Sea of Bacteria
January 17, 2012
London is going to be a melting pot in more ways than one this summer as the Olympics swells London by half a million from all over. It will be a grand gathering for viruses and bacteria conducting their own competitions.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16545017
Ron Paul
Ron Paul is not advocating use of drugs, he is advocating pure choice. How does his model of society treat a victim of crime? These are the margins that would be sacrificed, very progressive, very unkind, very fair, a world where money talks, a world where money shouts, when you are down and out.
Foolishly, left as a comment on youtube
Police Intimidation
January 14, 2012
Is it political? It is by its location and jobs of those concerned. Police appear to be taking to random street thuggery? That is hardly what we need to assure us all that we live in a democratic country and not a fascist one. The police must defend why they would pin down people without cause and intimidate and assault innocent civilians (who happen to work for Labour MPs making this political). And if it is not defensible, then something must change if we are to consider the UK a democratic land. Maybe a bit of self reflection on this as social commentary will become too embarrassing to the Government. It needs to change sharply, we do not require this culture of violent control.
Not at a civil level, nor at a parliamentary level either. In fact the conflict between super powers is counter intuitive and regressive.
Iran and the Taleban
December 5, 2011
Iran warns of a crushing response if US drone aircraft were in Iran’s airspace and have shot one down. Recently, NATO made a terrible mistake and attacked Pakistan forces in the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
It seems logical that the US may need to withdraw from its Afghan adventure, and this could leave Afghanistan to the Taleban and for Iran to engage as the local Shi’ite power. The US can probably repair the damage done in Pakistan with reparations of some sort which probably would be protecting Pakistan from its neighbours.
New Zealand Election
November 28, 2011
The makeup of the new New Zealand Government indicates a continued trust of the ring wing values of Prime Minister John Key (National) but a distrust of the extreme right wing ACT party that was subject to a take over by (National ex-PM) Don Brash (he ousted the former leader, Bill English, now Finance Minister and deputy PM (to be confirmed in the potential new cabinet lineup).
The irrationality of re-election of many seats for New Zealand First reflects gentrification of the mid-right-wing protectionists voicing their protest against the more solidly conservative National party. The left wing has fragmented as Labour had a weak but very smart leader and the Green party now has a major voice in parliament most likely in opposition.
New Zealand appears to have chosen asset sales over education, steady as she goes values over progress and their system of Proportional representation MMP has delivered the Government that people voted for – sort of – it really could lead to a failed parliament if John Key does not attract the Maori party into coalition or make fresh overtures to the Greens – which would require some fairly major policy shifts. But it would be the wisest option, a stable government with Green progress as its priority – it is what the electorate has said.
Protests and police brutality
November 20, 2011
The question must be asked how freedom of speech is respected when police pepper spray valid protests against decisions made outside the social framework democracy is supposed to provide?
The riots in London were initially in response to police brutality; Is this really what we want – police killing and assaulting the voices of citizens?
The image is that of a martyr who represents the death of human values in a society driven to the edge by systemic fraud.
UK to join Euro?
Michael Heseltine thinks the UK will have to join the Euro. He says that if the Euro was to fail – or more specifically if too many European banks fail, the UK stands to face collapse of many banks in the UK.
The Euro crisis
November 12, 2011
There are many ways to “solve” the crisis.
You do not win a game of chess by barking at the pieces on the board, but sacrifice can have huge dividends. Part of the crisis is one of leadership.
Our leaders keep talking but not facing the fact that the economic system is riddled with corrupt practices, magical mathematical models that distort value and they appear to be relying on these mechanisms “to induce real growth” while starving the participants in favour of those for whom tax avoidance is a religion and make fortunes by gambling on leveraged valuations for things that do not exist.
Posted as a comment in The Guardian, article.
Sanctuary
October 28, 2011
The capitalism protest in London situated itself outside a cathedral, not just any cathedral but the most famous one that attracts thousands of tourists every day. Many of them pay St Pauls money which was reported as being twenty thousand pounds per day.
Why do they penalise the Church? Because it exemplifies the role of the Church as sanctuary from the law. The police tactics have backfired on the church. That is the political wedge driven by this protest. It goes beyond merely the bankers, it is their sense of faith in mathematical odds that require a powerful sense of belief, sometimes so powerful it becomes right. Sometimes however collective faith, the kind where everyone gets lucky in a market at the same time is revealed to be merely that, and a collapse follows. This recession is due to that sort of event to the power of each level of securitised assets that went horribly wrong amplifying the collapse from impossible risk sub prime mortgages. It was always going to happen.
The police tactics have drawn the response of political strategy.
Economics and Politics
October 11, 2011
So many convoluted answers and the likelihood is that those we elect into power will have none of it.
The real answer is simple enough. The tax payer bailed out the banks, and now there is not enough cash in the system to stimulate demand. When we have demand we buy the stuff that is offered, investments that do not benefit the client as much as the provider because those providers are endlessly trying to dig themselves out of the hole they dug with securitisation assets that require an economy 100 times larger to support. It is not demand that is lacking, it is the ability to demand.
Cameron can achieve his blundering objective, make credit card interest illegal or fix it at 3%. Make all private mortgages fixed at 2% and regulate the hell out of bank ponzi schemes. Get back to a fair economic playground where the citizen is more important than the corporation and the dollar. Get back to a political environment where politicians serve the electorate, not the ruling elites. And do not bail out failing gambling banks. Put the bailout cash in the hands of the citizens to buy what they need and restart the engines. Make business that produce exports our priority. Reduce our reliance on gambling to get by.
We get two things remarkably wrong, both are our own purely human inventions: politics and economics. We just need to wake up one fine day and realise that all our assumptions about both are out of date and work out a way to do things that will work. We have the computers and can do the modelling. We need a financial revolution and to realise that capitalism and socialism, neither one, will solve it.
A comment added to this article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/10/stop-another-great-depression-debt?commentpage=last#end-of-comments
Myths about Afghanistan
September 28, 2011
Guardian Article exposes some of the myths about Afghanistan, some of which have crept into Western media as facts.
9/11
September 11, 2011
Regardless if it was Al Qaeda, or a cover-up conspiracy that seems both rather plausible and extremely unlikely at the same time, the buildings came down and America went to war.
The idea that 9/11 was a self inflicted conspiracy may be attractive as a fiction. But in reality it serves to inflame the wrong side of patriotic feeling. Simply put, 99% or more of Americans felt a sense of great loss as the towers collapsed into the ground. It may have looked like controlled demolitions but that does not necessarily prove that they were controlled demolitions.
Great loss that translated into a terrible anger that been the main news story of the past 10 years. More distracting than the Japanese Tsunami. Not to mention the greatest disaster in history – the 2004 Tsunami and wars in Sudan each involved far greater loss of human life and dignity than either the events of 9/11 or the wars that followed them. And we stopped talking about those events. 9/11 is better “news”.
It is factual that the invasions, especially Iraq, were not what prevented other attacks being planned or being successful. It is also true that they may have made matters more dangerous for a time in terms of both threat and economically.
There is more than one way to conquer a disease. You can kill it with some kind of poison, or you can strengthen the body’s natural defences. The first course of action, typically with antibiotics – seems a valid course until disease evolves that penicillin can no longer touch. Making the immune system more able to cope with disease is a better long term solution.
It is quite true that some attacks were prevented by military intervention, it is true, but when people like Richard Reid (the shoe bomber) were stopped it was mainly due to public awareness as well as less effective planning and execution by Al Qaeda.
A misconception is that the Government protects its citizens, it is probably more true to say that citizens protect their government.
Ron Paul
September 6, 2011
The most conservative politician in America is not a Tea Party irrationally motivated soccer mum.
It is a rationalist who argued against the Iraq war, who predicted the Global credit meltdown. He also opposes welfare and taxation. In other words he may be the only actual conservative candidate. The others invest in foreign adventurism, inflation of the economy and fundamentalist Christian values. Although Ron Paul opposes abortion, he does frame his argument as a personal opinion. There is no hell and damnation diatribe to inflate his argument that he considers life is sacred.
He may be the most conservative, but he also appears to be sane. Judge for yourself. If the Republicans were to select him, America will have a genuine choice between the manufactured consent that has produced governments since the 1960s and a profound shift back to core values that may have extreme consequences, not all of them good, but ultimately medicinal in that what is left of the patient will survive the operation.
I do not want to criticise the Obama administration against the crop of Tea Party candidates. If Rick Perry and Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann get a mandate, it could wreak the genuine side of freedom and liberty that is the spirit of America. If it proceeds along the path that Iran has chosen, a theocracy or fear led fascism – it could be terrifying to the rest of the world.
If America were to chose between Ron Paul vs Obama – then there would be a choice of the best that each side has to offer.
Political Evolution
September 4, 2011
Politics needs evolution too.
The US were way ahead of the game before GW Bush made the biblical error of declaring war on Iraq despite the evidence and spent the American economy into extraordinary debt compounded by fraud and banking fantasy-land mathematics. It was a stampede into insolvency that left the economy etherised on the table hooked up to the life support of QE.
Did we evolve better politics? It seems to be a long-term-only option. After Bush, the Democrats fielded two viable candidates but then the elected House of Representatives failed to pass laws when it could and then handed Congress back to the Republicans.
Political evolution seems to be the underlying problem in Western economies. Why do our democracies become increasingly more corrupt? As the pie gets bigger the shared slices get smaller.
Politics is not evolving, it is collecting a cloud of believers and faith healers.
posted as a comment on a Paul Krugman article in The Guardian
Scale of the intrusion
July 12, 2011
The police have contacted only 170 of nearly 4000 cases of mobile phone hacking, in addition to over 5000 instances of landline interception. Those numbers were in the original files.
It appears that there is a complete lack of cooperation from News International. It appears that there is a case to be examined regarding payments to police.
Australian Government Clean Energy Policy
July 10, 2011
Is this a refreshing change in tactic – is Australia leading the world in creating a future that it is reasonable to invest in, the crumbling economy based on oil will ultimately fall over. Oil will get more and more expensive in political and economic relationships. It will undo China as it has undone many Western economies. It has been a growth industry and will continue to be until it starts to become more expensive to drill it than other methods – and if those other methods are non-polluting, that is a distinct advantage. If they are free of excessive cost, or have no operating costs (an efficient means of collecting solar energy) beyond capital costs (interest) and maintenance, it means that power is a flexible commodity like much open source software that oils the wheels of business and life in a general sense improving life for all.
Video Drone
June 30, 2011
For under £ 300 you can purchase a helicopter drone that can take arial photographs or video footage over wifi to your iphone or ipad.