Does a sex scandal ruin your career?

For those of you interested in sex scandals, US politics has recently seen quite a few. CNN has handily put together a timeline of them, see here. There is also quite a good discussion afterwards about why Mark Sanford, the latest politician to fall from grace in this way, should not continue to be Governor of South Carolina because of it and what the ramifications for his party might be.

Will the Scots ever be happy?

There was a good overview on Panorama last night by Brian Taylor, the Scottish political correspondent for the BBC, on 10 years of Scottish devolution, which you can find on www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer. In conjunction with this, the BBC also released a new poll which revealed that most Scots people want a referendum on independence next year but that the result is wholly reliant on the question that is asked. See the BBC’s headline here plus their special Scottish devolution website here…

Strobe Party

Groups in Year 9 Neptune were asked to develop their own political party and say how they would promote it in an election. Ideas ranged from detailed education policy such as the abolition of homework to the scrapping of nuclear weapons to changing the light colours in street lamps! Methods of promotion also varied widely from speeches to t-shirts to the very popular street parties. A vote was taken at the end of the lesson and this presentation by Sarika, Robyn, Emma P, Nishalini and Nancy was the winner.

Does Obama defer too much to Congress?

An interesting article here from Lexington in the Economist. Very useful for discussing the relationship between the President and Congress and a consciously different strategy for delivering on commitments such as healthcare.

Time Magazine on 1989

Here is an excellent collection of articles from Time Magazine on the events of 1989, including Tiananmen Square, events in Eastern Europe, the Satanic Verses controversy and the creation of the Simpsons.

Shah Abbas

Iran has much been in the news lately, and this article provides an interesting account of a strong leader from its past, Shah Abbas (Seen in the centre of the image above) who came to the throne as a teenager in 1587 and so would have been a conteporary of Queen Elizabeth I. He pulled together a kingdom that had been wracked by civil war, expanding its borders all the way to Baghdad. He was tolerant of other religions but less so of his sons - 1 was murdered and 2 others blinded! He tried hard to make alliances with Europe and employed two Englishmen, the Shirley brothers, to negotiate for him. He was influential enough to even be referred to in The Merchant of Venice. The British Museum has just had an exhibition about him (sadly it has just closed) and more info can be seen here.

Will Obama succeed in reforming immigration?

Not content just to reform healthcare, it appears that Obama is also going to try to reform the immigration system. Attempted by Bush without success, this appears to be another brave effort but it seems to be unclear quite how he is going to achieve it. See his speech here where he includes other politicians who are going to try to reach agreement including John McCain.

American History blogger

A great-looking blog here which includes a fascinating article from the Washington Post about new tapes released of Richard Nixon in the White House...

The Iraq Inquiry muddle

How not to set up an inquiry! See the details here of the vote last night and what the inquiry might look like...

Jacqui Smith Interview

A clip here of an interview with Jacqui Smith about her time as a minister and a discussion about being a woman in politics, particularly interesting of her experience as the first female home secretary...