Octonary oblivion...

---

Happy Thanksgiving to my US family and friends and of course all of our transatlantic cousins as well. Tommorrow is Black Friday and no doubt billions will be spent in the shops. One man who won't be celebrating Thanksgiving - probably because he's Welsh and in Wales and is more worried about looking like a turkey rather than eating one tonight - is James Howells from Newport who is desperately digging through rubbish to find his old computer hard drive which he threw away earlier this year. The reason? It contains 7,500 bitcoins now (Thursday 6:50pm GMT) worth over 8 million US dollars. Not quite in the Top 100 but he'd better get a move on: yesterday Zerohedge posted some scary charts that could point to a not unfamiliar fall. And, in agreement with ZH, as one comment HERE says, most Bitcoin owners are just speculating ON the currency and not actually using it as a currency. That spells "bubble".




Update: bursting...

Octonary oblivion...

---

Happy Thanksgiving to my US family and friends and of course all of our transatlantic cousins as well. Tommorrow is Black Friday and no doubt billions will be spent in the shops. One man who won't be celebrating Thanksgiving - probably because he's Welsh and in Wales and is more worried about looking like a turkey rather than eating one tonight - is James Howells from Newport who is desperately digging through rubbish to find his old computer hard drive which he threw away earlier this year. The reason? It contains 7,500 bitcoins now (Thursday 6:50pm GMT) worth over 8 million US dollars. Not quite in the Top 100 but he'd better get a move on: yesterday Zerohedge posted some scary charts that could point to a not unfamiliar fall. And, in agreement with ZH, as one comment HERE says, most Bitcoin owners are just speculating ON the currency and not actually using it as a currency. That spells "bubble".

Update: bursting...

One outing...

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BOO: WTO MFN (pdf) UK > EU, OK? [Link]




Update: and who bloody cares if we're called the nasty country?! Mr. Laszlo Andor please just fuck off! Look at the graph opposite and tell us where you think the blue line will be heading come January 2014? "The point is that the British public has not been told all the truth" you say; too bloody right we haven't! And you compound that by spouting utter shit. "We would need a more accurate presentation of the reality, not under pressure, not under hysteria, as sometimes happens in the UK. I would insist on presenting the truth, not false assumptions."...look at the graph (just Eastern European arrivals) Laszlo, ask anyone in the country, read how nobody could/can believe we're such a bloody pushover: "In 2004, the Home Office absurdly claimed just 13,000 would arrive. As it turned out, more than one million settled here over subsequent years".

One outing...

---

BOO: WTO MFN (pdf) UK > EU, OK? [Link]

Update: and who bloody cares if we're called the nasty country?! Mr. Laszlo Andor please just fuck off! Look at the graph opposite and tell us where you think the blue line will be heading come January 2014? "The point is that the British public has not been told all the truth" you say; too bloody right we haven't! And you compound that by spouting utter shit. "We would need a more accurate presentation of the reality, not under pressure, not under hysteria, as sometimes happens in the UK. I would insist on presenting the truth, not false assumptions."...look at the graph (just Eastern European arrivals) Laszlo, ask anyone in the country, read how nobody could/can believe we're such a bloody pushover: "In 2004, the Home Office absurdly claimed just 13,000 would arrive. As it turned out, more than one million settled here over subsequent years".

Offing oldies...

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Is the government offing oldies by allowing thousands to die from increased energy bills (ooh those evil energy companies)? No. Of course, let's do what we have to do to reduce the number of winter excess deaths: we can and are getting this number down but let's not get carried away with silly headlines about the estimated 30,000 + excess winter deaths occurring in England and Wales in 2012/13 and that it is a '29% increase'. The figure may be accurate but the context isn't given the graph (click to enlarge or see all figures HERE [pdf]). The ONS summary states: "In common with other countries, in England and Wales more people die in the winter than in the summer. This statistical bulletin presents provisional figures of excess winter deaths...  Historical trends from 1950/51 onwards are also presented for comparison. Figures are presented by sex, age, area and cause of death. Figures on temperature and influenza incidence are also provided to add context to the mortality figures."

Offing oldies...

---

Is the government offing oldies by allowing thousands to die from increased energy bills (ooh those evil energy companies)? No. Of course, let's do what we have to do to reduce the number of winter excess deaths: we can and are getting this number down but let's not get carried away with silly headlines about the estimated 30,000 + excess winter deaths occurring in England and Wales in 2012/13 and that it is a '29% increase'. The figure may be accurate but the context isn't given the graph (click to enlarge or see all figures HERE [pdf]). The ONS summary states: "In common with other countries, in England and Wales more people die in the winter than in the summer. This statistical bulletin presents provisional figures of excess winter deaths...  Historical trends from 1950/51 onwards are also presented for comparison. Figures are presented by sex, age, area and cause of death. Figures on temperature and influenza incidence are also provided to add context to the mortality figures."

Overwhelmingly of one...

---

...community. Yes, overwhelmingly of one community. ..." [he] knew what he was saying and was right to say it. By all means ask him to explain, but he shouldn't have to apologise"; why has Dominic Grieve apologised? " Hat-tip to Thoughtful: "So that must mean that the Electoral commission are also racist' and must be forced to apologise for telling the truth" because HERE (pdf) in their Electoral Fraud in the UK: Evidence and Issues paper comes the following:

"There are strongly held views, based in particular on reported first-hand experience by some campaigners and elected representatives in particular, that electoral fraud is more likely to be committed by or in support of candidates standing for election in areas which are largely or predominately populated by some South Asian communities, specifically those with roots in parts of Pakistan or Bangladesh. These concerns reflect issues also highlighted by a small number of previous studies of political and electoral participation. These studies have suggested that extended family and community networks may have been mobilised to secure the support of large numbers of electors in some areas, effectively constituting a ‘block vote’ – although this does not necessarily involve electoral fraud. They also argue that the wider availability of postal voting in Great Britain since 2001 may have increased the risk of electoral fraud associated with this approach, as the greater safeguards of secrecy provided in polling stations are removed." [my emphasis]

Thoughful's list of clearly 'South Asian' names led me to dig further: the government's own website: "Postal voting and electoral fraud 2001-09 - Commons Library Standard Note", HERE where you can download their pdf file: you will read (part 8, Chronology) that there have been at least 42 convictions for electoral fraud in the UK in the period 2000–2007; here are those named in the government's own paper: Mohammed Hussain, Mohammed Choudhary, Ahmad Ali, Mozaquir Ali, Manzoor Hussain, Dessie Stewart, Jamshed Khan, Iftkhar Hussain, Khurshid Ahmed, Sajid Mehmood, Mohammed Khan, Naseem Akhtar, Adeel Hanif , Maqbool Hussein, Tariq Mahmood, Haroon Rashid (later cleared) Jamshed Khan, Reis Khan, Eshaq Khan, Mohammed Anzal Anwar, Norman Whitlock, Mohammed Chaudhary Saghir, Abdul Razaq, Raja Akhtar, Mohammed Khaliq , John Hall, Nawaz Khan, Ian Withers (…of Antrim was fined 1p; he had refused to give his national insurance number and was arrested for electoral fraud), Mahboob Khan, Basharat Khan, Arshad Raja, Altaf Khan, Gulnawaz Khan, Anisur Rahman...do you see what it is yet? It is a cross party problem BUT it IS clearly a problem and overwhelmingly within ONE community!



Pakistani MPs and MEPs from all parties have [edit] complained about what Dominic Grieve said, plus Mohammed Shafiq (chief exec Ramadhan Foundation and usually sensible) said: "Mr. Grieve's mentioned one incident in Slough which was dealt with by the courts and had not produced any further evidence of an endemic problem with corruption." [Link] Jeez, I doubt washing in the Pool of Siloam would help such blindness.

Overwhelmingly of one...

---

...community. Yes, overwhelmingly of one community. ..." [he] knew what he was saying and was right to say it. By all means ask him to explain, but he shouldn't have to apologise"; why has Dominic Grieve apologised? " Hat-tip to Thoughtful: "So that must mean that the Electoral commission are also racist' and must be forced to apologise for telling the truth" because HERE (pdf) in their Electoral Fraud in the UK: Evidence and Issues paper comes the following:

"There are strongly held views, based in particular on reported first-hand experience by some campaigners and elected representatives in particular, that electoral fraud is more likely to be committed by or in support of candidates standing for election in areas which are largely or predominately populated by some South Asian communities, specifically those with roots in parts of Pakistan or Bangladesh. These concerns reflect issues also highlighted by a small number of previous studies of political and electoral participation. These studies have suggested that extended family and community networks may have been mobilised to secure the support of large numbers of electors in some areas, effectively constituting a ‘block vote’ – although this does not necessarily involve electoral fraud. They also argue that the wider availability of postal voting in Great Britain since 2001 may have increased the risk of electoral fraud associated with this approach, as the greater safeguards of secrecy provided in polling stations are removed." [my emphasis]

Thoughful's list of clearly 'South Asian' names led me to dig further: the government's own website: "Postal voting and electoral fraud 2001-09 - Commons Library Standard Note", HERE where you can download their pdf file: you will read (part 8, Chronology) that there have been at least 42 convictions for electoral fraud in the UK in the period 2000–2007; here are those named in the government's own paper: Mohammed Hussain, Mohammed Choudhary, Ahmad Ali, Mozaquir Ali, Manzoor Hussain, Dessie Stewart, Jamshed Khan, Iftkhar Hussain, Khurshid Ahmed, Sajid Mehmood, Mohammed Khan, Naseem Akhtar, Adeel Hanif , Maqbool Hussein, Tariq Mahmood, Haroon Rashid (later cleared) Jamshed Khan, Reis Khan, Eshaq Khan, Mohammed Anzal Anwar, Norman Whitlock, Mohammed Chaudhary Saghir, Abdul Razaq, Raja Akhtar, Mohammed Khaliq , John Hall, Nawaz Khan, Ian Withers (…of Antrim was fined 1p; he had refused to give his national insurance number and was arrested for electoral fraud), Mahboob Khan, Basharat Khan, Arshad Raja, Altaf Khan, Gulnawaz Khan, Anisur Rahman...do you see what it is yet? It is a cross party problem BUT it IS clearly a problem and overwhelmingly within ONE community!

Pakistani MPs and MEPs from all parties have [edit] complained about what Dominic Grieve said, plus Mohammed Shafiq (chief exec Ramadhan Foundation and usually sensible) said: "Mr. Grieve's mentioned one incident in Slough which was dealt with by the courts and had not produced any further evidence of an endemic problem with corruption." [Link] Jeez, I doubt washing in the Pool of Siloam would help such blindness.

Opiparous ocular oblectation...

---

Indeed, what a sumptuous feast for the eyes and heart this weekend: two games, two codes, one country. After one of the most exciting games of Rugby League I have ever seen (England vs. New Zealand ended in such dramatic fashion: time up, a last minute try, the game tied, the last kick of the ball to tie or win a place in the World Cup final. Wonderful excitement with England 'seconds from victory' in a 'classic, absorbing match'; pipped at the post by the Kiwis [current World Champions]) I was relatively content. However, that was followed yesterday by an even more incredible and exciting game where the English didn't even have a dog in the fight yet what a fantastic, marvelous, brilliant game of Rugby Union: Ireland vs. New Zealand (a team who have never beaten the All Blacks versus a team unbeaten all year). The Irish built up a 19 - 0 lead, and although that lead lead dwindled they kept it right until the end, with the clock in the red, and guess what? Time up, a last minute try, the game tied, the last kick of the ball to tie or win! Such heart-wrenching and at the same time exhilarating stuff and for both games to end in the same amazing way: well worth watching (not the highlights, the whole two games).

Opiparous ocular oblectation...

---

Indeed, what a sumptuous feast for the eyes and heart this weekend: two games, two codes, one country. After one of the most exciting games of Rugby League I have ever seen (England vs. New Zealand ended in such dramatic fashion: time up, a last minute try, the game tied, the last kick of the ball to tie or win a place in the World Cup final. Wonderful excitement with England 'seconds from victory' in a 'classic, absorbing match'; pipped at the post by the Kiwis [current World Champions]) I was relatively content. However, that was followed yesterday by an even more incredible and exciting game where the English didn't even have a dog in the fight yet what a fantastic, marvelous, brilliant game of Rugby Union: Ireland vs. New Zealand (a team who have never beaten the All Blacks versus a team unbeaten all year). The Irish built up a 19 - 0 lead, and although that lead lead dwindled they kept it right until the end, with the clock in the red, and guess what? Time up, a last minute try, the game tied, the last kick of the ball to tie or win! Such heart-wrenching and at the same time exhilarating stuff and for both games to end in the same amazing way: well worth watching (not the highlights, the whole two games).

Olid obloquy III...

---

Evil smelling disgrace...first, the caveat, "there are many wholly honest Labour MPs – and quite a number of Conservatives MPs are repulsive" [and some are crooks and liars I'd add] but, writes Peter Oborne in the DT, "It’s no coincidence the MPs found guilty of fiddling are all Labour".

"There is an overwhelming likelihood that it is indeed statistically significant that only Labour MPs have been found guilty as a result of the expenses investigation. Labour members of the House of Commons need to face up to the uncomfortable truth. The outcome of the Telegraph investigation strongly suggests they are much more likely to lie, cheat and steal than members of other parties. Now that the expenses scandal has drawn to a close, they urgently need to ask themselves why that should be."

Go on, read that again but you didn't misread it. It is perhaps the new sense of entitlement (perhaps the same one that infests the BBC, as Martin Bell said earlier this month "...no more scandals please. No more palaces. No more crazy payouts"), the new position of power and sudden access to the sweet-shop with a pocket full of change; we know power corrupts but so does wealth. The Raw Story has part of the answer, quoting Paul K. Piff's (Department of Psychology at the University of California) new study (confirming what we know) that wealth [and power and privilege, I'd add] tends to increase a person's sense of entitlement, which in turn can lead to narcissistic behaviors:

"Narcissism is a multi-faceted and complex construct, but that wealth is specifically associated with it suggests that as a person’s level of privilege rises, that person becomes increasingly self-focused – in a sense, becoming the center of their own world and worldview..."

Looking at Piff's previous work (Upper class more likely to...) we see he clearly thinks it's a class/wealth issue but I don't think it's that (dare I say that I think that's piffle?) and certainly not in Labour's case: we have a Parliament full of lying, cheating, stealing fuck-wits, the fact that statistically more of them are Labour seems logical to me, it's just the way they are. :-)

Olid obloquy III...

---

Evil smelling disgrace...first, the caveat, "there are many wholly honest Labour MPs – and quite a number of Conservatives MPs are repulsive" [and some are crooks and liars I'd add] but, writes Peter Oborne in the DT, "It’s no coincidence the MPs found guilty of fiddling are all Labour".

"There is an overwhelming likelihood that it is indeed statistically significant that only Labour MPs have been found guilty as a result of the expenses investigation. Labour members of the House of Commons need to face up to the uncomfortable truth. The outcome of the Telegraph investigation strongly suggests they are much more likely to lie, cheat and steal than members of other parties. Now that the expenses scandal has drawn to a close, they urgently need to ask themselves why that should be."

Go on, read that again but you didn't misread it. It is perhaps the new sense of entitlement (perhaps the same one that infests the BBC, as Martin Bell said earlier this month "...no more scandals please. No more palaces. No more crazy payouts"), the new position of power and sudden access to the sweet-shop with a pocket full of change; we know power corrupts but so does wealth. The Raw Story has part of the answer, quoting Paul K. Piff's (Department of Psychology at the University of California) new study (confirming what we know) that wealth [and power and privilege, I'd add] tends to increase a person's sense of entitlement, which in turn can lead to narcissistic behaviors:

"Narcissism is a multi-faceted and complex construct, but that wealth is specifically associated with it suggests that as a person’s level of privilege rises, that person becomes increasingly self-focused – in a sense, becoming the center of their own world and worldview..."

Looking at Piff's previous work (Upper class more likely to...) we see he clearly thinks it's a class/wealth issue but I don't think it's that (dare I say that I think that's piffle?) and certainly not in Labour's case: we have a Parliament full of lying, cheating, stealing fuck-wits, the fact that statistically more of them are Labour seems logical to me, it's just the way they are. :-)

Our own omnishambles...

---

By "Our" of course I mean a UK based omnishambles as against the ones enveloping poor old Obama or anything remotely to do with Ows or my friends, family or associates, OK? The Labour Party in the UK is becoming embroiled in several scandals that seem to be festering in the background plus one massive one that is starting to boil over (as it should). And I'm not even talking about the worse one, their immigration - demographic genocide - scandal (nor any of hundred or so others over the last 15 years).  Now, there's Falkirk, Grangemouth and - even closer to home and far more shocking - the Coop-Flowergate scandal, the rise and fall of the 'crystal Methodist'. As David Cameron said today "There are clearly a lot of questions that have to be answered" and for some reason, for once, Ed Miliband doesn't want an inquiry.

Our own omnishambles...

---

By "Our" of course I mean a UK based omnishambles as against the ones enveloping poor old Obama or anything remotely to do with Ows or my friends, family or associates, OK? The Labour Party in the UK is becoming embroiled in several scandals that seem to be festering in the background plus one massive one that is starting to boil over (as it should). And I'm not even talking about the worse one, their immigration - demographic genocide - scandal (nor any of hundred or so others over the last 15 years).  Now, there's Falkirk, Grangemouth and - even closer to home and far more shocking - the Coop-Flowergate scandal, the rise and fall of the 'crystal Methodist'. As David Cameron said today "There are clearly a lot of questions that have to be answered" and for some reason, for once, Ed Miliband doesn't want an inquiry.

Obama omnishambles II...

---

Well, really it's part 600, or DC in Roman numerals. When it rains it pours: the scandal ridden remains of hope and change takes another dive. The BLS, (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) instead of being known as the Bureau Of Lies And Subterfuge will soon just be BS...and stinking to high heaven. The October 2012 pre-POTUS election jobs figures - roundly questioned at the time (but the 'conspiracy theorists' were shouted down) - was 'faked'.

"The decline - from 8.1 percent in August to 7.8 percent in September - might not have been all it seemed. The numbers, according to a reliable source, were manipulated...And the Census Bureau, which does the unemployment survey, knew it."

[source NYP, hat-tip: Zero Hedge] The image, click to enlarge, 'The Strangest Number' (the data-set showing employment of workers in the 20-24 yrs old) was just one of the indicators back then that something was amiss.



Update 1:50 pm: of course back then there were one or two things that the electorate needed distracting from and lying about the recovery was a sure way to do that.

Obama omnishambles II...

---

Well, really it's part 600, or DC in Roman numerals. When it rains it pours: the scandal ridden remains of hope and change takes another dive. The BLS, (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) instead of being known as the Bureau Of Lies And Subterfuge will soon just be BS...and stinking to high heaven. The October 2012 pre-POTUS election jobs figures - roundly questioned at the time (but the 'conspiracy theorists' were shouted down) - was 'faked'.

"The decline - from 8.1 percent in August to 7.8 percent in September - might not have been all it seemed. The numbers, according to a reliable source, were manipulated...And the Census Bureau, which does the unemployment survey, knew it."

[source NYP, hat-tip: Zero Hedge] The image, click to enlarge, 'The Strangest Number' (the data-set showing employment of workers in the 20-24 yrs old) was just one of the indicators back then that something was amiss.

Update 1:50 pm: of course back then there were one or two things that the electorate needed distracting from and lying about the recovery was a sure way to do that.

Outstanding on-board...

---

An epic split: Van Damme the man. What a great ad; I must admit I thought it was another for Coors when I saw the gold trucks but WSJ has the details; I don't want to ruin it but the trucks are going backwards (!!!) and "The stunt is real and is performed in just one take". Fantastic. The video director called it an "honest homage to Van Damme, "a pop cultural icon that I have had in my life since I was a kid. The spots he has been in before have looked down on him, in my opinion. I was looking up, in celebration."" Good for you Andreas Nilsson. I'm presuming Volvo's new dynamic steering system is pretty good...

Outstanding on-board...

---

An epic split: Van Damme the man. What a great ad; I must admit I thought it was another for Coors when I saw the gold trucks but WSJ has the details; I don't want to ruin it but the trucks are going backwards (!!!) and "The stunt is real and is performed in just one take". Fantastic. The video director called it an "honest homage to Van Damme, "a pop cultural icon that I have had in my life since I was a kid. The spots he has been in before have looked down on him, in my opinion. I was looking up, in celebration."" Good for you Andreas Nilsson. I'm presuming Volvo's new dynamic steering system is pretty good...

Oberto: opening opera...

---

Last month was Joe Green's 200th anniversary: and today the 174th anniversary of his first opera: Oberto. Joseph Fortune Francis Green - or one of his works or themes - is one of the first names most people would mention if asked about Opera, (or certainly Top 5 along with Puccini, Rossini, Mozart and Wagner...or maybe Bizet?). I am of course playing by using an anglicised version of his name; I mean Giuseppe Verdi, a composer who - if we were to have such vulgar and useful things as opera stats and tables...oh, we do - would be well ahead in terms of performance runs (how many times a work was programmed not the number of performances) and five of the Top 20 operas. He almost ended his career before it had begun as his two young children and wife died before the debut of his 2nd opera [Bio], Un Giorno de Regno; this wasn't successful; ironically it means 'A One-Day Reign' and Verdi was almost a one hit wonder.

"Verdi’s music transcends the barriers between high and low culture. Many of his arias count among the greatest songs ever written, streaming out of opera houses and into football stadiums and even the charts."

[from video debate: Verdi vs. Wagner]. What is Ows on about opera for? Well, opera is posh, innit, and that last quote mentioning football chants reminded me that last week Paul, writing about class envy, put up some very interesting information: "Class envy unfortunately is deeply routed in the British psyche, like subconscious racism it is always with us. Football is 'the working mans game' at £50 a ticket (the cheaper end) whilst the English National Opera (£22) and the Royal Ballet (£24) are for 'toffs'."



P.S. If you think I'm being inventive or pretentious I have written this listening to the Overture from Nabucco.

Oberto: opening opera...

---

Last month was Joe Green's 200th anniversary: and today the 174th anniversary of his first opera: Oberto. Joseph Fortune Francis Green - or one of his works or themes - is one of the first names most people would mention if asked about Opera, (or certainly Top 5 along with Puccini, Rossini, Mozart and Wagner...or maybe Bizet?). I am of course playing by using an anglicised version of his name; I mean Giuseppe Verdi, a composer who - if we were to have such vulgar and useful things as opera stats and tables...oh, we do - would be well ahead in terms of performance runs (how many times a work was programmed not the number of performances) and five of the Top 20 operas. He almost ended his career before it had begun as his two young children and wife died before the debut of his 2nd opera [Bio], Un Giorno de Regno; this wasn't successful; ironically it means 'A One-Day Reign' and Verdi was almost a one hit wonder.

"Verdi’s music transcends the barriers between high and low culture. Many of his arias count among the greatest songs ever written, streaming out of opera houses and into football stadiums and even the charts."

[from video debate: Verdi vs. Wagner]. What is Ows on about opera for? Well, opera is posh, innit, and that last quote mentioning football chants reminded me that last week Paul, writing about class envy, put up some very interesting information: "Class envy unfortunately is deeply routed in the British psyche, like subconscious racism it is always with us. Football is 'the working mans game' at £50 a ticket (the cheaper end) whilst the English National Opera (£22) and the Royal Ballet (£24) are for 'toffs'."

P.S. If you think I'm being inventive or pretentious I have written this listening to the Overture from Nabucco.

Occupy...

---

...the BBC! Oh the irony! This would be the BBC that in it's efforts to help OWS (not me!) and other Occupy protests not look bad have lied, censored and omitted news? The BBC that had blanket favourable coverage of the Occupy London protests at St Paul's Cathedral etc? Hmmmm... Occupy's reasons state that "Because issues that deeply affect the British public are either under reported or not reported at all"...I agree entirely! Of course they mention a few things that get their goat, including the Million Mask March but of course the main event was in Washington D.C., how to report this ("Obama. Come out. We've got some shit to talk about") without reflecting badly on their Obamessiah? Another goat-getter: the secret EU-US trade agreement, so secret it's in the news every day; or the completely debunked BBC Breadth of Opinion Review on Content Analysis [pdf] to which they link to George Monbiot who says "The BBC puts a match to its principles every day". Yes, yes they do; however it is over real world issues such as The EU, Climate Change, US News and on Israel they they really need to sort out the warped and documented bias. Hey, maybe the BBC have infiltrated Occupy London and are instigating this event today so they can say we get accusations of bias from right and left so "we got it about right". PAH!

Occupy...

---

...the BBC! Oh the irony! This would be the BBC that in it's efforts to help OWS (not me!) and other Occupy protests not look bad have lied, censored and omitted news? The BBC that had blanket favourable coverage of the Occupy London protests at St Paul's Cathedral etc? Hmmmm... Occupy's reasons state that "Because issues that deeply affect the British public are either under reported or not reported at all"...I agree entirely! Of course they mention a few things that get their goat, including the Million Mask March but of course the main event was in Washington D.C., how to report this ("Obama. Come out. We've got some shit to talk about") without reflecting badly on their Obamessiah? Another goat-getter: the secret EU-US trade agreement, so secret it's in the news every day; or the completely debunked BBC Breadth of Opinion Review on Content Analysis [pdf] to which they link to George Monbiot who says "The BBC puts a match to its principles every day". Yes, yes they do; however it is over real world issues such as The EU, Climate Change, US News and on Israel they they really need to sort out the warped and documented bias. Hey, maybe the BBC have infiltrated Occupy London and are instigating this event today so they can say we get accusations of bias from right and left so "we got it about right". PAH!

Odd orations III...

---

Something is afoot? And I don't mean that funny shaped thing on the end of your leg (hat-tip Carry On) - bad things come in threes and Red Ken is the third this week: Ken Livingstone has criticised Labour's (and Crash Gordon's) 'moral cowardice' for "borrowing through the boom rather than take difficult decisions with the public finances". This follows hard on the heels of Jack Straw admitting what we all know (that Labour made a spectacular mistake over immigration) and David Blunkett's 'Romaphobia'...imagine had anyone from the Conservatives said that! They'd be BBC headlines for weeks! What is going on? ([edit] I doubt it's Falkirk, which isn't going away). Is Red Ed so bad that the old guard need to draw attention away from him and his crazy schemes that get ripped to shreds as soon as they are uttered (or at least after a few days of BBC blanket promotion of his 'policy' ideas)? Or are they clearing the field preparing for a pre-election 'we have recognised all our mistakes' speech?...



Update: and Alan makes four (hat-tip Teddy Bear)

Odd orations III...

---

Something is afoot? And I don't mean that funny shaped thing on the end of your leg (hat-tip Carry On) - bad things come in threes and Red Ken is the third this week: Ken Livingstone has criticised Labour's (and Crash Gordon's) 'moral cowardice' for "borrowing through the boom rather than take difficult decisions with the public finances". This follows hard on the heels of Jack Straw admitting what we all know (that Labour made a spectacular mistake over immigration) and David Blunkett's 'Romaphobia'...imagine had anyone from the Conservatives said that! They'd be BBC headlines for weeks! What is going on? ([edit] I doubt it's Falkirk, which isn't going away). Is Red Ed so bad that the old guard need to draw attention away from him and his crazy schemes that get ripped to shreds as soon as they are uttered (or at least after a few days of BBC blanket promotion of his 'policy' ideas)? Or are they clearing the field preparing for a pre-election 'we have recognised all our mistakes' speech?...

Update: and Alan makes four (hat-tip Teddy Bear)

Ode obligation...

---

Lest we forget. Two minutes silence are observed on 11th November: at 'the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month' (although in the UK the main ceremony of commemoration is Remembrance Sunday on the 2nd Sunday of November). The date and time mark the agreement that ended the First World War: the Armistice of Compiègne which went into effect at 11 am on 11th November 1918. The Armistice was signed in a carriage of the private train of Allied Commander French Generalissimo Ferdinand Foch [I doubt there are many in the UK and US who have even heard of him] who later - as the Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919 - declared, when Germany was allowed to remain a united country, that "This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years"...

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Ode obligation...

---

Lest we forget. Two minutes silence are observed on 11th November: at 'the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month' (although in the UK the main ceremony of commemoration is Remembrance Sunday on the 2nd Sunday of November). The date and time mark the agreement that ended the First World War: the Armistice of Compiègne which went into effect at 11 am on 11th November 1918. The Armistice was signed in a carriage of the private train of Allied Commander French Generalissimo Ferdinand Foch [I doubt there are many in the UK and US who have even heard of him] who later - as the Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919 - declared, when Germany was allowed to remain a united country, that "This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years"...

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Obama's online omnishambles...

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[Edited: 'dead' video/image removed]
Weasel Zippers fun fact of the day is from Bret Baier's blog "The Daily Bret" (Fox News): a message from Bill in Kentucky: "Putting things in perspective: March 21st 2010 to October 1 2013 is 3 years, 6 months, 10 days. December 7, 1941 to May 8, 1945 is 3 years, 5 months, 1 day. What this means is that in the time we were attacked at Pearl Harbor to the day Germany surrendered is not enough time for this progressive federal government to build a working webpage. Mobilization of millions, building tens of thousands of tanks, planes, jeeps, subs, cruisers, destroyers, torpedoes, millions upon millions of guns, bombs, ammo, etc. Turning the tide in North Africa, Invading Italy, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, Race to Berlin - all while we were also fighting the Japanese in the Pacific!! And in that amount of time - this administration can't build a working webpage."
Ouch!

Obama's online omnishambles...

---

[Edited: 'dead' video/image removed] Weasel Zippers fun fact of the day is from Bret Baier's blog "The Daily Bret" (Fox News): a message from Bill in Kentucky: "Putting things in perspective: March 21st 2010 to October 1 2013 is 3 years, 6 months, 10 days. December 7, 1941 to May 8, 1945 is 3 years, 5 months, 1 day. What this means is that in the time we were attacked at Pearl Harbor to the day Germany surrendered is not enough time for this progressive federal government to build a working webpage. Mobilization of millions, building tens of thousands of tanks, planes, jeeps, subs, cruisers, destroyers, torpedoes, millions upon millions of guns, bombs, ammo, etc. Turning the tide in North Africa, Invading Italy, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, Race to Berlin - all while we were also fighting the Japanese in the Pacific!! And in that amount of time - this administration can't build a working webpage."Ouch!

Obama's online omnishambles...

---

Weasel Zippers fun fact of the day is from Bret Baier's blog "The Daily Bret" (Fox News): a message from Bill in Kentucky: "Putting things in perspective: March 21st 2010 to October 1 2013 is 3 years, 6 months, 10 days. December 7, 1941 to May 8, 1945 is 3 years, 5 months, 1 day. What this means is that in the time we were attacked at Pearl Harbor to the day Germany surrendered is not enough time for this progressive federal government to build a working webpage. Mobilization of millions, building tens of thousands of tanks, planes, jeeps, subs, cruisers, destroyers, torpedoes, millions upon millions of guns, bombs, ammo, etc. Turning the tide in North Africa, Invading Italy, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, Race to Berlin - all while we were also fighting the Japanese in the Pacific!! And in that amount of time - this administration can't build a working webpage."Ouch!

Oncoming obrogation II...

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Obama may be finally apologising (he'll be doing a whole lot more of that soon) for lies about medical insurance and the train-wreck that has been the 'Obamacare' roll-out but I think he may soon have more to worry about: Zero hedge has a post by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog with some startling facts and figures (all sourced) all about the gap between rich and poor, wealth imbalance etc in the US. Of course in the UK and elsewhere I am guessing similar things can be said but in the USA, as always, things seem so much more exacerbated.



Here is a couple that made me sit up:

• Nearly 40 percent of all American workers make less than $20,000 a year (before tax!). [US SSA]


• One out of every four American workers has a job that pays $10 an hour or less. [Economist's View]

Now looking at the graph (left: click to enlarge) you'll see the UK, Canada, Ireland and Germany all with one out of every five workers in the low-wage bracket but you'll know - at least in the UK - our lower wage bracket (worked in relation to median wage) is higher: the US figure is 25% of all workers on the equivalent of our minimum wage (currently £6.31/hour).



Update: also yesterday: "Senate Democrats, hoping to move beyond the disastrous rollout of the new health care law, plan to pivot to legislation that would increase the federal minimum wage by nearly $3, to over $10 an hour."

Oncoming obrogation II...

---

Obama may be finally apologising (he'll be doing a whole lot more of that soon) for lies about medical insurance and the train-wreck that has been the 'Obamacare' roll-out but I think he may soon have more to worry about: Zero hedge has a post by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog with some startling facts and figures (all sourced) all about the gap between rich and poor, wealth imbalance etc in the US. Of course in the UK and elsewhere I am guessing similar things can be said but in the USA, as always, things seem so much more exacerbated.

Here is a couple that made me sit up:

• Nearly 40 percent of all American workers make less than $20,000 a year (before tax!). [US SSA]
• One out of every four American workers has a job that pays $10 an hour or less. [Economist's View]

Now looking at the graph (left: click to enlarge) you'll see the UK, Canada, Ireland and Germany all with one out of every five workers in the low-wage bracket but you'll know - at least in the UK - our lower wage bracket (worked in relation to median wage) is higher: the US figure is 25% of all workers on the equivalent of our minimum wage (currently £6.31/hour).

Update: also yesterday: "Senate Democrats, hoping to move beyond the disastrous rollout of the new health care law, plan to pivot to legislation that would increase the federal minimum wage by nearly $3, to over $10 an hour."