An interesting statement from Tony today. He has linked his poitical future to that of his Deputy Prime Minister and gremial friend John Prescott..
There has been increasing pressure, for the most part from the Chacellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, for a date for tony's abdication. This may well be in the near future, if Tony's sincere in standing and falling with Prescott. There is a consensus among the media that Labour could be facing one of it's worst challenges early in the new year, as the party cight be facing the replacement for both the Prime and Deputy Prime Ministers, at the same time.
Now Gordon Brown feels he's a shoe-in for the top post, at least until the next general election, and this may well be so. But whether Brown can carry the next vote, is moot.
His policies are not universally approved, even among his own backbenchers.
And with George having only the support of 33% of the American electorate, we could be looking at a future in which both Britain, and the United States, develop a sense of isolationism..
Foreign wars are becoming tedious to the man on the street. The geo-politics has been discussed and debated ad nausiam, and we as a society are tiring of this Sword of Damoclese George and Tony have hung over our collective heads with constant warnings and preparations against terrorist attacks.
It will be exceedingly interesting to see how the scales tip when these next elections come around..
They may be a couple of years in the offing, but what a difference a day makes, in politics..

One has to wonder how a Pope could question the intentions of his God.
Referring of course, to the remarks of Benedict XIV as he visited Aushwitz, and deplored the actions of his country against a particular group.
One has to wonder how long the Germans must apologise for the actions of a few megalomaniacs, and a people who would have followed Beelzebub himself to escape from the Depression and the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty.
Now don't go thinking the Holocaust didn't happen, nor that it should be forgotten, but one in good concience can only hold a sword over a defeated peoples for so long, before it becomes more of a weight to the holder than a danger to the target.
And for a Pope to wonder aloud how God could have allowed such an arocity, is to question the Deity itself.
Even the Jewish folks have come to the point, that if God wanted to kill millions of them in a hideous manner, there must have been a reason. Divinically speaking, of course.
One might even go so far as to say the Nazi's were Gods instruments, but that would border on justifying insanity, and that would not do. Divine or not, genocide is abhorrent.

There is relief in Washington tonight, with the landslide victory of President Alvaro Uribe in Columbia. Uribe has been an ally, as much as his economy will allow, with the US on the war on drugs, and it's always nice to know the Devil you work with , rather than one you're not too sure of.

Iraq's president has called on its new government to send a team of high-level officials to Basra to deal with a deteriorating security situation there. Jalal Talabani is reacting to increasing violent incidents in that area, one hithertofore relatively quiet. It's where our British troops are deployed.
The small Sunni minority in this overwhelmingly-Shia region has come under increasing pressure too.
In the past few weeks two Sunni clerics have been shot dead.. Much of the instability in Basra has been blamed on Shia militia groups and on rivalry between different Shia factions.
One of these factions, the Fadhila Party, controls the governor's office.
There are fears its leaders could order their supporters in the oil industry to stop working normally so as to hold up exports - exports that provide most of Iraq's current revenues.
That is why President Talabani has called for Iraq's new prime minister, Nuri al-Malaki, to send a delegation to Basra with powers to dismiss and appoint new officials.
To some extent this is a power struggle between the capital and the regions - a healthy sign of political development you could argue - but this is a region that the new government in Baghdad cannot afford to lose control of because of its crucial role in Iraq's economy.
One can only wish them the best of luck.. cooperation among the myriad of interests in that region has historically been impossible.
Odds are, it still is.

Quite the President those Iranians have..
Mahmoud Ahmadenjad has told Der Speigel, that German's should stop feeling any guilt for the Holocaust, and in fact he doubts it ever happened at all. In the same interview, he is quoted as saying 'the Germans were undoubtedly restrained by Allied Forces from writing 'the truth' about the Final Solution, and that he would happily go to Germany for the World Cup tournament. Iran's first World Cup match is against Mexico in Nuremberg on June 11 two days after the tournament starts and German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble says he would be welcome to come because Germany wants to be a good host.
The invitation sparked protests from other political leaders and groups who said his anti-Israeli comments were unacceptable.
"My decision (on whether to go) depends on a lot of different things," said Ahmadinejad, a soccer fan. "Whether I have time, whether I want to and some other things."
He said he could not understand why his possible visit had caused such debate but was not surprised by the row.
"I was not at all surprised because there is a very active worldwide network of Zionists, also in Europe," he said in the rare interview with Western media that was published today. This is the man who has vowed to 'wipe Israel off the map'..German Chancellor Agnela Merkle along with other leaders have said Mahmous was just going a bit far..
Ahmadinejad's latest comments were condemned by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. Rabbi Marvin Hier, a founder and dean, called on Merkel to keep him out of Germany.
"On a day when the Pope is in Auschwitz to remind the world of the horrors of the Holocaust, Ahmadinejad questions it again," Hier said. "For him to be at the World Cup and sit in a VIP seat would be a desecration of the memory of the Holocaust."
Asked by Der Spiegel, in its cover story entitled "The man the world is afraid of," whether he stood by his earlier view the Holocaust was a myth, Ahmadinejad said: "I only accept something as the truth if I am truly convinced of it... In Europe there are two opinions on it. One group of researchers who are by and large politically motivated say the Holocaust happened. There is another group of researchers who have the opposite view and are, by and large, in prison for that."
Denying the Holocaust is a crime in Germany, punishable by up to five years in jail.
Pity, that thing about Diplomatic Immunity..
Ahh.. and Mahmoud continued by saying that if the Holocaust did indeed happen, then Europe should shoulder the responsibility, and bring all the Jews back from Israel to their country of origin, leaving Palistinians to recalim their land.
On occasion, one has to feel content with George and Tony. et al..
In comparison, they're choirboys.

It's one of those thought trains which keep one up at night..
There is something inherently abominable in a system which promotes mediocrity, which deliberately extolls the virtues of self-absorbtion and offers legislative paths to maintain the attitude that we don't know what's really good for us, but the government does.
Now, there must be agitators to start vapid movements which allow us to think we're in control, with the 'facts' in hand. But what is happening is we're being led by the hand by a select group, who foment public outrage towards picayune issues which we, as a whole society, can feel morally content as having 'done the right thing'.
Smoking is one such chimera. Led by California, the United States, and these United Kingdoms,those who successfully campaigned against smoking can sit back, self-satisfied in the belief we've done a good thing by stopping cigarette and cigar smoking in public. This, while we happily walk our streets inhaling the fumes from fossil-fueled conveyances which pump literally a million times the carcinogens a mere fag does into our systems.
It's been said the Germans are an easily-led race. That they'll follow any cause to maintain a status quo, or to edge a little further towards a better standard of living. Now this is grossly unfair to the German people as a whole, but does apply to all those who come from European stock.
Take the British educational system, once thought to be a benchmark for the rest of the world. At one point, one could walk through the streets of Calcutta or Mumbai, as Bombay is now called, and see plaques outside Doctor's offices reading 'Dr.So-and-so. Graduate of the Bombay School of Medicine, Oxford School of Medicine (Failed)'. This once hallmark standard of Britain, is now as bad as any on earth, or at least in the Western world.
Any system who's government can legislate personal habits, other than those which are dangerous to others, such as serial murderers or others with obvious psychological problems, is a system that will breed elitism, cronyism, and the maintenance of an uneducated workforce.
It is advantageous to only a few, to have 'the great unwashed' kept in their place. Yet we see on a daily basis, those who would break the mold revilled, discredited, and ostracised. It is to the advantage of only a few, to be led on the basis that 'it's what we've been told'.
And the shame of the entire matter is, that if some rise above the imposed ceiling, they will be absorbed by material incentive into the fold of the elite.
Not into the cadre of those in control, but among those who will shut up and discard their more radical thoughts to keep their incomes high.
It's a wonder sleep comes to anyone, when it's beyond one's power to changea societal attitude that has been growing for 50 years or more.
One last thought, another example of how we are changing.
It is not uncommon now, for children to stay living with their parents until their late 20's. The idea of having someone else to take responsibility has spread, like an insidious rash, throughout our young.
One wonders where this will end. When finally, a work ethic will re-appear, and pride in a good job well done will again force society itself forward.
If we continue as we are aimed, even the watered-down version of 'democracy' we today enjoy will disappear. And what's worse, we'll be told it's for our own good.
And we'll believe it.

"We will never give up, we will never back down, and we will never be defeated". Interesting words from George. We'll come back to them in a moment.
But first, from the same speech George promises 'freedom to all the peoples of the world'. This is intruiging in itself. For what does George, or Tony for that matter, mean by 'freedom'?
Does it mean having elected officials who will represent the best interests of their consituents? Can't mean that, for that's not often the case.
Does he mean freedom from debt while achieving a higher standard of living? Can't mean that, because we don't have it.
Does he mean freedom in the sense that it is one person, one vote? Can't mean that because the 'votes' of funded lobby's mean more than yours or mine.
What is this 'freedom' of which he speaks then?
Does it mean the security of walking the streets at night in safety. Can't possibly be that because that's not the case in 99.9% of cities who number themselves among those in 'free countries'.
Does it mean freedom of trade and commerce, with equitable profit passed from owners or stockholders right down to the consumers? No.
One suspects that George means the freedom to sit, almost disenfranchised, to develop a sense of well-being, especially throughout the lower levels of society.
A freedom to 'trust' our leaders, regardless of whatever evidence might exist that proves their incompetence.
A MacDonalds and a Taco Belle in every village, hamlet, town and city in the world perhaps.
That might be Georges' 'freedom'.
Inco is in the northern Ontario town of Sudbury. t would be hard to imagine a more inhospitable place, a town with little at all to recommend tourism other than the 'Big Nickel'. That, by the way, is a gigantic nickel coin which greets you as you enter the place.
What Sudbury has is INCO, and little else, and what INCO has, is the most nickel in the world. That mine pumps out mega-tonnes of that metal a year, and markets have become dependent on the continuing production of the stuff.
The price of nickel has jumped more than $600Cn a tonne over the past few days, because the 'Stinko' miners, as they are locally known, are threatening a strike.
Personally, I can't fault them. It's among their 'freedoms'.
But back to George and his committment to spreading the Western Way. It is an indicator of the American economy that the President has committed the nation to another 'Cold War'. A war in which there can be no winner, and one maintained for nothing other than a myriad of economic reasons. It is ominous to think that we, once again, are facing a diplomatic and economic situation which depends entirely on conflict, and refusals to compromise.
While we're here, let me show you this path through the garden...

Ahh.. an inspiring day all in all for the most recent graduates of West Point. George himself gave them their main address, saying "we will take the 'War On Terror' to every shore and outpost in pursuit of enemies like none before, not relenting until their defeat.."
Definately a flag-waver, but the underlying message to these young officers is, that they, unless they get a Staff appointment, will at some time, have someone shooting at them.
..It's more than a job, it's an adventure..
Problems and nothing but more problems for the Indonesians.. the death toll from the Java quake has passed 3 thousand, and this as UN orders non-essential staff out of East Timor as a new coup develops.
Going to take just that little bit longer for help to get to the Javanese, but politics, is politics..
Watch Columbia this Monday, or Tueday.. might be Wednesday actually before we hear the results of their Presidential election.. This could have consiquences leading to changes in George's attitude towards that country, and their attempts to turn cocoa farmers away from that insideous plant..
Problem is, they've yet to find a plant that grows quite so well in that climate, that offers even a fraction of the income cocoa brings..
Meanwhile, the Russians being quite content with the assumption they're always drunk, apparently will not be seen as homosexual in any way shape or form. More than 70 have been arrested, as Moscow held it's first ever Gay Rights Parade.
Of course it had been banned by the Kremlin.. While diplomatically one can deal with a pissed politician, it's a certainty there would be problems with an alcoholic faggot..
Odd folks, these Russians..

ZPG has finally caught up with us..
Tony's had to announce today that State Pensions, that which literally millions of Britons depend upon for their total income, are to be radically changed.
For hence forward, pensions will be tied to earnings and contributions. Henceforth, one will be 68 before they can claim a pension. And, perhaps most telling, workers will be forced to deposit 4% of their gross income towards their pension.
Now really, they can't even call this a 'hidden tax', without breaking into a small smile, behind their hands.. it's just too obvious..
It had to be seen coming though. With fewer and fewer workers, and more and more infirm old gits hanging on to life through medical breakthroughs, there had to be a calling of accounts. It's obvious that tony's, or in fact anyones government could simply print out cheques and expect them to be honoured when that particular account is well overdrawn.
Now, it's time to start paying the piper, and one expects these recent ammendments to be only the tip of the iceberg.
State Homes for those without a private pension may well be in the future. Even those who own their house, thinking it would be a place to finally breathe their last, may be forced in the future to sell their assets and move into an institutional environment, to defray the cost of longevity.
We have been working towards a nanny state, in the true sense, since the end of the Second World War. We have sat back, and allowed those who govern us to make daft laws, idiotic decisions both domestically and abroad, and ridiculous policies which make life easier in the short run.
We are reaping that which we so blythly sown, and it's going to be a bitter harvest.
An Addendum.
Now that ZPG has been abandonned, and populations are growing at a near to normal rate, the question arises for employers, as whether to hire a 22 year old, or a 57 year old, who're applying for the same job. Ageism is rife in the workplace, and the question was effectively rhetorical.
Secondly, supposing one has spent their working life in a trade, such as construction. Are we to believe that construction workers will be able to continue, without major injuries, after their sell-by-date?
This is a conundrum for all governments, at least all in charge of industrialised nations. While it has become an issue in Britain, it will undoubtably become one for all eventually.
Perhaps it's time to recall golden ages gone by, where the family took care of their own, and where age was revered, rather than reviled.
But while we live in a society which pumps up the values of youth, the appearance of youth, the necessity of youth, we will be as those depicted in that old chestnut 'Logans Run'.
We'll all be playing Peter Ustinov's role in the not too distant future.

There is a well respected television program over here named 'Panorama'. This is perhaps our version of '60 Minutes', although the lines set for the BBC production appear to be slacker than those binding it's American counterpart..
However, be that as it may, the reason for mentioning the program at all, is that this week it will air what almost might be seen as an attack on the Bush Administration.. it's refusal to engage itself in the Kyoto Accord. The producers will go so far as accusing George and his cronies of 'misinformation, of harassing the scientific community. Of gagging scientists, re-writing major reports and of allowing the oil and coal companies, and all those downstream, to dictate government policy.
Now it's not that this isn't common knowledge. But it is an attack on a friendly administration by a program funded by tax dollars, and so might well be seen as the 'sotto voce' of the government.
This environmental issue is beginning to be taken seriously by the public. Too many breakfast table conversations reflect on the fact the glacier has disappeared entirely from Mount Kilamanjaro, and that floes the size of Dorset regularly break off and melt in the Southern Seas..
With the news of yet another serious hurricane season for the Southern States, people there are going to start asking why..
It's almost a voice in the wilderness, this program.. but one we can rest asured. is a well-researched one..
Like the tree falling in the forest... eventually, someone will hear.

Nottingham Council is absolutely outraged!
There's been a report published which, city by city, shows crimes, per capita, and Nottingham tops the list..
London comes in at a lowly 21st, and according to the numbers, Southend is the safest place on the Island to live..
Now it must be said, that this report can be taken with a somewhat wry smile, for while it is factual, it does not take specifics into account, and is, in effect, exactly the type of report the government itself would produce. This is perhaps one reporters attempt to follow the Parliamentary lead..
You can do or say almost anything with statistics..
It's all dependent on which numbers you use..

This computer age, it's enormous...
Now the question one must ask, is why on earth would an employee of the Veteran's Association take the personal details of 26 and a half million vet's home with him..
VA Secretary Jim Nicholson assures us that the medical or financial records of these vets were not among those statistics stolen.. Identity theft is not, at this point, a concern..
Now this is the government talking about a government screw-up...
But again, what were they doing outside a secure location?
Tony was gladhanding in Iraq today.. saying 'there is now no need for the bloodshed.. it is now time for the Iraqi's to take charge of their own destinies..'
So easy to say, and historically impossible to maintain without an occuptying force.
If we want Iraq to be pro-West, we must be there to prop up a pro-West government. Otherwise, the situation will almost immediately deteriorate into first, electoral chaos, second, factional divisions, third, armed conflict between those factions, and fourth, a military coup with yet another Saddam, under a different name.
It's like having faith in fairy tales to hold to the conviction that the peoples who occupy that particular area of the world, would detour from anything other than the tenets of a civilisation that has dominated for millennia.
Unless, of course, there are others to blame, those who occupy their land and keep them free, to whatever concept 'freedom' has to the locals.
The average Iraqi is more interested in where their next meal will come from, and whether or not their job will be there for them today.. and what the chances are they'll be blown to bits while sitting having their morning pipe and coffee, than they are in who is named as the next Minister of the Interior, or Minister of Defence..
They know, that whomever is named, they will be corrupt.
They know the bombings will continue, in spite of who's in charge.
It's to be expected, for as the Rubayat says.. " The moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on. Nor all thy piety nor wit can call it back to cancel half a line.."
It's their culture.
Meanwhile, yet another dozen or so killed by a semtex-vested zealot..
They were, most of them, having lunch..

Yet another brief note concerning the afformentioned story, on the numbers incarcerated in the US..
Are these numbers included in the annual Unemployment Firgures? Or are they considered 'employed' through the work they perform while in prison? We're talking 2.2 million people here..
If they are employed, and recieving a wage (in Britain working' The Sheds' adds about £5 a week to your canteen account. In the States, it varies between $.65 to $1.20 a day, again added to one's account.), is this 'income'? In Britain, this is considered a 'pittance', and is therefore outside the laws governing a 'citizen'. There is no tax paid.
But, say, In the States, this income is taxable. That the government takes back a percentage of what it gives, which makes inmates taxpayers.
Now normally, inmates are not considered 'citizens'. Their rights have been curtailed, suspended for the length of time they are at the government's pleasure. But, if they're paying taxes, that must grant them the same legal rights as any other taxpayer.
The right to vote. The right to Unionize. The right to maintain a lobby at Capitol Hill, under their own ageas.
Now, that's if they're not included in the unemployment figures.
If they are, there's a damn good reason they didn't show up for work this morning.
Another point to ponder. There are reports that many medium and minimum security facilities offer their inmates better work, at better pay... they man the call-center lines, for catalogue or direct television buying. Just imagine, ordering that china bust of Elvis, and giving all your personal details to a prisoner in a State or Federal prison.
One has to wonder, are the Homeland Security people only involved with terrorism, or might they have problems within their own systems? Perhaps it's the FBI that's responsible for something like this..
Who knows?

A line or two on a noteworthy story..
It would appear that one of every 136 people in the United States, is an inmate of a State or Federal Prison. That's 2.2 million people, give or take a thousand or so..
Now what does this say of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave..
For one, that it's not free for all, and two, not brave enough to find an alternative to incarceration.
Now, it's likely the economics of the matter.
The statistics say prisons.. State and Federal.. housed some 1.4 million.. about two-thirds of the pie. The rest, some 750 thousand, are being held in local jails, under local juristiction and the source of Federal and State compensatory funding.. Makes sense for the town to have their own regulars in their own cells, it's always the usual suspects and there's always room for them..
That's just the economic side from the direct point of view.. there's downstreaming to all communities that have jails with inmates banging the bars..
It's also a statement of how willing the American Judicial System is willing to go, to avoid political incorectness. The backlog facing the parole services, the welfare services, the entire prison system both inside and without the walls, must be mountainous. And, in fact, it's an impossibility to maintain any type of supervision of those released, when there are still so many inside.
Allan J. Beck is the source of these numbers, by the way. He's the Chief of Corrections Statistics, for the Bureau of Justice Statistics..
Yes.
Back to what it says about the American Justice System.. it's made itself into an industry, one with a never-ending stream of raw material. It would not to be to any financial advantage in the long run, to re-assess lesser cases, with inmates serving their first terms. It would not make financial sense, to de-criminalise certain recreational drugs, or so the lobbyists for the bad guys will tell us, because it would release thousands of dope-smokers on society.. It would not make financial sense for the Judiciary to assess it's system of sentencing, for that would mean less grist for the mill..
Americans are encouraged, coerced, forced in some cases, to break the law. It keeps America running.

Nouri al-Maliki is the man holding the unenviable post of Iraq's Prime Minister, and in true political form today, he has promised to bring an end to the 'brutal insurgent and secratian violence' currently gripping his country...
Now that's a promise worthy of a politician, indeed.
Mr. al-Maliki says the appointments of the key Defence and Interior Ministers, who will be independant and without ties to Iraq's several armed groups.. will be complete within two or three days..
That is a promise, that if fulfilled, would seriously make one consider the presence of God.
Any particular God, for that matter.
Meanwehile, the killings go on, with the semtex-vest brigade claiming another 20 or so victims at a Baghdad restaurant.
One tends to lose count of the victims. And this in itself, should give those in charge of these military cells, pause. For if it becomes too commonplace to be blown to sheds while munching one's hummus in a public place, then the impact is lost.
It becomes, as it always has been in reality, pointless murder.
'Maximum force' is what has been promised by the new government. We'll see what effect that has, and how in effect it differs from the approach the Americans and British have been following since they set boots on that foreign soil.

Now, again, we're back to a matter of trust. This time in the Middle East, where the consiquences can be much more explosive (no pun intended). There's to be no nuclear deal between Iran and the United States, because each has been quite frank in their dislike and distrust of each other's systems.
It seems likely there is good reason for Tehran to be deveoping nuclear weaponry. It's stated goal is to wipe Israel off the map, and take the last genuine foothold the West has in the Levant away. However, there is also the good argument, that Iran needs power supplies, and who can fault them for opting for nuclear, when we in Britain are doing the same.
So, it's all 'trust'.
Personally, I deplore the day the internal combustion engine was invented.

Just a brief note here..
The Chinese have virtually completed the world's largest hydro-electric facility, the 'Three Gorges Dam'. Now this was a project pondered as early as 1918 by the Nationalist leader Sun Yat-Sen.. an idea Mao Zedong waxed poetic on his vision of a 'great wall of stone' from which a 'smooth lake' would drown the gorges..
The completion of the massive wall was broadcast on State Television, but there were no high-ranking officials there, as a cost cutting measure..
Really. It would have had a pricetag of over a million yuan if it had been a State Occasion.. Instead, they marked the pouring of the last stretch of concrete with a small brass band and some confettii..
There's still work to do, but it's mildly disturbing to ponder the fact, that this sleeping giant is realling beginning to stir..
Ahh.. and as a final thought. The Chinese have imported foreign help for the first time for this project. German Engineers have been recruited to ensure the safety and integrity of the construction. This marks the first time any foreigner has been asked in, for any reason.
If credibility is what China seeks, allowing the techinal Germans to endorse the work would certainly accomplish that end.

Ahh, the world is reeling in the past couple of days of profit taking on the markets..
One had to realize, that with the Dow reaching it's highest levels ever, gold back to 1980's levels, oil supplies in doubt with the developing situations in the Middle East, investors would take a skim. The Indian Market, the Sensex, dropped by 7.1% today. The Hang Seng and all the others are suffering from the same malaise, that of corporate and individual cash inflow.
Nothing really to worry about in itself, but the American CPI could cause problems over a slightly longer term.
If the States does decide to raise interest rates, it's going to involve not only the long term borrowers the likes of corporate giants, but also those small businesses. Unemployment will rise as Joe's Market lets it's unessential workers go, State welfare costs will spiral upwards, and we'd be looking at another recession, if a mini one at that.
It's not what George wants to leave as his legacy.
But, optimism leads one to believe that OPEC will raise it's productivity levels, that gold and other precious metals will rebound, and investors will once again settle into the levels of complaincency they've enjoyed for the past decade or so.
It has been said, that as the US economy goes, so goes the rest of the world, and what perhaps is the real reason behind this temporary panic in the markets, is the proclaimed moves by several big economies towards non-fossil fuel sources. This is a manufactured blip, designed to underline the fact this world runs on oil, and while the Middle East has any clout whatsoever, it will play with it's customers economies at will.
This is one of the prime reasons research into alternate fuel sources should be accelerated. Now, acceleration is defined as a change in the rate of velocity per unit of time, and we are running out of the latter factor. There is going to be continuous dicord in the OPEC consortium, and continuous means just that. Perpetual.
Time we cut the oil umbillicus, with prejudice, if necissary.
George is still wrestling with the westernisation of Iraq, while dancing with the Iraqi's on the nuclear front, and the Sudanese by interfering with the internal problem in Darfour.
Now it's a given it is not politically correct to say 'let them work it out themselves'. It would be considered naive for us to think that they've millennia of expertise, having dealt with drought, famine, internicene wars and genocide, and that they should be left to their own devices. Bono would certainly chastise those of us in the West who enjoy a good meal once in a while, while strangers are starving thousands of miles away.
But, I'll bet Bono, and all the other celebrities who've tossed their hats in the political ring, never consider missing breakfast in support of those starving masses. It's a chimera, designed to impress the impressionable. It's also a good tax dodge, to donate towards an incurable disease.
So let the markets fall.. it's a correction for the time being.
When interest rates begin to rise, accept that as well, as a societal adujstment.
A side note here. There is growing pressure on Tony to name a date for his vacating No.10, and that, for us in these British Isles and for those we call 'allies', is a cause for concern. Whoever takes the reins could well lead us into closer ties with the EU, and that, for us, would be catastrophic.
Rumania and Bulgaria for God's sake. Do we really want to tie our economy with criminals? For, in fact, those states are developing normally, which includes at this point, anarchy.
Whatever may be watching over us all, keep us away from a developing hegemonic economy. Let us stay with those who've gone through the Wild West stage, like, Canada.

One more brief note here..
It's been established in the Courts here, that a spouse cannot be held responsible for his or her partner's suicide. That a man or woman can, for years, mentally abuse their wife or husband, and still be found innocent of any wrongdoing if the abused take their own life.
This revolved about an Indian couple named Harachan and Gurjit Dhaliwal. She hanged herself after what relatives and neighbours described as 'years of torment' by her husband. Now it's not to say the man didn't raise his hand against his wife, for he did. But no grievous bodily harm was ever recorded, and assault charges had never been laid.
This is a shame on our Judicial system.
In Indian tradition, arranged marriages are commonplace, and it's not a guarantee that each will grow to love and respect their partner. Often the case is one of a financial bond between two families, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the two people who will spend the rest of their lives together.
While one finds such a practice anathema, one must be even more outraged that the assumption has been made, and upheld in court, that a person cannot be driven to self-murder. That there must have been underlying psychological problems to effect such a drastic ending.
Children are bullied at school, and it becomes a national issue. Spouces are bullied, and suddenly it's not for the public to have an opinion on what goes on behind the closed doors of a household.
Something is askew here, and with a nation made up more and more of new immigrants keeping their old cultural values, we may find it harder and harder to be proud to say 'I'm British'.
We are diluting our values, rather than instiling them in those who choose to come here to live.

Yet another piece of the puzzle was handed to us today . Tony has declared that this island is going ahead "with a vengeance" towards the development and construction of more nuclear energy plants. As he explained, and as we already know, at this point we supply ourselves with 80 to 90% of our own natural gas, but this cannot last much longer. Tony made a point of emphasizing that in the very near future, if we continue with reliance on fossil fuels, we will be dependent on supplies from the Middle East for oil, and Middle Europe for natural gas, and this situation is, as Tony said, "unacceptable".
We agree.
And while Tony's own Press Secretary admitted their would be 'shreiks of outrage' from environmental groups opposed to nuclear development, it would perhaps be better if those objecting attended seminars dealing with both political economics, and environmentology. There is nothing inherently wrong with nuclear energy. If there are objections, let them be of a salient nature, to ensure these new plants are constructed and manned properly, and that there be some plan, perhaps involving other countries using nuclear power, to dispose of the depleted fuel.
That, in itself, is a sidebar though.
The focus is on a definitive move away from OPEC, and the control it has over the world economic picture. This move by the United Kingdom, if followed by some of the key members of the European Union and the United States, could slowly but surely reduce the importance of States the likes of Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, Iran and Iraq, Libya, and all those who sit on the substance this modern world is founded upon. They, and their lobbyists in the West, will fight vigorously against any form of energy self-sufficiency, and will bombard us with recollections of Chernobyl, and other technical blunders.
But Tony's right here. We, as an island, and the rest of the 'civilised world' as a whole, must begin the weaning process George spoke of a few months ago. And the sooner, the better.
A non sequitur.. during Georges 'Immigration speech', not once did he mention the 49th Parallel..
Not once.

Just watched George's speech on the 'immigration problem'..
Seems as though you folks who climb the wall or walk the desert should first, study English, 'cause dagnabit, it's American we speak here.
We know you do the jobs our own trailer trash would turn away from, but, you took our jobs and didn't pay taxes, dagnabit... and it's not like we don't want you people coming here and doing that work, we just want you to apply for a 'Temporary Work Visa', and get an electronically chipped card, so we know how much to take in taxes. 'Course if you were ever convicted of, say, stealing a chicken in your country of origin, you can forget it. Don't want criminals in these United States..
So, to keep you folks from even starting out on that desert trek, we're bringing in the National Guard.. putting 6 thousand more boots on the ground, to give the Border Patrol guys a hand. And we'll build more steel fences, and instal infra-red and heat seeking technology along the border.. and if you're caught by these good American boys and girls, we'll pack you off right quick, 'cause we're changing the deportation laws to fast-track the trip back down south.
Now, this fast-tracking may not apply to all who're caught trying to sneak across the Rio Grande.. Some nationals may have to be repatriated to a place some distance away, and that could take time. That's for the ongoing 'War On Terror' ..ism.
Now, it's a fact that some Mexicans, illegal immigrants who've been in America for, say, a generation or two, have made successes of themselves. Might even own their own home. Good on 'em, but while we might allow them to come forward now, and declare their wrongdoing, and pay some form of penalty or another, they may be allowed to finally take on the proper reponsibilities, and get the commensurate rewards, of becoming an American citizen. Maybe not though.
Let's not forget the American tradition of accepting immigrants from all over the world. The 'Melting Pot' is true American bedrock, and it must be respected.
But learn English for Gods sake..

Just a brief note here on the state of the American dollar.
George seems happy to see it in freefall, hoping the bargain prices foreign markets are being handed will increase American exports.. But more ominous is the falling of the $A below the key 8 yuan level, with the Chinese currency settling at 7.9982 to the buck..
America's trade deficit is currently on track to break last years $724 billion, with figures for the first quarter this year at $196.4 billion, with the deficit to China growing to $15.6 billion in March..
At this point, the American market imports three times more from China, than it exports to that behemoth.
And that represents an increase in American exports.
George had best keep a close eye on his country's credibility. It has been suggested that the benchmark $ for North American may soon be the Canadian, ands the $Canadian hasn't been worth more than the $American since the late 50's, early 60's..
This won't please Ottawa either..

Gladys Hammond is not exactly what you'd call a breakfast table name, but she has brought the wrath of Tony and his government down upon the 'Animal Rights' movement. And she's managed to do this from the grave.
There's been a spate of threatening letters received by some small shareholders in a company named GlaxoSmithCline (GSC), warning them of possible reprisals for their support of testing on animals.
Now these are not the men behind the Throne of this company being hectored, these are older people living on their investments and pensions. Neither was Gladys Smith involved personally in any objectionable treatment of wee beasties, yet 'Animal Activists' dug up her body, and held it for ransom for several months.
They dug up her grave, in the name of 'humanity'.. One recalls a slogan from the sixties, which ended with '..like fucking for virginity..'
Y'see her nephew ran a guinea-pig farm, and his customers were of course, companies the likes of GSC, along with universities who used the animals for testing purposes.
Let it be clearly understood, that while animals are cute, and necissary within their particular biosphere to maintain an environment, they are only animals. We breed cattle, pork, chickens, for no other reason than to butcher and eat them. And one has no doubt that those who preach violence against humans in retaliation for the use of animals for testing, start their day with a hearty fry-up.
Terrorism is a taxing job. Works up an appetite.

It is a constant source of amusement, this government of ours.
The House of Lords has blocked legislation dealing euthanasia, saying that, or implying that one must live, regardless of one's physical condition.
Now the initial proposal was restrictive in the extreme sense of the word. It would have taken two doctors saying the patient had six months or less to live, and that the patient was compus mentis at the time of the decision to end their life. Such in itself is an insult to the capacity to reason when the infirm are conserned, and it's a wonder the public hasn't risen, en masse, to proclaim their displeasure.
Having said that, this country is comprised of people who will silently wait twenty minutes in a queue at a bank, and thank the teller when finally they get around to being served.
Life is not sacred. Betimes, it's not even bearable. Why do we in the 'West' hold on to breath as though we were still under the thumb of Papal Bulls?
The simple answer is the attitude is inbred; we are taught from childhood that nothing is more important than life itself, a concept that is in itself, patently absurd. There are far too many of us on this planet as it is, and natural culls are being forestalled by governments and institutions who would keep those alive who have historically died through drought, famine, floods, and other 'Acts of God'.
One wonders if those who campaign religiously for life for the sake of life, actually realise they're thwarting the Grand Design set down by their Creator.
Or that those who campaign for the same cause without religious overtones, realise they're upsetting the ballance of nature itself. Better we all focus on what the living are doing to this planet, rather than what the dying are doing to themselves.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Incredible...Tony's had quite a time of it over the past few days.Charles Clarke is out of a job.. the second Home Secretary to have caused the government great embarassment of late.. John Prescott, our Deptuty Prime Minister, but loses his Department..(many a head's being scrateched over that one.. just exactly will the man do all day now but wait for Tony to suddenly drop dead..).Our Defence Secretary is the New Home Secretary.. one wonders just what will cause his expulsion, for it seems to go with the job..Jack Straw, that old hand at Foreign Affairs, has been replaced by Margaret Becket, a name that will no doubt become recognised.. Jack, by the way, is now Leader of the Commons.. whoopee..It's the biggest shuffle in Tony's tenure, and all the while he has the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, hectoring for a date to book the moving vans at No. 10.True, Labour was sent a message by the electorate in these elections just past.. they lost 319 Councillors, with most of the replacements coming from the Tory ranks..But a change is inevidable. It is almost without question that David Cameron will be the next British Prime Minister, in part helped by Gordon Brown taking over Labour, and poor old Ming bumbling along with the LibDems..What is the salient issue at this point, is what stances will be taken by both Government and Opposition on several key domestic issues, and of course, our relationship with the US, and our presence in the Middle East. When Tony is going to step down will depend on what mark he feels he has made in history, and he would undoubtably try to make it impossible for his successor to step far away from the long-term policies he has yet to put in place. Gordon Brown is a Europhile, and would lean closer to the Continent just across the Channel, than to an ally across the Atlantic..It's a question of economics Tony faces. Leaving this country bound with the American economy will be his legacy, if he can effectively manage it. The IMF and the World Bank are suspicious of the European hegemony, and while it settles, Britain should remain aloof. It will not be long til the GNP of new European Union member states will outstrip that of France and Spain and Italy, and we here need as tenuous attachment to this consortium as can be managed.
posted by John at 9:08 PM
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It's somewhat amusing, to watch the media dive into these local elections in England. Now England is indeed correst in this case, the elections are not taking place in Scotland or Wales or Northern Ireland..
It's almost as though it matters, which party remains in power on the Council level, or which might be deposed. The funding all comes from Westminster, and while lip service is allowed in the commons from those who would take a Council's situation on the Floor, the decisions will remain constant, regardless of the colour of the badge the candidate campaigned under.
This is, as are all, false democracy at work. The public is fed pap for the toothless mind, in the absolute surety the importance of events will be controlled, perhaps promulgated would be a better word, by the media. Even redical groups the likes of the British Nationalist Party, or UKIP, are sops for those tired of the same old same old, and certainly there is no chance of such fringe groups ever taking significant power. They exist to pacify, and for that purpose alone.
an interesting side note here. A site dedicated to Esoterica, of all types, has been edited by the powers that be. The adress is http://esoterichomepage.tripod.com , and contains eleven sections. Only nine are still functional, two haveing been pulled from the public eye. Those two dealt with Magick, and the Templars, the Masonic Lodge, the Rosicrucians, and other sundry 'conspiracies'.
Now not one to easily be pushed into the belief that there are certain groups who pull all the strings, it remains a question why the writings of John Dee, or Aleister Crowley, or an overview of Rosslyn Abbey or the first Rites of Masonic Ritual, or HAARP, should be particularly centered, and erased.
This site is now almost seven years old, and has not in it's time attracted a huge number of visitors. Only some 20 thousand or so have logged in, but it is obvious that one or more of those twenty thousand took the time to object strenuously to Tripod, and have those sections removed.
Curious. One had not logged in for some three years, and it was over that length of time censorship struck.
Again, it's curious.

One must pause at times, to ponder the state of the immediate future..
We will see George Step off the podium.. Tony too.. whether their successors will be allowed to continue with their policies, as far as the Middle East, the environment, immigration, national hospitalisation programs, is moot at best.
Not that the general populace will in any way hinder what is to become future government policies, but the question is, what the puppeteers will dictate.
Italy has already voted in a government, albeit a weak one, which will turn itself away from 'the West', and towards the European Union. This in turn leaves one fewer under the American banner in the 'War Against The Axis Of Evil', and in itself is a good indicator that Europe, in general, is somewhat disinterested in the goings in in Iraq, having traditionally closer ties to those in charge in the Levant than those in the West. Whether George's replacement will be up to maintaining ties with increasingly hostile foreign governments will be crucial in the next couple of years. He has mid-term elections upcoming, and they'll indicate what the people think they think..
And Tony's leaving his Party in a state of total disarray. What with last week's revelations still looming both in the Commons and the media, he's running out of Cabinet Members capable of maintaining the status quo..
We are an island caught between a behemoth and a nascent New Holy Roman Empire... one which has replaced the religious element with financial development. Europe is teetering, this Empire is as fragile as a blown-glass poodle..
there are weekly riots in France by the unemployed and the future educated-unemployed, and riot police trying to defend not only their inept government but their own livelyhoods.. Germany is bankrupt, and will be for a few years more when the debt incurred with unification is absolved.. Russia is something of an amalgamation of the American Wild West and the American 1920's, when gangsters ran their own areas, and the best market was black.. these new states, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia are beginning well, with high-tech companies wandering in to set up cheap corporate headquarters and factories staffed by folks who're more than happy to work for a wage a 'Westerner' would scoff at..
We're an island which has always depended on a strong hand on the tiller, be that hand the actual, or titular ruler.. David Cameron might get a shot, but one would expect any new government, while still 3 years away, would be a very trying coalition between a small Tory majority, dependent on Ming Campbell and the LibDems for any real clout..
Not good.
Then there's the Middle East. With the European Union leaning towards supporting the Muslim regemes, the States and Britain will be left to defend Israel.. We have an Iranian Prime Minister who had as a main plank in his election platform, the agenda to 'wipe Israel off the map', and we now have Iranian nuclear capabilities. We have an Israel that is still somewhat in a fluff about who's going to continue to lead the country, and who also has.. nuclear capabilities.
It could be almost gusrranteed, that should Israel be hit with a crippling attack by any single or group of Muslim States, that they have in place a 'Meggido Option', whereby they would render the entire Middle East, and possibly the bulk of the Mediterranian, uninhabitable. The Israeli mind would rather send itself to it's God, than allow their land to be occupied by any other.. thus is history..
And they can be somewhat over-reactive down there at times..

Ahh Charles..Charles..Charles..
Our Home Secretary is now proposing 'tough new legislation' to deal with foreign nationals jailed in the UK... Now he wants tham deported..
The idiocy of this is, that such laws are already inplace, and his Department has simply made a collosal blunder in letting more than a thousand go..free to roam this Kingdom at will.. free to re-offend..
Smacks of shutting the barn door after the criminals have stolen the horses..
One must wonder what the purpose of this little Panto is.. for if Clarkes suggestions are enacted into law, we will have redundancy in the courts, and general confusion among both the general populace an criminals alike..
Perhaps it is time for Charlie to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, David Blunkett, and toss in the political towel. It can do Tony no more harm than has already been caused, and will at least give the British man on the street something to smile about.
The visissitudes of political life.. but then if it were all that easy to control the thousands of underlings a Minister presides over, we'd all want to be Members of the Cabinet..
Pay's good..