As I've mentioned various times on this blog, the word "fair" is overused by politicians and often done so without thought for what it actually means. The trouble is, the left have been allowed - primarily by the media, but with the implicit consent (and now the explicit consent) of the Conservative party - to corner the market on who decides what is and isn't fair.
So I was delighted to see the Taxpayers Alliance come out with all guns blazing on Channel 4 news last night. Confronted with Jon Snow at his foaming mouthed liberal best (or worst, depending on your outlook) demanding from a TPA spokesman whether it was "fair" that "poor people" will be "deported" as a result of housing benefit changes - the TPA spokesman first chided Snow on his use of the word "deported".
Snow backtracked claiming that he meant "deported from London". This in itself reveals that the modern liberal is either an ignorant dunce (deport means to expel from a country and London is not a country) or an unprincipled stirrer who will abuse the language and rhetoric to inflame and aggravate a situation.
Having made Snow to look like the bigoted idiot he is, the TPA member then asked Snow whether it was "fair" that hard working taxpayers should be forced to pay the housing costs of people in homes that those taxpayers themselves could never hope to afford? Snow, of course, had no answer and ignored the question - but the TPA member reiterated the question and Snow's bluster and fake anger blew itself out into babbling, incoherent nonsense.
I couldn't help applauding the TPA member for the way he handled Snow - he made the veteran leftie look like a fool and it was well overdue. What is more, the point he made is one which I've been saying for years - that why is it fair that honest hard working taxpayers are bled dry to feed the habits of the workshy and feckless? How is it fair that someone should receive free and without any effort on their part, something which those who are paying for that could not expect to acquire themselves?
The fact is that housing benefit it totally out of control in Britain and the decisions made by the coalition will do little to stop that - but even such a modest attempt to get to grips with something which is nothing less than a national scandal is derided by the left as they attempt to ring fence their captive clientele.
The truth is that £400 quid a week is still a damn sight more than most of us taxpayers could afford to pay each week in rent (it's only marginally less than I pay monthly for my mortgage). If we can't afford to live in central London then why should anyone else? What gives them that right?
Incidentally, the old garbage about "not enough homes being built" was also trotted out last night. This isn't true. The problem isn't that there aren't enough homes being built, it's that those we already have aren't being used correctly. There are estimated to be upwards of one million homes lying empty and unused - largely due to a taxation system that rewards people for keeping them empty and unused.
If we made better use of our existing housing stock and stopped importing foreigners while paying British people to sit on their backsides all day then there wouldn't be any housing shortage at all - but then neither would house prices have risen at such a rate and that is a central pillar of our economic policy (debt based on property value).
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Telly tubbies
Am I the only person who is fed up with the sight of pregnant women waddling across our tv screens?
It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fashion to display their pregnancy by wearing the tightest possible attire rather than something loose and concealing.
It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fashion to display their pregnancy by wearing the tightest possible attire rather than something loose and concealing.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Cracks and craters
These days I don't go travelling very much although I used to when I was younger. The reason I haven't travelled much in recent times was initially because of having a young family and then because of the sheer inconvenience of travel in these terrorism blighted times - but back in more carefree times I travelled extensively.
Everywhere I went was different and distinctive - but there was always one thing that was the same. The fact that you could tell how each country was doing economically by the state of the roads. The immaculate blacktop roads of northern Norway suggested a modern, prosperous nation while the crater strewn, crumbling surfaces I encountered in southern Spain pointed to a nation in decline and suffering severe problems in the early eighties.
It was a reliable, if somewhat informal, economic barometer back then and I still think it is the case today - and nowhere is this more apparent than in the roads of Britain. Today it is our roads that are crumbling and crater strewn. In many cases (and particularly around my way in Slough) the ravages of last winter have still not been repaired even as we prepare for winter a year later. Of course, dodging potholes along the Costa Brava on a 500cc motorcycle in the early eighties was actually life threatening while these days it's more of a case of the damage inflicted on my cars suspension - but the principle is the same.
So when I hear the Prime Minister talking about "growth and prosperity" I know he isn't inhabiting the same world as the rest of us. The reality is that any growth seen over the last few months is primarily inflation driven (i.e. unsustainable and potentially dangerous) and that the growth in GDP is not translating into real prosperity for ordinary people. In real terms, the vast majority of us are worse off than we were nine, six or even three months ago and there is no indication that this is likely to change in the short, medium or long term.
Sustainability is going to be the watchword of the early decades of this century. It is over applied to the issue of environmentalism where much money is being given over to expensive and ill-conceived projects with little thought given to the actual long term viability of such adventures. It's such a shame that no thought whatsoever is being given to a sustainable economic policy - because one built on GDP growth fuelled by inflation and immigration and paid for by debt is not a sustainable policy. It wasn't sustainable during the nineteen nineties and the early years of the 21st century and it will not be sustainable in the future either.
But it is all our government can offer us because they don't know any other way. Yes, they will fluff it out with buzz words and vague, vacuous phrases such as "technology led" and "entrepreneurs", but that is all just pie in the sky. The truth is that the great global economic shift from west to east is in full swing and nothing this government - or any of our current political parties - come up with is likely to stop this. It is far easier for any entrepreneur to set up their business in Asia now and it is the east which is producing a steady, growing and considerable stream of highly educated graduates in the fields which will create future growth against which our university system is an insignificant trifle.
While China and India churn out untold thousands of engineering and technology graduates year after year, Britain leads the world in producing social workers, nutritionists and crisis counsellors. The irony is that we are likely to need these in the coming decades - but we won't, as a nation be able to afford them.
So when you've finished listening to our esteemed leaders and policy makers telling you their grand plans for our economy, just take a little drive around your local area and make a note of the state your roads are in. And, if you can afford it, repeat this in a years time. My bet is that your roads will be no better and probably considerably worse even if we are theoretically in "growth". You see, papering over the cracks of a crumbling economy is relatively easy statistically, but the reality is harder to conceal - and the reality is that we're now more of a crater strewn southern Spain than a smooth northern Norway.
Everywhere I went was different and distinctive - but there was always one thing that was the same. The fact that you could tell how each country was doing economically by the state of the roads. The immaculate blacktop roads of northern Norway suggested a modern, prosperous nation while the crater strewn, crumbling surfaces I encountered in southern Spain pointed to a nation in decline and suffering severe problems in the early eighties.
It was a reliable, if somewhat informal, economic barometer back then and I still think it is the case today - and nowhere is this more apparent than in the roads of Britain. Today it is our roads that are crumbling and crater strewn. In many cases (and particularly around my way in Slough) the ravages of last winter have still not been repaired even as we prepare for winter a year later. Of course, dodging potholes along the Costa Brava on a 500cc motorcycle in the early eighties was actually life threatening while these days it's more of a case of the damage inflicted on my cars suspension - but the principle is the same.
So when I hear the Prime Minister talking about "growth and prosperity" I know he isn't inhabiting the same world as the rest of us. The reality is that any growth seen over the last few months is primarily inflation driven (i.e. unsustainable and potentially dangerous) and that the growth in GDP is not translating into real prosperity for ordinary people. In real terms, the vast majority of us are worse off than we were nine, six or even three months ago and there is no indication that this is likely to change in the short, medium or long term.
Sustainability is going to be the watchword of the early decades of this century. It is over applied to the issue of environmentalism where much money is being given over to expensive and ill-conceived projects with little thought given to the actual long term viability of such adventures. It's such a shame that no thought whatsoever is being given to a sustainable economic policy - because one built on GDP growth fuelled by inflation and immigration and paid for by debt is not a sustainable policy. It wasn't sustainable during the nineteen nineties and the early years of the 21st century and it will not be sustainable in the future either.
But it is all our government can offer us because they don't know any other way. Yes, they will fluff it out with buzz words and vague, vacuous phrases such as "technology led" and "entrepreneurs", but that is all just pie in the sky. The truth is that the great global economic shift from west to east is in full swing and nothing this government - or any of our current political parties - come up with is likely to stop this. It is far easier for any entrepreneur to set up their business in Asia now and it is the east which is producing a steady, growing and considerable stream of highly educated graduates in the fields which will create future growth against which our university system is an insignificant trifle.
While China and India churn out untold thousands of engineering and technology graduates year after year, Britain leads the world in producing social workers, nutritionists and crisis counsellors. The irony is that we are likely to need these in the coming decades - but we won't, as a nation be able to afford them.
So when you've finished listening to our esteemed leaders and policy makers telling you their grand plans for our economy, just take a little drive around your local area and make a note of the state your roads are in. And, if you can afford it, repeat this in a years time. My bet is that your roads will be no better and probably considerably worse even if we are theoretically in "growth". You see, papering over the cracks of a crumbling economy is relatively easy statistically, but the reality is harder to conceal - and the reality is that we're now more of a crater strewn southern Spain than a smooth northern Norway.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Too little, too late
The much vaunted comprehensive spending review was about as comprehensive as our education system - i.e. not very. Of course, the media, the unions and the vested interest groups are all throwing up their arms in exasperation and dismay claiming that this will cause untold misery to untold millions, but the reality of the cuts is that they amount to nothing more than a damp squib.
They are no where near enough and, as such, represent a missed opportunity.
That might seem a bit harsh - given that the unions are planning mass protest and promising huge disruption, but the unions were going to do that regardless of what the cuts really were or who they affected. The unions are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of flexing their newly acquired muscle and taking on the Tories again. They are more confident and more powerful than they have been for twenty years and they are looking forward to a good old fashioned ding dong with the government.
So given that this was always going to happen, the government should have taken the opportunity to really wield the axe - but they didn't. And they didn't because, contrary to popular misconception, the Tories are not conservative anymore. David Cameron doesn't believe in a smaller state - he believes, like all progressives, that the state is the nation and the nation is the state.
The up shot of all this is that we will have massive disruption and civil unrest and the measures taken by the government to address the economic problems we face will have about as much effect as a sticking plaster on a gaping wound.
They are no where near enough and, as such, represent a missed opportunity.
That might seem a bit harsh - given that the unions are planning mass protest and promising huge disruption, but the unions were going to do that regardless of what the cuts really were or who they affected. The unions are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of flexing their newly acquired muscle and taking on the Tories again. They are more confident and more powerful than they have been for twenty years and they are looking forward to a good old fashioned ding dong with the government.
So given that this was always going to happen, the government should have taken the opportunity to really wield the axe - but they didn't. And they didn't because, contrary to popular misconception, the Tories are not conservative anymore. David Cameron doesn't believe in a smaller state - he believes, like all progressives, that the state is the nation and the nation is the state.
The up shot of all this is that we will have massive disruption and civil unrest and the measures taken by the government to address the economic problems we face will have about as much effect as a sticking plaster on a gaping wound.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
And so it begins
I've been predicting it for a couple of years now, but the main event of the "recession" is about to get under way. Strikes, chaos and disorder are already taking a grip in Europe - especially France - and here the coalition is about to announce the scale of the cuts to public sector spending as they attempt to get to grips with the debt monster created by the stupidity and profligacy of Blair, Brown and New Labour.
The non-existent recovery is stuttering to a halt while the banks and foreign companies feast on the entrails of our dying industry like vultures devouring a once proud lion that still breathes, but no longer has the strength to fight off the beaks and claws that tear at its flesh.
The unions are on the rise once more - boosted by membership from the bloated non-productive public sector of people in non-jobs - and are belligerent and confident once more. What is more they are now armed with a tactic - the repeated one or two day strike - which causes the most harm and disruption to the employers and the public with the least inconvenience to themselves and their members.
Our armed forces will soon be no longer fit for the purpose of defending the nation - although I'm not convinced that they have been for twenty years - but it doesn't matter. We've sold our nation to the EU anyway and the only thing our soldiers are likely to be doing in the next ten years is putting down internal insurrection and civil chaos. They won't need tanks, planes or aircraft carriers to do that.
And all this as a result of spending cuts that will do nothing to stop the inevitable. This isn't the end of the cuts, the chaos and disruption - this is merely the beginning.
The non-existent recovery is stuttering to a halt while the banks and foreign companies feast on the entrails of our dying industry like vultures devouring a once proud lion that still breathes, but no longer has the strength to fight off the beaks and claws that tear at its flesh.
The unions are on the rise once more - boosted by membership from the bloated non-productive public sector of people in non-jobs - and are belligerent and confident once more. What is more they are now armed with a tactic - the repeated one or two day strike - which causes the most harm and disruption to the employers and the public with the least inconvenience to themselves and their members.
Our armed forces will soon be no longer fit for the purpose of defending the nation - although I'm not convinced that they have been for twenty years - but it doesn't matter. We've sold our nation to the EU anyway and the only thing our soldiers are likely to be doing in the next ten years is putting down internal insurrection and civil chaos. They won't need tanks, planes or aircraft carriers to do that.
And all this as a result of spending cuts that will do nothing to stop the inevitable. This isn't the end of the cuts, the chaos and disruption - this is merely the beginning.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Heroes and miracles
The incredible story of the rescue of 33 miners trapped underground for 69 days in Chile has to be one of the stories of the year - if not the decade. I'm a huge admirer or anyone who makes their living working underground as a miner - they are all heroes as far as I'm concerned - but these men go far beyond even that admiration. They displayed a spirit and stoicism which any Briton would have been proud of.
But it also reminds us that even in this post-modern, ultra cynical, anti-God world miracles do still happen. The only thing that has changed is our ability to recognise them as such, but this story - along with that of the baby in Australia brought back to life after two hours by the love and hugs of his mother to the utter disbelief of medical professionals who had declared the child dead - proves beyond doubt that heroes and miracles still exist and are among us.
But it also reminds us that even in this post-modern, ultra cynical, anti-God world miracles do still happen. The only thing that has changed is our ability to recognise them as such, but this story - along with that of the baby in Australia brought back to life after two hours by the love and hugs of his mother to the utter disbelief of medical professionals who had declared the child dead - proves beyond doubt that heroes and miracles still exist and are among us.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Avoiding the answer
As the inquest in to the 7/7 atrocity begins you can be sure of one thing.
It won't be anything to do with Islam or Moslems.
They'll blame poor communications between various organisations.
But it won't be anything to do with Islam or Moslems.
The police and security services will come in for criticism.
But it won't be anything to do with Islam or Moslems.
They'll probably find that there were failings by government.
But it won't be anything to do with Islam or Moslems.
They'll probably even manage to criticise the transport infrastructure and providers.
But it won't be anything to do with Islam or Moslems.
It never is.
It won't be anything to do with Islam or Moslems.
They'll blame poor communications between various organisations.
But it won't be anything to do with Islam or Moslems.
The police and security services will come in for criticism.
But it won't be anything to do with Islam or Moslems.
They'll probably find that there were failings by government.
But it won't be anything to do with Islam or Moslems.
They'll probably even manage to criticise the transport infrastructure and providers.
But it won't be anything to do with Islam or Moslems.
It never is.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Missing the point
With its usual display of bias and total lack of impartiality, BBC Breakfast this morning was featuring a item asking why are women leaving it later to get married. They trotted out the usual suspects as reasons - focus on career, more opportunities, travel etc. - and totally ignored the obvious answer.
I'll tell you why women aren't getting married until they are into their thirties on average .... blokes aren't asking them to get married anymore. They don't need to. You see, young men are driven by testosterone - they want fast cars, adrenalin surge excitement and sex .... lots and lots of sex. Thirty years ago they couldn't get fast cars, adrenalin surges generally came from football and fairground rides and the only way they could get lots and lots of sex was if they got married.
These days you can buy a fast car for peanuts (though they can't afford to insure it - but when the penalty for not having insurance is barely a tenth of the cost of a years insurance, why bother?), adrenalin rush sports are cheap and plentiful and young men can find plenty of women willing to provide for their sexual urges without commitment.
So they don't need to get married. Instead, young men extend their adolescence well into their twenties and even beyond in a guilt and responsibility free social environment. But the BBC doesn't get that point.
I'll tell you why women aren't getting married until they are into their thirties on average .... blokes aren't asking them to get married anymore. They don't need to. You see, young men are driven by testosterone - they want fast cars, adrenalin surge excitement and sex .... lots and lots of sex. Thirty years ago they couldn't get fast cars, adrenalin surges generally came from football and fairground rides and the only way they could get lots and lots of sex was if they got married.
These days you can buy a fast car for peanuts (though they can't afford to insure it - but when the penalty for not having insurance is barely a tenth of the cost of a years insurance, why bother?), adrenalin rush sports are cheap and plentiful and young men can find plenty of women willing to provide for their sexual urges without commitment.
So they don't need to get married. Instead, young men extend their adolescence well into their twenties and even beyond in a guilt and responsibility free social environment. But the BBC doesn't get that point.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Sunday biites
Just a couple of quickies.
Pro Choice
Just listened to another tedious debate about abortion with the usual stupid feminist claptrap about wimmins choice taking the lead.
For what it's worth - I'm pro choice. Women can say no to sex or they can say yes to sex. That is the choice they make - after that they live with the consequences of their decision.
Principles of Law
Just read that the ludicrous left wing hack, Evan Davis, got in a tizzy when Lord Young, talking about health and safety, said that if he wanted to do something stupid and broke his leg skiing then that was his choice.
Davis then asked, stupidly, what the difference in principle was between skiing and smoking a spliff. Simple, Evan - it's not illegal to ski.
Honestly, don't they teach these lefties anything any more? How on earth did someone that dumb and so biased ever get on to the BBC - oh wait, of course, I forgot that is actually a requirement of the BBC these days.
Pro Choice
Just listened to another tedious debate about abortion with the usual stupid feminist claptrap about wimmins choice taking the lead.
For what it's worth - I'm pro choice. Women can say no to sex or they can say yes to sex. That is the choice they make - after that they live with the consequences of their decision.
Principles of Law
Just read that the ludicrous left wing hack, Evan Davis, got in a tizzy when Lord Young, talking about health and safety, said that if he wanted to do something stupid and broke his leg skiing then that was his choice.
Davis then asked, stupidly, what the difference in principle was between skiing and smoking a spliff. Simple, Evan - it's not illegal to ski.
Honestly, don't they teach these lefties anything any more? How on earth did someone that dumb and so biased ever get on to the BBC - oh wait, of course, I forgot that is actually a requirement of the BBC these days.
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