Monthly Archives: July 2008

It was fitting that warmonger Obama should make his speech in front of the Siegessaule. This ugly monument to Prussian militarism was moved to its current place and enlarged by the Nazis at the end of the 1930s. The Goddess of Victory sports wings, as if from the Imperial Habsburg eagle. They formed the backdrop [...]

Senator Obama is travelling to demonstrate he is a great international statesman in the making. The more he travels the more compromises he has to make, and the more hollow will seem his message of wonderful change. Today in Berlin he has allowed himself to be billed to speak in front of the Victory Column [...]

The Parliamentary recess is a symbol and a symptom of the overmanned and under achieving public sector. Some of my Labour colleagues will tell you that MPs have to work very hard in the recess – they have to catch up with all the constituency business which the pressure of a Westminster session puts on [...]

Whilst the politicians in the USA are thinking of legislating to stop speculators in commodities, and MPs in the UK are busily enquiring into whether there has been speculation in commodity markets or not, the real world has moved on apace. The share prices of commodity producers are indicating falls in energy and some commodity [...]

It was music to my ears to hear Nissan’s revision today of their position that if the UK did not join the Euro they would invest elsewhere. They made a clear commitment to invest in Sunderland to produce their next new European vehicle there. When Nissan made that foolish comment it was damaging to those [...]

Today two pieces of news are juxtaposed which should make supporters of democracy pause for thought. In Zimbabwe we are told there is a chance that the dictator who lost the election may be about to sign an agreement with the Leader of the Opposition, offering some kind of sop to him whilst retaining the [...]

During this second cold and wet summer in succession it is good to enjoy the occasional day of warm sunshine, and remember wistfully past summers which were so much hotter. At least I can blog more, because week-end games of cricket are being cancelled all too regularly owing to rain and bad light! This week [...]

The Conservative Policy Review warned that the removal of powers from the Bank of England could make it more likely a bank went under. It also pointed out that the fiscal rules were well and truly broken a year ago and suggested ways to remedy them: 2.1. Making the Bank of England Independent The Chancellor’s [...]