South by Southwest: Our friends the Brits have their own troubles.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Our friends the Brits have their own troubles.

Because I often rely on the reliability of British papers for my U.S. news, I cannot help but keeping up with what is happening just across the Atlantic in Great Britain. I rely on the BBC News and the Financial Times.

Prime Minister Tony Blair is currently pledging support to the Iraqi PM. He continues his trip visiting the UK troops in Basra, Iraq. Leaving office as the U.K. PM soon, he departure is seen as possibly ending with a "sleaze taint." To quote from the BBC News,

As bad news days go, Thursday 14 December 2006 must rank amongst Tony Blair's worst.
Mr Blair's pledge to clean up politics has haunted him. He was interviewed by police probing corruption claims in the cash-for-honours affair, and he pulled the plug on a fraud office investigation into corrupt dealings between BAE Systems and the Saudi government.
No wonder then, that he left Britain for an EU summit, and a later "peace tour" of the Middle East, to headlines accusing him of trying to bury bad news and even, through his spin doctors, lying to a London newspaper about the timing of the police visit to Downing Street.

Tony Blair is a member of the Labour Party. This means that his successor may come from the opposition Tories. This BBC story illustrates that the Bush administration is not the only one plagued by leaks. To quote from the story,

The memo claims the party is seen as riven by "internal conflicts" Downing Street has denied any connection with an internal memo suggesting the government has lost its grip and is seen as a "shambles".
The Mail on Sunday claims the document was prepared for the prime minister by senior aides. It suggests Labour should either unite behind Gordon Brown or pick a much younger new leader. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott dismissed the memo as the work of a "teenybopper" not a significant figure.

The official denomination in the United Kingdom is Anglican. Anglicans and Episcopalians are joined. My religious affilliation has long been with the Episcopal church. But the church's internal struggles are driving us apart. The BBC News discussed the Anglican split over the issue of gay clergy. To quote from the article,

Two church congregations in the US are to announce whether they are breaking from the American Episcopal Church amid the continuing row over gay clergy.
The Episcopal Church provoked a crisis among Anglicans worldwide by electing a gay bishop three years ago.
Members of two churches in Virginia have been voting to stay in the current structure or align themselves with the Archbishop of Nigeria, Peter Akinola.

Time's annual cover made the news in Great Britain - On a positive note however, we internet content generators can feel pride in "You" (the collective us) being named Time's Person of the Year. To quote BBC,

"You" have been named as Time magazine's Person of the Year for the growth and influence of user-generated content on the internet.
The US magazine praised the public for "seizing the reins of the global media" and filling the web's virtual world.

With no American royalty, we sometimes adopt the Brits' as our own - Thus, we can also feel a bit of pride that "normal guy," Prince William's graduation from Sandhurst Military Academy. To quote BBC,

Prince William has been commissioned as an officer in the British Army after graduating from Sandhurst.
The Queen, Prince Charles and other members of the royal family attended a parade marking the end of his training at the royal military academy.
His girlfriend Kate Middleton also watched the 24-year-old prince, who is second in line to the throne.
William, who has been described by fellow trainee officers as "a normal guy", will become a 2nd Lieutenant.