There have been times the Muse has simply disappeared..
Then, there are times that which might be reflected could simply illuminate the ennui which has enveloped most of those on this Island..
We have the 2020 Commission recommending a straight 30% tax rate, right across the board, as if we live in some Utopian State wherein the rich would give up their havens to the chant of 'the good of the many outweighs that of the few'.. We have a former Chancellor of the Exchequer saying European finances are "in tatters".. and that being Europe is our largest market, we are "dangerously exposed"..
Now those are not comments to inspire hope for better times to come anytime soon..
Greece appears to be the albatross around Germany's neck.. The two parties that had dominated Greek politics for nearly four decades .. the conservative New Democracy and the Socialist PASOK party .. were punished by anti-austerity voters in the polls, losing huge numbers of seats in Parliament. The Coalition of the Radical Left, known as Syriza, finished in a strong second, dramatically reshaping Greece's political landscape. But no party won enough votes to form a government.. This new unified radical leftist party Syriza fouled nearly all of the coalition plans, saying it didn't want to form a government with anyone who supported the memorandum of agreement between Greece and international lenders.. Those lenders .. the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund .. have given Greece billions in bailout loans, but the money has come in exchange for painful austerity measures that have devastated the economy.. a deep recession is now in its fifth year, the unemployment rate has reached 21 %.. and tens of thousands of businesses have closed.. And the prospects of improvement under any regeme, are doubtfull..
And oh joy, yet another former Soviet bloc country is pushing for entry into the EU.. Opposition leader Tomislav Nikolic, a former ultranationalist last in power when Serbia was bombed by NATO in 1999, declared victory in a presidential run-off today and pledged to keep the Balkan country moving towards the European Union.. At least, while struggling economically for the moment, Serbia has an infrastructure.. There is profit to be made, if there is capital investment in existing manufacturing..
Now.. Nepal's parliament was elected in 2008 with a mandate to write a new constitution but lawmakers have missed several deadlines to agree a federal structure and decide which system of governance the country should adopt.. the Supreme Court has ruled that no more extensions will be allowed if the assembly again fails to draft the constitution by a week today.. Parliament could be forced to make way for fresh elections if there is no agreement.. And to further tip the weights of karma.. security has been beefed up at the residence and monastery of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.. following recent confirmed reports of possible threat to his life.. According to a report received in October 2011, the Chinese intelligence agencies have stepped up their covert efforts to collect all inputs on the status of the Dalai Lama's health, as well as garner samples of his blood, urine and hair..
Now really..