Sunday 17 June 2007

Tories pressing the self destruct button again?

One could be forgiven for wondering what on earth the Conservative leadership are playing at. Recently they seem to have scored two spectacular own goals, that they never needed to go anywhere near in the first place.

The row over selective education and now the fuss over ‘free’ museum entry.

Is it incompetence, or do they have some deep-seated fear of actual power?

Shadow Culture Secretary, Hugo Swire, baffled Westminster - and many senior Tories over plans he announced, to scrap free admission to many of Britain's most famous museums and art galleries. Forcing the Conservatives into a virtually immediate and embarrassing U-turn.

For those who don’t know the museums are effectively funded by the taxpayer, so it is reasonable that taxpayers should enjoy the benefit without further cost. Since entrance fees were scrapped in 2001 there has been an 83% increase in visitors.

Once chance, twice coincidence - but three times is enemy action…

Now they are busily playing down the idea that Dave the Chameleon might be the ’heir to Blier’ that they had appeared to be promoting, though why they would want to have tarred him with that particular brush in the first place is not clear.

In a joint appearance in Yorkshire this weekend, David Davis and William Hague tried to put paid to the idea that David Cameron was positioning himself as the "heir to Blair" - An idea that had been backed strongly in public recently by Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, apparently also privately by Cameron himself.

It's like watching a three stooges movie!

Why can’t anyone stand on a platform of reducing the size, scope and powers of the state? A platform that reigns back in the health fascists and busy bodies?

6 comments:

Scott Haley said...

Speaking of health fascists (in a slightly different light), how was the movie, "V for Vendetta", received in the UK?

Sincerely,
Scott

http://individualsovereignty.blogspot.com

CFD Ed said...

Scott, It is a movie I have been planning to see, but I am a bit slow getting round to doing it (only just seen ‘Pirates of the Caribbean III’ myself), so I can’t comment personally at this time.

The critics were less than fulsome in their praise for the story line – but then the same was true for ‘Pirates III’ and I thought that, whilst it wasn’t quite as good as the first in the series, it was well worth seeing, so what do critics know anyway?

For general comments on V For Vendetta see here, here and here.

Scott Haley said...

Thanks for the links.

I rarely ever see a movie based upon a comic book (graphic novel)---probably a function of age---but I reluctantly viewed "V". IT WAS OUTSTANDING! Suberb direction, acting, and plot. Though a veritable fantasy, especially in regard to V's skills, I highly recommend it.

CFD Ed said...

I have been intending to see it, your recommendation reinforces this. Probably on DVD now.

On a related subject did you hear of / get to see “The Great Global Warming Swindle”? I am not sure what your views are on the subject, but it certainly made me think when I saw it.

Scott Haley said...

We appear to be on opposite sides regarding the climate change issue. I first taught the concept of "global warming" in 1973.

While it certainly is true that Earth currently is in a natural, inter-glacial warming period, it is also true that greenhouse gases from human activities are adding significantly to the problem. So, it isn't one or the other...it's both.

There is no question whatsoever amongst scientists that certain gases (carbon dioxide, certain hydrocarbons such as methane, etc.) ARE greenhouse gases. Many of them occur naturally, and so, comprehension of the problem relative to humans is compounded. It is also true that human activities have produced an inordinate amount of excess greenhouse gases...some 70 million tons per day.

Even if one were to concede that warming is primarily natural, the question then becomes---does it make sense for humans to add to the problem?

You mentioned cold spells, and many folks cite them as some sort of proof that warming is not taking place. Isolated cold spells from area to area are the result of the disruption of major ocean currents...due to global warming. Ocean currents play a huge role in both weather and climate patterns. The overall trend, though, is warming of the planet.

To further complicate the whole issue, members of the Corporatocracy who are Elites in the fossil fuel industries have a strong vested interest in denigrating the "global warming" phenomenon. Carbon taxes are not good for the bottom line, even though they would be passed on to the consumer via price increases. If you pay some people (including scientists) enough money, they will conclude just about anything you want them to conclude. That is not to say that all scientists who are non-believers in human-generated "global warming" are pawns of Big Business. I'm sure that some have genuine doubts about the validity of the concept.

To me this is all a non-issue. One need only look to the retreating glaciers wordwide, and the confirmed decrease in the polar ice caps, to conclude that the planet is warming gradually. The issue is much more complicated when it comes to cause. But again, it's a non-issue to me because even if the problem has natural causes, it makes no sense (to me) for humans to add to the problem just because they want to cling to a dying energy industry---the fossil-fuel industry.

:)

http://individualsovereignty.blogspot.com/

CFD Ed said...

Scott, Thanks for your comments, see my reply here as that post is where the subject has drifted to.