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How about is it time to consider legislation against holocaust deniers and Nazis? Perhaps they are too insignificant to worry about.

On Georgia what is Saakashvili going to do next if Cheney has inevitably backed him? Russia have said they will respond in the same way if the same thing happens. If the US keeps talking the talk they will have to walk the walk. A bad idea. The Ukraine is not looking stable either though I have plenty of sympathy for their President with the probable poisoning.

How close is the Labour party to civil war without any clear routes out via a new leader or new policies? People won't buy the Campbell spin anymore and the New Labour project is part of the problem not a solution.

Len, The Times today ran a heading on the state of the car industry, which is not surprising as people are cutting back.

Yesterday I was talking to a dealer who was saying that on expensive cars or so-called "gas guzzlers" especially Rovers, you just can't get rid of them. The second hand market is awash with these cars and you can forget "Glass's Guide" when doing any part-ex. Virtually new Range Rovers are having £10,000's knocked off the re-sale price. So if you can afford the tax and diesel to run an expensive car why buy new? You can save £1000's by doing a deal on models the dealers would be glad to get rid of.

So all you self-righteous "greenies" can congratulate yourselves as you put car workers out of a job with the possible demise of one of our flagship models, The Range Rover. So long as it isn't their job that is affected, then they can fire-off with their CO2 agenda, a still non proven theory but a popular "excuse" to offer for ice melt, until someone can see that this is a natural earth cycle as the ice ages were.

@1
How does one legislate against historians view of the holocaust. Most question the death toll (6 million) whilst others questions the events. Clearly mass murder was commited by the Nazi regime, and thats my take on it, but to legislate against historians research, bogus or otherwise would be akin to banning conspiracy theories. A question you could ask is, who funded the Nazies? The shocking truth is there for you if you so care to seek it. Check out some of the long establised banking families.

By playing by the rules, we have got this country into one of the worst crisis for consumers in living history. I speak of course of the huge rises in energy bills for each and every UK household. By abiding by the open market rules espoused by the EU, we opened up our markets to all comers, sold off national infrastructure to private companies, today most of them are foreign owned, and they are making obscene profits at the expense of the poorest in society.
Gordon Brown is being forced by the energy companies to not impose windfall taxes or to give back to the poorest by way of rebates or lower tariffs, the blackmail being used is no investment in the Nuclear energy and renewables plan if Gordon is to push this. So, he tells everyone to be more "energy efficient". I wonder how that will go down with the poor, elderly and infirm, who have already struggled to get double glazing installed, loft insulation, low voltage light bulbs, turned down the heating and put on jumpers and coats and gloves, only boil a cupful of water, how are they going to squeeze another 15% price hike on their energy bills, in a climate where food prices have gone up by as much as 40% on some essentials. This winter it is truely going to be a case of starve or freeze, for some perhaps both.
Funny how in France EDF is capped on the prices it can impose on its customers, EDF let us not forget is a French company with an approximate 85% share held by the French Govt. The dividends generated by the British consumers will go directly to subsidise the cheaper energy of the French consumer. France and other EU members have steadfastly refused to sell off their nations infrastructures, while at the same time, they have snapped up British assets, and we are now finding that they are able to increase charges in the monopolies they have bought up and in many cases the profits, like with EDF, are used to directly subsidise their own consumers. How can this be right? Perhaps Newsnight needs to cover this in more detail and show just how this has worked to the detriment of all in the UK.

Cheney, the neocon seems not to be getting it all his way on his trip to Azerbaijan. From what local news is reporting, he was snubbed by the President not meeting him at the airport and was not given any assurances of support.

The Neocon attempt to grab control of oil has backfired badly and if saner minds on the USA side don't prevail, we would be in for a WWIII.

The USA has gone into Pakistan and no doubt killed more innocent women and children in their so called "War on Terror", or from the perspectives of the poor terrorised Afghan and Pakistani civilians, perhaps it should be more accurately called the "War of Terror". Just how is this helping global security?

DEMOGRAPHICS: EVIDENCE VS RHETORIC

thegangofone (#1), Billbradbrury (#2) 'Clearly' there was a holocaust in then.

As I've said before, there are an awful lot of Jewish people in the world today (14m) and there were about 15m in 1933. Yet Europeans are not breeding above replacement level, hence Russia's losing about 800,000 a year (is that a holocaust too?). They are not alone (hence EU immigration).

It's odd what one thinks about if one puts data together isn't it? That's what researchers do.

But perhaps it's best not to do that sort of thing as some people get offended and complain that what they think is being abused, and nobody wants to cause offence these days do they? Perhaps we should go the whole hog and make education illegal?

A ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ-sponsored survey today "revealed" massive rises (30-50%) in the prices of many foods in UK shops over the past few months - as if those of us who shop for food hadn't noticed (do you on Newsnight all have others to do that?). In many cases those figures under-reflect the impact on the country's poor because often the cheapest versions, such as own brand, simply disappear from the shelves, with the-next-priced alternative perhaps twice the price. These come on top of huge gas and electric rises this year. Yet the official prices index rises are in single figures (4.4%), so no increases in pensions or benefits anywhere near the increases being experienced in the prices of the vast majority of the outgoings of the poor can be expected. This is truly terrifying. The government - a Labour government - is saying absolutely nothing about this. Are all three parties too middle- or upper-class to notice - even though this also hits the over-extended middle-class too? How are the poor to pay these? How can the indexes be so padded with non-essentials that they are this far from reality? Who is there for the poor to vote for in this situation? The poor do have votes, remember? Will the BNP, SNP and PC play for them? How do Labour MPs who once campaigned against poverty stand with this? Michael Meacher, for example (once a CPAG stalwart).

Google deserve a Nobel Peace prize, such has been the impact on availability of knowledge and understanding: discuss.

I know it's late in the day, but just came across this article in today's Telegraph


The EU wants to ban "sexist" commercials - no more bare chested men on diet coke ads and no models selling perfume. Don't they have anything better to do?

I hear Google's got a new PR guy over here- why don't you get him on.

thegangofone

Although I have some sympathy with your position, I think that defending freedom of speech is ultimately more important than censoring pitiably discriminatory rhetoric.

The only consolation is that these people exemplify with every hateful transparent comment the definition of a cynic as one who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing. Intelligence means nothing if it's not tempered with humanity.

When you say you'll "...look at the cultural impact...", it trust you mean "effect"?

I hope whatever the report says, it'll be better than the "Money Programme" special on Bill Gates, which was pure drivel.

Our lives are controlled by technology and yet, if you want any analysis of its effects, you have to look on-line.

Sorry Billbradbury (#2), that should have been thecookieducker (#3). It was the "gas guzzlers" that threw me.

#4

EDF largest private shareholder is a British pension fund I believe.

I agree with you the EU, the free trade zone was never completed and other countries bend the rules for their own benefits.
This is why some people are calling for a public commission to analyze the Benefits and Costs of EU membership, sadly the Government has refuse to do this.


#5

"Cheney, the neocon seems not to be getting it all his way on his trip to Azerbaijan. From what local news is reporting, he was snubbed by the President not meeting him at the airport and was not given any assurances of support."

Sounds like Azerbaijan is scared of Putin finding an excuse to invade them or poison them or blow up there energy pipeline for the winter.


"The USA has gone into Pakistan and no doubt killed more innocent women and children in their so called "War on Terror""

A nice presumption by your open mind, I guess if the tribal areas of Pakistan want to become neutral and stop harboring women and children killers , I am sure their neutrality would be respected.But do the taliban fighters give the innocent people of the tribal areas a choice in the matter ?


#7 Jenny

Could not agree with you more about the Enron style accounting that seems to be everywhere these days.

I would like to know how much of this food inflation(including the fuel inflation impact) is down to the reluctance of the BofE to support Sterlings value ?

#13, the French state owns over 83% of EDF from the last published figures, by French law, the stake cannot be reduced past 70%. A pension fund may be the largest of the private investment firms after the Govt. stake.

# 14

Hi

Strange as it was only reported the other week that the British Gov's and EDF plans to build new nuclear power stations was rejected by shareholders of EDF,specifically Prudential who is the largest private shareholder.

17% or 30% cant be enough to block something.

#14

Clarification of my EDF post



It says the Pru and Invesco only own 22% of EDF.

#14

My Error , thanks for the correction HovellingHermit.

My error was "the Pru and Investco are shareholders of British Energy, Not EDF".

I'll take your word on the French law over EDF and probably other French state owned companies.

It might have taken 3 posts to correct myself , but I do get there in the end :)

DIABOLICAL EVIL-DOOERS

Fliegel (#10) What's really transparent is the free-market agenda of the Trotskyite group and their hatred of anything governments like Old Labour ever tried to engineer (which was going to be bad for their business).

If anyone seriously thinks that the EU will be a socialist federation they're very much mistaken. It's clearly designed to protect the interests of businesses (think of the likes of Tesco, M and S, Sainsburys etc and how they are already expanding into Eastern Europe).

Just look at what Miliband (and friends across the pond) when they talk of spreading 'democracy'.

They really mean expanding their friends' markets do they not? Socialist states and the evil 'nazis' who run them limit that by nationalising/controlling the means of production (via a large Civil Service) and fixing prices and incomes.

They're diabolical places. Living under such conditions must be like living in a big concentration camp.

the windfall tax is just lefty nonsense that panders to their beliefs. giving money to the govt to waste won't help me.

what would help is a two way grid. that would democratise energy much more effectively by taking it out of the hands of the multinationals and into the hands of the people. that would be the real redistribution of wealth.

#19

That would be Anarchy Mr bookhimdano, you would find towns setting up their own little grids and making up their own currency (IOU's) as to avoid paying tax.

Seriously tho -

It would lower the cost of living, secure some energy supply's , I like the sound of it .

I think (and I could be wrong again) the Conservatives want to do this ?

JadedJean

My comment was addressed to thegangofone, and as I have no interest in your 'views' I would appreciate it if you didn't direct your comments toward me again.

Fliegel (#21) No offence, but the fact that you read and respond to them belies that assertion. thegangofone and friends are in need of a little enlightenment as he appears a little intolerant at times (I suspect it may be the extremist literature he reads).

Fliegel #21) I have to say, I'm a little distressed to hear that you have no interest in the 'view' that Manchester, Liverpool, Russia (and most European countries) and have had below replacement level TFRs for decades. It seems a mite insensitive to their plight, if not discriminatory.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

# 23

Thanks for that demographia.com link Jean.

Here's a demographics database that you can query.


It's an American site, but it has information on the demographics for most countries in the world.

I found it when I was searching for the population density of the UK a few months back.

On tonight program the USA economy was a topic.

I watched last nights John McCain speech and he did refer to the economics situation in the states, in fact he mentioned opening up more markets for US trade.
Was this a hint at a EU and Nafta free trade zone if he is elected ?

Also he said Obama wanted to go down the isolationist trade route, is that true ?


Google -

I like Google because their web page loads up quick !

Also Google does A Lot for the open source community, I been following a Google funded project to write a driver for Linux that uses H/W for decoding of H.264 video(HD TV), as the hardware manufacturer refuses to make it's Linux driver decode H.264, even tho their driver for Microsoft operating system supports it.

Heres the link to the Google funded project



Plus Google embraces new technology, how many other search engines are IPv6 Ready ?



ipv6.l.google.com has IPv6 address 2001:4860:0:1001::68

Maybe a little hint there for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ site to get IPv6 Ready ?

So Google wins hands down for me !

Happy Birthday Google, keep up the good work.

...that would be Anarchy..

not at all. its just the grid becomes something you can donate back to if you have spare power generation [and thus earn credit] instead of just take from.

in germany the two way grid supplies more energy than the whole of the uk nuclear industry does. generates hundreds of thousands of jobs, billions in income and allows ordinary people to free themselves from massive bills created by monopolistic interpretations of what the energy prices are doing. you have to look at the rigged gas market and bumper profits that result. its no accident. the govt look to be in cahoots by accepting the spin imo to make the publics pips squeak and so pave the wave for nuclear.

tories have said something along those lines presumably not because they believe in it [ we are talking billions redistributed to the people the multinationals will fight dirty to kill it and keep their profits] but because zac wants it?

so you can sell this to the lefties from the redistribution of wealth angle, to business on the create new markets angle, to public because it wil lower bills and create new jobs angle, to the greens because its green angle, to bankers and inestors from the kick start economy angle and to govt because of a huge tax take. So why does Gordon not do it and become the most popular PM in 50 years?

this has to be the most interesting question of why someone misses an open goal. it can only be psychological.

# 21 Fliegel

A little bit of advice. I too, found a certain blogger so distasteful and full of hate, that I simply decided to ignore his/her postings. Ignoring somebody is what appears to be the cruellest thing, especially when that person is an egoist.

IS IGNORING THE TRUTH DENIAL (OR JUST TACTICAL)?

Phoenixarisen (#28) Are you quite sure that the apparent disdain or silence isn't better seen as an inability (or more egregiously, perhaps, reluctance) to rationally respond to the empirical facts as presented?

I've seen no hatred expessed (although I do think the behaviour immoral/unethical and is de rigueur these days), just some demographic (#5) empirical evidence, some paradoxes (see earlier drops in population since 1933 due to low birh rates), and the hypothesis that what it seems to reveal is an endogamous group's covert (but quite legal and therefore not conspiratorial) to advance one group's hegemonic/financial interests at the expense of those of others.

Are these not precisely the competitive 'business' practices which our liberal-democratic, deregulated, free-market economics encourages?

Instead of wondering why some may 'hate' these practices, perhaps you might ask why some 'love' and encourage others to fight for their primary beneficiaries (cf. Britain 1939, USSR 1941;USA 1941; USA/UK recently... Georgia)?

Just as an exercse perhaps.

WRIT LARGE

I recently railed against speech-writers, and those who read what others have written and they have rehearsed, thereby masking their personality and gaining false impact and acclaim. I cited this blog as a shining example of a "warts and all" ethos, that is revealing and, thereby, addictive. It is deeply satisfying to 'watch' real people with real foibles, airs, prejudices and weaknesses - not forgetting skills, knowledge and even wisdom - declaring themselves honestly and unashamedly.
POLITICIANS TAKE NOTE! Not you Darling, we all know that was a ploy.

HUMAN RIGHTS/EQUALITIES: THE KISS OF DEATH?

Steve-London (#25) Thanks, I've used some of the USA census databases before (see the NYC post linked above), but the link you gave was useful. What surprises me is that although these data are now well known amongst demographers and the UN, the general public do not appear to appreciate just how dire the situation has become, and that it's largely a consequence of our liberal-democractic way of life. This obsession with freedom, hedonism and 'Human Rights' without looking to the long term consequences to biological fitness is truly a kiss of death. The question one has to ask as always is, not only WHO benefits, but why WE are so hard on Islam which has the sense to try to curb this self-destructive behaviour (as does, not coincidentally, Orthodox Judaism).

HONOUR

I always wondered why Jesus reckoned one should leave the sheep-majority to chance, and go off to save one lost sheep.
Similarly, I wonder if it is smart to discard honour as a strict ethic for the doubtful pleasure of castigating those who still have it, because a few extremists commit honour killings. The harm now done by license, centrally installed in our culture, must surely outweigh that done by extremism on the fringe of others?

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MOST people in this country .

Most people should remember that.

But does democracy count?

BRING BACK BLAIR

Let him build another big lie with his alter ego: Campbell. Let Labour win the election
and then let The Queen say a humiliating NO, as a long awaited service to her subjects. Finally, as he leaves the palace, let Yates of the Yard loose. And may whichever god Blair is listening to at the time have mercy on his soul.

FREEDOM TO CHOOSE (SO LONG AS IT'S FREE-MARKET LIBERAL-DEMOCRACY)

Barrie (#35) Who do you envisage her being able to say 'YES' to (with so much 'anti-terrorist' legislation now on the statue books)? Isn't anything other than Neoconservativism these days? Can you envisage getting very far in the UK? Could anyone helping such parties be charged with conspiring with 'terrorists'?