It has been reported that the wealthiest 5 families in the UK are worth more than the bottom 12.6 million. I imagine that each year the disparity in incomes becomes wider.
The question is this: what do these top families do to earn this wealth? Do they make things or harness the worlds natural resources to energise the country? Do they grow things or otherwise exploit the riches of the earth, perhaps getting their hands dirty? In other words do they make their money by honest toil or are they non retail bankers and other parasites in the financial industry who prey on the hard working others?
What is the motive for this accumulation of money? Is it greed or a lust for power? Can it be that once on the conveyer belt of wealth accumulation it is impossible to get off in some sort of self-perpetuating system like the growth of bacteria in a petri dish. I don't know. What I feel is that enterprise and hard work in the fields described above should be rewarded but if the capitalist system continues to polarise wealth through financial exploitation, then surely it is non sustainable. As the song predicted...there'll be trouble ahead.
Monday, 17 March 2014
Sunday, 16 March 2014
MH370 and Schrödinger's cat
In the hyperthetical 'Schrödinger's cat' experiment an ill fated cat is placed in a sealed box with a phial of poison alongside a trigger mechanism. A radioactive source emits at random a burst of radiation that breaks the phial. The question is this; at any time is the cat alive or dead? Is there a state where both possibilities are correct? The question can only be resolved by a human being opening the box and looking.
This experiment is being played out live in the missing Malaysian aircraft MH370 incident. The aircraft has disappeared without trace leaving distraught relatives unsure whether their loved ones are alive or dead. As far as they are concerned they are both alive and dead at the same time and again only human intervention can determine the result of the 'experiment'. The original 'cat' was part of an exercise in quantum mechanics but MH370 is a real life tragedy. We can only hope that the poison is contained and for a happy outcome.
This experiment is being played out live in the missing Malaysian aircraft MH370 incident. The aircraft has disappeared without trace leaving distraught relatives unsure whether their loved ones are alive or dead. As far as they are concerned they are both alive and dead at the same time and again only human intervention can determine the result of the 'experiment'. The original 'cat' was part of an exercise in quantum mechanics but MH370 is a real life tragedy. We can only hope that the poison is contained and for a happy outcome.
Saturday, 15 March 2014
An apology
For some time I have been suggesting that people who vote for the Socialsts in British elections are like lemmings voting for the Lemming party. That is, in an act not unlike turkeys saying yes to Christmas, the 'left' wing voters consciously want to elect the very Party that has twice almost bankrupted the Country, thereby harming most the very people who support them.
It has come to my notice that equating Socialist voters with lemmings casts a slur on the character of these blameless little rodents and I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to them.
It has come to my notice that equating Socialist voters with lemmings casts a slur on the character of these blameless little rodents and I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to them.
Friday, 14 March 2014
Anthony Wedgewood Benn
The former Labour Party minister, Tony Benn, formerly Viscount Stansgate, has died. He was a talented speaker and good writer who devoted his life to public and political service.
But was he living a lie? Where did his true beliefs lie?
For most of my life I always thought of Tony Benn as a man so exaggeratedly left wing, almost a parody, that he must have been a Tory plant; part of a plan to ensure that the socialists would be rendered unelectable for a generation. I suggest that it is for this reason several Labour Party grandees did not appreciate his input as each time Benn opened his mouth votes were lost to the opposition.
But was he living a lie? Where did his true beliefs lie?
For most of my life I always thought of Tony Benn as a man so exaggeratedly left wing, almost a parody, that he must have been a Tory plant; part of a plan to ensure that the socialists would be rendered unelectable for a generation. I suggest that it is for this reason several Labour Party grandees did not appreciate his input as each time Benn opened his mouth votes were lost to the opposition.
Thursday, 13 March 2014
Ukraine. Some thoughts
War as we understand it with troops facing each other across a battlefield is not going to happen in Ukraine. Nor too will there be an exchange of missiles or other long range military exchanges but the West will respond to Putin's wilful disregard for the Budapest Memorandum to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine territory including the Crimea.
We should not underestimate the UK's capacity to disrupt and dismantle Russia's interests both in their own country and abroad. Foreign Secretary Haigh's recent trip to Kiev will have ostensibly been to show support but I'm sure that he will also be putting in place the UK contribution to measures fomenting unrest in the Russian speaking sectors. Cyberwar and financial instruments will replace military hardware.
Meanwhile, for the benefit of the press we can expect the usual bland pronouncements but by the end an accommodation will be reached, probably based on what Henry Kissinger, who has some experience in these matters, called 'balanced disatisfaction'.
Vladimar Putin is undoubtedly a megalomaniac. He firmly believes his destiny is as a Tsar of all the Russias; head of a new Empire based on past glories. As with Hitler, Putin also comes from a modest background but I suggest at sometime in his family history there must have been an element of nationalistic violence. His determination to avenge Russia's embarrassment at losing the 'Cold War' because that is what happened mirrors Hitler's shame that his country surrendered in World War one. Even the holding of the Winter Olympics at Solchi on the eve of his Ukraine expedition reflected that of the Berlin games hosted by Herr Hitler in 1939.
He is therefore a proud man, keen to demonstrate his warrior qualities, his basic strength, his martial arts and horse riding skill that may suggest a Cossack mindset. Although Putin comes from near St. Petersburg he may have inherited the character of a former Cossack hero, Severyn Nalyvaiko. I suggest he does not fear conflict, nor will he flinch from decisions taken in the national interest even if it means loss of Russian lives. He will see the Crimea as an essential asset of Russia and one to be held at all cost especially as the Ukraine was and is the ancestral home of the very people he seeks to emulate, the Cossacks. For this reason, I maintain that he will not observe the Budapest Memorandum on the sovereignty of Ukraine if it is not in accord with the best interests of Russia. It must be remembered that he has 'previous' in this. The ex Russian land of Georgia was rent with division between those who wanted close Russian ties and those who wanted more contact with the west. Parts of South Ossetia are still largely held by Russian forces.
We should not underestimate the UK's capacity to disrupt and dismantle Russia's interests both in their own country and abroad. Foreign Secretary Haigh's recent trip to Kiev will have ostensibly been to show support but I'm sure that he will also be putting in place the UK contribution to measures fomenting unrest in the Russian speaking sectors. Cyberwar and financial instruments will replace military hardware.
Meanwhile, for the benefit of the press we can expect the usual bland pronouncements but by the end an accommodation will be reached, probably based on what Henry Kissinger, who has some experience in these matters, called 'balanced disatisfaction'.
Vladimar Putin is undoubtedly a megalomaniac. He firmly believes his destiny is as a Tsar of all the Russias; head of a new Empire based on past glories. As with Hitler, Putin also comes from a modest background but I suggest at sometime in his family history there must have been an element of nationalistic violence. His determination to avenge Russia's embarrassment at losing the 'Cold War' because that is what happened mirrors Hitler's shame that his country surrendered in World War one. Even the holding of the Winter Olympics at Solchi on the eve of his Ukraine expedition reflected that of the Berlin games hosted by Herr Hitler in 1939.
He is therefore a proud man, keen to demonstrate his warrior qualities, his basic strength, his martial arts and horse riding skill that may suggest a Cossack mindset. Although Putin comes from near St. Petersburg he may have inherited the character of a former Cossack hero, Severyn Nalyvaiko. I suggest he does not fear conflict, nor will he flinch from decisions taken in the national interest even if it means loss of Russian lives. He will see the Crimea as an essential asset of Russia and one to be held at all cost especially as the Ukraine was and is the ancestral home of the very people he seeks to emulate, the Cossacks. For this reason, I maintain that he will not observe the Budapest Memorandum on the sovereignty of Ukraine if it is not in accord with the best interests of Russia. It must be remembered that he has 'previous' in this. The ex Russian land of Georgia was rent with division between those who wanted close Russian ties and those who wanted more contact with the west. Parts of South Ossetia are still largely held by Russian forces.
Friday, 7 March 2014
Dinosaurs and Dark Matter
A report in the Daily Mail suggests that the comet that destroyed the dinosaurs was deflected by dark matter. See the report here
In my book, 'Spiritual Man: An Introduction to Negative Dimensions', I discuss the nature of dark matter and energy and suggest that it is made up of material described by negative dimensions. In the article researchers at Harvard University put forward the theory that the solar system passes through a cloud of dark matter every thirty million years as it revolves around the milky way galaxy. The interaction with the cloud will have big gravitational implications but that may not be all. In my book I suggest that as the earth passes through such a cloud the planet's geomagnetic polarity may be temporarily switched.
To download my book from kindle for the price of a pint go to: Spiritual Man
In my book, 'Spiritual Man: An Introduction to Negative Dimensions', I discuss the nature of dark matter and energy and suggest that it is made up of material described by negative dimensions. In the article researchers at Harvard University put forward the theory that the solar system passes through a cloud of dark matter every thirty million years as it revolves around the milky way galaxy. The interaction with the cloud will have big gravitational implications but that may not be all. In my book I suggest that as the earth passes through such a cloud the planet's geomagnetic polarity may be temporarily switched.
To download my book from kindle for the price of a pint go to: Spiritual Man
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