Saturday 4 April 2009

G20: Its all about Ego.

Ok, now I've had time to have a think about it and go through what happened this week at the G20, I've come to one firm conclusion: Our politicians haven't reined in their Egos at all.

I blogged here that I thought the credit crunch was caused by massive egos. The same goes for the failure that is the G20 summit.

All it's been is a platform to massage the egos of 20 national leaders. So they can display and grandstand about how they "fixed" the credit crunch, without actually committing to any real new initiatives.

The credit crunch hasn't finished. Its reached a plateau, but the signs are that without regular injections of cash, things will start to slide again. I don't see any indicators of stability in markets, nor indicators of confidence anywhere that would lead me to believe we've hit the bottom.

Basically the world economy is on life support. What you have to ask your self is why. What are the motives behind pumping trillions of pounds, dollars or Euros into a sick, possibly terminally ill system?
What are the world leaders waiting for? Why the desperate measures (including printing non-existent money) to delay the inevitable?

Are they so stupid that they can't see what I see and fail to realise that splashing cash around isn't the answer? I really don't believe that. No, there needs to be a reason, a bloody good reason why they're doing it.

But I guess to the elite, Egomania is as good a reason as any.

Its like buying a Saville Row Suit, an expensive car, or a big house: its the feel-good factor. Its intoxicating to meet powerful people, eat good food, and delude yourself that it'll never end. so long as you can take money from your electorate, take more than you need in the form of salary and expenses, then hand the rest over to banks to squander and keep the system going, everything is wonderful.

But just how long before the people of the world wise up? I hope its very, very soon.

Thursday 2 April 2009

The G20 Summit Overview.

Haven't been paying this much attention as its bored me stupid, but here's my synopsis of the G20 summit.

We get a fanfare announcement of a trillion-dollar fiscal stimulus which was agreed ages ago and is basically old money already put into the system. The meeting failed to get other countries apart from the UK and America to commit additional funds. The lack of new money is bad news for the UK who have already committed the maximum amount they can afford, to little effect.

The G20 statement mentions vehicles such as the IMF will be used as well as the fiscal stimulus.

No new money going into banking black hole means Mandleson is wheeled onto the news to start mentioning the IMF isn't a black mark against a country's economy.

Gordon Brown urges the IMF to start selling gold reserves.

Basically we're skint and off to beg for funds from the IMF within the next three months.

Public sector workers should start to be very concerned tonight.

Bank workers should start to be very concerned tonight.

Car Industry workers should start to be very concerned tonight.

In fact, everyone that has a pension, mortgage, savings, overdraft, or any form of debt (i.e. most of us) should start to be concerned tonight.

Wednesday 1 April 2009

The UK: Sponsors of Terrorism

Not for nothing has the UK become a focal point for American anti-terror operations. They know full well the Islamic Ghettos of the Midlands spawn a whole army of young men, ready to die fighting against the very country that gives them shelter and support in the name of Islam.
Fundamental Islam has twisted and warped these men until they will kill without remorse, without sorrow, without any thought for themselves, their families, their country.

We have anecdotal evidence of British Muslims working against our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, of UK-funded medrassas used as fronts to train our young Muslims.

Until now, the righteous would read this and start bleating "racist". But no more. There is a change in US foreign policy and its allowing us to work with foreign governments to unearth proof now that so-called charities that are funded in the UK send British Muslims abroad to train to work against their own nation.

This report proves that medrassas abroad are being used to train UK Muslim men, effectively sponsoring terrorism.

The multicultural project has to come to an end. Its now time that allowing a state within a state, allowing Sharia law to be used instead of Her Majesty's courts is stopped in its tracks.

We are One Nation, with One Goal, One Purpose. Those who work inside the country to subvert the rule of law and the nation should be dealt with severely. It cannot be sugar-coated, it cannot be brushed aside under the guise of religious tollerance: Is Treason, pure and simple.

Today is an Important Day

Today is important, today matters, today is a crossroads, one of those major marks in the timeline we have occasionally. What has been, is and will be decided in and around the G20 summit matters greatly. The ramifications of the alliances, plans and fall-outs will become aparrent over the next 12 months.

It cannot be ignored, what the G20 eventually decide will have a global impact. It has the ability to do many things, I hope it will shorten the depression. But I do have my doubts.

There is no unified voice to the G20. Europe is splitting off and closing ranks, bolstered by the two usual suspects, Germany and France. Whether the Eastern Europeans now within the EU will put up with seeing policy dictated to the majority EU states by a minority of two is debatable.

THe UK and America, as always have cosied up together. Its an alliance that we can't afford to break. But as always it will reduce our standing in Europe. The EU countries see the UK as schizophrenic: we follow EU rules to the letter and try to be good citizens, but won't let go of our close American ties and fully integrate.

The reast of the G20 have their own agendas to work to as well.

I just wonder if anything useful will come out of it. Its a bloody expensive white elephant if nothing comes of it.

April Fools Start Early.

Just recieved this ad in my email inbox. It made me chuckle.

http://www.buyitdirect.co.uk/free_funerals_from_laptops_direct/page.asp

Tuesday 31 March 2009

Somebody Else agrees with my View on Inflation.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/liamhalligan/5066497/Its-time-to-admit-inflation-is-going-to-be-a-major-problem.html

A sound piece by Liam Halligan, although I disagree with his analysis on Crude Oil prices. I think the reason for the recent price rises has lots to do with commodities and futures markets buying into the hype from various governments and financial institutions that should know better. I reckon the plateau we've hit at the moment is temporary, not the bottom of the pit.

Once quantative easing starts to work into the economy and increases inflationary pressure, we will see big jumps of the inflation-ometer as that debt bubble is converted into funny-money.

But thats the plan. The only way to get parity back between wages and house prices is to bankrupt the economy, print some money, let wage inflation spiral a bit as house prices crash. Then we'll all be happy as we can afford bricks and mortar again.

Just don't tell our kids, who'll be paying for it when we're dead and buried.

Monday 30 March 2009

Brown Complicit in MPs Allowances Abuses.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7971221.stm

Gordon Brown has defended Jaqui Smith and her porn-watching husband, saying its a personal matter for her. She has apologised and should be left to get on with her work.

Well, sorry Gordo, but it would have been a personal matter between the couple had they not abused public funds. At that moment it become a very public matter, right at the heart of whether she's a fit person to be in charge of the home office.

Is someone dodgy enough to think abusing the rules to finance their house, or pay for TV porn on expenses fit enough to decide on Police matters? What right has she to be in charge of guardians of morality? The Home Secretary must be above reproach. Just think if such information had been secret, but then fell into the wrong hands? What influence could they have over a home secretary?

Which shows that MP's expenses and allowances need to be 100 percent transparent and accountable. Just like they are for the millions of workers that claim expenses throughout the country.

Sunday 29 March 2009

MPs and their Allowances/Expenses

I said last week that the abuse of MPs allowances had to stop. I was right. The revelations that MPs are allowed to finance second homes and now pay-TV porn show that the system is indefensible.

IT MUST STOP NOW!

I'm sure there's more to come, but it just shows how much contempt these troughing MPs have for their constituents. I hope and pray that the local office of every MP caught abusing the system like this call them in and hold them to account.

It also shows that there are systemic abusers on all sides of Parliament. It really needs a new broom swept through it and representation made the main focus. Maybe it's time we ended the system that allows professional parliamentarians to exist. Its pretty obvious that there are people who's sole prupose is to get into Parliament and stay there at all costs, in order to abuse the system and make money. I'm of the opinion its time to put a limit on an MPs length of office.

These are questions that require serious debate and action in Parliament, or they'll be sorted by braying hordes brandishing torches and cheeswire.