W

I quite like this typically pithy note in today's Daily Telegraph, from
the (hard right) mayor of London:

"The legacy of George Bush may take years, if not decades, to determine.

But at present he seems to have pulled off an astonishing double whammy.

However well-intentioned it was, the catastrophic and unpopular
intervention in Iraq has served in some parts of the world to discredit
the very idea of western democracy.

The recent collapse of the banking system, and the humiliating resort
to semi-socialist solutions, has done a great deal to discredit - in
some people's eyes - the idea of free-market capitalism.

Democracy and capitalism are the two great pillars of the American idea.

To have rocked one of those pillars may be regarded as a misfortune.

To have damaged the reputation of both, at home and abroad, is a pretty
stunning achievement for an American president."

When Margaret Thatcher's successor is backing Obama - as he is ,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/m.../2008/10/21/do
2101.xml

it\s a strange day.

Has anyone seen Oliver Stone's movie, btw?

L

For those unfamiliar with British politics, it's interesting to note
that this photograph

http://adifferentvoice.files.wordpre...ngdon-club.jpg

not only shows both David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party
(and therefore of Her Majesty's Loyal opposition - standing, second
from left) and the mayor of London, Boris Johnson (sitting, scowling,
blond) during their membership of the notorious Bullingdon Club at
Oxford -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullingdon_Club

.... but with typical regard for democracy, it is illegal to reproduce
this picture in the UK, and so it is never shown on posters, in
newspapers, on television, and so is known only to a few jaded hacks.

L

On Oct 21, 3:00*am, Lazarus Cooke
wrote:
I quite like this typically pithy note in today's Daily Telegraph, from

L

Interesting, but far too simplistic. Such developments can never be
laid at one man´s door, they require very large political machines to
implement them. This person cult is also a problem. Almost hysterical
reactions to what a president ( or even just a presidential candidate)
does. Including laying the blame on one person. I don´t think any
other Western democracies would stand for it. Apart from which, those
responsible will profit anyway.

Regardless of where one lays the blame, ( a rather pointless exercise
at best, but apparently mandatory) it is indeed a most remarkable
achievement, and basically a total failure of government in these
areas.

Millions of people are now or soon will be jobless, and many other
systems will fail and fall. The rescue attempts by various governments
trying to shore up their own failed systems is having massive
repercussions, and also allowing a lot of crackpots and swindlers to
cash in.

It remains to be seen what will finally emerge from these chaotic
affairs.

On Oct 21, 3:15*am, Lazarus Cooke
wrote:
For those unfamiliar with British politics, it's interesting to note
that this photograph

http://adifferentvoice.files.wordpre...ngdon-club.jpg

not only shows both David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party
(and therefore of Her Majesty's Loyal opposition - standing, second
from left) and the mayor of London, Boris Johnson (sitting, scowling,
blond) during their membership of the notorious Bullingdon Club at
Oxford -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullingdon_Club

... but with typical regard for democracy, it is illegal to reproduce
this picture in the UK, and so it is never shown on posters, in
newspapers, on television, and so is known only to a few jaded hacks.

L

I very much doubt that it is actually illegal. If it is true, then it
normally can not be illegal, except for reasons of state and similar.
Also, a fairly large number of people get to see everything on the
news wires nowadays, including the technicians who service them, and a
great many others. Lots of stuff goes over the wires form AP Reuters,
and a couple of others, which is not published in certain countries,
and some of it is marked "Not for publication in the UK", or similar.
I handled very many such photos and reports when I was chief engineer
for a large news service which also handled the feeds mentioned.

Also, if anybody wants information like that nowadays it is usually a
simple matter to obtain it from the web.

There is no way the British government itself could censor the web,
and so declaring anything like that "illegal" would be absolutely
pointless.

Incidentally, ritualised decadence of that nature has more to do with
"class" matters, than with actual politics, although large numbers of
politicians and senior government levels are drawn from "upper class"
society, not least because many of them receive the best educations
available, and already have many of the necessary contacts to do so.
The "Old Boys Network" of various schools is still very much in
evidence, and extremely influential and powerful.

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:15:38 +0100, Lazarus Cooke
wrote:

For those unfamiliar with British politics, it's interesting to note
that this photograph

http://adifferentvoice.files.wordpre...ngdon-club.jpg


Hmmmmm. Looks like a bunch of girlymen outside a train station
somewhere.

ymmvoc