The Greatest Story Ever Told

It's Sunday. It's late. Enjoy...

Economics is Fun - Specialisation

After Budget week, let's let Madsen Pirie entertain us:

Economics is Fun - Price

More Madsen Pirie...

Economics is Fun - Value

Loving Madsen Pirie:

Another Prick in Whitehall

It's Sunday. I've had two small children around my ankles all day. Light relief as I can't be assed to write anything:

Limp Biscuit is a Knob

And to think, people used to take him seriously...

Just a Coincidence...

...that the latest batch of Parliamentary expenses were released at 0600 hrs this morning, the morning after the Pre-Budget Report. No plan there at all. Just a coincidence.

Loving This...

The Weirdness of Fast Moving Politics

The global recession continues apace. UK job losses pile up. Record numbers of business failures. UK national debt balloons. The Bank of England's printing presses are running at full speed.

Obama shakes the geopolitical tree on his Middle East tour. War rages in Afghanistan. Iraq stumbles towards peace. Iran's still sabre rattling.

The UK Government is in turmoil. Ministers resigning everywhere. Open NuLab internecine warfare. Dire election results tumbling in. PM in mid cabinet reshuffle.

And what does the No 10 website tell us today?

Home page - Government to move forward on constitutional renewal

News page - PM marks anniversary of fall of Polish communism

Is the website team off sick? Have they been reshuffled too?

Wednesday Games - Game 2

If as an MP you have been shamed into retiring at the next election because you have been exposed for (a) fraudulently using taxpayer's cash to benefit yourself, or (b) unethical behaviour by working the system for your personal benefit or (c) gilding your home with luxury accoutrement's paid for by the taxpayer, do you get:

Option 1 - Thrown out of office and prosecuted

or

Option 2 - Salary and allowances of around £250k pa to spend as you like until the next election, about another £100k in loss of office allowances, the most generous public sector final salary pension scheme ever, to keep the profit on the 2nd property the taxpayer kindly bought for you, and membership of the Association of Former MPs, giving you a Commons pass (which no doubt will help in your new role as a commercial lobbyist).

Did you guess right?

Wednesday Games - Game 1

Who might gain from Gordy being ousted post the disastrous Euro/local election?

Option 1 - Any likely successor, who would take on the absolute fag end of this Parliament and then face certain death in a few months in a General Election

or

Option 2 - The media who would be guaranteed acres of coverage for months

Hmmm. I wonder who is stoking this story?

Selected Reagan Quotes

Whilst UK politics is down in the gutter, here are a few truisms from the great man for light relief. Some are highly relevant to this Easter's shenanigans.

'Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose.'

'The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'

'The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.'

'Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.'

'I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.'

'The taxpayer: that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.'

'Government is like a baby: an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.'

'The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.'

'It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.'

'Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: if it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.'

'Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.'

'No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.'

'If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.’

Norman Tebbit Shocker...or is it!

I'm not sure what shocked me more in this article about Norman 'Mad Dog' Tebbit allegedly signing up as a non-exec of a lobbying company. Was it:

a. This: "Zeitgeist founder Steve Prail told PRWeek: ‘We’re delighted to have Norman on board. Few people are better connected to the Conservative leadership".

b. This: "It is understood that Prail and Lofo begun talks with Tebbit after meeting at Annabel’s, the exclusive nightclub in Berkeley Square, which is said to be a favourite haunt of Tebbit’s. The two lobbyists were introduced by former Labour cabinet minister David Blunkett - a close personal friend of Tebbit..."We were in our booth with David and a mystery blonde when Norman wandered over with Andy Coulson [Tory communications director]. We sealed the deal there and then."

c. Or this: "Prail said that Tebbit would introduce his clients to key members of the shadow cabinet. He specifically referred to the ‘key influencers’ who will draw up the Tory manifesto, notably the shadow schools secretary Michael Gove and the chairman of the policy review, Oliver Letwin."

Until I remembered that it was April Fool's Day.

Things Making Me Smile

Becoming a Parent - Shortly to be a parent for the first time with two small ladies inbound. Very, very excited.

France Rejoining NATO - Loving Mr Sarko. Keep it up you cheese eating surrender monkey.

England rugby - Thrashed France last week by finally showing hard graft and discipline. Please, please, please keep it up today.

F1 season only one week away - Wahooooooooo! And the Beeb have reinstated Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain'. Does life get any better than this?

Political Straight Talk

TB Bechtel, a City Councillor from Newcastle, New South Wales in Australia, was asked on a local live radio talk show, just what he thought about the allegations of torture of suspected terrorists. His reply prompted his ejection from the studio, but to thunderous applause from the audience.

“If hooking up a terrorist prisoner's nuts to a car's battery cables will save just one Australian life, then I have just three things to say:

“Red is positive, black is negative, and make sure his nuts are wet.”

Weekend Juggling

It's the weekend. And I like juggling. Enjoy.