Public Interest Private Profit

Last night, Monday 7th March, Channel 4 hosted a debate on the issue of selling off national assets of one sort or another to raise monies to allow the government to stagger on regardless.

How much it informed people or got to grips with real issues and the complexity of most of the proposals is open to debate.

We have already been discovering in the last few years how PFI schemes in the public sector can result in hugely increased bills in the future.

In the private sector the take over binge encouraged by the government on the basis of insane leverages and the creation of huge finance based entities has inflicted substantial extra costs on many of us for worsening services.

If you do want to see a more thorough account of all this you will be hard pressed to find it in the UK media amongst all the flannel and fluster of their usual output.

For those with an interest in history some of the financial arrangements have the effect of creating mini and localised monopolies akin to those of the past with all the consequences they bring for the services being provided and the pricing.

This article below, although referring to the US experience, gives the bigger picture in a readable form:

http://archive.truthout.org/if-it-sounds-too-good-what-you-need-know-dont-about-privatizing-infrastructure68185

As the title says, if it sounds too good to be true then it will be too good to be true.

Where Has It All Gone?

Another day, another power cut, mercifully only three hours this one and at a time when it was not so much a problem.

Some hasty rearrangements had to be made but nothing critical. The high point when was I did a return to the past and shaved in cold water at the kitchen sink.

Long ago when this was routine, there was a radio show “Round The Horne” in which a country yokel had the catch phrase “The answer lies in the soil.”

At the moment some of the problems we face may be because of that but for the big question at present just take the “s” off the last word.

For a fuller serious discussion of this The Oil Drum has an item on the situation in four countries, Nigeria, Angola, Libya and the UK. Overall it comes to around 1700 words but the part dealing with the UK situation tells us what we are up against.

It is about half way through and describes it as being “riches to rags”.

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/7582#more

Perhaps I could be shaving in cold water at the sink a lot more often in the near future.

Something For The Weekend, Sir?

It seems that our economy is shrinking, our military capability is shrinking, our universities are shrinking, our politicians shrinking in stature and ability and as the sea erodes the land the whole United Kingdom is shrinking.

There are a lot of other things that do but there is one that might be less welcome, especially to our males.

A contact has posted this on a blog:

Quote:

Perfumed children

Developing brains and bodies are especially vulnerable. Numerous perfume chemicals readily cross the placental barrier, so children are being exposed even before they are born. Breast milk is another source of exposure.

Women’s urine levels of phthalates, chemicals commonly used in perfume mixtures including laundry perfumes, have been linked with genital abnormalities in their infant sons. These include undersized penises and scrotums and undescended testicles (Swan et al., 2005).

It has been found that children’s exposure to polluting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can be greater indoors than outside (Adgate et al., 2004). Common sources include household cleaners, room deodorisers, toilet bowl blocks, moth repellents and perfumes.

There is evidence that household chemicals are contributing to the increase in childhood asthma (Sherriff, 2004).

Research reported in 2003 found that infants suffered more frequent diarrhoea and earache in households where there was heavier use of air ‘fresheners’, and more frequent diarrhoea and vomiting where there was more use of aerosols (Farrow et al., 2003).

The public has been persuaded by commercial interests to fill their homes with pollutants which may be harmful as those from vehicle exhaust. Indeed, at least one of the chemicals studied for this article is also found in diesel exhaust, perhaps not surprising in light of the fact that the vast majority are made from petrochemicals.

Vast numbers of children are growing up in a toxic chemical fog, inside homes, schools and even doctors’ surgeries and hospitals places where people are supposed to be healed, not harmed.

Unquote

But this is where it gets even more interesting from links supplied by the contact. Nervous males should look away now. The first link is the BBC take on the research in question and the second a link to the scientific paper.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/health-12634109

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2605.2010.01133.x/pdf

But this is not all. The paper refers to largely adult males over a long period. But in the last handful of years the scenario has become a whole lot worse.

Nanotechnology can be a wonderful tool in many fields, medicine, engineering and others. But when consumer products companies now routinely use it in a wide range of their brands in complex synthetic chemicals to get more bang for the buck and this is largely unchecked and untested what is going to happen?

Few people are aware of the strength and impact on the body of the new formulations of the great majority of the major brands yet it is now all about us and because of the technology it is impossible to either wash away or shift.

And it gets to the parts other things do not reach.

Who needs Sweeney Todd when you have Unilever?

LSE, A Message From The Director

After a sudden surge of interest in the LSE by the media in just who and what was going on in relation to the Gaddafi family, the Director, Howard Davies, has resigned. There is a grim irony in that he came to LSE from the FSA. There are now serious questions about the School’s conduct and academic standing.

On the day Howard’s head rolled, I suspect to protect others, the Alumni Association, a particular interest of his, mailed all those on its list and the text of the message is below. There is an ethereal beauty about the timing of this in the context.

Quote:

Are you passionate about LSE? Have you got enthusiasm and ideas about how the School engages with its alumni? Then why not apply to sit on one of the Alumni Association committees.

The LSE Alumni Association was established in 2005 to give alumni a greater voice within the School. Working alongside a dedicated Alumni Relations team, the Alumni Association looks for innovative ways to:

support alumni groups, of which there are currently over 70 across the world;
engage alumni with the School, across all age groups;
develop our programme of events and communications to ensure it appeals to a wide range of alumni.

The Alumni Association is made up of a number of committees, which each focus on a different area of alumni engagement. These committees are overseen by an Executive Committee which meets regularly with representatives from the School to present the ideas and feedback from the committees’ meetings.

The Alumni Association committees are:

Communications
Group establishment, recognition and obligations
Group Leaders' support

Lifelong contacts
Mentoring
Regional ambassadors

To find out more about the work of the Alumni Association and its committees, or for more information about how to apply for a two-year term (September 2011 – September 2013), please see the Alumni Association web pages.

Interested in being involved in the Alumni Association Executive Committee or one of its committees? Apply online today.

Kind regards

The Alumni Association Executive Committee

Unquote

The picture above is of the LSE Student Common Room either during or close to the period I graced the Bridge and Poker schools while waiting for the bars to open. If the cash was short or my creditors insistent there was always the library which was warm, free and where an interesting book might be found in the section on social anthropology.

There is a hand of Contract Bridge being played and from the rapt interest being shown either a critical one or of some technical interest. Bridge has fallen from fashion these days, but it did teach some useful lessons.

If you do not know the game, put “Contract Bridge” into search and look for the Wikipedia listing. The article explains it all and the “Game Play” section indicates what can be involved.

You need to know the rules and then be able to deal, make contracts and proceed on the basis that you know where half of the cards are but to estimate where the other cards are placed and how they might be played.

It seems a pity that so few of the students or staff these days have time to play and pit their wits against each other. Perhaps they might learn how to avoid making catastrophic errors.

In the meantime, in all the kerfuffle going on there is a name curiously absent from the coverage yet to who might be central to the whole business. Did anyone say “superinjunction”?

All I will say was that the Gaddafi in question seems to have had a very close interest in Human Rights legislation.

Company Will Retire, Company Dismiss

1st Battalion. Queens Own Cameron Jobseekers

C (Cable) Company

Company Orders, Friday 1st April 2011

A.M.

6.00 Reveille
Bugle Call “Goodbye-ee, Goodbye-ee, Wipe the tear from your eye-ee”

6.30 Non Working Parade, Company Commander present.
Instructions on jobs not to be done and avoidance of fatiques.

7.30 Breakfast, wheelie bins of outdated sell by stock from Tesco.

9.00 Footdrill, Company Sergeant Major.
Company will rehearse queuing, slouching and petomane skills.

1015 NAAFI break.
Outsourced to Osborne Vending Machines Ltd.

1045 Combat training dealing with travelling by rail, mugging techniques and advanced shoplifting.

P.M.

13.00 Lunch provided by Salvation Army Soup Kitchens
Bugle Call: “Onward Redundant Soldiers Marching On The Dole.”

14.00 Route March
Platoon Officers, covering as little ground as possible with the fewest possible men.

15.30 NAAFI break.
Outsourced to Pickles RU.

16.00 Domestic Economy
Corporals to supervise. Blanket pressing, study of ceiling patterns and learning how to live in filth.

1800 Tea. Leftovers, if any.

1900 Lecture by Battalion Commanding Officer
“Your future, if any, in security, cleaning and refuse collecting.”

20.00 Sunset
Bugle Call: “Buddy could you spare a dime?”

11.00 Lights out (permanent).
Bugle Call: “Anarchy in the U.K.”.

Taking Insurance On TEOTWAWKI

Looking through the documentary channels on TV there is often a repeat of the Discovery Channel programme on the Maya prophecy for TEOTWAWKI, or The End Of The World As We Know It. It is claimed that this is forecast for 21 December 2012.

The ECJ, the European Court of Justice has just made a ruling on the fixing of insurance premiums in which gender is excluded from any criteria. It is claimed that this will affect a substantial proportion of people seeking insurance adversely in the effect of the extra charges that will be necessary. This is due to take effect on 21 December 2012.

Do the judges know something that we don’t? But then insurance always used to be about risk. Perhaps we won’t need it after that date.

Libya, Follow The Money

The suggested figures are coming out for the size of the fortunes of the Gaddafi family. As expected it makes those for Mubarak and the Tunisians look cheap. One quoted on Automatic Earth from the USA is coming in at £170 billion and the post there looks at inequalities with pie charts. We only need to look at the TV to see that all those fleeing Libya know the reality of this.

So who, what, why, where and when? Unluckily the journalists in our media have not been paying much attention to these considerations. In the meantime the end game may be near. When UK politicians start the chest beating and howling along with their US equivalents then you know that the something is nigh.

As we have seen, Cameron had done a Brown in skiving off abroad when the heat was on and then coming back to let us all know how positive he can be when the time is ripe to try for some credit.

As with Mubarak in Egypt the Western powers have given the Gaddafi clan just about enough time to arrange their affairs before retiring. But what may happen to The Colonel? The departure of the nurses may mean something.

If a man has been living close to death his state of mind may consider martyrdom as a preferred option. Especially if it helps protects the family, their genes and their monies.

If the money is anything like the suggested figures then the developed West in its parlous state will not want much disruption and new problems in the markets. These are already looking intricate with a number of increasingly difficult issues to handle around the world in terms of commodities and the solvency of governments.

Indeed, the “freeze” of Gaddafi assets in the UK may yield something. There are bound to be some figures in what amount to local household accounts and transfer funds that can be trumpeted as successes. Even these might amount to “virtual” cash that does not really exist and is essentially a convenient fiction.

Out there however is a lot of investment money and major holdings in a number of companies. So what actually does the Gaddafi clan own and how important is it to either to the states in which those companies function or to their financial systems?

This brings us in turn to which political leaders and groups in which places have found themselves obliged to take account of Libya and its rulers over the last couple of decades.

One country would be one which has its own network of locations around the world through which money and holdings and trusts might be funded and investments made and circulated through the world financial system.

We would be looking for politicians who have either become rich recently or who have already within their substantial family trusts certain types of investments.

Names come to mind, why am I singing quietly, “In the town where I was born…..”?