DUFF & NONSENSE!

The Sunday Rumble: 5.8.18

God, I'm good!   Like most of you, I guess, I woke early with brilliant sunshine streaming in through the window of my bedroom and thus ensuring absolutely zero chance of getting back to sleep.  I may have boasted told you before that I am 'i/c ironing' in my house on account of my military training!  Anyway, this morning, I leapt from bed and 'dashed away with the smoothing iron' so that by 7.30am it had all been done.  Then I made breakfast - yes, only tea and toast but still! - and served it to the 'Memsahib' in bed.  Yes, ladies, I am available for hire, just tell me where you live (if it's 'oooop north, don't bother!) and send me a photo of yourself in your favourite bikini.

 

The heat seems to be getting to Dan Hodges:   Normally, I am a great admirer of Mr. Hodges but his column today in The Mail  shows distinct signs of hysteria.  According to him, there has been a sudden influx of new recruits into the Tory party and it is all part of devilish, cunning plot by, er, well, Mr. Steve Bannon actually.  He, you will recall. was an alleged 'mouth-frother' from the Trump campaign - until Trump fired him - and he is determined to become the puppet-master for a new Tory party!  I know it's a dead season for political news but for goodness sake, Mr. Hodges, take a few days off and go and paddle in the sea at Brighton!

 

Happily, Peter Hitchens' brains have not yet melted:   In his usual acerbic style he reminds us that not the least of Tony Blair's manifest sins was the surrender of HMG to the IRA with the result that the man who murdered several people in his efforts to blow up the entire Tory government in the Brighton attack is walking free with not a care in the world whilst a 76-year old ex-Para is under the (metaphorical) cosh of a police investigation into events that occurred in 1972!  So where, I wonder, is that young, big-mouthed chancer who, God help us, is the new Secretary of State for Defence?

 

What's the Spanish for 'Bugger, I missed'?   Apparently, the Venezuelan equivalent of 'Dad's Army' attempted to 'off' the raving Marxist idiot who has run his country into abject poverty by means of an explosive drone.  Alas, they missed!  Don't expect to see many public appearances from President Maduro from now on!

 

And lo, the 'Heffalump' foretells the Tory future:   And you ignore him at your peril!  The scaffold is slowly but surely rumbling towards Downing Street and there will be 'a hanging in the morning', er, well, in the next few weeks/months, anyway.  'St. Theresa of May', is probably a very nice woman in her private life but, alas, at the top level of both national and international politics she is the equivalent of 'Coco the Clown'.  If she had bothered to read this, er, wise, shrewd blog, she would have known years ago that the 'Brussels comintern' will offer her absolutely nothing but humiliation.  They have been mortally offended by what they see as a repetition of that gesture made famous by the English archers at Agincourt!  We have, like English football supporters, spoiled their party, pissed in their smug, self-congratulatory champagne and told them to stick their 'pate de fois gras' where the sun don't shine!  That she still thinks that it was worth interrupting her holiday to smooch with 'Mini Macron' indicates that she is on a different planet accompanied only by the latter-day 'Sir Humphries' who smoothly guide her from one disaster to another.  For God's sake, please, someone open the trapdoor and let her drop, and then march old 'Boing-Boing' Boris into office.  At least he will provide a few laughs!

 

Makes yer prard to be British!   I had no idea we were so inventive but, courtesy of 'Mirrorpix' I now learn that we Brits were the first to invent toothbrushes, lawn-mowers, linoleum, flushing loos, folding push-chairs and, of course, the world wide web.  That's just a few of the things we invented- jolly good show!

 

But this doesn't!   In Feb 1936, Sir Robert Vansittart, Grand High Panjandrum of the Foreign Office, wrote a memo in which he suggested that Hitler might be satisfied with the gift of a few colonial possessions.  Needless to say, he wasn't!  Then Vansittart pointed out that following the Abyssinian imbroglio, the Versaille system was broken.  In that, he was spot on.  Then he went on:

"... little or no latitude can be allowed to Germany for expansion in a densely peopled Europe, where expansion, in fact, really means robbery and murder . . . We cannot make a stand for Abyssinia and connive at the spoliation of Lithuania, or Czechoslovakia, or Austria."

As Richard Lamb points out drily, "This was in the event exactly what the British government did."

 

See, those commas count!   A story in The Daily Mail reports that a murderer was convicted on the evidence of a linguistics expert who analysed text messages sent on the victim's phone after her death.  The idiosyncratic use of commas and other things, matched messages found on the killer's phone.  Gotcha!

 

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

That Trump fella' is a bit of a 'flim-flam' man!

Like the best of conjurers, he distracts you with one hand (or in his case, his mouth!) whilst fixing the cards with his other hand.  Or at least, that is how Mr. John R. Bradley sees it in this week's 'Speccie'.  According to him, there has been a major stitch-up in the Middle East with all sorts of 'enemies' now becoming 'friends'.  Well, not exactly "friends" perhaps but at least 'working partners'!  You only need look at the list of ingredients that has gone into this melting pot to be amazed that the oven didn't explode!  Russia, the USA, Israel, Assad's Syria, Iran, Hezbollah, Saudi and the Gulf States have all quietly agreed to a new (sort of) settlement which gives everyone something.

First of all, America, up to its chin in fracked oil, now has the chance to pull out of the Middle East in which it no longer has the slightest interest.  Russia gets to keep its naval facility in the Med but given the parlous state of the Russian navy, a fat lot of good it will do them!  'Vlad' will continue to sleep with Assad and we hope they will both be very happy together!  The Israelis have gained their main objective of keeping all hostile forces well clear of their frontiers.  The Iranians have been promised 'loads'a dosh' from Vlad for their 'petro' industry but I would advise them to clear the cheque fast!

That, as you would expect from this, er, distinguished blog, is a very rough summary of a complex analysis by Mr. Bradley and I would urge you all to read the original article for a full understanding of the myriad details.  The most important factor is that the USA under 'The Don' is intent on pulling out of the Middle East.  He has already indicated his irritation with NATO so one wonders how long (or short!) it will be before we all stand on the seashore waving goodbye to American military power?

Suffice to say, I think, that "the times they are a-changin'!" and very, er, 'bigly', too!

 

What's the opposite of 'stasis'?

I ask because we are about to find out - the hard way, I fear!  To me, in retrospect, I feel that I have lived most of my life in a semi-frozen state beginning with the apparently monolithic Soviet 'empire' facing off against the 'yuuuuuuuge' American behemoth.  This state of affairs forced smaller nations to weld together and one result was the growth of trans-national organisations operated by tribes of multi-national delusionists who thought they were the new 'Rulers of the Universe'.  Behind them, of course, were the real 'Rulers of the Universe', a relatively small collection of mega-zillionaires seeking to influence matters to their own personal advantage.  These increasingly powerful entities are now facing a totally unexpected threat - Donald Trump!

He is like the "very naughty boy" who goes into the nursery and wrecks everything!  World Trade Organisation - smash, take that! G7 Group - crash, get outta my way! NATO - bash, pay up or else! China - you cheated so now you pay!  And so it goes on, nothing is sacred.  If you're not with me, you're 'agin' me, in which case you better look out!  It is impossible to forecast the result of this 'Trumpian' whirlwind except to acknowledge that we are moving into 'interesting times'.  Fasten your seatbelts is the best advice!

 

The Sunday Rumble: 1.7.18

Saturday night/Sunday morning:   All a bit odd, really, because I woke at 3.00am, listened to the radio until about 5.30, got up, wandered about downstairs and flicked through every TV station - nothing but crap, so no change there, then! - read for a bit and then went back upstairs and slept like a log until the 'Memsahib' woke me at 9.30!  Now, of course, I don't know whether I'm on foot or horseback!  You have been warned!

 

An Anglosphere, that's what we need:   As Daniel Hannan in The Telegraph explains cogently this morning.  At the same time he praises John Howard of Australia and Stephen Harper of Canada, two former Prime Ministers who remembered the importance of unity in the English-speaking world even as we, the Mother Country, forgot it and joined the European crime family!

Imagine a trading concert (not a bloc – emphatically not a bloc) that brought together Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Hong Kong on the basis of mutual recognition – on everything from cars to medical qualifications. We might throw in Israel, too, which is often overlooked, despite having broadly the same legal and commercial norms as the others. Such a nexus would have 480 million inhabitants to the EU 27’s 450 million, and a significantly higher GDP per head. And that’s before we consider tie-ups with EFTA and the wider Commonwealth.

What can one say, except  - BRING IT ON! 

 

How could I have forgotten this one?   A few days ago I provided you all with a primer on the very best films - ever!  I hope you are all deeply grateful!  Of course, given that I am now, officially, 'an old git', I had to add a few more titles which had fallen through the gaps in my memory.  Then, yesterday, I was forced to smote my forehead and wonder how in hell I could have forgotten one of the funniest movies I have ever seen - Monsieur Hulot's Holiday.  Yes, it's in French but as there is minimal dialogue that is not a problem.  However, what might be a problem is the very real danger of you falling off your settee helpless with laughter!

 

'Twas the Fickle Finger of Fate, (Sir) Lewis:   But fear not for your Knighthood, (Sir) Lewis, I am sure 'Her Maj' will have been very understanding and next week it is the British Grand Prix and I have every confidence!

 

Don't read this if you have just eaten lunch!   As so often 'Kalifornia' leads the way - to hell!  The always excellent IHTM site points us to a story in Red State which reports that a couple in 'Kalifornia' have been questioned by police when they reported to a clinic claiming that they 'feared' for their unborn child.  After examination, a dead foetus of some 30 weeks was extracted showing a fractured skull and other injuries.  The woman's stomach showed considerable bruising and it appears she had agreed that her boyfriend would punch her several times in the stomach in order to kill the unborn child.

On Monday, Deputy District Attorney Gina Pearl said the case isn’t so simple:
“We’re actively reviewing it. It’s a unique case. We’re still investigating. There’s a lot of different angles.”

Pearl said there will be no charges if “the act was solicited, aided, abetted, or consented to by the mother of the fetus.”

So, nothing to see here, move along! 

"Oh brave new world".

 

Will the real 'AMLO' please stand up:   No, I didn't know what 'AMLO' meant either until, of course, I read 'Diplomad's post in which all is explained.  It stands for (deep breath) Andrés Manuel López Obrador who is widely tipped to be the next President of Mexico, well, if the sundry collection of crooks, dope-dealers, killers and gangsters who really run Mexico, permit him to be President.  The jury seems to be out on whether 'AMLO' is "A Good Thing" or "A Bad Thing".  Read 'Madders' post and commentary for more info!

 

This do portend the end of the world, I tell 'e!   Here in deepest, darkest 'Zummerzet', we have just enjoyed put up with ten years months weeks, sorry, ten days of seriously hot sunshine but this afternoon these big wet drops of water fell from the sky and , I tell 'e, it do bode no good!

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

Is Trump a cause or an effect?

I am prompted to raise this question by an interesting article published in the NYT by Ms. Kori Schake who is the deputy director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.  She, like me and, I guess you, is biting her nails and wondering about the cause and effects of the rumbustious Trump 'doctrine'.  I place inverted commas round the word 'doctrine' because it might seem to indicate that Mr. Trump has produced a carefully worked out strategic course for the United States to follow in a new world where the old order is not just declining but disintegrating.  In fact, of course, he is mostly indulging his whims and prejudices which is not to say that he is wrong, merely that we will not be able to judge their efficacy until the results start rolling in.

Take his opening salvo on tariffs in what is likely to be the start of an international trade war.  I hesitate to be too definitive in discussing the rights and wrongs of this because economics is a ferociously complicated subject ill-understood by virtually everyone - including economists!  The cry has gone up that it is a blow against free trade but, 'as any fule do no', we do not have free trade!  Instead we have an international mish-mash of different tariffs for different folks at different places and at different rates.  Needless to say, governments being governments, they cheat a lot!  America, being (for the moment!) the 'yuuuuuuuugest' market in the world is particularly irritated by this constant cheating which costs it a fortune even if, at the same time, it provides opportunities for Americans to make a fortune!

It seems to me that President Trump has started a game of squash, not in a nice, neat court with four walls, but a crazy room with multi-facetted walls, a sloping floor and with at least ten powerful opponents.  Good luck with that one, Mr. President!  My guess is that it will only be a matter of time before the roof falls in - on everyone!

 

The Sunday Rumble: 10.6.18

'The personal is political':   Well, it is in Donald Trump's world, judging by his hissy-fit against that drip who is Prime Minister of Canada.  Of course, ripping away the diplomatic obfuscations that veil the realities of diplomacy allows us all a quick glimpse of the 'naughty bits' which add so much to 'the gaiety of nations'!  Even so, 'yuuuuuuge', 180 degree, policy changes made off the cuff in response to perceived insults and/or hurt feelings is hardly the stuff of strategic diplomacy.  The whole subject of international trade tariffs is fraught with both complexity and, in a tense world, considerable danger.  Personally, I tend to the view that real free trade is infinitely preferable to a system in which governments use their tax powers to bend the rules.

 

The Archbishop of Canterbury is a total tit!   I may pop over to St. John's church this morning and offer up a prayer to God that he send down a thunderbolt and turn Justin Welby into stone!  This, at least, would put a stop to the endless stream of total idiocy that pours forth from his ever-open mouth.  His latest 'sermon' was to the effect that the EU was the greatest creation in Europe for 1,500 years - yeeeeeeees, quite!

 

And here's something useful he could do:   Yes, it's Welby I'm referring to!  I actually went to church the other day - no, no, I haven't been converted - it was to attend the funeral of a neighbour.  All I can say is that church pews would have been useful back in the day when I was an Army interrogator.  Forcing a prisoner to sit on one of those for an hour might be construed as 'cruel and unusual punishment' but they would have sung like canaries!  So, Welby, old chap, try providing your congregations with comfortable seats, it might improve your 'box-office' numbers!

 

Am I a Yankee-doodle or a true blue Brit?   That was a question faced by the inhabitants of America in and around 1776.  I put it in childish terms but actually to those concerned it was a matter of life and death.  Love of country is a powerful feeling but many of the settlers in the 'new England' of that period were severely tested in choosing precisely which country they loved - or detested!  As you can guess, I have started reading the biography of Benedict Arnold which I mentioned a few days ago.  I am utterly hooked already and, at shamefully long last, I am beginning to learn some American history.

 

Did the earth move for you?   I ask because according to the news there was an earthquake somewhere 'ooooooop north' last night.  Rumours to the effect that sales of Newcastle Brown Ale reached record heights are not to be believed!  Several city centres were reduced to rubble but nobody noticed!

 

Put that man on a charge!   Field Marshall Guthrie, former Chief of the General Staff, fell off his horse during the Queen's birthday parade. 

 Mind you, he's 79-years old, my age, and I don't think I could sit on a horse for that long on a warm day wearing all that paraphernalia and a helmet!  He was rushed to hospital but all is well.  Back in the day, he commanded the SAS so he's a tough old bird!  It reminded me of when my best mate in the army fainted on a guard of honour outside a church in Aldershot.  He told me that flat on his back he opened his eyes and there was the very red, angry face of the RSM inches from his.  "What did he say", I asked?  "He just hissed at me that I had fucked up his parade", he replied.  "So what did you do", I asked.  "I just shut my eyes", he said!

 

'The times, they are a-changin':   Another photo from Trooping the Colour.  Can you spot the odd man out?

Heavens to Betsy!  A turban and a full set of whiskers!  Mind you, he's a Sikh and given their ferocious fighting reputation I would not advise making with the jokes.  Well done, Guardsman Charanpreet Singh Lall, your people have played a large part in British history and you deserve your place amongst Her Majesty's Guards.

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

 

Oh my Gaaaaard, Donald just pushed the red button!

No, no, not the 'yuuuuuuuge' red button on his desk which is bigger than 'Fat Boy Kim's, I mean the smaller one marked 'Trade War'!  Now, I realise, of course, that higher economics is well above your intellectual levels but not so for me!  Remember, I told you before, that back in the early '80s when 'that woman' had just torn up every accepted economic nostrum to the horror of all the 'experts', I was provoked to attend a series of ten lectures given by an Oxford professor of economics.  It may only have been ten lectures but with my 'yuuuuuuge' brain it was enough to put me close to a Nobel Prize in the subject!  Unfortunately, with advancing old age I can't now remember a damn thing about it!  Well, except the fact that almost all of the economic swots of the time who warned of economic catastrophe if 'that woman' did what she threatened were completely and utterly wrong!  Such faith that I did, just about, retain in economic 'experts' has just taken another hammering given that most of them have been proven clueless over Brexit which, they howled and moaned, would be an economic Armageddon!

Even so, that absolutely dependable guide to all matters economic and/or political, er, that's my gut, by the way, tells me that in slapping high tariffs onto foreign imports, 'The Donald', in all his wisdom - who sniggered? - may have started the ball rolling to - well, where-ever!  Who knows?  I certainly don't but then I thought he might have over-played his hand when, metaphorically, he gave 'Fat Boy Kim' a slap - but look what happened, 'Kim' more or less surrendered!  Yes, yes, I know there's a long way to go yet but all the foreign policy 'experts' got that one wrong, too!  Anyway, back to the 'trade war', if there is one, I can only suggest that there are just too many "unknown unknowns" for anyone to be certain of the outcome.  Mind you, if some of those lying liars who run the corrupt car manufacturing racket in Germany suddenly feel the sort of squeeze they helped exert on the rest of Europe, well, I for one will not break down in tears!

 

Push turns to shove

I am sure my knowledgeable readers will, like me, have picked up an increasing number of reports recently indicating that China is beginning to flex its muscles and, as the old song has it, "There may be trouble ahead".  Actually there is no 'maybe' about it, the Chinese are definitely pushing their soft and hard power in all directions and an article at Zero Hedge sums it all up.  The immediate aim appears to be to form a tripartite agreement between China, Pakistan and Iran - yes indeed, a truly unholy triple alliance!

Interestingly, the Chinese appear to be following the old, historical British example of using sea-power to take over or build new harbours from which they can dominate the sea-lanes of the world and its trade.  They have already begun to dominate the South China Sea and unless America asserts its rights, and those of other nations in the area, then this vital seaway will become a Chinese lake!

I do hope that American strategists are shouting the message through the thick, golden halo of hair that sits atop President Trump and that he gives up tweeting and spends more time listening to the various options.  Inevitably there will be a crunch-time and Washington needs to have the results of its analyses well worked out.

 

So just how guilty were the Germans?

Well, it will only take you less than three nano-seconds to realise that it is a particularly silly question!  Even so, Mr. Michael Curtiss at The American Thinker poses it and starts his essay with a witty, 1943 line from Noel Coward,

"Don't let's be beastly to the Germans. Their Bach is really far worse than their bite," sang Noel Coward in his song written in war-torn Britain in 1943."

The Germans certainly have a peculiarly militaristic history beginning, perhaps, in the year 9AD when Arminius ambushed three Roman Legions and didn't just defeat them but wiped them out - completely!  Of course, Germany as we know it today did not become a nation state immediately and for centuries there were, so to speak, several Germanies.  Situated as they were, and still are, in the centre of a potentially hostile continent imbued them with a respect for armies and what they can achieve.  The 19th and 20th centuries which saw German unification simply added to the pressure to ensure that German armies were maintained at the highest levels of efficiency.

In the late 19th century, the mighty - overmighty? - French were humbled but then, of course, German pride - arrogance? - turned to hubris and in 1914 a particularly stupid Kaiser turned Europe into a mass graveyard and ruined his own country in the process.  Now, at this point you would think that Germans might have learned their lessons and been wary of militaristic leaders bent on war but, of course, like 'peeps' everywhere too many of them forgot or ignored the lessons of history and they promptly elected a lunatic to run their nation.

As we all know, Hitler combined his mad dreams of world domination with a particularly evil hatred of non-Germans.  This was not confined just to Jews, although they, of course, were easy to catch and to kill, but in Hitler's eyes any sub-group would do to feed to the murdering machine he built up over the years.  It is also worth stressing that he was not alone.  Long before the concentration camps were built, Stalin had led the way with his gulags, and as soon as the war was over, Mao exceeded all their efforts.  Nor, speaking as a Brit, should we ignore our own efforts in the mass killing game as any knowedgeable Indian or Irishman, to name but two, would tell you.

So, having set the historical and geographical context, let us return to the '30s and '40s and ask just how guilty were the German people for Nazi crimes against humanity?  As Mr. Curtis puts it in his article:

The controversial issues remain: what did Germans know of the terror, the discrimination, and the Holocaust by Nazi Germany? Did they approve, oppose, or remain silent?

Well, unsurprisingly, the answer seems to be that some knew and either approved or disapproved or did their very best to ignore it and some (I suspect very few!) claimed not to know anything.  However, even if guilt is proven the question then becomes - so what?  The German people as a whole suffered for their folly and there's an end of it!  The important question for the rest of us is what are we doing today to remain alert and watchful at the behaviours of our own governments?

 

 

Let there be light - and you could see all them 'effing' sinners!

As a confirmed 'noos-aholic' I must admit that it is exceedingly difficult these days to tell genuine from pretend, or if you like, real from false news.  Today a small piece at Zero Hedge took my eye.  It emanated from a researcher at the University of Chicago - yeeeees, quite!  Even so, what he has to say smacks of the possibility that he is bang on!

Mr. Luis R. Martinez, a research swot, suggests that the governments of authoritarian states exaggerate their GDP statistics - yes, I know, shockin', shockin' and 'whodathunkit'?  He arrives at this conclusion by looking at pictures - yes, indeed, that is the sort of research even I could undertake! - which shows, via satellite imagery, the changes in the amount of night-time lighting that takes place within certain countries.  Here is a perfect example from the two Koreas:

Another economic swot, Mr. Michael Pettis, reckons that China's claimed GDP of nearly 7% could be off by 3 to 4%.  What a bunch of lyin' liars and why am I not surprised?

 

Conscience is worse than a nagging wife

Regular readers will know of my abiding admiration for the Jewish race.  Of course, like all of us, they have their faults and weaknesses but, dammit, it is impossible not to admire their intelligence which has been honed, I guess, by the desire to exist despite several thousand years of persecution and a world-wide enforced diaspora.  It is entirely understandable, with that history, that the Jews yearned for a return to what they consider to be their homeland in Palestine.  It is also understandable that a considerable number of non-Jews, many of them in high positions of political power, and all troubled by their consciences given the never-ending, historical cruelty meted out to Jews, threw their weight behind the idea of a Jewish homeland.

It was worthy but was it wise?

This irritating question has niggled away at the back of what passes for my mind for several years because whilst it may have brought joy to Jews, equally it brought extreme distress to Palestinians.  This morning, Melanie McDonagh at The Coffee House, sums up the moral and political dilemma:

[W]hen it comes to the founding of the state of Israel 70 years ago, the inescapable fact is that it was founded on the expulsion or displacement of over 700,000 people, Palestinians who had next to no involvement with the persecution of the Jews in the Holocaust which gave urgency to the question of a Jewish state. They did not intend to vacate their homes for the founders of the new state; they left terrified, but, by and large, fully intending to return. Three, four, generations on, they are still refugees, and the consequences for neighbouring states like Lebanon has been nothing short of catastrophic.

Needless to say, the world has spun on its axis a zillion times since the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and the situation we, and the Jews and the Palestinians face is now unrecognisable to how it looked in 1948 when the state of Israel was founded.

(I am under orders from 'you know who' so I will return to this complex subject on my return later this afternoon.)

 

 

 

Will somebody please infect the sun with acne!

Had a cold, crap Spring so far?  Well, don't say I didn't warn you!  I have lost count of the number of times I have pointed out to you that the sun has cured itself of acne!  Or to put it into slightly (er, very slightly) more scientific language, sun spot activity has virtually bottomed out!  Don't take my word for it - and you really shouldn't given my dismal record at scientific exams! - instead rely on these two boffins, Frank Bosse and Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt, who inform us that:

In March our supplier of energy [that's the sun, stoopid!] was more inactive than in the previous months. The sunspot number was only 2,5, which is only 8% of what is normal for this month into the average cycle (month 112).Only solar cycles 5 and 6 were weaker.

They also provide this neat diagram - so useful for us dummies who can't do sums - which shows the record since the 18th century.

Figure 3: Comparison of the previous 24 solar cycles recorded since the 18th century. The current solar cycle no. 24 is the weakest in almost 200 years. Only two other cycles were weaker.

If indeed you are feeling a cold, unseasonal chill I can only suggest that you either throw another politician on the fire, or better still, try vigorously slapping a 'Greenie-Warmer' around, the exercise will warm you up quickly and you will feel better about yourself!  But if you really feel the need to sweat a bit, then start thinking about how life will be under another Maunder Minimum (1645-1715) when from time to time the Thames froze over!

The Dalton minimum in the 400-year history of sunspot numbers, showing the low peaks for solar cycles 5 and 6.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still, it wasn't all bad back then because in 1599, just before the Maunder Minimum set in with a vengeance, old Bill Shakespeare and his mates were able to build the Globe Theatre on the South Bank by sliding the timbers from north London over the Thames on the ice!

 

 

That Commonwealth-thingie, it's just so damned English!

This week, in 'this septic Isle', we have seen an extraordinary collection of hucksters, con-men, crooks, thieves, thugs and dimwits as the leaders of the Commonwealth gathered as guests of Her Maj.  No, no, not all of them but certainly most of them are qualified under one or more of my classifications but, of course, they are all politicians so I am merely stating 'the bleedin' obvious'!  Even so, it begs the question, what is the Commonwealth for?  Personally, I haven't a clue but of course that is what makes it such a very English construction.  We have a knack for inventing things whose original and miniscule justification has been lost in the mist of time but, hey, everybody was, and still is, happy to go along with it, so we might as well let it carry on.

Of course, there are lots of 'good works' conducted under the name of the Commonwealth, although I suspect that most of the 'wealth' for them emanates from dear old 'Blighty' - or me, as I like to think of it!  Even so, it's voluntary, no-one is forced to join and it provides a somewhat clearer and cleaner network than, say, the 'fester-pit' that is the United Nations.  Also, following a nudge-nudge, wink-wink from 'Her Maj' they have provided a job for life for Prince Charles and anything that keeps him occupied well away from me is, without doubt, "A Good Thing"!

So 'here's a health unto Her Majesty' and let us hear three hearty cheers for the Commonwealth!

 

Do I detect second, or even third, or maybe fourth thoughts on Syria?

Or perhaps, in the case of 'The Donald', it is first thoughts he is experiencing.  It is, of course, a relief to all of us that his, er, trigger finger is fully occupied on his twitter machine and not available for that 'yuuuuuuuge' red button on his desk!  If, as I suspect (hope?), this Syrian non-event blows over in a gale of hot air I will be much relieved.

Mind you, I would love to live long enough to read the history books detailing the inter-governmental machinations behind this entire farce or tragedy - you choose!  How on earth the snooty mandarins of Her Maj's Foreign Office cope with the explosions emanating from the White House I do not know because it is so far beyond their experience as to be an almost out-of-world event for them and their ultra smoothie existence.  I bet they're going through the smelling salts, or perhaps the extra large gin and tonics,  at a high rate of knots!

I sense that 'Mr. President' is leaning towards a slight change of course now that certain realities are being explained to him.  The fact that any softening of his belligerence will leave him looking like the dummy he undoubtedly is will not bother him in the slightest because self-perception is not his thing!  He is what he thinks he is!

The truth of what happened in Douma will not be known for a long time.  I must say that I am intrigued at the lack of photos of the bodies.  I know that under Muslim law they are disposed of very quickly but even so, all we have seen is films of children being doused in water as a supposed antidote to chemical agents.  Well, maybe . . . !  Anyway, I hope Mrs. May assisted by digging in her leopard-spot high heels and thus giving everyone concerned a chance to think!

 

Mr. President, please check your history books!

'Waddya mean, ya don't have any!'  In that case, take a quick look at Zero Hedge where Mr. Tyler Durdan very kindly offers a history of the last time an American President slapped on 'yuuuuuuuuuuge' tariffs from 8% to 30% in order to protect the US steel industry.  The response was immediate and can be summarised as a perfect example of brown stuff hitting a fan!

For a start, some critics pointed out that the tariffs would harm businesses dependant on steel imports who would start to lay off employees so there would be no net improvement to the employment figures.  Then, a whole host of nations ran screaming to various trade dispute jurisdictions crying 'foul'.  They won! Big Time!  But in the end it was those damned unruly markets who finished it off:

What followed immediately after the tariffs were announced was a 30% plunge in the S&P 500, a slump in the dollar and a rally in bonds that slashed 10Y yields in half.

I know, Mr. President, that you are not much given to blushing but, please, save your blushes and pick your targets very, very carefully!  In under two years, your predecessor, Pres. Bush, was forced to withdraw. 

 

The Sunday Rumble: 18.2.18

'oo7Cob'?  For the benefit of my foreign readers, my sub-title refers to the totally unsurprising 'news' that 'back in the day' (the mid '80s) Jeremy Corbyn had several meetings with a Czech intelligence agent who gave him the code name of 'Cob'.  Needless to say, 'Jezza' denies vehemently that he passed over any classified information - and I believe him because, of course, back then he was just another scrofulous, communist stooge sitting on the backbenches of the Labour party in parliament.  His access to classified information would have been minimal to nil!  Tittle-tattle and gossip and boring blather on the superiority of communism over British parliamentary politics would have been his main contribution to those meetings.  And, of course, he would not have been the sole member of the Labour party indulging his ego by hobnobbing with communist agents.  The fact that it makes him totally unfit to even be considered as a potential prime minister is beyond obvious to anyone with more than three brain cells - so that excludes a large segment of the GBP - the Great British Public!

 

Not sleeping well? Try the Winter Olympics!   It is, of course, a truth universally known, that everyone else's favourite sport is totally boring-snoring to everyone else.  However, for sheer and instantaneous narcolepsy, nothing beats watching people sliding down snowy hills!  Not, of course, that many of them manage the 'sliding' bit because mostly they fall over.  I, of course, am a man who delights in the sight of someone else falling over but when you've seen one, you've seen them all!  And if anyone even hints that watching F1 cars go round and round in circles works better than sleeping pills they will be banned!

 

This about sums it all up:   That very naughty boy, Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge, reports that "Hillary Clinton spent 53 times more money per month than Russians seeking to influence the 2016 presidential election" - and she lost!  Oh, simply too, too delicious!

 

Time someone investigated that Mueller fella':   One of the most egregious crimes of the 'Obamarama' era was their heavy-fisted assault on the Tea Party Movement.  That this crime - I use the word carefully - was perpetrated by the 'Justice' Dept. and the FBI with the keen support of the Internal Revenue Service says everything you need to know concerning Big Government in America.  And who was head of the FBI when 'heavies' moved in?  I give you Robert Mueller!  Read all about it at The American Thinker which has studied the documents finally exposed courtesy of the ever-excellent Judicial Watch.  If anyone should be investigated for interfering with an American election it should be Robert Mueller and the despicable Lois Lerner.

 

Can men have babies? 'Hoonoo'?   I ask because that exceedingly handsome pair of homosexuals, Mr. Tom Daley, who is famous for falling in the water, and Mr. Dustin Lance Black, who is not particularly famous for anything, have announced that they are to have a baby.  Well, of course, they're not, but some dim-witted woman, who probably needs the money, is!  Sometimes there are no words  . . .

 

Way past time to sell off the BBC:   There is virtually nothing of merit on the BBC.  There was a time when you could trust their news bulletins to be reasonably fair and balanced but that ended years ago.  Now, it is increasingly clear that the whole thing is a racket designed to enrich 'the not-very-great and the definitely-no-good', dim-witted 'Lefties' who fester inside its rancid guts.

 

Now, about all that interference in foreign elections:   When the first accusations were made that Russia had interfered in the American election did anyone, anyone at all, raise their eyebrows more than 0.1 of an inch in shock?  Didn't think so!  Anymore than my eyebrows even twitched at the confession of the former head of the CIA, James Woolsey, that America had constantly interfered in other countries' elections.  As Zero Hedge reports from a Fox News interview:

"Have we ever tried to meddle in other countries' elections?"

He responds, surprisingly frankly...

"Oh probably... but it was for the good of the system..."

To which Ingraham follows up...

"We don't do that now though? We don't mess around in other people's elections?"

Prompting this extraordinary sentence from a former CIA chief...

"Well...hhhmmm, numm numm numm numm... only for a very good cause...in the interests of democracy"

So just to clarify - yes, the CIA chief admitted that Democracy-spreading 'Murica meddled in the Democratic elections of other nations "in the interests of democracy."

Well, talk about shocked, I wasn't in the slightest but I do wish they had done the interfering rather better!

 

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

What the hell was that?

Well, it was either the tectonic plates of international money markets shifting prior to a colossal, major landslide, or, it was the coincidental minor corrections of one or two financial indices - nothing to see here, move along!  'Yer pays yer money and yer takes yer chance'!  Of course, when you do indeed 'pay yer money' it will be cash only, mind, no cheques or credit cards! 

As we have all learned over the years, economic and financial futures forecasts are strictly for the fairies!  That is not to say that they are always and forever wrong because, of course, they all contradict each other which means that some of them spot on!  Question is, which ones?  Well, if I knew the answer to that, I would be a rich man - or at least, a rich man until the markets corrected again!

I must confess that I sense an ominous mood in the air recently but what can you do about it except follow Winston Churchill's succinct advice offered on another occasion but not, alas, with his usual high rhetorical skill, "Just keep buggering on!"

 

The Sunday Rumble: 28.1.18

My bad!   Sorry about the late start but I was up very late last night - hit the pillow at about 1015pm! - because I was engaged in a ruthless, high stakes, high tension game of, er, well, Canasta, actually!  Well, it was me and my pal versus our respective wives, so no holds barred, so to speak!

 

Arty-farty #1:   Sorry, sorry but it's not my fault.  Somewhere, and I forget where, I came across an article on Edward Hopper who is, according to some people, the most boring-snoring artist ever, with the exception of that nitwit who paints square canvases all one colour.  Here is an example of his work:

See what I mean?!  And yet ... and yet ... I can't help staring at it, and wondering.  Who lives there and how do they manage to have a door over the sea?  The repeat of the angled sunlight, the little splash of red in the back room to off-set the blue of the sea.  Dammit, it intrigues!

 

How long, oh Lord, how long?   I am tempted to say that Mrs. May is leading her party to disaster but, of course, it is blindingly obvious that she couldn't lead a parade of invalids!  I had hoped that she would, by the skin of her teeth, hang in there long enough to achieve a reasonable Brexit and then call it a day but, alas and alack, the Tory party are descending into a rabble.  Her only strength is the fact that the rabble are hopelessly divided over who they would want as a new leader.  With the exception of 'The Moggman', who doesn't have chance anyway, none of the alternatives send a thrill up my trouser leg!  In the meantime, the Marxist grunts gather at the gates!

 

Plucky little Czechia did it:   They voted in, but only just, an anti-Brussels President who is pro-Russian and pro-China.  So tell me, Mr. Juncker, when you put that bottle down, how much of the responsibility is yours for ramming home your ideas of a European super state?

 

Arty-farty #2:

  

Who are they?  What are they thinking? Why are they not looking at each other?  What is the back-story?  And what is she reading?

 

Trump gets my vote - no, no, not him - her!   There is no doubt in my mind, or what passes for it - that Melania Trump is drop-dead gorgeous and is the most attractive First Lady ever:

 It is unfortunate that her English is not yet of a sufficient standard to understand and reply to the many letters I send her but it can only be a matter of time.  Mind you, 'Melly', my darling, given my age, time is of the essence!  I also suspect, judging from her public persona, that she is quietly a very intelligent woman.

 

Where is PeterG when you need him?   We all remember the affable-not, intelligent-not, educated-not, Canadian plonker who used to, er, grace these columns.  How I wish he was here to read this suggestion from the curmudgeonly old geezer who runs IHTM.  Apparently, the former Mrs. Trudeau, that is, the present PM's mother, was 'a very naughty girl' which is the reason why in the end Trudeau Snr. divorced her.  She made several visits to Cuba and she and her husband made no secret of their admiration for the hairy monster.  However, a study of the photos suggest that Trudeau Jnr., the current Prime Minister of Canada, bears a quite remarkable resemblance to his mother's, er, hero.  Also, Trudeau Jnr. was especially effusive in his funereal tributes to dear old Dad, ooops, sorry, I mean, the Dear Leader.  Jes' sayin'!

 

Arty-farty #3:   Sorry, more bleak loneliness, even in a city!  Why do I look at this stuff, it just depresses the hell out of me?  You might retitle it: 'The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Office worker'!

 

Arty-farty #4:   Well, at least there are three people in this one, practically a crowd scene in Hopper's work!  Again, it's the dramatic contrast of light and shade and the warring angles.

 

Raffles was a rat!   But William Farquhar was a true-blue, British gent of the first order.   Well, that is according to the review of a book in this week's 'Speccie' called "William Farquhar and Singapore: Stepping out from Raffles’ Shadow" written by Ms. Nadia H. Wright.  According to the lady:

Into this dusty tale Nadia Wright throws a much-needed stick of revisionist dynamite. Raffles is here portrayed as a reckless, inept opportunist, a bully and a hypocrite, who stole the crown from the man actually responsible for building the entrepot. Spare a thought for Raffles’s second-in-command, a tall, gentle Scotsman named William Farquhar.

Speaking, of course, as an old Singapore hand, don'cha know, I can testify to the fact that the name of Raffles dominates all and I have never heard of poor old Farquhar!  Mind you, if you read his Wiki entry you will note that he was the 5th great-grandfather of Justin Trudeau (see above) via the rather naughty Margaret Trudeau.  See, if you look hard enough everything and everyone is linked.

 

The final arty-farty for today:

Reminiscent of "Nighthawks" although this is from the inside looking out.  Who is she?  What is she thinking? Is she happy, sad or just thoughtful?

 

No more rumbles today

 

 

Right, pay attention, this is your Corporal speaking!

So, General Carter, the Chief of the General Staff, no less, tells us that Russian military might is, to quote a word, 'yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge'!  To which this ex-corporal can only respond with 'hoonoo'?  Or to be more precise, who didn't or doesn't know because that pronouncement comes under the heading of 'stating the bleedin' obvious'?  As the Daily Mail explains and illustrates:

And Gen. Carter is ably supported by Max Hastings in an accompanying article which details the dangerous swaggering of Putin and his gangster regime and the potential threat they pose to western Europe.  All very true but the question remains, what should we do about it?  The 'Hawks', if I may call them that, would have us spend 'gazillions' of quid in a futile effort to match the Russians and protect Europe but, I would like to know before we start building even more utterly useless aircraft carriers, what, exactly and precisely, are our European so-called allies spending on what is, after all, their defence?  For decades since the end of WWII, the Germans have deliberately under-spent on defence whilst we, up until recently, have over-spent.  The result is that their economy has grown and grown and ours has struggled to keep up.  

Of course, Gen. Carter did not suddenly start blowing his bugle now for no reason.  A new, young whipper-snapper of a Minister of Defence has just been appointed.  This boy, Gavin Williamson MP, sent to do a man's job, is eager to make his mark but, alas, his background is hardly inspiring.  He studied 'Government and Politics' and 'Economics' as A-levels. He obtained a BSc in Social Sciences from the University of Bradford, and his only day job was working in a pottery factory - yeeeeeeeeeees, quite!  However, he has a weak Prime Minister and no doubt he thinks he will win some kudos from the Tory party by trying to muscle her into spending more on defence.  The utterly useless military 'brass' will urge him on.  They don't really know why because, as usual with them, their motto is "Crack on!" irrespective of direction or aim!

The hard, brutal truth is that this country is no longer a major military power with global reach and the quicker we accept that the better.

 

Hillary Gillard and Julia Clinton!

I apologise to my various Australian e-pals for this ghastly 'blast from the past' but some things must be faced up to, so, have a gallon of Fosters nearby and brace yourselves:

Look don't blame me, it's all the fault of that rascal at Zero Hedge who picked up a story to the effect that 'zillions' of Aussie tax-payers' money was donated to the Clinton Foundation (aka: Bill 'n' Hill's Pension Fund).

The federal government confirmed to news.com.au it has not renewed any of its partnerships with the scandal-plagued Clinton Foundation, effectively ending 10 years of taxpayer-funded contributions worth more than $88 million.

The Clinton Foundation has a rocky past. It was described as “a slush fund”, is still at the centre of an FBI investigation and was revealed to have spent more than $50 million on travel.

Despite that, the official website for the charity shows contributions from both AUSAID and the Commonwealth of Australia, each worth between $10 million and $25 million.

What's the Aussie equivalent of the old American saying, "Heavens to Betsy"?  On second thoughts, better not ask! 

 

 

Mr. President, you really must stop telling half truths!

I'm no mathematician but I think it sound to suppose that in amongst the torrent of words that issue forth from President Trump's pouty, little mouth, or from his itchy fingers on a keyboard, there will be some truths.  For example, in his depiction of various, but un-named, countries as "shit-holes" he was spot on!  As a rough generalisation I would suggest that the entirety of Africa from north to south and from east to west, is one gigantic "shit-hole" even if some nations might smell a little sweeter than others.  Much the same could be said of most of South America which appear to be a giant conglomeration of 'gangsta' regimes run entirely for the benefit of the interchangeable thugs who "strut their hour upon the stage".  No-one who could not afford their own private army would dream of moving to either place.

Even so, it must be asked whether it is the job of a President, particularly the President of the greatest power in the world, to go around telling the 'truth' in 140 characters?  'Truth' is a mightily complicated and nuanced entity which is why attempts to define it in any particular context usually result in 'yuuuuuuuge' books, so heavy and so complex that hardly anyone reads them. So my advice, Mr. President, is that you should stop attempting to tell the truth, after all, it is the business of politicians to lie and it is what we, 'The Peeps', expect, not least because the truth almost always hurts and it is not something up with which us 'Peeps' can cope!  Of course, like everyone else, er, outside of Africa and South America, you are free to express your opinion but, you see, that is the difference between being a President and just being an ordinary 'Peep'!  You have the power - in your case enormous, even 'yuuuuuuge', power - to follow up your opinions with actions and that makes the rest of us somewhat nervous.

You must try relaxing with some golf, Mr. President, I have it on good authority that there are some excellent courses in bonny Scotland but, whatever else you do, don't try telling the Jocks any home truths, they can be a tad sensitive!

 

'We need to talk about America'!

Well, like most of you, I guess, I gulped hard when 'The Donald' won the presidency.  Well, I'm a 'nimsy-pimsy' Brit so I'm not used to flamboyant characters like him running half the world, er, well, at least, not since Winston Churchill packed it in!  To say that 'The Donald' did not then - and still does not now - inspire total confidence is a 'yuuuuuuuge' understatement!  Even so, after a year in office during which we could actually watch what he was doing rather than listening to what he was saying - or tweeting! - I did begin to relax slightly.

But then, with truly appalling inevitability, from the hallowed halls of the Golden Globes awards, we learn that yet another 'TV personality' has thrown her hat in the ring to indicate that she might well run for the presidency.  I refer, of course, to Ms. Oprah Winfrey who at least is neither ginger nor male but even so gives the impression of being a black, female equivalent of Donald Trump!  Honestly, I really don't think I can take much more of this, and if 'Jezza' moves into Downing Street I may consider moving to Pyongyang for a quiet life!

 

'What difference at that point would it make'?

In my title I paraphrase the less than thoughtful words of Hillary Clinton and, moving swiftly on, apply them to that fateful meeting in May 1940 - see post below.  Suppose, oh go on, just suppose, that Churchill had not been appointed PM and ask yourself what difference would it have made? 

I have been a life-long admirer of Churchill's tremendous qualities whilst reminding myself constantly of his equally tremendous faults.  The man, after all, was just that - a man and therefore not perfect.  His political acumen in spotting, well before most other people, that Hitler was a very real menace stands to his huge credit, although equally, Chamberlain saw enough to order a re-armament programme as far ahead as 1935.  Alas for him, his Munich settlement damaged his reputation for ever, although there is a good case to be made that it was an act of sensible real-politik given the pathetic state of the British military - as we all learned the hard way in 1940! 

Most people are agreed that Lord Halifax possessed a good political brain but, alas for him, the notion of running a wartime government from the House of Lords whilst a deputy would have to play the part of front man in the Commons simply would not work.  Sensibly, he saw this and decided not to push for the job.

Even so, my totally theoretical question remains - would it have made that much difference which of the three had led Britain through the war?  The die was cast when Britain declared war in 1939 and from that point on the great cataclysmic events, Germany crushing western Europe, Hitler invading Russia and Japan attacking Pearl Harbour, were unleashed for good or ill and despite anything a British prime minister might do or say!

 

 

 

I say, it's gone awfully quiet . . .

I had nothing to say yesterday - waddya mean ya never noticed?  Not because I was overly busy, or because my computer-thingie was broken - although it is playing up a bit and, of course, my IT manager is away in Czechia trying to drink the place dry, but the fact is that there is not much happening in the world.  'Fat Boy Kim' has gone very quiet possibly because, at last, he is feeling the 'yuuuuuuge' weight of China pressing on him.  I keep picking up the odd item here and there in the media to the effect that China has stopped this, that or the other in its dealings with North Korea and so perhaps 'Fat Boy' has realised which side his noodles are buttered, er, if you catch my meaning!

The other news, or to be precise, lack of news is that emanating from 'The Trumpeter'.  I can't remember the last 'tweet' of his to reach the headlines.  Happily for him, or at least his PR people, the rabble of media 'honkers 'n' hooters' are totally focused on Hollywood and/or - and this is incredible - themselves!  'Hoonoo' that so many of those famous TV faces with their serious demeanour, smart suits and coiffed hair-styles whose words we depend upon for an analysis of current affairs were actually raving, drunken sex maniacs?  And then, of course, there are those peculiar, slimy and very smelly fish that swim in the foul waters of Washington and who have been exposed as suffering with terminal greed.

I look further abroad for signs of trouble  but even the Middle East seems to be in a catatonic state of shock after that young 'A-hab the A-rab' tipped the hitherto solidified state of Saudi Arabia on its head.  Oh, I'm sure there are many things going on below the surface but no-one seems to have a clue as to what they are let alone what the results will be.  Likewise, Europe is like a badly designed automaton whose clock is running down but still continues trudging round in circles because its German mechanic is otherwise occupied.

So, it's all very peaceful - which is ominous!  Still, at least it has (temporarily!) stopped me from droning on and on and on.   

 

When it comes to forecasting the Trump presidency, just roll the dice

For voluble, excitable bloggers, the Trump presidency is the gift that keeps on giving.  The problem is that the gifts "come not single spies but in battalions"!  Of course, as you all know well, there is absolutely nothing voluble or excitable about me, calm, thoughtful detachment is my metier - (and I definitely heard that and you will see me after school)!  So today, the crashingly obvious has finally occurred and Trump's former campaign director, Paul Manafort, has been arrested for a variety of alleged crimes.  Of course, the number of crimes and misdemeanours will run to more pages than 'War and Peace', that being the modus operandi of all governmental police authorities who work on the sound principle, once enunciated by the late, great Tennessee Ernie Ford, "If the right-a don't get you then the left one will"!  So, apart from stealing from a veterans' charity box, they have charged Mr. Manafort with just about everything else they can think of.

Now, it is entirely possible that Mr. Mueller, the 'Investigator-General', is a genuinely fair-minded man whose only pre-occupation is to find the truth, well, anything is possible but being head of the FBI for 12 years, most of it under the aegis of 'Obamarama' and his rotten Attorney-General, Eric Holder, does not fill one with instant confidence.  Certainly, I do not think that President Trump is feeling too confident either because his erstwhile campaign director will have as many reasons to rat him out as there are indictments against him.

Jonah Goldberg at The National Review sums it up succinctly:

[T]he Manafort indictment is either good news for Trump — “that’s all they got” — or it’s very bad news for Trump — “uh oh, now they can flip Manafort.”

And that just brings us to the fundamental truth of this entire story. If Trump is guilty of seriously and secretly colluding with Russia — something I’m still skeptical of and that lacks much proof — then he is in big trouble because Mueller will figure it out. If he didn’t, he’s not in big trouble because Mueller will figure it out.

We shall see what we shall see but, dammit, I just wish this President could be free to try actually concentrating on the real problems he and his country and the rest of us face.

 

 

The Sunday sermon

Don't worry, I'll probably get round to a few 'Sunday Rumbles' later as I become more irritable but this, given the subject matter, is more of a sermon, although I am hardly qualified to deliver one, however, I have just watched my neighbours tootling off to St. John's whilst the chiming bells rattled my windows, so I am, in a sense, in the mood for sermonising.  You have been warned!

It would be unfair to blame St. John's for my sermonising because the fact is that is Mr. Garland Tucker at The National Review who has, so to speak, rung my bells!  He in turn has been provoked by Mr. Douglas Murray’s latest book The Strange Death of Europe.  (I was about to add it to my Xmas Books Wish List but the chances of a mouth-dribbling Euro fanatic like 'SoD' buying his poor old Dad a trenchant criticism of 'Euro-phantasy-land' are slightly less than the snowball in hell!)  Returning to Mr. Tucker, he has recently visited Scotland with, I presume, a copy of Mr. Murray's book in his luggage.  He is not happy!

During my recent vacation to Scotland, the National Centre for Social Research released a major new survey, which documented the continuing decline of Christianity in the U.K. The headline read: “Non-believers outnumber the faithful by widest margin yet.” This fall has been driven primarily by young people. Of those between 18 and 24 years old, 62 percent have no religion. The figures for the Church of England were devastating: The proportion of the population describing themselves as Anglican has dropped from 30 percent in 2000 to 15 percent today — with just 3 percent of 18- to-24-year-olds. In Scotland, church attendance has fallen by over half in the past 30 years.

Actually, on my personal basis of a life-time of absolutely zero church-going, those stats are somewhat better than I would have guessed.  Mr. Tucker, with the observant eyes of a visitor, takes note of the drippingly wet and utterly useless Archbishop of Canterbury who whined that it was the unfair system of capitalism that was letting our children down!  Anybody not suffering with political myopia would recognise that from Hong Kong to 'Noo Yawk' to London it has been capitalism that has, to paraphrase an old slogan, 'set the people free'!

Europe itself has abandoned Christianity, there is not a single mention of it in their new constitution written in 2000.  Mr. Tucker turns again to Mr. Murray's book:

Murray traces this crisis of identity back to the late 19th century, to two seminal events. First, the textual criticism of the Bible, originating in Germany and spreading throughout the West, undermined the Biblical foundation of Western Christianity. The second seismic blow occurred simultaneously, with the development of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Whereas it had been a foundational belief that a divine, awe-inspiring plan was behind all of civilization, it suddenly was widely held that science — not faith — held all the answers.

Or, you might say, "Put not your faith in God but in the Academy of Sciences!"  Well, it's an idea, I suppose, until you actually consider the average scientist who frequently appears to be a Grade I dingbat of the first order.

Here endeth the first lesson - waddya mean, thank God for that?!

 

 

There WILL be troubles ahead

Last night I indulged one of my peculiar habits in bed - no, no, not that one - behave!  I have mentioned before that if I wake up in the middle of the night I stick my ear-piece in my ear and listen to the radio.  Last night they had a very interesting discussion on BBC World Service between sundry experts on the subject, more or less, of 'whither China?'  Not exactly a comforting, restful subject!

It is now becoming increasingly clear that Mr. Xi 'Smiley' Jinping is just another in a long line of political thugs.  In certain respects I do not blame him.  It can be no easy matter ruling a turbulent nation like China but, of course, he has no intention of confining his ambition to China.  Again, that is understandable.  Apart possibly from the Jews, no nation has been treated so abominably in the past few centuries as China, even if many of their wounds were self-inflicted.  There is a rich seam of resentment that runs through the nation and a determination to settle a few old scores.

Top of the enemy list, I suspect, is Japan, with sundry old colonial or semi-colonial powers close behind.  Britain, perhaps, is now so enfeebled and also so far away that we might escape Chinese attention for a while but America looms, dare I say, 'yuuuuuugely' on the Chinese target list!  Apart from settling old scores, China under Xi Jinping is determined to dominate the world.  Even an ex-corporal like me can see that it will start with a slow but steady squeeze in the South China Sea aimed at all the various nations that possess a shoreline there.  Not all of them will resist, or at least, not for long!  I just hope that the American diplomatic and military services are concentrating their minds on this problem and working on a variety of possible scenarios.

There are, it seems to an ignoramus like me, two small crumbs of comfort which might set back Chinese ambitions for a while.  First there is the psychotic kid next door in North Korea who seems capable of throwing his toys out of the pram at any time without notice.  That would be catastrophic for the region but would also throw China's carefully worked out plans into disarray.  The second, is 经济愚蠢, which roughly translates as 'the economy, stupid!'  I keep banging on that in my opinion - yeeeeeees, quite! - the Chinese economy has some deep-rooted problems, for example, their out-of-kilter borrowing is colossal.  Any major upheaval which results in a sudden drop in living standards for a people who, to quote an old Brit expression, "never had it so good" would soon wipe the smile of Xi Jinping's face.

Anyway, looking on the bright side, the chances are that I will not be around when the chop suey hits the fan!

 

 

Why I keep 'schtum' about Trump

You may have noticed, dear readers, that on the whole, by and large and taken in the round, I have had little to say on not only the most powerful man in the world but also the most extraordinary, that is, Donald Trump.  The reason is simple, I haven't a clue!  I have learned that commentary on current political policies is fraught with danger because, of course, none of us 'plebs' has all the facts at our disposal - let alone the time to analyse them.  Thus, we are reduced to the humbling position of depending on the so-called 'experts' who write for the media  - yeeeeeeees, quite!  Even so, gradually one begins to discern a pattern even in the deeply erratic and confusing world of Trump!  Happily today, Mr. Tim Stanley has an article in The Telegraph which begins to clarify some of what is happening in Washington.

Somewhat to my surprise, when it comes to foreign affairs, Mr. Stanley is fairly approving as he summarises in his opening paragraphs:

Donald Trump’s foreign policy is a step in the right direction. Is it perfect? No. Would literally any other Republican have made a better president? Perhaps.

But Jeb or Ted or little Marco wouldn’t have broken so effectively from the foreign policy consensus of the Obama era as when Trump stood before the United Nations last month and said that America “can no longer be taken advantage of, or enter into a one-sided deal where the United States gets nothing in return”. When he said that, he was looking at you, Iran.

I must say that, by and large, when it comes to dealing with the implacable enemies of the West I am happier with the sight of Trump walking down 'Main Street' with his eyes narrowed and his Colt .45 in its holster on his hip!  So much more re-assuring than that glib, deeply dim, 'peace 'n' love' man who was his predecessor.

The fate of the Iran nuclear deal is a good example of how the Trump doctrine differs from Obama’s. At first glance the deal, agreed in 2015, looked marvellous: the world lifted sanctions in exchange for Tehran abandoning a nuclear energy programme that could have been converted to military use.

The UK Foreign Office says that Iran has given up 95 per cent of its uranium stockpile. Despite this, Trump has refused to recertify it and has asked Congress to review it. How can Trump be right and so many brilliant people all over the world be wrong?

Well, I can say with confidence that being more right than our utterly useless Foreign Office is never too difficult!  Mr. Stanley continues:

Obama’s foreign policy was based upon a similar premise of buying peace for a limited time. The Iran deal was predicted to give Tehran access to over $100 billion in frozen assets and allow it to sell oil abroad. The mullahs are now in the money, and, I’m sad to have to tell you, they’ve not given it all to CND.

They’ve expanded their ballistic missiles programme, with some allegedly based upon North Korean design. Last month the Iranians unveiled the new Khorramshahr missile, which can travel 1,250 miles (ie, it can hit Israel) and carry multiple warheads.

Please tell me that you are not surprised!  Anyway, it appears that President Trump - I still shake my head at that title! - is quite prepared to 'call a spade a bloody shovel' and the injection by him of some realism into American foreign policy is to be welcomed.  I urge you to read Mr. Stanley's article.

 

 

When he's right, he's spot on!

I refer to that 'ginger ninja', that bellowing bully boy, that honker 'n' hooter, Donald Trump, aka, incredibly, as the President of the United States.  I have, by and large, refrained from commenting on his presidency thus far because I have no idea where he's coming from, let alone where he wants to go!  I simply tighten my seat belt and close my eyes.

Even so, some things  stand out with clarity and deserve a roar of approval, such as his recent decision to dump the corrupt, useless and virulently anti-Semitic UNESCO organisation.  Stephen Daisley spells out the reasons in an excellent article at The Coffee House.  Personally, I wish 'The Donald' had carried out his threat to walk out of the entire UN farrago altogether.  All it does, as far as I can tell, is to provide a veneer of respectability to sundry crooks, robbers, mass murderers, fanatics and anyone who wishes ill on us in the west - and we pay for it.  Well, as the late, great W. C. Fields once said, "Never give a sucker an even break!"

ADDITIONAL:   No sooner had I written the above when I read an article by the combined editors of the National Review(NR) whose collective views I take seriously because they really are independent thinkers and know where-of they speak.  I never could understand Obama's policy towards Iran, especially the 'deal' that allegedly tied the nuclear hands of that lunatic government.  The mere fact that Obama and his media chorus praised it so highly was enough to raise my doubts.  Equally, Trump's decision to dump it down the toilet has produced squeals of concern from the usual suspects.  

In effect, the NR view is that it was a long-overdue action but much will depend on how it is executed:

Trump’s speech, appropriately, addressed much more than the nuclear deal. In frank terms, he made the case against the terroristic theocracy in Tehran and described its threat to the U.S. and the region. He sketched in outline a strategy to pressure the regime on all fronts, especially focusing on the nefarious role of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. All of this was to the good, although much will depend on execution; the administration doesn’t yet have a strategy to check Iran’s growing clout in Syria, and we must remember that the regime has the ability to hit back against us, both in Syria and in Iraq.

Go to it, Mr. President, but watch those foreign policy wonks like a hawk!

 

 

The Trump(et) sounds

And no, thank you for asking, but I did not sit and watch President Trump's speech at the United Nations yesterday.  Apart from anything else, it might have clashed with 'Midsomer Murders', a favourite with the 'Memsahib' and any attempt by me to change channels might have resulted in a 'Midzummerzet' murder!  Instead, this morning I turned to the trusty National Revue (NR) which features not only an analysis by their editorial board but also several other contributions from different commentators.

By and large, the verdicts, with reservations, seem favourable even if the acerbic David French cannot resist reminding us that President Trump's "promises aren’t worth the pixels they’re printed on" - ouch!  But as the writers remind us, and as 'The Donald' is gradually learning the hard way, there are severe limits as to what can be done, not just with North Korea but with all the other trouble-makers in the world.  For me, it has been a fascinating few months watching the 'Tweeter-in-Chief of the United States' hurl himself against various brick walls, only to bounce back and fall flat on his arse!  He reminds me of certain bloggers - no names, no pack drill! - whose absolute certainties exceeds their knowledge and experience by a 'yuuuuuuge' distance.

I will let the combined editors of the NR sum up:

"Trump’s foreign policy is a work in progress. So far he has steered clear of the follies that seemed possible during the campaign — turning his back on NATO, for instance — and, in fact, hasn’t plowed much new ground. With the exception of the welcome pullout from the Paris accords, the president has accepted the status quo. In North Korea and Iran, that means failure. Trump has put the world unmistakably on notice that he’s unhappy with this state of affairs. Now, he and his team need concrete strategies that better serves our interests — as a sovereign nation and a world leader.

Personally, I am just relieved that President Trump seems to be learning, albeit the hard way, that international politics makes quantum physics look easy!

 

Good Golly, Dr. Gilley, hush your mouth!

I am grateful to my e-pal, Whitewall, for sending me a link to a site called 'Legal Insurrection' which featured a report on the activities of Dr. Bruce Gilley, a professor of political science at Portland State University.  Before I go into details I should just make clear that I am exceedingly doubtful that politics can ever be scientific!  Even so, Dr. Gilley, whilst he may not win any further awards after his PhD, or indeed, might not even be able to hang on to his PhD, deserves a medal of some sort for proposing - gulp! - colonialism wasn't that bad, and indeed, that it had some very positive advantages for the colonised.  Cue: shrieks of 'shlock-horror' from the usual suspects.  Here is a photo of Dr. Gilley and I can't help thinking that it would have been more in character if he had simply held up one finger!

Personally, I am not able to decide whether colonialism was, in the words of Sellars & Yeatman, "A Good Thing" or "A Bad Thing" and in any case it is a moot point because one thing is for sure - it was inevitable!  In support of Dr. Gilley's opinion, I would simply say a word on behalf of Indian widows.  Prior to us cruel Brits taking over their country, it was an established custom that any Indian wife who had the temerity to outlive her husband would be tied to a stake and burned alive!  We put a stop to that.  So there are quite a few Indian widows who should be most grateful!

 

At last, a long, cool, intelligent analysis of North Korea

I have been unusually reticent on the subject of what to do about North Korea for the very simple reason that I do not have a clue - but I know a man who does!  Or to be exact, I know of a man who does and his name is Nicholas Eberstadt and happily he has written a long but what seems to me to be a highly intelligent essay on the subject for the National Review.  

I will not attempt to précis his fairly long and detailed strategy which covers a multitude of activities but I do urge you all to read it.  I only wish President Trump would put down his Twitter gadget and read it himself.  Alas, I doubt that he will and, alas, I suspect that not many of his squabbling entourage will read it either.  

So my advice is don't stop digging that trench in the back garden!

 

Choose your partner for the next dance

There is an article in the print edition of The Telegraph today by some international strategic swot suggesting that Europe and America are drifting, or perhaps driving, apart from each other as their perceived interests change.  Alas I cannot find it on the internet site yet but when I do I will add a link.  If it is so, and I suspect that it is, then it leaves us Brits in a delicate situation, such that we might end up as a 'Billy No Mates'!  I try to avoid too much in the way of forecasting, well, given my dismal record it's all too, too embarrassing.  In this case the sheer number of 'unknown unknowns' is enough to put anyone off from trying to work out how matters will develop.

Still, there are some 'known knowns' such as the fact after a mere few weeks of negotiations with the Europeans over Brexit, relations between us and them have become a pungent stew of mutual loathing and contempt.  In 1939 we did not hesitate to go to war to help France (and ourselves, of course!) but should Putin 'kick off on one' against the perimeter of the EU, how keen would we be to rush to their support?  Equally, as we contemplate the, er, shall we say, eccentric President of the United States as, with narrowed eyes, he strides down 'main street' towards North Korea and China with his hands hovering over his 'yuuuuge' six-guns, exactly how keen will we be to scurry along behind him?

As long as 'Mutti' Merkel rules 'over here' and 'The Donald' 'over there', relations between the EU and the USA will rarely rise above the merely polite.  The future of NATO, something of a hollow shell these days, teeters on the edge of mutual indifference by all parties - and that includes 'Vlad the Impaler', I suspect!  "The times they are a-changin'", as arguably the worst American singer - ever! - once told us.  Still, we Brits can rest assured that we have today a rare talent, er, very rare actually, in charge of our foreign policy so I am sure that all the options are being closely examined and evaluated!  Sorry, did you say something . . . ?

 

Is my pal Google really my enemy?

I have no idea but I know a lady who does - Ms. Zephr Teachout who, apart from looking very attractive and having a delightful name, is also an associate professor of law at Fordham University.  Today, writing in the WaPo, she issues a warning blast on her trumpet aimed at the over-bearing, brutal bullying by Google.  She sets the story thus:

This summer, a small team of well-respected researchers and journalists, the Open Markets team at the New America think tank (where I have been a fellow since 2014), dared to speak up about Google, in the mildest way. When the European Union fined Google for preferring its own subsidiary companies to its rival companies in search results, it was natural that Open Markets, a group dedicated to studying and exposing distortions in markets, including monopoly power, would comment. The researchers put out a 150-word statement praising the E.U.’s actions. They wrote, “By requiring that Google give equal treatment to rival services instead of privileging its own, [the E.U.] is protecting the free flow of information and commerce upon which all democracies depend.” They called upon the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice and state attorneys general to apply the traditional American monopoly law, which would require separate ownership of products and services and the networks that sell products and services.

Well, if you are part of a group called "Open Markets" then that is more or less what you would expect them to say.  However, the plot sickens, ooops, sorry, thickens. 

Google has been funding New America for years at high levels. Within 24 hours of the statement going live, Google representatives called New America’s leadership expressing their displeasure. Two planned hires for the Open Markets team suddenly were canceled. Three days later, the head of the Open Markets team, the accomplished journalist Barry C. Lynn, received a letter from the head of the think tank, demanding that the entire team leave New America. The reason? The statement praising the E.U.’s decision against Google was, according to New America President Anne-Marie Slaughter, “imperiling the institution.” (As of this writing, Slaughter has denounced the story as false, claiming that Lynn was dismissed for failures of “openness” and “collegiality.”)

"Failures of openness and collegiality", yeeeeees, quite!  Needless to say, on this subject as with so many others my detailed knowledge is sketchy to say the least but somehow, in some way, in recent times I have become vaguely aware that the bosses of these mega-giant communication companies are giving the impression that the world, nay, the universe, is theirs and they are the masters of it.  Time for a right good kick in the arse, methinks!

 

Carrot rewards for Canadian carrots!

Does no-one read George Orwell anymore?  Obviously not in Canada where several state governments have backed the idea of an app, called Carrot Rewards, that tells those very same governments of your decisions in a whole variety of matters normally thought of as private and personal.  As Ms. Josie Wales of the Foundation for Economic Freedom explains:

Carrot Rewards is free to download, and users receive 200 points just by downloading the app and answering a few questions (the answers don’t have to be correct). Sending an invitation code to friends will also gain users points, as the government is happy to track the daily activity of as many citizens as possible — which, by the way, the app can do even when it is not “active.” In order to use the app, users are giving Carrot Insights and the federal government permission to “access and collect information from your mobile device, including but not limited to, geo-location data, accelerometer/gyroscope data, your mobile device’s camera, microphone, contacts, calendar and Bluetooth connectivity in order to operate additional functionalities of the Services.”

They're not awfully bright in Canada, are they?  'Whodathunkit'?  Mind you, I suppose carrot rewards are the best things for donkeys!

 

Sometimes burying your head in the sand is sensible

For some time now I have been aware of ominous signs - and please note the plural form. Each taken singularly would produce my usual shrug of the shoulders and a muttered, "What will be, will be".  After all, I have lived through sundry disasters which, whilst being a bloody nuisance at the time, eventually sank into the past and life went on.  Also, I must confess that being elderly and therefore lacking that natural swagger the young enjoy it may just be that I am feeling my frailty.  Even so, and allowing for the tricks that memory plays especially when you have decades of the damned things to remember, it seems to me that Shakespeare's line was exceedingly apt, "When troubles come, they come not single spies but in battalions".  Or to put it another way, for most of my life it was just one damn thing after another but today we might get the lot in one big hit!

Today I fear there is a gathering of various "troubles" any one of which could be disastrous but if they arrive all together the result could be cataclysmic.  The leader in this week's Spectator confirms my worst fears.  It seems obvious even to an economic illiterate like me that this government simply lacks the guts and even the knowledge to face up to the advancing financial tsunami.  I was no fan of George Osborne as Chancellor but he did make an effort to cut the eye-watering over-spend of his government with the eventual aim of reducing government borrowing.  He never achieved it but, dammit, he tried.  Today, it seems to me that they are making no efforts at all and because many of the big nations are in a similar fix then sooner or later, I suspect sooner, this gigantic 'Ponzi scheme' will collapse under its own weight of borrowing and wreak havoc.

Then there is America!  Since WWII it has been a bulwark in world affairs.  It's power might not always have been exercised wisely but by and large it was on the side of the angels and stood up to the powers of absolute evil.  But that was enabled because it had a functioning government.  Today, under Trump, the government of the USA is 'walking wounded' and, alas, many (but not all) of the wounds are self-inflicted.  Over at the NRO, 'The Kraut', with his usual wisdom, seeks to comfort us by suggesting that whilst Trump is a self-inflicted stress test, the fundamentals of the American constitution are, just, holding up under the strain.  I hope he's right but it seems to me from 'over here' that America is in turmoil and there is still nearly four years of it to go.  Not, I hasten to add, that 'the madness of King Trump' is the sole cause.  The Democrat party and their lickspittles in the media have, if possible, gone even madder!  Where will it end?  I don't know but I fear for America.

Needless to say, a divided and distracted America leaves the global playing field wide open to those nations eager to rule over it.  Increasingly China flexes its not inconsiderable muscles, followed by all the 'wannabe' bully boys like Russia, North Korea and Iran.  And yes, you're right, 'it's being so cheerful as keeps me so young!'  In the meantime, I must just finish digging that hole in the sand ready for my head!

 

 

Sorry, more 'Americana', but it's so boring 'over here'

Well, it's the Summer recess and all the big(?) British cats are on holiday leaving the kittens to play around so there is not much real news here.  However, there is an excellent review by Andrew Bacevich in The London Review of Books of a book entitled "The General v. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War" by H.W. Brands.  It tells the story of that grotesque egomaniac, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and his clash with the former haberdasher, Harry Truman, during the war in Korea.

Most of that is pretty well known.  MacArthur behaved like the gigantic egotist that he was but, it must be admitted even if through gritted teeth, he pulled off a master-stroke with the Inchon landings way up behind the advancing North Koreans.  Alas, after that and now even more swollen with pride he went on to make a colossal mistake in keeping with his colossal hubris by advancing allied armies up to the Chinese border at which point, even an ex-Corporal like me could have told him, the Chinese counter-attacked trashing the allied armies and extending the war by years.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Truman sacked him and MacArthur went on a nationwide tour to tout himself as the next President in waiting.  Fortunately, the 'cousins' seeing, and hearing him, up close were not impressed.

All good stuff and I suspect the book is worth reading.  However, Mr. Bacevich reminds us that this abiding tension between civilian and military rule over matters of war and peace has not abated.  FDR, as I mentioned a few days ago, rarely interfered in tactical matters but he absolutely gripped the strategic decision making to a point where there was a real danger of mutiny by the Chiefs of Staff.  Since then, however, it seems to me that what I might loosely call 'the American generals' have exerted ever more power over the civilian leadership.  Vietnam was a classic example.  Mr. Bacevich puts it this way:

The Vietnam War was a study in civil-military dysfunction, chronicled in an important book called Dereliction of Duty (1997) by a young army officer named H.R. McMaster. The story McMaster tells is one of mistrust, calculated dishonesty and mutual manipulation ending in a mindless debacle. Since then the civil-military balance in Washington has shifted according to which party is in power and the political savvy or lack thereof displayed by senior officers. Given the right circumstances, a particular general may wield clout approaching MacArthur’s before he self-destructed. This was the case with Colin Powell in the wake of Operation Desert Storm, and with David Petraeus when the Iraq Surge of 2007-08 seemed, briefly, to represent a historic triumph. At other times, imperious civilians keep generals on a short leash, preferring compliance to professional advice. This was the case on both occasions when Donald Rumsfeld ruled the Pentagon.

In his final paragraph, Mr. Bacevich produces a fine film of sweat across my brow when he points to the Trump administration in which more and yet more Generals have been appointed to some of the top jobs in the government, and this at a time when the lunatic 'Fat Boy Kim' develops nuclear warheads and rockets big enough to carry them to the USA.  What can one say, except, prepare for incoming!

 

 

Can anyone tell me who I am?

Now before you all bombard me with rude replies, please read the title carefully.  It is, in effect, 'who am I?', not 'what am I?'  I raise the question because only last week we all went quite soppy over that 'frightfully decent British gal', er, Johanna Konta, who did so well at Wimbledon.  She assures us that she is British and sort of confirmed it by doing what we Brits do so awfully well - losing gracefully!  However, the fact is that Ms. Konta is the daughter of Hungarian parents and was born in Australia.  However, in today's Telegraph she insists that she has lived in Britain for nearly half of her life and that she has taken British citizenship and as far as she is concerned she's British and, er, Ez így van, as they say in Budapest!

I wonder about myself (but not very often!) because as I may have mentioned before I am a true born bastard and therefor I echo the words of 'Edmund', "Now gods, stand up for bastards!"  My mother was as Scottish as porridge oats but rumour - I was never vouchsafed the details - had it that my father was Canadian.  Even so, I was born in London and have lived my life in England and so, whilst the Union staggers on, I shall claim to be British and if it sunders then I will claim to be English.

However, in this confusing era of global mass movements of population the whole notion of which particular sub-group one belongs to, or at least, lay claims to, is increasingly complicated.  I suppose in melting pots like America or Australia nobody cares too much, although having said that, according to the Telegraph article there have been some unfortunate collateral damage recently to various politicians in Australia who have turned out not to be exactly 'sixteen annas to the rupee' when it comes to citizenship.

Anyway, I welcome Ms. Konti as a true blue Brit not least because she is gorgeous - even if she has, so far, failed to respond to my letters!

 

FDR and the UN

I am still engrossed in Nigel Hamilton's first two books (thanks, 'SoD'!) which concentrate on FDR's military leadership in WWII.  The contrast between him and Churchill could not have been greater.  By and large, FDR was a shrewd strategic thinker, far in advance of the majority of his somewhat dim-witted military commanders.  With Churchill, it was rather different in that he was mostly full of mad-cap strategic ideas which his military resolutely opposed which was probably just as well since we struggled for years to find field commanders capable of actually fighting a modern war.

However, in the opening chapters of Hamilton's second volume, he has emphasised FDR's political support for a United Nations organisation to help run the world when the war ended.  This is somewhat surprising given the mostly useless nature of its predecessor, the League of Nations.  It made me wonder if anyone has tried to put together a history of the UN and thus attempt to weigh up its pros and cons.  My overall but ill-informed opinion is that it is mostly a complete waste of space which costs a fortune and only really succeeds in providing well-paid sinecures for sundry out of work politicians.

Am I wrong or am I missing something?

 

As usual, 'The Kraut' does my thinking for me

There are some problems in this world which do not give me a moment's pause - the square root of -1, for example.  Absolutely no problem with that because even a nano-second's worth of thought tells me that if live to be 200 I will still fail to even understand the question, let alone the answer!  The same applies to the current question bedevilling geo-strategists around the world - what do we do about 'Fat Boy Kim' and his pestilential country?

Happily, all I have to do is turn to my guru, Charles Krauthammer, and he provides the answer - honestly, everyone should have a Krauthammer in their cupboard!  As he points out there is absolutely no chance - that's nil, never, no chance! -  of China (let alone Russia) doing anything to thwart Fat Boy's nuclear ambitions.  Anyone who still believes that fairy-tale is still living in Obamaland!

So the question remains, what are we, or to be precise, the Americans, going to do?  'The Kraut' suggests that returning the tactical nuclear missiles removed from South Korea in 1991 would concentrate minds in Beijing.  Also, given their mutual past history, encouraging the Japanese to develop their own nuclear missile system would cause considerable buttock-clenching in China.  Would they think it worthwhile to let North Korea have its own missile system if the result was a Japanese counterpart?

Who knows?  As I have said before 'pity the poor statesmen'!

 

 

The real war

This post continues from the last in which I urged caution in exactly how we re-act to Islamic terrorism on our shores.  I start on the basis that it is always necessary to treat governments with suspicion - especially one's own!  As our current election has shown, and as the last American one confirmed, our politicians are not very bright.  Of course, it's easy to be condescending because as private subjects (or citizens), we are not required to wrestle with the complexities of various desperately intricate policy decisions which we leave to the politicians.  However, when those decisions begin to shift the parameters of individual liberty then "we the people" (to quote a phrase) need to be exceedingly alert.  That is not to say that nothing must be changed to deal with new circumstances, our own people being slaughtered on our own streets is intolerable and, to quote yet another well-known phrase, "something must be done!"  However, it is critical that whatever legal or political changes ensue they must be intelligent and they must produce results, not further and greater problems. 

In the meantime it is necessary to keep an eye on the larger picture far outside the shores of this 'septic Isle', so it is extremely useful that The Spectator has reprinted an article by Douglas Murray first published on 2014 which points to the very heart of the Islamic problem - the war, and it really is a war, between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran.  The timing of this reprint, which is an absolute 'MUST READ', is impeccable given the somewhat startling news in the last two days that Saudi has taken extreme measures, short of war but only just, against Quatar and other Gulf States.  The attitude of the West to this coming conflict is, to say the least, exceedingly tricky.  Under Obama, the USA backed Iran and the Shias but now Trump has shifted to the Saudi side.  There is, it seems to me, a rank and ignorant outsider, little to choose between them.  But, dammit, that's what politics is all about - choosing!  Happily, sort of, our input is, and will remain, minimal - but that will not save us from the tsunami that might arise.

 

 

What to do about 'Fat Boy Kim'

Frankly, I haven't a clue!  More important, I suspect that no-one else does, either.  I would like to think that the Americans and/or the Chinese have broken North Korean codes and are thus in a position of having some inside knowledge although, of course, it is unlikely that they are sharing that information.  I also hope that the Americans are doing something more useful than just despatching aircraft carriers hither and thither.  For example, I hope they are perfecting a 'perfect storm' of electronic attacks on NK electronic systems such that they can, if necessary, close the place down.

It seems to me that the Chinese are 'sitting pretty'.  I don't think that they actively wish for 'Fat Boy Kim' to start tossing his rockets out of his pram because the resulting economic tsunami will bring their burgeoning economy to a shuddering halt along with everyone else.  Even so, they will shed no tears if America suffers a mega-Pearl Harbour that might well cripple it for decades.

So, to quote an old Victorian phrase, 'what's a body to do'?  More or less nothing is my immediate response apart, that is, from taking every possible precaution throughout every level of the American forces and their government.  I assume plans are well advanced for an instantaneous military counter-attack which will, in effect, leave North Korea as a smoking, radio-active wasteland.  The imperative is that this must be done as a re-action, not a pro-active action.

In the meantime, cross your fingers and toes and, if you think it might help, offer up a prayer!

 

'The Kraut' kan be kruel!

Yes, sorry, one of my sillier headings but I do rather depend on 'The Kraut' who, despite his somewhat grim and forbidding visage ...

... I do follow avidly because his columns are full of shrewd observations on the Washington scene.  Alas, today he built up my hopes and then dashed them.  As I say, very 'kruel'!

Today he confirmed my own, very faint, hopes that perhaps - just perhaps - 'The Donald' might not be as bad as I had feared. 

_{With near unanimity, my Never Trump friends confess a sense of relief. It could have been worse. They thought it would be worse. A deep apprehension still endures but the international order remains intact, the republic still stands, and no “enemy of the people” has (yet) been arrested. Admittedly, this is a low bar. And this is not to deny the insanity, incoherence, and sheer weirdness emanating daily from the White House, for which we’ve all come up with our own coping technique.}

My 'coping technique' is to keep on digging my nuclear fall-out shelter in my garden!  Even so, 'The Kraut' is right, so far nothing totally horrendous has occurred and it occurred to me the other day that perhaps - just perhaps - 'The Donald' really is learning on the job.  In any event, 'The Kraut' advises us all to just watch the results so far achieved:

_{And so far they hang together enough — Neil Gorsuch, Keystone XL, NATO reassurances, Syria strike, cabinet appointments — that one can begin to talk plausibly about the normalization of this presidency.}

See, hope springs eternal and all that sort of thing!  But then, he produces a bucket of ice-cold water and poured it all over me.  He reminds me that Trump is determined to face down 'Fat Boy Kim' and is busy building an alliance of both friends and (shall we say) not-so-much-friends, like China which has, according to some reports, begun to turn the economic screws on North Korea.  At the same time he is offering the South Koreans a missile screen to help their defences but then, at the last minute, he tells them the invoice is, so to speak, 'in the post'.  Cue: 'shlock-horror' in Seoul where there is a presidential election taking place, one of the candidates being anti-American and not too ill-disposed to his fellow Koreans in the north!

'The Kraut' poses a horror-inducing scenario to us all - what happens when the red telephone rings in the White House at three in the morning?  His solution is to say let it ring and forward the call to Defence Secretary Mattis!  Hardly encouraging, Charles!

 

 

So then, Mr. Xi, waddyagonna do?

As 'The Donald' will learn - er, he will learn, will he not? - this political lark is a damn sight more complicated than a really complicated thing!  Poor Mr. Xi, the latter-day emperor of China, has two nutters to deal with as a matter of urgency.  First there is 'Fat Boy Kim' who is hell bent on wrecking his toy cupboard as well as his country and, if necessary, the world.  Then there is 'The Donald' who does totally unpredictable better than anyone.  Of course, if Mr. Xi was as clever as he likes to pretend he is behind his inscrutable mask, he would have arranged a quiet assassination of 'Fat Boy' years ago and saved himself and his country and everyone else a lot of bother.

Alas, I suspect that Mr. Xi is not quite as secure in his presidential office as he might hope.  His anti-American militarism no doubt pleases his General Staff who are almost certainly as stupid as most General Staffs throughout the ages, but letting a loon like 'Fat Boy' lead him by the nose is really dumb, and now that America is run by a man whose strategic decision-making is decided by which side of the bed he gets out from each morning leaves him in an all too real example of an 'unknown-unknown' situation!  The Chinese are tremendous businessmen and so it is certain that Mr. Xi understands that the Chinese economy is balanced on one leg and any sort of major global explosion will bring it crashing down.  If that happens, not only will the Generals be displeased but the 'People' (dread word!) will be incensed.

Er, have a nice day, y'all!

 

 

Buddy, can you spare a dime, er, a few squillion dimes, actually?

Back in the day, the early '80s, actually, when 'that woman' was starting her 'reign', I became interested in economics - I know, I know, sad but thus it was.  Pretty soon I was into Hayek, Keynes, Rawls, Landes, Gilder, Friedman et al.  It was, at best, a rough and ready education because more frequently than I am prepared to admit, I didn't fully understand all the nuances of a 'science'(?) in which there seemed to be very few hard and fast rules.  The notion that 'it all depends ...' seemed pre-eminent.  Nevertheless, on the whole, taken in the round and by and large, I preferred the notion of 'free' markets to government-controlled markets.

But today, some 40 years later, the picture has become more than somewhat blurred.  What system of economics do we have today?  The answer appears to be as many systems as there are nations although, if you look closely there is not a lot of difference between them.  The rise and rise of mega-global businesses have placed mere governments in subsidiary roles.  "Do it our way," whisper the mega-zillionaires from whatever electronic platform they are hiding in, and governments tremble.

Even so, they may be 'masters of the universe', as they run rings round mere politicians, but they seem totally unable to control the ever-rising tsunami that will eventually swamp the lot of them - and us, too, actually!  I refer to the astronomical levels of debt which, for the moment, broods like a dark cloud on the far horizon of a Summer's day.  Everybody - and I do mean everybody bar perhaps a few Kalahari bushmen - owes everybody else!  Thus, no-one, it seems to me, actually owns anything.  You might think that someone like me who owns the freehold of my house really does 'own' something tangible.  However, if when the tsunami of debt swamps the world then there will be nobody willing or able to buy my freehold which will then become worthless.

Now, my fellow Brits, just ask yourself this, do you think that our new Chancellor of the Exchequer, 'Spreadsheet Phil', ever thinks of this?  Or you, my American buddies, do you comfort yourselves with the thought that your new president has the whole thing under control?   Hmnnn, thought not!

 

Hey there, cobber, how's it all goin' 'down under there'?

I must begin with an apology.  I don't really 'do' Australia.  The reason is simple, it's because I know next to nothing of what goes on 'down under there'.  Of course, I don't know much more than 'next to nothing' about America, or Europe, or China, or any of the other things I 'Bore for Britain' about on this blog but at least I have a veneer, only skin deep but just thick enough to bluff my way until one of you 'brainiacs' chip in your five bobs worth to the Comments.  But Australia - not a clue!

Thus, I was especially grateful to Mr. Tom Switzer (no, me neither) in The Spectator who provided me with enough of a briefing for me now to bluff my way on most things Australian.  Mostly, he concentrated on the Aussie PM, Malcolm Turnbull of the Liberal party (= conservative, sort of) whom I do recall, vaguely, carrying out as neat a political assassination of his fellow Liberal and party leader, Tony Abbott, as you would ever see outside the Kremlin!  According to Mr. Switzer, the Australian media went mad with joy and thanksgiving and assured Aussies everywhere that at last the Messiah had arrived.  Mega-wrong hardly describes it!

"When Turnbull backstabbed his predecessor Tony Abbott in a Liberal party coup 18 months ago, the media herd declared ‘hallelujah!’ The 62-year-old climate enthusiast and former merchant banker, we were told, would transform Australia into a beacon of progressiveness. At the time, I remember attending one of those swanky dinner parties in metropolitan Melbourne where eyes lit up at the mere mention of Malcolm. There was a real sense of excitement. In an echo of Harold Macmillan’s famous declaration that Brits had ‘never had it so good’, Turnbull declared: ‘There’s never been a more exciting time to be an Australian.’ But the trouble for any politician exciting high expectations is that they can almost never be fulfilled. Once he was the ‘it’ man; everyone wanted to know Malcolm or be seen with him, especially in his posh Sydney electoral district, Wentworth (our equivalent of Notting Hill in west London). These days, if you were at the pub and saw Turnbull waltzing in, you’d look the other way, hoping not to catch his eye."

Oh dear, "what a falling off was there"!  Now, apparently, the Labour party are climbing back up the popularity ladder - but please, I beg them, don't  bring back that Welsh woman who was once Prime Minister and whose Aussie accent, in an effort to out-Aussie any Aussie, was so atrocious as to constitute 'cruel and unusual punishment'!  Also, it is reported that so dismal is Turnbull's premiership that Pauline Hansen, the wickedest fish 'n' chip shop owner in the world, is also making a come back.

What is going on?

I don't know but I think we should be told!

 

 

One of the first of the wicked 'Greenie' witches

I am obliged to Mr. Alan J. Favish at The American Thinker for confirming my deeply held suspicion that most universities are staffed and run by idiots but those situated in California are actually run by the brain-dead!  He brings to our attention the fact that one of the colleges at the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) has decided to change its name to the Rachel Carson College.

Rachel Carson, of course, is the 'Great Green Goddess of all Greenies' everywhere and forever.  In 1961, her book, Silent Spring ,was hugely influential and the global campaign that followed led to the cessation of the use of DDT as a means of controlling mosquitoes which carried malaria.  The result was that zillions of 'ickle-lickle-mozzies' lived and, er, zillions of gross, ghastly humans died, especially those under 5 years of age!

Honestly, you have to ask, should we just burn all 'Greenies' at the stake in order to save Mankind?

 

Don't cry for me, Venezuela

I hesitate to accuse many people of being the personification of rank evil but when faced with the likes of Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, Ken Livingstone, Naomi Campbell, Diane Abbott, Seumas Milne and Owen Jones in the UK; Sean Penn, Oliver Stone and Michael Moore in the US, there is, quite simply, no other word for them.  Lest you doubt me - you wouldn't do that, would you? - then read Jason Mitchell's piece in The Spectator this week.

He reminds us that only ten years ago all the above were singing the praises of Hugo Chavez and his wonderful, humanitarian experiment in Venezuela.  That, they insisted at the time, was the truly socialist road we should all follow to a new world order.  Of course, Chavez died, extremely painfully I hope, of cancer but all of their Left-wing hopes were shifted to their new hero, Nicolas Maduro.  So how's that working out then?

Maduro has turned out to be an economic incompetent of the highest order. Last year imports collapsed by more than 50 per cent and the economy nosedived by 19 per cent. The budget deficit is around 20 per cent of GDP. The minimum wage is now the equivalent of £25 a month. After a Central Bank estimate that suggested that the Venezuelan economy had contracted by 19 per cent last year was leaked to the press, Maduro fired the bank’s president and replaced him with a Marxist loyalist.

[...]

At the heart of Venezuela’s economic chaos lie market distortions. Petrol is sold locally for less than one penny per litre and it receives £12 billion of state subsidies a year. The country has a complex monetary arrangement that makes use of three different exchange rates simultaneously.

This feeds rampant corruption: the president’s cronies can buy dollars from the state at ten bolivars a dollar but sell them at 3,300 bolivars a dollar on the black market. Price controls have made it unprofitable for small businesses to sell staple goods, leading to widespread shortages. Carjackings and kidnappings are now epidemic. Caracas’s murder rate is 80 times higher than
London’s.

Needless to say, human rights have been trampled on and most people believe that Maduro will fix next year's election to ensure that he remains 'El jefe'!  Well, we all get things wrong from time to time but given the scale of the humanitarian disaster overwhelming Venezuela, isn't it time - indeed is it not long overdue - for all those smug, stupid, wealthy and evil Lefties to admit their errors?  Don't hold your breath!

ADDITIONAL

No sooner had I written the above than I clicked over to the always excellent American Thinker to read some good news from Monica Showalter.  She points out that already President Trump has put away the soft-soled slippers worn by his predecessor and replaced them with steel-capped boots in his approach to the 'thugocracy' that runs Venezuela.  In a highly publicised event he met personally with Liliana Tintori, the wife of a Venezuelan thrown into jail years ago on false charges.

What a hell of a change from the mealy-mouthed, don't-upset-them approach seen from the Obama and, to some extent, even George Bush White Houses. Trump not only met with Tintori, signaling that she was welcome in the White House any time she liked, he also posed for a photo with her that included Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, to show an unambiguous united front.

 Not satisfied with that signal written in block capitals, 'The Donald' went one stage further:

It comes just a few days after Trump placed Chavista Vice President Tareck el-Aissami onto a Treasury Department list of actual drug dealers, something that is not done lightly, and requires the most unassailable standards of proof. The U.S. has had it for years, sitting on it, but until now refused to execute in the sanctions order. Trump got that job done, too.

Go, Donald, go!

 

 

And so we bid farewell to America as the sun sinks in the west

Not too much time this morning to expand on Trump's geo-political-strategic, hand-brake U-turn!  It is an irony beyond exquisite deliciousness that, in fact, Trump is simply following and extending Obama's more milky version of the same policy, that is, American withdrawal back into Fortress America. 

Think about it, People!

This is American real-politik writ large, as large as Trump's mouth, than which, etc, etc,  The implications are, er, well, 'yuuuuuuuge'!  If you're European and you are worried about 'Vlad the Impaler' do not kid yourself that the American cavalry will come galloping over the hill to save you.  If you are situated on the rim of the Pacific do not assume that the US Pacific Fleet will sail across to save you from Chinese adventurism.

By and large, taken in the round, on the one hand, or the other hand, President Trump is building a wall not just along the Mexican border but all round his own country.  What goes on the other side of it is of minimal interest to him. 

Interesting times!

 

The Sunday Rumble: 15.1.17

And lo, 'St. Theresa of May' speaks:  Or at least, she will on Tuesday and according to the 'scribblers' she will, at last, show some of her Brexit hand.  Not that her silence since last Summer was bad thing, on the contrary, given the devilish complexity of the subject she was wise to take her time and consider all options before taking decisions - a habit 'The Donald' shows no sign of following!  If the 'scribblers' are right in assuming that she has decided to make a fairly clean, swift break then I applaud her.  As I have said before, there is nothing much to be gained from 'negotiating' with the fanatical and mostly anti-British Euro-fanatics who would string things out for as long as possible and 'St. Theresa' would risk emulating Shakespeare's Richard II: "I wasted time and now doth time waste me"!

 

"I could'a been a contender":   That has to be one of the most famous film quotes of all time and I heard the original last night as I watched "Listen to me Marlon" on the TV.  This was a film, based on the huge number of tapes left by the late, great Marlon Brando.  I remember as a teen-ager - yes, that far back! - seeing "On the Waterfront" and Brando's performance was superlative.  That he went on - and on - producing similarly brilliant performances shows that he truly was one the greatest film actors of all time.  What a pity that such genius resided in such a flawed man.

 

Paul Krugman appears to be a prat:   Why am I not surprised?  Last Summer, this leviathan of economic punditry, a Nobel prize winner, no less, thundered down at us from the heights of, er, well, the NYT, actually, that government deficits were, in the words of Sellar & Yeatman, "A Good Thing".  However, six months later deficits are the harbingers of doom and destruction.  So what changed in the last six months . . . oh yes, of course, silly me!

 

Nothing like a nice dollop of humbug:   According to Mr. Thomas Lifson at The American Thinker, despite the Euro-fanatics criticising Australia for its 'cruel and unusual' treatment of 'refugees' trying to reach Australia by boat, several EU countries have secretly sought advice from the Australian immigration service on their techniques, and that includes a briefing given to 'Dim Dave' before he departed - and a fat lot of good that did!

 

Just for 'SoD':  You may have noticed that 'SoD' has a weakness for stats, well, he was once something of a maths swot although where got that from God only knows!  Anyway, courtesy of the formidable John Redwood MP, here are a few more for 'SoD' to swallow:

Our annual current account deficit to the EU is £92 billion.

The UK has lent the rest of the EU £1.4 trillion through the London banking system.

We pay around £700 million more to them each year for UK citizens to use their health services than they pay to use the NHS here.

We pay a gross budget contribution of [...] £10.8 bn after rebate and payments back to the UK state.

The overall magnitude of our financing of the EU is the main reason they do not want us to leave without first demanding we carry on paying as if we were staying.

Jes' sayin'!

 

Oh dear, Booker boots me in the bum!   Earlier this week I reported that Mr. Ross Clark at The Coffee House had given a sort of thumbs up for a massive scheme to build a tidal barrage across Swansea Harbour for the purpose of producing electricity.  Despite my inherent scepticism, I was partially convinced by the absence 'Greenie' support.  Mr. Brooker, in the Telegraph scotches, or perhaps 'Welshes', the whole thing.  He calls it "one of the most ludicrous confections of make‑believe any British government has ever been asked to fall for".  Sorry, Mr. Brooker, it won't happen again, honest!

 

Poor Hillary:   No, no, I mean really poor, like broke, skint, 'Buddy can you spare a dime?', that sort of thing.  According to ZeroHedge, the Clinton Global Initiative which I assume means an initiative in which the globe sends squillions to the Clintons, is closing down and 22 workers have already been laid off.  Why?  What happened?  What changed?  Oh, I see, you mean all those foreign gangsters Heads of State don't fancy her anymore now she isn't going to be President.  Oh dear what a pity never mind!

 

Have you met my new neighbours, the Starlings?   They are quite delightful in that they tend to mind their own business and ignore everybody and everything.  However, their habit of bathing several times a day on my patio takes a little getting used to:

Needless to say, as I progress, or regress, steadily towards senile childishness, I insist on giving them names but not just any old names.  They must be names that begin with 'St', thus preserving the alliteration, as in Stanley and Stella, and their off-spring, Stephan and Stephanie and Stewart Starling.  Yes, I know, I know but the doctor says that if I keep taking the pills I should get better!

 

In which I withdraw my offer to Ms. Janet Daly:   As regular readers will know, I have persisted in my generous offer to Ms. Janet Daly to be the mother of my babies because I am awe-struck by her intelligence as displayed every Sunday in the Telegraph.  Somewhat to my surprise I have not yet heard from her but I remain confident that it can only be a matter of time!  However, having read her superb essay in today's edition, in which she writes more intelligently on the subject of our national religion - the NHS - than anyone I have read hitherto, it would be a criminal folly on my part to burden her with my children.  Instead, I intend to agitate to make this Goddess of a woman the new Minister for Health and the fact that she will thus rid us of that total tit, Jeremy Hunt, clinches the argument.  Should you doubt me, read her excellent article for yourselves. 

 

No more rumbles today