Demonology

On Thursday evening my internet connection had broken down almost completely. Every site would partially load but never quite finish. It was just about impossible to do any meaningful surfing! How on earth did we cope in the old days?

At first I thought that my new iMac was at fault - and I hadn't even received the credit card bill...

Then I connected the old iMac. Just the same. My Advent 4211 notebook (Windows XP system) showed identical symptoms when connected to the router. Time to phone Demon, but as we all know getting through to a call centre is easier said than done.

After several attempts and after developing a hatred for the same canned music I reached for the nuclear button so to speak. I called the main switchboard and asked to be put through to the Chairman of Cable and Wireless, Demon's parent company. In the past this tactic had worked with Southern Electric, BT and American Airlines. Cutting a long story short I was eventually called by a tech guy. He was extremely competent and eventually diagnosed the likely cause. My router wasn't designed for the Demon system upgrade that had happened on the very day that things had gone haywire. As advised I then logged onto Demon's website and ordered a free updated router which should arrive in a few days.

But here's a strange thing. More or less immediately afterwards I made one more attempt to connect to the web. Everything worked - and at probably double the previous speed.

The question is:

Is this because I signed up for another year when ordering the new router?

Or, is this because I phoned the Chairman's office?

Or, is it because I told the tech guy in Bangalore that I was about to order a curry?

Him and Her

P1010421
Originally uploaded by David Farrer

Firsts among equals

According to the Sunday Times:

External examiners will be given the power to force universities to lower the grades they award students in England but not in Scotland under plans to address concerns over falling standards in higher education.

David Willetts, the shadow universities minister, said a Conservative government would act in response to fears that degrees are being devalued, but the SNP has no plans to introduce similar measures.

Are the fears of Mr Willetts justified?

I think so. I don't believe for a moment that university (and school) standards are rising as claimed. What we see here is a producer class (that word again) manipulating the statistics to serve its own interests. The solution is to put power in the hands of the consumers of education. All universities should be privatised, as should all schools. If education is to be subsidised by the taxpayer, not that it should of course, let it be by means of vouchers. It's essential to get the state out of the production of education.

We'd then see just how much one of Mr Willetts' own bizarre proposals would be worth in the real world:

As well as being awarded a degree classification, students would also be given an achievement report, listing strengths and weaknesses in particular modules, qualities relating to project work, presentations, group work, dissertations and timed examinations. It could also include details of extracurricular activities, volunteering, work experience and professional recognition.

An "achievement report" produced by the current education establishment would almost certainly include compulsory Gaia-worship and render almost all students unemployable for life.

Light blogging again

I'm probably just about the only UK blogger to have more-or-less ignored the recent fun. One reason is that although I'm now supposedly semi-retired I seem to get ever more work to do. Perhaps I should just assume that all my extra savings will be inflated away and not bother with the additional work.

But there's another reason for the light blogging.

At the end of the day what matters is the underlying political culture and not which particular bunch of corrupt politicians holds power at any given time. The best thing about recent events is the widespread realisation that there is a distinct political class. That's to say a group that derives its wealth through the political process and not through the voluntary interactions of the market.

As far as Scotland is concerned it seems clear that the political class is at least as well ensconced here as anywhere else.

So here's a modest proposal that would give Scotland an economic advantage.

The UK has a terrible reputation as the home of libel tourism:

American politicians are pushing through free speech laws to protect US citizens from libel rulings in British courts that have been accused of stifling criticism of oligarchs and dictators.

And this is how America is fighting back:

Congress is also considering a bill that will allow defendants of foreign libel suits to counter-sue for up to three times the damages sought by a claimant if their right to free speech, enshrined in the First Amendment, has been violated.

But look at this comment from Jacqueline Hyde:

I think, Mr Watts, you mean "English" courts - not "British"!

Pursuers must always establish that a Scottish court has jurisdiction as an essential part of any litigation - and usually this entails proving that the defender has a place of residence or business within that court's jurisdiction.

Jacqueline Hyde, Inverness,

So to some extent this appears to be more of an English problem than a British one.

Good.

I'd like the Scottish parliament to build on this. Let Scots law become more friendly to the interests of the people and less so to those of the political class and its wealthy friends. The ultimate aim is to get rid of the political class altogether. The first country to achieve that will lead the world in happiness and prosperity.

Where I was yesterday

Here: Perth Airshow

DSC_1383
Originally uploaded by David Farrer

Quiet election

Normally during Scottish election campaigns there are political placards on almost every city lamppost. It was only today that I realised that I hadn't seen any until now when I noticed a few Lib Dem ones in Trinity and Leith.

The Greens had quite a few in the Southside, especially on the road through the Meadows. I also spotted one Jury Team billboard on the way back from Fort Kinnaird and that was it. Nothing at all from Labour, Conservative or SNP.

DSC_1320
Originally uploaded by David Farrer

Other Leith photos are here.

Scottish Enterprise

The chief executive is leaving.

Bill Jamieson asks:

...1970s throwback whose time has gone – we just don't need it any more

NOW that Scottish Enterprise has been buttoned up, clipped, shorn, shaken and slimmed down, quite what is the point of keeping it at all?

None at all. Scotland suffers from too much socialism, including that of the corporatist variety. Abolish SE and use the money to cut business taxes.

The state of education

Adam Ramsay is the President of Edinburgh University Students' Association. He has an article in today's Scotsman although it's behind the subscription wall. However, I have the dead tree version.

Mr Ramsay is complaining about cuts in language teaching at Strathclyde and Edinburgh.

He writes:

For 30 years, we have sheltered under the umbrella of speaking the same language as the world's only super power. We have based our economy on an American model of deregulation. We depended on the idea that everyone else would speak English.

What's that about deregulation? How many of Mr Ramsay's fellow students know that a certain George W Bush increased regulation?

Under Bush, the regulators have added more pages of rules than any administration ever. The cost of regulation has gone up more under Bush than any president before. And yet, because of the bad media coverage and assumptions about Republicans, people think it was laissez-faire.

So let's get it straight: we in the Anglosphere have been getting more regulations on business, not less.

Then Mr Ramsay suggests that China will become the next dominant economic power. He may well be correct - if, that is, China continues with its recent policies of deregulation. If future Scots have to learn Chinese it will because we over here will have abandoned economic freedom, not because we have embraced it.

Then Mr Ramsay tells us not to "cut spending" or else we wont be able to "kick-start our economy". "Our" economy, Mr Ramsay? Speak for yourself Comrade Keynes. My economy is being devastated by having to pay for an out-of-control public sector, including education. This public sector largesse has bankrupted the country. We either stop it now with massive cutbacks or our creditors will impose even larger cuts on us. It is deeply depressing to think that today's student leaders are utterly unconnected with economic reality. When insolvency strikes, it won't matter what languages we speak.

Send Flipper to Edinburgh Zoo

I'll have the opportunity to help remove Alistair Darling from Parliament whenever the election comes along. Yes, he's my MP and,unlike him I don't get taxpayer-funded tax advice. In fact I was up late last night doing my own return.

It looks like my fellow constituents will deal with the Chancellor when the time comes:

ALISTAIR Darling will be voted out by his constituents at the next general election over the expenses scandal if he is not deselected first, a senior Labour source has claimed.

The warning came as the Chancellor's expenses claims came under scrutiny for a second time yesterday with the revelation he claimed back £1,400 of public money for an accountant to complete his tax returns.

Mr Darling has previously been revealed to have "flipped" his second home four times in four years.

In these enlightened times shouldn't we have a few examples of humankind in our zoos? I can think of quite a few candidates.

Have I brought down the British government?

Until recently I held three investments in gilts. Back on 18th March I was sent the usual reminder telling me of the impending maturity of one of these investments. They ask whether you want to reinvest in another gilt and if you don't reply the money is sent back. I ignored the letter and got the cash back on Tuesday and just managed to deposit the cheque a few minutes before my bank closed yesterday afternoon. Now I see that UK government debt has been downgraded.

Serves them right. A year ago I would have reinvested in another index-linked government security. Now I don't trust them. Murray Rothbard used to say that libertarians shouldn't lend to the government. His wishes are coming true.

Show us the cash

People are apparently reluctant to move to a cashless society:

The long-term psychological impact of the recent financial crisis will mean people will continue to rely on tangible notes and coins, according to the study which was carried out for ATM operator Bank Machine

Notes and coins may be "tangible", but what's really required is a regime of monetary choice. Not the current quaint Scottish system of three note issuers that merely give us differently designed sterling notes. We need to go back to free banking, in which each bank has its notes valued by the market.

Now, which would you prefer? A Royal Bank note that perhaps shows a picture of the chief executive's wallpaper. A Bank of Scotland note depicting one of their branches as designed by a five-year-old. A Clydesdale note that has a drawing of Robert the Bruce. Or a Freedom and Whisky note that's 100% backed by gold.

Actually, a Bank of England note depicting the Queen chopping off Michael Martin's head would be worth its weight in gold...

Test

Testing new computer

MP in Italian second home shock

Claimed for gondola fares...

First!

I see that the Libertarian Party is making its electoral debut.

The candidate in Wisbech South is Andrew Hunt.

I note that some of Guido's friends were imprisoned in Wisbech...

Is this the libertarian hour?

We libertarians believe that the state should be reduced in size and that its only legitimate function is that of protecting us against aggressors. Or even that the state isn't necessary at all and that all of its current functions should be privatised, or, perhaps more correctly, transferred to civil society.

The current brouhaha over MPs' expenses is wonderful. If only Chris Tame (a founder of the Libertarian Alliance) had been around to see these events.

But surely the British public, while being rightly angry about MPs' outrageous expense claims, still believes in the big state, does it not?.

For the first time that I can remember the answer may be no.

YouGov asked what people would like to see done about the government’s record borrowing and soaring debt. There was strong backing for the strategy adopted by the Canadian government in the 1990s, when it cut public spending by a fifth over four years; 54% said they would back such a policy and only 22% were opposed. A majority of Labour supporters backed this policy.

Overall, respondents said the burden of reducing government debt should come mainly through cuts in public spending rather than tax rises. Only 7% favoured a policy of solely raising taxes to close the black hole in the public finances.

Most Labour voters want a twenty per-cent cut in government spending! So what are we waiting for? When will "Call me Dave" acknowledge that Labour voters are correct? What about the Liberals (sic) and the SNP?

What do we want?

Cuts.

When do we want them?

Now!

Two bogs

When I saw this headline I immediately thought of John Prescott...

Hayek's birthday

Friedrich Hayek was born 110 years ago.

Here is what I once wrote about the story of the Hayek poster shown below:

The Evertonian threat

Here we go again. Or rather, here they go:

The Government is demanding a radical overhaul of English football finances to break the domination of the “big four” clubs.

Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, is calling for Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool to share their winnings in Europe with other Premier League teams.

I actually think that sharing the wealth among the different teams is a good idea. Something like that happens in American professional sports. I believe that the lower teams get the pick of the best new players next season thus enhancing the likelihood of each team's winning. If only four of the top twenty clubs ever win anything, the whole sports "product" becomes devalued. And it's even worse here in Scotland.

What's wrong with this news is that it's the government that's making the proposal. The only proper function of government is the protection of the population against aggressors and nothing else. If the various sporting governing bodies can't organise their product efficiently, so be it. Our taxes shouldn't be used to "help" out.

No bailouts!

I was at a dinner last night attended by members of the great and the good. No names: Chatham House Rule and all that.

It can be revealed that a sizable number of the attendees think that the banks shouldn't have been bailed out.

I agree.

Spring-cleaning Day

Lots of people think that the one job that local councils should do is the basic one of cleaning the streets and collecting the rubbish. So why do we need this? Because the councils waste too much money on other things.

On the way home today I saw these folk at work:

More photos here.

Time for a new Job?

I'm not actually looking but couldn't help noticing some items in today's Sunday Times Appointments Section.

First I saw that the Wales Millennium Centre is "now seeking a new chair". Why is that in the jobs section? Should I direct them to IKEA?

And then there's this: Natural England needs a chair too. And the new "Director of the English Beef and Lamb Sector" will need to "support the Chair". Is it shoogly? Shouldn't he be milking the cows and shearing the sheep?

Then I could be working for Peter Mandelson as a "Non-Executive Member of the Council of the Competition Commission". Why not just scrap most government activities? That'll do wonders for competition.

If anyone's interested in drugs, perhaps the position of "Director for Wales of the Royal Pharmaceutical Council of Great Britain" may suit. Or if you don't fancy Wales (or the sheep) how about "Chief Executive of the Future of Pharmacy Professional Regulation"?

I like trains and am rather tempted by the job of "Managing Director of London Underground". Cleverly, they require someone with a "track record". No mention of a travel pass though ...

On balance I 'll settle for "Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge".

The University "values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity".

Good, I'll be moving the Vice-Chancellor's office to the public bar of the Queen's Head.

Celtic tiger de-clawed

Is Ireland a good example for a future independent Scotland?

Perhaps not. See here.

I walked past Bute House yesterday and wonder if they were thinking along these lines for Scotland:

The Irish economy rests on the precipice of devastation. Government interventionism has left Ireland with little room to maneuver in this difficult economic climate. The answer to Ireland's economic woes is not further government intervention in the economy, but a return to economic liberalism, small government, and sound monetary policy. Ireland needs to look closely at Austrian economic theory and take a step back from the dissolving, failed Keynesian model. Ireland needs to return to a firm base: it must eliminate, or at the very least curtail, its leviathan public sector; it must bring inflation under control through responsible monetary and fiscal policy; and it must cut down government economic controls in order to bring lasting stability to its economy.

Not even RBS is this desperate...

Hello Dear,

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Contact them immediately and forward them your information to enable them sends you the money.

This is the information they need to deliver your fund to you.
ATTN: Mr. Bright Edmond
TEl: : +44-70-35-98-11-37 EMAIL: brightedmond.r.b.s.l@live.fr

Please, Send them your contacts information to able them Transfer your money immediately. This is what they need from you.

1. YOUR FULL NAME
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4. YOUR CURRENT OFFICE TELEPHONE.
5. YOUR BANK ACCOUNT INFORMTION
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Please make sure you send this needed information’s to the Remittance Director Royal Bank of Scotland London .

Thanks and Remain Blessed.
Desmond Dukor.

Now on Twitter

See here.