Alan Duncan Wins Few Friends For Stating the Truth
Alan Duncan has been criticised fior stating that the price of oil will rise. With all the volatility in the Middle East and the strong rise in demand the price just has to go up.
I’d far rather have a politician give us the truth, than give us platitudes and hope it will be alright in the end.
Are the Arab States Going the Way of the Soviet Block?
One by one, the Soviet Union and its satellites, which were all controlled by a matched set of hideous dictators, fell to the power of the people and eventually got that most fragile of freedoms; democracy. Now, only a couple of the former hard-line Communist states are the sort of places that wouldn’t tolerate people thinking like me.
So are we now seeing a similar domino effect in the various Arab states?
I do hope so, but if we are, will the dictators go as quietly and quickly?
I suspect not!
My Alternative to Alternative Vote
I don’t like the system of Alternative Vote, especially in countries, where voters have little political awareness. One of the reasons is that many just vote, by going 1, 2, 3 etc. from the top. Now that means that a lot of people with surnames beginning with A get elected. It is good for Balls, Brown, Blair, Clegg, Cameron and Cable, but worse for those like Milliband or Wanker.
I would prefer some form of elimination and runoff system, based on the principle that no-one can get elected unless they have got fifty percent of the votes. There would also be a none-of-the-above box. After the first round, if the one with most votes, got more than fifty percent, then they are elected. If the none-of-the-above box got over the magic fifty, then all candidates are banned and the election is rerun with new idiots. In all other cases, any who got less than say five percent would be eliminated and a simple rerun is performed.
The permutations are endless and it would clog parliament up for months deciding what should be done. At least this would stop pointless legislation being passed.
Labour Makes Voting More Appealing to Younger Votes
According to Seven Day Sunday on Radio 5, the Labour Party is thinking of calling the ballot box, the X-Box, to make voting more appealing to younger voters.
I know it’s a show you don’t take seriously, but I like the idea. The trouble is, it’s the sort of idea, you could believe had been thought up by a bunch of self-opinionated politicians.
Ex-Wife Exorcises Peer
This headline was in The Times today and concerns the ex-wife of Lord Taylor of Warwick.
It probably shows you should keep religion and politcs separate. In fact religion should be kept separate from everything.
America Puts Guns Before Fighting Crime and Terrorism
The story of Steven Greenoe is a classic farce and it shows how the United States love of the gun, gets in the way of fighting crime and terrorism around the world. Afer the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords, surely the country should do something to curb guns, which seem to be at the cause of much of the world’s troubles.
I recommend all United States politicians read my Abba Eban quote.
The Search for the New Ratfinder General
Rats have been seen scuttling around Number 10 Downing Street, for the first time since Cherie Blair was rumoured to have banished the last Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, Humphrey, to another place.
The real problem is not finding the cat, but giving the new appointee, a suitable name.
Abba Eban
I always like people who use English properly and thoughtfully. Abba Eban was one such person, although I may not always have agreed with everything he said and did.
The Times yesterday quoted him memorably in the second leader.
History teaches us, that men and nations, only behave wisely when they have exhausted all other alternatives.
Many of the world’s stupid leaders could improve their nations, by following the words of the man, The Times credits as the founding father of Israeli democracy
Boris Talks Sense
The unions are incensed that Boris Johnson has talked of introducing driverless trains on the London Underground.
But we’ve effectively had driverless trains on the Underground ever since 1967 on the Victoria Line. The so-called driver sits in the cab and when he’s satisfied that the doors on the train are shut, he effectively pushes a button and the train automation moves the train to the next station.
So as Boris said, everybody could drive an Underground train. Well not exactly, but any sane person, with a strong sense of responsibility and a degree of proper training could do it. I suspect that any bus driver could do it very well, especially as now, the average London bus, is probably almost as complicated as an Underground train. Remember, I’ve seen at first hand, what it takes to drive a train. But that was on a much more complicated line, at twice the speed and without the same degree of automation.
The unions are only delaying the inevitable day, when drivers on Underground trains, are only there for the rare times, when something goes seriously wrong. Even the announcements, when there is a problem could be done remotely from a control centre.
Nakd Bars
Good gluten-free snacks are hard to come by. But have the Welsh come up with something better than the ubiquitous banana?
Nakd Cocoa and Orange Bar
They certainly taste nice. My only worry is that they seem to be a bit addictive. They do say on the packet that the bars are “Gleefully made in Wales”
Is this another case of a food company being innovative to expand and get us out of the recession?
They are also following a trend of trying to make the packaging funny and very much worth reading. Humour is the greatest weapon in life and we don’t use it enough in marketing and business.
Perhaps the reason we got into the recession was have we ever had such a humourless bunch of politicians as Gordon Brown and NuLabor?
The Anonymous Widower 