Brown announced a couple of weeks ago that withdrawal of military could start properly in 2009, though makes it clear he is not setting a timetable. No doubt this is more because Labour have made such a fuss about setting a timetable that they can't be seen to say they've now got one. But is this all just based on what his military chief's on the ground say, or is it perhaps lead by a similar announcement at the same time by Obama that 2010 would be the year for withdrawal of US troops if he gets the top job?

I've been added as one of a handful of bloggers helping out at Liberal Conspiracy with their daily "NetCasts", and Thursday (for now at least) is my day in the sun. You can check out my offerings on the last 24 hours best blogs over at Liberal Conspiracy.

However I also wanted to mention a few blogs here that didn't quite make it in to my list of 6 or 7 items, and intend to do so each week here (if the quality of articles is out there!).

Lib Dem Voice - Mark Pack questions the way the Tories are picking their next Henley MP. Read the comments for the wider argument about how the Lib Dems do it too!
Political Betting - In an issue obviously close to Mike's heart, he wonders why it's taken so long to get the transparency needed for a controversial Ken Livingstone poll.
Alisdair's Blog - Get past the garish header and you have a 15 year old that manages to sound sensible on the subject of the new cluster bomb treaty.
Dizzy Thinks - Dizzy takes a look back at the websites of the main political parties as far back as before the 1997 general election. How times have changed...

You can also click below to continue reading and see the full list on this site if you so wish!

Listening to today's PMQ's was much more like those that we have watched through November and October, with Gordon Brown appearing to have very limited skills for getting through the proceedings and both opposition leaders getting the better of him (at least in this posters eyes).

A rather drab PMQ's saw little of national interest, and what little there was of national interest was ducked and avoided by the Labour leader. Issues about Kosovo, the danger for women in Iraq and the inequality of standards applied to police split by the English-Scottish border were all sidestepped largely, and the only question really adequately answered was that of security for those that lost out in their pension schemes.

Now the reason I was drawn to write this post is that Gordon Browns response to a claim from Vince Cable that 40 women have been executed in Basra for "personal immorality", and who exactly have we delivered these powers to, was that there had been a 90% fall in violence recently.