Malala Yousafzai the 15-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the face at point blank range, by a Taliban gunman in the Pakistani region of Swat has just signed a $3 million (£2 million) book deal with publishers Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
The book, titled 'I am Malala', is scheduled for publication in the autumn. She says, "I hope the book will reach people around the world, so they realise how difficult it is for some children to get access to education. I want to tell my story, but it will also be the story of 61 million children who can't get education. I want it to be part of the campaign to give every boy and girl the right to go to school. It is their basic right."
The 10th of November has been designated by the United Nations as Malala Day. This is a day I will never fail to observe.
The remarkable story of this young girl, her struggles against the odds, the attempt on her life, her recovery and reconstructive surgery, and return to education, now in Birmingham (England) is awe-inspiring. Read all about it here.
Malala's story is so far removed from those children, egged on by self-serving politicians and a virulent champagne socialist press, who DEMAND £30 a week just to turn up to school.
Of course, they're not going to hang their collective heads in shame. We don't do shame in this country any more. We just do 'entitlements'.
It's a lot like a classroom where the students have to show up every day, but there is no teacher. There is a pile of books and no one is sure of which is the right book. Some students insist on one book, while others argue just as hard for another. Fights break out over it.
Suddenly, on the last day, the teacher appears and says he's been watching everyone the whole time. He praises the ones who chose the right book and sends them off for cookies and milk.
And then he sets everyone else on fire.
A free and open world increasingly depends on a free and open internet. The internet empowers everyone — anyone can blog, create, learn, and share. It is controlled by no one — no single organisation, individual, or government. It connects the world. Today, more than two billion people are online — about a third of the planet.
Hacked Off supporter Max Mosley told parliament he wants the government “to cut off the wires” to websites he thinks should be censored. Millionaire celebrities like Hugh Grant want to regulate free speech on the internet. They want laws to force dissident refusenik bloggers to risk paying exemplary fines if they refuse to submit to the regulator.
The Hacked Off-drafted press control Royal Charter aims to regulate any blog that carries news-related material aimed at readers in the United Kingdom. Tell Max Mosley we will not be cut off, tell Hugh Grant we will not be regulated, we will not be fined. Keep the world wide web open and free.
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| http://spectator.co.uk/ |
It's in your best interests, they said; it's for your protection, they said; it can't be misused or misconstrued they said.
Within 24 hours of the UK press coming under regulation for the first time in 300 years, Max Mosley and the folk at Hacked Off want to censor YOUR Internet. They want to block foreign websites they don't approve of in the same way that China, Iran or North Korea do. Given that they are intelligent enough to know that under current law they have more than adequate protection, and that much of who they are is down to the press, this is surprising.
That paragon of virtue, George Galloway has called for a ban on Twitter. Given his indefatigable proclivities, this is not surprising.
Jim Sheridan, the Labour MP who put a very splendid ivory and leather bed on expenses, thinks the press should now be banned from Parliament. He's a Labour MP. No surprises there either.
Meanwhile, we're still wondering if we can say anything at all. Lovely, lovely democracy.
For more opinions, look here, here, here, and here.
Thank you Kate Walker and Peter Risdon for pretty much everything on this post.
It's difficult to see the lighter side of this. Even with this from Private Eye:
On Friday, Cyprus froze all personal bank accounts in the country. This Monday is a bank holiday in Cyprus. On Tuesday, when the banks reopen, ALL bank deposits will have 6.75% to 9.99% taken off them by the government to help pay for its government's deficit. There is no escaping this and there is no recourse to appeal. The EU can demand that to be done.
Think about this for a while. Think about what it means for you, who worked hard, paid taxes and saved up money in a bank under assurances that it will be safe. If you ever thought politics had nothing to do with you, think again.
And think bloody hard, because I'm tired of telling you.
If you've been following the news, you'll know that one of the greatest industrial cities of the world, one that drove a nation, that exemplified human ingenuity, ambition, drive and innovation - a symbol of everything America stood for, the home of the world's greatest car industry, of Motown, now a shadow of it's former self - a ghost town of broken windows and a post-apocalyptic hellhole of decaying neighbourhoods, vandalised homes, abandoned schools and empty factories is facing bankruptcy. (Was that a long sentence or what?)
How did it come to this? Here's what I think:
- Overspending by the US government resulting in debt necessitating higher taxation and more regulation in an effort to shore up government receipts.
- Militant unionisation, leading to higher wages, benefits, and pensions among auto worker leading to foreign outsourcing.
- Shifting of expertise eastwards, a brain drain that killed off innovation in American manufacturing. Not only has there been brain drain from Detroit, but workers have moved as well. What used to be a bustling town of 2 million people, is now a zombie zone of some 700K people.
- Misguided attempts to prop up a failing industry sector with subsidies, which largely due to union pressure did not automate as quickly as the rest of the world, churning out brands with little traction in America and the rest of the world.
- Mindless printing of money, backed by nothing but a paper promise on future growth indicators and no other underlying substance.
- Foreign penetration of American markets, by nimbler, faster and unencumbered international players, notably Japan, Korea, and lately, China resulting in a balance of payments problem.
- Lax corporate governance, mainly due to the knowledge that government - and hence taxpayers - will take the fall should there be one.
- Insane and irrational attempts to revive Detroit through schemes that did nothing to address the above issues, like a mass rapid transport system in a city that produces cars.
Detroit is an indicator of what awaits the rest of the first world's industrial prowess. History will continue to repeat itself unless we learn from it.
In the end Detroit will save itself, but it won't be Robocop or the government that does it. It will be the people, the citizens who will pull together and make it work. I'll report back when that happens. In the meantime, there's the UK and Europe to think about, which are of course going down the same route.
Detroit files for bankruptcy. More details here.
I've noticed, when dealing with racism (or inequality), all we do is attack the symptoms, never the cause. The core cause(s) will take a different blog post to explain, and I might come to it another time, but here I've tried to delve into why our reactions to the symptoms are part of the problem. This post is a result of a recent Twitter rant. I'm prone to a lot of these lately...
For the purposes of this post, the word 'race' should be taken to mean 'culture' and 'religion' as well. Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis, some Persians and some Sri Lankans may essentially be of the same ethnic stock with fairly similar cultural and to a large extent religious values, but the insidious, divide-and-rule, new-age political nomenclature - a clever bundling of three very different words into one political theme - is a triumph of the Left. We've all fallen for it.
One of the ways vested interests feed into the problem of racism is focusing on the differences between people. That is the wrong approach. We have more in common with people of other races than we don't. THAT is never exploited. Mainly because it makes no money. The very public flogging of anyone who dares to ask an uncomfortable question makes it worse, and exacerbates differences.
"Political correctness is a very dangerous force. If people can't speak their minds, conversations become muted & debate withers." (Dr Carson)
Exposure to other cultures by force isn't a solution. That must come naturally, however long it takes. We must celebrate what we have in common. What makes us different will take care of itself. It'll take longer, but it will be solid.
I'd like to make a few points:
Firstly, the common thinking about bludgeoning people into 'understanding' other races is counter-productive. Secondly, the more you highlight the differences, the more divide you create. And thirdly, this approach reinforces and strengthens the 'race relations' industry. Many have profited from it and continue to do so.
This is nothing short of exploitation. It may have started benign, but the unintended consequences have been more division. Before anything else, we are human beings trying to eke out an existence. Customs and culture are essentially a fleeting social construct. Our differences are mainly geographical evolution, more than anything else. While the Leftons may have their heart in the right place, but this manufactured drive to 'equality' turns it into a different beast altogether. Humans are no different from animals fighting for territorial rights; this extends to the abstract realm of the mind as well. And that is where the Leftons/Socialists get it wrong. Or deliberately exploit it. All religions preach love, understanding working together, etc. What they don't teach is tolerance. The Leftons fall into the same trap.
Human nature has this amazing capacity to adapt, to learn and to evolve mentally, which is why we are successful as a species. All this is natural, it's basic instinct. Social engineering may be a good idea on paper, socialism may sound great in theory, but it goes against every human instinct. Wherever an artificially constructed social set up is imposed or enforced, it fails. The Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, North Korea, China - are typical examples of the kind of dystopia it leads to. Of course the Left use clever words to distance themselves from such tyrannies, but common sense says otherwise.
So, coming to my point - I don't think it is the business of a bunch of do-gooders to tell us how we treat our fellow man. I believe it is down to my fellow man to ensure I get him. To make sure I get his point of view and his cultural beliefs. If people buy it, great. If people don't, it dies. If it dies, it deserves to die.
Widow remarriage, for example. Widow remarriage was a no-no in most cultures. It is still is in many cultures, despite what the law says. An elderly Indian widower (aged 60+) I know, recently married an elderly widow (also 60+). Both have successful, educated, grown up children, with children of their own. Prior to the marriage, both were living alone - the kids had moved out years ago. Guess what? Neither's children have taken to this kindly. The couple are pretty much outcasts. In private most people within their family circles applaud this, but when in groups, they deride them. Snide comments like "Marriage at this age!", "Have they no shame?" are commonplace. This, in 2013. This, in the United Kingdom. There is nothing any kind of legislation or law can do to fix that.
There are places in Benaras (India) where widows are sent to live out the rest of their days, regardless of how old they are. Ostracised and secluded, like a nunnery and in extreme poverty, dependant only on alms. Of course the Leftons will never point that aspect of Hindu society in a negative light. They won't even acknowledge it. And then there's the slave trade. I once asked a question: "I wonder how many Black people were involved in the slave trade?" I lost over 40 followers, including 2 MPs, two of which DM-ed me before unfollowing me saying they objected to the question being asked. The truth is, there can be no buyer without a seller. The slave trade, while banned in the west - BY the west - continues in the Arab world. It started centuries before Europeans and Americans joined in. There's evidence, of course - in pretty much all the holy books of the region. The slave trade continues in India, a lot of Africa, Russia - In 2013, you can BUY humans. BUY. And sell. I recently read about incidences of slavery in modern day Britain. In the present day. Largely ignored under the umbrella of cultural rights.
Many years ago, there was a practice in Indian culture called 'Sati'. Under Sati, when a man died, his wife was burned along with him on the funeral pyre. Understandably, the British banned it. Sati still exists, but it is exceedingly rare. It is against the law in India and carries the severest of penalties. I'll concede, this is an extreme example, but Sati falls into the same category as arranged marriages, attitudes towards women, polygamy, inhumane slaughter of animals, forced marriages, enforced dress codes, FGM - and forced religious adherence. The Mughals - under Akbar - did ban Sati first, but then Akbar was hardly the stereotypical Muslim, was he?
We Brits have an awesome sense of self-deprecation. This great for comedy, but for it to dominate political and social thinking. Not good. Not when it serves to brush everything under the carpet under the shame of the Empire. Just move the fuck on.
My thoughts on this whole race relations thing? Well here goes -
Equality, in the manner of Leftonspeak is nonsense. We NEED differences. Those differences NEED to rub against each other. The resulting friction is where the society learns it's lessons. The learning from that friction is permanent. We need to BELIEVE something is good. Not blindly follow what we're told is good. This is how evolution works. In the process, some practices and customs - quaint as they are - will die out. They deserve to. Differences of class and wealth are the sole source of aspiration. If we as humans do not have anything to aspire to, we are finished. The arrogance of the Leftons comes from their assumption that they've got the human condition all sussed out. They bloody haven't. Bring me ANY idealistic Lefton, give me half an hour and I'll show you a contradiction. And I'm not even 'educated', goddamnit!
I for one fit (or fitted) into many neatly divided 'client groups'. Minority, asylum seeker, refugee, unemployed, ESOL, I rejected them all. Okay, I've had to live with epithets of 'angrez-di-aulad', 'coconut' and 'sellout', but they came from bigots. While I fight this battle against the ignorant who don't know better, it's painful to have to fight it against the educated Left wingers, who should know better.
And then there's immigration. Immigration is an easy bandwagon. And the laziest form of politics ever. Walking to my office this morning, I spotted 4 vacancies advertised in shop windows - in one of the sleepiest high streets in West London. Guess who's going to fill those vacancies? Immigrants. I'll report back in a few days, after I've spoken to all four shops.
I'm for completely OPEN borders, everyone is welcome. Please, come in. Help us build this country and pay for our pensions. However, if you're going to come here and overburden the infrastructure - which is already at breaking point, I don't think so. It's not very easy to get into the UK, so only the most imaginative risk takers - the bold and beautiful make it. We need to USE that. As long as 'infrastructure' is centralised - i.e. top down, it will always fall short. Open that up and supply/demand will sort it. A true libertarian will NEVER oppose unfettered movement of labour. However, they would oppose others paying for their subsistence.
Most ethnic minority values coincide with traditional conservative values.
The Left have done a stellar job of putting them at odds.
Most ethnic minority values coincide with traditional conservative values.
The Conservatives have done a shoddy job of tapping into this.
Most ethnic minority values coincide with traditional conservative values.
The Left have used this against minorities to great effect.
Most ethnic minority values coincide with traditional conservative values.
The Left have successfully painted them as victims. An easy sell.
The meaning of the word 'Multiculturalism' is subverted and no longer unites people. This is deliberate. This is Newspeak. A spade is a spade no more.
Most people in the UK haven't the faintest idea what true racism and persecution resulting from it is. If you're a British 'race card' enthusiast, look at this. I'm not saying any of the first world never did any of this - but this is 2013. For all their cries of racism, many ethnic minorities tend to be the worst offenders. The Left choose to ignore that. It would decimate their holier than thou, moral high ground built on the altar of multiculturalism. That, in my opinion is cheap politics.
And then of course, there's dependency on the state - one of the cleverest ploys ever. Here's a little nugget on unemployment and disabilities. You're not going to like it...
At the peak of Lady Thatcher's recession there were around 3 million unemployed PLUS 1 million on disability benefits. At the peak of Labour's good times boom (2007), there were just under 1 million unemployed and nearly 3 million on disability benefits. This not counting the legions on Income Support. In 2007, 4.5% of the country's working age population was disabled - to the extent that they could not be even expected to look for work. How does that compare with other countries?
I was in India recently. I had a full body check up. I walked in, and was out in 2 hours. It cost me 2500 Rupees (£30). Think about it, that £30 included a battery of blood tests, scans, a couple of X-rays and other tests. The clinic that did it, MADE MONEY. Nothing does efficient allocation of resources better than a free and fair market. I wonder what it would cost the NHS for the same tests. I have an estimate: £4,500. Other people's money, of course. This is a whole new topic. I'll probably pick it up on another day.
Security, freedom & opportunity. Not homogeneity, mediocrity & dependency. The Tories would do well to adopt this slogan. And the developing country refrain, "Trade, not aid"? It needs to apply at home as well. "Opportunity, not cotton-woolling." We over-ride it by codifying it. From our living rooms.
I'm going home to cook. Which reminds of one final point on the subject of racism. Chicken Tikka Masala (and other curries, naans, etc) are extremely popular in Britain. They're unhealthy, loaded with cream and strong spices and loads of salt. Indians like to say the perfect recipe for a heart attack is "Hurry, Worry and Curry". And rightly so. However, that hasn't prevented curries from becoming a national favourite - possibly more so than Chinese or even Italian food. This was not the result of "Indian Curry Month" or relentless leafleting and indoctrination. It was simply yummy food that won Brits over.
And that's how cultural memes and customs work and propagate. On their own merits.
Force fried bananas and baked apples down my throat and I'll hate you for it. Let me discover it on my own and I might take to it. Some imported customs will thrive, some will die. That's perfectly natural. That's how we grow as a species. Levi Roots' Reggae Reggae Sauce did more for Caribbean food than an entire decade of Black History Months. There's a lesson in that.
As long as the misguided Left own the rights to set the rules for political correctness, they will frame the debate. And common sense will continue to be throttled out of existence.
ADDENDUM:
21 March 2013
While I was writing this post, Mehdi Hasan was probably mustering up the courage to do what he did nine days later. He said the unsayable. His column in the New Statesman, titled "The Sorry Truth Is That The Virus Of Anti-Semitism has Infected The British Muslim Community" took guts.
His parting shot, "In 2011 Baroness Warsi, the then Conservative Party chairman, said that Islamophobia has “passed the dinner-table test” in polite British society. I agree with her, but what she omitted to mention, and what we Muslims must now admit, is that anti-Semitism passed the dinner-table test in polite British Muslim society long ago." is what my blog post is all about.
I wish I could say I rest my case, but there are still many deluded people out there.
There are THREE kinds of people that will turn up at your funeral:
The FIRST will be there because they are deeply saddened and wonder what life would be like without you in it. It will also include those that wished they'd made more of an effort to to reach out to you. Sadly they're the ones you take for granted most of your life. If you can think of anyone like that, give them a call. Do it this evening. Tell them you love them; they do.
The SECOND will be those that will turn up for the circus of your passing, and to make sure you're really gone. They're the ones that secretly copied and imitated you and yet talked ill of you. The ones that tried to undermine and discredit you when you weren't around. The ones that dismissed your parties as debauched hedonism, but burned up inside because they weren't invited. They're what made life worth living. And maybe even dying. They could have been your friends, if only they'd gotten past their own egos, their insecurities and their inadequacies. Well, party on. Nothing tortures them more.
The THIRD will be the ones that have to; not need to or want to. They would be the ones who meant nothing to you and vice versa. The ones you probably never ever met. The ones who are simply keeping up appearances. They'll come because they need to be seen to be there. They are the 'they' in "They say...". They are the 'people' in "What will people say?". They are the 'regrets' in "a life full of regrets." Ironically, you spend most of your time living your life on their terms. Stop it. Life's too short. By the time most people realise that, it's too late.
28th February, 5 AM, I went Twitter-mad. This is the 89-Tweet rant that followed. (In the correct chronological order). Enjoy. Agree. Refute. Click the picture to find and follow me.
01. I can't sleep. My day begins at 6:30am today and won't end till about 10:00pm. And then there's #bbcqt.
02. I'm knackered as it is. Yesterday wasn't a walk in the park either.
03. I'm gonna go all random now. Better to give up trying to sleep.
04. So, why are the Left called "Liberal"? I find that they're anything but.
05. I've lived through dictatorships, military rule, extreme religious-based governments, even a form of Sharia law and monarchies. >>>
06. >>> But nowhere have I seen a stance as hardline as the so-called "Liberals" and socialists.
07. I recently read an article in the Times, by Libby Purves, I think. Purves talked about "The Tyranny Of Cool".
08. While Purves was referring to pop culture and social behaviour, if I remember correctly, I can draw some parallels with how >>>
09. >>> socialism seems like a sexy and seductive idea.
10. I remember USSR of the 80s, when I would help my Dad with the business. The average Joe was pretty hard up in Russia.
11. I was too young to be chasing girls back then, but I remember stories of how you could "buy" the services of a >>>
12. >>> ramp-modelesque woman for an entire month for less than the cost of an evening’s drinks. And by services I mean >>>
13. >>> cooking, cleaning, shopping, and yes, sex on demand.
14. I was around 12 or 13 at the time. And yes, I did help my Dad in his business at that age, for three months of every year.
15. Having studied in India, we had this image of the USSR, superpower, rich, advanced. >>>
16. >>> When I was slightly older, around 15-16, I saw it firsthand. Even at that age, I could tell it was seriously flawed and wouldn't last.
17. And sure enough, a couple of years later, it fell apart. The champagne socialists carved up the country between themselves.
18. Rich barons were created overnight and formed a cartel of sorts - it was like Russia had gone back to the Tsars.
19. I saw it coming. I saw it coming before I hit puberty.
20. And my disdain for socialism, social engineering, big government was planted then. I read Marx. WTF was he smoking?
21. I remember once I needed to move some grain. We needed to charter a few planes and someone suggested I hire the ALN124s from Moscow.
22. The ALN124 is a beast. It was used by the Soviet war machine to transport tanks and troops. You can fit a Boeing 747 in it.
23. It was built at the peak of Soviet power, with no consideration to sustainability or cost effectiveness. They wanted it, they built it.
24. When the USSR collapsed, and market realities hit, they realised it wasn't economical to maintain them. They sold them.
25. The people who bought them tried to charter them out to transport goods, but there were no takers. It would have been cheaper to >>>
26. >>> charter three 747s for less than 3/4 of the money need to get that pile of junk into the air.
27. Plus, not many airports in the world could handle a plane like that. It needed more room than the Concorde.
28. There are hundreds of such examples from USSR, thousands maybe. On a smaller, but equally damaging scale we >>>
29. >>> do a lot of that here in Britain too. And we're not even a communist state. Or are we?
30. Over the next week or so, I will be tweeting out some of the disastrous ALN Ruslan 124s of Britain.
31. Some of them will make your skin crawl. Whether you're a well-meaning Lefty, or a misguided Commie, you will cringe.
32. Money, lots and lots of money, more money than you can ever imagine - YOUR money, money taken off welders and plumbers, >>>
33. >>> teachers and cleaners, shopkeepers and bus drivers under threat of imprisonment spent on things that made >>>
34. >>> not one iota of a difference to a single life. Apart from the company favoured by the state's patronage. Like the Tsars of old.
35. Corporatism is the government's creation. It is not the result of free markets; rather it is the intended consequence of regulated markets.
36. Put that in your pipe and smoke it for a while, before you ask me why I think so.
37. Socialism, that egalitarian utopia mostly monied folk write about in the Guardian is the biggest con going.
38. It's the easiest sell in the world. After all who won't buy into slogans like "fairness", "equality" and "prosperity for all"?
39. Most proponents that plug socialism have their faces stuffed with enough money that they're set for life.
40. The poor in the meantime, lap it up.
41. Many celebrities PRETEND to live in this Lefty la-la land. It goes down well with their customer base, comprende?
42. EMA, for example. There are countries where people walk for miles, barefoot to get an education. >>>
43. >>> Go to any city in India and you WILL find some kids studying late into the night - on pavements, under street lights.
44. We in Britain have to give all kids £30 a week just to show up? Oh and on top of that, free travel too?
45. Labour screamed when EMA was abolished, will they bring it back? Do they have the costings for it? Nope.
46. If you look at the Lefty blogosphere & Twitterverse, you'll find it's filled with well-paid or set for life individuals >>>
47. >>> wracked with guilt and self-loathing over their prosperity. They're always angry.
48. They come in all shapes and sizes. A surprising number are sorted by independent means - a book that did well, a trust fund, >>>
49. >> a very, well-paid, usually public sector job, a wealthy spouse, own home in suburbia and a lot of time on their hands.
50. The irony of course is that these champagne socialists acquired their means through capitalist means.
51. Their anger stems not from seeing inequality, but from feeling deep within that they are not worthy of what they have. Hence the anger.
52. So all ranting, all the raving, all the being offended on behalf of those-who-have-no-idea-they-should-be-offended is nothing >>>
53. >>> but their way of justifying their existence. To themselves.
54. And now, I think I should get some tea. :-)
55. Little do the Lefties and statists that decry corporatism know, they are the cause of it.
56. Strangle an industry sector with enough regulation and pretty soon you'll find all the little players wilt away.
57. This is how corporates grow, at the expense of smaller players - often mom-and-pop outfits edged out by government meddling.
58. In a completely free market, this kind of consolidation would be extremely rare. And if it does happen >>>
59. >>> profits will soar, when that happens more players jump into the fray.
60. Take for example, the horsemeat saga. Local producers of meat tick every box, cross every t & dot every i, incurring costs >>>
61. >>> that foreign producers don't have to bear. Result, we eat meat from abroad and our producers die out.
62. The playing field is not level at all. Now I'm not suggesting a protectionist stance, or even subsidies, but shouldn't >>>
63. >>> British producers and manufacturers be afforded the same privileges as foreign ones?
64. What the hell happened to our pottery industry? China didn't kill it. The tree-hugger do-gooders did it.
65. I don't these Greenoids either. Killing off entire industries in Britain, only to import the same stuff from elsewhere. >>>
66. >>> So we don't have smokestacks here. Great. Guess what? Your 64-piece dining set was made in China. They've got smokestacks now.
67. Cut down carbon emissions in the UK, never mind them moving to China, or India. It's not like it's the same atmosphere, is it? Morons.
68. And while India and China burn away 17 times as much coal as Europe, to make the stuff for us that we don't make any more >>>
69. >>> We're smug and safe knowing that we're going to arrest global warming with a special light bulb and a sodding bag for life.
70. That's been one hell of a rant. 70+ Tweets so far. I wonder if anyone's reading. My phone is hot!
71. The only Lefties I will ever believe in will be those that give everything they own away and live on what they call a living wage.
72. If you don't do that, your principles are a load of bull.
73. When I say give away, I mean everything. Except your house. That should revert to the state when you die. Can you do that?
74. I didn't think so.
75. And Lefties that own more property that the one they live and/or work in. Erm... how does that work with your principles?
76. I know a Labour Councillor who has EIGHT homes apart from the one she lives in. All rented out to housing benefit claimants. Cozy, eh? >>>
77. >>> Don't worry, she's not on Twitter. She can't even read and write in English. They use a Council-funded interpreter. >>>
78. >>> I won't be naming her, but there at least three people on my timeline who know whom I am referring to.
79. Some time ago, I blogged about the National Minimum Wage and why it's wrong. I got attacked, but of course... >>>
80. Lefties said "When the NMW was introduced; people like you said business would die. But see? Companies are making record profits" >>>
81. My reply, "Yes they are, on goods imported from abroad. We don't make it here any more. We bloody can't afford to."
82. I have to say though; the welfare state is the best idea since democracy. I believe in it. We're doing it all wrong.
83. India's launched a women-only bank. Public sector, of course. What next, women-only shops and bazaars?
84. Question: Would you go to a shop that is known to offer shoddy quality/service? Answer: No. You'll go to another shop. << Capitalism
85. The EU decides to cap performance related pay. As if there aren't other ways to pay people. The tax take doesn't change one bit you morons.
86. Governments in the developed world take far more money than they need to provide a solid, working welfare state.
87. Every year 1.3 Billion tonnes of food is wasted. 1,300,000,000,000 kilograms. That is a failing of regulation. Not markets.
88. Markets do not waste. There is no greater resource allocator than a free and unfettered market.
89. Right First Great Western, I've had a shitty night and a ranty morning. You had better not add to it.
And with that, I went to catch my train.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory not defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt | Citizenship In A Republic
