Margaret Thatcher passed away. (http://abcnews.go.com/International/margaret-thatcher-britains-iron-lady-dead-87/story?id=13644011#.UWLJqzcn6jh)


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, her former adviser, 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 December 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.

Many considered her Britain's Ronald Reagan. Indeed, Reagan and Thatcher were political soul mates. Reagan called her the "best man in England" and she called him "the second most important man in my life."

The two shared a hatred of communism and a passion for small government. What America knew as "Reaganomics" is still called "Thatcherism" in Britain.

Like Reagan, Thatcher was an outsider in the old boys' club. Just as it was unlikely for an actor to lead the Republicans, the party of Lincoln, it was unthinkable that a grocer's daughter could lead the Conservatives, the party of Churchill and William Pitt -- that is, until Thatcher. She led the Conservatives from 1975 to 1990, the only woman ever to do so.

We need more Margaret Thatchers in this world.

And already it starts...

Margaret Thatcher on Socialism - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okHGCz6xxiw)

RIP to her and another that was taken with her. Annette Funicello.

Annette Funicello Dies at 70 - The Hollywood Reporter (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/annette-funicello-dies-mouseketeer-434733)

Thatcher was responsible for introducing much of the very bad thinking we have in government, particularly the emphasis on user pays for government services, we still have a legacy from her times in the unresolved confrontation with Argentina

Yeah she should've surrendered the Falklands to Argentina... right ? Even though everyone on the Island wants to remain a Brit.
She also made the decisive argument to GHW Bush after Iraq invaded Kuwait.. Bush was undecided about intervention until Thatcher told him "Look, George, this is no time to go wobbly!"

yeah she should've surrendered the Falklands to Argentina ...right ? Even though everyone on the Island wants to remain a Brit.
She also made the decisive argument to GHW Bush after Iraq invaded Kuwait .. Bush was undecided about intervention until Thatcher told him "Look, George, this is no time to go wobbly!"

Are you a ding bat or what? No she should have pursued a much more aggressive campaign against Argentina, put those upstarts in their place and forced a treaty that settled the issue once and for all. As to GHWB being wobbly, Thatcher couldn't prevent that and he never pursued the campaign to its logical conclusion leaving another unresolved issue to be dealt with later. There are a lot of wimps and whusses in the world and the legacies of that era we are still dealing with in many ways. Thatcherism is very bad thinking and even your Republican party still hasn't seen it and clings to these outmoded ideas

The way she settled it left the issue settled for 30 years. The Versailles treaty by contrast lasted 16 years . Cristina Kirchner is using this settled issue as a smoke screen to cover for one of the worse economies in the region. Her war like rhetoric is less convincing than the un-Kim 's

The way she settled it left the issue settled for 30 years. The Versailles treaty by contrast lasted 16 years . Cristina Kirchner is using this settled issue as a smoke screen to cover for one of the worse economies in the region. Her war like rhetoric is less convincing than the un-Kim 's

Well perhaps it is less convincing because she has nothing but a few blowhard fellow travellers to back it up. Britain may not be what it was but it represents far superior military capability and experience than the Argentinians, but it wasn't settled any more than the Korean issue was settled. They stopped shotting at each other, that's all. Argentina has been a basket case economy for a long time, and no reason why it shouldn't have been the show case economy of South America. Too many right wing ideas gone beserk. Proximity doesn't confer rights and lets hope the US is on the right side of the argument from the start this time

The Falkland War in effect took down a military junta in Argentina . The protests after their defeat hastened their downfall. They returned to democratic rule after a decade of rule by the dictatorship . Even today the loony Kirchner is there because of democratic elections .
During their decade reign of terror ,the junta made up to 30,000 people disappear.

The Brits will never "force"Argentina to believe the Falkland Islands aren't their territory any more than the Chinese will believe Taiwan isn't their territory.


and lets hope the US is on the right side of the argument from the start this time
Not with Emperor 0 in charge . He refers to the islands by their Argentine name 'Malvinas' ;so you know where his sympathies are.

Big difference Tom the Falklands were in Argentine hands for a relatively short time and actually in spanish not Argentine hands so their claim is false, whereas Taiwan was part of China for centuries and became the home of a defeated nationalist government which once ruled China. As I said proximity, 400 miles? doesn't confer soveriegnty it isn't like they are offshore. Precident, Madagascar is a soveriegn nation. It's like saying Greenland belongs to Canada

As a Brit I can honestly say Maggie did a lot of GOOD for the country as a whole.
If she didn't have the courage to carry through with her policies we would now be run by the unions, with all that entails..

There has not been a more influential, post war leader, anywhere !

Pssst guys: The Falklands Issue (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/other-member-discussions/falkland-issue-743382.html)

A good piece here: BBC News - Viewpoint: What if Margaret Thatcher had never been? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22076886)

Another good piece.

Thatcher, Liberator « The Dish (http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/04/08/thatcher-liberator/)

Here is a lecture she gave at Hillsdale College circa 1995 . She was a giant who came on the scene at the right time in history . (Lengthy ,but worthwhile read )
Hillsdale College - Imprimis Issue (http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=1995&month=03)

So, did anyone attend a street party celebrating Thatcher's death (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2305760/Margaret-Thatcher-death-party-The-Lefts-chorus-hatred-Champagne-streets.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490)? Drink some champagne, smash a few windows, sing "Ding Dong the Witch is dead?"

I'm betting they'll go right back to being champions of tolerance soon now.

Why would we do that speech? I can understand some in Britain doing it but elsewhere, nah

They are saying this woman was great but we shouldn't consider racists great, forthright maybe, but not great.
Bob Carr Recalls Racist Margaret Thatcher Comment (http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/i-couldnt-believe-it-bob-carr-recalls-margaret-thatchers-unabashedly-racist-comment-about-australia-20130410-2hksz.html)

Xenophopia is a real problem and no doubt Britain got more than it bargained for when it opened its doors, but projecting your racist views on someoneelse is very poor. Indians are, in general, hard working and industrious somewhat unlike some of the natives who have been protected from the realities. I certainly would prefer them to the Muslims from the middle east who seem to be trouble makers

You are really searching hard for something negative to pin on her.

Didn't have to search, it was in all the papers here, you see her ideas weren't loved here

Of course not . She reversed the tide of a declining basket case nation .Before she showed up nearly everyone in the country who had a job had a government job. The work consisted of 4 people with shovels watching a 5th worker fill in a pot hole. That was of course when they weren't taking tea break.

So pommy shop stewards are still a figure of fun here

The hooligans are out in force celebrating her death
Margaret Thatcher death parties: The Left's sick 'celebration' on Brixton's streets | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2306165/Margaret-Thatcher-death-parties-The-Lefts-sick-celebration-Brixtons-streets.html)

Some people have long memories

Those punks weren't alive... they just look for an excuse to get drunk and brawl .

You might not understand class warfare, it's a generational thing

She was the best PM the country had since Churchill .Maybe even better ;she wasn't defeated by socialists.

Best is a relative point of view, you didn't mind a socialist ally when you invaded Iraq

Tony Blair pretty much kept Thather's policies in place. No ,Blair couldn't shine her shoes .
She was a giant in a land of munchkins . Ding dong that !

Meanwhile our shameless Dems are also dancing on her grave.
Democrats are Blocking Resolution to Honor Lady Thatcher (http://heritageaction.com/2013/04/democrats-are-blocking-resolution-to-honor-lady-thatcher/)

Now I think that is sensible. Thatcher was a politician in another nation and austerity begins at home

I think a new Mount Rushmore should be carved with the faces of Pope John Paul II ,Lech Waelsa ,Ronald Reagan and Maggie Thatcher.

I think a new Mount Rushmore should be carved with the faces of Pope John Paul II ,Lech Waelsa ,Ronald Reagan and Maggie Thatcher.

And where would you carve that? You can't even finish the indian momument to what's his name, was it Sitting Bull? That would be appropriate no I think the song got it right and so do many pommies

Ding Dong climbs charts after Thatcher's death - Margaret Thatcher - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-13/witch-song-climbs-british-charts/4627024)

You right wing people have a romantic idea of what is right only one person in your list deserves real recognition because he stood on the front line

The idiots singing that are the children of the nuclear freeze movement people . Had their parents had their way ,there would still be a Soviet Union and a Berlin Wall.

No Tom the Soviet Union fell over for different reasons, it didn't have the economic strength to keep the cold war going and The Berlin Wall would have eventually fallen. Thatcher and Reagan read the politics and the trends correctly and capitalised on it.

it didn't have the economic strength to keep the cold war going
Yeah because Reagan and Thatcher countered the SS20 with the Pershing Missiles despite the protests of the Euro-moon bats. They did not have the economic strength to counter Reagan's SDI . They did not have the economic strength to deal with the fact that their 3rd world adventurism was being challenged wherever it manifest itself ;be in Angola; Nicaragua, Granada , or Afghanistan . They did not have the economic strength to deal with people who would not settle for containment . They could not deal with people who called an evil empire THE Evil Empire.

Yes, as I said, they didn't have the economic strength to keep it going, do you see any parallels in your own nation? And whatever happened to Star Wars? We still have legacies of that era and do you have the economic strength to do more than containment? Some of those who would not settle for containment might be breaking out

Well Obama is deploying it in Guam ;and the Israeli's routinely defend themselves with Iron Dome;and I mentioned the electronic rail gun on another op. Those are the early legacy of SDI . Oh yeah ;and the Soviet Union collapsed trying to keep up.

Yes that's what happens in a cold war, someone goes the way of the dinosaurs, If I remember Star Wars correctly there were going to be satellites shooting laser cannons, we haven't quite got there yet ,and iron dome; well it isn't more than 50% successful against short range rockets, can't imagine its capable against a long range missile. Reagan had an idea and the rhetoric worked well, but the reality? His successors didn't have the same vision

By the war the rail gun works on magentic, not electronic

Yes that's what happens in a cold war, someone goes the way of the dinosaurs, If I remember Star Wars correctly there were going to be satellites shooting laser cannons, we haven't quite got there yet ,and iron dome; well it isn't more than 50% successful against short range rockets, can't imagine its capable against a long range missile. Reagan had an idea and the rhetoric worked well, but the reality? his successors didn't have the same vision

By the war the rail gun works on magentic, not electronic

As far as laser statellites that idea was shelved because it was too expensive and you couldn't aim them as fast as other platforms. They took them and mounted them on planes and warships A lot of what we were doing during the end times of the cold war was purely disinformation. But because of commitments it had to be acted upon by the Soviets. The ral gun / cannon didn't come from the star wars era. Its actually an idea that was around in WW2. Its just that technology has caught up with it and can be put to use.

By the war the rail gun works on magentic, not electronic

HowStuffWorks "How Rail Guns Work" (http://www.howstuffworks.com/rail-gun1.htm)

Electromagnetic does not mean electronic

The power supply is simply a source of electric current. Typically, the current used in medium- to large-caliber rail guns is in the millions of amps...


An electric current runs from the positive terminal of the power supply, up the positive rail, across the armature, and down the negative rail back to the power supply[/B].

Popular Mechanics describes it as an Electric Cannon...


In this test at a range in Dahlgren, Va. the Navy fired a 32-megajoule half-power prototype of the electromagnetic railgun, developed by BAE Systems. (The Navy compares one megajoule of energy to a 1-ton vehicle moving at about 100 miles per hour.) The full-scale system is expected to be 64 megajoules. General Atomics is scheduled to deliver its own 32-megajoule prototype to the Navy in April to compete with the BAE design.


The BAE Systems prototype has yet to fire at full power. Tom Boucher, the Navy's test director for the railgun, says that after the Navy commissioned it last week, it fired the gun six times at 20 megajoules. "As we evaluate the data, we'll take it up to 32 megajoules," Boucher says.
The Navy's Electric Cannon Fires Its First Shots - Popular Mechanics (http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/weapons/the-navys-electric-cannon-fires-its-first-shots-6969929)

But this is a quibbling argument... Electricity is a power source that creates a magnetic field . There... we are both right .

You do get excited about the least little thing

Obama's snub to Thatcher: President won't send envoy to funeral - and leaves it to her old allies from the Reagan era (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2309678/Margaret-Thatcher-funeral-President-Obama-wont-send-envoy--leaves-old-allies-Reagan-era.html)

Apparently he was to be too busy pushing gun control.


This is a hugely significant week in terms of US domestic politics,' a spokesman added.

He said that both the First Lady and the Vice President were 'the President's point people on gun control', adding: 'This is a week when there is a lot of movement on Capitol Hill on gun control issues.'

Perhaps he can send some DVDs in condolence.

He wishes he had a bust of her to return .

He wishes he had a bust of her to return .

Good one.

The best solution to this is to bury her and her policies with her

the best solution to this is to bury her and her policies with her

Smh.

Clete ,don't be a hater... I'm sure we can find an appropriate place of honor for her resting place here . Maybe at the Reagan Library .

Clete ,don't be a hater ... I'm sure we can find an appropriate place of honor for her resting place here . Maybe at the Reagan Library .

Yes great idea remove her fro Britain and place here somewhere in cinc with her ideas