The Reason For War March 2008 by me big bro
Mankind lives by exploiting the resources of the earth and war is waged for control of those resources. As the earth’s population grows and the pressure on resources increase then so does the potential for conflict, witness the number of armed squabbles now taking place across the globe.
Religious differences are frequently quoted as being the cause of war, whereas religion is merely the flag under which the combatants rally.
The invasion of Iraq was not a religious war or about ‘weapons of mass destruction’ but about oil, which begs the question of why fight for something that you can buy and have been happily buying for years?
Oil is traded in American dollars and America is able to simply print as many dollars as it needs, effectively procuring its supplies for nothing or rather by the issuing of promissory notes, which is what paper currency amounts to, forgetting or ignoring that promissory notes have one day to be redeemed.
Saddam Hussain’s sin was not one of being an evil tyrant in possession of weapons of mass destruction but because he decided to refuse payment in dollars and was demanding Euros in exchange for his oil. Clearly if this attitude became commonplace it represented the very greatest threat to American hegemony. The sabre rattling over Iran is for exactly the same reason; Iran is establishing an oil bourse where it is intended for oil to be traded in all currencies rather than exclusively in dollars.
The quantity of dollars outside of America is now colossal and already Congress is beginning to fret about Sovereign Wealth Funds (read Arabs) taking control of strategic businesses inside America. They have sufficient dollars to just about buy the whole country if they have the mind to do so.
The dollar is now rapidly declining in value against both other currencies and commodities, which is the way chosen by the Federal Reserve Bank to renege on the promissory notes. With the problems that devaluation creates, coupled with other financial difficulties that America faces, it is questionable if this tactic can succeed. Either way and whatever the outcome, it bodes ill for the rest of the world.
Andrew Lindley the voice of reason from Yorkshire (some relation)
Archbishop gets it right 29 Feb 2008
Yes indeed, I have really shocked myself this time. For the very first time I
actually comprehend what old Archie is saying from behind that amazing beard.
For once we have an old Archbishop who can remember being young!
Youths swarm on street corners and in shopping malls so they "feel secure" from
older people, claimed Dr. Rowan Williams. A quote from The Daily Express 27th
February 2008. Please note that only the words "feel secure" are actually in
quotation marks. Could his real words have been: I like my new fluffy slippers
because they make me "feel secure", I am sure we will never know.
Back to what I believe he was trying to say when he stated that "adults are to
blame" for the behaviour of youths today. Perhaps his point was so obvious that it
wasn't even worth saying, let alone being mis-quoted over and possibly losing your
cushy job for.
Yes indeed ADULTS are to blame! Never has a truer word been spoken.
ADULTS make the rules. ADULTS give the guidance. ADULTS fence off the football
fields. ADULTS build houses on every open space. ADULTS close the only swimming pool
(in Wakefield anyway). ADULTS ban corporal punishment. ADULTS destroy teacher
authority. ADULTS suffocate us with Health and Safety. ADULTS put up the "No
Trespassing", "No Swimming", "No Cycling", "No Ball Games" and "No Walking on the
Grass" signs.
Perhaps every ADULT who is sharpening their knife and crying for the head of the
Archbishop should first cast their mind back to their youth. Be truthful and imagine
your own youthful behaviour in the context of today's suffocating, controlling and
yet guidance free society. Most people will realize that they too would be regarded
as a "feral youth" by today's standards.
Melvyn Lindley Economics for the simpleton (if this, like you is me, read on)
True Northern Grit? Feb 2008
The only saving grace of the nightmare of the Nationalisation of Northern Rock is that it has spared us the spectacle of Buccaneer Branson looting the National Purse with impunity. Although, on the other hand, he would have made a useful scapegoat when the seriousness of the situation really hits home and we come to blame anyone but ourselves for the fallout from the crazy conviction that house prices could only rise, for ever and ever.
Following the astronomical, and ridiculous, boom in house prices a severe and lasting slump in prices is inevitable, figures of 5% to 10% are being floated with the odd pessimist speculating as much as 20%. For what my opinion is worth I regard falls of 50% to 70% from the peak as equally as likely.
No rational person will continue to service a mortgage that is in excess of the value of the property encumbered. How then will the government deal with defaulters? Turf them out on to the street? Call it a council house and charge a peppercorn rent? Oblige them to service the debt but pay sufficient benefits to enable the monthly instalments?
Make no mistake, how the first few defaulters are handled will be absolutely critical. Anything short of incarceration in the Tower will lead to the wholesale repudiation of liability as opportunists seize the moment.
Fire Alarms
Over the years, fire alarms have sounded 4 or 5 times during the night in hotels where I have been staying. Utterly convinced they were false alarms only once, in response to particularly prolonged ringing, did I even get out of bed when the sight of other guests assembling in the courtyard in varying states of undress prompted me to dress before ringing reception, only to be told it was a false alarm and they were having difficulty in switching the alarm off.
Does this prove that all fire alarms are false? My personal experience tells me - Yes and yet many people have been burned alive in hotel fires, but of course this simply reinforces my conviction that disasters happen to other people in other places.
So it is with the financial markets; in the last couple of decades there have been many alarms sounded, which have served only to reinforce the belief that the collapse of the Stock Market in 1929 is of no more relevance today than is the previous incident of the South Sea Bubble. We are far too sophisticated and our central bankers and politicians, especially Gordon Brown and George Bush, far too clever for anything like that to happen in the modern world.
Personally I am heeding the alarms, at least it is time to get out of bed and get dressed.
Doom and gloom?? February 2008
The financial advice given to me by my parents: - ‘Neither borrower nor lender be’; ‘Never buy anything on HP – rather save until you can afford it’; ‘Always put something to one side for a rainy day.’ May well have been sound advice for their and their parent’s generation but could not have been more inappropriate for the era through which I have lived.
The correct advice would have been ‘Buy property’, ‘Hock yourself to the hilt; take full advantage of your youth and credit rating’. Inflation will get you out of any difficulties and if that fails, either a creditors voluntary arrangement or bankruptcy will resolve your problems without any real pain.
However times are changing yet again and with the property ladder looking more like a hangman’s scaffold with every day that passes, the advice I would give my grandchildren, who range from 6 weeks to 13 years, would be the same as that given by my parents.
I can see as far into the future as the next man – given the gift next Saturday’s Lotto numbers would be far enough – so my crystal ball gazing should be taken as literarily as the forecasts of The Original Gypsy Lee on Blackpool front
Even so the collapse of Northern Rock and the current Stock Market turmoil are serious warning signals and it as well to remember that the crash of Wall Street in October 1929 and the Great Depression that followed was the direct result of the exuberant, over-expansion of credit in the 1920s and the subsequent credit crunch. The crisis of the 1930s was a banking crises and today the banks are in equally as much trouble as they were in 1930.
Could the depression of the 1930s repeat itself?
January 2008
Even a casual observer of the financial news will be aware of the dramatic rise in the price of gold. The theory behind this rise is very simple; gold is traded in dollars and with the Americans aggressively debasing their currency gold can only rise in dollar terms or rather the dollar go down in gold terms.
Another name for debasement of the currency is inflation, which is something we are all familiar with and like the danger of drinking alcohol, is a risk we are happy to run on account of the apparent benefits – ever growing standards of living, continual rising house prices, abolishment of poverty and all the other good things of modern life – of inflation that is not alcohol drinking.
As a child I remember being warned that tea was a long-term poison but, ever the reckless one, carried on drinking it regardless. Later in life I was warned of the dangers of cigarette smoking, which I took seriously enough to switch to cigars while totally ignoring warnings of the dangers of alcohol, what would life be without a beer?
Yet we all know an alcoholic, just as all economists are well aware of the fate of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Hitler but just as I continue to drink, alcohol as well as tea, central banks continue to inflate. That is the fate of others, it cannot happen to us.
Or could it?
Could the ghost of 1929 walk again?
ECONOMIC NIGHTMARE OR FREE SCHOOL MEALS? January 2008
Despite the seriousness of the Northern Rock situation being fully appreciated and with the government doing all that it could, and possibly more than it should, to resolve the matter there appears to be an underlying complacency that the debacle is strictly a one off, rogue occurrence that will be absorbed into the financial fabric with no long term ill effects as was the bankruptcy of Rolls Royce.
This of course may well be the situation, but an equally valid possibility is that it was the first landmine of an economic guerrilla war that will blight our lives for years. This prospect being emphasised by the current turmoil on the World Stock Markets.
Could the ghost of 1929 walk again?
We are perhaps fortunate that a collapse of the world economic system is bound to precede the final implosion of the ecological system, giving us one last chance to stop beating the world to death.
The primary task of society in times of danger has always been the protection of women and children, so we are perhaps also fortunate that the females of our race have claimed, and proved, that they are the equal of the males as this reduces the duty to that of protecting the children.
Immediately the possibility of a slump turns into a probability the first step should be the re-introduction of free school milk, perhaps with a treat of a chocolate biscuit, and free school dinners with any further relief being through an increase in family allowance.
The milk and meals at least could be organised on a local scale without the interminable debate that accompanies national action. Our local politicians should begin to study the matter at once.
Andrew Lindley (beloved nephew and climbing partner) the voice of the beleaguered
Olympic Games Jobs Latest (January 2008)
Dear Lord Coe,
Please accept my application to join your team as an
“Olympic Games Cost Estimator”
I have a C.S.E in mathematics and an uncanny ability in random guesswork. I am able
to think up incredibly huge numbers and can then multiply these numbers by a
thousand or even more, as circumstances require.
I am married to a French woman so have over the years developed an immunity to
ridicule from our Gallic neighbours. I believe the ability to remain smug and aloof
amongst tittering frenchies, will particularly assist me in my development in this
career.
As I live close to your home town of Sheffield we may be able to arrange to car
share on your visits back home, thus providing valuable cost savings for the tax
payer.
My salary and package is negotiable but I guarantee that it can be fitted into even
the largest of budgets.
I eagerly await your positive reply.
Yours sincerely
Andrew Lindley
P.S. I think the logo for the Games is really good and was well worth the money.
Money Saving Tip (for Southerners only) December 2007
Did anyone else stare in disbelief at the recent breakfast television
report from Brighton?Hordes of track-suited, happy Southerners
running and jumping about in a park and, guess what, they had
discovered they were able to do all this for FREE!
As the reporter explained, people were becoming tired of sky high
gym fees and some local genius (no doubt fresh from a trip up north)
had come up with the concept of exercising outdoors without having
to pay for it. Amazing!
One hardy fanatic even noted that this could be done in all weathers
as the human body kept itself warm whilst exercising. Astonishing!
Poor old Duncan Bannatyne, I have visions of him with head in hands,
despairing as his fitness empire crumbles. Gyms closing down all
over the south of England and muscle-bound fitness instructors queuing
up at the dole offices.
I just hope that the Chancellor of the Exchequer wasn’t watching the same
report. Imagine the next budget. “In order to save thousands of jobs in the
fitness industry we will be introducing a new tax on the excessive use of
fresh air whilst exercising outdoors”.
Let that be a lesson to all of us. Next time you meet a Southerner don’t tell them
any of our secrets. It could cost us all dearly in the long run.
Spend and Save
The Christmas season has arrived and once again I have fallen into that famous
“spend and save” trap. We had invited some friends for a meal last Saturday and
my wife had written a short list of things we needed for just that night. It more
or less consisted of two bottles of wine, the meat and a few other bits. As I had
some time on my hands I decided not to be lazy and nip to the local shops,but to
drive across Wakefield to the Morrisons superstore. After all everyone knows that
supermarkets are always cheaper than local shops. How right I was. The store was
brimful with festive cheer and bargains galore. Discounts were everywhere, un-passable
offers, 3 for the price of 2 (even if you didn’t need 1 in the first place) Just imagine my
delight when I reached the wine section only to find that, on certain selected
wines (surprisingly the more expensive ones), the offer was buy six and get 33% off.
Wow! It was too good to miss and six good bottles jumped into the trolley. It certainly
wouldn’t go to waste at Christmas I happily reasoned.
Some small doubts began to creep into my mind when I reached the checkout. Over
£70 for one meal! I flinched inwardly but cheerfully handed over the credit card for some
festive punishment. “Everything will get used”, I mentally justified to my doubtful wife. It
wasn’t until Sunday morning that I fully realised what I had done. With a bouncing head
(having drunk 4 of the 6 bargain bottles) I was suddenly transported to the future. To the
end of January 2008 to be exact. I am skint yet again and the cupboards are bare.
This despite the fact that I have been ‘saving’ all Christmas. Yes, I always learn the hard way,
“spend and save” is an urban myth. The reality as usual is just “spend, spend and spend again”.
Hopefully before it’s too late I am going to make a pre New Year resolution to shop locally
for exactly what we need and not let the Christmas cheer end in the usual New Year debt
misery.
Alcohol on the streets
Having logged on to your debate about drinking alcohol on the streets, I think the people of Stobhill need a fourth option.
Why not request that the police use the vast powers they already have to stop and arrest anti-social louts. Then demand that your local magistrates give out genuine harsh and proper punishments, so that the police don't feel that they have wasted their time in doing so.
To ban drinking in specific areas will only push the problem into other streets, and to ban it in general punishes everyone and is yet another step down the road to a police state.
Target crime and criminals, not laws and citizens.
