[The Enemy of my Enemy] is Still not my Friend

If TalkTalk was not such an odious company I would thoroughly applaud this move by Andrew Heaney, TalkTalk’s Executive Director of strategy and regulation.

[Soul Searching] Vapours

“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.

History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.

I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem. I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

What is wrong cannot be made right. What is missing cannot be recovered.

I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.” So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.

The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.

Solomon, Ecclesiastes

A while ago I was discussing politics and the recession with a friend. I was doing what I considered my dutiful task of informing him of how all the decisions of Gordon Brown, since ZaNuLabour rose to power 12 years ago, have led to the bubble in house prices and the subsequent eonomic collapse. But my friend then asked a pertinent question which caused me to consider my very purpose.

If the Conservatives had been in power, would things have been different?

And the very truthful answer to that is, No.

It’s not just a political thing, it’s not just that ZaNuLabour stole Tory policies. It’s the old cliche that absolute power corrupts absolutely – greed, extravagance, gluttony, apathy,  envy, pride and anger. What have we not seen in recent days? There are very few people – and politicians are people – who did not fall into the trap of thinking the good times were never going to end. Everyone was happy to turn a blind eye to the injustices, to the corruption, the expense claims whilst the money kept rolling and the price of their house kept rising.

What would have been different? Nothing. And it’s this answer which has formulated my cynicism and means I will never have absolute faith in politics.

That’s not to say I don’t believe there are individuals who appear at times who see all this and really do want to change the system, but all too often they either fall to the dark side, or they find themselves being chewed up and spat out by a great machine which is fueled by the ignorance of man.

You think our politicians have learned from this boom and bust? You think things will be difference because they are putting rules in place to stop it happening again? Let me tell you that most of them don’t even know how to prevent it, or don’t really care, and of those rules they do make… they will be ignored by future generations just as we have ignored the rules and the lessons of the past.

So why bother even blogging about this, why bother discussing it? The most reward that any of us can get is the option to say “I told you so”, because we all lose. The truth about teamwork is that the team moves forward at the pace of it’s slowest member, and the same is true of humanity. For all our scientific innovations and discoveries, we cannot solve the problem sin. When I use this word, sin, I refer to human failings, things which are inherent in our nature which cause evil – deceit, selfishness, murder, greed, sexual desires, war… but instead of acknowledging these we redefine them. (The idea that someone would have sexual relations with a 10 year old disgusts us and strikes us as immoral, but the boundaries of sexual morality are being increasingly eroded. As adults fight for more sexual freedoms there is nothing to stop this becoming socially acceptible – all that’s needed is to redefine what constitutes being an adult. For instance at 10 years old in England, you can already be tried for a crime as an adult – why can’t you be considered sexually aware?)

But I digress. I have questioned why I should rail against something which cannot and will not be stopped as long as there is an unsanctified human race. A human race of which 1/3 does not even acknowledge God’s existance let alone as Lord. (And of those that do acknowledge and worship God, how many of them are truly taking a stand against corruption and not partaking in it?)

The truth is, I have lost the drive to blog about politics and world affairs, to question the system. I still hold strong political beliefs but since there is no longer any difference between man and pig, I no longer see a purpose in it.

Instead, I’ve taken some time to reflect on blogging, and I am going to go back to my roots in blogging about Christianity and experience – that means I’m still going to post the odd consumer post but I see my primary purpose in apologetics.

It may be something to do with having made my peace with the church.. or at least the church I now attend. It may be something to do with reading and listening to the arguments of atheists more.. which provides me a source of great mirth and sometimes deep thought.

Of course my co-author Hudson has a lot to say about politics and anyone else can be free to join and write for AaF about these topics, but I have said enough, and will now focus on something which is close to my heart.. and I guess, in that way, I’m being true to the subjects I’ve always posted on.. those that are important issues for me.

[Fundamentalism] Meet The Science Extremists

Religion has Osama Bin Laden*, politics has it’s fair share of Stalins and Hitlers, Atheism has Auvinen,  Sport has hooligans and Hollywood has Uwe Boll (just kidding). What about Science?

Five Mad Scientists Who Went Too Far in the Name of Science

*or is that politics?

[Economic Meltdown] Flash… Aah Aah He’ll Screw Everyone Of Us

Overheard at a desk in a major investment bank today:

“This MP basically said that they’re creating an inflationary environment… 15% interest rates, not this year, but over the next 3 years”

Make of it what you will, personally it tells me that everyone in the know is aware of what is coming next and what is needed, but for some reason Flash Gordon and Alistair Darling are out of the loop or didn’t get the memo. It’s also becoming clear that Flash is intending to pull a Zimbabwe and start printing money (he calls this “quantitative easing” – which is another fancy financial bullshit term for printing money).

You see there is only two ways out of a recession, inflation or raising interest rates. You should know what happens when the government uses inflation, it’s been done before by the Weimar Republic and more recently Zanu-PF.

But what about the other tool, interest rates? Well, you see, this would cause millions of feckless, leveraged, mewing borrowers to realise the difference between debt and wealth – can’t have that, or can we?

The fact is we’re dangerously close to the edge of falling into hyperinflation and while its difficult to predict how disastrous this would be we do know that fixed loans would be eroded away, but so would the value of GBP, the value of any savings and investments too (you know, the things used to fund borrowing) – basically our ecomony would become worthless and most likely we’d all end up informally adopting the Euro.

So why does Flash want to print money? There can only be one of three conclusions, either he…

• Has lost all sense of reality, delusional, thinking he is the saviour of the world
• Is incompetent. He has no clue what he is doing, no clue how to manage an economy and has sat on top of the biggest economic bubble in the history of the world, taking credit for something he had no part in. Or…
• Has engineered this, in part, on purpose. The most far reaching conclusion however I can’t help but wonder if he was hoping for a bust sooner, so that it would damage Bliar (and oust him out of office), or even, guessing (or feeling) he will lose an election soon, hoping to pass the bubble on to the Tories just before it burst (securing a short term for them, allowing him to be elected back into power at the next election). Far reaching but not inconceivable – considering all the warnings he has ignored over the 10 years he was Chancellor.

Whatever the reasons for his contempt of savers, the UK economy and the poor, all his actions are delaying the inevitable (and making it worse)… depression and potentially more civil unrest.

[Politics] Agorism – an Introduction

Foreword – This is an introduction to the political theory of agorism, which Lex has kindly allowed me to talk about here. I hope you find it thought-provoking and interesting. Sorry it’s so long (but I think it’s worth it).

***

A (Fairly Brief) Introduction to Agorism

‘Just once, wouldn’t you like to read a manifesto that’s been practiced before it’s preached? I wanted to. And I did it.’ – Samuel Edward Konkin III, Preface to the First Edition of the New Libertarian Manifesto.

[DeBushification] Obama… One of Us?

There’s a lot of cynicism out there about the man, Obama. It’s not entirely unjustified either, our American friends did not get to experience the enthusiasm and promise of a young Tony Blair becoming Prime Minister and ushering in a new wave of ‘Cool Britannia’. That was before the Millennium Dome, the spin-meisters, Iraq, David Kelly, Jean Charles DeMenezes, the surveillence state, banning of protest… and don’t forget all along Gordon Brown riding on top of a spectacular bubble as though he had brought a new era of wealth – ignoring all the warnings by people more intelligent than he.

So yeah, I understand the cynicism about Obama. However I can’t help but be won over by the actions of his first few days in office. Most of us were expecting the usual settling in period, the careful introduction of new policy and slow pushing out of the old… not so for Obama, why it’s almost like one of us got into the White House and set about putting immediately putting right what has gone so horribly wrong.

And like one of us, he’s bound to piss people off, get things wrong and misunderstand the old, establised process.

Still, in just 4 days he has ordered a stop to torture, rendition flights and secret jails, put a stop on staff payrises, taken away as much power as possible from lobbyists, set the closure of guantanamo bay in motion, embraced creative commons, honoured freedom of information, promised to put Israeal/Palastine on the agenda (which I see as a snub to our ponzi Middle-East Envoy), and now reversed one of Bushes executive orders to keep former President records private.

I don’t remember any such dramatic reversal or regime change in history apart from war and revolution.

Although I don’t agree with Obama’s policy towards the global recession and bailing out financial terrorists institutions, I have faith that this is not the same old tribal politics we are going to see. It is plainly obvious that Obama has character and he is not going to do things the same way. I don’t think America will be the same either.

I just hope he doesn’t screw up. I’ve seen so many great and inspiring people personally screw up… enough to make you renounce your faith. When I hear people gush about Obama, all I can think is “He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy.”

So, if you’re still a die-hard cynic, at least take consolation in the fact that even if he’s not championing your own personal cause, he’s making steps in the right direction. Much like William Wilberforce took on the huge political task of overhauling Britains slave industry.

[Minitruth] Loss of Confidence

This Post Is Rated: C for Controversial. Speculation over the decline of trust in British institutions.

In may, the Economist highlighted a YouGov poll taken earlier this year showing a general decline in the British peoples trust in public services, politics, work and journalism.

“…Confidence in almost every area of public life has fallen since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.” – The Economist, Trust Me, I’m A Judge

Unsurprisingly the only people to have gained more trust from the public were judges, whilst the usual suspects, including police, NHS hospital managers, estate agents, MPs and newspapers lost trust.

It’s easy to see why. I speak from my own experience in dealing with ‘the system’. People are realising that whilst those in authority seek more and more power over every detail of our lives, restricting our freedoms, judges are our last great hope in clearing our name and keeping society in balance.

Whilst the government seeks to speed up justice and skip past important checks and balances, the judge is a human being, our last recourse and hope for clearing our name and defending our innocence and rights. As the government have introduced more and more restrictive legislation, more and more British people have come to rely upon the courts to treat them fairly.

When are we going to have an honest, competent, open government? One that looks to the bottom line when making decisions and laws, a government that stands for integrity and trust?

I’m fed up of seeing pandering to the rhetorical right, unaccountability, cover ups, tax solves all problems, empty promises, technology solves everything, motorists are evil, environmental hypocrisy, weasel words, VIP treatment, cultivating fear, wasted money, not protecting UK citizens and allowing foreigners to dictate policy.

Technorati Tags: politics, corruption, yougov, the economist, government, trust, justice, united kingdom, legislation, law, judges

[Cover-Ups] Gordon Brown Homepage Switcheroo

Wow, that was fast!

This morning I had a visit from www.gordonbrownforbritain.com, IP 81.152.54.40. I must have struck a nerve because the image http://www.gordonbrownforbritain.com/images/homepage.jpg has been changed.

Either that or maybe they just rotate the images (perhaps they will rotate the images now to give that impression).

Reminds me of a university project I did critiquing the US CIA website back in 1999- A story I’ll tell another time maybe.

[Rhetorical Right] Big Brothers Charter

The American rhetorical right has published a new Big Brothers charter, and encouraging fellow fascists and Neo-Nazis to sign up to snoop on fellow citizens and report any behaviour which is deemed to be liberal or constitutional.

The charge is being led by Michelle Maglalang (for it is she, beneficiary of being born under a work visa, being of Filipino immigrant descent). Here is a copy of the Big Brothers charter:

Dear Suspect/Fellow Citizen/Liberal,You do not know me. But I am on the lookout for you. You are my enemy. And I am yours.

I am Big Brother.

I am traveling on your plane. I am riding on your train. I am at your bus stop. I am on your street. I am in your subway car. I am on your lift.

I am your neighbor. I am your customer. I am your classmate. I am your boss.

I am Big Brother.

I will continue to exploit the example of the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 who refused to sit back on 9/11 and let themselves be murdered in the name of Islam, to futher my politics of hate.

I will never forget to exploit the example of the passengers and crew members who tackled al Qaeda shoe-bomber Richard Reid on American Airlines Flight 63 before he had a chance to blow up the plane over the Atlantic Ocean, to further my politics of fear.

I will never forget to cite the alertness of actor James Woods, who notified a stewardess that several Arab men sitting in his first-class cabin on an August 2001 flight were behaving strangely. The men turned out to be 9/11 hijackers on a test run.

I will spy on you when homeland security officials ask me to ‘report suspicious activity’.

I will embrace my local police department’s admonition: Big Brother is watching you.

I am Big Brother.

I will accuse you of Jew-hating and America-bashing.

I will accuse you of hate-mongering.

I will raise my voice against religious minorities.

I will indoctrinate your children into the politics of hate and fear in our schools.

I will spread violent propaganda on the Internet.

I am Big Brother.

I will support law enforcement initiatives to spy on my neighbours, cut off their funding, and accuse them of murderous conspiracies.

I will attempt to undermine immigration laws and obstruct justice for immigrants.

I will impose my politics of hate and fear in my taxi cab, my restaurant, my community pool, the halls of Congress, our national monuments, the radio and television airwaves, and all public spaces.

I will not tolerate alternative points of view.

I will not be cowed by your Beltway lobbying groups in moderate clothing. I will not cringe when you shriek about ‘profiling’ or ‘Islamophobia’.

I will put my family’s safety above sensitivity. I will put my country above multiculturalism (under which Michelle Maglalang prospered, being of Fillipino descent).

I will not submit to your will. I will intimidate with my politics of fear and hate.

I am Big Brother.

[Profiteering] Road Safety Statistics

icWales 23 March 2007 – 13 Year Backlog to Repair Poor Welsh Roads.

“The maintenance backlog for local authority roads in Wales is estimated to take 12.9 years and each county council here has a maintenance budget shortfall of £4.1m.”

icWales 22 March 2007 – North-South Devide for Speed Camera Cash

“The Treasury will provide a fixed grant to each camera partnership, with Wales’ money, totalling £8.5m, channelled through the Welsh Assembly Government.”

DriveTime 24 March 2007 – Poor Maintenance Threatens Road Safety

English authorities receive just 40% of the budget they need to spend on local roads.
Welsh authorities fare even worse, receiving only 28% of the budget they require – just £1 per metre a year is spent on roads in Wales in comparison to £2 in the rest of England and six in London.