An Elite that Lacks Class

Anyone who can be bothered to 'read between the lines' of some of my rants here will know that I am no enthusiast for The Age of the Common Man.

Today the BBC reports an excellent example of the lack of class shown by the present elite (I cannot bring myself to abuse the word 'Aristocracy').

International Banking Giant Goldman Sachs proposed to delay until April the payment of the vast bonuses it will award to its staff and thus time the payments to coincide with the reduction of the top rate of income tax - from 50% to 45%. This politically inept plan earned Goldman a fully-deserved bollocking from the governor of the Bank of England.  In consequence Goldman has has decided to try to save face by cancelling the plan.

How can a mature organisation the size of Goldman Sachs show such a lack of sensitivity and political nous?  After all they cannot (can they?) be unaware that the public have at least as low an opinion of the banks as they do of politicians - and it is well known that irresponsibility and greed amongst the bankers has been a major contributor to the present slump.

The answer is of course as I wrote above, lack of class.

Until the next time.

Always News In England

Of course the title refers to the great British subject, the weather.

Yes, an impartial observer could be forgiven for thinking that here in Britain the weather - at any time of the year - seems to take us by surprise; and the newspapers are well aware of the fact and love to exploit it with headlines such as 'Phew what a scorcher!' and 'The Big Freeze.' etc.

Well quelle surprise! It's January and temperatures have dropped, concern has been expressed that old people may suffer - fair enough - but in truth it's unlikely to be much less than -4 degrees.  There's nothing new in low temperatures in January, so why the panic?

Even worse are the general pathetic attitudes that seem to prevail here: a year or two ago buses were not running because the roads were a bit icy; really - this in a city where buses ran throughout the second world war...

For six years I lived in France at an altitude of 800 metres - about 2600 feet; it was normal in the winter for the temperature to drop to -15 degrees and I recall a week when the highest temperature was -5, this accompanied by up to two feet of snow.  Nobody was surprised: it was the winter; trains and buses ran, the farmers kept the roads clear. I ask again, why is the winter a surprise here?

And in today's Daily Telegraph it is reported that 29% of parents will ban their children from playing outside in the cold weather as it is seen as 'too dangerous.'

As pathetic as the photograph I once saw of children wearing safety goggles whilst playing conkers.

I genuinely fear for the future.

Until the next time.

Wants to be an Enfant Terrible

Rupert Everett. Picture: Daily Telegraph

 

Rupert Everett has today expressed his concern that "wealthy oligarchs" are going to reduce the population here in Britain to the condition of "Indians under the British Empire."  For good measure, he adds what I suppose he hopes are provocative views about church marriages for 'gay' people.

I suppose that we have been made privy to Mr Everett's thoughts because he is a famous actor, though for the life of me I cannot see why his views are any more relevant than anyone else's; I doubt that the Daily Telegraph would be interested in MY views on such topics, and I do not think that an acting career is a qualification for weighty statements on current affairs, though I must confess that I am disinclined to research the subject further.  Perhaps he approves of the appalling windbaggery of the dreadful Kinnock?

Anyway if the Empire is to return, perhaps that means that the government will build roads and railways and other great public works as were carried out in the days of the Raj.

Damned good show I say.

Until the next time.

David Bowie

Today the BBC has published a list of "66 Facts about David Bowie."  This of course coincides with his first new release since 2003.

Bowie has sold 140 million records and is one of the all-time most successful music acts.  I have always thought that his best work was that with Stevie Ray Vaughan, Darryl Jones and Omar Hakkim - Let's Dance, China Girl etc.

For the benefit of the BBC and any David Bowie fans out there who like arcane information about their hero, I can offer a 67th fact:

I witnessed the man losing a cheeseburger-eating competition with an old friend of mine; the score was 7-4 and the contest took place in Beckenham...

The date?  Ah! That's my secret.

Until the next time

Bullshit

She's at it again: Senora Kirchner, the increasingly desperate president of a near bankrupt Argentina, is following in the footsteps of her predecessor, General Galtieri in hoping to distract the Argentinian populace from domestic woes by making noises about the Falkland Islands, which she claims "belong to Argentina."

No they don't - in fact the islands were claimed by British Navy Captain Byron in 1765, though at the time they were a French possession, subsequently ceded to Spain but reclaimed by the British in 1833 since when the islands have been continually under British sovereign rule.

President Kirchner likes to refer to Argentinian territorial integrity, but for those who imagine that the islands are a short hop from Argentina (perhaps like the Isle of Wight apropos Britain) it's worth remembering that they are 310 miles from the Patagonian coast.  On that basis perhaps the USA will claim Cuba, which is 16 miles from Florida!

The 3000 inhabitants are resolute in their desire to remain under British protection; in fact the Argentinians rather blew it when they invaded in 1982, forcing the inhabitants to drive on the right and declaring Spanish to be the official language.  There were other heavy-handed diplomatic balls-ups at the time which served severely to piss-off the islanders.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that there is to be a referendum amongst the islanders concerning sovereignty, adding that Britain will "respect and defend the results of the plebiscite."  Also the islanders' leaders cite the UN charter regarding self-determination of peoples whilst President Kirchner bangs on about "colonial rule."

The Argentinian president would be better advised to focus her energies on the looming financial crisis in her country, and also bear in mind that apparently a substantial part of the Argentinian population actually don't give a damn!

Until the next time

Captain Mixed-Metaphorical

Another mixed metaphor, this time from the slightly oleaginous Sir Martin Sorrell, chairman of the vast advertising and market research group, WPP:

"It's been a very gruelling year and next year is going to be more of the same. You're in the trenches and it's hand-to-hand combat. Corporates are not happy bunnies at the moment."

Hmm, unhappy bunnies in the trenches...

This one comes from a BBC report about Sorrell's views on tax.

Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States, was once asked about sin; after a period of reflection he remarked that he was "agin it."  I suspect that Sorrell's views on tax are similar  to the late president's.

Until the next time.