Monday 21 November 2011

90 Year Old More Thoughtful Than PM

The Duke of Edinburgh has told it like it is to an MD of a wind farm company and in so doing has proved that, at 90, he is more on the ball and scientifically and socially aware than our Prime Minister. Now we know that Clegg is a supporter of wind energy because his wife has been involved in the 'movement', but the PM has no such excuse. Oh yes, except that daddy in law gets about £1000 a day from subsidised wind farm operators.

The Duke said that the turbines are useless, because they don't work all the time and so need stand by power stations to cover for their shortfall. A child would see that this makes them pointless. But the government, as ever supported by vested interests (and I'll leave it to you to decide what kind of 'support' that is) apparently have no such vision. Chris Huhne of course is just an idiot.

You see, like the Lords of old, people who don't rely on an income from elsewhere, a sinecure or two from industry, tend to make unbiased judgements based on reality and common sense. Now both houses are mere sheds of placemen we have no protection whatsoever. Hence the Duke's comment being more important now than ever.

Tax, such as is demanded by the NGO's and activists leading the government by the nose, never drove innovation, but incentives do. That is why there is no real effort by industry to deal with man made pollutants and only the money seeking scammers and their inane stories of global disaster are thriving, on the stupidity of parliaments.

IPCC: Placed Story?

At the weekend there was an article in a broadsheet about the gun at the centre of the police shooting, that preceded the riots in London. It seems that an earlier incident may not have been properly investigated and an opportunity to take that gun out of circulation, potentially missed.

The gun, a Bruni 92 replica that had been converted to fire live ammunition was used in a 'pistol whipping' at a hairdressers and the officers who followed up the incident have been put on 'restricted duties' whilst their actions are investigated. The suggestion was that they could have found the gun and precluded the incident that led to rioting.

The story isn't very substantive and has the smell of being planted. Even if the gun had been seized after the earlier incident, why are we to suppose that Mark Duggan, if he wanted a gun wouldn't have acquired a different one? The story seems designed to distract attention from the actual shooting, immediately after which it was claimed that Duggan had fired first. Not only was this not true, it now appears the gun was in a sock, in a shoe box.

Once again it seems that armed police attending an incident have been extremely ready to open fire, presumably keyed up by the nature of their briefing. The logic appears to be that a criminal with a gun will always use it, whereas we only get that impression when considering armed police. The strategy and tactics applied in armed incidents seems at best to be childish.

If this story was planted and the finger points at the IPCC, it is a disgraceful attempt to obfuscate and distract, in a very serious inquiry. I wish they were more concerned with helping the police correct aberrant behaviour. It is what the public think they are paying for.

Or Is It This?

The Germans continue to be outraged at any suggestion that they intend to build a European empire. It is not in their character apparently, as the First and Second World Wars were just aberrations and we should take no notice of history. So why are the decisions Germany takes, causing governments to tumble across Europe, to be replaced by unelected EU placemen?

The Germans say that whilst the Euro is set to serve their purposes, everyone would be OK if they would just be more like Germany; hard working, thrifty, blond. I might have made that last bit up, but it seemed to fit....

Funny they never mentioned this need when enforcing 'their' Euro on all the others. Still, having prospered from it and it having caused the current mess, surely Germany should pay up to avert the crisis? Er, no. Apparently, it is nothing to do with them. OK, if that is the case then the Germans should allow countries to break away from the Germanic confines of the Euro and float their currencies, to work their own problems through.

Nope, can't do that either. And why not? Because the EU is an empire. See, we get there no matter how you look at it. From a realists point of view, or even trying to square the German logic, it always comes back to the fact that the Germans are in charge and crucially, want to be.


This is as dangerous as it sounds too, as if the financial crisis wasn't bad enough in itself. And of course, France sits on the sidelines waiting to make their move, because, as every French politician knows, they run Europe.



Saturday 19 November 2011

Germany And The Euro

There has been much squealing from Germans and EU supporters about the suggestion that Germany has designs on running Europe. On the one hand we have politicians such as those on Question Time saying that they are fed up with people who cannot forget the War. It was asserted that mentions of the War are now frequent and pathetic, as it bears no reference to today.

Which War would that be? The First or the Second? Would it have been fair, for instance, to have complained about always mentioning the War when warning about Hitler and Germany in the 1930's? Mainly through the Marshall Plan, Germany was generously rebuilt by those they sought to destroy. Today, the Germans have an excellent economy based on their own values and hard work and their domination of the eurozone.

Now the stupid idea of pushing the German economic standard onto Greeks and Italians is falling apart and the Germans are getting outraged. Worse, Cameron jumps out of a Spitfire to lecture them on the problems they are causing and the Germans show their true colours.

Britain will have to join the Euro because the pound will fail, they say. Which is odd, as the Euro is in a bigger mess than the pound and why must we join the Euro anyway, what would that achieve? Nothing, but it does expose the mindset of the conqueror. They are also rabidly salivating over imposing their 'bank tax', specifically designed to undermine the City and destroy further the British economy. It is their version of the Blitz or bombing our Spitfire factories.

The tax also frees up the EU from receiving funds from national governments, who can be fickle and also it  gives them more funds to try to prop up their ridiculous construct. And it is the fact of just how ridiculous the Euro is that shows the truth of German intentions. Why would you set up something like the Euro, which imposes the German economic standards on countries that cannot survive in such a system, unless you intended to destroy them and then take them over?

The Germans are very careful not to give money in bailouts to support their mess, until 'political union' is achieved. So, no peace until you surrender? And the French are keeping their heads down, letting Germany take all the 'empire' flak, while they hope that unification occurs and Germany is exhausted achieving it. Then they will step forward to take over and really ruin Europe.

So yes, it is right to talk of German intentions, though of course it is not the War. This is a deliberate attempt to ridicule and distract. Only stupid people plan to fight the last war, just as only stupid people don't learn from history.

Friday 18 November 2011

Disparate Ideas

Isn't it odd how adherents to Left ideology (so that includes David Cameron) can hold views that are completely unaffected by facts and reality? Take wind farms. They produce very little electricity and even then at unpredictable times, so there always has to be a back up power station running to make up the shortfall. This makes them entirely pointless. However, politicians continue to funnel wheelbarrow loads of our cash to the people who build and operate these behemoths.

That the money goes, yet again, mainly to foreigners only makes things worse. They use exotic and dangerous metals in their generators, mined in Canada, shipped to China where workers are poisoned in the manufacturing process. Then shipped to the UK, to be erected in massive quantities of concrete. Being useless of course, they are not a commercial proposition, but instead rely on forced payment in the form of subsidies and feed in tariffs.

The need for any such energy generation device is of course, to combat Global Warming. Cameron and his co-religionists have come to understand that as man pumps more CO2 into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels, so it acts as a trap for heat and the planet warms. He is happy to destroy our economy in support of his faith, which must also be why he ignores changing circumstances.

There has been no warming since 1998 and yet CO2 in the atmosphere continues to rise. This is perhaps not surprising because CO2 is only a minor 'greenhouse gas' and no one mentions that the overwhelming force in this area is water vapour. Yep, clouds. In fact, shown up as one of his most spectacular lies in his graph of CO2 and warming, Al Gore had things the wrong way round. CO2 content in the atmosphere did go up and so did the temperature, but it was temperature first then CO2 rose about 400 years later.

Something else causes global warming, just as it has before, when we didn't have NGO activists lobbying government with their junk science ideas to destroy the capitalist West. The IPCC is not a group of climate scientists at the top of their game producing peer reviewed scientific reports, it is largely activists and students, with some scientists who obtain their livelihood from the warming scare.

Why do politicians believe 'scientists' who say that an absolute truth has been found and should not be opposed or tested, when these are the basic tenets of science?

Thursday 17 November 2011

Strathclyde Fire And Rescue

Much of the destruction of the fibre and strength of this country has been brought about, quite deliberately by people who have pushed what would be recognised as ideas of the political Left. These people, seeing that Marxism was ignored by many and rejected by most of the populations in the West, decided on another tactic. No longer would their agitation cause the masses, who were desperate for such leadership the Marxists imagined, to rise up, but instead they would join the Establishment.

By becoming teachers they could infect children's minds, always the most vulnerable, with their unaccepted ideas. Then these people would go on to run teacher training institutions to ensure all teaching became of the Left and to run Universities, all the better to catch the idealist but immature students, so willing to become activists. Judges were corrupted and little by little all official thinking, of any stripe accepted many of the basic principles espoused by Marxists.

This is why there is so little difference between politicians today, why the justice system is skewed to favour criminals (it helps to undermine the capitalist system) and so on and so forth. It brought about the virus that is Political Correctness and its pronouncement of the things you 'cannot say', to affect basic thinking and create thought crimes.

Naturally, the corollary of this is the idiotic ideas pursued by our 'authorities' and the lack of courage of our essential services, from police to Army. This has all been apparent and we see many manifestations of its evil affects, but seldom in sharp focus. Today we have news of Strathclyde Fire And Rescue Sevice. Seldom can the people of a region and the Brigades own rank and file have been so poorly served.

We read that a woman fell down a hole and broke her sternum and several ribs, which also caused a punctured lung. Trapped, she was partly immersed in water and cold. It was two hours before her daughter found her and called for help, so the situation was already serious. The Fire Brigade (we shall call them thus, in honour of their noble tradition, rather than recognising their new, trendy titling that is staggeringly inaccurate, in referring to it as a 'service') naturally arrived promptly.

An ordinary fireman was lowered on a rope to see what the situation was below. Enter onto the scene media relations officer Paul Stewart, who arrives just as a paramedic prepares to be lowered down to assist the woman, considering her situation 'time critical'. Stewart becomes aware that he is the most senior officer present and stops all activity, ruling that it is too dangerous according to the 'Fire Services' policies.

Here we have that sharp focus on Left ideology that is often lacking. Stewart has no appreciation of the situation, no care for the suffering, nor in fact the life of the accident victim, he is overwhelmingly concerned with the set of rules that govern his life. There must be no discussion or dissent, there is nothing but the rules to guide us here, he is saying. It is the same mindset that made him 'notice' he was the senior officer.

Not only did another senior officer with the same 'I'm with stupid' badge, back up the initial on the scene idiot, Stewart, but when the woman subsequently died the 'Service' decided it could find no fault with itself and no apology was forthcoming. Indeed, they described the operation as successful as they did actually get the woman out. Dead, but out. She had been there for six hours after the Brigade arrived. A coroner has described her initial injuries as 'survivable'.

Despite his direct responsibility for these life threatening but survivable injuries become life ending, Paul Stewart arrogantly spent his time at the inquest in self-justification, his lack of concern for the victim and her family continuing. His belief was, he assured the court, that there was not a 'time issue' in the rescue. This was something he doubtless 'believed' because he chose to ignore the paramedic as being of no value in the 'rescue'.

The belief of our 'leaders' in Global Warming and the economic destruction they are prepared to enact to 'combat' it, the insults to settled, two parent heterosexual families, the lack of action by senior police officers in the London riots and this event in Strathclyde are all of a piece. Usually the blame is lost in the amorphous mass of actions and reasons bandied about, but here the simple straightforward stupidity of left-liberal ideology is clear. It is designed to undermine our society, to ultimately destroy capitalism, which the people failed to desire despite agitation by Marxist activists, so it must now be forced.

That it kills people is just a part of the revolution, surely you can understand the necessity? Marx preached a lot of tosh about politics whilst requiring others to fund his extravagant lifestyle, so why should his followers not try to gain in the form of senior positions, with large salaries from what they seek to destroy? They are stupid, after all.

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Inflation

We don't talk much about inflation these days, because we don't seem to see an across the board, upward movement in prices. Across the board being the important bit. Clothing prices, technology prices and many other such items don't seem to have gone up much, if at all. House prices obviously have been depressed.

So where is the inflation coming from? Well, food prices have been volatile, for not readily discernible reasons and energy prices in particular have sky rocketed. Then there is increased income tax, NI, VAT and things like petrol duty. But the government is also behind the rise of energy prices to a large degree. Firstly, foreign companies have been allowed to buy our utility companies (something that is often not permitted in their own country) and most of these companies are now foreign owned.

Secondly, the regulation of these companies is extraordinarily lax and they have increased prices for greater profit, massively (again, something their own countries forbid, hence the interest in coming here), which is the governments fault. And lastly they have been slammed with 'green taxes' and enforced 'buy ins' of ridiculously expensive 'renewable' energy, which is added to the bill. Forced, by the government.

So all in all, the main reason your life is so difficult, is a direct consequence of government action or inaction. Your life is being ruined by the very people who are supposed to run things competently on your behalf. Indeed, the cost of government is due to the incompetence of the people buying in equipment for the MoD or the NHS IT system or indeed, any PFI project. Or Global Warming, or any other of the myriad stupid scams that MP's with their special gullibility and their access to our money, fall for.

The Scramble To Be The Most Idiotic

Well, troubled times do surely unleash some strange forces. Today we read that as the Eurozone causes worldwide economic turmoil and democracy is eroded right across Europe, Nick Clegg thinks now is not the time for less EU. It's a bit like finding you have gangrene and being pleased.

Also, a full on, square cornered nutcase in Germany says that Britain should follow the German lead as the rest of Europe are (that is Germany, the country definitely not empire building, OK). This is to support a tax on financial transactions he is backing. One that will hit London, so not an issue as far as he is concerned, harder than anywhere else.

But I have a better idea. Why don't we tax luxury cars. Like Mercedes, BMW's, Audi's, Porsche and Bentley's? That would not only be a tax on the rich but a tax that hits a rich country too, which must be the best thing surely?

Monday 14 November 2011

Panorama - The Riots

Jeremy Vine did the voiceover for a BBC programme about the August riots, focussing on Manchester. Early on the point was made that the trouble there was probably due to the lack of success in London. Had the police there contained the rioting, the theory went, then copy cat attacks elsewhere would not have occurred.

There was no attempt to understand the reason for the rioting really, beyond a few facile comments about conditions of life and wanting some clothes. Certainly, Vine didn't trouble himself to recognise his part in causing the riots. People like him, with their idiotic views of the human condition, based on an ideological stance and what he thinks things should be like, rather than any experience, have shown the weakness on which the feral feed.

The same is true of the theory of copy cat riots. It was the weakness shown in London, as left liberal senior police officers found themselves out of their depth and froze while the city burned, that gave the thought its genesis around the country. Whilst the BBC, who probably cannot understand why so many people who are poor and misunderstood, let down their biggest supporters (the BBC) by rioting, did actually mention the damage and heartbreak caused to ordinary people, they couldn't help reverting to type.

A map of 'deprived' areas was shown and this was then overlaid with the locations of arrested rioters homes. 50% we were told came from these deprived areas. Or, to put it the way the BBC can't, half didn't. The programme didn't really tell us anything, but it was interesting to see a senior officer being so critical of colleagues in London. That he was right doesn't make it any less surprising. We wait to hear what official enquiries make of the police (in)action.

A Perfect Society?

The Greeks have often been in a mess. Their mess, which they had to deal with. It wasn't great, but it was up to them to change it. They could seek help, but then they could accept or reject what was offered. Now they are in the EU, Greece to all intents and purposes doesn't exist any more and they must do what they are told.

The Greek PM dithered and was replaced by a technocratic coalition. The Italians, so long unable to get rid of Silvio have now watched as he is disposed of on the orders of the EU. His replacement wasn't even eligible, but suited the EU elites (having been one).

All of this, as Janet Daley so succinctly put it in her Sunday Telegraph column yesterday, is due to the continuing pursuit of left ideology, of a perfect system of government. Think of the supposed 'order' the French revolution was to bring to the system of government and society. But it just killed people in reality. The EU technocrats believe that they too have devised a perfect system, but people have to do what they are told for it to work.

Not a democratic society then. Rather, one run by benevolent elites and I'm sure Stalin saw himself in the same way. In Britain, Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights are ancient protections that evolved due to the pressures of reality and as sensible reactions to those pressures. They are bottom up, practical solutions, from within society. It is why Britain has, on the whole had a functioning society without revolutions. That it has slipped more recently is entirely due to the rise of the left in the institutions, by which they corrupt society and from our slavish acceptance of rule from the Continent.

These failed systems of government never go away, because they are so beguiling for the elites that promote them. But they are nothing more than Utopian dreams that don't even get past the first muster. As soon as any structure exists, the elites start dipping their hand into the treasury and thinking up ever more rules to support their own comfort.

The placards, so popular at demonstrations these days, 'not in my name', naively believe that they live in a society where anyone is listening to their opinion. I also read at the weekend that it is ridiculous to claim that the Germans are trying to conquer Europe again. Nigel Lawson used the logic that why, if their intention was to takeover Europe, would the Germans destroy themselves with the economic mess that we have now?

Which kind of answers itself. As the Germans did institute the economic structure that is now (and so predictably) falling apart, then yes, the idea is wholly credible. It would be like saying that because Hitler really, really didn't want a war with Britain and really did believe that he could expand Germany, without a world war ensuing, meant that he never had any empire building intentions. We misread his invasion of Poland.

The EU is not just broken, it is not just dragging us all down by its insistence that we maintain the house built on sand, it is actively dangerous. We must see it destroyed. We must act. By so doing we will save the peoples of Europe and then they can be left to determine their own future. We need a European spring, we need to see the resurgence of democracy here.

Friday 11 November 2011

Independent Scotland

Scotland has produced some great thinkers and doers. Engineers and scientists, from a country with a high standard of education. That was then and the truth today is Scotland is a land of poverty. Poor health, poor education and a whining victim status as a national trait. And I say this being half Scottish.

I love Scotland and want its glory to return and its people to be a part of our Union. But we have people like Alex Salmond leading them astray. He wants an independent Scotland by which he means one that breaks away from Union with Britain and joins the European Union. So a country ruled from Brussels, or more accurately, a region ruled from Brussels.

Salmond does give an overriding impression of being an imbecile but he is canny enough to know that if he tries to break from the British teat he needs an alternative, to latch on to. He had hoped the EU would do for his Scotland what it had done (in the past!) for Ireland, but we now have the Eurozone disaster. This makes a contribution from Scotland to the EU more likely and the sum talked about is £8 billion.

For a country that cannot survive without funds from the English parliament they show little gratitude, let alone a firm grasp on reality. Desperate times concentrate the mind and as Scottish people come back to thinking about politics properly, they will turn increasingly against a dreamer such as Alex Salmond.

Tom Watson MP

You don't have to love the Murdoch's or even side with them in any way to find Tom Watson offensive. Indeed if you have a strong sense of morality you would want to seriously question a man like James Murdoch and could not possibly like Tom Watson.

In fact I find it difficult to understand how West Bromwich East finds itself with such an odious person to represent the region? Is he representative of them? Are they all as low as him? A 'toadie' is how the Guardian described him. Hell, even Tony Blair called him 'discourteous'.

Watson is today famous for saying to James Murdoch, during a Parliamentary Committee session, that he was 'the first Mafia boss in history who didn't know he was running a criminal enterprise'. Clearly Watson is disinterested in the substance of the actions of News International, except where he can use it to make personal attacks on the Murdoch's. As I say, James might well be a nasty piece of work, but Tom Watson clearly is.

Whilst you can see Watson as being someone who would appeal to Gordon Brown, I wonder about this outburst. Does parliamentary privilege extend to committees? Because the reason that MPs can say what they like, is that, if denied the facility they would be unable to say things necessary for good government. Does Tom Watson represent good government? Does what he said hold high the standards of our MPs?

By his use of the word 'mafia' Watson betrays his detestation of the Murdoch family, which is irrelevant and beside the point. He then extends the analogy to say that James Murdoch runs a 'criminal enterprise', that is an organisation set up and designed to engage in illegal activity. Clearly this is not the case and this is a straightforward libel.

That some people at News International acted illegally and even if one of those was James Murdoch, that still does not make NI a 'criminal enterprise'. The House of Commons is much more of a criminal enterprise, as Mr. 'well fed' Watson can attest personally, having claimed the maximum allowed for food on his expenses. Obviously, there is no sane nor natural reason why the people of a nation should provide £4,800 in a year for sustenance to a well paid MP, but the rules they gave themselves allow it and by glory Watson will have it.

He did also over claim for some dining chairs and had to return a sum, which seems uncharitable after we have paid so much for his dining. No I don't need someone to be whiter than white to deal with the reprehensible activities of some at News International, but you cannot possibly use someone of such low moral fibre as Watson, to show our disgust by uncovering it. Had it not been the Murdoch's, one suspects that Watson would be seeking employment by an organisation with such tastes and standards.

Thursday 10 November 2011

Heard It Before

After a serious depression, the German government pledged to make the nation stronger, to join with other European nations in a project to culminate in a single European polity. After the Sudetenland slips into the Union,  all eyes turn to Poland to join. And Italy sees the sense of doing as Germany demands.

We have been here before you see. And whilst a sane man would think it ridiculous to start a war with huge loss of life, just to take over other countries, so today we see the destruction of economies to do the same thing. Rerun the scenario with France and Buonaparte (yes, he wasn't even French) if you like. There is a reason why Britain was slow to get involved with the EU project and it relates to why it is always Britain that tries to put things right in Europe, after the latest continental dictator has had his go.

It's probably not connected that France has recently been quietly increasing its military capabilities.

Ever Thought About Tax?

Have you ever considered what it costs to run this country? We want the government to run the Armed Forces, police, fire, health services, to empty the bins and many other tasks of collective importance. Then think how much they take off us, in income tax, NI contributions, tax on your car, petrol, on everything (pretty much) you buy. Add in the taxes companies pay (except those the boss of HMRC personally lets off their dues) and it comes to many hundreds of billions of pounds.

But then, under New Labour we found this wasn't enough and many billions more were and are being borrowed. Some of it is spent properly, some of it wasted, some of it spent on pointless projects and some fraudulently whittled away.

It is plain though, that the government does too much. It takes on costs for stupid socialist ideas that achieve nothing but keep some useless parasites in a salary. There are countless organisations, with countless employees doing nothing useful whatsoever and indeed often being a further drain on the productive part of the economy.

The Lords of Misrule have held positions of power for too long and it is time the childish politics of the last 15 years was put away. Most of the money a government raises is a direct waste, pointless. But we lack leadership that can a) see this or b) thinks there is anything wrong with it. So not only do we not have politicians of a calibre to deal with such important issues, but none who are even thinking along those lines.

Roosting Pigeons At The BBC

Oh dear, how the nonsense of Left politics is coming unstuck.For those who pay attention things such as the left liberal support for homosexuals and homosexual hating Muslims, against Christianity was clear evidence of faulty thinking. Left liberals have a mechanism in their brains for blanking out inconvenient truths.

Now however, the stupidity of the views of the left liberals are in the full glare of publicity, being tested and seen to fail everywhere. The BBC love the EU. It is socialistic, big government oriented and based on high taxation so fits their ideals. They hate all things Christian and once famously had a spat over the wearing of poppies, being a respectful display, but the BBC is an institution that demands, but doesn't give.

Now we have the BBC trying desperately to 'report' the problems with the Euro without ever mentioning that the only way for the countries struggling to survive, is outside the beloved construct. That the whole EU project doesn't work and the worldwide pain the Euro is causing is 'worth it'.

They are also having to appear to support poppies as it is a cause celebre in light of world football wishing to ban the symbol from its tournaments. Yes, sticking your hand in a fire is a bad idea, unless your ideology tells you to do it, in which case it will be fine!

Eurozone, A Designed Disaster

The Euro is the child of two maladjusted cultures. Firstly, France seeking hegemony in Europe as it always has, decided this was the ultimate trick to con sovereign nations. Secondly you have Germany. Economically powerful, it felt it had the right to control Europe and using a currency mechanism made absolute sense. The French of course, were happy for them to pay for the project.

What is kept out of the current news stories, even though this crisis is of monumental importance, is the fact that the whole problem is the Euro itself. Although France and Germany hoped putting a currency in place before political union (which actually means France running a European empire) would cause a crisis, it was supposed to be small scale and as soon as it emerged, the elites would say the only answer was union and that would be it. Job done.

However, on the back of a worldwide downturn, events are running out of control (although there is also the irony that, as the EU is so badly run it allowed these Southern European countries to lie about finances and generally be unreliable on tax collection). All the talk of bailouts and debt cancelling is to save the political EU, nothing else. France and Germany consider that they are able to tell Greece, Italy et al what to do. Introduce austerity measures, cancel democracy, don't hold referendums, all to support their politics.

But what these impoverished countries need to do is to float their currency and work and export their way out of crisis. In the Eurozone, they cannot do this, so the only way to balance the books is to raise taxes (and actually collect them) but don't spend anything on public services, just repay the French and German banks.

Is this the Europe we want, the one David Cameron cleaves to? A single nation, based on a Leninist style of rule by elites, a cadre of unelected technocrats of no discernible ability? The Euro is a much worse disaster than it was designed to be, not least because the desire behind it is one of empire-building greed, of megalomania. Unless France and Germany are faced down by strong politicians the future is bleak but predictable. But the world is dominated by centre-Left idiots like Cameron and Obama, with the scheming Chinese hovering in the background, helping the French to be stupid.

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Border Controls

I have to say that Theresa May would have less problem with Immigration if her government had a strong policy on the subject, otherwise I do have some sympathy. The nit running the Border Agency, seems like the head of the CPS to think his appointment is of a political nature and he should make policy decisions himself. He has said that the problem goes back to 2008, so I wonder if the idiot Cooper, calling for full disclosure of all relevant documentation should really be so keen.

New Labour of course, famously decided that we didn't need border controls and checks on people working here could be performed by recruitment agencies and employers. I hear today as well, that Yvette Cooper has called on May to tell the truth, which kind of implies she has been lying up to now. Hardly polite speech and I would have thought a liar would have been seen as a kindred spirit, very New Labour.

I remember being told years ago that checks on non EU nationals were not being carried out fully, by order, so people could openly lie about qualifications and family resident in the UK, to obtain permission to come to Britain. So it is nothing new and not confined to EU nationals.

Why do politicians make the simple job of maintaining a national definition, so hard?

Bargain Hunt

Comet has been sold for £2, which gives some indication of the mess it is in. The new owners say there is no plan to close stores and the company will carry on trading as is for the next few months. I'm not sure I can see a future for Comet though. The sort of changes needed should have happened long ago and no short term strategy would seem to offer salvation.

I saw only asset strippers as being interested and we shall have to see if that is the way it turns out. As I have said before, the time is right for an established player to take advantage of these weaknesses to secure market share, though with the lead feet they have shown to date, I doubt they will. The sector needs some radical rethinking of the way they do business and the service they can offer. It needs different relationships with suppliers, involved more with product development and a structural change to incentivise staff, localised.

Argos put out job ads for strategic staff who can 'think outside the box' and 'bring new ideas' to the company. They then ask for experience of large retail and a MBA, to maximise the chances of recruiting someone who fits into the current box and doesn't have an iota of initiative. The problems in companies starts with the way they recruit and I don't think anyone realises this yet.

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Let The Farce Be With You

A line of smart, well presented people stand proud in slightly purple shirts. Vapour swirls around brightly lit by a light we cannot see, but cutting through the otherwise dark night. The wet, black ground shines and glistens in the glare.

The camera shot changes to now show a view, from outside; the comforting glow from a shop, PC World/Curry's it says. A voice is heard, 'serve you, I will'. The camera moves slightly from side to side, then down, revealing just in front of the serried ranks of staff, Yoda. 'Oh hi' says the store manager.

'News of the dark forces, there is' says our green friend. 'Yes', replies the manager walking with the Jedi into the store, 'shutting all their stores apparently'.

'Good prices a buyer will not make', continues the small guru, 'but friend he be, that is served well'. Indeed.

Anyway, you get the drift. Yoda had to be a better choice than Darth Vader. Undoubtedly there is something cool about Darth Vader, but for heavens sake, so is there about the Sheriff of Nottingham when Alan Rickman plays him, but it is still wrong.

Best Buy Ever

Best Buy is to close all its UK stores, probably by Christmas. The inevitability of this was writ large soon after they opened. Brash, unexciting and with a style that is tasteless and cheap the company moved into a crowded sector, with no USP.

The bosses are saying, 'it's OK though, we are making lots of money elsewhere', but if I were a shareholder I would be asking the people who issue such smug assertions, 'why?' Why think you can sail into the UK and be successful just because you arrive? What was missing that you provided? The idea was so hopeless they either didn't bother to check with anyone here first, or if they did it must have been someone of the calibre of Tony Blair, who just told them what they wanted to hear.

Mugged over for a lot of pounds sterling Best Buy are retreating with their tail between their legs. Comet are probably breathing a sigh of relief. I wouldn't. Comet is the British version of Best Buy, Shabby, aiming at the wrong sector, no 'stand out' offering and out of date thinking.

Bloody funny to see the PC World/Curry's ads launch majoring on customer service and then alongside a Tesco ad saying they employ specialists in their electrical department. I was nearly on the floor laughing. Tesco; pretending to be anything other than a multiple seller. Had they restyled and separated their electrical's, making it a store within a store, then perhaps the specialist staff bit might have worked.

Why does the assistant smell fishy? Not because he does dodgy deals but because he has just come from the fish counter because electrical's were short of staff. Now, did you want me to fillet that toaster? I see Tesco these days as an aggressive, soulless warehouse leading the way with the new supermarket disease of loads of supervisors running around, ordering staff about and getting in the way of customers (whilst ignoring real issues under their nose). 

So, in an upside down world, PC World don't see themselves as a specialist and Tesco do. Watch out too, for the soon to appear Christmas panic. I predict that a number of struggling retailers will soon go into overdrive trying to attract custom with ever crazier offers. If you have a good offering, stay clam, maintain your resolve and things will be OK. They may not be stupendous, but steely nerves will see you through. It is not so much what you buy and what you sell, as your philosophy. You get it right, because you think right.

Monday 7 November 2011

M5 Crash

The horrific scenes of the pile up on the M5 motorway are truly shocking. Of course we need to understand how the accident happened, but probably more important we need to be clear as to why fires started. Cars generally don't catch fire in accidents, but if petrol is leaking and either a metal on metal spark, or the electrics of a car ignites it, then there is little that can be done. But I think that hydraulic fluids are to blame too often.

I am absolutely sure I read some years ago, that the standard for such fluids was changed and a more flammable fluid was brought into use. The brake master cylinder on many cars of course, is near the exhaust manifold. I cannot find anything to substantiate this though at present.

Currently, the police are concentrating on the theory that a firework display a few hundred yards away from the motorway caused a cloud of smoke so dense that it obscured the view of the drivers and caused the accident. Presumably, the dense cloud was fairly localised as the other carriageway didn't have a similar accident at the same time, 'caused by the smoke'. I have never seen a 'firework display' cause enveloping clouds of smoke even at a big show and in the immediate vicinity, let alone some distance away, over some trees and then down an embankment.

I realise the police tend to be steered by the sensation seeking media, which includes the BBC very much in the advance guard these days, but it might be nice if they phrased it that they were considering and investigating the possibility, rather than help the press ramp up half-witted ideas.

Talking of half-wits, it is truly disgusting to see the usual crowd pop up and try to get accidents such as this to support their political ideas. This crash we are assured,. would have been worse had the 80 mph limit been in force. Naturally, there is no explanation as to why this would be the case. It is like the complete non story a few weeks ago showing a Ford Focus crashing into a wall at 120mph. The car was absolutely demolished and the point made that many ordinary cars of capable of close to such speeds these days.

Thing is, very few people drive cars of any description at such speeds except the odd lunatic and criminals trying to avoid taking responsibility for their crimes. And I don't think any of these also drive into very solid objects at 120mph. Even they are tempted to reduce their speed by braking, even if they do ultimately crash.

This is the same type of cant that underwrites the 'speed kills' twaddle. We are shown pictures of kids mown down by drivers doing 40 where the 'limit' is 30. At 40 mph we are told the child will die, at 30 she could have lived. Back in the real world drivers brake, so the speed isn't 40 at impact and no reference is made to why the child is in the road. Children do unexpected things, so we should be ready for the unexpected, they say.

Whilst true, you do need to base that on something. If you are near a school, only a moron doesn't watch out for kids (though still a moron, some of course will be watching their speedometer rather than the road, so as not to break mandatory speed limits). Personally, I try to drive to the prevailing conditions rather than slavishly match the constant exhortations on sign posts, this however involves thinking for yourself, which I believe may have been outlawed recently.

Speed doesn't kill, disparity of speed does. Quite often accidents are caused by drivers panic braking when they enter a patch of fog, for instance. The car behind is not so challenged by the appearance of fog and may slow down but not drastically. This is where he meets the much slower, panicked driver. If these two don't crash, the wave of progressive braking behind them probably will result in a crash. But as we don't appear to teach people to drive any more, just obey rules, this sort of thing is more likely to occur.

The loss of life on the M5 is what is important. To try to minimise the likelihood of it happening again should be our goal. But with the prospect of cameras attracting some ambitious policeman's attention and a need for  drama heightened, we are more likely to get guesswork and supposition. Any dedicated professional trying to properly understand what happened is likely to be told he is taking too long and costing too much money. A result is needed while Sky News are still focussed on the story.

Friday 4 November 2011

People Are Amazing

Question Time last night was more interesting than usual (or maybe me having a bad cold made it seem interesting). Ed Balls was, as you would expect, talking arrant nonsense 99% of the time, Theresa May was toeing the party line, we had a poet who was very 'of the people', but like a broken clock right sometimes.

Dimbleby drummed his fingers waiting for Peter Hitchens to finish speaking as he plainly wasn't interested in what he had to say and even seemed to laugh at his suggestion that he achieved happiness through his belief in God. Hitchens did have what seemed like a childish outburst at Balls though, saying 'he could do his job better, any day of the week'. But then when you think about the level of incompetence of Ed Balls you realise Hitchens was just being accurate.

Someone in the audience said that she thought public sector workers were special people, low paid and deserved more than private sector workers. Dim carefully avoided asking her if she worked in the public sector, just as he cut off the erudite girl who was making a point he wasn't interested in. A teacher made the point that the government were reneging on a deal he entered when he became a teacher. True, but a) that is the main role of government these days it seems, to start things on bold promises and pull the rug later, when reality bites them, and b) it still isn't funded.

The public sector don't seem to be able to grasp that what they have been promised as pensions they haven't paid enough to cover. They might pay a lot (a policeman said 11%) but it still doesn't pay for what they get. For that, they take money off other people, who will almost definitely be on a worse deal than them (and probably paid less too. They kept mentioning teachers as low paid, and then an example was given of a teacher on £38K at retirement (very low paid, you'll agree) will get a £25K pension. Sweet.

The EU was the best bit though and Dim didn't have to direct things away from dangerous statements either, everyone was dim enough on their own. No one grasped that what is going on at the EU is, at best disingenuous. Greece isn't being bailed out, for two reasons. One, the money is for French, German and American banks and two, once the austerity measures are imposed as the cost of getting the money(!), the Greeks will still be caught in the Euro, with no ability whatsoever to get out of this crisis.

We keep hearing that if the Euro collapses it will be disastrous for the world, but without any explanation as to why. Because it would be no more a disaster than when they all joined up (that was just the seed of a disaster). What has been shown in the clear though, is the lengths to which the EU elites will go to destroy opposition and the absolute lack of democracy in the institution.


These Are Not The PC's You Are Looking For

Yep, PC World is to run another Star Wars themed advert this year. You have to say they were spectacular last year and maybe we should be looking forward to the visual feast. The message is that PC World have great customer service, though based on what they don't say.

However, the character of choice this year is..... Darth Vader. Please correct me if I am wrong here, but isn't he just the tiniest bit evil in the films? Not lovable or cute, but dark and forbidding. Anyway it is he who inspects the customer service on offer by PC World, just as if he were inspecting the Death Star. I presume the stores have been checked for vulnerable air conditioning ducting that might let an X wing Fighter in.

So all in all it would appear that PC World are really saying, 'Come over to the dark side, we have cookies'. Brilliant ad no doubt, but failed message. I think someone is too tied up in getting the Star Wars ad without thinking through why.

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Always The French

It is perhaps now quite well known that the Common Market/EEC/EU is a French attempt at creating a French empire (once again), but perhaps it is not so widely recognised how the scheming and machinations of French politicians has caused many major problems.

French attempts to dominate Scotland in the 1600's (indeed to talk it into becoming a French colony) lie behind much of the animosity of the Scots towards England. Similarly, French involvement in Ireland was responsible for the troubles there. That is not to say the English didn't cause plenty of problems too, just that resolution wasn't on the cards as the French were continually whispering in ears.

The American War of Independence was largely backed by the French and subsequent attempts to turn the US against Britain were common. In Europe of course, Napoleon made his desires clear and France started the 1870 Franco-Prussian War. France was very big on threatening Germany before the First World War, but made a spectacular mess, again, of defending itself and required others to rescue them.

Having rolled over in the early stages of the Second World War, with de Gaulle hiding in Britain, it was suggested that the two countries should be united. Which two countries would that be then Mr. de Gaulle? Britain and...... oh yes, you personally. Not a good bargain, non? The French also have a great propensity for calling themselves an Empire. They love the grand sounding word. Britain had an empire in reality, but didn't actually call the state itself, the British Empire.

The French decided they wanted nothing to do with NATO as it was mainly an Anglo-Saxon concern, but when it all kicked off in Serbia they demanded to be involved and demanded to be told of NATO plans. Once informed, they passed on the information to their Serbian friends.

Now we have the latest failure of French politicking, the disaster of the Euro and the destruction of the Greek, Italian, Irish, Portuguese and Spanish economies. With France and Germany threatened by their own hubris.

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Bale Out!

So the EU, having offered enormous sums of money they don't have or know where they can get it from, to rescue the banks who loaned money to Greece, now see the Greeks asking their people what they think. It is a bit like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas but maybe it is the right thing to do. Naturally, it has thrown the EU elites into raptures of panic and upset the markets too.

The Greeks have lied about their economic position previously, to join the EU and the Euro. They have been somewhat remiss in collecting taxes and generally making the country work. People retire early on big pensions. Only an institution as fundamentally corrupt and stupid as the EU could have allowed it to go on for so long. The others in a mess, always believed the EU was looking after their finances; if they needed extra funds they would come from 'papa EU'.

But how very dare the Greeks ask their people to give their view? Have the elites not made it clear repeatedly, that democracy has no place in the modern EU? David Cameron manages to toe the line, so how very embarrassing that some backward, broken down, bankrupt country be so ungrateful as to hold a referendum.

And we are told by vested interests that the EU is essential to our economic survival, yet it is the very organisation that, by continuing to support the Euro beyond all bounds of reason merely because it underpins their political objectives, is dragging down not just the British economy but that of the whole world. France and its partner in crime, Germany have, as usual, a lot to answer for.

BBC 'News'

Wow, the BBC seem to be ramping up the bias on their news, unless it is just someone controlling breakfast news today. After a report about how manufacturing seems to be picking up, the 'advert' for its next slot asked how companies would cope with consumer spending down and growth down. The report about the anti-capitalism tents (I don't know if there are any people involved) at St Paul's had close ups, repeatedly, of a banner saying 'What would Jesus do?'. This of course appeals to the Left liberal type, lacking a religious motivation as well as basing their ideology on spite as they do. The banner is clearly designed to appeal to the conscience of the religious, which is a cruel trick by people who clearly don't have a conscience at all.

A piece about the government's attack on gang culture involved interviewing a Professor who provided some nice attacks on the suggestions, but little helpful advice and a woman who had grown up in a respectable family, yet still joined a gang. Her comments were listened to or ignored depending on which bits fitted left liberal ideology. When she said she doubted the government initiatives would work, there was great interest. When she said that she made the choices that caused her to join a gang (and ultimately leave) she was ignored.

Making choices suggests empowerment as opposed to victim status and as every fool knows people only join gangs because they are in some way victims. I'm not forced to pay for the Guardian (well, apart from it surviving on state funded advertising!) so why am I forced to pay for an ideologically corrupt institution like the BBC?