Oneirataxic odorivector occupation?...

---

If you're looking for OWS blog then I can safely say - and being very polite too - YOU'RE IN THE WRONG PLACE! Chris Hedges has written in the 2nd 'Occupied Wall Street Journal' that "The goal to us is very, very clear. It can be articulated in one word—REBELLION. What the elites fail to realize is that rebellion will not stop until the corporate state is extinguished." Wrong! (and really a bit laughable, don't you think?) The first link asks a few pertinent questions but it really does appear to be those that pretend to be the great unwashed doing what they do...again. Image and more from A Tangled Web.

Odious ophidian...

---

Well, the fat useless (but highly paid) git isn't really ophidian (snake-like) but he certainly spits venom; no doubt he also writes in green ink; ironically this is how he accuses Sarah Palin of being "Shriekily filled with venom" against Obama. The Aged P over at Biased BBC rips MM a new one, deservedly so as MM starts with a complete lie and the article goes downhill from there in a lying shit-fest opinion piece. Is it really so news-worthy that someone not running for POTUS announces they're not running for POTUS?

P.S. More great reading on why Mark Mardell isn't fit for purpose.

Overdue ovation...

---

Bojo's mojo? He does seem to have livened up the proceedings at the Conservative Conference. Rhubarb or Viagra? I presume Melanie's opinion is shared by any 'real' conservative Conservative; he is also perfectly placed - being 'outside' the Coalition - to swoop; if he does, will he pick his time well? And I wonder what was in DC's mind as joked last night and as one that led the ovation for Boris today.

Osborne's optimism...

---

A poll of almost 1400 members for ConservativeHome found that although just over 40% agree with the level of measures being taken by the Chancellor George Osborne, however, more than 50% think 'that his spending scaleback should be faster and deeper', (click on image to enlarge) to avoid tax rises or that there should be some sort of tax cut policy to aid growth. Tax cuts before the next election are something George has all but ruled out today...mind you, he did say "unlikely" and of course who knows when the next election will be! The optimism is obvious in the interview in the DT today, however, as the Economist mentions today - also it must be said - in a fairly optimistic outlook:

"British policymakers should do all they can to lift the economy. But they know that Europe might ultimately decide its fate."

Onward oldies...

---

Great news for any old gits that are good at their job and want to continue! Forced retirement when reaching the Default Retirement Age (DRA), 'regardless of someone's ability to work' has ended. Mind you, this may just be the intro to various measures to soften the introduction of higher retirement ages.

Oppugnant onomatomania...

---

FFS! PC BBC BCE/CE or BC/AD? Boris got in a huff, over this puff, but there's enuff stuff to belie the hysterics; that said some presenters clearly are using the trendy meaningless BCE/CE and the website for BBC Religion and Ethics does seem to prefer the newer terms.. headed by Aaqil Ahmed;...surely Aaqil is not offended? And surely it makes no difference because according to most BBC news/political output that I've heard over the last few months time started in May 2010.

Osmatic oppidan...

---

I did say blogging would be light but some things need sharing: picture this: yesterday I was lucky enough to observe - in Providence Place, Bedminster, Bristol - a lady walking her pet...skunk!

Obvoluted opinions...

---

"3, 2, 1...you're back in the room"

Tim Montgomerie notes that most of the ear big wigs: Hughes, Farron, Cable and Huhne all seem to be vying for position amongst themselves both in the 'who will take over from Clegg' stakes and in out-doing each other in their derogatory remarks about the Conservatives. At least Vince gets one thing spot-on (however, Vince the Cable is also calling for more quantitative easing from the Bank of England):

"Many of our problems are home-grown. Gordon Brown regularly advised the rest of the world to follow his British model of growth. But the model was flawed. It led to the highest level of household debt in relation to income in the world. It produced a dangerously inflated property bubble. It encouraged a bloated, banking sector while manufacturing declined at an unprecedented rate. Then, they socialised the costs of the crash though a massive budget deficit, the biggest of any major economy. His disciple, Ed Balls, has – sort of – apologised but advocates policies that would repeat the disaster."

Out, OUT or out...

---

The British allergy continues but is the 'British federasty' really dead? I would take the news that 120 Conservative MP eurosceptics want a 'clear plan' with a large pinch of salt; more HERE: "Holed below the waterline."

Optimum outcomes: one organisation; one orthodoxy...

---

"What’s in a name?" Asks David Melding (My Christian namesake, my countryman -in part - and even born in the same week). Why change the name? They won't believe you all of a sudden. The BBC - as usual - prefers more polemic headlines: "Thatcher legacy hampers Welsh Tories"; the BBC hate her of course. David wants to change the name of the Welsh Conservatives because due to the 1980s pit closures "Many people say to us they could never vote Conservative"; however he assuages this by adding "About twice as many people say that of the Conservative Party as any other party in Wales"; I ask 'Is that all'? Instead of a name change perhaps a bit of truth.

In terms of both production and manpower employed Welsh coal output peaked in 1913 (yes, nineteen thirteen); this was the year my great grandfather died in the worse mining disaster in the UK in the Universal Colliery (Senghenydd Explosion). The 1920s saw depression in the coal industry and the 'decline of the coal industry during the period 1919-39 turned South Wales into an area of mass unemployment', [Link]: hundreds of pits closed and the number employed halved. During WW2 the government took control and the industry (as it had done in the Great War) but this time the industry moved towards nationalisation; (from 1943/44 my dad was a Bevin Boy) in 1945 the National Union of Mineworkers came into being.

"However, nationalisation did not prevent the long, steady decline of the coal mining industry in Britain nor prevent on-going pit closures. Throughout the 1950s, 60s and 70s the decline continued."

Distal smaller pits farther up the valleys were closed due to lack of manpower, workers went elsewhere and oil, natural gas and nuclear were growing; absenteeism in the 60s was about 20% (who'd blame them?) and those available were shifted to the bigger 'long life' pits further down the valley so those rural communities suffered. Maggie may not be a saint to most but she shouldn't be cast as the Devil.

Ominous October...

---

“It’s now all about what the stress tests never tell you”...The Slog on Greeks' caring shifts (sorry) as they admit there's no money. Deutschemarks on the printer...?

Ollie on outstanding Olympians...

---

Whilst Britain seems to be fading from former glories in the track and field 'major' events (with of course honourable exceptions) we seem to be doing well at the other 'less popular' sports: sailing, rowing etc to name but two. However there is another where we could sweep the board if all goes well (now I've said that there's no hope!): "Why are the British dominating world triathlon?" Well Ollie Williams will tell you: and a clean sweep at U23 bodes well for the future. All the links in Ollie's blog-post are interesting; not least that of Jack Maitland one of the triathlon coaches, who remains the only non-Nepalese man in the fastest times list of the Everest Marathon.

Ottomans ousted...

---

Today many in the world will remember the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York - most will never forget. Today in London, a group of radical Muslims decided to protest and they burnt a US flag outside the American Embassy (click on image for news); amusingly - if anything about this can be amusing - they say it's the American's fault for being in Muslim lands etc conveniently forgetting centuries of Muslim invasions and atrocities certainly long before the USA was a world power.  Perhaps they have long memories:

September 11th 1693: one of the most important battles of the 17th century after the march for the Relief of Vienna ends in a decisive victory led by Jan III Sobieski - king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth - over far superior numbers at the Battle of Vienna.

September 11th 1697: an amazing and crushing victory led by Eugene of Savoy (this was 'his first independent command'; it was to be 'the first of a series of spectacular campaigns' [Wiki]) over the superior numbered force at the the Battle of Zenta.

Islam will NOT dominate the world.

 

Oblique, opaque organisation...

---

"Refounding Labour started life as a good old fashioned vanity project... ...But then things started to get out of hand... ...Then some strange rumors began to circulate about what was emerging behind the closed doors of this open and inclusive consultation... ...Then on Monday, via that traditional form of internal communication – a leak to the Guardian – Labour members learned how they’re planning to transform their own movement... ...A good, old fashioned opaque, tightly managed consultation is going to be followed by a good, old fashioned NEC stitch up and a good, old fashioned, our-way-or-the-highway resolution to party conference." LOL! Great stuff and well written by Dan Hodges, contributing editor of Labour Uncut. hat-tip Prodicus.

 

Only one Obama...

---

Only one job he's looking to create that is: "Obama's Last Chance to Repair Damage and Change the Debate"...save his job.

"This is his State of the Union speech, given five months ahead of schedule by a White House justifiably panicked by polling data that indicates Obama's credibility on job creation has cratered--and with it his attachment to key reelection constituencies."

Obvious opener...

---

New Labour Project's Blair, Campbell, Mandelson and Darling plus a host of others and hundreds of underlings have all said the same thing but with different words: Gordon Brown was a seriously flawed effing loon. So, the big question: why let him become Prime Minister? In fact why give him so much leeway as Chancellor? In fact why was he Chancellor in the first place? Writing a history of the Labour party doesn't really show you've got what's needed: and there are plenty of 'clever' people, of 'mighty intellect' that are raving moronic fuckwits when common sense or similar is needed. And Why wasn't he SACKED years before? "The truth about Brown does not reflect well on him, but it also raises further questions about the people around him" writes John Rentoul in the Independent today; he also asks "How did Brown succeed unopposed to the leadership?".

 

Ongoing overcrowding...

---

...of a green and pleasant land [Owsblog 2006]. Before I go on just let me make it clear that this post isn't just a dig at the festering shite heap that was New Labour...but I do start off with that:

“Every country must have firm control over immigrationand Britain is no exception.” Labour election manifesto 1997

We know that in their 1st term - from 1997 - immigration tripled; in their 2nd term it quadrupled (from the 1997 figure) [MW - pdf]. This seemed bad enough and then we found out it was entirely intentional and had a 'subsidiary political purpose' and was not just the result of a booming economy and perceived skills shortage. Now, we learn of ANOTHER round of secret immigration intentions: "The secret immigration policy they tried to hide". "Behind closed doors, EU negotiations will trigger a new wave of cheap labour into Britain." Who and when will the public be informed? These are new,  irreversible commitments. Not Labour, 'even though Peter Mandelson initiated all the current agreements', not David Cameron or the Coalition...not UKIP, or the Greens or even the Unions (although apparently the RMT may yet force some sort of 'alert').

 

Ooops (2)...

---

Late again, almost missed it: just enough time to ketchup... (I'll get my coat). Buñol's annual tomato fight; hat-tip JD at Nourishing obscurity.

P.S. 5 posts in one day, an Owsblog first (makes up for possible period of light-blogging coming up)

Overlords' obrogate...

---

ESM Treaty: Euro Slave Mafia European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism: "This is racketeering and money laundering on a continental scale." It's also bloody scary; read it all at IPJ's blog/journal. HERE in pdf (save a copy).

Old Osram opinion...

---

No offence to Osram at all (in fact I had a very close family connection with the brand); just handy that it's the lightbulb manufacturer whose image is on this BBC Magazine article: "The 60W bulb: A luminary love affair". "The once ubiquitous 60W light bulb is about to plop off the production line for the last time across Europe." And it won't just be going the way of candles, oh no, as of tomorrow, September 1st, an EU-wide BAN on "the manufacturing and importing of 60W incandescent clear light bulbs comes into force". Exactly 2 years ago, the EU had already admitted that 'Energy saving' light bulbs are "not as bright as their traditional counterparts and claims about the amount of light they produce are 'exaggerated'" (!!!) but I'd like to give you a personal example of the apparent benefits (Source: Energy Saving Trust...no, really!) I have one 60W bulb which has lasted 4 years (and counting) in my modern apartment: I have replaced 20 cunting energy saving ugly shite bulbs - at least two more than twice. My comments in (bold):
1. Can run for up to 10,000 hours (but never do, not even close)
2. Use up to 80% less electricity than a standard bulb (straw man/see no.4)
3. Fitting just one bulb can save you on average £2.50 a year (so at least 2 years to recoup the exorbitant cost and you need to change them before that anyway)
4. More expensive but difference will be recouped on electricity bill in about a year (the more expensive is damn right, the rest is a fucking lie)
5. Invention of "soft tone" bulbs has given them a warmer glow (and?)
6. Dimmable bulbs are now available (what the fuck for? they're dim enough already)

P.S. Gildy has posted on this topic twice before (you'll note my wrath in the comments).

Optimising on-board organisation...

---

Airlines, call U.S. astrophysicist Dr. Jason Steffen, NOW! He's waiting for their call - hoping commercial airlines will take an interest - "especially given that he estimates it could save them millions." The predictions and conclusions made on paper reflect the actual trial results: the most efficient way to board a passenger plane. [Link]

Ominous (obvious?) overview...

---

"At moderate levels, debt improves welfare and can enhance growth. But high levels can be damaging. When does the level of debt go from good to bad?... beyond a certain level, debt is bad for growth. ...The immediate implication is that countries with high debt must act quickly and decisively to address their fiscal problems. ...Up to a point, corporate and household debt can be good for growth. But when corporate debt goes beyond 90% of GDP, our results suggest that it becomes a drag on growth. And for household debt, we report a threshold around 85% of GDP, although the impact is very imprecisely estimated.".

Parts of the abstract of "The real effects of debt", from the Bank for International Settlements, BIS. Full document pdf HERE. Look at Table 1, page 6: one country is WAY way out from the crowd in terms of changes in household, corporate and government debt as a percentage of nominal GDP between 2000 and 2010. The balls and brownstuff is smothered over the bed and the UK has to lie in it. Also, we may soon know more of the reasons why: Darling on the "brutal and volcanic" Brownstuff.

Update: and obviously the UK isn't the only one that will be 'changing the sheets'; Ruth Lea on the EU's woes.

Organisation of observation options...

---

Sky wins battle for Tripoli: "It's really time we asked whether the TV Tax is going to the right people" writes Raedwald; he's not alone and even the BBC tried to get their defense in early; will this be Sky's rebirth as per CNN and the Gulf War? Chris Cramer, the then head of the Beeb's newsgathering operation admits he was so humiliated by CNN's superior coverage he finally went to work for them.

Now, the point of this post is that today Labour is seeking parliamentary support to tighten rules on media takeovers; Ed Miliband has told David Cameron that he should prevent Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation bid for BSkyB. Ivan Lewis the shadow culture secretary says Labour wants a wider "public interest test". I'll be honest Ivan, careful what you wish for: looking at news coverage of Libya as an example (there are many more), if it was for the public interest the bid would already be accepted!

Let's be clear: Miliband last month called a company with 20% of the - shrinking rapidly - newspaper market unhealthy and "frankly quite dangerous." I'll be frank too, in terms of news provision, only one organisation has a dangerous and unhealthy monopoly in the UK.

Outstanding Oz...

---

For the first time in a decade Australia have won the Tri-Nations Rugby tournament. Despite almost throwing away a 17 point half-time lead today the Wallabies held out. You know what this means don't you? At last the All Blacks will start the Rugby World Cup (at Home for them) coming off a losing streak...so they're bound to win! Every time they're always favourites and beating everyone beforehand only to fall at the final hurdle...not this time? I hope for a NZ vs. England final (making England the first team to reach three consecutive finals).

P.S. For those looking for the Women's rugby picture you have to click on the image above.

Omen of oncoming obsequies...

---

From Marcus at Harry's Place: "In the Navy". "Have a look at this clipping from January 2009.

"Russia has decided to establish naval bases in Libya, Syria and Yemen within a few years, a Russian military official was quoted as saying on Friday by Itar-Tass news agency...“It is difficult to say how much time it will take to create the bases for our fleet in these countries, but within a few years this will be done without question"

Gives a new twist to the Arab Spring; not so close to home it may also be getting Hugo a bit nervous what with a strategic bomber base, joint manoeuvres plus gold and uranium...what say 2012, mi pana primavera?

Update:...and loans to buy weapons.

Overdoing obesity...

---

I was interested to read that there has been a marked drop in the number of the bastards most probably responsible for more human deaths than any other single cause: the mosquito. However that is off topic but I do suspect there may be an inverse correlation between your chances of suffering death by mosquito and your chance of being affected by another epidemic: globesity. Obesity is one of the "most blatantly visible, yet most neglected, public health problems"; the Lancet has released a series about the global pandemic covering the challenge of obesity and what needs to change, the economic and health burdens, 'reversing the tide' and 'where next'. However I think most of it has already been said a couple of years ago; not by Owsblog - although I did suggest certain 'action this day' - but by Sander L. Gilman, Fat Chance (click on image). And despite all that Sander says, I suspect with the way we are heading, the globesity pandemic - such as it is - will soon start to subside.

Operational overspend?...

---

No. However, am I being too cynical not to expect much coverage of this news: "Majority of PCTs predict cash surplus for end of financial year". The General Practitioners Committee had warned that because NHS primary care trusts debts were likely to be transferred to the new GP consortia when they take on commissioning they would be starting with millions of pounds in debt and deficits; they expressed concern that these difficult financial conditions could mean that GP commissioning was doomed to fail. They need not fear: not a single one of the seventy one trusts that responded to the request for information "forecast a deficit at the end of the 2011/12 financial year"... "In fact 90% of PCTs predicted that they would be in surplus."

Oncoming obstipation...

---

Bloomberg News yesterday released data obtained through FOI requests, months of litigation and trawling 29,000 pages of previously secret documents re the lending to banks and other companies USD1.2 trillion of public money [Overview]. The six or seven non-US companies in the top 20 may surprise a few: many on that list are banks that "survived the crisis without government capital injections" (and some that received a lot: mention no names RBS) but were lent money via programmes that promised confidentiality... "You don’t have to be a Hairy Leftie to discern that these people are taking the piss." (hat-tip: The Slog)
[edit 20:04 CET, click on image to see the future]

Odd obscurantism over one observation...

---

How many people know it is Black Ribbon Day today?* The day (image link to Wiki: European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism) was adopted as one of the proposals set forth in the Prague Declaration [Link] "...millions of victims of Communism and their families are entitled to enjoy justice, sympathy, understanding and recognition for their sufferings in the same way as the victims of Nazism have been morally and politically recognized".

* The Prague Declaration has not been without it's critics but as Barry Rubin wrote last year, responding to that criticism, and quoting the Declaration: "Those who neglect their past have no future".

Obfuscation obeisance...

---

Why feel the need to pay homage to a traitor? Charles Moore's article in the DT today, perhaps following on from a Letter by Jon Ball's (**below) to the DT yesterday (scroll down) and alluded to by Guido this afternoon - albeit with a different point - is more rewriting of history: "When will the BBC ever tell the truth about Anthony Blunt?" 

"What was disgraceful, though, was the structure of the programme. For many, The Reunion's version may be the first they have heard of the subject. It is the duty of the BBC to apply to history the impartiality on which its Charter insists. Yet, as with the same programme's treatment of the 30th anniversary of the Brixton riots (which this column criticised on March 28), the entire panel was on the same side. Blunt was a virtually innocent victim, we were told, and the only villain was the press."

"The Reunion propagated the theory that spying for the Soviets in the Thirties and Forties was nothing worse than an excess of zeal. This is a shocking untruth. Hitler and Stalin were moral equivalents. ... The BBC would (rightly) never dream of making a programme which sought to excuse traitors who worked for the Nazis."

**The Blunt fact. 
SIR – A group of worthies on Radio 4’s The Reunion were concerned that Anthony Blunt may be remembered not as an art historian, but as a spy. They need not worry. Although his Soviet controller was indeed a spy, Blunt himself was not. He was a traitor.

Original or obvious?...

---

Connected in a way to my post yesterday although this time it is about Britain and not Venezuela. In the great tradition of misquoting out of context (e.g. 'There is no such thing as Society') the arch vampire himself has come out and said 'hug a hoodie'! Of course Blair hasn't said that; in exactly the same way that Cameron didn't say it several years ago despite what lefty twats like Russell Brand think (my comment to RB on that thread). What Blair said (akin to what DC said in opposition) is that the major cause of the recent riots is that there is a group of alienated, disaffected youth who are outside the social mainstream and who live in a culture at odds with any canons of proper behaviour", so hug a hoodie! Also, "he believes this generation is more respectable, responsible and hard-working than his own", clearly he is entitled to his opinion but - on this point - I think he's talking bollocks. HOWEVER, I agree with something else he says:

"This is a hard thing to say, and I am of course aware that this too is generalisation. But the truth is that many of these people are from families that are profoundly dysfunctional, operating on completely different terms from the rest of society, either middle class or poor."

Blair adds, correctly IMHO, that this is a current and general phenomenon in almost all developed nations. He says the solution - his plan as New Labour (ha!), later abandoned (pah!) - was "intervention family by family, a reform of criminal justice around antisocial behaviour, organised crime, persistent offenders and gangs." Unfortunately, during ten years as PM he saw fit not to stop or reverse the emasculation of the police and the politicisation of both the police and the judiciary. [post edited 16:15 CET]

Opinion opposing odium...

---

I guess we all should have such an opinion but it was interesting to read Herman Petzold Rodriguez's opinion in El Universal (Spanish) today, directed at the 'two tribes' that have made up the whole of Venezuela for the last decade or more: pro Chavez or Anti Chavez: 'Para ti que eres chavista', 'For you, the chavista.' loosely translated by Ows. "We live in a polarised country; a growing rift between us caused by physical and verbal violence." Too true, and later "You know very well that political differences cannot be so strong that we can't be friends and work for the common good." On the whole a good opinion piece: something really does need to change - I have predicted the possibility of things getting so bad as to reach civil war; at the very least blood on the streets - but with Chavez's poor health (combined with him winding his neck in a bit) things seem to be calming down. One paragraph caught my eye:

"It's about what each one of us does. Unsupervised. The decision we make individually...//...What act of humility and respect I can do to strengthen ties with others? How I can help others? How to stop judging someone for their political tendency?...//...When will we understand that a problem of our family, friends, companion or neighbours is also our problem."

Of course you should feel that is slightly familiar and you'd be right: there is no such thing as society...

P.S. Off topic but I was amazed at the numbers and percents of migration in South America; it's overall figures (2010), no information of how many were actual nationals returning home/leaving.

Orinoco oro observations...

---

Oro: gold! Krusty has announced that he will nationalise Venezuela's gold industry to boost the country's reserves; interestingly the same day he stated that gold reserves deposited in foreign banks will be brought back to Venezuela. Hugo may not be so much of a clown in this action: OK, he may have something to gain from this latest nationalisation but the country already owns it all already except one half of the only private gold miner left [miningdotcom] but the "bringing home the 211 tonnes of gold reserves, worth $12.3 billion, held overseas, is a different story altogether" and "bullion traders are preparing for one of the largest transfers of physical gold in recent history"...another BUT, more importantly:

CTV News quotes a precious metals strategist at investment bank UBS: "There is a growing preference among many different communities in the gold market to have their physical gold at home."...[I'd say that was entirely sensible, wouldn't you?]

P.S. Looking at that first link, from Q2 2006, gold had almost touched it's second highest price ever; now it's USD1100 more per ounce than then, did anyone take my advice then? Gold price chart provided by goldprice.org (click on image)

Opposing obscurantism...

---

Click image to enlarge letter. Some - few - politicians command respect; some say what they think; sometimes in very few words especially when opposing groups that may wish to prevent enlightenment or liberty.​ Allen West is one such man: read his reply to Nezar Hamze, Executive Director of The Council on American-Islamic Relations (Florida Chapter) who had sent AW a letter asking him to stop associating with 'Islamophobes'. Allen's official response? "NUTS!". Hat-tip: Jihad Watch

'Ochlesis' observation...

---

England's twenty one year major riot cycle? Stuart Bonar's discovery of David Willet's 'prediction': "The first postwar peak was in 1947 (881,026 births), which was exactly 21 years before the 1968 riots. The next peak was in 1964, with 875,972 births; this was exactly 21 years before the 1985 riots... ...the third postwar peak in births (lower than the other two at 706,140, but still a peak with a trough either side) occurred in 1990. Yes, that’s right: 21 years ago this year." 

Obsecrations over outrageous overreaction...

---

At the risk of being accused of 'putting on my Daily Mail hat' I have to say that some things simply make my blood boil: to wit the extraordinarily outrageous case of the imprisonment of Norman Scarth. On the day I read of a drug dealing, theiving, twice deported illegal immigrant's sentence being CUT to avoid a third deportation, I also read of the imprisonment - in solitary confinement of a class B prison for serious offenders no less - of Norman Scarth. There's no denying Norman broke the Law of the Land but the Law needs to be administered in a just and fair way.
Petition: GoPetition
Hat-tip: Captain Ranty