Several notable items appeared during the first debate between the Presidential Candidates.
Where Will Putin Strike Next?
Under Vladimir Putin, Russia has become more assertive, trying to regain its status as a superpower.
Every time Russia has made a strike, it seems that the West was caught completely by surprise. Clearly, the Western intelligence services (CIA, CSIS, MI6, Surete) have failed spectacularly.
In view of the failure of the Western intelligence services, I shall try to help them by identifying a couple of probable targets for Putin’s next strike.
Taxing the Multinationals
Recently, the EU has ruled that Apple owes Ireland €13 billion in back taxes. The CEO of Apple reacted with the sort of indignation only an American can achieve when dealing with non-Americans. Columnists tended to side with Apple on the basis of their ideological biases.
Yet the central issue of taxing corporations is that globalisation and the rise of mega-corporations has not been mirrored by a rise in inter-governmental co-operation. Only such co-operation can deal with the problems.
The Hypocrisy of Angela Merkel
The chief reason the British voted to leave the EU was the issue of immigration. Before the vote, David Cameron (Britain’s Prime Minister) “re-negotiated” the relationship of Britain with the rest of the EU. However, he was unable to get any concessions on EU immigration because it is one of the “four freedoms” which is central to the EU.
Could there be a conspiracy at work?
Climate Change – The Intellectual Dishonesty of the Climate Alarmists
It is frequently quoted, that the “Science is Settled” when it comes to climate change. However, the nature of science is that it is never really settled – with good science, each question that is answered leads to three or more new questions. It is perhaps more accurate to say “the Politics is Settled”. As skeptics ruefully acknowledge, they may be winning the skirmishes, but the alarmists are winning the war.
Some examples of intellectual dishonesty from the climate change propagandists are:
- Changing the name from “anthropogenic global warming” (AGW) to “climate change”
- Cherry picking weather events as evidence of AGW
- Changing criteria for claims of global warming
- Predictions that don’t materialize swept under the carpet
- Computer models used for predictions which don’t match the historical data
- Using animal population changes as evidence of global warming
With Climate Change, there are four related, but separate questions, each of which will be addressed in future blogs:
- Is the earth’s temperature rising?
- Is the change in temperature man-made?
- Are the consequences of climate change harmful to humanity?
- What should be done to avoid ill-effects?
The “dishonesty” claimed in the title is clear in the climate change propagandists rather than the scientists. The propagandists include:
- the media
- celebrities
- politicians
- “environmentalists”
Continue reading “Climate Change – The Intellectual Dishonesty of the Climate Alarmists”
Is Boris Johnson’s Optimism about London’s Financial Centre Justified?
In his first trip to the US, Boris Johnson, Britain’s new Foreign Minister and a leader in the Brexit campaign, claimed that UK financial firms will keep EU ‘passporting’, which allows banks to sell their services to clients across the EU. He claimed that the “City” (as London Financial district is called) offers the deepest pools of liquidity, talent and skill for the capital formation needs of businesses across Europe (Julian Ambrose, in Daily Telegraph, July 23rd).
The “talent and skill” is crucial. As someone who was brought up in the UK, I cannot shake the suspicion that, for every financial whizz-kid in the City, there are ten upper-class twits (good example of an upper-class twit – John Cleese in the Monty Python sketch “The Ministry of Silly Walks”).
Is Johnson’s optimism justified? Several reasons suggest that it is not: Continue reading “Is Boris Johnson’s Optimism about London’s Financial Centre Justified?”
Not all “One-Percenters” are Equal
There has been much talk of the top “one percent”. It makes for great slogans, but putting the top 1% (whether by income or by wealth) into a single group is an over-simplification. When hearing about the “one-percent”, most people immediately think of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Carlos Slim. However, in a recent article about US millionaires, the Economist stated that the average millionaire drives a Ford. This apparent contradiction needs to be resolved.
Within the “one-percent” there is a distribution of incomes/wealth which approximates to a log-normal distribution i.e. increasingly fewer members the higher up the scale you go.
In fact, the top 1% can be divided into six distinct groups. Based on wealth, over and above their principal residence, these are: Continue reading “Not all “One-Percenters” are Equal”
Understanding Jeremy Corbyn
For those who do not follow British politics, Jeremy Corbyn is the leader of the Labour Party and, as such, is the leader of the opposition in the British parliament.
Jeremy Corbyn has had a difficult start as leader of the Labour Party. He has floundered on a number of issues such as anti Semitism in the Labour Party and more recently, his support for Britain remaining in the European Union (EU) has been weak and lukewarm, even though the party is strongly pro-remaining in the EU.
The key to understanding Jeremy is his academic record. At A-levels (equivalent of Grade 12 exams) it is normal to take three subjects. Corbyn passed two with E grades[which is the lowest pass mark] and presumably failed the third. He then went to the North London Polytechnic college to take Trade Union studies and flunked out after one year. This shows that Corbyn has limited intelligence, certainly lower than the intelligence required the lead the opposition in parliament, or potentially to be a future Prime Minister. Continue reading “Understanding Jeremy Corbyn”
INTRODUCTION
I am starting this blog because I believe I have insights, views and opinions which are not expressed elsewhere, whether in the media or by other commentators. My main items of interest are:
- Climate change
- Current events
- Economics
- Canadian Issues
Future topics on this blog include:
- Does Brexit doom London as a Financial Centre?
- Understanding Jeremy Corbyn
- Where will Putin strike next?
- What does the data say about global warming?
- The elites in the West are under attack – what are the issues they are not addressing?
The following describes my attitudes and credentials on the main topics: Continue reading “INTRODUCTION”