferson County Sheriff Oliver "Glenn" Boyer, stating that she was displeased with how the funeral procession of a Marine who died from wounds incurred in Afghanistan took up one lane of traffic on Highway 30, but that traffic was stopped in the other by persons affiliated not with law enforcement but with Patriot Guard, a veterans' group that escorts military funeral processions by motorcycle. In particular, she took offence to two members of the group who dismounted and approached her car, being described as "dirty, nasty, renegade, who knows what", and berating her for not stopping for the procession.

Sheriff Boyer's response was anything but tepid. He wrote: "I would like to say that I am sorry for the inconvenience we caused you during the funeral procession of Sergeant 1st Class William B. Woods, but I cannot do so. I would ask instead that you take a moment of your time to take into consideration the scope of the event." Blasting the woman's distress as minuscule compared to what American soldiers are facing overseas, Boyer referenced his prior experience as a Vietnam veteran and spent the majority of the letter describing the sacrifices being made by the armed forces. Boyer sidestepped the concern of the woman's treatment by the Patriot Guard, mentioning that the soldier's uncle was among the riders and a Vietnam vet.

It remains to be seen how she responds to Boyer's e-mail, especially as it now makes its way around the Internet, or if she really was in need of a trip to the restroom or to pick up her kids from a daycare center. If it turns out she really can't think past the hood ornament on her vehicle (or where one would be if her car's model came with one), then I'd advise her to stand on the roadside the next time the bodies of eight young men who lives were cut short make their way to their final resting place. Whether or not she agrees with the mission on which, on average, one to two soldiers per day are paying the ultimate price, sacrifice for nation cannot go unnoticed or be eschewed in favour of shorter commutes.

The woman's e-mail and Sheriff Boyer's response have been posted on a Veterans of Foreign Wars forum.

07 September 2009

Cavendish seeing arches (OK, just one Arch.)

Today marks the start of the third Tour of Missouri, and in lieu of racing in his sorta-native Britain later this week, the Manxman Mark Cavendish will suit up for Team Columbia on the starting line in St. Louis today. Last year Cavendish won three of the seven stages in the Tour, winning the sprint title. This year's defense is spurred by six stage wins at le Tour de France, and he'll have strong competition from the Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd.

But that won't be Cavendish's only worry, as in addition to his quest for a second straight Edward Jones sprint jersey, he'll be alongside team leader George Hincapie, who will aim for his second overall jersey. The 2007 winner will aim to reclaim the yellow jersey from last year's winner, Christian Vande Velde from Team Garmin-Slipstream. Both American riders, however, also face tougher competition, as seven of the 14 teams present in this year's race were present in France.

Several top riders, including Hushovd, Yaroslav Popyvich and Jens Voigt, have opted out of this month's la Vuelta de España in favor of 600-plus miles of relentless rolling hills in circuits, city-to-city and an individual time trial in the Show-Me State. Also opting for the stateside race is longtime cycling commentator Paul Sherwen.

The Tour this year will reverse direction, starting in St. Louis and finishing in Kansas City, both major cities hosting a circuit race in their respective downtowns. Also this year, the Tour makes first-time visits to Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau in Southeast Missouri, plus Sedalia and Chillicothe. Absent from the Tour are the familiar destinations of Springfield and Branson, and Columbia, as the city cited conflicts with the home opener for Mizzou Football.

Tour organizers will make available Webcasts of each stage's final three hours on their Web site http://tourofmissouri.com and via Universal Sports Circuit finishes in St. Louis and Kansas City will also be covered by KMOV and KMBC, respectively.

04 September 2009

One quick Q&A

What does an expat listen to at 1:30 local time on a Saturday morning?

High School Football.

Better yet, tonight is one of the most storied rivalry games in all of high school football, the Bell Game between Brookfield and Marceline, neighboring towns in North Missouri's Linn County. In the UK, such a game would akin to a cross-town derby in the Conference leagues, one that even Jeff Stelling would probably overlook in favour of reports from a match between Aston Villa and Fulham.

The two times I covered the Bell Game, I became immersed in it. There's more to the rivalry than the game itself; it's the spirit between the two towns, how families in both towns grew up around their schools. How, in spite of the depopulation of North Missouri's farmlands and the construction of freeways bypassing even smaller towns, two nearby towns with fabled sons (Pershing in the case of Brookfield; Disney for Marceline) stand together, support one another, at least until it comes to duking it out on the gridiron for a fire engine bell. It's quite an alluring sight and sound, ringing the bell in your home town's main street upon winning it.

Tonight's game is on KIRK 99.9 out of Macon. Live audio stream here.

(Oh, and before I forget, GO JAYS! BEAT RAY-PEC!)

Whitehall Cracks, and up came a bubblin' crude—Black gold, Lybian tea

Just in from the Telegraph, Justice Secretary Jack Straw admits that recent contracts between the oil giant BP and Libya played a role in facilitating the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. This "unapologetic" revelation comes (conveniently) on the first Friday back from summer holiday and days after Prime Minister Gordon Brown emphatically denied a link between deals for oil from Libya and the release or transfer of the only man convicted of bringing down Pan Am Flight 103. In the interview with the Telegraph, Straw admitted that he backed down from his request that al-Megrahi would be excluded from a possible prisoner transfer in a deal between the UK and Libya, after BP warned that maintaining that exclusion would cost the company a half-billion pound contract.

Straw's revelation, however, pertained to an agreement that was not invoked when Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill released al-Megrahi from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds. MacAskill's decision was roundly condemned Monday by the opposition parties in Scotland's parliament, but the motion stopped short of including a non-confidence clause that would have toppled the minority Scottish National Party government and forced an election. However, it is another bone thrown in the already heaping pile of distrust the average British voter has in Westminster.

Should this revelation convince enough backbenchers to force an election before year's end, the Commons Speaker will have less time to prepare for his new opponent in his Buckingham constituency: the outgoing leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage. Farage, who also led UKIP's delegation in the European Parliament, will defy the tradition of established parties not submitting candidates to challenge the Speaker, who must step aside from his/her party when assuming the role. Bercow, formerly a Tory who many in his party believe should really be a Labour MP, will be painted by Farage as the head of a broken, dysfunctional, self-serving and pass-the-quid Commons. Slight concern for the Kent native Farage is that although Bercow started leaning into Tony Blair's Third Way camp prior to his elevation to Speaker, Buckingham is one of the most reliably Conservative constituencies in the UK. Should Farage's campaign, which will also bring up the banning of incandescent light bulbs, convince enough Tories to dump Bercow or simply stay home from the polls, the subsequent ripples coinciding with the imminent fall of the Labour government (or a Deweyesque collapse that keeps Brown around) will bring about renewed debate about the UK's role in Europe.

Provided Scotland want to stick around for it.

01 September 2009

How the EU marks a 70th Anniversary

Today is the 70th anniversary of the start of the Second World War, when Nazi Germany's Panzer tanks and troops rolled into Poland. If you're wanting to travel to Europe to remember the horrors that began on this day 70 years ago, leave your incandescent light bulbs at home.

A ban on the traditional 100-watt frosted light bulb has taken effect in the EU, making illegal its manufacture and import. Stores that have stocks may continue to sell them until they run out, in which case they are required to carry more energy-efficient light bulbs, those being halogen, fluorescent and LEDs. While EU Commissioner Andris Piebalgs of Latvia, the Commissioner of Energy, says switching the bulbs will result in households saving €50 (GB£44 or US$72) on energy costs annually by 2020, the British tabloid Daily Mail gave away coupons last week to encourage its readers to horde the bulbs before they became contraband. (An article from two weeks ago makes obvious their editorial standpoint.)

Concerns raised across Europe about the forced switchover include whether energy-saver bulbs work with dimmer switches, whether the light output decreases, and the risk of mercury poisoning from using fluorescent bulbs across the house. Oh, and the whole "Who's running my country, (nation's capital) or Brussels/Strasbourg?" debate.

Meanwhile, to prepare to mark the 70th anniversary of Britain's entry into WW2 this coming Thursday, Westminster has rekindled the spirit of rationing by way of increasing the tax on petrol by another two pence per litre (12.3¢ per gallon). This is the third hike this year, and is suggested to be both a revenue generator and effort to get more people in public transit. As such, the price of regular petrol (the equivalent of premium unleaded in the US) is now £1.089 per litre, or US$6.73 per gallon.

Let freedom wring.