Caring capitalism ?

Back to the Highlands after a week of good running. This morning, along the loch side, the returning daylight was very noticeable, and very welcome.

Six months ago, the Queen’s middle son, Andrew, was advised to step down as UK Special Representative for Trade after a public outcry at his whoring after assorted despots in the name of “trade”, whilst lining his own hungry pockets at the same time, all at the tax-payers’ expense. Now he’s back doing the same thing, or rather it seems that he never actually stopped (ref). Prince Andrew could never lay claim to being the sharpest chisel in the Royal toolbox, but this arrogant indifference to public opinion seems less a product of simple stupidity than of the government’s mendacious greed and hypocrisy. No wonder support for Scottish independence is growing by the day.

Back to basics 2

Back to basics

On holiday

A good run this morning in the early light, and the start of a short (?) sabbatical  break from blogging.

Spoilt for choice

A good pre-dawn loch-side run today. 

A quick and late scan of the news suggests a wide range of material. Where does one start ? David Cameron has accused Argentina of being "colonial" by wanting to reclaim management of the Malvinas islands. The excellent Simon Schama has skewered Downton Abbey and other such reactionary fantasies, describing them as cultural necrophilia. An inquiry into UK complicity in torture of political prisoners has been scrapped because it would "take too long". Hedge fund managers are insisting on making massive profits from their purchase of the Greek debt. The list goes on...........

Decline and Fall of the British Empire

A brisk loch-side run this morning, then back to the first piece of royalist nonsense of this year of the queen's 60th anniversary, or year of further massive cuts in public services disproportionately affecting the poor, depending on your perspective. The UK Minister of Education, Michael Gove, apparently thought it would be a good idea for UK taxpayers to pay for the purchase of a new £60 million yacht for the queen to sail around in. Even David Cameron managed to spot a flaw in the proposal. And this Gove person has been put in charge of UK education. Sacrebleu ! In fairness, selecting ministers is Cameron's job, so Gove shouldn't really be blamed, any more than Caligula's horse could be blamed for some dodgy policy decisions. 

Displacement activity

A fast and frosty run through the woods before returning to the Highlands. 

This morning the UK media are in overdrive as they pick endlessly through the story of the cruise ship that crashed into Italy. A serious accident definitely, though perhaps less so than the overloaded ferries that sink from time to time elsewhere in the world. However, as concerned reporters ask survivors again and again what it was like to be involved/rescued, the coverage seems to be more to do with grasping a "human interest" alternative to the meltdown of the Eurozone than it has with the objective reporting of facts.

Burning issue

Another fast & frosty run, with smart new shoes, the old ones having been retired after 750 miles. The woods were fragrant with woodsmoke as the woodland workers steadily and thoughtlessly burn the trees felled by the recent storms. The issues surrounding biofuel are complex and often counter-intuitive, but such an irresponsible waste of a finite and precious resource shows how far we still have to go.

You having a laugh ?

A good brisk run through the woods.

In the Independent today, an interesting article on the healing qualities of laughter. Not a new idea, it’s true, but in the current climate of doom & gloom, a very welcome reminder. So, ahem, I’d like to present a small joke from Germany, recently heard on television, as a contribution to societal well-being.

Baby Stefan was late in developing speech. His parents were naturally very worried when, even by the age of 5, he hadn’t spoken his first word. One day, after dinner, he turned to his mother and said: “Mama, the apfelstrudel was rather tepid”. His parents were astonished: “…but Stefan, what happened, why have you started speaking ?” He replied with all the dignity a 5 year old can muster: “Well, until now, everything has been quite satisfactory”.

Rule Britannia

A fine, fast, and frosty run through the woods this morning.

The Scottish independence debate is very compelling from a Scottish perspective, maybe less so elsewhere, so I will try not to bang on about it too much. Nevertheless, the unedifying sight of Ed Miliband grasping the Etonian coat tails of David Cameron to try and resist Alex Salmond’s steady progress towards greater independence can’t pass without comment. Behind all the waffle about being “bad for Britain”, Cameron clearly  wants the oil revenue, possibly the water, and somewhere to park his nuclear submarines, whilst Miliband wants unity because an independent Scotland would take away a big chunk of his ailing Labour support. Obviously, the spectacle of a Camerband pushmi-pullyu will bring the Labour voters back in droves. Clever tactic, Ed. Meanwhile today, with his finger on the pulse of what is good & bad for Britain, Cameron has flown off to sell more guns to the Saudis (ref).

Towers of Babel

No run today, for reasons of dentistry.

Without a visible hint of schadenfreude, the Independent reports on an interesting and convincing  correlation between skyscraper building (currently booming in China & India) and impending economic collapse, citing various examples over the last 80 years (ref).

Meanwhile, London is currently seeing the completion of The Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe.
Enough said.

In praise of richness

A fine, fast run this morning, musing on the theme of richness.

In our greedy capitalist world, rich seems to have become a synonym for material wealth. Richness of experience, richness of relationship, above all richness of understanding - these are all too often side-lined, rather than being properly articulated and taught as life essentials. What’s more, these riches are infinite and sustainable, unlike their material counterpart. Maybe that’s the problem. Being available to everyone, they subvert the fundamental root of our innate need to be superior.

Pole-dancing lessons

A good pre-dawn run through the woods this morning

The Right Honourable David Cameron has allegedly made a close study of former prime minister Tony Blair’s formula for political success. A report in the Independent (ref) shows how the same Blair long ago shifted his shape from populist politician carrying the hopes of a generation, to rampaging profiteer and whore lining his pants with spectacular amounts of public and private money, as he prances across the world stage like a delusional pole dancer. Cameron has obviously chosen his mentor with care.

Rebuilding Hadrian's Wall

A brisk and enjoyable woodland run this morning.

David Cameron is apparently trying to override the Scottish government and take control of the forthcoming referendum on independence, in what is likely to be a long and vicious battle (ref). The issue of independence is complex and uncertain but one thing seems very clear - the spectacle of Cameron and his self-satisfied cronies pontificating on the subject from the fleshpots of London is unlikely to win many votes to keep the union.  

The king's bling

A damp but enjoyable run this morning.

One of the Queen’s daughters-in-law has been in trouble for accepting some gewgaws from the self-proclaimed King of Bahrain, when she and her husband, Prince Albert ? George ? Victoria ? …anyway, when they popped in for tea recently (ref). Confusingly for them, they aren't meant to accept lavish gifts from despots even if the despots are UK trading partners.  UK royalty are apparently supposed to adhere to a convoluted code of fairness and decency to avoid upsetting people whilst enjoying their unjustifiable family privileges. Admittedly this is a solution which doesn’t quite get to the root of the problem, and could be misinterpreted as a patronising token gesture, but it’s a start.

Ponzi-nomics

A fine chilly run through the woods today, with blue sky for a change.

By contrast the UK media seemed uniformly grey & drab, which I was beginning to attribute to a decline of my cognitive function (ref) until I came across an excellent piece by Alexander Jung in Spiegel Online. This gives stark and gloomy substance to the palliative message from all European leaders that the economic problems will get “worse” before they get “better”, and makes early January an even better time than usual to re-assess life priorities !

Ref: Banksy

Burmese days

A daylight woodland run this morning which revealed the full extent of tree damage after the recent storm. Sadly, being Glasgow, most of the fallen timber will be burned as scrap, rather than recycled or used for fuel.

To continue yesterday’s theme of delusional foreign policy, William Hague has now followed the well trodden path of Western politicians in a “historic” visit to Burma, where the junta are showing modest signs of reform, although most dissidents with a lower public profile than Aung San Suu Kyi have yet to be released. Such a concern for Burmese human rights is heart warming, and clearly not a smokescreen for trying to re-establish trade links in a region dominated by China, nor a ploy to make Britain feel important. So William, take no notice of those people that say you are a pompous clown.

Beware foreign policy when elections are near

A good but rather melancholy run through the storm damaged woods this morning.

Meanwhile, in another unstable region, Barak Obama & Nicolas Sarkozy are engaged in a dangerous game of rhetoric and brinkmanship with Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Whilst this is almost certainly just bravado to impress their respective electorates, the potential for reaching a flashpoint is very real and very alarming. David Cameron is tagging along too, though without the excuse of a pending election. As with anyone else with delusions of being a world leader, the kindest response would probably be to keep him away from matches and sharp implements.

Severe weather forecast

An exciting but brief run this morning, cut short for health reasons as high winds blew pieces of tree around.

Recently, India has often been portrayed in the West as part rapidly growing economy, part eco-villain, so it’s good to see a rather more nuanced account, by the excellent John Pilger, in the Morning Star (ref). On the other hand, the internal divisions that he describes, seen in juxtaposition with the destructive tensions between army and government in Pakistan (ref), suggest a potential for instability in the region that makes the Eurozone look like a holiday camp.

Our illustrious leader

A brisk and chilly run through the woods this morning, before returning to ponder Prime Minister Cameron’s edifying New Year message – this year we’ll use the global drama of the Olympics and the glory of the Queen’s diamond jubilee to help get Britain up to strength in these difficult times.

For a moment there some of us were worried about the future but, silly us, we’d forgotten all about the societal benefits of watching some expensive athletics and a Disney pageant on the telly. D'oh !!

Not with a whimper but with a bang

A fine woodland run with which to start the new year.

Last night was Hogmanay, with its usual revelry and pyrotechnics – the latter sounding more like artillery than celebration. Maybe it’s a by-product of a generation raised on action movies and bellicose computer games, but the wide availability of ever louder and more dangerous fireworks seems to indulge the whims of adolescent males to an unnecessary and irresponsible degree. What’s more, the EU law makers, in their ineffable wisdom, have just further relaxed the restrictions so that these explosive horrors can now be more than twice as powerful, and closer than ever to the format of cluster bombs (ref). Are they completely insane ?

Happy New Year.