On Jul 2, 4:19*pm, allantracy wrote:
Friedmanite dogma is a good example of Einstein's statement that
insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a
different result.

Err... wasn't it Friedmanite insanity that built our railway network,
in the first place, and wasn't it Stalinist insanity, as applied to
the burgeoning road network, that did so much to undermine the
finances of some otherwise very sound private railway operations?

Coming from a hard-line marxist the poster's remark is particularly
appropriate. Everywhere his philosophy has taken power, death and
misery have followed (Russia, the PRC, Cambodia, North Korea, etc.,
etc.).

Perhaps the greatest example of the difference between socialism and
freedom is the Korean Peninsula. North of the DMZ is a giant
concentration camp. There the people are forced to fawn over their
incompetent "leader". Their years pass in hunger and missery.

To the south of the DMZ there flourishes a modern nation. The people
there enjoy freedom and increasing prosperity. Periodically they
elect their leaders. Their goods are a byword for quality around the
world.

Friedman vs. marx, wow that is a hard choice.

On Jul 2, 4:29*pm, allantracy wrote:
Yes, it is just as believable as Harold Wilson & co. saying they will
halt the Beeching closures. But as for the EU - sooner or later, we will
get a UK government that will tell EU precisely what to do with their
policies. A lot of people are getting fed up with EU meddling in what
they consider to be matters for our own government.

Possibly, as early as the next election if news reports today are to
be believed.

However, even if we came out, it’s still highly likely that we would
remain members of the single market, a basic condition of membership
being that we could not engage in the protectionism of closing off any
of our markets, such as railway franchises, to other members of the
single market.

That day cannot come soon enough. Although whether our former trading
partners in the Commonwealth will want to renew trade with the UK
remains to be seen.

On Jul 2, 4:55*pm, allantracy wrote:
So on the basis of your argument, David Cameron must also be setting
himself (and the country) up for a great big fall. * ;-)

Isn't he?

Possibly, though quite how you fall out of a hole, you're clearly
already in, remains to be seen.

I’ve always believed that, provided David can keep his hands off the
nukes, he won’t have to deliver a great deal to be considered a
considerable improvement on what had come before.

It would not be hard to improve on "tax and spend" Brown. However,
that is still a long way from good, small, government.

On Jul 2, 7:32*pm, allantracy wrote:
Labour backs plans to return railway network to public control

Labour has, by now, a long record of opposing Tory reforms, in
opposition, around the public sector and then failing to do a single
thing about them when, or if, returned to office.

They just play the political game.

Thanks to their union ties, the Labour party is the real conservative
party nowadays in this country, having failed to produce any real
radical changes of any consequence for years.

Your joking. The UK has forgotten what Conservatism is.

Apart from completely f**king up the nation’s finances the only thing
I can think of the last lot did that you can now, with hindsight,
never see being undone was civil partnerships.

There is nothing conservative about encouraging sodomy.

I would have added to that list the commendable decision to create an
independent BoE but as that particular piece of dysfunctional wazzock
brain implementation continues to unravel by the day, to the point of
needing a complete rebuild, the credit counter rather diminishes.

That move in and of itself was good. It is pity the UK does not have
people of the calibre needed to run an independent currency
controlling bank.

On Tue, 3 Jul 2012 04:13:38 -0700 (PDT)
77002 wrote:
in the first place, and wasn't it Stalinist insanity, as applied to
the burgeoning road network, that did so much to undermine the
finances of some otherwise very sound private railway operations?

Coming from a hard-line marxist the poster's remark is particularly
appropriate. Everywhere his philosophy has taken power, death and
misery have followed (Russia, the PRC, Cambodia, North Korea, etc.,
etc.).

Ah , but the traditional lefty get-out clause there would be that the
problems in those countries are down to corrupt government. Conveniently
forgetting that human nature is a core part of any society and its government.
This was something that marx conveniently forgot about in his treatise that
assumed people were robotic simpletons all marching to the same tune and all
putting the common good above themselves and their familes. Yeah , right.

Friedman vs. marx, wow that is a hard choice.

Marx is a simple solution to a complex problem and hence doesn't require you
to think - that makes it the easy option for braindead left wingers.

B2003

In uk.railway allantracy twisted the electrons to say:
Apart from completely f**king up the nation???s finances the only thing
I can think of the last lot did that you can now, with hindsight,
never see being undone was civil partnerships.

Devolution (including the London Assembly & Mayor) was one of their
better ideas too, though as usual for any UK political party their
implementation was decidedly imperfect ...

I would have added to that list the commendable decision to create an
independent BoE but as that particular piece of dysfunctional wazzock
brain implementation continues to unravel by the day, to the point of
needing a complete rebuild, the credit counter rather diminishes.

The problem with the "independent" BofE was that whilst it was free to
set whatever interest rate it liked to hit the inflation target, it was
the Chancellor who in charge of said target. So all it really did was
result in the public not blaming the Chancellor when they didn't get the
interest rate they liked ...
--
These opinions might not even be mine ...
Let alone connected with my employer ...

In uk.railway 77002 twisted the electrons to say:
There is nothing conservative about encouraging sodomy.

Quick! Let's make the government small enough that it can fit inside
everyone's bedrooms?
--
These opinions might not even be mine ...
Let alone connected with my employer ...

On Tue, 3 Jul 2012 04:13:38 -0700 (PDT), 77002
wrote:

On Jul 2, 4:19*pm, allantracy wrote:
Friedmanite dogma is a good example of Einstein's statement that
insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a
different result.

Err... wasn't it Friedmanite insanity that built our railway network,
in the first place, and wasn't it Stalinist insanity, as applied to
the burgeoning road network, that did so much to undermine the
finances of some otherwise very sound private railway operations?

Coming from a hard-line marxist the poster's remark is particularly
appropriate. Everywhere his philosophy has taken power, death and
misery have followed (Russia, the PRC, Cambodia, North Korea, etc.,
etc.).

Perhaps the greatest example of the difference between socialism and
freedom is the Korean Peninsula. North of the DMZ is a giant
concentration camp. There the people are forced to fawn over their
incompetent "leader". Their years pass in hunger and missery.

To the south of the DMZ there flourishes a modern nation.

Which also got there by methods involving lorry loads of their
citizens disappearing overnight and never being seen again as can be
found in the more comprehensive commercial photo libraries, e.g.
"Suspected South Korean traitors are herded into lorries on their way
to execution" in http://avaxnews.com/educative/Korean_War_1.html
Neither of the local sides were angels.

The people
there enjoy freedom and increasing prosperity. Periodically they
elect their leaders. Their goods are a byword for quality around the
world.

Friedman vs. marx, wow that is a hard choice.

On Tue, 3 Jul 2012 17:02:40 +0000 (UTC), Alistair Gunn
wrote:

In uk.railway allantracy twisted the electrons to say:
Apart from completely f**king up the nation???s finances the only thing
I can think of the last lot did that you can now, with hindsight,
never see being undone was civil partnerships.

Devolution (including the London Assembly & Mayor)

That isn't devolution, that is a jumped-up county council.

was one of their
better ideas too, though as usual for any UK political party their
implementation was decidedly imperfect ...
I would have added to that list the commendable decision to create an
independent BoE but as that particular piece of dysfunctional wazzock
brain implementation continues to unravel by the day, to the point of
needing a complete rebuild, the credit counter rather diminishes.

The problem with the "independent" BofE was that whilst it was free to
set whatever interest rate it liked to hit the inflation target, it was
the Chancellor who in charge of said target. So all it really did was
result in the public not blaming the Chancellor when they didn't get the
interest rate they liked ...

In article ,
(Charles Ellson) wrote:

Devolution (including the London Assembly & Mayor)

That isn't devolution, that is a jumped-up county council.

A bit more than that. It also controls a transport system carrying half the
nation's passengers.

--
Colin Rosenstiel