Difficult journey to Ghana Europe snow now here very intermittent connection speedtest 3kbps (sic) when working. Almost impossible post. Ghana Telecom privatised to Vodafone much worse. Try post tomorrow.
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Plus, technicolour, it wasn’t just Bin Laden that we they after – they felt it necessary to destroy the network in Afghanistan. That is, even if they had handed over Bin Laden (which was not going to happen), we’d still have to deal with KSM and all the so-called “Arab-Afghans.” And if the U.S. had Bin Laden in custody – don’t you think those terrorists would stop at nothing to kill people in the West?
Hi Clark, a good link on Haiti news is held up for moderation. But basicly, 10 or 20 thousand troops are going in, there is NO reason to believe theyll leave.
There is a long history of American military intervention in Haiti. It’s usually been brutal.
But now, people at this site seem to think that the U.S. military should stay out and let those poor people starve.
Fuck you all for using the plight of these people to score political points for your own benefit.
Your opinions, as usual, are irrelevant. This time, the American military has intervened for noble and righteous purposes, and the military will leave after certain objectives are reached.
Larry, that’s the point of diplomacy. Jaw, jaw, not war war, remember? Of course I can supply links, or you could just google the words bin laden, bush, taliban and hand over.
You see, when you say ‘the Taliban’ you see a horde of raving fundamentalists; and I see people, some of them mad, some not. Before this last attack, Afghanistan already had the most refugees of any country in the world. It was also one of the most mined countries in the world. It is not a place you bomb from the air in the interests of international diplomacy.
But hey, you got rid of Bush 🙂
Obama’s strategy, again? I don’t think I’ve got it quite clear.
do you now want me to defend Obama’s strategy?
Larry,
Its quite clear that most people are crazy, because they believe in stuff, without any supporting evidence whatsoever. Its a combination of various things that you can study in detail if you do a degree in psychology. Much of it is about basic human survival and the need to learn quickly without question, and to be loyal to the tribe.
It makes far more sense for a 3 year old to believe in Father Christmas because he has lots of supporting evidence including Christmas Presents.
However, things are rapidly deterioating, and basic science is no longer taught in most schools. They teach the “story” of science and indoctrinate the kids with religious mumbo jumbo that they call global warming.
The entire idea of religion, and the current entertainment culture is to stop people from thinking for themselves and asking basic questions. Most will believe anything they see on the TV screen, be it manufactured news or an advert to buy some piece of crap that have no need for and which may make them ill.
To answer your question, start a coal fire in a cast iron grate, and get some blacksmith bellows, and blow to make the coal as hot as possible and try and melt some chocolate before you put the tea in it.
Tony
Larry. Nope, was asking you what you thought you knew about it.
test
I like Glenn’s original question 🙂
“Can anyone think of a privatisation which made things better for customers, workers, or indeed for the country as a whole?”
Did anyone?
Being very charitable, I suppose one could argue that the privatisation of the gas and electricity suppliers brought competition, which pushed prices down a bit at first. But no, not really, since you ask.
The USA was effectively privatised after they told the British to piss off.
Whilst this did nothing good for the indigenous North American Indians, the white European invaders did extremely well for themselves at least until around the late 1970’s.
Meanwhile most of the State Controlled East eg Russia and China went through sheer hell, genocide and poverty.
Since the late 1970’s though, under the label of Globalisation, the USA has seen a significant fall in its real standard of living, with most of its wealth creating industries being outsourced abroad for enhanced corporate profit using foreign slave labour. Yet in order to survive above poverty level, both American husband and wife have to work full time, yet they are creating little real value. Until the 1970’s, the family could be supported by just one income.
Rather than being Privatised, The USA is now under the control of large corporate companies who control the government – ie the USA is effectively under State/Corporate Control. This is very close to Fascism which is even worse than Communism.
I would certainly have preferred to live in the USA, rather than Russia or China during the last century. However, that position may well be reversed now.
The fall of the American Empire is likely to be extremely painful and ugly.
Americans have been working their butts off and creating mayhem across the planet, and impoverished themselves in the process. They would have been better off staying at home and developing their own resources.
Tony
MJ
Back in the 1980s…Thatcher burnt off most of the UK north sea gas (20/25 years worth) into the atmosphere in order to give tax cuts to get re-elected and to make money for her friends in the nuclear industry. I remember three people going into number 10 to BEG Thatcher NOT to burn off all that north sea gas (picture off it was in papers at the time).They told her it would soon be needed…It was about three days later she came out off number 10 and was asked…”why are you going to burn off all that gas” she said…”I have agonised over this but feel it is the best thing to do”…I will remember that till my dying day. Norway spent their money to save their gas at the same time as Thatcher burnt off the UK gas and are now selling it to the UK.
George,
I don’t understand. Why did burning off the gas enable tax cuts?
Sorry, George, I meant ‘how’, not ‘why’.
Clark
I don’t know all the technical details but the gas had to be stored and that was going to cost a lot of money. We had the money to store the gas but in doing so Thatcher would have been unable to cut taxes which was one of her key aims.
“Looks like we handled the Gish Gallop quite well!”
Thanks! Not heard of the Gish Gallop before but I’ve definitely experienced it.
In fact, it was in an Irish pub that someone began telling me that “The collapse of the Twin Towers happened at freefall speed which is physically impossible according to the laws of physics and they used thermite squibs made in secret laboratories and Larry Silverspoon said he would demolish the buildings on live TV and then the Americans went to Iraq and they chopped off Nick Berg’s head in Abu Ghraib….”
And on and on and on…
In fact, as Clark says no one has time to check out all of these outrageous claims so they can end up going into the “Maybe” box IF they sound plausible and if they come from a trustworthy source.
Clark,
I think it was a case of maximising oil revenues, which was extremely short sighted. If you drill for oil, you are also likely to find gas, and storing it and transporting it is expensive. The government could have stopped the oil companies from flaring off the gas, by better management.
If it hadn’t have been for North Sea oil and gas, the UK would have been totally screwed 30 years ago, instead of being totally screwed now.
Energy, Food and Water independence is extremely important. We are probably going to have to re-open some new coal mines, because windmills are bloody useless in a winter anti-cyclone that lasts for months.
The Thatcher government may have been irresponsible with regards to long term energy planning, but the current lot (all parties) are completely insane in believing this CO2 causing global warming nonsense.
Burning coal in a power station is not a problem. Freezing and starving to death is.
Tony
“Can anyone think of a privatisation which made things better for customers, workers, or indeed for the country as a whole?”
I wasn’t here before they were privatised but Japan’s railways seem to run perfectly well. As far as I know the jobs are well-sought after. The trains are puntual except on the occasions that someone throws themselves in front of one. The prices aren’t high (I think British trains are more expensive). The different train companies run on their own tracks and have their own stations so there is no co-ordination problem like there seems to be in the UK or buck-passing etc…
Some unprofitable trainlines did close down, which is the only downside I can see.
angrysoba,
No one talks like that in an Irish pub, well not unless you go to a little room upstairs – I guess. You’ve not been inflitrating 9/11 truther meetings have you?
What else can you tell us about it?
Tony
“No one talks like that in an Irish pub, ”
Then I take it you sound nothing like you do here when you’re in the pub.
“What else can you tell us about it?”
The guy was nuts. An all too common malardy of the Internet age.
I just looked back at the title of the thread …
“Weather is here, wish you were lovely”
MARK GOLDING — RESPONDING TO YOUR QUESTION
After 3 years with them, I reached a decision that I did not want a long term career with Grosvenor. I had previously been told (by their CEO) that Grosvenor is a job for life and that good people never left Grosvenor. This statement of their CEO’s was I felt was a bit ominous, particularly as I was aware that a previous executive leaver had been professionally defamed / character assassinated after he had left the company, and that they had used the intelligence services to do it (a description of this was provided by me to the South Manchester Police in 2004 in writing (and Home Office in 2005), and it’s referred to on the videotape I made in 2006 with their Sergeant Hudson) ?” it is also referred to on the WIKI Chapter 7, item 11. I protested internally about this at the time, and because I knew they had used intelligence to defame him secretly (without his knowledge) I was absolutely appalled (and I believe it’s a precedent to what later happened in my case).
So (just to ensure that I wasn’t slandered) I gave Grosvenor a nice excuse and a long notice period; I leant over backwards to make the transition easy for them. Their relationship with intelligence was such that I knew I couldn’t look around without them knowing. During the 6 month notice, I was twice asked to reconsider my decision to resign and refused. I should just mention that I was heavily in demand in those days (before giving my notice) and that my relationship with headhunters was very good, so I didn’t have any doubt that I would obtain a first class job during the 6 months of notice. In fact, Grosvenor was to be the last permanent job I had in Canada to this day. Headhunters, who once courted me, now crossed the Street to avoid me. The change was like turning off a light switch. This is what MI6’s I/OPS “dirty tricks” department is capable of.
A top Civil lawyer, who I have known for years, who has headed up a major worldwide practice area for a large international law firm, who knows the story, who personally knows another whom Grosvenor Vancouver slandered, is scared of then. Referring to Grosvenor he said that they have “FAR TOO MUCH POWER”.
Let me give you an example of influence peddling. I gather you are a military man. Let us take Grosvenor’s owner. He stayed at school until nearly 20 and got one “O” level, yes ONE at age 20. And an expensive school too. On 11/2/2007 he was described in the Daily Mail as being “so very foolish”. Nevertheless influence made him Deputy Chief of Defence Staff in time of war.
With respect to your specific items:
(1) I left on friendly terms and was given a leaving party. Friendly to my face; slandered behind my back. I don’t think most executives knew what was going on (though the very top did); I didn’t either. A lawyer has given me a Canadian legal term to describe this “fraudulent concealment”
(2) I acquired knowledge that had nothing to do with business though it could affect 2 (c) (and I protested internally about this incident as well as the 1st paragraph incident). I have never threatened to disclose it. I do not believe it has anything to do with any of this. I did make reference to it to the Manc. Police. Look this company slandered all executive leavers; it is as simple as that, though god knows why! As for 2(b), not at the time and not when the intimidation started. More recently I have written to parliamentary committees and discussed this subject ?” because I believe it may be pertinent to the cover-up conspiracy. I do have reasons. I would much prefer to have all of this handled confidentially, but failing that as a matter of necessity I will put it on the internet.
Why did I resign from Grosvenor before getting another situation? Because I was heavily in demand and very highly though of at the time, and didn’t doubt that I would be spoilt for choice ?” what actually happened is amazing and I never expected it. Before I left Grosvenor I had been regarded by the headhunting community for some years to be a bit of a star. Anyway, I knew that I couldn’t look around without them knowing. This was not in any way a normal company; this company had the intelligence services at its beck and call. A bit like the movie “the firm” except its associations were with intelligence, rather than the mafia.
Did the price of gas and electricity go down immediately after privitisation? I don’t recall that, but I do remember there was a ‘nuclear levy’ which was added to electricity bills. The gov’t wanted to privitise the nuclear arm too, but then it was suddenly discovered to be hideously costly compared with any other means. Even when the gov’t insured the installations (because no private company would be mad enough to do so), Nuclear Electric produced the most expensive electricity on the grid. So every bill had the much disliked £11 – odd ‘nuclear levy’.
The ‘internal market’ of the electricity boards were a wonder to behold. Before, the various generating methods complemented each other – for instance, coal plants take a long time to ramp up and down, the nuclear plants worked a little faster, but gas generation was almost instantaneous.
But rather than leave the coal plants provide for the base load, nuclear the secondary loads and gas for emergencies and the fluctuating top end of demand, as logic would appear to demand, it was done the other way around. Gas plants were really cheap for the operator, because you only needed one man and a dog to run it. Even if the precious, limited resource of gas was being recklessly wasted this way. So they ran full blast all the time – the much criticised “dash for gas”, you may recall. Next, nuclear plants ran as hard as they could, because they had to recover costs from their fantastically expensive installations, trying to reduce the levy. Then coal had to ramp up and down to meet the fluctuating top of load demands, an almost impossible task, so a lot of electricity was just sent to ground (with National Power picking up the tab for that debacle).
I could go on at some length…
glenn: I agree. I was trying very hard to rise to the challenge and think of something. I don’t think the privatisation of the power utilities, or indeed any of the other services, were of any benefit whatsoever to the great majority of the population. It was simply a device to transfer key social assets in the hands of the banks.
“This was not in any way a normal company; this company had the intelligence services at its beck and call”
Roderick: this is at the core of your very disturbing story. It is also the part I find most difficult to comprehend. How can a private company have such influence over the security services? Does the company do work for the state? Is it to do with some kind of ‘old boy network’? I just don’t get it.
MJ: All this happened not just because of the ideological requirement to transfer money back – where it belongs – into the hands of the already wealthy. There’s a religious belief that, left to itself, The Market will bring about perfection. Competition will weed out every weakness in any system. Which is kind of odd, because co-orporation is what has brought almost every useful advance in civilisation.
Examples are numerous – betamax was inferior to VHS, but market forces determined VHS would dominate once it had gained a crucial foothold. Microsoft is a terrible infliction upon humanity, but has got all but a monopoly through market forces. The most ludicrous events occur as a market-driven expediency as a matter of course, and it’s just ignored – waved away – every time some apologist/capitalist True Believer wants to start talking (with a far-away look through a watery eye, and a lump in the throat) about how wonderful fully-fledged free-market lassie-faire capitalism would be, if those damned government-types with their red-tape and regulations would just get out of the way.
One more anecdote, please indulge me. The internal market to provide electricity for the national grid took the form of the main companies placing bids of how much per unit they’d charge. A bidding war one day in the early 1990’s drove the price/unit down to zero, so they were actually giving the electricity to the grid suppliers for free. Gas generation halted at once, but coal and nuclear couldn’t just stop production. The grid (distribution companies) made a handsome profit, until Scottish Power realised the potential, and bought vast amounts of free electricity to pump water to the top of its hydroelectric dam, filling it. When sanity prevailed and the price/unit was established at a reasonable level again, Scottish Power operated the hydroelectric generators, cashing in on all that free power they’d been given. Praise the sanity of capitalism, and trebles all round!
One reason I don’t like Microsoft…
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
Vronsky: “Can you imagine the Second Coming if it takes place in the US of A? A cigar-chewing General Jesus H. Christ and his platoon of disciples – Lootenant Peter, Sergeant Andrew, Private Judas.”
Hahaha oh man that mad me laugh. I would make just one small change, if it’s a US production then Judas would definitely be the science advisor. Pontius Pilate, French or Arab?
“You want redemption?”
“YOU CAN’T HANDLE REDEMPTION!”
*Starts shooting*
*lobs grenade*
MJ
Look at my comment above to Mark Golding. Do you see my paragraph about influence peddling re the appointment of a deputy chief of defense staff. All the facts check out ?” Its amazing. Being able to influence the security services is far less amazing than being able to influence an appointment like this in war time.
Then look at what happened when my wife and I went to the Guardian. Our personal file disappeared from their secure office (letter on the wiki from their managing editor confirms this). Fortunately just copies. My wife and I were threatened after leaving their offices; in one 24 hour period, my house was smashed into by a vehicle (property damage confirms), and my eldest son received very nasty telephone death threats in front of witnesses which he recorded. The transcript of the threats is on the wiki. Yet, the guardian is scared to investigate. A year later I filed a copy of that file with a Judge, and it disappeared again from the judge’s papers (transcript of the hearings confirms) Being able to influence the security services is far less amazing than being able to do all this and get away with it.
A weak ago on a couple of blogs on craig’s site I mentioned the extrordinary close relationship between grosvenor and the royal family. Some think that this would be enough to influence the security services.
Yes, I’m amazed that they can influence the security service, but it seems they can. What’s more amazing is that this case clearly demonstrates that the high establishment (and you won’t get much higher than this) can operate above the law with impunity. It is not just mine, but your civil rights and every body else’s that are on the line here. It is amazing that more people don’t demand justice.
It is still being covered up. 3rd party evidence on the wiki proves that. All I’m getting from the security services and their hired hacks is more smears. It would be nice to have some help. Plenty of evidence, and plenty of witnesses other than myself ?” look on the wiki for details. I am a little bloged out, and have to concentrate on getting my next articles out