Thanks to Mahons for breaking the news here on ATW re Sarah Palin's shock decision to step down as Governor of Alaska.

We'll get more news on this from Palin shortly but I hope the reason for this is as a catalyst for 2012. Those who paint her as dumb are the same sort of  people who portrayed Reagan as a simpleton. If Palin can go on and emulate even half of his success, that would be great. Of course there may be other personal issues involved here, but I doubt it.

I know it goes against accepted political wisdom - even in GOP circles - but I think Palin would make a fantastic candidate in 2012 and I hope this is but the beginning, not the end, for her rise and rise. 

Possibly a smart move.  She will remain a figure admired by the far right, and this frees her from accountability for whatever happens in Alaska that she would have if she finished her term. 

More later....

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Children as young as eight are being brought into hospitals unconscious after getting drunk on cheap cider, spirits and alcopops such is the ease of access to cut-price alcohol, according to doctors.

The problems of binge-drinking are now so serious that small hospitals that used to treat one intoxicated child a month are now receiving several under-age drinkers every Friday and Saturday night, the British Medical Association’s annual conference was told.

The warnings from doctors were backed today by figures suggesting that a child under 12 is being admitted to Accident & Emergency departments because of alcohol every other day. Of the more than 4,500 hospital admissions of children under the age of 16 caused by alcohol last year, 181 involved under-12s. Reporting that drink-related problems had become “much, much greater” over the past decade, doctors called for a minimum price per unit of alcohol, clearer labelling of alcoholic content and a ban on the advertising of beers, wines and spirits.

Let us assume that the figures concerning VERY young children consuming alochol are correct - and I see no reason why this would not be the case. This being the case the issue here is WHY have the parent(s) of the kids concerned not been brought in to legal custody for questioning? After all, the parents are responsible for what their children get up to, Imbiding alcohol is clearly a VERY bad thing for children to do and should be prevented but once again the totalitarian instinct in the BMA comes out and urges draconian bans and the destruction of the advertising industry in this area. Total nonsense.

The parents must be HELD RESPONSIBLE for their kids behaviour and if an 8 year old child is out getting drunk then the parent needs an intense and sober questioning. The core issue lies in the home, not the off-license.  But the BMA doesn't like to be judgemental.

Vikings in Afghanistan are NOT a good idea. So why has the government presided over their continued use when the liabilities are so well known?

British Forces in Afghanistan have been dealt a huge personal blow with the loss of the most senior infantry commander to be killed in action since the Falklands war. Lieutenant-Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, 39, the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, was killed when the Viking armoured tracked vehicle that he was travelling in was blown up in Helmand. Trooper Joshua Hammond, 19, of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, was also killed and six soldiers were wounded, some critically. The Viking, which has proved vulnerable to Taleban roadside bombs, was blown up about five miles north of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital.

A sad loss demonstrating yet again the perils into which our armed forces are sent whilst being inadequately protected by the mean spirited anti military Labour scum in power. I salute Lieutenant Col Thorneloe and Trooper Hammond - and pass on my sincere condolences to their families. Both deaths are a tragic loss.

I think that this chart shows rather impressively what has happened to the UK since the multicultis came to power in 1997. 

Here’s a great Palin quote:

“I used to joke around with John McCain during the campaign about coming jogging with me. And once I asked him what his favorite exercise was, and he said, ‘I go wading.’ Wading. He lives on a creek in Arizona, so he goes wading. That cracked me up.”

Here's Sarah doing some yoga:

See what I mean?  Refreshing.