Fiddling while Rome burns, comes to mind! And if Italy follows the Greek path, that may be prophetic!
Westminster and the media are very exercised (some might say obsessed) about what did or didn't happen about the BSkyB bid and the contacts that occurred between the government and News International.
Yes, this is the same takeover bid from which NI eventually withdrew!
There are rumours that the Government will also bow to 'New' Labour demands and set-up a public inquiry into the causes and lessons to be learned from the South Sea Bubble Company collapse and that Her Majesty's government will shortly apologize to the original Saxons (or maybe it will be to the Celts) for the activities carried out by the Norman ascendancy, since 1066!
In the real world, life goes on.
The UK is back in recession, unemployment in Spain is more than 24% and, among under 25s, is more than 52% the Dutch government has fallen (over austerity cuts required to protect the Euro), France looks increasingly likely to elect a Socialist President, who comes with all the usual 'wealth destroying and grabbing' baggage and British and American troops continue to needlessly die in Afghanistan
In the UK it has been reported that 3,097 local council employees received pay and perks packages in excess of £100,000 last year. Pay and perks includes salary, redundancy and pension payments and top-ups!
Of this number, 880 earned more than the Prime Minister's salary of £142,500. The numbers breakdown as
Think about those numbers when you get your local Council Tax bill, this year.
Think about those numbers when you vote in the local elections, for the incompetent fools that approve such outrageous pay deals.
See my previous blogs about so called 'Green Energy' and the rip-off and madness that wind power represents and consider that during the recent periods of high wind, in the UK, most (likely to be all) of this generating capacity was switched off! That's right, not producing! Seems that it was the 'wrong kind of wind'!
Spain continues to try and implement austerity cuts but the effect of the cuts is reducing the impact as they are in a downward spiral - more cuts = more unemployed = more welfare claimants = more cuts are required!
The one cut that isn't considered is the link between the Spanish economy and the Euro. Absent this link, Spain would be able to default on its debt (yes that would undoubtedly lead to pain and anguish, globally, for poorly led banks) and it would then be able to manage its economy, itself, including by enjoying the benefits of a currency that is not tied to the German economy.
The benefits of the Euro accrue to Germany, as the exchange rate for the Euro is depressed because of the weaker economies but the German economy isn't weak, so its exports surge. Conversely, the weaker economies are punished as borrowing rates diverge and soar.
The EU commission has proposed an increase of 7% in its budget, for next year. This is apparently so that it can meet the obligations that it has entered into, on behalf of the EU citizens who never elected it, in the first place! Put another way, I want to take more money from your pocket to spend on things that I consider important and since you can't do anything about it, I expect you to be quiet.
This is the same EU Commission and bureacracy for which the financial accounts have not been approved for the last 16 or more years. Even for the bank bail-outs our political masters required that they followed some kind of due diligence but, these rules don't apply to our technocratic masters in the EU!
When I said you should be quiet, I mean don't ask your local politicians why you have local cuts in services. Ask them to cut more so that they can send more money to Brussels!
Meantime, in Afghanistan, Service personnel continue to be exposed to danger and some pay the ultimate price to support the policy of the US and UK governments, which was met (Taliban fell, Bin Laden removed) years ago. In the process, supporting a corrupt regime that takes (and privately banks) aid dollars from the West and then continues to pump drugs to the West to get more money.
So where is the Foreign Affairs focus, from the UK and US, at the moment?
We used to say, when something crazy was proposed, that the lunatics have taken over the asylum. I can't think of an appropriate metaphor but it seems to me that we on the outside are the 'lunatics' and those in the asylum are living the dream!
Westminster and the media are very exercised (some might say obsessed) about what did or didn't happen about the BSkyB bid and the contacts that occurred between the government and News International.
Yes, this is the same takeover bid from which NI eventually withdrew!
There are rumours that the Government will also bow to 'New' Labour demands and set-up a public inquiry into the causes and lessons to be learned from the South Sea Bubble Company collapse and that Her Majesty's government will shortly apologize to the original Saxons (or maybe it will be to the Celts) for the activities carried out by the Norman ascendancy, since 1066!
In the real world, life goes on.
The UK is back in recession, unemployment in Spain is more than 24% and, among under 25s, is more than 52% the Dutch government has fallen (over austerity cuts required to protect the Euro), France looks increasingly likely to elect a Socialist President, who comes with all the usual 'wealth destroying and grabbing' baggage and British and American troops continue to needlessly die in Afghanistan
In the UK it has been reported that 3,097 local council employees received pay and perks packages in excess of £100,000 last year. Pay and perks includes salary, redundancy and pension payments and top-ups!
Of this number, 880 earned more than the Prime Minister's salary of £142,500. The numbers breakdown as
- 170 Earning between £142,500 and £150,000
- 658 Earning between £150,000 and £250,000
- 170 Earning more than £250,000
Think about those numbers when you get your local Council Tax bill, this year.
Think about those numbers when you vote in the local elections, for the incompetent fools that approve such outrageous pay deals.
See my previous blogs about so called 'Green Energy' and the rip-off and madness that wind power represents and consider that during the recent periods of high wind, in the UK, most (likely to be all) of this generating capacity was switched off! That's right, not producing! Seems that it was the 'wrong kind of wind'!
Spain continues to try and implement austerity cuts but the effect of the cuts is reducing the impact as they are in a downward spiral - more cuts = more unemployed = more welfare claimants = more cuts are required!
The one cut that isn't considered is the link between the Spanish economy and the Euro. Absent this link, Spain would be able to default on its debt (yes that would undoubtedly lead to pain and anguish, globally, for poorly led banks) and it would then be able to manage its economy, itself, including by enjoying the benefits of a currency that is not tied to the German economy.
The benefits of the Euro accrue to Germany, as the exchange rate for the Euro is depressed because of the weaker economies but the German economy isn't weak, so its exports surge. Conversely, the weaker economies are punished as borrowing rates diverge and soar.
The EU commission has proposed an increase of 7% in its budget, for next year. This is apparently so that it can meet the obligations that it has entered into, on behalf of the EU citizens who never elected it, in the first place! Put another way, I want to take more money from your pocket to spend on things that I consider important and since you can't do anything about it, I expect you to be quiet.
This is the same EU Commission and bureacracy for which the financial accounts have not been approved for the last 16 or more years. Even for the bank bail-outs our political masters required that they followed some kind of due diligence but, these rules don't apply to our technocratic masters in the EU!
When I said you should be quiet, I mean don't ask your local politicians why you have local cuts in services. Ask them to cut more so that they can send more money to Brussels!
Meantime, in Afghanistan, Service personnel continue to be exposed to danger and some pay the ultimate price to support the policy of the US and UK governments, which was met (Taliban fell, Bin Laden removed) years ago. In the process, supporting a corrupt regime that takes (and privately banks) aid dollars from the West and then continues to pump drugs to the West to get more money.
So where is the Foreign Affairs focus, from the UK and US, at the moment?
- Afghanistan, where their military personnel are in harms way? Don't be silly! We have a timetable for withdrawal. Nothing more is required. Negotiations (sorry, I mean discussions) are underway with the Taliban. Of course, since the Taliban know the dates of withdrawal, what do you think is their impetus to reach a negotiated political settlement?
- Iran - which may get nuclear military capability soon - some little focus.
- Syria - masses of attention on a country where the anti-government forces are not naturally pro-Western interests
- Libya and Egypt - next to no focus in countries where, again, anti-Western forces are in the ascendancy.
We used to say, when something crazy was proposed, that the lunatics have taken over the asylum. I can't think of an appropriate metaphor but it seems to me that we on the outside are the 'lunatics' and those in the asylum are living the dream!
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