Is Labour DEAD in Scotland? - 2015 Election

Guardian: Reports " ICM poll: Labour faces wipeout in Scotland after new leader fails to dent SNP support...Exclusive: Poll suggests Scottish Labour will lose 29 of the 41 seats Gordon Brown won in 2010, with Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP still way out in front  "

Lets Get Real:

If Labour is to form the next government it will need the votes of the SNP, it can be postulated that Labour will be the biggest Party in the House of Commons, Ed Miliband has stated that only he and Ed Balls would write the budget, Ed is in Disney land if he thinks Ed Balls is going to let him near the budget.  Ed Miliband has stated that there will be no SNP MPs in his Cabinet, thus it will be an alliance of vote by vote, the SNP leadership has stated that it wants billions spent on Scotland, that Trident be abolished.   As Ed Miliband stabbed his brother in the back one can see Ed making big concessions to get to No 10.   The English voter will be run from Scotland and the SNP.    For the political geek the minority Labour Party needing SNP votes will be fun to watch, for the UK, it will be five years of misery and Ed Miliband as PM and his Chancellor, Ed Balls fighting each other for the soul of Labour. 

The Burial of a King - King Richard 111

BBC News: Reports " People wanting to view Richard III's coffin have been urged not to join the queue after the wait passed four hours. "

Lets Get Real:

It is not ever day that you pass a coffin of a Monarch, the last Monarch to die was the Queen's father, George VI in the early 1950s.    It is historic, and lets be honest, off all our Kings and Queens, the most infamous is Richard 111.   Of course the Tudor's made sure that his record was seen bad, but his reforms on the legal front have stood the test of time.  So can one dare say, good old King Richard would have loved the fact that thousands have come to see his coffin, of course you would have to exclude the fact that he took his nephew's throne and is the main suspect in the murder of his nephews in the Tower of London.   That debate will go on, one does wonder what Richard 111 would have made of the UK now, of course Scotland only become part of Great Britain with the succession of James VI of Scotland and James the 1 of England.  Thus UK with the Act of Union in 18th Century.  

Obama's success in Yemen turns to FAILURE - New War on Terror

The Hill: Reports the following from Yemen, " Remaining U.S. government personnel in Yemen are being pulled out due to the deteriorating security situation. "

Lets Get Real:

In Obama's foreign policy there were only two success stories, one being the killing of OBL and the good working relationship between the US and Yemen.   The Government of Yemen has been overthrown by a Tehran supported group, while Al Qaeda does not have the threat of drone strikes it can move to take more control of Yemen.    The US should not be getting out, it should be supporting its ally, lets recall if Jimmy Carter had supported the Western looking government in Iran then we would not have had decades of unrest in the Middle East.   The new war on terror is not won by running away, one just has to see what happened in Iraq when the new army run away when faced with IS.   The US has had to come back, and it looks like the US will need to place ground troops in Iraq again to support Iraqi forces in retaking Mosul.   The new trained Iraqi Army and its Tehran allies are stalled in Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, a few thousand IS fighters are causing problems, what will it be like in Mosul is anyone's guess.   General Petraeus, the General who won Iraq the first time around, also ex CIA Director has stated that the main threat to Iraq is not IS but Shiite military groups.   Of course that brings in Iran, there have been reports that Shiite groups have committed war crimes against Sunni villages and people.   The Tikrit attack comes under the Iran leadership, so far it is not working, that in a perverse  way might benefit the West, if they are taking heavy body bags it might be in the interest of the US and its allies on the strategic level to allow the two groups to take each other out, harsh but true.   Then the Baghdad Government would get the fact that its main ally the US is the only power that they really have to keep happy. 

Poll Bounce for Conservatives after Budget - 2015 Election

Guardian: Reports on a Opinium/Observer poll, in the poll the Conservatives are on 36%, Labour are 33%, while UKIP are on 14% and finally LibDems are on 7%.

Lets Get Real:

While this poll shows a bounce for the Conservative Party after the Budget the trend line looks like either a narrow majority Labour Government or a lose relationship between a minority Labour Government and the SNP.   It down to maths, it takes more people to vote Conservative than it does Labour, thus Labour will be in power for five years, after the mess they made last time, the Country will be in  worse state.   The left wing Trade Unions will have a minority Labour Government at its mercy, also the Unions fund the Labour Party, expect demands from the Unions for Trade Union laws to be scrapped, it can be postulated that a Country gets a government it deserves 

The Burial of a King - King Richard 111

BBC News - Live: Reports on the process for the burial of King Richard 111.

Lets Get Real:

As our American cousins say he was one of ours, lets be honest the King did not have the best record in history, taking the Throne from his nephew, the deaths of his nephews in the Tower of London and then he lost the Battle of Bosworth to Henry V11.   Then the Tudor's made sure that the King looked evil, but still a King of England.  Lets hope that history now treats the King on the whole of his record. The King is dead, God Save the Queen. 

The Nuclear Option, Israel and the US - Middle East Crisis

Telegraph: Reports " White House: US 'to reevaluate' backing for Israel at UN

The comments by the White House mean Israel's diplomatic cover is under threat as it is revealed President Barack Obama has yet to call Mr Netanyahu "

Lets Get Real:

Never make a threat that you can never carry out, IF President Obama is having a political breakdown, that his problem, any threat to Israel will even get Democrats in the US Congress up in arms, also Israel could state if Obama wants to play hardball then Israel is under no obligation to accept any deal done by Obama with Iran. and has the right to bomb Iran and not excluding the use of nuclear materials.  In poker does not matter if your opposition has all the charisma in the world, does he have the cards to face down a angry Congress that could impeach him if he ever moved away from Israel, and even the Democratic Party would not stand with their President,  US Presidents are all powerful in till they are not, never bet more than you can afford to lose, Obama only has a year and half to go before his ends his two terms, one doubts he has the character to go through with any threat, as there will be no troops to support him, and no one to faint, and this President likes fainting supporters. 

The Democratic Nomination and Hillary Clinton - 2016 Race

Guardian: Reports on a new poll on the ramifications of the email scandal on Hillary Clinton, the article notes the following, " More than half of Americans – and 41% of Democrats – said they supported the Republican-controlled congressional committee’s effort to require Clinton to testify about the emails, the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. "

Lets Get Real:

As noted the liberal media as already pushing the Clinton comeback story, aka Bill Clinton in 1992, the difference is that they are too early, HRC has to testify twice before the House Select Committee, lets she how she does, the Democrats will be very supportive but its a Republican control Committee, and they can call  her back as many times as they want, also it should be recalled that HRC was less than impressive when she was before the Senate Committee.    It says something about the Democratic Party that they have only Hillary Clinton as their best candidate,  how come there is no Carter or Obama style candidate, someone with no baggage and some charisma, to much in the case of Obama.   ALSO lets recall that Hillary Clinton was the sure bet nominee in 2007 then came Obama, its never over in till the early months of 2017, will it be first time lucky for Clinton in Iowa, we shall see, lot of snowy roads ahead  before the lady sings.