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The Furrowed Brow

Comments

1. At 10:24 AM on 20 Aug 2007, Vyle Hernia wrote:

   Why do we need tax cuts?

   - to enable the economy to flourish.

   Who pays taxes?

   - you and I.

   So reducing taxes puts more money in our pockets.

   What causes inflation?

   - according to some, us having money in our pockets.

   How do you solve inflation? (remember the Prices & Incomes board?)

   - by reducing the amount of money in our pockets.

   How do you reduce the amount of money in our pockets?

   - by increasing interest rates.

   Thus you take money from the Chancellor and pass it, via the individual, to the banks.

   Not many would want to argue with that (?)
   

2. At 11:20 AM on 20 Aug 2007, Tom Harrop wrote:

   What sort of message does it send out to the rest of the world that Britain has stab-proof hoodies on sale? It says that violent crime is in danger of spiralling out of control and knife attacks have become a fact of life for a worrying number of today's teenagers.

   The police and Government may say the statistics show our society is far safer than the picture painted by media coverage of the recent spate of stabbings around the country. But the truth of the matter is that items such as slash and stab-proof hooded tops would not be on sale if there was not a demand for them. Too many youngsters think carrying a blade is some sort of badge of credibility.

   And if anyone was in any doubt as to just how wide this craze has spread then the sale of these hoodies shows it is fast reaching epidemic proportions. It makes you wonder what will come next, the bullet-proof baseball cap perhaps?

3. At 01:30 PM on 20 Aug 2007, wrote:

   The serious talk in America was the damage to Peru secondary to the earthquake and the threat of Hurricane Dean. Photos of Roberto monitoring Dean were sent to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ PM.

4. At 01:40 PM on 20 Aug 2007, wrote:

   Years ago, when there was a big football match at the stadium round the corner from me, extra trains - "specials" - would be laid on to ferry the fans to and from the ground, causing minimal disruption to regular travellers.

   As I got my train home on Friday, I was handed a leaflet saying that as the "Big Burny Spicy Foods" (or something) were playing a concert at the stadium later this week, the trains would be very busy and regular travellers should leave extra time for their journey as there may be disruption.

   Yes, the company currently running the local rail franchise has no intention of adding extra trains to deal with the crowds, so those people who regularly travel (and who largely have season tickets and will be out of pocket making other arrangements) have to suffer.

   Has anyone else faced modern companies blithely giving a worse service than they used to for no readily apparent reason other than "we can't be bothered"?

5. At 02:29 PM on 20 Aug 2007, Eccy Thump wrote:

   Over the last two weeks the world's stock markets have been in turmoil with massive falls in share prices followed by significant recoveries.

   This can sometimes seem a remote issue to those of us who do not have a collection of share certificates at home or who are not involved in the financial services industry. But the fact is that the activities on the finance markets are of vital importance to anyone with a private pension, an endowment mortgage, or savings in many forms of accounts.

   And the stock market activities also have a major bearing on interest rates and through them the housing market as a whole. At present the situation on stock markets is so volatile that it is very difficult to work out exactly what is going to happen to the economy as a whole.

   The problem was sparked with some American homeowners defaulting on their mortgages - and the knock-on effect on this side of the Atlantic is that some British lenders are likely to make it more difficult to get mortgages. That could have the effect of putting a brake on the housing market, ironically making it easier for first-time buyers. But whether the benefits of a slower rise in house prices will be outweighed by a squeeze on credit remains to be seen.

   One thing everyone should remember is that pensions, endowments, and share-related savings schemes must essentially be looked at as long-term investments. The markets may be in turmoil this month, but I think people should not panic over fluctuations which may only last a matter of days.

6. At 09:28 PM on 20 Aug 2007, mittfh wrote:

   I'm still wondering how a fire at a hotel that had its fire safety certificate renewed last year could spread so quickly and cut off fire escape staircases.

   Then again, it isn't exactly unheard of for old buildings to catch fire - and the fire to spread quickly:

   
   "On the night of 4th November 1998 a fire started in a hotel room along the esplanade of
   Aberystwyth. The ensuing fire spread through
   the roof compartment of the hotel to the
   adjacent Caerleon and Pumlumon student
   halls, causing such devastation to the eight-bay
   terrace block that the solid wall construction
   was deemed to be unstable following a post-fire
   evaluation of the damage. Although the
   building structure did not collapse as a result of
   the fire, a structural assessment recommended
   that the Grade II listed building be demolished,
   including the stonework façade."

   Thankfully, none of the 110 students evacuated was injured, but it left a sizeable gap in the seafront for a couple of years whilst the halls were rebuilt.

7. At 09:44 AM on 21 Aug 2007, wrote:

   Tom (2)

   
   try here?

   
   DIY (always a helping hand)

8. At 04:47 PM on 21 Aug 2007, Peter Barry wrote:

   Alan Johnston was released early July. Since then nothing has been reported about his abduction and who was (really) responsible.

   If he is being "silenced", has the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ got the guts to let him tell his story or has the Blair/WMD episode brought the corporation back "into line"?

   
   

9. At 11:21 AM on 22 Aug 2007, Simon Worrall wrote:

   SSC;
   More about the 'Football Specials'.

   In the General Election of 1987 there was a candidate in Portsmouth South ward who stood on behalf of the '6:57 Special' party. The gentleman in question was their sole candidate.

   The 6:57 special was the first train up to London from Portsmouth on a Saturday morning which supporters of Portsmouth FC used to catch when travelling to away matches. British Rail used to use their worst rolling stock for that train, because it always ended up trashed at its destination.

   Its time also gave a name to the Portsmouth thug fan element, known as the 6:57 crew, the south coast equivalent to the 'Headhunters' or the 'Red Army' of the time.

   His name was Marty 'Docker' Hughes. He stood on a hybrid platform blending militant Ulster loyalism with demands for magistrates qualified by prison terms, and duty-free booze on the Gosport ferry.

   He got some votes too!

   Si.

10. At 12:12 PM on 22 Aug 2007, Robert wrote:

    Has the world become as mad as a badger? Why I see you all ask, well this issue about the human rights act.........Go on Robert, tell us something we don't know...humm.. well it seems that there is alway somebody who seems to think that it is written to uphold their rights only. And then our dear Right wing of artilla the hun press use this as a story saying its a useless act. Balls and even if there was a bill of rights Europe would over rule with the human rights act, who would be the winners, Press, as they will sell more papers and the layers representing the individual involved.
    My furrowed brow, after letting off steam is, why do we not consider poeple who have done their time in Prison as rehabilitated as this is what should be happening?? I understand the family of the headmasters feelings but they are reacting as if to say 'that man who killed our husband/father has lesser rights than we do.....'

11. At 07:23 PM on 22 Aug 2007, wrote:

    Eccy Thump (5),
    "The problem was sparked with some American homeowners defaulting on their mortgages"

    An example of scapegoating. The volatility is sparked by the realisation that the present over-valuation of assets is supported by record levels of personal and corporate indebtedness. To blame it all on foolish lending in America is very convenient for those who don't wish to look closer to home.

    Most relevant indicators are further offscale than the equivalents were before the crash in 1929.
    

    "Though I can see no way to defend the economy, I recogniize the need
    to be concerned for the suffering that would be produced by its failure. But I ask if it is necessary for it to fail in order to change: I am assuming that if it does not change it must sooner or later fail, and that a great deal that is more valuable will fail with it. As a deity the economy is a sort of egotistical French monarch, for it apparently can see no alternative to itself except chaos, and perhaps that is its chief weakness. For, of course, chaos is not the only alternative to it. A better alternative is a better economy. But we will not conceive the possibility of a better economy, and therefore will not begin to change, until we quit deifying the present one."
    -- in "A Continuous Harmony"
    

    xx
    ed

12. At 01:22 AM on 23 Aug 2007, wrote:

    PUSH!
    

13. At 11:27 AM on 23 Aug 2007, Simon Worrall wrote:

    Ed;
    Eccy's point might have been well made, actually.

    Every conflagration needs fuel, oxygen and something to initiate it. If the 'overvaluation' in world markets is the fuel, built into a bonfire over years, it still needed something to ignite it.

    Petrol vapour is volatile, but will not ignite freely. It needs a trigger, or a spark.

    That spark (as Eccy very accurately described it) is indeed the exposure of financial institutions to bad mortgage debts in the USA. When that spark landed on the fuel the fire was lit. So it is entirely right and proper to point to the sub-prime lending problem as the initial cause. That's not scapegoating, just recognising an essential truth.

    The 'guilty' parties exist on both sides of the sub-primes. Borrowers who took loans without worrying about where the money would come from to make the repayments. Lenders who were falling over themselves to get a slice of the market, abandoning common sense and risk analysis in doing so.

    As in so many things no one party is entirely free of the blame, each carries their own measure.

    Si.

14. At 01:09 PM on 23 Aug 2007, Robert wrote:

    'The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe them selves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunt economist' Keynes, "The General Theory of Employment, interests and Money."

15. At 02:41 PM on 23 Aug 2007, wrote:

    Si.
    "That spark (as Eccy very accurately described it) is indeed the exposure of financial institutions to bad mortgage debts in the USA. When that spark landed on the fuel the fire was lit. So it is entirely right and proper to point to the sub-prime lending problem as the initial cause."

    I accept that I didn't notice Eccy's use of 'sparked'.

    As to causes, I can only note that in the absence of fuel, a spark is unlikely to 'cause' a conflagration. The accumulated fuel is a conflagration waiting to happen and may be 'sparked' by any number of events. It's not unlike the fact that the longer the geologic stress is allowed to build up, the greater the inevitable earthquake (and tsunami?).

    xx
    ed

    "We can't go on too much longer, maybe, without considering the likelihood that we humans are not intelligent enough to work on the scale to which we have been tempted by our technological abilities." --

16. At 08:36 PM on 23 Aug 2007, Dr Hackenbush wrote:

    There was a lot of talk about ‘anarchy’ the other day, in relation to violent crimes perpetrated by young people. Many of those using the term clearly do not appreciate the concept that lawlessness is not necessarily the same thing as violent, revolutionary chaos. A lot of anarchists advocate peaceful coexistence. Mr Cameron, et al, should try to understand this concept. After all, he is more than ready to vent personal attacks on the opposition in the House, which is hardly the example to set to promote a harmonious society.

    Discuss, etc.

17. At 12:38 AM on 24 Aug 2007, wrote:

    Hi Doc, You've been missed.

    As to , you're right.

    There's also Henry Thoreau,
    

    I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe--
    "That government is best which governs not at all"
    and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.
    
    Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government.

    And Kropotkin, just to mention a few very credible sources.
    

    Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence;
    the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise.
    For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform, and irresistibly obeyed,
    man would need no other lawgiver;"
    -- Thomas Paine

    xx
    ed

18. At 10:47 AM on 24 Aug 2007, Robert wrote:

    Hi Doc

    Interesting point and what I think Dave was trying to say, was that society would return to a fuedal society - living under fuedal law 9th Century - 15th Century Europe which would compare better to the parody used.

    Regards

19. At 07:35 PM on 24 Aug 2007, wrote:

    Yo!

    !!

    xx
    ed

20. At 10:36 AM on 25 Aug 2007, mac wrote:

    this morning i read i'm not living at all being online, on the web 'n' all.

    so said that sharp featured fatures writer in the Guardian today marina hyde.

    she's right. i should bury my face in guardian newsprint reading what she says instead. that would be living.

    there's a general problem that public spaces are dominated by one - many communications, one to the many, without reply.

    Whether in entertainment, sport (the few rather than one), politics, radio, TV fims, books - the list comprises all that we do.

    At least om line there is the appearance of a right of reply for all but even this brilliant blog would find 3 million comments a day difficult to cope with.

    The gulf between those who send out messages to the many and the many who recieve them has never been greater - despite brave steps in the opposite direction like this blog.

    (The Lying Scotspeople know a tihing or two evidently. THe folk tradition always honoured people like me tone deaf and tuneless who felt like trying to murder Jonny Todd or Lord Franklin during the guests spot whilst the bands took a break)

    Being surrounded by messages from people one doesn't know, cannot communicate with directly in any way and don't have enough personal information about to know even whether one likes them or not (except for Eddie Mair of couse who is infinitely likable) is a frightening big brothers and sisters world.

    i'm glad Eddie hasn't got one of those voice implant jobbies, it must be frighteningly like listening to the Moral Maze all day.
    
    (A last word in defence of journos. The ones I've bothered to email over the years have been courteous and kind enough to reply personally. even one who was in the middle of a media frenzy herself last year, and with something more substantial than 'Thank you for your interesting comment'
    I fact one helped me find a reference at some trouble to himself. Which was particularly kindly 'cos it turned out i'd confused him with his brother - who noteoriously don't get on. (it was news to me there were two of them!)
    So I'll email a vesrion of this to Ms. Hyde and see what she's lke on majoritarian communications.

    Off to the chat room at Cransley to say hi to real people. On line.

    mac

    love peace, fellowship, friendship and good weather to you all (even if happiness is too much to hope for!)

    mac on holiday

21. At 12:11 AM on 26 Aug 2007, wrote:

    From our continuing

    Share and enjoy!

    xx
    ed

22. At 05:59 PM on 26 Aug 2007, The Stainless Steel Cat wrote:

    Hmmm, so why is the Princess of Wales* not going to the Diana memorial thing? Because it would annoy some people who seem to have raised Diana to the status of a saint, mostly without ever having met her? I'm no fan of either the current or previous P of W, but this seems to be pandering to the worst excesses of mob mentality.

    *Yes, she's known as the Duchess of Cornwall, but she's also the Princess of Wales.

23. At 11:27 PM on 26 Aug 2007, wrote:

    I blame the scapegoats. That's what they're for.

    Sid