tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87892922024-03-13T05:07:22.762+00:00ValzhallaBetter late than neverValda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.comBlogger124125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-72259861854072463742010-06-26T12:05:00.001+01:002010-06-26T12:05:58.610+01:00Must-see museums 1<a href="http://www.calpe.es/turismo/web/monumentos-museos/museo-ficha.php?id_museo=733&id_seccion=54">The Comic Museum</a><br />
<br />
"Inaugurated in June 2007, it is located in a building recently acquired by the Municipal Authorities and restored according to a project of the local architects Alberto Mengual and Jose Gonzalez. There is a big space in the middle, top lighting and a metal staircase that leads to the upper floor. You can see the comic figures painted by Elias Urbez and small alabaster windows in the facade."<br />
<br />
It's important to get one's priorities right. Though tempted by the opportunity to see the big space in the middle, we decided that a walk on the beach would be more improving to the soul.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-59031831104506219972010-06-12T19:07:00.002+01:002010-06-12T21:19:25.163+01:00Must-see museums 0<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px;"></span><br />
<h3 class="monu" style="background-image: url(http://www.calpe.es/turismo/web/img/ico_h3Monu.gif); background-position: 6px 12px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(187, 187, 187); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(187, 187, 187); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: #01abcf; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 32px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 30px; padding-right: 12px; padding-top: 7px;">Collection Museum</h3><div style="font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 25px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">The <a href="http://www.calpe.es/turismo/web/monumentos-museos/museo-ficha.php?id_museo=730&id_seccion=54">Collection Museum</a> was opened in September 1997 to hold the personal collections of the members of the Marina Alta Collectors’ Association.</div><br />
Here I am in front of this collectors' paradise:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqakvjM8pSQ01uKe37tb5VQEg7rrUfP1l8OEytr9bNRw-2ywkPYS_lQVNw1Drp-xOiEh-M6IPrhX5nGkRORkovAf7gH0cpUyfyUwhCJkXFHvi4pF5CyWBrP-zMdC_3J_mgms92w/s1600/valz+collections.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqakvjM8pSQ01uKe37tb5VQEg7rrUfP1l8OEytr9bNRw-2ywkPYS_lQVNw1Drp-xOiEh-M6IPrhX5nGkRORkovAf7gH0cpUyfyUwhCJkXFHvi4pF5CyWBrP-zMdC_3J_mgms92w/s320/valz+collections.JPG" /></a></div><br />
I never did discover <i>what</i> had been collected - the museum was closed for the siesta.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-36329943464898695932010-04-25T18:11:00.001+01:002010-04-25T18:15:21.995+01:00In his master's steps he trod<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, here it is, a nine hundred-word email about the Conservative election campaign that is entirely free of content. We do have several more buzz-words to add to Hope and Change, though:</span><br />
<div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Focussed</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Positive</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Passion</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conviction</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Leadership</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vision</span></li>
</ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't ask me, or Mr Osborne, what the Vision is of - neither of has a clue, because Mr Cameron didn't say. All we know is that he is Focussed, Positive, Passionate and Convinced about something, possibly the Big Society that he will Lead us into via the National Citizen Service. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mr Cameron may have been "talking directly to people", but the only appropriate reply is "Baaaaa!" </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 6px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 6px; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dear Valda,</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We've had a good, strong week and the campaign is moving our way.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We have stayed focused and positive. In the second TV debate David showed he was ready to be Prime Minister in two weeks time. He clearly won on the big foreign policy issues - Afghanistan, terrorism and Europe. He explained how a Conservative Government would stand up for Britain in the EU and was the only leader prepared to say that all politicians have to take responsibility for the expenses scandal.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Throughout the debate David showed passion, conviction and leadership. Qualities that have been on display as he travels the country talking directly to people about the change we need. Our </span><a href="http://news.conservatives.com/a/hBL0vlrBGs$N0B8HXaPNEHfJyn$/cons7" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">new Party Election Broadcast</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> brings together some of his speeches at recent rallies, setting out his positive vision for our country</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yesterday Sir Philip Green - one of Britain's most successful businessmen - backed our economic plans to cut waste and spoke out against a hung parliament. In response, after a lot of Twitter excitement, Labour have revealed their secret 'big name' ... an Elvis impersonator. An appropriate choice as according to the polls the public are fast reaching the conclusion that Gordon Brown should leave the building.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In fact Labour's campaign is now in disarray. They have been reduced to briefing journalists that Gordon Brown is going to be meeting more "real people". Unfortunately for them, the more people see of Gordon Brown the more they are convinced that they don't want another five years of him.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This was the week when Labour's negative campaign was exposed for all to see. One of the most powerful moments of Thursday's debate was when David exposed Gordon Brown on Labour's shameful scaremongering leaflets. For too long Labour have been trying to scare pensioners by saying we would scrap the Winter Fuel Allowance, cut pension credit and other key benefits, end free bus travel fo pensioners and get rid of free TV licences for the over-75s. As David Cameron told the whole country in the debate, none of this is true.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Having been found out, Gordon Brown could only respond with the extraordinary claim that he hadn't approved any of these attacks. Yet many of them were included in Labour's election broadcast and on their website. Once again he is taking the country for fools.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We're picking up rumours that Labour are going to get even more negative next week. If true, this will be just another sign of desperation as their campaign continues to collapse.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This was also the week when the Lib Dems' policies - on immigration, on the economy and on national defence - fell apart under the spotlight. In the face of the scrutiny that his party has avoided for so long,Nick Clegg was unable to defend his confused and contradictory manifesto promises. And in a debate with me and Alistair Darling, Vince Cable also showed that he could not stand up to sustained scrutiny.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Labour's collapse has opened up new opportunities for us that we will be making the most of in the week ahead. We are expanding our battleground against Labour and now have a good chance of winning many more seats where they are haemorrhaging votes, including Ed Balls's seat in Morley & Outwood. In many seats Labour seems to have given up.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Today David was in Thurrock where Jackie Doyle-Price is running a fantastic campaign. We are also targeting the next door seat of Dagenham & Rainham as well as seats in the North of England like Middlesbrough South & East Cleveland. And we are keeping up the pressure on the Lib Dems in seats like Romsey & Southampton North and Winchester in the South, and in towns like Cheltenham and Harrogate & Knaresborough and across the South West.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Our positive message of change is resonating in seats like these and all around the country. This week we launched our new poster campaign with positive examples of the change that a Conservative Government would bring: stopping Labour's jobs tax; National Citizen Service; cutting benefits for those who refuse work; better schools; funding new NHS cancer drugs; and scrapping ID cards.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Next week we will be explaining the clear choice on the economy at this election. People know that Labour have failed and that all they offer is a jobless recovery from a weak government. But we'll also be explaining why a hung parliament would bring economic paralysis that would put the recovery at risk. Only a Conservative majority will bring the leadership that we need to deal with our debts and get the economy working for everyone.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If anyone you know is in any doubt about how important a decisive Conservative government is for our country, please make sure they watch this short video - </span><a href="http://news.conservatives.com/a/hBL0vlrBGs$N0B8HXaPNEHfJyn$/cons6" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1 minute of Labour</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We have had an incredible response to the </span><a href="http://news.conservatives.com/a/hBL0vlrBGs$N0B8HXaPNEHfJyn$/cons2" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Pound A Day campaign</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - over £150,000 raised from thousands of individual donors in the last seven days alone. Your donations are really helping us to combat the Lib Dems and to take the fight to Labour in new seats that are now winnable. Please </span><a href="http://news.conservatives.com/a/hBL0vlrBGs$N0B8HXaPNEHfJyn$/cons2" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">keep giving what you can</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, the campaign depends on your support.</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We're coming into the final straight, and we've got to keep fighting for the change our country needs. Thank you for all your hard work and long hours over the past week. With less than two weeks to go, it is more important than ever that we stay focused, energised and determined. Let's work flat out for change.With your help, we will win this.</span></blockquote><div align="left"></div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">George Osborne</span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer</span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Never mind. At least <a href="http://www.carols.org.uk/good_king_wenceslas.htm">Good King Wenceslas</a> Cameron won't let the poor go without winter fuel.</span><br />
<div align="left"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><div style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
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</div>Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-62578760230232214732010-04-18T11:58:00.001+01:002010-04-18T12:15:08.703+01:00Digging for Britain<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mr Cameron is such a nice man, it seems unkind to pour scorn on his witless manifesto. I should let him speak for himself, but since we're all in this together, I decided to chip in....</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote>Dear Valda,</blockquote><div align="justify"><blockquote>Next month, you'll get to choose a new government. But don't just choose it, be a part of it. I mean it. We've got big problems in this country and the truth is politicians can't do everything on their own. We need your energy, your ideas, your passion to get this country moving.</blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Translation: we need your tax money, and maybe a bit of conscription too.</span></span></div><div align="justify"><blockquote>That's why this email is an invitation to you to join the government of Britain. It might not be embossed on a thick white card, but it's still heartfelt. If we win this election, we're going to give you more control over your life, more power to make a difference to your neighbourhood, more opportunities to change our country for the better.</blockquote><div align="justify"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Translation: we're going to give everyone more control over your life.</span></span></div></div></div><div align="center"><a href="http://news.conservatives.com/a/hBLxEIXBGs$N0B8HCDqNEHfJy39/cons1" style="color: #0065cc;" target="_blank"></a><br />
<div style="clear: both;"><blockquote>Watch this video to find out how you can help build the Big Society</blockquote></div></div><div align="justify"><blockquote>Just imagine: a country working together to dig ourselves out of this debt and get our economy moving. A country working together to protect our NHS and improve it for all of us. A country working together to mend our broken society. A country working together to make politics and politicians work better.</blockquote><div align="justify"><div align="justify"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Translation: unable to understand the concept of <a href="http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/individual_rights.html">individual rights</a>, we prefer togetherness (so did the collectivists of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, and so do Labour and the Liberals).</span></span></div></div></div></div><div align="justify"><blockquote>So come on then Valda, get involved. The more people join, the stronger the force for change will be. I want millions to be inspired and mobilised to play their part - and that movement starts here. So please, spread the word. I'm asking you to send this invitation on to just three friends, workmates or family members. Get them involved too. Extend the invitation. Together we can build the future.</blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'd rather be left alone to build my own future, free of anyone else's force. Oh, by "force" you didn't mean physical compulsion? But that's what your policies, so far as they can be discerned, amount to. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Conservative campaign manifesto makes almost as much sense as this:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Last week, I met a black baker, who told me that benefit tourists were no substitute for proper married relationships."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(from </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #303030; line-height: 26px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.fridgemagnet.org.uk/toys/dave-met.php">Who has David Cameron been talking to?</a>, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">a source of continuing hilarity to me). </span></span></span><br />
<blockquote></blockquote></div>Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-32572232120697486822010-04-18T01:21:00.003+01:002010-04-18T01:43:59.772+01:00What's the Big Idea?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, it's not too clear, but according to the Conservative <a href="http://www.conservatives.com/manifesto/">Manifesto</a>, the Big Idea is that we're just a big collective:</span><br />
<blockquote>How will we deal with the debt crisis unless we understand that we are all in this together? How will we raise responsible children unless every adult plays their part? How will we revitalise communities unless people stop asking ‘who will fix this?’ and start asking ‘what can I do?’ Britain will change for the better when we all elect to take part, to take responsibility – if we all come together. Collective strength will overpower our problems.</blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do you hear the echo? That's the sound of old ideas bouncing from wall to wall in an otherwise empty brain. "[A<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">]sk not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country</span>". Do the Conservatives really believe that random recycling of buzz-words will win them them the election? If so, they should point their supporters to these guys, who do the same thing more entertainingly:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span><br />
<div><a href="http://www.fridgemagnet.org.uk/toys/dave-met.php" style="color: #0065cc;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">http://www.fridgemagnet.org.<wbr></wbr>uk/toys/dave-met.php</span></span></a></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A couple of samples</span>:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Last week, I met a wheelchair-bound farmer, who told me that paedo bikinis ruined this country by recklessly lending money."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br />
</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Last week, I met a white working-class nurse, who told me that bogus asylum seekers meant the dead going unburied."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Last week, I met a disenfranchised Chelsea supporter, who told me that Facebook was just getting far too uppity."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[Hat Tip: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/RoryHodgson">Rory Hodgson</a></span>]</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We know how the Conservatives intend to cope with the enormous national debt: they will waste money more efficiently than Labour. What they don't discuss is cutting </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UKExpenditure.svg">spending</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> on social welfare and the sacred National Health Service, freeing the economy, and repealing the myriad assaults on individual rights passed into law by the present regime.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I fear that the Conservatives, so far from having a Big Idea, have no ideas at all.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 24px;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 24px;"></span><br />
<div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><br />
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</div>Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-20699232619400534112010-04-10T21:47:00.014+01:002010-04-11T22:57:33.627+01:00Conservative campaign drivelGeorge Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, has sent me an email (contents displayed below this rant). "Dear Valda" is the only phrase in it that doesn't offend me. Let me enumerate the main idiocies:<br />
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1) Conservatives think that government can make 'efficiency' savings - no it can't, no matter who runs it, if it is trying to do things that government has no business doing. The only way the Conservatives can cut Labour's waste is by cutting Labour's programmes and not starting any new ones of their own. Which brings me to...<br />
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2) David Cameron's idea of a big idea is 'The Big Society' - starting with a voluntary national citizen service for bored 16-year olds. Forget society: abolish the minimum wage, compulsory schooling and child labour laws; and let those listless boys aspire to real jobs, funded by the people who want the work done.<br />
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3) Conservatives think that a levy on banks to support marriage is another spiffing way to promote their Big Society. My family, or lack of it, is none of the government's damn business, and the nastily populist twist of making the banks pay for Moral Majority-style social engineering disgusts me.<br />
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4) Conservatives think that David Cameron is better than Gordon Brown because Mr Cameron has spent more time campaigning. However, Mr Brown does happen to have a country to run, even if he is determined to run it into the ground.<br />
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5) Conservatives think that I might want to fund a campaign of this calibre. If I were dumb enough to donate, I'd feel almost as embarrassed as the aged Michael Caine looks ("I'm here to represent young people") in the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvlQOuAjkaI">ghastly video</a>.<br />
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6) Oh, and that logo - green may be the new blue, but if the Conservatives had any sense they'd sidle away from climate change alarmism and its discredited proponents.<br />
<blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaQMT8-n1CofGxEgncA9bKozTgyVjvO3sNpBSVnGujI22jRM3BgSQ907C_Btq9aH37bYoUHDVPTHJ8YlL6QdF4QexjdTfSYl5VNueIkNIzZzDBH3K-1N1JAR4tTAX75OPYq3YTIQ/s1600/nt1-cons-logo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="34" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaQMT8-n1CofGxEgncA9bKozTgyVjvO3sNpBSVnGujI22jRM3BgSQ907C_Btq9aH37bYoUHDVPTHJ8YlL6QdF4QexjdTfSYl5VNueIkNIzZzDBH3K-1N1JAR4tTAX75OPYq3YTIQ/s200/nt1-cons-logo.gif" width="200" /></a></div><br />
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Dear Valda,<br />
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The first few days of the campaign have been as fast-paced as I expect the next few weeks to be, so I thought I'd send you a quick update on how I think it's going.<br />
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We've had a strong start. We've been the ones showing energy and ideas, while Labour have spent the whole week on the back foot. I can't think of a single positive argument or new idea that Gordon Brown has come up with.<br />
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It's clear that the big story so far has been Labour's jobs tax that will kill the recovery. <a href="http://www.conservatives.com/Campaigns/Back_our_National_Insurance_plans.aspx">Go to our websit</a>e to find out why more and more business leaders and small businesses are backing our plans to cut Labour's waste so that we can save more than 50,000 jobs.<br />
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It's been striking that Labour and the Lib Dems have nothing positive to say on the economy. They have shown that they're more interested in personal attacks on the people who create hundreds of thousands of jobs than engaging with the arguments. Alistair Darling has been forced to admit that his plans will lead to what he calls "manageable" job losses, but he refuses to publish the Treasury's analysis of how many people would lose their jobs.<br />
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As well as having the right argument on the economy, we've also got the big idea for the future of our country. We believe that Labour's big government has failed, and that it's time to build the Big Society.<br />
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A key part of that is going to be our plans for a National Citizen Service that we launched on Tuesday. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvlQOuAjkaI">Watch this video</a> to see Michael Caine talking about the scheme.<br />
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And this weekend we have launched our plans to recognise marriage in the tax system, funded by a levy on banks. Making Britain the most family friendly country in Europe is an important part of our plans to build the Big Society. Yet again, the predictable response from our opponents has revealed they have nothing positive to offer and no new ideas.<br />
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It's increasingly clear that there's only one party offering real change in this election and that's the Conservatives. On issue after issue Labour and the Lib Dems are making the same old arguments that got Britain into this mess. Whether it's resisting action to cut waste and stop the jobs tax, or arguing against recognising marriage in the tax system to strengthen our society, Labour and the Lib Dems are the roadblock to change. They are relying on the fear of change and only the Conservatives are offering the hope of a better future. I know which side I'd rather be on.<br />
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So there's a lot to fight for in this election - and it's great to see people up and down the country getting the campaign off to a flying start. In the first few days alone volunteers in our target seats put up 25,000 campaign posters, rang 100,000 voters, and delivered an astonishing 5,000,000 leaflets.<br />
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This enthusiasm has been reflected right at the top of the party too. The Shadow Cabinet have been campaigning all around the country, and David Cameron has rolled up his sleeves and shown tremendous energy in travelling over 3000 miles in the first few days, visiting eight regions of the country in five days. What a contrast to Gordon Brown.<br />
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Not only that, but Samantha Cameron has been out and about with her visits to social action projects. Her <a href="http://blog.conservatives.com/index.php/2010/04/08/an-uplifting-visit-to-caring-for-life/">blogs</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKN_iEdFJZA">videos</a> are already proving to be a hit.<br />
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And let's not forget that there will also be local elections on the 6th of May. Our local government team have been working flat out. We have nominated candidates in 98% of contests - a record - and we are contesting more local government seats than any other Party.<br />
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I'm delighted that we've had such a great start. But there's still a long way to go - and it's absolutely vital that we keep this momentum going.<br />
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That's why we're asking today if you can give just one pound a day to our campaign until we get to polling day.<br />
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If you give now, you'll be giving just £25. Please click here to make your contribution.<br />
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That's it from me for now - we've got another big week ahead with the launch of our manifesto on Tuesday, and Britain's first ever party leaders' TV debate on Thursday.<br />
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Thank you for all you are doing. If we all keep up the hard work we really can bring the change Britain needs.<br />
<br />
<br />
George Osborne<br />
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer<br />
<blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><br />
If "Big Society" sounds familiar (as well as risible), it might be because it's an echo of the Great Society. From <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Society">Wikipedia</a>:<br />
<blockquote>The Great Society was a set of domestic programs proposed or enacted in the United States on the initiative of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. New major spending programs that addressed education, medical care, urban problems, and transportation were launched during this period. The Great Society in scope and sweep resembled the New Deal domestic agenda of Franklin D. Roosevelt, but differed sharply in types of programs enacted.<br />
Some Great Society proposals were stalled initiatives from John F. Kennedy's New Frontier. Johnson's success depended on his skills of persuasion, coupled with the Democratic landslide in the 1964 election that brought in many new liberals to Congress. Anti-war Democrats complained that spending on the Vietnam War choked off the Great Society. While some of the programs have been eliminated or had their funding reduced, many of them, including Medicare, Medicaid, and federal education funding, continue to the present. The Great Society's programs expanded under the administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.[1]</blockquote><br />
No idea is so low that the Conservatives won't steal it. I Hope that will Change...Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-90955161752841067092009-12-28T13:02:00.005+00:002009-12-28T16:42:24.309+00:00Why we need more chairs 6<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4IoTPYL9UtqkTJ4riZGpsZeFv9_bGFVStqt2SYhQAlqBCOrYPJIqzZ4fFTn0nKt_SaQVabowv508854AS7hAPCZqQRr5w87ADGPlbALEoBJRnNg08DuwUsnSknH2MwQbrhhYFXw/s1600-h/chairs.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4IoTPYL9UtqkTJ4riZGpsZeFv9_bGFVStqt2SYhQAlqBCOrYPJIqzZ4fFTn0nKt_SaQVabowv508854AS7hAPCZqQRr5w87ADGPlbALEoBJRnNg08DuwUsnSknH2MwQbrhhYFXw/s400/chairs.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420271952610596178" /></a><br />And when the male slave is thus immobilised, guess who has to make the coffee? Yes, the Hand Maiden.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-84268677576345963872009-05-14T07:33:00.043+01:002009-05-15T17:10:49.953+01:00Ayn Rand in the UK: Yaron Brook's UK speechesLast February Dr Brook visited the UK to speak at Oxford University (<a href="http://www.bep.ox.ac.uk/Teaching/HT09/Brook_abstract.pdf">here</a> and <a href="http://www.oxford-union.org/about_us">here</a>) and at the <a href="http://www.adamsmith.org/">Adam Smith Institute</a> in London. He also gave a fascinating interview just before the ASI speech.<br /><br />Videos of the London interview and speech are now available on YouTube.<br /><br />Interview (about 28 minutes in total)<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ftjSeVhZ-0&feature=related">London interview Part 1 </a> - Ayn Rand in the UK; <span style="font-style:italic;">what</span> "free markets"?; the actual causes of the economic crisis<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMzbk8PEqg4&feature=related">London Interview Part 2</a> - Why everyone always blames the bankers<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIVLzYxZo-g&feature=related">London Interview Part 3</a> - Why the $9B Stimulus Package must fail and what would succeed<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dug90Gyujj0&feature=related">London Interview Part 4</a> - President Obama; the future of the Right<br /><br />Capitalism without Guilt: the moral case for freedom - main speech (about 32 minutes in total)<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoU_64zEiRE&feature=related">ASI speech Part 1</a> <br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCx_mRC92bk&feature=related">ASI Speech Part 2</a> <br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-veryOu60uY&feature=related">ASI Speech Part 3 </a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xwKTT6FKIM&feature=related">ASI Speech Part 4</a><br /><br />Capitalism without Guilt - Q&A session (about 27 minutes in total)<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmpkMTIX4k8&feature=channel_page">ASI speech Part 5</a> - Is it in one's own interest to save a drowning child?<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLkTKn3IGQI&feature=channel_page">ASI speech Part 6</a> - Did the Republican Party's move towards religion put off voters?<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to4d8WD-Ons&feature=related">ASI speech Part 7</a> - How can we communicate the true nature of capitalism to those unversed in economics?<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWPVEJmygas&feature=channel_page">ASI speech Part 8</a> - What is the proper role of government?<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlJ0Ex8-5-0&feature=channel_page">ASI speech Part 9</a> - How can the philosophy of Objectivism be reconciled with democracy?<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8lTFYLInhQ&feature=related">ASI speech Part 10</a> - Views on Ron Paul; Should Holocaust deniers be prosecuted?<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jn7SJGBAmw&feature=channel_page">ASI speech Part 11</a> - Views on torture; Aren't altruism and socialism incompatible; How can we make the emotional case for capitalism; Should we be optimistic? <br /><br />Among Dr Brooks's innumerable virtues as a speaker is his habit of addressing the wider implications of every question - so you'll get a lot more out of the clips above than the brief descriptions suggest.<br /><br />To see the whole collection in one place, just go to<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=AynRandForum&view=videos">http://www.youtube.com/user/AynRandForum</a> <br /><br />Oliver Williams made and uploaded the videos.<br /><br />Andrew Medworth, the interviewer, posted an <a href="http://www.medworth.org.uk/?p=515">account</a> of all these events on his <a href="http://www.medworth.org.uk/">blog</a>.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-63646171774832784172008-12-23T15:10:00.009+00:002008-12-24T10:03:00.545+00:00Why we need more chairs 5<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8S7on_XvPXES1Vc7gzgFJsgxiTMH7KfX4ESXmZYwxHYaeUv2HJofo_4ZTOjuvTOM_m2FuI_GZdQmjxwt0FPT1mN5N0TvgeA0XRAZMn5wfz_fIRoU3nlYn9Av6XfHGyFG5Y6sJKw/s1600-h/KJ+awake.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8S7on_XvPXES1Vc7gzgFJsgxiTMH7KfX4ESXmZYwxHYaeUv2HJofo_4ZTOjuvTOM_m2FuI_GZdQmjxwt0FPT1mN5N0TvgeA0XRAZMn5wfz_fIRoU3nlYn9Av6XfHGyFG5Y6sJKw/s400/KJ+awake.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283004361731481474" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkg0tmrx0VjRL0jml_y5Gxpk1s1NhSPba0StqOResDMvQHn0Wvl6gJMcYpcl9rLtPdYbpSi6nYnqc3apsLzKax3k0ZJbnEOWWhe9WTWH7Vi_vh8VbPTpMLzTX9PCddo96M-UGWg/s1600-h/KJ+commas.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkg0tmrx0VjRL0jml_y5Gxpk1s1NhSPba0StqOResDMvQHn0Wvl6gJMcYpcl9rLtPdYbpSi6nYnqc3apsLzKax3k0ZJbnEOWWhe9WTWH7Vi_vh8VbPTpMLzTX9PCddo96M-UGWg/s400/KJ+commas.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283004076209078226" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyq6I47T8qDy9eX291o2fNkPI4I_TISCWjpRUcfv36UxTffl0v0WksmkAv_xCNz5AwUpl5RZkmg3VdSmboKzR_9JQfNsFFBPlbZLayRx1sEsp3CFJY8C5WZrwWxQ54lzScsMC8Q/s1600-h/KJ+heads2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyq6I47T8qDy9eX291o2fNkPI4I_TISCWjpRUcfv36UxTffl0v0WksmkAv_xCNz5AwUpl5RZkmg3VdSmboKzR_9JQfNsFFBPlbZLayRx1sEsp3CFJY8C5WZrwWxQ54lzScsMC8Q/s400/KJ+heads2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283003905291092754" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vfTTw5pMFN6yfPIaknBdkIEc6RMD52keBMcHHaI-5_nsrOeDI7DfoaWJ_DO9ztmcgQ8oQ1IlmkjpcBIiDE3c0dsZiZpSYqo3nqJCNBJE_yMAV8OMYLd6Oyc3PAg2zYwJYs4W4A/s1600-h/jin-pad1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vfTTw5pMFN6yfPIaknBdkIEc6RMD52keBMcHHaI-5_nsrOeDI7DfoaWJ_DO9ztmcgQ8oQ1IlmkjpcBIiDE3c0dsZiZpSYqo3nqJCNBJE_yMAV8OMYLd6Oyc3PAg2zYwJYs4W4A/s400/jin-pad1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283003754116426594" /></a><br />It's because somebody <span style="font-style:italic;">else</span> (that blotched arrangement) always tries to hog The Best Chair, and I just can't get comfy on inferior surfaces.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-56640206463990950682008-12-13T07:33:00.001+00:002008-12-24T11:51:32.244+00:00There's no pragmatic way outTara Smith wrote an arresting article on "<a href="http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2008-fall/menace-of-pragmatism.asp">The Menace of Pragmatism</a>" in the Fall 2008 issue of The Objective Standard. She explained that <blockquote>[w]hile pragmatism presents itself as a tool of reason and enjoys the image of mature moderation, of common sense and practical "realism," in truth it is anything but realistic or practical. Pragmatism has become a highly corrosive force in people's thinking.</blockquote> Later on she identifies the key features of the pragmatic style (it could hardly be called a method) of thinking:<ul><li>A short-range perspective</li><br /><li>The inability (or refusal) to think in principle.</li><br /><li>The denial of definite identity.</li><br /><li>The refusal to rule out possibilities.</li></ul>Professor Smith's article has many examples; but I came upon a concretisation of the psychological process involved in a totally different source, a World War II thriller I'm reading [<span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Polish-Officer-Novel-Alan-Furst/dp/0375758275">The Polish Officer</a></span> by Alan Furst].<blockquote>It snowed, early in November, and those who read signs and portents in the weather saw malevolence in it. The Germans had lost no time stealing Polish coal, the open railcars rattled ceaselessly across the Oder bridges into ancient, warlike Prussia. The men who ran the coal companies in ancient, warlike Prussia were astonished at how much money they made in this way - commercial logic had always been based on buying a little lower, selling a little higher. But buying for virtually nothing, well, perhaps the wife ought to have the diamond leaf-pin after all. Hitler was scary, he gave those huge, towering, patriotic speeches on the radio, that meant <span style="font-style:italic;">war</span> for God's sake, and war ruined business, in the long run, and worse. But this, this wasn't exactly war - this was a form of mercantile heaven, and who got hurt? A few Poles?</blockquote> The thugs in charge of economic regulation in Britain and America, like the Fascists of the 1930s, are getting away with a course of action that verges on insanity and can only lead to ruin. As far as Britain's Gordon Brown is concerned, borrowing billions from the producers of the future works quite well in the short run, because the opinion polls report that his popularity has increased, and other European politicians have praised him for his economic leadership. It's true that injecting all those billions of nonexistent money into the economy doesn't seem to have eased the flow of credit much yet... But perhaps, somehow, Keynesian economics will succeed this time round, if only government ministers can bully financial institutions into making magic work.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-3512134369507056382008-12-12T18:05:00.007+00:002008-12-12T20:40:46.129+00:00The mixed economy v. capitalismTwo recent articles, one by BBC reporter Robert Peston in the <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article5309917.ece">Times Online</a>, and one by Ayn Rand Institute analyst Alex Epstein in the the <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/alex_epstein/blog/2008/12/10/what_capitalists_need_to_understand">Telegraph Blogs</a>, present contrasting analyses of the economic crisis. Peston thinks capitalism will have to metamorphose: <blockquote>A New Capitalism is likely to emerge from the rubble, one which may well seem fairer and less alienating than the model of the past 30 years. The system's salvation may require it to be kinder, gentler, less divisive, less of a casino in which the winner takes all.</blockquote>Epstein says that the system we have had for the last hundred years is not capitalism at all:<blockquote>[G]enuine capitalism was abandoned long ago in favor of a mixed economy - an unstable combination of economic freedom and economic coercion by government. Today's crisis, like the 1970s stagflation before it and the Great Depression before it, took place under, and is growing under, a mixed economy - not a free market.</blockquote><br />Peston blames private enterprise:<blockquote>Who's to blame? The short answer is all of us. But it's hard to mount a convincing argument against the notion that the most at fault were the banks and bankers - because they systematically failed to do what they were handsomely remunerated to do, which was to assess properly the risks of all that lending. Their survival as institutions now wholly depends on the goodwill of governments and taxpayers.</blockquote> Epstein blames the crisis on the failure of decades of regulation:<blockquote>In fact, today's crisis illustrates the evils of government intervention in the economy and vindicates supporters of laissez-faire capitalism. The traditional, laissez-faire view of government, held by thinkers such as philosopher Ayn Rand and economist Ludwig Von Mises, was that the sole purpose of government was to protect individuals rights against force and fraud.<br /><br />This purpose necessitates, in Rand's words, "the abolition of any and all forms of government intervention in production and trade." Laissez-faire thinkers explained how any and all of the supposedly moderate, progressive government interventions in the economy, from the money-printing Federal Reserve to government insurance of failing banks, were morally unjust and economically disastrous.</blockquote><br />Peston thinks the solution is still more government interference:<blockquote>But the biggest lesson of all is that we are a million miles from having created the political and regulatory institutions to help us to contain the risks of globalisation. If the unfettered movement of capital, goods and services is going to survive, if there is not going to be a retreat into national fortresses that could impoverish all of us over the longer term, we will have to find a far better way of monitoring global risks and of bringing governments together to deal with them.</blockquote>Epstein thinks the solution is laissez-faire capitalism:<blockquote>To anyone who is unhappy with the direction the economy is going, take note: the free market philosophy has not failed-the unfree market philosophy has failed. Do your homework, speak up, and put the interventionists on the defensive.</blockquote><br />Do you think that spending money you don't have, but that somebody else is going to have to earn, is a moral way to conduct economic affairs? Do you think that businessmen ought to be the servants of politicians? Do you think that forcing banks to make unsound loans is the way to cure a disaster brought about by government-induced imprudence? If not, read <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/alex_epstein/blog/2008/12/10/what_capitalists_need_to_understand">Alex Epstein's article</a> in full (it is brief and clear) and follow his advice - if you do want to be free.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-10675215184182465692008-11-24T19:45:00.015+00:002008-12-12T20:38:24.258+00:00Here's hopingNow that the weather has turned bitterly cold, I find myself afflicted with an inchoate aspiration. I want to... Help those with less Heating than myself? No, that doesn't sound right at all. I want to... Hark the Herald angels sing? No, not so soon after Halloween. Let's see: I want to... Hide my savings under my duvet? Sure, but I'd Have to convert them to Hard cash first. I want to... beHead the <a href="http://news.hotproperty.co.uk/Chancellor_demands_mortgage_rate_cuts_18551212.html">Chancellor</a> perhaps, or at least shave off his eyebrows? (Yes, but hagainst the law.)<br /><br />Shhh! Let me concentrate. Now then: I want to... um... Hug a Hairy Hominid? No, no, no! I really want to... Hibernate? Closer, but not there. I want to... Have a Holiday in Hawaii! Yes, that's it. Phew! Just goes to show how far you can stray from your real needs when you confuse your aspirations with your aspirates.<span style="font-style:italic;"></span>Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-86734488165865764542008-10-15T21:51:00.011+01:002008-10-15T22:34:02.844+01:00The Independent earns its nameThe Independent is an interesting newspaper. It is mostly left wing, but sometimes it presents unconventional viewpoints. Nothing could be less conventional, or more right, than this <a href="http://tinyurl.com/5yvs3y">article</a> by Dominic Lawson. An extract:<br /><blockquote>John Maynard Keynes, rather than Ludwig von Mises, is the economist whose name is currently being invoked on the airwaves in Britain. in his own day, too, Keynes obliterated Mises: it became fashionable to believe that Roosevelt's New Deal was a kind of successful rudimentary application of Keynesianism.<br /><br />Yet Roosevelt's policy of massive intervention by the state to prop up wage rates and inflate credit gets a much better press than it ever deserved. Consider this: in September 1931 the US unemployment rate was 17.4 per cent and the Dow Jones industrial Average stood at 140. By January 1938, unemployment was still at 17.4 per cent, and the Dow Average had dropped to 121.<br /><br />Mises' followers insist that the present problems in the economies of the West have not been caused by laissez-faire, but by the opposite: politically sensitive central bankers so desperate to prevent any stock market slump that they cut interest rates to a level which turbo-charged the debt markets. So when George Osborne, as he did yesterday, declares that "laissez-faire is dead", the Mises-ites – one of whom is the libertarian ex-Presidential candidate, Congressman Ron Paul – would protest that such a policy was never tried in the first place. </blockquote>Read the <a href="http://tinyurl.com/5yvs3y">whole thing</a>. Also read <a href="http:http://www.medworth.org.uk///">Andrew Medworth</a>'s comment, which identifies the fundamental issue:<br /><blockquote>A crucial question, not addressed by this article, is why these disastrous policies were followed in the first place. Here we must turn to moral philosophy. Ayn Rand, herself a great fan of Mises, observed that laissez-faire policies such as the gold standard depend crucially on egoism, the view that self-interest is man's proper fundamental motivation. Government inflation has always been justified by the claim that it helps the poor: ultimately, of course, it harms us all, but if we want to see a change, we must address the moral issues behind the policy debate.</blockquote>Capitalism is the only practical socio-economic system <span style="font-style:italic;">because</span> it is the only moral system.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-50027866038279608402008-10-05T20:09:00.005+01:002008-10-05T20:46:17.052+01:00Killing the messengers doesn't change the factsTo the British government, and a distressing proportion of economic commentators, it's still all about spin: the problem with the markets is lack of confidence. Silence the doomsayers, and all will be well; credit will continue to flow to the unworthy, and no one will have to call in the loans any time soon. Subjectivism rules: if you just <span style="font-style:italic;">believe</span> that everything is fine, it will be - so long as we manage to suppress those spivs who tell it like it is.<br /><br />Well, here's a different view:<br /><br /><blockquote>In Defense of Speculators and Short-Sellers<br /><br />By Amit Ghate<br /><br />Everywhere today government bureaucrats and media pundits blame<br />unwanted price movements on speculators and short-sellers. If prices<br />are "too high"--it's the fault of greedy<br />speculators; if prices are "too low"--it's the work<br />of evil short-sellers. To hear these critics tell it, speculators have<br />the ability to create artificially high prices, while short-sellers<br />can wantonly destroy sound companies. (Ignore for now the obvious<br />question: "Where are the short-sellers in markets that are 'too<br />high' and the speculators in markets that are 'too low'?")<br /><br />The critics then claim that since neither speculators nor<br />short-sellers perform any positive economic function, barring them<br />from the marketplace is an appropriate remedy, one that's long<br />past due. (Recently the United States did just this by making some<br />shorting illegal.)<br /><br />So to begin, let's ask what the critics consider a<br />"correct" price? Clearly it's not the price which<br />obtains when all market participants are free to engage in trade based<br />on their best judgment, because this is precisely the free-market<br />price--a price which they so vociferously condemn. But if "too<br />low" and "too high" aren't judged relative to<br />the free market, what is the standard? Stripped of euphemism: their<br />wishes.<br /><br />For example, they wish--contrary to all relevant facts--that oil be<br />priced at $20/barrel and that Lehman's stock trade at $80/share.<br />Never mind that environmental policy has prevented the drilling of oil<br />and the development of nuclear power for decades now, or that Chinese<br />and Indian oil consumption is growing relentlessly; forget too that<br />Lehman chose to leverage itself at 35:1 and made riskier trades year<br />after year--if these critics wish for a price, then that should be the<br />price, facts be damned!<br /><br />But of course, attempting to set prices by wishing doesn't--and<br />can't--work, not for Lenin, Stalin or Brezhnev; or for Paulson,<br />Bernanke and Bush. If prices are to reflect reality, they must be the<br />result of an objective process of discovery and judgment performed by<br />interested actors.<br /><br />So just as doctors specialize in identifying and evaluating the facts<br />affecting health and disease, speculators and short-sellers specialize<br />in identifying and evaluating the facts pertinent to market prices.<br />They make it their business to understand economic facts like supply<br />and demand, and then risk their capital on their judgment, properly<br />profiting if they're right and losing if they're wrong.<br />Thus in a free market, rather than prices being set by wish or decree,<br />they are set by a rational process, one which benefits from the<br />knowledge of all who participate.<br /><br />For instance, if speculators believe that future oil supplies<br />won't match demand, they buy oil, increasing its price. If<br />they're right, and oil prices continue to increase, they sell<br />their positions, profiting from their insight but also capping prices<br />as their supply comes to market; furthermore, their initial effect on<br />prices signals to the market that greater oil supplies are needed and<br />reduced oil consumption is appropriate--efficiently allowing market<br />participants to adjust their actions to the facts.<br /><br />So too for short-sellers. If they judge that Enron is cooking the<br />books, or that Lehman is insolvent, they can seek to profit from their<br />insight by short-sales. These lower stock prices in the present and<br />convey to the market that there are potential problems with the<br />companies, helping others avoid losses in the stocks. And if shorts<br />are proved correct, rather than exacerbating any price slide, they<br />actually mitigate price declines when they buy their positions back.<br />(Of course, short-sellers, like speculators, only profit if their<br />judgment is correct. If they short a productive, undervalued firm,<br />say, e.g., Wal-Mart or Apple, they lose when the actual facts belie<br />their predictions.)<br /><br />Consider the recent failure of Lehman, where critics claim that<br />short-sellers caused the decline by obscuring and distorting the<br />company's true value. The facts say otherwise. When the<br />government shopped Lehman to potential buyers, opening the books to<br />them, not a single buyer emerged, not at any price! Everyone who<br />examined the company concluded it was worthless. This was the fact<br />that short-sellers grasped earlier than others--it wasn't a fact<br />they created.<br /><br />Speculators and short-sellers don't create facts, they seek to<br />identify and respond to them; and in the process they help adjust<br />prices to economic conditions and establish smooth and liquid markets.<br />As a result--instead of being scapegoated and banished--they should be<br />respected and welcomed for the productive role they play in our<br />markets.<br /><br />Amit Ghate is a guest writer for the Ayn Rand Center for Individual<br />Rights, a division of the Ayn Rand Institute. He is a full-time trader<br />who often speculates and shorts.<br /><br /><br /><br />Copyright (c) 2008 Ayn Rand(R) Center for Individual Rights. All rights<br />reserved.<br /><br />Op-eds, press releases and letters to the editor produced by the Ayn Rand<br />Institute are submitted to hundreds of newspapers, radio stations and Web<br />sites across the United States and abroad, and are made possible thanks to<br />voluntary contributions.<br /><br />If you would like to help support ARC's efforts, please make an online<br />contribution at http://www.aynrand.org/site/R?i=rMO0Fscp3HJyqrAW-x5x-g.. .<br /><br />This release is copyrighted by the Ayn Rand Center, and cannot be reprinted<br />without permission except for noncommercial, self-study or educational<br />purposes. We encourage you to forward this release to friends, family,<br />associates or interested parties who would want to receive it for these<br />purposes only. Any reproduction of this release must contain the above<br />copyright notice. Those interested in reprinting or redistributing this<br />release for any other purposes should contact media@aynrand.org. This<br />release may not be forwarded to media for publication.</blockquote>You can also see this article, and others on the financial crisis, on Amit Gate's blog, <a href="http://amitghate.blogspot.com/">Thrutch</a>.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-37539103345171427872008-09-14T15:22:00.013+01:002008-09-14T16:16:13.628+01:00CAPITALISMNo, not capitalism, CAPITALISM - the INSISTENCE on using UPPER case for ALL the SIGNIFICANT words in EVERY SENTENCE, ESPECIALLY in ELECTRONIC formats like THIS one. CAPITALISTS do not REALISE that CAPITALISING a sentence's most IMPORTANT words makes it HARDER not EASIER to understand. CAPITALISTS, I implore you: rely instead on the natural emphasis inherent in well constructed prose. Listen to the rhythm of what you write: if the words don't jive, rearrange them, don't just make some of them bigger.<br /><br />But if it was <span style="font-style:italic;">capitalism</span> you were after, I don't want to disappoint you. Here's where you can find out more about capitalism:<br /><ul><li><a href="http:http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/capitalism.html//"> The Ayn Rand Lexicon</a> for a basic definition and further explication drawn from AR's writings. The entry starts with this:<br /><blockquote>Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned.<br /><br />The recognition of individual rights entails the banishment of physical force from human relationships: basically, rights can be violated only by means of force. In a capitalist society, no man or group may initiate the use of physical force against others. The only function of the government, in such a society, is the task of protecting man’s rights, i.e., the task of protecting him from physical force; the government acts as the agent of man’s right of self-defense, and may use force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use; thus the government is the means of placing the retaliatory use of force under objective control.</blockquote></li><br /><li>The ARI's <a href="http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_topic_capitalism">Capitalism</a> page for op-eds, articles, lectures, videos and books aimed at the general public and businessmen<a href="http://business.clemson.edu/BBTCENTER/cci/"></li><br /><li> Clemson Institute</a> for a university website with links to study resources.</li><br /><li>If you read just one book from the Clemson's bibliography of capitalism classics, let it be Frederic Bastiat's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0255365098?ie=UTF8&tag=capitaresour-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0255365098">The Law</a></li></ul><br />The strangled remnants of capitalism in today's mixed economies are responsible for the wealth and freedom we still enjoy. If we understood the moral foundations of capitalism, we would clamour for less, not more regulation of economic activity.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-65484034346842487262008-09-06T17:44:00.019+01:002008-09-07T20:37:56.518+01:00Ironing Board PhilosophyEurkea! Yes, I have found the solution to my ironing-bored <a href="http://valzhalla.blogspot.com/2007/03/mod-cons.html">problem</a>. (Sorry about the pun but I can't help it, being British.) The lovely flower has two roots: web technology and <a href="http://peikoff.com/">Dr Leonard Peikoff</a>. I recently bought a Mac iBook to replace my ancient PC. The laptop is easy to carry and of course has a wireless internet connection, so I can surf from anywhere in the house. When I have ironing to do, I connect to Dr Peikoff's website, download his latest podcast, and stow the Mac on the little shelf beneath the ironing board (I think it's meant for folded shirts). Then I listen to Dr Peikoff's benevolent, frequently witty and always original views on the topics raised by his audience; and I zip cheerily through my load of crumpled clothing in what seems like no time at all. <br /><br />According to <a href="http://myrhaf.blogspot.com/">Myrhaf</a>'s recent <a href="http://myrhaf.blogspot.com/2008/09/around-world-wide-web-76.html://">post</a>, I can look forward to LP's answers on the following: "sex with prostitutes, can a whore have a heart of gold, is the absence of evidence not the same as evidence of absence (an argument for God), can one be a Howard Roark or John Galt and still believe in God, why does Roark says he would sacrifice his life for Wynand, does faith lead to better health, and reading Rand's fiction or non-fiction books first". Tomorrow's ironing session should be good.<br /><br />My opinion on the last topic: read Ayn Rand's fiction first!Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-29027448191938976722008-09-03T20:31:00.015+01:002008-09-03T21:08:44.302+01:00Old HatsThe ancient ladies from sunny Tanagra:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvI3KVSw44fiVq5_1h_8dYrq76U1VQuBa1S9G7mAdnqHPSFYzRJ-RASgch-rDPLjX0WRm1IVDOAMAwwY4pe65xEhe6NFMJ3ZC3uWDPbsh9Tv0QtHXkC4Z-iD3cHOXIdWnfNpiUcw/s1600-h/IMG_1389_2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvI3KVSw44fiVq5_1h_8dYrq76U1VQuBa1S9G7mAdnqHPSFYzRJ-RASgch-rDPLjX0WRm1IVDOAMAwwY4pe65xEhe6NFMJ3ZC3uWDPbsh9Tv0QtHXkC4Z-iD3cHOXIdWnfNpiUcw/s400/IMG_1389_2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241884909959745698" /></a><br />A well-bronzed male showing off the same fashion:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWarD1vljwKvP4r9IEqKG8O6iCb1_zamh1Jj8GY_PuZdmERd5UcOeBrmhF4U89ibm_6V824H22XD8yCtr9J0nzyG1PAUx8g91NL8egWMrBuzemcu0Yo0c_cZ9MTaqck4CL5cPNzw/s1600-h/IMG_1392_2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWarD1vljwKvP4r9IEqKG8O6iCb1_zamh1Jj8GY_PuZdmERd5UcOeBrmhF4U89ibm_6V824H22XD8yCtr9J0nzyG1PAUx8g91NL8egWMrBuzemcu0Yo0c_cZ9MTaqck4CL5cPNzw/s400/IMG_1392_2.JPG"border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241887320859400962" /></a><br />A much younger man in a beautifully polished hard hat adorned with flowing horse hair:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCf72D_CzfEo5RDVuy7dxwjAtxqLF01GMCqbrmgxJB-M9qIKM0-NZLNA-Ko-SAHFS2EEtzThnCvLCCnsQiNU7XiT6sSqaOYaImLOG6R8ItfYBmb3vKoHYi8cQrJ2OcitDL6Vvjw/s1600-h/IMG_1383_2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCf72D_CzfEo5RDVuy7dxwjAtxqLF01GMCqbrmgxJB-M9qIKM0-NZLNA-Ko-SAHFS2EEtzThnCvLCCnsQiNU7XiT6sSqaOYaImLOG6R8ItfYBmb3vKoHYi8cQrJ2OcitDL6Vvjw/s400/IMG_1383_2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241888329152508626" /></a><br />Two other young men sporting full heads of bear hair:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonKjl0cFG-s5QdmuzIvFyt_r3w1Ggy0bo4bTtCColeepLHjfFMAbTBduBE_nGruZFrC4VuFiRn0HPgWEyvWblLLVqjExhczgLk1hiXA1d7J0vNQSjHDK_4OPgqbt7XnR5VNgKag/s1600-h/IMG_1381_2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonKjl0cFG-s5QdmuzIvFyt_r3w1Ggy0bo4bTtCColeepLHjfFMAbTBduBE_nGruZFrC4VuFiRn0HPgWEyvWblLLVqjExhczgLk1hiXA1d7J0vNQSjHDK_4OPgqbt7XnR5VNgKag/s400/IMG_1381_2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241886164525419250" /></a>Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-50373889493947733722008-09-02T12:03:00.005+01:002008-09-03T01:16:12.220+01:00Demented musicAll of the following drive me up the wall:<br /><ul><li>An English Country Garden.</li><br />Not sure that it's demented? Just <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN12TIJbnmM">listen</a></span> to it. Even Nana Mouskouri can't make it bearable. It's a traditional song that used to be learned by every English schoolchild and perhaps still is. I learned it at boarding school in Rhodesia (demented enough then, infinitely more demented now as Zimbabwe). <br /><br /><li>Gilbert and Sullivan. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PdlFn1Wpds">Tit-willow, tit=willow, tit-willow</a> - what does that <span style="font-style:italic;">mean</span>?</li><br />(The Mikado is another legacy from my Rhodesian boarding school.)<br /><br /><li><span style="font-style:italic;">Anything</span> played on the pipes of Pan.</li><br />It's like nails being cheerily hammered into your head. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C9n_3diBeA">I'd rather be a hammer than a nail</a>... Aaaaaaargh!<br /><br /><li>Mozart. Respect - really - but, apart from a few songs, I can't stand his <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVSgx7gKc_k">music</a>.</li></ul><br />Absolutely barking.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-32624586228775848692008-09-01T18:01:00.001+01:002008-09-01T18:01:00.591+01:00Dolphin Lamppost<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmDmzQPTBzYS95I3-hA418lbbjqMD0AYFepWAs_UMpHKoDuBv6JK6pEUVyHYt56W0u7sx66yw4j83AVB4bKLUDo28PzFdrCedY58Y9Q-H1yWTCHklS-oKfmksAfdeikuBYrvpEPw/s1600-h/IMG_1157.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmDmzQPTBzYS95I3-hA418lbbjqMD0AYFepWAs_UMpHKoDuBv6JK6pEUVyHYt56W0u7sx66yw4j83AVB4bKLUDo28PzFdrCedY58Y9Q-H1yWTCHklS-oKfmksAfdeikuBYrvpEPw/s400/IMG_1157.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240730539208288066" /></a><br /><br /><br />Now <span style="font-style:italic;">that's</span> what I call a lamppost! <br /><br />(It's in a quiet part of central London a little north of Hyde Park.)Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-82943559075930459642008-08-31T15:00:00.016+01:002008-08-31T17:59:10.824+01:00Nothing new under the sun1A favourite image of mine, the <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=Perseus:image:1992.07.0232">Ancient Greek Laptop</a>, has been doing the rounds for many years now. I thought it was about time I found out which of endless thousands of Greek pots it came from. An informative <a href="http://www.allempires.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=975">post</a> by Vagabond at allempires.net directed me to the slow but stunningly comprehensive <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/">Perseus</a> site. The famous image turns out to be from a cup painted by Douris in the early fifth century BC, <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0043:entry=Berlin%20F%202285&highlight="> Berlin F2285 </a>.<br /><br />The laptop scene comes from side B of the Douris cup - teacher and student with stylus. According to the description, <br /><blockquote>The teacher in the center, who is seated on a cushioned stool facing right, holds a writing tablet on his lap, his stylus held in his raised right hand. His student also stands facing him, wrapped in his mantle.</blockquote><br />For another example, in close-up, refer to <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/image?lookup=Perseus:image:1991.07.0056">Philadelphia MS4842</a>.<br /><br />Though the classicists claim these are writing tablets, I have word from Mount Olympus that the gods hid fully formed laptop computers in the caves for the Ancient Greeks to discover. Historians who claim that technology evolves over hundreds of years are wrong, because Zeus can create a laptop in an instant - and these pots prove it. But the gods became angry with the ancient Greeks for spending too much time on Facebook, so they caused mankind to forget where the original laptops were hidden and made the successors of the Greeks discover them the hard way, which took two and a half thousand years. The point is, if it weren't for intelligent design by the gods, laptops could never had existed at all.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-19883257635410176712008-08-16T20:39:00.004+01:002008-08-16T20:50:06.433+01:00Life as a bear<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.alaskan-adventures.com/Images/Wildlife/blackbearfish.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px;" src="http://www.alaskan-adventures.com/Images/Wildlife/blackbearfish.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>I'd like to try living as a bear for a year or two. The bear's lifestyle appeals to me. In summer and autumn it crams itself with salmon and blueberries until it is fat. Then it hibernates throughout the winter, oblivious to the bitter cold. In spring it wakes up thin.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-43743100290597985812008-08-15T22:34:00.008+01:002008-08-16T20:51:32.664+01:00What happened to the buttery pecansPaddy and I attended the wedding celebrations of his nephew in New England recently. From the various events we each gathered two sets of wedding favours: buttery pecans, nicely packaged and tied with a white ribbon. We brought them home with us. And then:<br /><ul><li>I decided to take the pecans to work to share with my colleagues.</li><br /><li>Paddy opened one packet at home and ate a few pecans.</li><br /><li>I finished the packet (you mustn't let them go stale).</li><br /><li>I opened one more packet at home and ate quite a lot of pecans.</li><br /><li>Paddy finished the packet (you mustn't let them go stale).</li><br /><li>I decided to let Paddy take the remaining pecans to work to share with his colleagues.</li><br /><li>Someone opened the third packet at home.</li><br /><li>Someone or two finished all the pecans (you mustn't let them go stale).</li><br /><li>Paddy opened the fourth packet at home and ate a few pecans.</li><br /><li>I finished the packet (you mustn't let them go stale).</li></ul>All I can say is: we didn't let them go stale.Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-28154138829205269162008-08-13T23:18:00.003+01:002008-09-03T00:10:03.075+01:00Jesus played cricketWhat's more, he may have walked on water while doing it. Rogueclassicism has the gen:<br /><a href="http://www.atrium-media.com/rogueclassicism/Posts/00008359.html">http://www.atrium-media.com/rogueclassicism/Posts/00008359.html</a>Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-32675195285826053412008-08-08T22:07:00.002+01:002008-12-23T15:22:06.684+00:00Coming out in sympathy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEqwVbSo5f_7ZQMs-pjhI7iEMFRdNzR9gFEp_75RW8_Y24Oc-v2xzGFZ4K0HJS-ndEGeVfi0NG3yovt4f6Rg3m7Q_azo4f7InrpHpNQ_saoH-LI3sCobq5eYKPseyiyFeMvjEgCw/s1600-h/Untitled.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEqwVbSo5f_7ZQMs-pjhI7iEMFRdNzR9gFEp_75RW8_Y24Oc-v2xzGFZ4K0HJS-ndEGeVfi0NG3yovt4f6Rg3m7Q_azo4f7InrpHpNQ_saoH-LI3sCobq5eYKPseyiyFeMvjEgCw/s400/Untitled.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5233000225938789426" /></a><br />This morning Paddy took a day off work because he was ill with a sinus infection. Too sick even to watch the cricket, he stayed in bed. The cats kept him company. Pussy Janeway was sick on the blanket in sympathy. It is time to put her on the market, but who would buy her? "For sale: eleven-year old mackerel tabby, very affectionate, finicky eater, regularly sick on bed or carpet, clean condition, only seven pounds (in weight)."Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8789292.post-46514825928558763712008-07-27T10:26:00.011+01:002008-07-27T22:28:59.254+01:00Life, and other kinds of existenceA very old woman in failing health, with nothing to look forward to, became tired of lingering. She asked her doctor, a Glasgow GP, for strong sleeping pills. He prescribed them to her. She used them to commit suicide.<br /><br />The <a href="hthttp://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/gp-gave-sleeping-pills-to-suicidal-patient-876292.htmltp://">Independent</a> of 24th July reports that the British <a href="http://www.gmc-uk.org/about/role/index.asp">General Medical Council</a> suspended the GP for six months for <br /><blockquote>actions "inappropriate, irresponsible, liable to bring the profession into disrepute and not in your patient's best interest".<br /><snip><br />They found he prescribed the retired businesswoman, known as Patient A, with sodium amytal "solely for the purpose of ending her life" and practised poor clinical management after she took an overdose of a different drug.<br /><br />The panel also found he prescribed sodium amytal without adequate reason and contrary to guidance, and that he failed to make adequate notes.<br /><br />Dr Kerr said he gave Patient A the sleeping pills as an "insurance policy".<br /><br />He told the hearing in Manchester: "She said 'Give me something that I can take if things get too bad' and I said yes."<br /><br />Suzanne Goddard QC, counsel for the GMC, said what Dr Kerr did was "akin to handing her a noose with which to hang herself at a time of her choosing".<br /><br />Patient A later disposed of the sleeping tablets because she did not want to get him into trouble after learning he was being investigated by health chiefs for his views on assisted suicide.<br /><br />Patient A was an osteoporosis sufferer who loved playing bridge and attending family events but feared becoming a burden upon her family, the GMC heard.<br /><br />Her son told the GMC she was strong-minded and had a high regard for Dr Kerr.<br /><br />He said she was aghast at witnessing the deterioration and death of her sister from bone cancer.<br /><br />Dr Kerr said Patient A had "firm views about how she wanted her life to end" and wanted to maintain control over what happened to her.<br /><br />She made an advance statement in which she expressed her desire not to be resuscitated if she became gravely ill, the GMC heard.<br /><br />Patient A killed herself in December 2005, aged 87, using a cocktail of Temazepam, antihistamines and painkillers.<br /><br />The GMC heard she made a failed suicide attempt two weeks earlier using Temazepam but was not referred to hospital by Dr Kerr.<br /><br />His decision to prescribe her more Temazepam three days later was branded "illogical" by John Donnelly, chairman of the GMC Fitness to Practise Panel.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The panel found Dr Kerr had not failed to take adequate measures to dissuade her from suicide</span>.[my emphasis]<br /><br />Mr Donnelly said: "Patient A was an elderly lady who made her end-of-life wishes quite clear, in that she did not want to become a burden upon her family. The panel found that she was determined to end her own life." <br /><snip><br />[Dr Kerr] told the GMC: "I think when dealing with someone holding a rational view of the circumstances in which they want to end their life, it was my duty to at least consider whether he or she had a reasonable opinion and that it was my duty to assist if I thought I agreed with that patient's assessment."<br /><br />He also said his concern was for the wellbeing of his patients who had placed their trust in him. </blockquote><br />Lives are individual. Individuals who choose not to continue a painful existence have more respect for life than those who would deny them the right to assisted suicide. As philosopher Tara Smith says in her book <a href="htthttp://books.google.co.uk/books?id=v4U9Toa7CeQCp://">Viable Values</a>:<br /><blockquote>[T]he reason that suicide can be morally allowed is that life is not intrinsically valuable. Life is not to be maintained at any cost, like it or not. A life-based code is not a sentence to live, saddling people with the obligation to endure, however painful the circumstances. Life is the standard of value and source of moral obligation if it is a person's goal but it is up to the individual whether to embrace the goal.</blockquote><br />Who in the world has the right to tell Patient A whether to value her life or not? And, if she didn't, what was she supposed to have done instead of seeking help from someone she trusted? Leapt off the Forth Bridge? Dragged herself through another few hateful months or years of increasing dependence as her health continued to deteriorate? For whose sake should she have done it? The religious have an answer: for God's Sake. For God's sake!Valda Redfernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18375583444323538525noreply@blogger.com2