You Read It Here First

It appears that someone at the International Herald Tribune has been reading my recent Blog on the Toyota Chancellor!  This article appeared on the front page of the IHT today:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/business/global/03pound.html?hp .  It seems that Britain is often referred to these days in the same sentence with Iceland and Greece, oh how the mighty have fallen.  As mentioned in my earlier Blog, it wasn't just Binge Drinking that blossomed under New Labour, but also Binge Lending - Thanks a Bunch Brown.

My picture today depicts a very tall tower disappearing high into the sky; on the one hand, this is analogous to Britain's combined public and private sector debt - already in the stratosphere and heading for orbit.  Looked at another way, the building in the picture represents an instrument we might consider using to convey to Bungling Brown our collective displeasure at his stewardship of the economy (the top of the tower is rather sharp).

Actually, there are two towers in this building, one each for Bliar and Brown, perhaps they would like to go into orbit together.

The Toyota Chancellor Now The Humvee PM

The papers are full of claims that Gordon Brown is a bully and that this may make him unsuitable for re-election as Labour Prime Minister later this year.  At the same time, recent opinion polls apparently show the Tory lead diminishing, with growing predictions that there may be a hung parliament, with Labour possibly winning the most seats and therefore able to form the next Government.  Will we ever learn?

It is not Brown’s bullying tendencies, which should be worrying voters, but his mendacity, economic incompetence, and absolute lack of integrity. This hapless individual, as Chancellor, presided over (and encouraged) a ten-year debt/credit boom fuelled by unsustainable asset (mainly housing) inflation – which led inevitably to the financial calamity in 2008.  Even worse, it was Brown who was one of the main architects of the de-regulation of financial markets during the same period that fostered credit default swaps and other byzantine derivatives which all but blew up the world’s financial system and may yet bring it down.

Incredibly, the press, and the Opposition, have singularly failed to nail Brown on his critical policy failures that have led to the financial and economic crisis that has left the UK economy in tatters.  Aside from the illegal and disastrous invasion of Iraq, which we can lay at Bliar’s door (No 10), at Brown’s door (No 11) can be laid the blame for our economic nightmare, from which it will be a decade at least before we awake.  But don’t take my word for it.

According to The Times in March 2009, “Britain's chief financial regulator blamed Gordon Brown….for contributing to the economic crisis, coming close to accusing him of stoking the credit-fuelled housing boom and bust….Hector Sants, chief executive of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), said that the pro-debt view of government ministers was one of the structural failures that led to the crisis. He said that one problem was ‘a prevailing mindset of Government and society promoting the benefits of credit and asset inflation, notably in housing’.”

In June 1999, Brown The Mendacious stated, “The way forward is for governments to consciously pursue monetary and fiscal stability…… Particularly important for a Britain which has been more subject than most economies to the instability of boom-bust cycles and constantly changing policies.”  He went on, “So we put in place a wholly new long term framework of monetary and fiscal policy based on.……sustainable public finances through tough fiscal rules: the golden rule that requires that over the cycle we balance the current budget, and the sustainable investment rule requires that, as we borrow for investment, debt is held to a prudent and stable level.”

In June 2006, Brown The Unbelievable stated, “…..despite all the challenges we face and how much more we know we have to do and continue to do to maintain our competitiveness, more than ever……Britain is well placed to be one of the great global success stories of this century."

And now…where is this global success, where is this prudence and stability, it is in the crapper.  According to the UK Government’s National Statistics Office on 18th February 2010, “Public sector net debt (excluding financial interventions) was £743.1 billion (equivalent to 52.7 per cent of GDP) at the end of December 2009. This compares to £596.9 billion (42.1 per cent of GDP) as at the end of December 2008.”  The picture for private, household debt is even more alarming – according to Bank of England data:

According to the CIA World Factbook:

Of course, Bogus Brown is always very careful never to combine public and private sector debt figures when he is spinning his rosy stories about the UK’s financial position.  As The Spectator pointed out in September 2008, “…..UK household debt is not only the highest in the G7 but the highest any G7 country has ever known. We simply must put the whole debt picture together. Only then will we realise just the full nature of the mess Brown has got us into.”

Also in September 2008, The Times said, “….an expansion based on excessive household credit has gone predictably awry. At the same time as the public finances have been deteriorating, household debt has been rising. The value of Britain's personal debt - £1.35 trillion - is now greater than the value of its gross domestic product. The main reason, of course, is that a house in Britain is not a home: it is an investment. The ratio of household debt to post-tax income is now three times greater than 25 years ago.”

Britain is Bust and Bliar and Brown and New Labour Busted It.  Can Cameron and the New Conservatives do any better?  I do not know the answer to that, but surely returning Brown The Bombast to No 10 is throwing good money after bad, and we have very little money left to throw.  It is now up to the electorate to decide.  I have one other candidate you may want to consider, my Beautiful Boy, Toffee.  I assure you that he is not mendacious in any way, he does not cry on TV, and he never bullies anyone.

 

 

Poems and Pictures from St Paul de Vence

A miscellany of pictures and poems from a beautiful day in St Paul de Vence.  Enjoy them.

EMBRACE THE MOMENT

Embrace the moment,
Life so fleeting then gone,
Reach out, be all you can,
Strive for those moments,
Life captured in an instant,
The red flag on the Reichstag,
That first step on the moon,
The first kiss of new love.
Look for them, find them,
Moments when life is made,
Lived and that last forever.

 

 

RUN FREE

Running free, the wind in my face,
I transport myself to another place,
Where mind floats over body, and
Body floats over me.

The ground melts away,
And my mind unwinds itself,
I hear my breath, and feel my heart,
Pumping me clean of daily cares.

I begin to think in the open,
Without hindrance, without weight,
I am rising up on heeled wings,
I can see horizons now, where I must go.

I gather pace, and lengthen my stride,
Liberated, I can do anything now,
Body and mind melding as one,
Perfect union, the runner’s Holy Grail.

Mile after mile, I feel no pain,
The running, a drug that numbs all,
Euphoria takes me over, surrounds me,
I am invincible, I am running free.

I return to Earth, spent but satisfied,
I slip back into reality, a temporary lapse,
Soon I shall return to that other place,
Where I reign, and all is possible.

  

 

Sydney Down Under

On my travels I was fortunate(?) enough to spend some months last year in Sydney, Australia.  Sydney is a spectacular City built around its natural harbour and, of course, it has some iconic landmarks such as the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.  But Sydney also suffers from spectacularly chronic urban transportation considering its status as one of the world's premier capital cities.  I was  involved in Sydney's first concerted effort to build an urban Metro - to eventually emulate London's Tube and New York's Subway.  And thereby hangs a tale.

I soon learned about Sydney's (Australia's) tremendous parochialism, especially in the business environment.  I learned that the original architect of the Opera House (a 'foreigner' no less) never actually visited the finished building....It seems that when you are at the edge of the world, it breeds an attitude that, 'we do things differently here'.  Well they certainty do that.

To cut short a long tale, suffice it to say that Sydney may be waiting a bit longer for its first Metro, and Sydney's long suffering commuters will be waiting in traffic jams for some time until the New South Wales (NSW) Government gets its transportation act together.  NSW politics was also different - a cross between Korean parliamentary fisticuffs and Westminster expenses and wine, liberally lubricated with Australian lager.  As you can imagine, the end result is not pretty or effective.

My two poems are about the fiasco of the NSW Government's attempts so far to establish the new Metro using a public-private-sector partnership (PPP)  similar to that used for the Tube in London - don't mention Metronet - I did but I think I got away with it.  The first poem was written shortly after the initial 'pre-qualification' exercise reduced seven bidders to just two.  The second poem I wrote today, after learning that the Sydney Metro may be postponed for many years.  I hope you enjoy them.

Sydney Metro - Chapter One - The Measuring Stick

Sydney, city of opera house and bridge,
So far away, located at the world’s edge,
Smelly buses so loud they wake the dead,
Traffic jams that commuters dread.

A new Metro the Government wants to spawn,
Through which the people’s trust to earn,
The private sector they turned to deliver this miracle,
But first a competition to find the subway oracle.

Seven teams took to the field of battle,
To see who could make the loudest rattle,
Local and foreigner teamed up for the mission,
Not always working to a common vision.

Joined by banks and an army of experts,
The teams get ready to parade their exploits,
But first each team leader must be selected,
This totem by measuring stick not merit is selected.

Cries of mine is bigger are heard all around,
Skirmishes, tantrums and peacocks abound,
The customer, his desires he is articulating,
The teams are busy fighting, no one’s listening.

But wait, a lull in the internal circus,
The teams are focused on their purpose,
Rulers back in their desks, pencils in place,
The calendar forces a change of pace.

Eventually the submissions are made,
The grandstanding is over, cards are played,
Who has a winning hand, we must wait and see,
And the Metro miracle, ah that is the big maybe.

Merit, track record, what are the criteria,
Customer must decide who is superior,
But I thought it was the one with the biggest stick,
Seems that the client is not that thick.

Suddenly the miracle builders are announced,
Shock and awe, the favourites are trounced,
But wait, surely mine is longer and fatter,
No it is the client who will decide the winner.

The story is not over, seven became two,
But only one can wear the shoe,
It starts again, my stick against yours,
The Metro, must wait a few more years.

Sydney Metro - Chapter Two - Metro Impaled 

Two bidders left, five have hit the skids,
Those left have to prepare their bids,
Government says the project will proceed,
The Opposition seems to take no heed.

Sydney’s papers all hate the project,
Hosts of other experts line up to object,
The NSW PM has been stabbed in the back,
Quickly replaced by another smiling hack.

Other transport blueprints are unveiled,
All schemes designed so Metro is derailed,
The Metro it seems is a smelly Black Sheep,
The underground tube never gets a peep.

At last the project is put out of its misery,
It will be deferred for much later delivery,
Sydney’s patient commuters will be spared,
The Metro and its supporters finally impaled.

But how will Sydney Siders get to the office,
What’s in store from the planning orifice?
Billions are promised for heavy rail lines,
And billions more for other fine schemes.

But first New South Wales has an election,
A new Government, then some rail erection,
We wish Sydney’s passengers best of luck,
From their commuting hell to be soon unstuck.

 

 

Polemy in Germany

Polemy steps out in Germany,
A land of checkered history,
Not to be judged too harshly,
We’re all part of that party.

Berlin, long divided by wall,
For so long it cast that pall,
Kennedy, Reagan tilted at it,
But people finally ended it.

A Colossus at Europe’s heart,
But two wars it helped to start,
Millions died in camps and battle,
Those souls our consciences rattle.

As Dylan said, we all learn to abide,
Germany too has God on its side,
Goethe and Schiller, now lie together,
Near Buchenwald, guarding it forever.

Some of our greatest minds are German,
Marx, Einstein, Plank and Beethoven,
Only a nation of deep soul and substance,
Can produce men of such importance.

Its engineering and productivity,
For long driven Europe’s industry,
Quick to protect the environment,
Now we all follow this sentiment.

Polemy has now reached Munich,
City of formal beauty and funny tunic,
German culture in its every pore,
And home to Bier Keller and more.

Yes a nation of stark contradiction,
But one of real historic distinction,
Polemy sees past terrible blemishes,
To reach the greatness in other spaces.

Where next for our alien explorer,
He will ponder a little while longer,
So many more insights are waiting,
All those places curious and inviting.

To Bliar Or Not To Bliar

After slipping in (and out) through the back door, Tony Bliar gave six hours evidence last Friday to the Chilcot Enquiry. To say that he was given an easy ride would be the understated equivalent of the claim that Saddam could launch WMDs in 45 minutes. Federer had a harder time against Tsonga in the Australian Open semi-final.

Nervous at the start, until it was clear that the Chilcot panel was the anti-thesis of the Spanish Inquisition, Bliar predictably re-hashed all his usual defences of “his decision to invade Iraq” – as if Bush Junior’s vengeful decision to invade, and Cheney’s greed-based commercial decision to do so, were incidental to the plot.

At the time of the invasion in 2003, the possession of WMDs by Saddam, and related violation of UN resolutions, was the pretext used by Bush and Bliar to justify the war. Leaving aside the highly questionable legal basis for the invasion (dealt with in an earlier blog), and ignoring the dodgy dossier and assorted other “evidence” of WMDs, there are some facts worth remembering.

In 2003, the UN inspectors had asked for more time to inspect having failed to find WMDs by March; second, the UN inspectors had not cited Saddam’s Government for UN violations. As we now know of course, Saddam had destroyed all Iraq’s WMDs years earlier and there were none left and none found; ipso facto, Iraq was not in violation of any UN resolution on WMDs in 2003. However, Saddam was found guilty until proven innocent by the US and UK Governments, the war (aka capital punishment) followed the kangaroo verdict….there is unlikely to be a re-trial.

Often cited by Bliar’s apologists and the man himself is the sincerity of his belief at the time that Saddam did have WMDs, and that because he thought he was right, the decision to go to war was justified. Ignoring the fact that many credible politicians and organisations at the time challenged the evidence on WMDs, just because Bliar claims he believed he was right is no excuse for his decision and sets a dangerous precedent. Doubtless, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Pinochet, (the list is endless) all held their deadly views sincerely, shall we excuse them too?

Bliar is well aware that the invasion was sold (I should say spun) to the public on an entirely false basis. Therefore, in the years since, he has sought to retrospectively justify the war using two other basic approaches – which he hardly used at all in 2003. One is linked to so-called, “regime change”; Bliar told Chilcot, “The decision I took-and frankly would take again-was, if there was any possibility that he [Saddam] could develop weapons of mass destruction, we would stop him”. In relation to this argument, the Wall Street Journal today editorialised that, “Listening to him, we are reminded why he ranks with Margaret Thatcher as a pre-eminent statesman of post-war British politics,…” I doubt Thatcher or many in the UK would agree with those sentiments.

By 2003, Iraq was heading rapidly towards being a financially bankrupt failed State. Its only potential source of revenue, which could have underpinned its development into a real threat to the West and its neighbours, laid deep underground – and Iraq, even now with Western investment, is a long way from being able to exploit its oil resources to the extent that would have been necessary to justify Bliar’s speculation.

Bliar’s “Saddam was a bad man” argument is no justification for the war. In 2003, Iraq did not present a clear and present danger to the US or UK; and there was absolutely no evidence that it would do so in the future. Bliar cannot retrospectively justify the decision to invade Iraq on the speculative grounds that Saddam might have become a problem later; using these criteria, we would have been at war with all sorts of regimes for the past 50 years. In any event, the 1980s, when the UK and US Governments sided with Saddam and helped build up the Baath Party in an effort to help Iraq beat the then “common enemy”, Iran, would have been the time to worry about whether Saddam might become a future problem.

The other argument Bliar used relates to 9/11. He said to Chilcot, “The point about this terrorist act was that over 3,000 people had been killed on the streets of New York, and this is what changed my perception of risk: If these people inspired by this religious fanaticism could have killed 30,000 they would have.” [Of course, we know that Bliar (and Bush) are no strangers to religious fanaticism.] The self-serving attempts (led by Cheney) to link Saddam with bin Laden were debunked a long time ago; the Chilcot panel’s already tarnished credibility was finally trashed altogether by their failure to nail Bliar on this line of argument.

Blair spun himself and New Labour to power, and nothing much has changed. You can take the man out of the aspiring rock star, but you can't take the disappointed rock star out of the aspiring man. The seeds of Blair's policy on Iraq were rooted in his vanity and his intoxication with his own position and with US power, and not in any deep moral conversion. By aligning himself so closely to Bush's "War on Terrorism" and by sharing with him the world stage, and basking in the adoration of the US Congress, Blair left himself with nowhere to go when the Bush fundamentalists switched tack to Iraq and WMDs.

The US-UK attack on Iraq played into the hands of fundamentalist extremism everywhere. It weakened reformist movements in Iran and throughout the Middle East, and spawned a whole new generation of martyrs and terrorists. It won't bring democracy or stability to Iraq in this decade, any more than the lines drawn by the UK and French on the maps which created Iraq more than five decades ago, achieved stability then. The Iraq war has strengthened terrorism not weakened it; in fact, the war diverted critical US and UK military and intelligence resources away from a real fight on terror and has left us with today’s critical terror situations in Pakistan, Yemen and Afghanistan.

In conclusion, perhaps the most reprehensible aspect of Bliar’s attendance last Friday was his failure to publicly recognise the sacrifices made by our servicemen and servicewomen in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even when invited by Chilcot to add some final statement at the close, he remained defiant and arrogant, and silent. The families of lost soldiers were in the audience and, whatever the rights and wrongs of the war, these soldiers did their duty and paid the ultimate price. Bliar should have thanked them and honoured them; the fact that he did not will ensure that his coveted legacy will be irrevocably destroyed, and rightly so.

Polemy Meets Italy

Polemy has arrived in Italy,

The land of opera and linguini,

From space, it resembles a boot,

So many scooters, what a hoot.

Rome is full of broken old ruins,

As well as many very old buildin’s,

Berlusconi, the man often in charge,

Wears Milan Cathedral as a visage.

A beautiful land, full of history,

So much to see for our Polemy,

Ancient Rome taught us so much,

Alas, lessons we now fail to clutch.

Michelangelo, a genius out of place,

Polemy’s sure he’s from outer space,

St Peter’s beauty defies convention,

A design truly from another dimension.

In Tuscany, grow the sweetest vines,

Which are trodden into exquisite wines,

Food and drink, Italy’s wonderful gift,

They feed our spirit and give us a lift.

Venice, is there anywhere more serene,

Romance and passion in every scene,

An artist’s paradise, a lovers’ delight,

Brilliant by day, enchanting at night.

Poverty lurks beneath this special place,

Can beauty and despair share such space,

A question Polemy must now contemplate,

On Rah Free Tutu, his answer they await.

Italy, land of hope and inspiration,

Galileo, Da Vinci, both born of this nation.

We must learn from these minds of beauty,

And pass to the children, it’s our solemn duty.

Germany will be the next place to visit,

No shortage there of truly great spirit,

A history full of painful contradictions,

Polemy must grasp its many lessons.

Liberty-lite, Not-Quite Equality, Frighternity

Emperor Sarkozy says the burqa is not welcome in France.  Now a French parliamentary commission has said that, "the wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. This is unacceptable." The commission called for a ban on the wearing of the burqa in public places; this follows a six month study and apparently testimony from 180 "experts".  France has Europe's biggest Muslim population, numbering some 6 million; the French Interior Ministry estimates that only 1900 women in France actually wear the full veil.  I would like to meet these modern day Spartans in their burqas who alone can "challenge the republic".

According to some reports in France, less than 400 women wear the full veil, leading the influential French newspaper, Le Monde, to state in an editorial that,"Do we need to legislate for fewer than 400 people, legislate for an exception? ... Given the risks, including the stigmatization of Islam ... the answer is no,".  Bien sur, Le Monde.

Evidently the Emperor-lite Sarkozy believes that the wearing of the veil is a symbol of subservience; his answer is to encourage a legally enforceable ban on women from wearing the veil.  Sarkozy does not appear to be reticent about dealing with Saudi Arabia, where the full veil is predominantly worn and expected.  According to an article in November 2009 in the Saudi Gazette, "King Abdullah paid an official visit to Paris in July 2007 and President Sarkozy has visited the Kingdom in January 2008 and again this month.  France has been a considerable source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into the oil-exporting Gulf region in the past decade. FDI flows into Saudi Arabia from France surged five-fold between 2000 and 2008 to 1.41 billion euros in 2008, according to data of France's central bank, Banque de France"

Whether it be in Saudi Arabia, Iran or France, the decision to wear the burqa or full veil must be the choice of the woman and hers alone; Governments, wherever they may be, have no place and should have no role in such matters.  In fact, no one should coerce or otherwise seek to influence a woman's choice of clothing, women are more than capable of making such decisions for themselves.  Princes, Mullahs, little emperors, and French parliamentarians, kindly take note.


The manufactured issue of the full veil in France has nothing to do with concerns about woman's freedom and has everything to do with  typical attempts by French politicians bereft of principles or ideas to whip up anti-Muslim hysteria to further their political objectives.  Let us not forget that in the first round of the French Presidential election in April 2002, the fascist candidate, Jean Marie Le Pen polled 17% of the popular vote coming second to Chirac's 20%.  So shamed by the first round outcome, the French voted in droves for the politically damaged Chirac in the second round, and he romped home with 82% of the vote.

We can only hope that the French electorate will feel equally shamed by this latest example of xenophobia and follow Le Monde's advice and reject the parliamentary commission's blatantly repressive proposals to ban the veil. Vive la liberté.

Between Us and the Devil

There are a few things in the news in recent days which should give us pause to consider the meaning of, 'moral courage'.  In no particular order.....

At last, an entity of considerable substance, Google, has  appeared to take a stand against Chinese censorship in general, and, in particular, alleged cyber-attacks by China-linked entities against Google servers in the US and against other US technology companies.  For too long, Governments and the private sector have been too willing to turn a blind eye in China for fear of compromising their position in the perceived lucrative Chinese market.  Now Google has said it will cease censoring its search results in China and is prepared to withdraw from the market.  It seems from reports in the media that the two original founders of Google, Brin and Page, have been influential in Google's latest moves; they allegedly have always been personally troubled by Google's earlier agreement to censor its results in China.  Whether driven by moral imperatives or otherwise, Google's stand is refreshing and important, and it is to be hoped that others follow their lead.

Microsoft, in the persons of Gates and Ballmer, have been rather churlish in their reaction to Google's announcement.  They have both apparently said that many countries have questionable laws and practices.  About Google's stance, Gates told the New York Times that, "They’ve done nothing and gotten a lot of credit for it".  Gates went on, “Now, if Google ever chooses to pull out of the United States, then I’d give them credit.”  Google has 66% of the US search market, Microsoft has 11%; enough said.  Gates's remarks show that there is an important difference between 'intelligence' and common sense - I have always felt that the latter is far more valuable than the former.

China lies at the epicentre of the world's counterfeiting industry and has elevated the stealing of intellectual property into what amounts to national policy.  (Microsoft, more than many companies has suffered lost revenues as a result.)  Underlying such property theft is a broken moral compass, and reflects a deeper malaise in Chinese Government thinking, whether it be IPR, the environment or human rights.  If allowed to go unchecked, unchallenged, and unaltered, we will all reap the whirlwind later.  Go Google.

Two of the UK Government's former and most senior legal officers in the Foreign Office have told the Chilcot enquiry this week that they had advised Jack Straw, former Foreign Secretary, that an invasion of Iraq without a second UN resolution (which was never passed) would be illegal.  One of these officers subsequently resigned from Government as a result of the invasion.  Evidently, Mr Straw (name and nature it seems), ignored their advice - a classic example of the 'barrack room lawyer'.  Earlier, in Mr Straw's testimony to the enquiry, he said that supporting the war was the most difficult political decision of his life.  Apparently, giving up his ministerial privileges (and expenses) and taking a moral stance against an illegal war, was even more difficult.  Mr Straw is now the UK's Justice Minister.....a cruel joke worthy of a Monty Python sketch.

The Guardian has reported this week that the medical records of the late David Kelly, the former UK weapons inspector and expert on Iraq's WMDs or lack thereof, were sealed by Lord Hutton for 70 years.  Hutton is infamous for presiding over the Hutton Enquiry (Whitewash) into Kelly's demise.  It is alleged that Mr Kelly killed himself by slashing his wrists.  According to the Guardian a group of eminent  medical experts are seeking Kelly's medical records and the autopsy results in order to conduct a formal re-examination of the causes of his death.  Evidently, there are few if any medical experts who believe the suicide verdict, in fact, many experts say that it is infeasible that Mr Kelly took his own life.  There may now be a legal challenge as to the basis for Hutton's inexplicable decision to seal the records.  Let us hope that moral rectitude wins out over legal and political expediency and that the real causes of Mr Kelly's sudden death are finally determined.

All of the above are examples of individuals who have 'broken ranks' and stepped forward, against the prevailing current, to say, wait, something is wrong here, and we have to speak out and stop it.

My picture today is a panorama of the tip of Manhattan Island, where once stood proudly those fallen Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre.  What brought them down were individuals driven by hatred and a philosophy devoid of basic humanity; they were destroyed by individuals with no moral compass.  Our individual humanity, and our sense of right and wrong, are all that stands between us and the devil.  As Edmund Burke is alleged to have written, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".

Introducing Polemy

I would like to introduce Polemy, a being not of this world.  Often you read the phrase, 'what would someone from another planet think of us here?'  Well, Polemy is an alien and from time to time we will read of his take on matters Earthly.  To avoid confusion, I would like to clarify that Polemy and I are not related.  While several of my friends and colleagues often say that I came from another planet, I want to assure you that I am the genuine article, and have the 'Counterfeit Made in China' labels to prove it.


Polemy came from Outer Space,
To pay a visit to the Human Race,
Long he’d been a distant observer,
Now it was time to get a lot closer.

But first he had to pick his landing,
Many options seemed so inviting,
Bagdhad with planes and pyrotechnics,
Or maybe Westminster’s funny antics.

But to Paris he opts first to descend,
To sample the latest Gallic trend,
He’s noticed France likes to stand aloof,
To look down on others from their roof.

But the roof is cracking and full of gaps,
Seems the French are prone to mishaps,
Their Emperor Sarkozy is short on inches,
An aspiring Napoleon in modern britches.

He hears the French love cordon bleu,
Polemy thinks it’s those boys in blue,
He finds it means smelly fancy cheeses,
Leaves the plate, unaided, in little pieces.

They don’t eat cheese on Rah Free Tutu,
Polemy’s distant home in galaxy Ululu,
Eating discarded, as his race ascended,
Catastrophe had struck, no food resulted.

And next Italy, site of Ancient Rome,
He’s consulted Gibbon’s weighty tome,
In a blink of an eye he could elulu there,
But he wants to be a regular commuter.

Crash and Burn or Crash and Learn

Markets came crashing down in 2008,
Banks teetered, for some it was too late,
Life savings ruined, millions left jobless,
In came Government, to save the hapless.

And what was the cause of such a calamity,
Is there an explanation for this unreality?
Boom and bust, is it simply a law of nature,
Should we seek a more enlightening picture?

Unbridled lending fuelling property prices,
Bonuses from derivatives and hedging devices,
Greed, ambition stoking the market circus,
A financial house of cards, devoid of purpose.

Now the cycle of greed is upon us again,
For lending to real business, we wait in vain,
Bankers smiling, stock markets are booming,
The creation of new jobs, Oh that’s not moving.

Politicians prattle about new tough regulation,
No lessons learned, renewed market speculation,
Bankers cry foul, their bonus and salaries off limits,
It wasn’t me Guv, it’s simply the market’s forces.

Economic fundamentals remain largely the same,
The basic causes of crisis, nobody ready to tame,
Another financial implosion is inevitably in view,
But few Governments will be able to repeat a rescue.

How can we stop the cycle of greed and destruction?
Wrought by so few on many more than ten million.
Irresponsibility and greed must not be rewarded,
Sound money and common sense instead to be lauded.

We wait to see if politicians can step up to the task,
Unfortunately that is a very hopeful and unlikely ask,
Those time servers who presided over the last disaster,
Have hung on like leeches to their positions of power.

Cleaning house is our only long-term answer,
Proper regulation of markets, the other partner,
Creation of value not speculation, the principle,
Sustainable economic growth will then be invincible.


This first picture is the aftermath of the tsunami in Thailand in 2005, a real natural disaster; the re-building has begun.

This next picture a somewhat allegorical take on Wall Street versus Main Street; I leave you to decide who is who!

An Imperative Burden

Global warming, a somber warning,
Scientist’s predictions, the ice caps melting,
Winter in summer and freakish storms,
Our own eyes tell us to heed the alarms.

The first world started this inevitable rot,
The third world is now part of the sorry plot,
Consumption and greed driving us to the brink,
But many vested interests don’t like the stink.

China and India burning too much dirty coal,
First world status is their primary goal,
They cry the West did it first, should we bother,
We want what you’ve got, the Earth no matter.

The West, have they set an example to follow,
Of course not, politicians’ concern, utterly hollow,
Headlong we rush to an abyss of spurious plenty,
Our grandchildren face a planet soulless and empty.

Our leaders gathered in pomp in Copenhagen,
Supposedly to ensure the planet is our haven,
A treaty to protect the environment, not a chance,
All we got was a dirty deal and a political dance.

The clock is ticking, our children's future at stake,
Self-destruction, we cannot fail to put on the brake,
The politicians too weak to face their responsibility,
It is up to all of us to perform our solemn duty.

We the consumers, who must say enough is plenty,
This time Governments cannot come up empty,
Legislation and technology must be put in place,
To safeguard the future of the Human Race.

All of us must state our message loud and clear,
And shout it in every official and politician’s ear,
This time we cannot take no for an answer,
Public and private sector must heed our stricture.

It is our moral duty towards planet and children,
To our generation falls this imperative burden,
We dare not fail to succeed in this historic mission,
A Planet Clean, Safe and Secure – our Shining Vision.

The Iraq Enquiry

A post which combines a Polemic with a Poem.

They went to war to find those WMDs,
Or perhaps for a regime more to please,

Maybe it was to smash and grab lots of oil,
They dropped beaucoup bombs on foreign soil.

Now the inevitable hunt for whom to blame,
There were no WMDs, the excuses so lame,
Civilians and soldiers dead, the place in pieces,
But the lies and fabrication just increases.

Chilcot presides over the Iraq Enquiry,
But the politicians have lost their diary,
“I don’t recall” any discussion of this or that,
I was too busy claiming expenses on my flat.

Messrs Campbell and Powell come and go,
We none the wiser, what do they really know,
Dodgy dossiers, fictitious claims all abound,
Anyone owning up – definitely not a sound.

We wait for Blair and Brown to speak,
As if that will mean the facts will leak,
But the dead are making the loudest cry,
They demand truth from A People’s Jury.

Are we to get some truth rarer than WMDs,
Or another Whitehall wash, Chilcot will appease,
But for Bush and Blair, there will be a reckoning,
Sooner or later, Truth always comes haunting.

Panoramas

Another of my favourite things are panoramas, I could have added this to my Blog title, but I believe that three Ps is enough.  These two pictures are with the Zeiss ZF 21mm Distagon F2.8 a legend amongst lenses.

 

Black Holes and Markets

Goldman Sachs have predicted (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/) a bumper year for equities in 2010, when will they ever learn, the answer is blowin' in the wind. I fear that the markets are headed for another black hole, none of the fundamentals which caused the crisis in 2008/2009 have changed. And the banks are about to reward themselves with record bonuses - now that the taxpayer has bailed them all out. As for black holes.......

HAWKING

There was a man called Hawking,
Who loved to spend time thinking,
One day he said there are black holes,
And not the kind made by moles.

Hawking said they were in outer space,
To find them the astronomers now race,
Trouble is you cannot see black nothing,
But so far it hasn’t stopped them looking.

One day a spaceship will go and look,
But what awaits it I fear is a giant hook,
A black hole apparently consumes the lot,
The missing ship all that marks the spot.

On the other side of the black nothing,
Can we ever know what is waiting?
Perhaps it will be another universe,
Searching for their cousin-converse.

First Poem

Autumn in St Paul

Lovely Autumn in St Paul de Vence,
The sun so bright, the light so pure,
The sharpness heightens every sense,
The artist’s spirits are stirred once more.

Chagall, Renoir and Picasso are here,
Their souls entwined in every scene,
Inspiration here, there and everywhere,
And all around a peaceful beauty so serene.

A time to savour the passing Summer,
To anticipate Winter, that bridge to Spring,
Every season, brings its own special signature,
To wonder what the new dawns will bring.

The farmers tend to each tiny plot,
Every nook and cranny, something growing,
Fruit, vegetables, nothing is left to rot,
Generations before them always sowing.

The sky is clear, promenades are crowded,
Couples hand in hand, the dogs are strolling,
Cyclists, roller bladers, we are surrounded,
Snowy Alps, Azur Med, opposite and enchanting.

The endless sea washes onto pebbled beach,
The constant swishing soothes and reassures,
Sails and planes float just beyond our reach,
Africa just out of sight beyond these shores.

A fascinating and contrasting place to be,
A crossroads for peoples of every religion,
Constantly changing but always that sea,
To unite us, that blue ribbon, its endless mission.

I Love My Zeiss 50mm

Another couple with the D3S and Zeiss 50 mm F2 Makro.  The shot of the hanging decorative ball shows off three things: the clean picture at 1600 ISO from the D3S; and the colour rendition and '3D' depth and feel you can get with this lens.

 

First Polemic Post

A very good article today in the International Herald Tribune by Thomas L Friedman - "What's Our Sputnik?" - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/opinion/17friedman.html.  He is posing the question of what should be the US's Big Project - compete with China or confront Al Qaeda.  In fact, Sputnik led inexorably to Kennedy's moon landing declaration and all that entailed.  And, to plagiarise Jim Lovell, going to the moon was no miracle, America, "just decided to do it".  NASA obliged, they built a wrench big enough and moved the world.  And today, well, Obama must follow through his rhetoric, make the US energy independent from oil, especially Middle East oil, and a range of problems from greenhouse gases to Al Qaeda will be solved in the process.  We just have to "decide to do it" and build a big enough wrench.  And as for China, it needs to decide between greed and ego on one side, or sustainable and equitable development on the other.  More later.

First Picture Post

A couple of pictures with my brand new Nikon D3S coupled with the Zeiss ZF 100mm and 50mm Planar Makro manual focus lenses.  What a great combination.  The amazing high ISO capability of the D3S opens up all sorts of new possibilities for low light photography.  But these two shots illustrate the colour rendition and sharpness of the ZF Makro lenses even in non-macro mode.  By the way, that's not me in the photo, but another shutterbug I spotted in the park.