Gibbs to Reporters "UK will continue to be one of our closest allies"

Today the UK general election became the topic of conversation in the White House Press Briefing Room, at least for a few minutes. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was faced with a question from a reporter concerning a report from the House of Commons. The reporter said that the report suggested that the term "special relationship" should not even be used any more to describe the relationship between the two countries. She asked whether the "special relationship" will continue even after the May 6th elections.

Gibbs replied that "The UK will continue to be one of America's closest allies in the world even after the elections". The reporter asked why he did not use the term "Special relationship" to which Gibbs jokingly replied"I do not have a special relationship with the term special relationship" Gibbs continued to state that the two countries joint actions such as Afghanistan and Iraq made the relationship special.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic the MOD said in a statement this morning that wounded soldiers could be diverted to coalition countries should the situation with the volcanic ash cloud continue. The spokeswoman stated to the times that troops could be flown as far as Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C. The White House was not available for comment but with the restrictions on air travel in the UK set to be lifted tomorrow, it may not even be nessecary for the UK to call on its "special relationship" with the United States.

The MOD has ordered HMS Ark Royal, HMS Albion and HMS Ocean to start rescuing stranded Britons from Europe, Gibbs was asked if the US was considering using military assests to bring stranded Americans home. "We are considering all opportunities to provide assistance to our citizens" said Gibbs.

Apologies for Lack of Posts - Coming attractions

I, the sole writer for The Atlantic Hopper would like to apologise for the lack of blog posts on this website since last I posted.

Unfortunately due to the fact that I am unemployed due to circumstances beyond my control I have not been able to post as much as I would like.

The weekly radio show I co-host is off the air until September 2010 so I now decided to devote more time to this blog to keep my mind active during this time of what my political opponents would call "sponging off the state".

Next week I will be out on the Campaign trail with the Conservative party candidate for Boston and Skegness Mark Simmonds, I will be volunteering to deliver leaflets so I can experience campaigning first hand.

I will be following the campaign and keeping you all updated.

I will also try to report on as many White House Press Briefings as I can.

Who do you think you are kidding Mr Brown?

It has been a busy time for our dear Prime Minister, in the last fortnight alone he has attended the G20 summit, spoken out in favour of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, stated that he wants to reduce the time spent waiting to see a specialist by cancer patients, stated that he wants to increase spending on policing anti-social behaviour, and inspired his party at their annual conference. Isn't that his job? Isn't he supposed to inspire the nation?

Yes he is supposed to inspire us, yes he is supposed to lead us to a better future, yes he is supposed to make things better for Britons in general. But I ask is this all possible? One of the other things Mr Brown did this past fortnight was to propose enshrining the Government's commitment to reduce the deficit and the national debt into law. The national debt currently stands at £804 Billion, which is one third of the entire annual operating budget of the United States. The Government's monthly deficit currently stands at £16 Billion, which amounts to nearly £90 Billion annually.

So isn't reducing that burden a good thing? Yes, it is a good thing but can how does the government plan to increase spending and reduce the deficit at the same time? This can only mean one thing...........tax hikes. But wait a minute, we are heading into an election year, this is a time where all parties at the table traditionally propose tax cuts. Why do they do this? Simple, tax cuts get votes, whichever party proposes the most attractive tax proposal gets the most votes. So what gives? Something has got to!

The British Public is still recovering from one of the widest reaching scandals in political history, they are recovering from the worst economic crisis since The Great Depression, Jobs are few and far between, those that are paying taxes are still struggling to pay the bills and keep roofs over their children's heads, and on top of all that there are threats of strikes from the fire service, the postal workers are already out on strikes, many more are voting on strike action. Now is not a time to be relying on the ignorance of the voting public. It may be that Prime Minister Brown has borrowed his pal George Bush's copy of the Republican party handbook.

Self evident by the recent health care debate across the pond, rule number one is "If you can't get votes, LIE LIE LIE". In recent months we saw this mantra in practice with politicians such as Chuck Grassley and even our very own Daniel Hannan MEP wading in on attacking the NHS. They made it appear to the American people that bodies were piling up in the streets of London, which of course they aren't.

So what is the deal? Is Gordon Brown going to propose tax cuts yet again in the coming election year? Or will they propose tax increases to pay for their ambitious spending plan? Then there is the debt reduction plan which is ambitious to say the least and threatens the sovereignty of future parliaments, it enshrines into law the commitment to reduce the debt. There are few Acts of Parliament that limit the powers of future incarnations of Parliament, the most recent being The European Communities Act 1972. This was the act that entered us into the European Union, it states that all UK statutes shall be compatible with EU Law, this means that future parliaments must factor in EU Law when legislating. The fact that the act threatens the doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty is not the problem.

So What is? Well the problem is paying for it! If Prime Minister Brown thinks he can achieve all this spending and cut taxes, bring it on! I'm no economist but I say "Who do you think you are kidding Mr Brown?"

Crossposted at Capitol Beat

Tell Rush Limbaugh to STFU!

Crossposted at The Capitol Beat

Politicians threatening each other? Town Hall meetings erupting in Violence? TV talk show hosts calling the president a Nazi? Propoganda spreading like wild-fire? If I was talking about the events of the past week and then I said to you that all of these events happened in a particular country in 2009, where would YOU think they happened?

Unless the answer to that question is the United States of America, then you are probably going to be wrong. Republicans posted directions to Democrat town hall meetings, Democrats posted advice to supporters to make themselves heard over protesters, Rush Limbaugh said that Obama's health care logo looked like the symbol for Nazi germany, and others just came out right and said he was a Nazi.

The only person I saw talk sense on this issue was Rachel Maddow, there were probably others but this was the only video I found thanks to GottaLaff at the Political Carnival blog.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

For your information Rush, the "ObamaCare" Logo as you call it, is an amalgamation of the international symbol for healthcare and the Obama08 campaign logo. Oh and if you do not realise the potential consequences of calling the President of the United States a Nazi, a socialist and god knows what else you are calling him, I think that you have no business being in the business you are in.

Cast your mind back to 1963, remember what it was like to be a nation in mourning? Remember what it was like to be a nation that had lost it's President? Because if these people are not careful, it will all happen again. Some lunatic will pick up a Gun and say well this guy said he was a Nazi.

A few months ago, someone said Dr George Tiller was a "Baby Killer", a few days later Dr Tiller was lying bleeding to death on the front steps of his Church in Whitchita, KS. The US has a terrible history with political assasinations with every single President since Kennedy facing an attempt on their life.

Please do not let this happen to your country again, please tell Rush and friends to shut the hell (not my first choice of words) Up!

Free Fayiz! GottaLaff's Tireless campaign.

For several weeks now, my gorgeous American pal GottaLaff or 'Laffy' as she likes to be known has been tirelessly championing the cause of Fayiz al-Kandari. She has made post after post on her blog The Political Carnival and The Capitol Beat.

Fayiz al-Kandari is a Kuwaiti detainee at U.S. Military base Guantanamo Bay and has been for the last 7 and a half years. You may wonder what he was convicted of, the answer to that is NOTHING!

You may wonder what evidence the U.S. has against Fayiz, the answer to that question is again NOTHING, it is all hearsay, which last time I checked was inadmissible in an American court of law. As Fayiz al-Kandari's defence attorney Major Barry Wingard said on Common Sense Radio a few weeks ago, it is "Hearsay upon hearsay, someone told another person something who told a translator who then told an interrogator". You would think a country with the resources of the United States would at least be able to find some scrap of evidence against someone they claim is an "enemy combatant".

You can read GottaLaff's latest post and everything she has ever written about Fayiz al-Kandari by clicking here. So what can you do to help Fayiz al-Kandari?

If you are a Twitter user, you can use the hashtag #FreeFayiz. You can also tweet @GottaLaff to find out how else you can help. You can stay updated on the campaign to Free Fayiz by visiting The Political Carnival.

For residents of the United Kingdom you can also write to your Member of Parliament to find out what they can do to help Fayiz al-Kandari. If you do not know who your MP is you can find out by visiting Parliament's website.

For residents of the United States you can write to your Representatives in Congress and the Senate, you can find their contact details here.

A big thank you to GottaLaff and Major Barry Wingard for their tireless efforts on behalf of Fayiz al-Kandari.

For further details visit The Political Carnival.

UK Border Agency - Should have gone to Specsavers!

Last night an Illegal immigrant was still on the run after smuggling himself into the UK under a bus full of UK BORDER AGENTS.

According to UK tabloid The Mirror, the 20 UK Border Agents on the bus were returning from Calais, through the channell tunnell. The man was not noticed until the bus reached its destination Folkstone in Kent! The driver of the bus gave chase but the stowaway escaped.

Reminds me of the adverts for Specsavers Opticians "Should have gone to Specsavers". But on a serious note, What the HELL is the UK Border Agency PAID for? I mean this guy got into the country RIGHT UNDER their NOSES!

It seems that the use of twitter hashtag #EPICFAIL is in order!

I think those 20 Agents need a refresher course! Or new glasses!

Extradition almost certain for Pentagon Hacker

Yesterday, Gary McKinnon lost his latest legal battle to fight his extradition order to the United States. McKinnon is charged with hacking 97 US government computers. McKinnon and family claim that he was looking for evidence of alien life, and that due to suffering from Asperger Syndrome, he was not able to understand that what he was doing was profoundly wrong.

McKinnon has until September to launch a final appeal against extradition to the United States, else find himself on a plane handcuffed to US Law Enforcement officials. McKinnon's mother appealed to President Barack Obama to halt the extradition proceedings.

Okay, here is The Atlantic Hopper's take on this!

1. Convenient - McKinnon was "diagnosed" with Asperger AFTER it was revealed on National news that he was facing extradition, not that I am saying that the Asperger diagnosis is phony, because it may well be genuine. It just all seems a bit convenient to me.

2. UK has no jurisdiction - McKinnon and his supporters claim that he should face trial here in the UK, well not really, we don't have any jurisdiction to prosecute for a crime committed against a foreign government. Yes, we are allies and we have an extradition treaty. The facts of the case should be decided by an AMERICAN jury in a FEDERAL court. This was a crime against the Federal Government of the United States and should be treated as such. Locality of the perpetrator of the crime is irrelevant in this type of case.

3. Obama has more important things to worry about - I am not saying that McKinnon is a master criminal but is clearly a very intelligent man, despite his alleged disabilities, Obama has a tough legislative agenda on his plate, and should not be wading in willy-nilly on this, unless he decides to give McKinnon a Presidential Pardon.

4. If you don't want to go to a nasty American Jail - DON'T HACK THE PENTAGON!

This is not an expert legal opinion, it is just the opinion of a lowly blogger, but like GottaLaff from The Political Carnival would say "But what do I know?"

Republicans! STOP using my country as a political football

As the battle over Health care rages on in the US, the Senate and the House are about to head home for the August recess and the President is having "beer summits" over something that should never have become a national issue. The republicans are saying that Socialized medicine will lead to more people having a poorer quality of care and more people dying.

I am here to give the republicans a few facts about Socialized health care. In 1948 my government launched the National Health Service or NHS as we call it today. In 1948, average life expectancy for women in the UK was 70 and for men was 66, whereas last year the average life expectancy was 78.3 for men and 82.1 for women.

In the twelve years since labour has been in power, funding to the NHS has more than tripled with the annual budget now being £92.2 Billion compared to £34.6 Billion in 1997. And in 2007 a study by the Royal Commission on Health care showed that 92% of patients were SATISFIED with the care they received.

Is our system perfect? No way, we still have an annual deficit of over £900 Million in the NHS but our system is getting better all the time. And our doctors are leading the way in many areas of medicine, just last week a Hull hospital was featured on the national news for pioneering treatment of Stroke patients using Clot buster medicines.

Many of our hospitals are on the list of the best hospitals in the world, including Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, an NHS hospital.

Do we pay higher taxes than Americans? Sure, we pay between 31 and 52 percent of our income (including Income Tax and National Insurance) but when we go to the doctor, we don't pay ridiculous amounts of money in co-pays and deductibles or get told that our treatment has been denied by bureaucratic insurance companies.

But what you don't know is that our employers also match our National Insurance contributions. We don't miss this money because we use a Pay as You Earn system or PAYE to pay our taxes, our employers pay our taxes directly to the Inland Revenue.

We are not all dying in the streets as the Republicans would have Americans believe! If you are a republican and are trashing the NHS, please STOP using my country as a political football!

RIP Sir Bobby Robson

Tributes are flowing for Sir Bobby Robson, Former England Soccer manager who died today age 76.

I have been trying to sum up the man, the legend or the manager all day but for once I cannot find the words.

So I will merely say, "Sir Bobby, You will be missed"

RIP SIR BOBBY ROBSON 1933-2009

Ask to see her Green Card Jim!

UPDATE: Jim decided to cancel Orly Taitz's appearance on Common Sense!

The head of the Birther movement Dr. Orly Taitz Esq. will be on Common Sense with Jim Alger later today.

When I learned of this via Mr Alger's Twitter Feed I asked him to ask her if she even had a brain. I took the time to Google Dr. Taitz and stumbled accross her Youtube channell. The premise of her entire claim is some obscure Hawaii law that allows for Hawaii residents to register their foreign born children with the Department of Health in Hawaii. She also claims that the Natuarl-Born Citizen law requires that BOTH parents be citizens of the United States.

My question is has she even READ Article 2 of the Constitution, because I have. If the child was born in the United States, there is no requirement for both parents to be considered natural born citizens.

I also read on her blog that a Grand Jury of 35 people, in Texas has indicted Obama on charges of fraud and treason, who gave the Grand Jury the authority to convene? As is required by LAW in ALL 50 STATES.

The founding fathers of the United States surely did not intend Article 2 of the Constitution to be used in such a manner. Surely they did not intend for it to be used in an attempt to usurp a legitamately elected President? To dominate National News, and to distract from the very important business of running the goddamn country.

Orly Taitz calls Obama a Usurper, but I propose this, that it is YOU Orly Taitz who is the Usurper, That it is YOU who is usurping the Supreme Court of the United States for your own twisted agenda.

Oh and don't forget this little snippet, Orly Taitz herself is NOT American, or at least she doesn't sound it - Ask to see her Green Card Jim!

You can listen to Common Sense with Jim Alger by clicking here