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Sarah Palin is resigning as Governor of Alaska and queen GILF on July 26th. Some commentators are suggesting an article in the most recent edition Vanity Fair may have been the straw which broke this particular glamour camel’s back.

Writing on MSNBC this morning Howard Fineman tries to make some sense of the announcement.

Why now? Why this minute? Well, perhaps there is scandal lurking in the Great North that we in the Lower 48 don’t know about. Maybe there is video of the Palin family setting a polar bear adrift on ice floes. But there is no reason to suspect so and, in the meantime, it’s worth noting that both the timing and the manner of Palin’s announcement were pretty shrewd.

She picked a long holiday weekend at the onset of summer (when, by the way, “Meet the Press” is pre-empted by Wimbledon tennis) to issue her stunner. She took no questions after her announcement and then disappeared into her house. As a result, she controlled the message, which was:

I’m the scrappy “point guard” (her basketball position on a state-champion team long ago) and I’m gonna take it to the hoop of freedom for ya!

Now she will be free to travel the country, rake in a lot of dough as a speaker, work the GOP and conservative dinner circuit, hawk her book once it comes out — and see how the game develops.

The harlequin is a large black-spotted reddish or orange ladybird native to south-east Asia, including eastern China and Japan.

Harlequins have been introduced to other parts of the world including Europe to control pest greenfly, mainly in glasshouses. Unfortunately, harlequins have shown an ability to escape and naturalise in new countries. In Europe, North America and elsewhere wild populations have appeared and spread extremely rapidly.

A by-product of their enormous success has been a decline in native ladybirds and many native species in North America have been decimated as a result of harlequin competition.  Not only do harlequins eat their food, but in hard years will also eat the larvae of other species.

Harlequins were first spotted in Northern Ireland in 2007 when one took a lift in on a vegetable consignment arriving in one of our large supermarkets. 

A top expert, Dr Helen Roy talked to the Today Programme this week about the threat these little mites present.

Fully funded by Invest Northern Ireland, the NISPO initiative includes a £5million venture capital fund which will focus on seed and early stage businesses which have high growth potential. Investments by the fund will typically be in the £50,000 to £250,000 deal size range. A £3million proof of concept fund has also been established to provide funding to very early, non university projects. An important element of the initiative is an “Enterprise Escalator” to assist promoters move from research to readiness for commercial funding and early stage capital.

Following a competitive tender process, ESynergy, a London-based firm has been selected to manage the NISPO suite of funds and services on behalf of Invest NI.

This is nothing in comparison to what a guy with a video camera in Jacksonville, Florida who managed to capture a tornado right above his head.

Speak to many in the educationsector and they will tell you there is a major crisis looming. Ask the Minister’s fellow MLAs and they will say that she appears to have very little interest in finding compromise on the issue.

Nearly a year ago an eminentand progressive educationalist warned me that were now in a “race to the bottom” where everyone would be a looser.

Some months ago I floated a series of principles aroundwhich a positive discussion might take place. As there appears to be damn little else being suggested I commend them to all for summer reflection. If the DUP and SF are unable to agree a way forward surely the other big parties could seek common ground?

• Agreement that 14 is a better age at which to exercise pupil and parental choice about possible transfer for the final four years of education;
• Agreement to further develop thinking about a collegiate based system;
• Agreement to guarantee parents and pupils access faith based education;
• Agreement that an early intervention strategy should be developed to support children from deprived socio economic backgrounds during primary and early second level education;
• Agreement to consider and draw on international best practice when developing these proposals;
• Agreement that the system must be based on a commitment to social equity and educational excellence at every level;
• Agreement that the change programme would be rolled out over at least a five year period, allowing up to ten years for any institutional realignments to take place;
• Agreement that an interim regulated system should be introduced immediately.

I came across a TED talk by Hans Rosling which helps explain the inability of Africa to catch up with the rest of the world despite the massive economic and technological growth which has taken place since 1960. Its also highlights the power of data and the real barriers which exist to true global development.

(There is an interesting clip about Ugandan child mortality about 13 min in)

If you are interested in development, watch this.

Next up Boston then Halifax before the Atlantic crossing.

Can’t wait!

Less then a week after the Equality Commission in Northern Ireland published research showing very high levels of homophobia and other prejudice in NI, the Capital was preparing for its biggest ever Pride event which took place on Saturday.

Today writing in the Irish Times, Eoin Collins, the Director the Irish Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, lays out his stall on the issue of Gay Marriage in Ireland and the current government proposals for civil partnerships.

Opinion polls over the last number of years have consistently shown more than 80 per cent of the public have supported legal recognition for same-sex couples.

The Civil Partnership Bill follows extensive public discussion and analysis on the issues in the media, in both houses of the Oireachtas and by a range of policy bodies, including the Government Working Group on Domestic Partnership (the Colley Group), the Law Reform Commission and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution.

Some of the most striking aspects of the 2007 Dáil debate on civil unions for same-sex couples were the personal stories which politicians from all parties told about the importance of legal recognition for individual lesbian and gay people. The dominant theme of same-sex partnership ceremonies, noted one TD, was happiness, joy and celebration, not just for the couple but also for their family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues.

It is heartening to see this debate taking place in such a constructive environment south of the border. Many in the gay community will feel let down that the government’s proposals do not go far enough but they will also feel able to lobby publicly and speak out loudly for a stronger Bill without fear of attack or rejection by society.

There are loads of North - South divides on this island. Many have nothing to do with religion or politics. The fact that the Dublin, an increasingly liberal city,  can fly Gay Pride flags on in its best lamp posts and Belfast cannot is maybe as good an example as any of one.

Mr Murphy’s central premise is that some day the North will need to consider whether compulsory power sharing is working. This is not a new argument. Last year Mark Durkan raised the issue in the context of a debate around a strong and inclusive Bill of Rights.

The Irish News columnist has a point:

In the old Stormont, the opposition was ignored.  In the new Stormont, the opposition has been abolished.  How democratic is a parliament without an opposition?  Advocates of the new system argue that it brings political benefits.  But does it?  It gives constitutional authority to sectarianism and promotes political schizophrenia.  Both the DUP and Sinn Féin claim the other is the enemy, within a supposedly partnership government.  Do nationalists benefit by having nationalist ministers?  For example, would our roads policy be different if Arlene Foster replaced Conor Murphy as regional development minister?

But does a focus on the structures of government take away from other significant weaknesses in Northern politics?

Adversarial, winner takes all, politics with clear governments and opposition is the way here in the UK and Ireland but not everywhere. The American system is much more complex as is the French one. Not to mention Isreal or Belgium, both of which have systems in which power is effectively shared between different offices which may or may not be held by representatives of the same party.

Our system doesn’t make politics more difficult it just makes it different. What is worrying is that the weakness of our political parties may be the real issue which is undermining the opportunity for government here.

Neither SF or the DUP will score well on their record in Government. To date the Executive they both lead has distinguished itself for inaction rather than results and this is very unlikely to change in the run up to the 2010 UK General Election and the 2011 Assembly poll. This is not because they have a free run in institutional terms with no opposition breathing down their necks - it is because they are being measured by their support base on their ability to stand up to each other rather then work together. That said we do need to ask whether to some extent the SDLP and UUP are letting them away with it.

I see no great public desire to see instability return to Stormont. As much as it pains many who are ambitious for the North, the basic threshold for success in the public mind appears to be stability. The vast majority of Northern voters seem willing to reward parties who stay together. That they are achieving very little whilst doing so is not an issue as there is nobody offering an alternative which would also be stable.

So heads down and do nothing then?

With the exception of the 60,000 who support the TUV the other million voters in NI seem supportive of powersharing and devolution.

If either the SDLP or UUP were to leave the Executive they would stand accused of fostering instability. But that does not mean they cannot change they way they work together and inside and outside the Executive. Right now is not so much a debate about opposition but one about alternatives.

There is nothing in the structures of government which would prevent the UUP and SDLP from developing common positions on key issues.

Education is an obvious example. Agree the basic principles of a workable system based on academic excellence and social justice, possibly with pupil choice at 14 and at least both parties could demonstrate that Irish and British people who call this region home can agree on important issues.

Tackling our divisions is another. Commit to a shared future and stand together against sectarianism and racism.

Even on the economy there is very little on which the DUP and SF agree.  This creates yet another opportunity for the UUP and the SDLP. They should agree a real Green New Deal and have the courage to publish it as an alternative response to the current recession.

All this does not in any way prejudice either party’s nationalism or unionism. No more than it would prejudice the Green Party, Alliance or PUP if they were to support agreed positions. What it would illustrate is that our two communities and their representatives can work together and share a commitment to the success of this region and its people. This would be a real platform for change.

The system can be reviewed till the cows come home but real change will come when nationalists and unionists start really sharing power and working together for the betterment of all.  The DUP and SF seem unable or unwilling to do this. The question is whether the SDLP and UUP could?