" Margaret Thatcher, the first woman ever to serve as prime minister of Great Britain and the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century has died at age 87.
"It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully following a stroke this morning," Lord Timothy Bell said today. "A further statement will be made later."
Thatcher had significant health problems in her later years, suffering several small strokes and, according to her daughter, struggling with dementia.
In Dec. 2012, she was underwent an operation to remove a bladder growth, longtime adviser Tim Bell told The Associated Press.
But during her long career on the political stage, Thatcher was known as the Iron Lady. She led Great Britain as Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, a champion of free-market policies and adversary of the Soviet Union. ... "
Last edited by MajGenl.Meade on Mon Apr 08, 2013 3:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
RIP Margaret Thatcher. No leader is without their detractors nor their allies. Your place in the afterlife (if there is one) is not determined by them.
Be at peace.
She was a great leader, who, with Reagan, refocused the West's foreign policy on active confrontation of the USSR, which ultimately led to its dissolution.
She was an epic bitch who waged war on the workers of Britain. She decided that three million people out if work and a big benefits bill was adequate collateral damage for breaking the trades union movement.
Baroness Thatcher was a towering figure, unquestionably the second most important British PM of the 20th Century, (After of course Winston Churchill) as well as a great friend of this country. She came to power at a very difficult time for her country and left it, (and the world in general) a better place for her service.
Statement from President Obama on the Passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher
Washington, DC--(ENEWSPF)--April 8, 2013.
With the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend. As a grocer’s daughter who rose to become Britain’s first female prime minister, she stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered. As prime minister, she helped restore the confidence and pride that has always been the hallmark of Britain at its best. And as an unapologetic supporter of our transatlantic alliance, she knew that with strength and resolve we could win the Cold War and extend freedom’s promise.
Here in America, many of us will never forget her standing shoulder to shoulder with President Reagan, reminding the world that we are not simply carried along by the currents of history—we can shape them with moral conviction, unyielding courage and iron will. Michelle and I send our thoughts to the Thatcher family and all the British people as we carry on the work to which she dedicated her life—free peoples standing together, determined to write our own destiny.
Source: whitehouse.gov
Very well put. I couldn't have said it better myself.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made the following comments Monday while in The Hague:
"She was a pioneering leader for her contribution to peace and security, particularly at the height of the Cold War. She was also a great model as the first woman Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who not only demonstrated her leadership but has given such great hope for many women for equality, gender equality in Parliament. We will owe a great deal to her leadership. I hope that her leadership will inspire many people around the world for peace and security and human rights."
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, with whom Thatcher had close ties, called her "a politician whose words carried big weight," according to the Wall Street Journal:
"Our first meeting in 1984 laid ground to the relationship that was at times complex, but always even and on both sides serious and responsible. In the end we managed to achieve mutual understanding, and this was a contribution to the changing atmosphere between our country and the West, and to the end of the Cold War."
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny called Thatcher "a formidable political leader who had a significant impact on British, European and world politics."
"While her period of office came at a challenging time for British-Irish relations, when the violent conflict in Northern Ireland was at its peak, Mrs. Thatcher signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement which laid the foundation for improved North-South cooperation and ultimately the Good Friday Agreement."
Current UK Prime Minister and leader of Thatcher's Conservative Party David Cameron said:
"We've lost a great prime minister, a great leader, a great Briton. Her legacy will be the fact that she served her country so well, and she saved our country and she showed immense courage in doing so, and people will be learning about what she did and her achievements in decades, probably centuries to come."
European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso recalled her contributions to a more stable Europe.
"She was without doubt a great stateswoman, the first female prime minister of her country, and a circumspect yet engaged player in the European Union. She will be remembered both for her contributions and her reserves to our common project," said Barroso.
Former French president Valerie Giscard d'Estaing remembered Thatcher as a leader who always put her country first.
"She was not interested in the structure of the system, not very much in the future of the system, she was interested in the position of Britain in Europe and she protected it as best as she could," said d'Estaing.
Israeli President Shimon Peres called her exceptional. "I had the highest regard and admiration for the way she combined leaders and ideas to create a new situation."
Other world leaders also are offering praise, including Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who said today's leaders would do well to learn from her.
"Her unbreakable commitment to freedom, democracy and the state of law, as well as her firm reformist determination, are an invaluable legacy for European current leaders who, just like it happened in the 80's when Margaret Thatcher ruled, face now very complex challenges that require big doses of political ambition and courage," said Rajoy.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
But she was the best looking female PM since er . . well since. . . Ted Heath?
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
And should it not be "Margaret Thatcher Dead"? Everybody dies but not everyone is dead
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
Daisy wrote:She was an epic bitch who waged war on the workers of Britain. She decided that three million people out if work and a big benefits bill was adequate collateral damage for breaking the trades union movement.
Don't forget being one of the few leaders in modern history to impose a tax on breathing, in the form of the infamous poll tax.
"Hang on while I log in to the James Webb telescope to search the known universe for who the fuck asked you." -- James Fell
An obviously failed idea given that the British are fonder of budgerigars than they are of parrots.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
Lord Jim wrote:Baroness Thatcher was a towering figure, unquestionably the second most important British PM of the 20th Century, (After of course Winston Churchill) as well as a great friend of this country. She came to power at a very difficult time for her country and left it, (and the world in general) a better place for her service.
Statement from President Obama on the Passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher
Washington, DC--(ENEWSPF)--April 8, 2013.
With the passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, the world has lost one of the great champions of freedom and liberty, and America has lost a true friend. As a grocer’s daughter who rose to become Britain’s first female prime minister, she stands as an example to our daughters that there is no glass ceiling that can’t be shattered. As prime minister, she helped restore the confidence and pride that has always been the hallmark of Britain at its best. And as an unapologetic supporter of our transatlantic alliance, she knew that with strength and resolve we could win the Cold War and extend freedom’s promise.
Here in America, many of us will never forget her standing shoulder to shoulder with President Reagan, reminding the world that we are not simply carried along by the currents of history—we can shape them with moral conviction, unyielding courage and iron will. Michelle and I send our thoughts to the Thatcher family and all the British people as we carry on the work to which she dedicated her life—free peoples standing together, determined to write our own destiny.
Source: whitehouse.gov
Very well put. I couldn't have said it better myself.
Which must mean that Obama did not write a word of it, or you have been replaced by an alien duplicate.
(Sorry, I just could not pass up THAT hanging curveball.)
Last edited by Jarlaxle on Fri Apr 12, 2013 9:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Does anyone have a list of the privatizations and some scorecard for which are more successful and which less?
Just curious. Some things must have been an improvement, the phone company for example, and I thought I read that some had to be taken back by the state. Railways? It would be interesting to see if there are any trends, generalizations to be made.
