It's interesting.. the similarities between politics and religion..
Both require faith that those we put into power, will have it within their means to deliver on the promises made..
Makes one someone nervous, for it could well be that the reconstruction process' success or failure could follow the ultimate revelation facing a growing number of those who make a practice of doing their homework when it comes to the use of their franchise.
It's these growing numbers of voters David aimed at, with his announcement of tax reductions on equity held by pensioners. A good target..
The Tories have also announced as yet undefined plans to get Britons back to work.. also a good target, taking into account figures just released indicate 20%.. one in five British workers.. are not any more..
It's a bad summer for Gordon, with allegations made concerning the release of Ali al Magrafi.. the man who was convicted of the Lockerby bombing.. an undercurrent suggesting the authorities were under so much pressure to find a culprit that they dove on the first available viable suspect..
What is perhaps even more disturbing is the reaction of some in the pub.. a wry smile accompanied by 'well, the Bill does a good job on the whole, and he might indeed have been guilty..'
Indicates a deterioration, even on a minute scale, of the growing growing sense of 'what the hell can we do until those at the top figure it out for us..'
Fatalism is perhaps the most destructive elements to his a society.. and while not by far unique to Britain.. it is unsettling..

And yes.. Labour held it's Conference in Brighton last week..
There was nothing we hadn't heard before.. certainly nothing to record..
The most memorable moment was perhaps when the Vice Chairman of the Labour Party stood on the podium, and tore a copy of that days Sun newspaper in two..
The headline story front page was, to paraphrase..'Gordon you've blown it..'.
Never underestimate the power of a tabloid, especially as one with the circulation of Rupert Murdoch's British flagship..

Morality.
A word sadly misused these days, along with the phrase '..for the common good..'
We have Barack telling the UN General Assembly that while there were ' many nations who condemned the United States' unilateral action in.. say the Middle East.. did not preclude the obligations of those who would now see the US take on the cost of reconstruction alone..
Must admit there were a few raised eyebrows at that comment around the pub.. The unspoken question being what we, as a country, bear as a 'moral obligation' to putting the pieces back together, if any at all..
Isn't that the very point of having the hostilities taking place someplace other than home..?
At any rate.. Barack's thrust was that the US is going to expect at least the G8 countries to dig deep..

Ahh.. Yet another warning from the CBI that while we're 'creeping' out of the recession.. the public should not expect things to get easier..not yet..
It is baffling how stupid.. lethargic.. uninformed..incapable of extrapolation the average Briton is.
Where are the plans for the repayment of the £280 billion printed to preserve the British Banking system and thus, British manufacturing, and thus, jobs?
When will this injection of cash into the system begin to filter down to the small manufacturers.. the downstream of those larger concerns which are themselves, folding daily?
When will we see our transportation system is in dire straits.. that fuel costs are, while for the moment relatively static.. breaking the back of many trucking companies servicing off the track places, of which there are many, around this country.. That our rail systems are working with equipment verging on the obsolete on track that should, in some cases be restricted to cargo haulage..?
But, the price of steel.. of skilled workers.. the downtime..
When will any of our choices for Prime Minister say "I have a plan, and this is what is required of the government, and here is what will be demanded of the British public. Don't look for a quick fix, because there isn't one. But, I have a plan.."

But, it was morals we started on..
Morals we ended on, too..

It occurred during an impromtu discussion of 'moral responsibility.. the parameters of per moral as opposed to legal responsibility.The question was posed,'when did we become such a pliant and complacent society..'
Many views we expressed, from the virtues of 'Objectivism' to the plausibilty of a fulfilling life under pure Leninism..
We are in deep trouble here, and if this seem to be of late a pessimistc view of our immedtiate..well.. don't let it put you out.. it's mere reflection..
The consensus, by the way, was that no form of government has succeed so far.. Human nature has determined throughout hisory..continues to do so today.. our natural, perhaps genetic need for some to float to power.. others to trades.. and others who fall by the way..
But we are promulgating our basic inability to solve the problems facing us by an odd malaise.. Almost an indifference to 'bloody society on the whole..My plant's shutting in 9 months..'
Now had our various governments not spashed out so much saving the markets, and concentrated more intently on internal issues the likes of the NHS..agriculture.. industry.. we may have been looking at a shorter recovery and indeed, a better prognosis..
Perhaps fewer concerns about dropping final exams before entering highschool is..besides being risible.. and more dedicated, both morally and financially twards the recruitment of new teaching staff..
MG Rover..
Gone.
What comfort can those newly unemployed take when the High Street reported a point seven percent rise in retail sales last month..
One wonders what odds Ladbrokes would give on their be food kitchens on a large scale within.. say..three years..

Interesting.
Allan Greenspan, speaking to the BBC, has said, to paraphrase, that there will be another recession, and that basically we're caught in a consumer crisis ccycle dependant on the man on the street's view, that 'it'll all work out in the end'..
The entire article.. which in itself is worthy of a bookmark if for no other reason than keeping a reference point, can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8244600.stm..
Now.. don't forget to read what Allan doesn't say..

We've been warned.. al Q'aida will likely be considering using commercial aircraft at instruments of terror..
Jaysus wept..

The Summer Hol's appear to at and end..
Tomorrow might be interesting, when Barak's set to address Congress to try and sell his Health care for the nation..
Might be stating the obvious here.. but would seem he's soon going to be bailing the boat with a teaspoon.. Might be round one between Utopia vs the Lobby's and Vested Interest..
Worth a scan if nothing else.. might define this ambiguous 'public option'..

If one was forced to define the general mood on these islands.. surly would perhaps be the winner..
It's been a poor summer as far as the weather is concerned..and that does have an effect on the national mindset..
Unemployment is still growing, and that's led to some familiar faces disappearing from the pub..
The BBC.. our national dispensary for reliable news, is lying to us if not in fact, then by editorial content..
It doesn't help that while we're sure there will be a change in government coming, if we know the damage has already been done, and the face to the right of the Dispatch Box will have no option to tell us we're hip deep in offal, wearing an old pair of wellies..

Ahhh.. what a noise an economic and social collapse does make.. silence as the factories close, and an anguished outcry from those who're told they're redundant.
History tells us 'bread and circus' can only amuse for so long..

It is undoubtedly true that at sometime during the demise of a great civilisation..perhaps 'transition' might be more apt, who has asked 'where did the ideals based on the benefit of the common man go?' At what point did the individual abrogate his status, to become a prole?
Perhaps it began in the sixties with the emergence of Guru's the likes of Leary and his ilk incited the bonfire of the vanities, but were we then too blind to see that while 'turn in, tune on, drop out' was a phenomena, and that the 'light at the end of the tunnel', as Hunter H Thompson ably expressed 'was simply not there..'
It became a lifestyle, spawning a generation with exceedingly few social barriers and precious little social skills, which in turn spawned an even more rebellious generation which has added to that list a lack of academic insomniacs..
More than 160 thousand British university candidates will be unable to find a seat this year. A result of overpopulation perhaps..? Last census has us at more than 61 million on these islands. Perhaps it's the result of 'dumbing down, lowering the learning curve, which has brought us here.
Regardless. There are literally those who have earned Masters Degrees who drive taxi in Glasgow. To what end a Degree these days?
Unemployment remains at record levels, and further redundancies and closures are expected in the very near future. Foreclosures have dipped, but was that not to be expected after the wheat was separated from the chaff. And it is questionable as to how long those smaller grains of wheat will last the waft of continuing diminishment of our manufacturing base..
And, lest it be forgotten, we have yet to feel even a zephyr from the Treasury on future plans to diminish the several hundred billion Pounds printed by the Mint, to bail out our floundered banking and loan system..Is indeed the 'black hole' the government is looking for, the average length of the collective memories of the British public..?
"Ahh look Margaret..tea's gone up 13p a box..Tsk tsk.. I'll put the kettle on..".
Petrol at £1.03 a litre..
Bread at £1.30 a loaf.
Gods alone know what a seasons ticket for ManFC goes for these days...
Now, this gloomy picture, which is undoubtedly equally applicable in any other country has been presented for one purpose, and one alone.
A recent series reports on the BBC, the other television outlets, the press and radio, have jumped on a .7% increase in our projected GNP for last month, and announcing 'there are signs the recession is easing'.
Now they're just blatantly lying to us.
Where have the billions of Pounds been spent by those facing imminent collapse? Why is it not in circulation?
It is a practical given the Labour Party will suffer an overwhelming defeat in the next election, but economic plans must be set in place by the new Conservative Government that tie us in..allow the man on the street..to hear in plain English how long this debt is amortized over.. what it's cost is going to be to the individual.. what exigencies exist for restarting British export manufacturing.. and when, if ever, can they expect to see an expanding job market.
While it is of overwhelming importance to us how fares the United States inder Barak, but it is of immesurably of more importance to we know what we, individually, can expect.
One would expect the gnomes are cackling to themselves, quietly, somewhere.

It is curious, what brings one back to the need to record one's thoughts..
Financial matters are essentially irrelevant these days, with it all based on these astronomical cash injections which, by the way, have yet to filter down to the record numbers of those unemployed or disposessed..
The war.. or wars.. continue ceaselessly, as they always shall..
It's as though we're caught in a limbo of ambivalence these days.. Those suffering minor hardships not really having to tighten more than a notch or two, while those becoming acclimatised to being unemployed, are learning to use the system to maintain a standard of living, while definately lower than that they enjoyed before, still sufficient to pay for a week in the Maldives if the pennies are watched..
Britain is perhaps unique in it's social structure. The defined lines are traditional, and what's more, generally respected.
We're reknown for our expertise at cuing.
But how criminally negligent is it for a government sinking in debt..struggling to maintain essential services.. to even offer an idiotic 'ray of hope', as to announce 'the recession is ever in Britain'.
How stupid do they think we are?
I reference a BBC report : http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8217122.stm
A good laugh is always welcome.. and this is spin worthy of Peter Mandelson.

It is a source of constant surprise, that we have accepted the government as the arbiter of that which we can or cannot take, in the way of intoxicants. How we have been told there is one, and only one substance that we may use to alter our states of conciousness, and that is of course, alcohol
Man made legal highs the likes of GBL and BZP, synthetic cannabinoids in effect, have become the latest target of our Big Brother, and will, according to the authorities, be classed among the 'B' drugs.
One again must question the value of the organised crime lobby on government legislators.
And once again we must examine those who propagate anti-drug legislation and their standards of discernment versus ingrained ignorance.