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“We have adopted a five-point strategy. You need to adopt a similar strategy to curb this kind of tendency in youngsters, who tend to become terrorists, because merely getting hold of them and punishing them legally does not solve the problem or get to the root of the problem," he said.

“He listed the five elements of Pakistan's counter-terrorist strategy: curbing the propagation of extremism in mosques; restricting the publication of extremist literature; banning extremist organisations; stopping the teaching of militant Islam in schools; and bringing madrasas (religious schools) into the mainstream.”
—
“ [...] Musharraf rejected any idea that the flow meant Pakistan was at the heart of Britain's terrorist problem. "All the people involved in the incident [the July 7 attacks] were born, educated, bred in the UK." He suggested that the roots of the problem could lie in the alienation of Pakistani youth in Britain.”

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/politics0801.php#pakistan_uk_290108

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“after 2015, easily accessible supplies of oil and gas probably will no longer keep up with demand” - shell chief

A warning to politicians from the head of Shell Oil -

“As a result, we will have no choice but to add other sources of energy - renewables, yes, but also more nuclear power and unconventional fossil fuels such as oil sands. Using more energy inevitably means emitting more CO2 at a time when climate change has become a critical global issue.

“In the Scramble scenario, nations rush to secure energy resources for themselves, fearing that energy security is a zero-sum game, with clear winners and losers. The use of local coal and homegrown biofuels increases fast. Taking the path of least resistance, policymakers pay little attention to curbing energy consumption - until supplies run short. Likewise, despite much rhetoric, greenhouse gas emissions are not seriously addressed until major shocks trigger political reactions. Since these responses are overdue, they are severe and lead to energy price spikes and volatility.

“The Blueprints scenario is less painful, even if the start is more disorderly. Numerous coalitions emerge to take on the challenges of economic development, energy security, and environmental pollution through cross-border cooperation. Much innovation occurs at the local level, as major cities develop links with industry to reduce local emissions. National governments introduce efficiency standards, taxes, and other policy instruments to improve the environmental performance of buildings, vehicles, and transport fuels.”

Shell is listed by Fortune is the third biggest corporation in the world.

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/politics0801.php#shell_warning_280108

on uk prime ministers and decision-making

A beautiful description of the cowardice and mental incompetence of Brown the Clown.

“All prime ministers have their own way of working and a comparison of different styles can be revealing. One Number 10 insider recalls that when John Major, the Tory prime minister, faced a tricky problem he would ask his civil servants for all the relevant information and read through the papers, often long into the night. The next morning he would make his decision.

“Tony Blair, in contrast, would order his officials to do the research and then give him a summary plus three or four options. The next morning he would make a decision.

“And Gordon Brown? Like Sir John Major he prefers to study the facts and figures for himself. "Like Sir John," says my man with the long memory. "He often works into the wee small hours. Then the next morning . . . he asks for more information." ”

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/politics0801.php#pm_decisions_250108

peter hain goes down the memory hole

Context: The UK Works and Pensions Minister has resigned as files regarding his methods of raising political funds are passed to the police at Scotland Yard. As soon as he resigned, Peter Hain’s official minister’s web site was removed from the UK government web site.

He is a non-person. He never existed. He has gone down the memory hole.

This is ‘new’ labour with newspeak. Mention of Hain is now doubleplusungood.

“Winston dialed 'back numbers' on the telescreen and called for the appropriate issues of The Times, which slid out of the pneumatic tube after only a few minutes' delay. The messages he had received referred to articles or news items which for one reason or another it was thought necessary to alter, or, as the official phrase had it, to rectify. For example, it appeared from The Times of the seventeenth of March that Big Brother, in his speech of the previous day, had predicted that the South Indian front would remain quiet but that a Eurasian offensive would shortly be launched in North Africa. As it happened, the Eurasian Higher Command had launched its offensive in South India and left North Africa alone. It was therefore necessary to rewrite a paragraph of Big Brother's speech, in such a way as to make him predict the thing that had actually happened. Or again, The Times of the nineteenth of December had published the official forecasts of the output of various classes of consumption goods in the fourth quarter of 1983, which was also the sixth quarter of the Ninth Three-Year Plan. Today's issue contained a statement of the actual output, from which it appeared that the forecasts were in every instance grossly wrong. Winston's job was to rectify the original figures by making them agree with the later ones. As for the third message, it referred to a very simple error which could be set right in a couple of minutes. As short a time ago as February, the Ministry of Plenty had issued a promise (a 'categorical pledge' were the official words) that there would be no reduction of the chocolate ration during 1984. Actually, as Winston was aware, the chocolate ration was to be reduced from thirty grams to twenty at the end of the present week. All that was needed was to substitute for the original promise a warning that it would probably be necessary to reduce the ration at some time in April.

“As soon as Winston had dealt with each of the messages, he clipped his speakwritten corrections to the appropriate copy of The Times and pushed them into the pneumatic tube. Then, with a movement which was as nearly as possible unconscious, he crumpled up the original message and any notes that he himself had made, and dropped them into the memory hole to be devoured by the flames.” [Quoted from George Orwell, 1984]

“We have known this [Peter Hain’s fundraising shenanigans] all along. I’m confident he will be cleared”
Peter Hoon, Minister of Truth.

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/politics0801.php#peter_hain_250108

i liked this - orwell on koestler

George Orwell on Arthur Koestle’s Arrival and departure.

“As a political statement (and the book is not much more), this is insufficient. Of course it is true in many cases, and it may be true in all cases, that revolutionary activity is the result of personal maladjustment. Those who struggle against society are, on the whole, those who have reason to dislike it, and normal healthy people are no more attracted by violence and illegality than they are by war. The young Nazi in Arrival and Departure makes the penetrating remark that one can see what is wrong with the left-wing movement by the ugliness of its women. But after all, this does not invalidate the Socialist case. Actions have results, irrespective of their motives. Marx's ultimate motives may well have been envy and spite, but this does not prove that his conclusions were false. In making the hero of Arrival and Departure take his final decision from a mere instinct not to shirt action and danger, Koestler is making him suffer a sudden loss of intelligence. With such a history as he has behind him, he would be able to see that certain things have to be done, whether our reasons for doing them are ‘good’ or ‘bad’. History has to move in a certain direction, even if it has to be pushed that way by neurotics. In Arrival and Departure Peter's idols are overthrown one after the other. The Russian Revolution has degenerated, Britain, symbolized by the aged consul with gouty fingers, is no better, the international class-conscious proletariat is a myth. But the conclusion (since, after all, Koestler and his hero ‘support’ the war) ought to be that getting rid of Hitler is still a worth-while objective, a necessary bit of scavenging in which motives are almost irrelevant.”

From ‘Arthur Koestler’, written by George Orwell in 1944, not bad to read.

[‘Arthur Koestler’ is found in Critical Essays, first published 1946.
hbk, Secker Warburg, 1946: amazon.com amazon.co.uk]

related material
quotations by author George Orwell

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/politics0801.php#orwell_koestler_230108

the advance of the clown’s socialist paradise - yet another criminal offence

“[...] So heads were warned once again last week: it is now illegal - a criminal offence - for a primary school head to conduct an interview of any kind with the parents of applying pupils or to request any information from them which might, in any way, indicate their class background or provide clues about their own educational achievements.”

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/politics0801.php#crime_under_brown_210108

selling a uk bank for middle east oil?

Having undermined the UK economy, having wasted British North Sea oil and failed to expand nuclear energy and other alternatives, now Gordon Brown the clown wants to sell Northern Crock to the Middle East for oil!

“The frantic search for a private sector solution to the Northern Rock crisis has been widened to include cash-rich governments in the Middle East.

“Goldman Sachs, the investment bank brought in by the government to find financing for a takeover of the stricken bank, has widened the net as the deadline for potential bidders approaches. Alistair Darling, the chancellor, has told Goldman that the government has no objections in principle to so-called sovereign wealth funds being included in any financing solution.

“There is no current indication that a deal has been clinched but the Treasury believes it is sensible for the sovereign wealth funds to be approached, given that they have accumulated vast cash reserves after the fourfold increase in the price of oil over the last five years. The main players in the region are the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the Qatari Investment Authority.”

related material
on money - northern crock
bubbles, debt, borrowing and inflation in the uk

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/politics0801.php#northern_crock_oil_100108

a much more accurate/realistic usa candidate quiz

A result from abelard. Note the low scores on every candidate:

By comparison, results from this poll bear only very vague resemblance to reality.

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/politics0801.php#us_candidate_quiz_090108

lying politicians and tax - all taxes are taxes!

If your income tax is 20% (or 40% in the UK under Gordon Brown the clown) and the economy grows, and wages thereby rise, your tax bill rises.

Continually, politicians talk of cutting taxes if they reduce your 20% income tax to 19%. And then your wage goes up by 20%, say from £100 a week to £120, so the tax you pay goes from £20 to £22.80, that is your tax rises.

If inflation (another tax) is 10%, as it is in the UK under Brown the clown, and if your income tax is 20%, while your wage stays at £100 a week, over 1 year your real income has fallen by 10%, that is your tax rises.

If the government raises fuel tax, your taxes rise, even when your income tax goes down by a smaller amount.

If corporation tax goes up by 20%, say from 25% to 30%, businesses have to recover that tax from customers. Therefore, rises in corporation tax, or any other tax, ends up raising your taxes.

All tax rises are rises in your tax on your income. Even taxes on imports and exports raise your prices. Taxes on holiday makers visiting your country reduce the competitiveness of its businesses, and thereby lowers their profitability.

If the politicians own the post office and the post rate goes up, that is more tax. If stamp duty on house sales go up, that is a tax.

If a government’s spending goes up, that will result in more tax. Calling it ‘borrowing’ and taking it back on rising inflation is a tax rise.

If government keep PFI (private finance initiatives) off the books, but contract to pay rent on those contracts. That is a tax rise.

If an economy grows and the government keeps taking the same percentage, your taxes rise.

If the nominal (economy) GDP rises because of inflation, and the tax percentage remains the same, your taxes are rising.

There are no taxes that are not taxes.

Taxes on businesses eventually come out of your pocket.

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/politics0801.php#taxes_are_taxes_070108

watching for scorpions in the bed

Liberal democracy is the counter to authoritarianism. Left and right are very different authoritarian rivals.

The economic and ecological side-effects of the socialist variations make for a much greater degree of danger to life and limb.

Socialism is the ‘philosophy’ of the ant hill. Neither Catholicism nor Islam is that banal or bankrupt.

Socialism is the flat-earthism of social theories/arrangements. If you behave as if the earth is flat, you get very bad outcomes.

Just as modern governments keep religion and politics separated, sane people keep politics and economics separate. Socialism is a religion. You cannot negotiate with religions. The more power they accrete, the more dangerous they become. The error of Marxists is a strange reflection of the error of Islam.

Sharia has economic pretensions; it also has pretensions to political rule.

There is no (natural) left-wing liberalism. There is not much right-wing liberalism.

I have much less concern about right-wing ‘fascism’ than the left-wing version. I do not have to like it, but it does not tend to kill in millions in the manner of left-wing dictatorships. There is also more freedom in right-wing dictatorships, even when it includes the freedom to starve.

In the meantime, right-wing ‘philosophies’ have had more time to generate some subtleties. They do have a ‘philosophy’ of individual space. Socialism has no such thing outside pretence or confusions. There are no individuals in the anthill, other than perhaps the queen.

There is a common tolerance of socialism that is misplaced. You may as well tolerate scorpions in your bed.

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news/politics0801.php#socialist_scorpions_040108

email email_abelard [at] abelard.org

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