Opportunity offering offspring?...

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White Christmas anyone (click on image)? Three families, two babies and gingerbread people...no, not my life but the Christmas card offerings of the UK's political party leaders [Guardian] aaahhh, cute. I take this opportunity to wish anyone who reads this a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2011. I will be in the UK as of tomorrow - if the snow lets me in - for three weeks, blogging will be sporadic...if at all. Best wishes.

Orthopsychiatry or opsimaths...

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Has the UK created a generation of children that need special help or are they late learners? Is it a problem of too many foreign langauges/immigrants, or poor teaching methods/poor teachers, or is it family break down/no parent to read/lack of parenting skills or could it be all of these things?...

Just what the fuck is it that leads to "one in 11 boys in England - one in seven in some areas" - being barely able to read when they go to secondary school?

Oikofugic Ows orts...

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No real story, unless you want to talk about something that's dead boring (boom-boom!)

This is really just an info post for myself to link to a few interesting points re the tuiton fees saga. Open Europe yesterday had an interesting piece on why a Graduate tax just isn't possible because "EU citizens studying in another EU member state must be treated under the same conditions" [EU link]; which is presumably why we have the news that Scotland will be pretty much following England's lead; that led me to see what-was-what about student finance, the reality and myths of the proposals etc, I knew - unlike almost every student interviewed in any media over the last few weeks - but want to have a handy record here with the appropriate links for when the new protests start.

P.S. I'm sure oikofugic isn't what you think it means.

Okavango outline...

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Owsblog has just had its first visitor from Botswana. It is also my 175 country. I can also say that I have had visits from no less than 13,050 cities. Yippee.

For info: the Okavango Delta, which is in NW Botswana, is the world's largest inland delta (click on image for Wiki page). The Batswana have had great success in reducing HIV transmission from infected mothers - down from nearly 40% to just 4% - however, because of AIDS, general life expectancy, which is 1984 was 60 years of age, has dropped to 35. Tuition fees? Cuts? Jeez.

Objurgation of oligarchy...

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Image credit and hat-tip to Prodicus (again). Click on image for the DT telling us that in the EU our beloved MEPs will have nigh on 91,000 quid in tax free expenses without having to provide any proof of expenditure! This is part of an increased pay and perks package and is made up from their money for showing up of EUR300/day (this is for 184 days of work; if you ever seen ANY footage of the EU you'll know they turn up and sign on but rarely get ino the Chamber unless it's to vote for topping up their trough) and added to that they get their "General expenditure allowance" (office running expenses) will be increased to about EUR4300/month; please note that this is by NO means all their expenses but these are the ones that are automatically paid directly into bank accounts belonging to MEPs. No questions asked bro, nudge-nudge, wink-wink. Feeling the pinch of any cuts?

P.S. Just in case you miss the point this is completely separate from their 80 grand salary. 

Obverting outreach overture...

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Tim Montgomerie at Conservative Home has some encourgaing news. With many, especially the BBC, doing their best to spike the Coalition guns at every opportunity, it was clear that Ed miliband would try to woo some of the wavering Liberal Democrats; however in reply to his direct overture today, Tim Farron, the left-leaning President of the Lib Dems has spoken up strongly:

"Labour have just spent 13 years sucking up to Rupert Murdoch and George Bush - why would any sane progressive even give them a second glance? As part of the coalition government, Liberal Democrats have started fixing Labour's economic mess, taking millions of people out of Income Tax and reforming British politics. Things Labour had 13 years to do but failed to deliver. The Liberal Democrats have also announced more cash for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, one of the biggest moves to improve social mobility in decades. Continuing that work is something far more attractive to Liberal Democrats than helping Ed Miliband's increasingly desperate attempts to work out what he actually stands for. However, if he is serious about co-operation then the first thing he should do is stop the Labour Party's attempts to block the referendum on electoral reform that he claims to support."

Really he is just saying things that should be the first words any Coalition member should be saying at any and every opportunity even if it gets irritating: the marked absense of any sort of contrition or apology from Labour and the even more marked absense in the media of any reminders of just why the UK is having to take certain unpopular measures needs addressing.

Update: I rather liked this comment from Prodicus:

"There is no essential difference between the 'thinking' of wannabe commissars like Miliband and that of ignorant gits like Gilmour junior and the violent, nihilistic haters of the SWP and Black Bloc.

The violence of recent days, and the coming days, is all 'Because they're Tories'. Government policy, political thought, democracy, the Common Good and the will of the people have nothing to do with it."

Outside office...

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"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is going to govern temporarily from a tent so that families made homeless by recent floods can take refuge in his office." [BBC]

Nice, meanwhile his government discusses complete control of the Internet in Venezuela. And of course what would the family** of the socialist leader be without their life of guns, parties, cars, jewels, multi-million dollar bank accounts etc. [La Razon]

**Daddy Chavez was a State Governor, brother took over from him after being a government Minister; the other brother is a local Mayor; that's just the direct family...talented bunch, obviously.

Ooops...

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He don't need no education... (well you'd think he didn't get one, but he seems honest:"Ignorance is the poorest of excuses but I am sincerely sorry".)

All in all he's just another prick on the wall...[Link]

Oil oppression...

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Wikileaks and Venezuela: "American diplomats say president is now desperate to attract foreign partners after nationalisation frightened many away." [Guardian] Even his allies seem to realise:

The memos depict an unfolding economic fiasco and suggest some of Chávez's key allies – Argentina, Brazil and Cuba – are gravely concerned at Venezuela's direction.

Chávez, typically, calls all this capitalist propaganda: the Venezuelan government "is studying a draft law to facilitate further oil industry nationalisations to deepen the revolution." You'd laugh at such stupidity if it wasn't so tragic.

Organ octaves...

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You may have heard about or have seen Canadian lingerie firm La Senza's Cup Size Choir Ad but did you know there is an interactive version where each girl sings her note when you use your keyboard: "Play the Girls"...for all you musical types. Ahem.

Ows opines...

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A few words on last weekend's wildcat strike by the Spanish air-traffic controllers: I was traveling - as you might expect - but luckily only by car to see some cousins in the South of France. Anyway, those few words: you're fucking fucked you nepotistic bunch of selfish, stupid fuckers. Talk about Spanish practices. I've seen some of the reports but nobody seems to be telling all of it. Reported: this was unannounced; this was one of the most important weekends of the year (double bank holiday this week), it was too rash, too unadvised, too sudden...(with apologies to Will the bard).

The way it's going to turn out is sure to get conspiracy theorists maintaining there is a government mole high up in the ATC union of the 2200 controllers that have a monopoly and rule the roost, literally: largely unreported: 80% are relatives or friends of the more "experienced employees"...should I repeat that? The first bit is that the government has been trying to end this monopoly, this strike was SO FUCKING STUPID that the government's wishes will come true...and then some: apart from gaol time not being out of the question, wages will be lowered to a more reasonable level (apparently 50,000 to 70,000 Euros per year is the average whilst in Spain the average is EUR200,000...reaching 600 thousand on occasion); wages will be slashed, less overtime, fewer privileges; they may even be made to pay for the losses they have caused; the nepotistic dream of veterans being allowed to veto new signings will disappear etc. This will be one case of unions for workers rights being completely and utterly crushed and yet the whole country will cheer it on. [details in Spanish]

Obvious outcome: official openness...

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Dan the Man today hits the Wikileakphobia nail on the head:

"There are one or two very specific areas where governments need to act in secret, but most of what has been leaked falls into the Pretty Bloody Obvious category. The only reason it is of interest is that it was classified. The days of official secrecy are over; they have been displaced by technological change. Get used to it."

Out of order VI...

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Lying bastard politician...Andy Burnham (Labour's shadow education secretary) has said that: "English schools are better today than they were in the 80s and 90s but of course we all want them to be amongst the best in the world". [Link]

Overall scores for UK pupils, down in every discipline (no doubt including discipline itself if they measured it!): "stagnant at best" according to the OECD. The only bright spot was that in Science they were above average...and only fell a couple of places. 'Education, edukaysion, eaduqcashun'.

Update 9pm: Gold star to 13th Spitfire:

You're smart, you're average and you're thick. Don't worry, we have something for all of you.

"And most of all, they keep their education system away from the clutches of Politicians. Their kids are far too important for a few dozen idiots to ruin. It's time we learned to be honest with our population again. We OWE it to them."

Organisms' other options...

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Scientists have been torturing and force-feeding bugs! OK, they've 'trained' a bacterium to eat and grow on a diet of arsenic instead of one of six elements considered essential for life - phosphorus in this case - "opening up the possibility that organisms could exist elsewhere in the universe or even here on Earth using biochemical powers we have not yet dared to dream about." Chemist and molecular biologist Dr. Gerald Joyce said,

"It's a really nice story about adaptability of our life form... ...It gives food for thought about what might be possible in another world."

This successful substitution of phosphorus of course is sure to stimulate a "rush" to replace one of the five other chemical elements (C, O, N, H, S) "essential" for life...like the substitution of silicon for carbon...In Space nobody can hear you scream! I'm joking of course: there are reasons why this particular one probably wouldn't work (strength of molecular structures etc) but chemical swaps are not that uncommon, in fact I have dealt with a particular one (sulphur for selenium in yeasts) for years.

Odd oversight or obscurantism....

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The News. Or not the News? MP Expenses in the millions. I guess it depends how it's written and what agenda the particular media have, especially if you're not keen on the Coalition: BBC and DT both have similar headlines: "MPs' expenses: £3.1m claimed in three months", or "MPs claiming £1m a month in expenses; MPs were paid £3.1 million in expenses in the first three and a half months after the General Election". Both the BBC and DT have details of various claims, explain the process with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, both have various articles about this news but neither, yesterday or today, in all their reporting - as far as I can see - mention one important fact:

"Expenses claimed by MPs have halved in the new Parliament, the first breakdown of payments since the general election has revealed."

That from Nigel Morris, Deputy Political Editor The Independent.

Update 12:45 CET: somewhat connected news: Tom Harris MP Tweets that IPSA's communications director Anne Power was named as source of leaks against MPs: in Hansard (Column 1029).

Other opt-out option?...

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In a word: No. "...we remain financially liable (thanks to the last act of Alistair Darling’s Chancellorship) until 2013 for bailing out whichever failed euro-state follows Ireland's dismal example."

Oh-Oh II...

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Shit hits the fan: the leaked US cables also reveal that... [Link]

Update Tuesday p.m.: it seems the Bankers are next; Calling England tells us of an article in Forbes Magazine in which "the messenger" says:

Assange: If you think about it, we have a publishing pipeline that’s increasing linearly, and an exponential number of leaks, so we’re in a position where we have to prioritize our resources so that the biggest impact stuff gets released first.
Me: So do you have very high impact corporate stuff to release then?
Assange: Yes, but maybe not as high impact…I mean, it could take down a bank or two.
Me: That sounds like high impact.

Organ opt-out option...

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Interesting post last week on Liberal Vision about organ donor opt-out system that would replace the donor card ('opt-in') system.

"An opt-out scheme would create a presumption that the state, in this case the NHS, owns you on death, unless you remember to declare otherwise, and have some system to prove you have done so, either a card, medical records, or a national database."

However, a poll they refer to chimes with what we were told a few years ago, that nearly two-thirds would be willing to donate their organs for transplantation after their death. LV end their piece with the phrase "The result of most such surveys depends on how you frame the debate and questions" and I can guarantee a 100% against opt-out poll result if you asked them today: "Do you want the Coalition to own your body after death?".

I suggest the medical powers that be in the UK look for ways to make people want to donate rather than attempt to force the issue! "Presumed consent may not increase organ donation" [Link]

Outstanding oratorio...

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Maybe the idea is that if the people won't go to church then the church should go to the people: as it was in the beginning... Chorus Niagara provide a 'stunning showcase of Christmas cheer' [Link].

Hattip Celestial Junk via EU Referendum

Overflowing outrage...

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Flight of fantasy or Flight of the Con d'or? hehehe; what a palaver...and again over nothing and certainly not fantasy. Howard Flight and his remarks have been described as idiot, disgraceful, shameful, repugnant** etc, I think he wasn't so far off the mark.

"We're going to have a system where the middle classes are discouraged from breeding because it's jolly expensive, but for those on benefit there is every incentive."

Now, IMHO the contirved outrage is over the use of the word 'breeding'. Had he said:

"We're going to have a system where the middle classes are discouraged from unprotected shagging because raising children is jolly expensive but for those on benefit there is every incentive"

...I'm sure he would have got away with it! Almost. Channel 4 FactCheck conclude: offensive phrase but "...a valid question: do tax and benefits influence how many children people have?" Apparently Ed Miliband, is making attempts to reach out to what he calls 'the squeezed middle' which I've heard helps but a condom would be safer and better.

** These words are all reported from various friends and foes alike on the BBC report [Link]. I read the comments on view and was [pleasantly] surprised:

"Well I agree with him. You shouldn't have children you (not the state) cannot afford."

"Typical upper class hogwash from someone with his head in the sand. The working class will dig the country from the mess we're in not peers or the government."

"I don't think he should apologise - I agree. The benefit system does encourage poorer people to "breed" and to use this as their source of income. This is completely wrong if people with a bit more money don't get any help at all - raising a child is indeed expensive and tricky for anyone in this day and age."

"David Cameron was wrong. Howard Flight is right as the cost of raising children properly is a serious disincentive for middle class families. For those dependent on state benefits the more children they have the more money they receive. Families are allocated larger council houses if they have more children whereas a middle class family with more children will not be able to afford a bigger house."

"This is just another example of the Conservatives, or contributor to the Conservative party clearly out of touch with the nation."

"Whatever happened to freedom of speech?"

"I find it hard to believe that anyone, no matter how poor, would have a child so that they can claim an extra £11 a week in child benefit. A week's worth of nappies costs more than that."

"He should never have apologised. It's reflective of the sorry state of British politics when a peer (albeit soon-to-be) cannot speak his mind. This is regardless of whether he's right or wrong (and he is right in my view). We need more people like Mr Flight, not fewer."

Only a snapshot but more 'in favour' than not.

Update: just noticed Iain Dale said much the same thing last night.

Outstanding, one, one, one...

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Well you can guess that the "one, one, one" refers to: 'One Person, One Voice, One Thought' (ahem) and the Bloom-ing shite-fest that the Euro Parliament got into today, Godwin's law...or was it Godfrey? (more HERE at UKIP's Independence Home,or go straight to the video HERE, worth listening to the whole 15 minute video) but the 'outstanding' is for Nigel Farage and the "Bunker mentality", 3 minutes of sticking to the them, HERE..."Just who the hell do you think you people are? You are very, very dangerous people indeed". Please listen. I realise Farage has his faults but this was simply superb, correct and would that most of our politicians acted this way. More on Bloom's gloom/boom at BBC, The Guardian and more interestingly from Dan Hannan who explains that the target today is in fact himself a serial "Nazi-jibber" but pro EU so of course no action is ever taken! Better Off Out.

P.S. What's in it for EU? Hilarious, including the made-up myths.

Opinion of obtrucation...

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Today we remember...Twenty years ago Margaret Thatcher resigned** as Tory leader. Thatcher is the only woman to have been Leader of the Conservative Party but more importantly the only woman to serve as Prime Minister of the UK, something she did for longer than anyone since 1827 (consecutively). Nice touch with videos etc HERE from Tim at Conservative Home.

** Worth remembering she wasn't kicked out as everyone likes to 'recall'; she resigned after failing to win the first ballot outright...haha you might say but she slaughtered the opposition getting nearly 54% of the vote (see details), however new rules stated that the winner must win by a clear 15% margin from the nearest rival; she missed this target by only 6 votes, not six percent...six votes...and there were 6 abstentions and 17 spoiled/void ballots. Imagine had she won: probably - although by no means certain - she would have lost in 1992 to Labour and Kinnock: no Major, no "1997 landslide" (it wasn't by the way), no Blair years, no Brown years. IMAGINE! Heseltine and Co have a lot to answer for; maybe their heads should be on the spikes next to Blair's and Brown's.

Ostensible otherworldly orator...

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Otherworldly is right, EU Referendum calls it Barking Bloody Mad. Al Gore...calling climate change "the new global terror". He has outlined "the doom the world is awaiting" and called the failure of world leaders to clinch some sort of deal a "startling paradox". According to the Hindustan Times - in India, where he is spouting his nonsense to anyone who'll listen - Gore now thinks the "solution for the problem was taking the issue back to the grassroots and creating a political storm to compel the leaders to react to climate change". That sounds to me like Al is calling for more civil unrest at world summits...my God, how else will he be able to continue to make millions? Needless to say the seemingly unnoticed closing of the Chicago Climate Exchange (with it's Gore and Obama connections) would help to explain why Gore is ramping up the hyperbole.

P.S. The European equivalent Climate Exchange may also fail within a year or two unless a new 'Kyoto Protocol' is agreed.

Update 11:15am: browsing that paper I see the reason for the madness: Gordon Brown is there giving a speech "Lessons from the Last Global Crisis"! Mind you, it sounds like he may be "getting it": "We assumed that the risks the banks were taking were well diversified".

Obstrobogulous obscurantism...

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Venezuela to repay $336M of debt to Colombia. Also, both countries have vowing to cooperate more in the anti-drug war AND Venezuela has deported three suspected rebels back to Colombia in a sign of improved cooperation between the two countries [VOA]. Sounds good you say...but this is the cost of obscurantism...clearly Chavez is so relieved that Colombia has decided to extradite Walid Makled to Venezuela and not to the evil empire - a drug trafficker who claims he has paid millions of dollars to senior military officials and politicians in the Venezuelan government, and can prove it - is now surely facing a mystery death an unfortunate accident.

A poll at El Universal (image, click to enlarge) is currently almost 91% of the opinion that either he won't get a decent trial in Venezuela or that it would a more balanced trial in the USA (which IMHO is what Chavez is afraid of). 

Obvious omission III...

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I seem to have missed the outraged overeaction. Can't move for the media coverage that we saw re Lord Young's ill-advised yet still true enough statement that many hadn't really had a bad time at all during the recession...but finding it hard to find much on yet another resignation for the shadow cabinet; perhaps Ed doesn't know yet but Labour MP Eric Joyce was banned from driving AGAIN: "not compus mentis" at the wheel of a car: surely Ed, you should be decrying this as "disgraceful".

P.S.The number of people available to Ed is shrinking: those that have refused to serve in the shadow cabinet, those already removed and facing trial, and those on their way out.

One overriding objection...

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Economic..."not ill-considered or xenophobic, as subsequent critics have repeatedly claimed".

Peter Oborne sings the praises of Margaret Thatcher and William Hague on their Euro warnings. He also "tried to reach the leading politicians who tried so hard 10 years ago to abolish the pound – Heseltine, Leon Brittan, Mandelson, Neil Kinnock, Charlie Kennedy. I wanted to ask them whether they stood by their extravagant warnings. I wanted to ask them for an apology. Not one of them came back... ...Other apologies are called for. From the BBC, which distorted the debate."

Official outlook: obscure...

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Or maybe not, maybe it's as clear as day: "Homeland, Socialism, or Death". And it seems that the Homeland will indeed suffer Death; via Socialism. Non oil exports are down 56% in 5 years [only in Spanish]. Also, yet another farm company, once known for horse breeding and a genetic centre for Brahman cattle becomes - in less than a year - an asset-robbed, survive-only-by-subsidy socialist nighmare; it has 'lost' 20 thousand head of cattle and is now a "farm that yields nothing but expenses"; at this rate, from Commander President Hugo Chávez downwards via the Vice-Ministry for Social Welfare through the Ministry of Communes (my God you can't get much more Orwellian-sounding than that!) they will ensure death via socialism.

Expropriations, too much government control and regulation plus legal uncertainty "are the main factors hindering economic growth in Venezuela"...that and the chronic breakdown in security and food shortages etc. 'Analysts expect Venezuelan economy to remain stagnant':

"A Castro-communist system is being established. It seeks to eliminate private enterprise. With the elimination of the private sector, economic growth is not likely to occur."

Tell us something we don't know! In a recent report, Barclays (Investment) said 'that in the first quarter of 2011, and specifically in the first weeks of the year, the government will devalue its currency by 15 percent' (scroll to bottom of article: 19 Nov).

P.S. Minor typographical edits made, 16:30 CET. 

Oblivious of observation...

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Today is International Students' Day. It is, obviously, an international observance of students: the day originates from the execution without trial of nine students and professors on the 17th of November in Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia: during a student demonstration against the ocupation one student, Jan Opletal, was shot. He died later and his funeral procession became another demonstration; this was harshly put down and resulted in drastic measures being taken by the Nazis: all Czech colleges and universities were shut down and more than 1,200 students were arrested and sent to concentration camps, as well as the aforementioned executions. Interesting that the NUS had a demonsration last week and plan another next week but their website , where incidentally, they "Demand Extra", has no mention of the significance of today, in fact it doesn't mention it at all: the European Student's Union do [ESU] (and NUS are members); the ESU, make a big deal of the cuts being made in higher education budgets across Europe; additionally they have a 2011 project with the aim of comparing European funding systems in order to share best practices.

"This decrease has often been replaced by the introduction or increase of tuition fees. These fees have not filled the funding gap, but they have made it more difficult for people to participate in and complete higher education."

Anyway, just a thought. One would have thought that the NUS would have some mention of it...

Overpowering operation overkill...

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James knew he could be in Some Kind of Trouble but he says he would have refused to take the world Back To Bedlam, imagine All The Lost Souls. Luckily UK Commanding Officer General Mike Jackson came on the radio and told NATO Supreme Commander Europe General Wesley Clark (US)" I'm not going to have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War 3". [BBC]

James knew what to say: "You're Beautiful".

Overseas operators...

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Like Grumpy Old Twat, I thought the following - although not new - 'was an excellent explanation of how people in the higher tax bracket will benefit the most from having a tax reduction'...(to howls and shrieks from the left about how unfair it is especially to the poor etc.) If you wish for more complicated info then look at the IFS survey of the UK tax system (link: PDF): see the table on page 38 where we see the top 1% of taxpayers forking out for 23% of the total income tax take with the top 10% of taxpayers paying over 50% of the total inocme tax liability. However, back to the easy version; I'm starting with the tagline:

"For those who understand, no explanation is needed
For those who do not understand, no explanation"

"Suppose that once a week, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to £100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this ...

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay £1
The sixth would pay £3.
The seventh would pay £7.
The eighth would pay £12.
The ninth would pay £18.
And the tenth man (the richest) would pay £59.

So, that's what they decided to do: the ten men drank in the bar every week and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until, one day, the owner caused them a little problem. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your weekly beer by £20."

Drinks for the ten men would now cost just £80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free, but what about the other six men? The paying customers? How could they divide the £20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share? They realized that £20 divided by six is £3.33 but if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then not only would the first four men still be drinking for free, but the fifth and sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fairer to reduce each man's bill by a higher percentage. They decided to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.

And so, the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (a 100% saving).
The sixth man now paid £2 instead of £3 (a 33% saving).
The seventh man now paid £5 instead of £7 (a 28% saving).
The eighth man now paid £9 instead of £12 (a 25% saving).
The ninth man now paid £14 instead of £18 (a 22% saving).
And the tenth man now paid £49 instead of £59 (a 16% saving).
Each of the last six was better off than before with the first four continuing to drink for free.

But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got £1 out of the £20 saving", declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got £10!"

"Yeah, that's right!" exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a £1 too. It's unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!"

"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get £10 back, when I only got £2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute!" yelled the first four men in unison, "we didn't get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next week the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. When it came to paying the bill, they discovered something important, they didn't have enough money between all of them to pay for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy and they just might not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier."

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D. Professor of Economics.

Opposing oppression...

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Raedwald on the button again:

"It's because I love Europe that I condemn with every breath I take the grotesque evil of the EU. The EU is evil in exactly the same way that the Soviet Union was evil; that in a pretence at securing the good of all, the freedoms of each are trampled upon, that power and its maintenance becomes an end in itself, that privilege and patronage are reserved to the ruling elite, and that any countervailing loyalties and allegiances are crushed. The corruption of power, the spoilation of national dignity, the cruel subjugation of human spirit and conscience are all works of true evil and counter to our shared Christian culture and heritage. Every one of us has a moral duty to oppose the EU."

Sorry for lack of orginal Ows comment in this post and yesterday's based around three of the 5 or 6 excellent blogposts in one day from Autonomous Mind but when someone says something you agree with but says it in a much better way then why not quote it!

Ominous omissions...

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Autonomous Mind has been rampant the last couple of days: all three links below are to that blog. The 'ominous omissions' relate to the blog-post re the usual suspects: "In every conflict there are people who are described as ‘fifth columnists’. These are people who clandestinely or otherwise undermine a larger group such as a nation from within, in order to help an external enemy. The don’t see the external entity as an enemy because they share its aims and are therefore comfortable to side against their own people. They engage in propaganda and work actively promote the aims of the external entity." The omission was in the total lack of coverage from the BBC and The Guardian of yesterday's speech by the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy. Autonomous Mind follows it up today with another stunner re "The truth Herman Van Rompuy is trying to hide".

"That fear which ferments inside the EU does indeed lead to egoism. One only needs to look at Van Rompuy or his colleague in the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, to see the rampant egoism and unswerving belief that they and their colleagues alone know best and that we must bend to their will. Because of the EU’s fear they try to stoke fear in people. They falsely claim that rejection of their creed leads to nationalism. They claim that sovereign, independent nation states will lead to war. It is a lie."

Ohhh...

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Alright. 1964 pop art classic. "The contemporary and post-war art auction in New York has closed with another record sale – Roy Lichtenstein's "Ohhh... Alright" sold for $42.6 million (£26.4 million), taking the combined autumn sales to over $1 billion". Industrial painting pays.

Offensive omnes

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Hehehe...From Dizzy: "True equality is about being offensive to everyone right?". [Source]

Orchestra onore...

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Happy 82nd birthday to the composer of some of the best music in the best films ever...if you've got 11 minutes to spare THIS is the finale of one of the best of those best: Harmonica and Frank final showdown.

Objurgating obscurantic objicients...

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Tuition fee tossers, Tuition fee twats, call them what you will. Objurgating obscurantist objicients. Or, in other words: rebuking the objectors that deliberately prevent full facts/details becoming known. Riots in London, student protest turns violent. Lefty Marxist student rent-a-mob tagging along with the useful idiot NUS - that now decry such violence - complete coincidence they decided to route the march ending right next to Conservative HQ. Also, I wouldn't mind betting that anyone interviewed wouldn't have a fucking clue what the proposals were. Do they know that the student gets to repay the loan over 25 years and that is according to their ability to pay and that any outstanding tuition fee debt will be written-off. Or that graduates earning below £21,000/year wouldn't pay any real interest on loans. Where was this anger when Labour brought in tuition fees? Where is the press decrying the ridiculous state of affairs where 40 or 50% of students go to university thereby massaging unemployment figures and giving another excuse to import more immigrants because all those who before got jobs etc are now "forced" into higher education?

Let's look at this tripling of tuition fees: how much does it add to the typical student's probable debt/loan/etc. I know it's simplistic looking at the totals and assuming all students will be in the same boat, but anyway: does it triple it? No. Does it double it? No. Is it the same? No. Is it less? On the lower end, YES!!!! Look at the image left (click for BBC article) and add the current and proposed total, using 6000 which is the new lower cap and not 9000 quid which is the upper tier that universities 'can only charge' if they have sufficient access for poorer students i.e. better for poor families and better for any student because universities that are currently at full stretch due to Labour's fucking stupid equalisation social engineering fuck-fest would have more to invest in their education.

Ows observation...

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I just happened to notice something about Tamara Mellon's sofa. Guido posted the rather nice image that I copy here mentioning that she is among UK business envoys accompanying David Cameron to China. And why not: she is co-founder, president and chief creative officer of Jimmy Choo shoes and back in June was made an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) in recognition of her contributions to the fashion industry [exhibit A]. Anyway, the image above was taken by Terry Richardson for Interview Magazine back in April but since then Tamara has had Douglas Friedman for Harper's Bazaar in to take some shots too [exhibit B]...she has about 400 pairs of shoes in her closet by the way! Anyway, same sofa in all three images!!...of course It wasn't just the sofa I noticed, that cute pussy looks so cosy and relaxed.

P.S. Speaking of Choo, just remembered a really funny Spanish joke about Pamela Choo...yes, Ows has been drinking.

Ows observation...

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I just happened to notice something about Tamara Mellon's sofa. Guido posted the rather nice image that I copy here mentioning that she is among UK business envoys accompanying David Cameron to China. And why not: she is co-founder, president and chief creative officer of Jimmy Choo shoes and back in June was made an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) in recognition of her contributions to the fashion industry [exhibit A]. Anyway, the image above was taken by Terry Richardson for Interview Magazine back in April but since then Tamara has had Douglas Friedman for Harper's Bazaar in to take some shots too [exhibit B]...she has about 400 pairs of shoes in her closet by the way! Anyway, same sofa in all three images!!...of course It wasn't just the sofa I noticed, that cute pussy looks so cosy and relaxed.

P.S. Speaking of Choo, just remembered a really funny Spanish joke about Pamela Choo...yes, Ows has been drinking.