David Cameron's 'Revolution' and What the People Need to See

As the BBC story puts it, how revolutionary are Cameron's proposals?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8068735.stm

And what would a 'sensible party' propose as reform for the UK Parliamentary system?

Never mind TXT alerts, publish and subscribe a la twitter for your MP/MEP/devolved MP should be the order of the day. The progress of bills is focussing on the wrong thing, what we need to see now is just what our elected representative is up to - if they are attending parliamentary sittings, are they voting and how did they vote, are they proposing motions and bills? 

If, as expected, the tightening of the expenses system results in higher pay for representatives, they'll be needing to justify that they are earning their keep in short order, lest the faith of the voting public be further eroded.

The 'Walmart Doctrine' Has Landed (In the UK)

Supermarkets in the UK deign not to show Manic Street Preacher's new CD cover.

As the band say, it's OK to show plenty of flesh on the front cover of a magazine but not a slightly abstract, painted depiction of a bloody face.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8050110.stm

[US] Medicare's in critical condition, cries report.

'The GOP used the dire news to pounce on President Obama for his "reckless borrowing and spending spree" that the White House hopes will bring the country out of recession.

"His policies are putting our kids and grandkids deeper" in the hole, said House minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).'

So a pointless war with contracts handed out left, right and centre to cronies was not a 'reckless' 'spending spree' then? As they say in the US, 'yeah, right'.

New York Daily News Story -
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/05/13/2009-05-13_medicares_in_critical_condition_cries_report.html

google and The Wire's David Simon on the Newspaper Industry in the Web Age.

'Simon also lambasted the newspaper industry's cry of "it's not our fault". Newspapers had gone from privately-owned family firms to publically-traded stocks, he said, and many of the cuts in the 1990s were against the background of bumper (35 per cent) profits. Families were content with 10 to 15 per cent annual profit.'

Sounds like a case you could make for the wanton pillaging of many companies in many industries since the 80s. The one case where this left-winger will say, public = bad, private = good.