I know not "seems"

The BNP are getting all teary about the cancellation of a 'traditional' London Easter parade:

Council officials have claimed that they banned the procession because they were contacted too late to carry out a “consultation” to close the roads! Of course, in reality, it would seem that this is just an excuse by the council as they seek to further downgrade Christian beliefs, in the hope that they do not offend Muslims. (1)

Never mind that this 'tradition' dates back to all of ten years, what is this dickering about with reality? The report says 'in reality, it would seem ...". Call me old fashioned - maybe even traditional - but can something that is "in reality' also "seem"? If it's in reality, surely it will be so, not "seem" so.

Or, to borrow from peerless Will, '"Seems," madam? Nay, it is; I know not "seems."'(2)

Oh, fuck it, why am I expecting coherence from the BNP news apes?

1 - "Easter Humbug – Christian Parade Banned," by Jennifer Matthys. Published on the BNP website, 16th of April, 2011. (http://bnp.org.uk/news/easter-humbug-%E2%80%93-christian-parade-banned)
2 - Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. Act I, scene ii, line 78.

Come and exploit our Morlock labour

A certain J. Key of Helensville once rather placed his foot within his mouth by opining that he'd love to see wages fall. At the time, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but now Bill English has boldly inserted both of his mud encrusted farmer's feet into his maw by loudly hailing low wages as a crucial part of New Zealand's competitive 'advantage' (1).

Of course, he wasn't talking to the punters out in punterland when he said this. We get a different message.

Still, it's good that he's revealed his arrogant image of us as worthless Morlocks to be exploited by international capital, or as stunted lackeys who should fawn gratefully on the bronzed beautiful bodies of those rare creatures from overseas who deign to honour us with their presence and some. But not very many of those dollars, because we're cheap.

1 - "Low wages 'advantage' for NZ - English ," unattributed NZPA story. Published by stuff.co.nz, 10th of April, 2011. (http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4869938/Low-wages-advantage-for-NZ-English)

US government unshutdown

Some last minute rat swallowing has meant the US government will remain operational.

I must say, I think the idea of parliament shutting down the whole government in a fit of pique strikes me as a fine constitutional absurdity, and one that should be imported to all democracies.

Anyway, it is all sorted out:

Boehner, an hour before midnight, told journalists in Congress: "I am pleased that Senator Reid and the White House have come to an agreement that will cut spending and keep government open."

It would have been the first federal government shutdown since 1995-96 when there was a stand-off between the Republicans and the Clinton White House.

Barack Obama tore up his schedule for Friday, including the start of a family weekend break in Virginia, to concentrate on negotiations with Republicans. He had hoped to reach a compromise Friday morning but discussions dragged out throughout the day.

Obama portrayed the compromise as a tribute to US democracy as he said: "Tomorrow ... the entire federal government will be open for business." (1)

Sounds like the Republicans got the slightly better deal in the sort term - a bigger chunk of spending exchange for preserving the Planned Parenthood funding. But in the longer term, Obama gets to look like the pragmatic compromiser, not the SOCIALIST DEMON the Tea Party need him to be.

Clinto faced a similar crisis, and brazened it out. But the situation now is very different. Obama's actually delivered some sort of SOCIALIST HEALTHCARE, complete with DEATH PANELS. Where as Clinton had already folded on that by the time the republicans shut him down. They couldn't brand him FERVENT PINKO SCUM because he'd manifestly demonstrated his spinelessness.

Obama will probably profit from the last minute resolution of the crisis, as the extremist labels become harder to apply. If he can make deals with the saner Republicans, the Tea Whackjobs will begin to look more isolated and mad.

1 - "US government shutdown averted by late night deal in Congress," by Ewen MacAskill. Published in the Guardian, 9th of April, 2011. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/09/government-shutdown-obama-boehner-deal)

Coalition scorecard: Libya

I've been neglecting my scorecard for the British coalition government, largely because they had hit negative territory, and once you're mired in that sort of level of awfulness, it's hard to sink further or pull yourself free of the filth.

However, I'm willing to give them a bit of a nudge up, because I'm fairly impressed by the response to the Libyan crisis. Okay, that can't really be attributed to the coalition, it was driven by the French and the USA, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt ...

+1 ... Bold and morally justifiable intervention in Libya.

OVERALL: -1/10. It might not sound very impressive, but it's a rare move in the right direction for this dreadful government. Perhaps pursuing a genuinely ethical foreign policy abroad will compensate for their unutterable awfulness at home.

George Osborne is a reckless, incompetent fool II

The other day brought to light the not-unforeseen revelation that the British chancellor, George Osborne, is making up economic policy as he goes along, and pissing off his colleagues and major investors at the same time.

Now we learn he's actually expecting the British public to make up for the failure of his voodoo economics by driving themselves ever further into debt:

The Office for Budget Responsibility has raised its prediction of total household debt in 2015 by a staggering £303bn since late last year, in the belief that families and individuals will respond to straitened times by extra borrowing. Average household debt based on the OBR figures is forecast to rise to £77,309 by 2015, rather than the £66,291 under previous projections.

Economists say the figures show that George Osborne's drive to slash the public deficit and his predictions on growth are based on assumptions that debt will switch from the government's books to private households – undermining his claims to be a debt-slashing chancellor. (1)

Genius. Public spending down. Unemployment up. The only way demand can stay up is by people taking on more personal debt. Obviously, the people doing it are going to be the sort of people who cant afford to and really shouldn't. So the government's problem becomes a personal, family problem. Nice one, George. And if they don't decide to shore up demand by taking on more debt - and given how fragile consumer confidence is, there's no reason to believe people will decide to play Gideon's Game - then we're hit by the triple whammy of high unemployment, low demand and a stubbornly high deficit.

And people thought New Labour was irresponsible for taking on sovereign debt. This is shoddy beyond words, a cynical attempt to move debt off the government's books into the wallets of British workers and taxpayers.

If all goes according to plan, four years from now, Osborne will be able to stand up and announce he's delivered on his promise of eradicating the deficit to the mass ranks of the unemployed, impoverished and bankrupt.

Rather more likely, he'll me belated announcing that the 'crisis' is continuing and further austerity is needed to revive the economy - to the mass ranks of the unemployed, impoverished and bankrupt.

1 - "Ministers admit family debt burden is set to soar," by Toby Helm and Daniel Boffey. Published in the Gaurdian, 2nd of April, 2011. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/apr/02/family-debt-burden-government-figures)

Tough on crime II

Remember that brilliant crime fighting initiative I mentioned the other day (1)? The one where cuts are leading to able bodied coppers are being taken off the street and put behind desks to replace 'redundant' bureaucrats?

Well, it gets worse:

More than 2,000 of the most experienced police officers will be made to retire by 2015 as forces across England and Wales try to find 20% budget cuts, a Labour survey has claimed.

A series of Freedom of Information Act requests by the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has disclosed that over the next four years 13 of the 43 forces intend to use an obscure regulation to compulsorily retire 1,138 officers who have more than 30 years of service.

Labour estimates that a further 986 officers could be affected if some of the remaining 30 forces also decide to use the same regulation to find budget savings. (2)

So we're putting able officers behind desks, because we've sacked the pen-pushers, and we're getting rid of long service officers as soon as we can. And on top of that:

Police forces froze their recruitment last year, which saw 2,500 jobs go through natural wastage. (3)

No new bobbies, no old bobbies, and most of the ones in between filling out forms. Genius. Pure f**k**g genius.

So next time you're being viciously murdered by some drug addled maniac, reflect on just where those too soon, too far, and in all the wrong places cuts got you.

1 - As described previously on lefthandpalm: http://lefthandpalm.blogspot.com/2011/03/tough-on-crime.html
2 - "Budget cuts hit police with more than 2,000 officers forced to retire," by Alan Travis. Published in The Guardian, 29th of March, 2011. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/29/police-job-losses-budget-cuts)
3 - ibid.

George Osborne is a reckless, incompetent fool

So, what else is new?

He blindsides the oil industry and on his cabinet colleagues by springing a massive new tax on them, jeopardising 40,000 jobs and £6.2bn of investment. And backtracking on his own promises.

Ed Balls begged him to switch to Plan B. that's based on the assumption he had a Plan A in the first place. One can't escape the feeling the man is making it up as he goes along.

1 - "George Osborne urged to drop North Sea windfall tax," by Patrick Wintour. Published in The Guardian, 31st of March, 2011. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/mar/31/george-osborne-north-sea-tax)