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TALLRITE BLOG
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October 2008 |
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ISSUE #184 - 26th October 2008 [504+569=1073]
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Oil: The Cause of and Solution to the Financial Turmoil Earlier this year I wrote a piece about Peak Oil, the theory that the world is reaching a peak in oil production and that supplies will shortly collapse. For various reasons, associated with markets, alternatives and technology it's a theory to which I do not subscribe. However there is no doubt about the enormous importance of oil to the global economy. In fact, the more I think about it the more I think that oil is at the base of today's financial turmoil. The engine of world growth is undoubtedly the capitalistic systems of the Western democracies, where freedom allows hundreds of millions of individuals to decide how best to use their money to improve their personal lot. Collectively, these decisions create wealth at a rate that no other system can match or ever has. “Using their money” means covering day-to-day costs while investing capital in order to make more money in the future. But it's axiomatic that if some of your money is confiscated, you have less capital to invest so you won't get as rich as you had hoped. On the other hand, if the person who confiscates it then invests it wisely, you might lose out but the overall economy will not. But confiscators rarely do invest wisely; that's why they're confiscators, because it's their easiest way to get rich. This in essence is how the oil price has operated. We first saw its malign magic in the 1970s. In 1973, to show solidarity with other Arab states in yet another futile war against Israel, oil producing states in the Middle East used OPEC to punish the West by restricting supplies for not annihilating Israel. This had the unintended - though from OPEC's viewpoint welcome - consequence of tripling the oil price, from roughly $4 to $12 a barrel. This generated the first Oil Shock. After a quiet period of a couple of years, a tsunami of money suddenly hit the Gulf states - I remember it well, I was living in one of them - and boy did they spend and party. Meanwhile, with the same tsunami flowing out of the pockets of consumers and investors in the West, it plunged into recession and invented the term stagflation, meaning stagnant growth coupled with high inflation and eye-watering interest rates. Colossal amounts money, otherwise invested to create economic growth by making more money, had disappeared into the hands of oil producers. But they had nothing much to do with it so they squandered much of it; it was unproductive. But by the late 1970s the world economy was beginning to adjust to the new reality (oil conservation, more exploration, lower growth expectations). Then the second Oil Shock struck. This was triggered by 1979's Islamic revolution in Iran and the kidnapping of 55 American diplomats in their Teheran embassy, which marks the start of the current violent Islamic Jihad against the West. OPEC used the turmoil of these events to further triple the oil price from $13 to nearly $40 a barrel, thereby extending the West's long period of no or slow growth. Only when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in 1982 did prices fall again as the OPEC countries became distracted by the next eight years of vicious slaughter between two of its most influential, oil-rich members. With lower prices, the rest of the
world again had sufficient cash available to invest and make money, so the
world economy grew healthily.
Click on this chart to view the connection between events and the oil price. The OPEC countries, particularly in the Gulf, also learnt from this decade of upheaval.
All this is in fact a classic example of globalisation in action where everyone can win. Sustainable oil prices, notwithstanding that thanks to the OPEC cartel they still remained several factors greater than the cost of extraction and replacement, led to one of the longest periods of steady growth the world has ever seen. For the world in general became open to free globalised trade, with India and China in particular freeing their people's ingenuity by abandoning ridiculous Marxist economic policies. But then, once again, oil began a long climb upwards as from, roughly, the start of the Iraq war in 2003 when it was $30/bbl. However this time the rise was less due to direct action by OPEC than other factors, principally increased demand and fears about supply, the result of
But the effect has been the same, except that because of globalisation the effect is felt globally not just in the West. The rise of food prices is a direct consequence. Oil is integral to
Moreover, as poorer countries have prospered millions of newly enriched peasants now (entirely reasonably) want to eat more meat, but each kilo requires 7-8 kilos of cereal. So of course food prices were going to rise, which has taken yet more cash from people that would otherwise be spent on more productive activities than merely eating. The rise of commodity and raw materials prices is likewise a direct result of the oil price, and for the same reason: oil is integral to their production, extraction and distribution.
Aside from food and commodities, I have tried to estimate how much money the rise in oil price has transferred from the West to the oil producers, though published information is sparse. In 2004 a windfall of $300 billion [link disappeared before Oct 08] was reported and in 2007, when the oil price averaged around $70 it was $2 trillion. This year the average could be closer to $100, which means the windfall will be more like $2½ trillion. Using these figures and interpolating means that since 2003 the windfall calculates out in excess of a ginormous eight trillion dollars. That's $8 trn that has been removed from those who would make the most productive use of it and placed into the hands of those who will certainly not, and that is not to count how much of it finds its way into the hands of the West's toxic Jihadist enemies, whether via Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Russia, Sudan or other oil-rich states. So, although it has taken four years for this extraordinary, unprecedented oil price rises to hit home, how one earth could you NOT have a global meltdown? With this “tera**”-confiscation, it was inevitable that [**tera = 1012]
The situation has been exacerbated by foolish banking practices (such as lending to people who can't pay), by wild gambles on fancy derivatives, by regulators asleep at the wheel and by consumers irresponsibly building up ridiculous debts. But it is the obscene oil prices that turned it all into a house of cards. The sub-prime mortgages merely triggered the global collapse. But because of precipitate fall-off in industrial activity, oil consumption is dropping too and so therefore is the oil price. Towards the end of October it's down to $65 and still falling. So there is cause for optimism. The same mechanism that caused the global financial meltdown is now, slowly, working to resurrect it again. Let us hope, however, that bankers, traders, regulators and consumers, sufficiently chastened, do not also resurrect their past stupidities like some ghastly Frankenstein monster.
Two
College Debates - Drugs and Obama This month, on foot of newspaper columns I had written, I was invited to speak at debates at two of Dublin's prestigious universities. First it was Trinity College Dublin's Philosophical Society. Trinity College was founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592, has long been the third choice of British students after Oxford and Cambridge and is the only Irish university ever to make it to the world's top 50. “The Phil” as it the society is colloquially known was founded in 1683 as a paper-reading society for the “discourse of philosophy, mathematics, and other polite literature”. It is said to be the world's oldest debating society and on 9th October launched its 324th session. John McCain is a patron. It has a peculiar and ancient debating style: a member presents an essay and invited speakers then give speeches about it. The audience can stand up and interrupt, but the speaker has the option to accept the question or tell the interrupter to get lost - which nine time out of ten he/she does, which seems terribly rude. Finally there is a vague vote. The second debate, hosted by Dublin City University (DCU), followed the more conventional format of two proposers, two opposers and questions/discussion from the floor. DCU is a relatively new establishment, founded only in 1989, but its debating society is proud to be the university's oldest club. Both of these societies have attracted speakers of considerable international renown over the years. Inviting me broke with this laudable trend. Trinity Debate: “That this house would legalise all drugs”
Mathematics scholar Jonathan Wyse kicked off the debate by presenting his carefully wrought paper entitled “Damaging Freedom: Psychoactive Drugs and the Duty of the State”, making the case that drugs should remain illegal because of the harm they cause. Ten papers followed. Speakers included Dr Werner Pieper from Heidelberg, with waist-length dreadlocks, who announced he was a former drug dealer who now researches and writes books about the joys of drug-taking. He gave an entertaining account of drugs through the ages, noting that it is only in modern times that drugs have become available to other than the élite, which is why they have been criminalised. The other long-distance invitee was Dr Dick Doblin, flown in from Boston, who promotes the use of psychedelic drugs for its medical benefits, in particular in treating victims of trauma and bereavement. His was another high quality paper promoting decriminalisation. I came last and was received well. Eagle-eyed surfers may recognize that my speech was based on a post from last January, “Declare Drug-War on Users and Kids”. The eventual vote was vague and inconclusive; I voted for both sides. The debate was recorded but has not yet been posted online. Here's what I said ... +++++++++++++++++ Mr President, Members of the Council, Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for inviting me here tonight. I listened to and read, with great interest, the erudite essay just presented by Jonathan Wyse and commend him for his insight and argumentation. In particular, let me say I admire anyone with the courage to disagree with Saint Mahatma Gandhi! The essence of his paper is, as I understand it, that
People do not have sufficient knowledge of the dangers of drug use
Therefore the Government must protect them from it This need for protection trumps freedom of choice for adults, Freedom anyway “is not an end in and of itself”. It is on these last three points that I would diverge. First and foremost I believe that freedom is indeed “an end in and of itself”. After food and sex, it is probably humankind’s most basic impulse.
So there need to be very strong arguments indeed before Governments should be allowed to remove individual freedoms, such as the freedom to take mind-altering substances. The issue is firstly whether the adverse effects of drug-taking constitute such an argument, and secondly whether criminalising them improves the situation. Besides drug-taking, there are many other behaviours by which humans may potentially damage themselves.
But none of these things are criminalised, so you have to wonder what makes drugs so special. And does criminalisation improves the situation? NO. The Gardaí regularly catch drug dealers and seize kilos of illicit drugs worth millions of €uro, and are congratulated in the newspapers next morning, often with photos of their haul (and of themselves). But such efforts are a total waste of taxpayers' money.
This is the utter fallacy of the much-touted war on drugs, vigorously pursued by well-meaning jurisdictions and police forces all over the world, and with equal lack of beneficial impact whatsoever. That includes the US, spending $50 billion a year. The reason for failure is a simple one: they are aiming at the wrong targets: drug-peddlers and drug-growers – those wondrously industrious and inventive developing-world farmers of such places as Afghanistan, Columbia, Laos. You have to marvel at how stone-age Afghanis meet over 90% of the world's demand for opiates. The “right” targets are of course the customers, who alone create the demand and provide the money that fuels the drugs industry. While users remain untouched, no amount of destruction of crops or putting traffickers under lock and key can halt the production and trade.
One of my hats is as an industrial safety consultant. If a firm is serious about wanting to improve its safety performance, it has to lead from the top and convince every manager and supervisor to fight for and talk about safety every day to everyone on almost every occasion and forever. That is the only way a true safety culture gets imbued into an organization, making safe behaviour and attitudes second nature to every employee. It won’t be different with drugs education, any more than it was any different when schools used to indoctrinate children with the Catholic faith morning, noon and night. However, compared to the fun of routing out drug dealers and poisoning poppy fields, drugs education provides few kudos or newspaper headlines for anyone. Nevertheless, the real challenge is to bend that most powerful of mankind's attributes – the attitude of the human mind. It is all very well to criminalise drugs. But when unenforced and ineffectual as current drugs laws are throughout the Western world, the law is an ass. There is of course the other, radical alternative, by comparison cheap and easy. Drugs could simply be legalised, decriminalised, regulated and taxed. They could be treated no differently than those two other dangerous drugs tobacco and alcohol whose massive tax revenues more than cover the financial cost of the damage they cause. Jonathan Wyse has eloquently explained why he rejects this course. He believes adults have insufficient knowledge about the dangers of drugs and thus should be denied the freedom to make their own decisions. But he also apparently believes that educating people is a lost cause. Ladies and Gentlemen,
+++++++++++++++++
DCU Debate: “That this house would vote for Obama” Proposing the motion were Kate Fitzgerald**, chair of the Irish chapter of Democrats Abroad and Emmet Ryan a jocular journalist, the latter have stepped in at short notice after Senator David Norris suffered an accident.
My partner in opposition was the indomitable Dr Mark Humphrys, cyberscourge of anyone who doesn't want to destroy all tyrants everywhere. Just visit his long-standing site and you'll see what I mean. He too was dragooned in at very short notice after journalist Richard Waghorne was suddenly struck down with illness. The debate was chaired by Mark Little, whose proper job is presenting RTE's flagship current affairs TV programme Prime Time. As might have been expected, the 120-strong audience of mainly students was overwhelmingly pro-Obama. The (civilised) discussion that followed the speeches was directed almost exclusively to the NO side, and I believe we won all the arguments. However, when it finally came to voting, the YES side won by a landslide. Nonetheless, I would like to think that our debating skills doubled the NOs from, say three votes to six ... Mark's speech was very much derived from what he has already written about Mr Obama on his own site. Here is what I had to say, in what was probably the least civilised presentation of the evening. Seasoned surfers may recognize shades of “Obama the Empty Gong”, which I posted last August. +++++++++++++++++ Mr Chairman, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Would I vote for Senator Obama?
Absolutely … not … In deciding whom to vote for, you generally have only three things to go on – the candidate’s résumé, policies and character, and if one or more is missing or thin, then you need to place greater emphasis on the others. So let’s first spare a thought for Mr Obama’s résumé. Where is it? Prior to his current, and I have to say brilliant, campaign, he seems to have done only four things in his working life.
Meanwhile he did write two highly successful books, both about himself, which are earning him millions, but whether due to their content or his rock-star status is moot. For someone aiming to run the entire United States and two wars, his résumé is notable for its absence of actually running anything to date, other than his campaign. For example, he has never run –
So with such a slim résumé, let’s have a look at policy and character issues. Like so much with Mr Obama, you have great difficulty in knowing what his policies actually would be because he keeps changing them, and sometimes they just make no sense.
But the overall point about Mr Obama’s policies, is
For answers you have to look at his overall character and behaviour. There are his notorious friends of long standing.
Of course, anyone can make a mistake by choosing a friend who turns out to be a knave. But eight of them? Swimming easily in a fetid pond of friends like these, what kind of cabinet would a President Obama appoint? As these and other embarrassing issues have come to light, the distinguishing reaction of Mr Obama and his campaign team has been denial, obfuscation, distortion and threats, aided and abetted by adoring media who resolutely refuse to investigate such matters. Here are some others -
Ladies and Gentlemen, there are simply too many ACORNs, Ayers, Rezkos, Pflegers, Wrights and so on in Mr Obama’s intimate sphere not to suggest a pattern unbecoming of a future American President. We are supposed to accept Mr Obama’s apotheosis, replete with
The presidency of the United States, embracing also the de-facto leadership of the free world, is a monumental assignment with huge implications for everyone on earth. It is, therefore, the height of irresponsibility to bestow it on an individual who has shown himself to be unqualified, untested, naïve, slippery, untrustworthy. That is why I urge you to join Mark Humphrys and me in opposing the motion. Thank you. +++++++++++++++++ At a recent meeting in Manhattan of something called Democrats for McCain, its New York State Chairman, Bartle Bull observed, with great perspicacity, that eight years of an Obama-Pelosi-Acorn administration would give America
I wish I had used these three punchy bullets in my speech ... ... as well as this video to illustrate the outrage that is Bill Ayers, one of Mr Obama's many knavish buddies.
My partner Mark remarked that it was certainly amusing to be defending the honour of the US troops while the Democrats Abroad Chair (Kate Fitzgerald) was slurring them. For of what other country do its mainstream representatives abroad attack the country and snub those few foreigners who dare to defend it? It was rather shameful that no-one from Republicans Abroad deigned to show up, despite invitations. Meanwhile, to see a true American hero, This man is a long, long way from Barack Hussein Obama.
Tax Code Explained Through Beer Suppose that every day, ten men decide to go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beers by $20 . Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.” The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share? They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’ s bill by roughly the same percentage, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:
Each of the six was better off than before and the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. “I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, “but he got $10!” “Yeah, that’s right, “exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got TEN times more than I did!” “That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!” “Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!” So the nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something very important … they didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill! And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors (and fellow-bloggers), is how a typical tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
And when Senator Obama promises “tax cuts for 95% of Americans”, despite the fact that only 65% pay federal tax, what he means is he is going to give cash gifts to the 30% who pay no tax at all and call these handouts “tax cuts”. In effect, he is going to pay them to drink beer - using the hard-earned money of actual taxpayers for his largesse. [Hat tip: Professor Shane in Dublin]
President Palin in the Oval Office So you want to know what President Sarah will be like in the Oval Office after she's shot Johnny Mac with her moose-gun? First click on this fauxto (with those fetching drapes), then after checking your speakers click all over the webpage that comes up. [Hat tip: Barry in Dublin]
Issue 184’s Comments to Cyberspace Just two cyberspace comments, pretty much ignored.
- - - - - - U S E L E C T I O N - - - - - - Quote: “Before I even get inaugurated, during the transition, we’re going to be calling all of you in to help us shape the agenda. We’re going to be having meetings all across the country with community organizations so that you have input into the agenda for the next presidency of the United States of America.” Senator Barack Obama assures members of ACORN, Quote: “No, Ma'am. He's a decent family man, a citizen.”
Oops! There goes the Arab-American vote! - - - - - -N O B E L - - - - - - Quote: “To achieve peace, one should make war.”
The unarguable conclusion of journalist
John Rosenthal, He did no such thing.
After two months of NATO bombing of Belgrade in 1999,
His “Ahtisaari Plan for the final status of Kosovo”
It's unusual for the Nobel Committee Will George Bush be next for defeating Saddam Hussein? - - - - - - C R O A T I A - - - - - - Quote: “The state is faced with an unprecedented challenge from the criminal circles. Now it is them or us ... rule of law and safety of citizens against criminals, terrorists and mafia.”
Croatian president
President Stjepan Mesic,
It's about time Croatia woke up to - - - - - - I R E L A N D - - - - - - Quote: “Other public servants in leadership and senior positions may wish to consider whether it is for them to make a similar move in current circumstances.”
After Ireland's cabinet and president voluntarily took a 10% pay
cut,
Hopefully, this disease will soon
spread to bosses in the private sector. - - - - - - A U S T R I A - - - - - - Quote: “And it is stupid to imagine that the whole world is afraid of Mr Haider. He is the leader of a 27 percent party in Austria. It's unbelievable that the whole world is afraid. Mr. Clinton is afraid of Mr. Haider?”
The late Jorg Haider,
A highly controversial figure,
Yet daring to exercise its democracy and
sovereignty,
Just as with Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon
Treaty,
A highly controversial figure, Quote: “Why do they always have to die or get caught before we find out?”
Andrew Sullivan, prolific
blogger,
After a row with him in a gay bar, - - - - - - A T H E I S M - - - - - - Quote: “A serious case could be made for a deistic God.”
Evangelical atheist Richard Dawkins
Prof Dawkins was mauled by Dr Lennox in an
earlier debate
A deistic God is one who, in essence, - - - - - - L E V I T Y - - - - - - [Mis]quote: “If Brad Pitt wants to be me for a couple days then I wouldn't mind being him. He can ride my Yamaha and I can ride his Angelina!”
Motorcyclist
Valentino Rossi, the 250cc MotoGP World Champion,
Brad Pitt, who loves the sport, had
said
For as the Gospels never said in
John 15:13,
Quote: “Sudden death during laughing just does not happen. There are very few people who die laughing.”
Dr Bill Fry, psychiatrist and professor emeritus
It apparently relieves heart attacks, stress, anger, I nearly died laughing when I heard it.
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ISSUE #183 - 5th October 2008 [512+1144==1656]
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What's going on? The global economy is apparently teetering. But why are these avowed Capitalists, red in tooth and claw, turning to Red in their politics as they use public funds to counteract the supremely rash behaviour of countless lenders and tens if not hundreds of millions of borrowers? The dead Stalin and Mao and the almost-if-not-also-dead Kim Jong Il and Castro would be proud of such nationalising attitudes. They all seem to think that without Government intervention, there will be a run on the banks, the banks will collapse, people will lose their deposits, mortgage lenders will foreclose on homes, shares and pensions will shrivel, or any combination of these outcomes. Such a disastrous scenario must, it seems, be avoided at - literally - any cost, even if it means bailing out opulent bankers and stockmarket traders who have been enjoying the fruits of the 15-year global boom. There is no guarantee that the various imaginative bailout schemes being dreamed up will avert the disaster, but it is apparently more worthwhile to do something than nothing. The one certainty is that the (unknown) cost of the rescue packages will be born by ordinary citizens for decades into the future, which means that our (unconsulted) children and probably grandchildren will have to pick up the tab through their taxes in the decades ahead.
I am an engineer not an economist so cannot pretend to know what I am talking about in this sphere, but here is how the situation and government interventions seem to me. As I understand it, we are being told that if nothing is done, banking systems will implode because millions of overstretched people (eg sub-prime mortgage-holders, over-borrowed businessmen) are unable to repay their debts.
If this were to happen, the demand for and price of almost everything would crash. Then, from a base of ultra-low costs, the economy would have to rebuild itself again. This it would undoubtedly do rapidly, since the bargain-basement costs would make almost all activities profitable, with millions of people seeking every opportunity to rebuild their finances. Ultra-low costs is not necessarily an environment that should fill everyone with fear - those with little or no money would surely welcome it. The key point of this is that today's people would be the ones who rebuild, at their own cost, the economy, rather than placing the burden of payment on future generations. Nevertheless, let's examine a little closer the horrifying components of a financial meltdown.
The point I am making is that for all the pious talk of people like Henry Paulson about saving citizens from financial collapse, painting mental pictures of soup kitchens and shoeless urchins, the demographic which is actually going to suffer is not the supposed weakest in society, the poor and the young. It is those who are comfortably off, are in their 50s, 60s, 70s with the house paid for or almost so, plenty of money in the bank, robust share portfolio, monthly pension flowing in or imminent, who rightly view with terror the prospect of losing all this featherbedding in a financial meltdown. In short the baby boomers and their ilk, a minority but a very vocal powerful minority.
And who are making all the decisions to
save the financial system? Why those self-same baby-boomers of course,
such as Messrs Paulson, Sarkozy, Brown, Cowen. They don't really care
about the poor or the young, who will continue to face high prices instead
of the windfall opportunities of a financial collapse. Or today's
children or infants yet to be born who will have to pay off the
multi-billion government debts they are running up. They only care
about themselves and their peers. In other words, baby-boomer bossess are bailing out their baby-boomer brethren.
As the ancient Romans said,
Damn It Feels Good To Be A Banker Hey, but forget everything I wrote above. Bankers are human too - or at least so I've been told. They're hurting. But while we're busy blaming them for lending money they don't have to people who can't pay, they have their own bêtes noires to blame. Consultants. This is an all-purpose term for anyone you choose to look down on. Provided you have a ready supply of Consultants to blame for life's little tribulations, damn it makes you feel good.
Click and enjoy
[Another full disclosure:
Since its creation as an independent state in 1922, Ireland has famously (and to some, disgracefully) declared itself to be neutral in all international conflicts, taking neither one side nor the other, whether it is
Happily, however, in true Orwellian tradition, whilst theoretically regarding both sides to these wars equally, in practice Ireland has always treated the democratic side as more equal than the other. Thus, for example,
But Ireland has never deployed its soldiers overseas to aid one side or another in a conflict, only to help keep the peace. Even then, only when approved, via a so-called triple-lock system, by -
This is the basis on which soldiers of the Irish Defence Force, as the army is known, have long served as peace-keepers in Lebanon and are currently in Chad to help protect Darfuri refugees. I was therefore astonished to recently learn that, in fact, Ireland is currently at war in faraway Afghanistan on the side of Nato against the Taliban, yet almost no-one seems aware. Personally, I think this is a most honourable development as the Taliban really need to be defeated and humiliated as Al Qaeda has been in Iraq, and as Tesco like to say “every little helps” (or is that “every Lidl helps”?). . A colleague, Michael Mac Guinness, wrote to the Irish Times last month to make Ireland's involvement clear to a wider audience, but to my surprise it decided not to publish. So, with his permission, I am publishing it below instead (with some hyperlinks and square bracketed clarifications inserted by me).
Ryanair At War With Its Customers Ireland is involved not just in wars overseas. There is another one being waged on the home front, by one of its foremost enterprises. Since it burst onto the international scene a decade ago with its low-cost low-fares business model, I have been a great admirer of Ryanair and its prickly, brilliant, energetic, combative, foul-mouthed CEO Michael O'Leary. His relentless battle to drive down costs was reflected in a concomitant reduction in airfares, while at the same time seizing opportunities to push them up again whenever he could. The result was an explosion in air travel within Europe due to the low fares of not only Ryanair, but those of its rivals such as EasyJet, and indeed of stodgy national carriers such as BA, Aer Lingus, Iberia who were forced to slash their own bloated costs in order to compete. Cheap travel in turn stimulated the local economy and jobs prospects at any destination that Ryanair or Easyjet chose to fly to, in terms of hotels, restaurants and other amenities that cater to visitors. It also led to property booms (nowadays a dirty word) as foreigners flocked in to buy up holiday and investment homes, and at the same time made it easier for workers to travel around Europe seeking employment. It is hard to underestimate the good these low-cost airlines and their national competitors have done, and continue to do, in terms of wealth creation and distribution. At the same time, everyone nowadays hates Ryanair, even as its flights remain full. Up to now, however, I have been a great admirer of both the airline and its boss; indeed only two months ago I wrote in approving terms about their rude crude advertising (“Ryanair Finger”). But though its primary achievement of flying from A to B without crashing remains unsullied, I have now, following recent experiences, switched sides to join the growing ranks of haters. Though my list of complaints will be familiar to all its passengers, here are some of them.
In short, Ryanair is waging war against its customers, and for no discernible reason. There is no other explanation for its belligerent behaviour as led from the top. This surely cannot be a sustainable, healthy, long-term strategy. That is why I have now joined the many thousands who are prepared to pay extra simply to avoid Ryanair and will seek opportunities to damage its business. I hope this moaning post contributes in this regard.
Villa Borghese- Restaurant Review Villa Borghese means, of course, House of Borghese, referring to the powerful, scheming, ruthless Borghese family that virtually ruled Italy, Rome and the Vatican from the 13th to the 17th century, numbering among its serried ranks counts, princes, generals, senators, cardinals and of course Pope Paul V, with untold wealth expressed in land, buildings, businesses, art, gold and jewels. Villa Borghese thus denotes not just the opulent mansion in Rome where they all used to hang out, but the dynasty itself, which incidentally is still going strong though not so rich. The Villa Borghese I am talking about, however, has nothing to do with any of this other than in name. It is a
charming Spanish/Italian family-run restaurant,
with Dad (who looks like Van Morrison), Mum and a grown-up son up in front
taking care of the customers with most unRyanairlike solicitude. As the photo
shows, it nestles just in from the Costa Blanca beach, in the
I was there last month with a group of old friends trying to catch a little late sun after a disastrous summer in Ireland, notable mainly for its complete absence of Al Gore's promised global warming. In cosy surroundings, the eight of us did our best to do justice to the menu, having skipped lunch to help work up an appetite. This was a merge of Italian and Spanish in beautiful surroundings. Lobster, herrings, prawns, dorado, rabbit and salmon all lost their lives in their noble quest to satisfy us. Our starters comprised, variously, lobster bisque (yummy), what looked - and apparently tasted - like rollmop herrings from the north of England (ie nothing but vinegar) and succulent scampi fried in breadcumbs with their tails sticking out, which I was told were to die for. Seven out of eight, then. This was followed by garlic prawns, dorado a la plancha, rabbit in a tomato sauce, salmon en papillon (ie in a pastry case) and osso bucco.
Dorado is the name given, in different parts of the world, to several different fish, large and small. I used to catch them offshore Muscat (Oman) - great thumping brutes of 15 kg and upwards thrashing around with their magnificent golden skins glinting in the sun. But that was a version of dorado elsewhere called dolfino, though they have nothing to do with dolphins. In Spain a dorado is something much humbler, a smallish sea-bream raised in offshore farms you can occasionally spot a few miles from the coast. It is a delightful white fish to eat. The one served in Villa Borghese, lightly grilled to perfection, skin gently charred and sprinkled with olive oil and sea-salt, was sublime. The rabbit, served in the powerful yet sweet tomato jus it had been cooked in, was very popular, despite the bones, although I suspect some diners thought they had ordered - and were eating - chicken. Osso bucco is one of my favourite Italian dishes and did not disappoint. It comprises a cross-section of a cow’s lower shin, about three centimetres thick by fifteen centimetres in diameter. The meat is slow cooked for several hours, typically in a tomato-based sauce, until you can cut it with a fork. Mouth-watering as the meat is, however, it is really only the vehicle for the dish’s distinguishing feature. This is the bone itself, or more particularly the marrow embedded in its two centimetre wide core, the eponymous “bucco” (hole). Some people, of course, throw up at the mere thought of eating bone marrow (no doubt thinking of all those hospital stories about painful bone marrow transplants to cure leukaemia). But for those of sterner stuff, there is no sweeter meat and on this occasion, Villa Borghese certainly stepped up to the mark. Outstanding. Then there was the Salmon encased in its pastry. Such a simple dish, for which the golden rule - as with all fish - is don't overcook it. It's actually harder to wreck fish by overcooking it than it is to cook it properly. This one had been the in oven far too long and was reduced to a dried-up something. A big disappointment. But taking the main dishes as a whole, seven wonderful plates out of eight is a pretty good record. Few of us could face desert so only a dame blanche (whipped cream and hot chocolate sauce poured over vanilla ice cream) and a chocolate ice cream emerged from the kitchen along with several spoons. You can't go wrong with ice cream so that gets a 100%. Since we had ordered a people-carrier taxi to take us home, we polished off a few beers, some fizzy water, several bottles of wonderful local red and white wines and complimentary house-speciality limoncello liqueurs, before rolling out of the restaurant. The total bill for the eight of us came to €270 including tip. For the wonderful evening we had, it was worth every penny, except perhaps for the unfortunates who had ordered the rollmop and salmon. Total score has to be seven out of eight, ie 88%. Next time, I want to pig out on their tempting pastas, which I saw being ferried in great steaming piles to other tables. You can find Villa Borghese at
I'll add GPS co-ordinates if I can find them. 21 Oct 08:
Issue 183’s Comment to Cyberspace Just one little comment this time.
- - - - - - - U S E L E C T I O N - - - - - - - Quote: “Why [are you (the Iraqi Government)] not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington? ... Congress should be involved in negotiations on the status of US troops.”
Senator Obama, in a private meeting in Baghdad
in July 2008
Mr Obama clearly fears that an agreement
Moreover, Congress has, constitutionally, no
direct role in foreign affairs,
Mr Obama's remarks would make him
a
criminal felon under Quote: “Your plan [for an unconditional withdrawal timeline] is a white flag of surrender in Iraq and that's not what our troops need to hear.”
Sarah Palin puts down Joe Biden
The Obama/Biden team wants to
“end”
the war; Quote: “She's friends with all the teenage boys. You have to say no when your kids go, ‘Can we sleep over the Palin's?’ ... ‘No!, No!’”
Radio talk-show hostess Randi Rhodes makes
overt insinuations, Quote: “With regard to the American elections, it appears that Obama's Biden his time while McCain's Palin into insignificance.” Correspondent Kevin McDonnell in the Irish Times - - - - - - - L I S B O N T R E A T Y - - - - - - - Quote: “Although I voted to ratify Lisbon in the French parliament, I was never enthusiastic about the treaty because it was too long and complicated to be understood. I don't find the body and soul of the Europe I love in it. It's the death of inspiration ... I'm not weeping over Lisbon.”
François Bayrou, France's centrist leader
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to Tallrite Blog As always, “ill-informed and objectionable” - Comment by an anonymous reader |
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**Late Note
(January 2013)
Now, for a little [Light Relief]
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Gift Idea |
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Good to report that as at
FREED AT LAST, |
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BLOGROLL
Atlantic Blog (defunct) Blog-Irish (defunct)
Jihad
Religion
Iona Institute
Leisure
Blog Directory
My Columns in the
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What I've recently
But it's not
entirely honest in its subtle pro-Palestinian bias, and therefore needs
to be read in conjunction with an antidote, such as See detailed review +++++
BP's ambitious CEO John Browne expanded it through adventurous acquisitions, aggressive offshore exploration, and relentless cost-reduction that trumped everything else, even safety and long-term technical sustainability. Thus mistakes accumulated, leading to terrifying and deadly accidents in refineries, pipelines and offshore operations, and business disaster in Russia. The Macondo blowout was but an inevitable outcome of a BP culture that had become poisonous and incompetent. However the book is gravely compromised by a litany of over 40 technical and stupid errors that display the author's ignorance and carelessness. It would be better to wait for the second (properly edited) edition before buying. As for BP, only a wholesale rebuilding of a new, professional, ethical culture will prevent further such tragedies and the eventual destruction of a once mighty corporation with a long and generally honourable history. Note: I wrote
my own reports on Macondo +++++
A horrific account of:
More details on my blog here. +++++
After recounting a childhood of convention and simple pleasures in working-class Aberdeen, Mr Urquhart is conscripted within days of Chamberlain declaring war on Germany in 1939. From then until the Japanese are deservedly nuked into surrendering six years later, Mr Urquhart’s tale is one of first discomfort but then following the fall of Singapore of ever-increasing, unmitigated horror. After a wretched journey Eastward, he finds himself part of Singapore’s big but useless garrison. Taken prisoner when Singapore falls in 1941, he is, successively,
Chronically ill, distraught and traumatised on return to Aberdeen yet disdained by the British Army, he slowly reconstructs a life. Only in his late 80s is he able finally to recount his dreadful experiences in this unputdownable book. There are very few first-person eye-witness accounts of the the horrors of Japanese brutality during WW2. As such this book is an invaluable historical document. +++++
This is a rattling good tale of the web of corruption within which the American president and his cronies operate. It's written by blogger Michele Malkin who, because she's both a woman and half-Asian, is curiously immune to the charges of racism and sexism this book would provoke if written by a typical Republican WASP. With 75 page of notes to back up - in best blogger tradition - every shocking and in most cases money-grubbing allegation, she excoriates one Obama crony after another, starting with the incumbent himself and his equally tricky wife. Joe Biden, Rahm Emmanuel, Valerie Jarett, Tim Geithner, Lawrence Summers, Steven Rattner, both Clintons, Chris Dodd: they all star as crooks in this venomous but credible book. ACORN, Mr Obama's favourite community organising outfit, is also exposed for the crooked vote-rigging machine it is. +++++
It is really just a collation of amusing little tales about surprising human (and occasionally animal) behaviour and situations. For example:
The book has no real message other than don't be surprised how humans sometimes behave and try to look for simple rather than complex solutions. And with a final anecdote (monkeys, cash and sex), the book suddenly just stops dead in its tracks. Weird. ++++++
It's chapters are organised around provocative questions such as
It's central thesis is that economic development continues to be impeded in different countries for different historical reasons, even when the original rationale for those impediments no longer obtains. For instance:
The author writes in a very chatty, light-hearted matter which makes the book easy to digest. However it would benefit from a few charts to illustrate some of the many quantitative points put forward, as well as sub-chaptering every few pages to provide natural break-points for the reader. +++++
The author was a member of Britain's V Force, a forerunner of the SAS. Its remit was to harass Japanese lines of command, patrol their occupied territory, carryout sabotage and provide intelligence, with the overall objective of keeping the enemy out of India. Irwin is admirably yet brutally frank, in his descriptions of deathly battles with the Japs, his execution of a prisoner, dodging falling bags of rice dropped by the RAF, or collapsing in floods of tears through accumulated stress, fear and loneliness. He also provides some fascinating insights into the mentality of Japanese soldiery and why it failed against the flexibility and devolved authority of the British. The book amounts to a very human and exhilarating tale. Oh, and Irwin describes the death in 1943 of his colleague my uncle, Major PF Brennan. +++++ Other books here |
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After
48
crackling, compelling, captivating games, the new World Champions are,
deservedly,
England get the Silver,
No-one can argue with
Over the competition, |
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