Friday, February 26, 2010

State pension age should be 70, PwC says

British civil servant hard at work

Let's face it, by the time most 18-year-olds in England get to 'retirement' age in this country, then there will be no general government pension of any kind, no matter how much these people will have paid 'into' the scheme for most of their adult lives.

Why?

Because the government will have spent it all; that's why. Mostly on itself, and pensions for its own drones, most of whom officially 'retire' at 60 on high fractions of their highest ever salary.

What typically happens is that for the last two or three years of a civil servants 'arduous' existence, they get kicked upstairs to some well-paid fonctionnaire's empty office, with nothing to do all day except play Minesweeper and take time off for 'stress'. Then, having been given a job at a pay rate much higher than their last 'real' job (if you can describe any job in government as real), they then get a pension at a high fraction of this 'bumped-up' salary, for the rest of their lives.

It is only other people's money, after all, so where's the harm? It's a very gentlemanly way to go about things, don't you agree?

There are also less and less of these parasites actually making it to 60 before they stop playing Minesweeper, with many faking ... sorry, experiencing ... stress, in their early to late fifties, or just going directly to 'early retirement' at 50.

Meanwhile, those of us outside this cushy existence, who get to pay for all of this jobbery, are going to be charged increasing taxes to keep these government pension rates up and retirement ages down, while at the same time having any general government pension benefits telescoped into a far distant future which most of us will never see.

Fortunately, this ongoing theft will not last.

Something's going to give. Let's hope sooner, rather than later.

Alice in Wonderland coming soon

No, I'm not talking about Gordon Brown wearing a dress in public (though I'm sure he's got a few stuffed at the back of his closet), but Tim Burton's film starring Johnny Depp. Yes, it will be time to put the Gary North 3D glasses on again, to escape the horrors of the real world for a few blessful hours.

Marvellous.

Can't wait:

Greek rescue in danger as deputy prime minister attacks 'Nazi' Germany

Theodoros Pangalos, [the Greek government's] deputy prime minister, said Germany had no right to reproach Greece for anything after it devastated the country under the Nazi occupation, which left 300,000 dead. "They took away the gold that was in the Bank of Greece, and they never gave it back. They shouldn't complain so much about stealing and not being very specific about economic dealings," he told the BBC.
Oh dear. Still, at least when push comes to shove it's good to see that it's still gold that gets everyone's attention, rather than fiat confetti rubbish.

Stheeman sees no risk of UK debt crisis as sterling slides


The head of the British government's debt mismanagement office, the crazily-named Robert Stheeman, is convinced, convinced I tell you, absolutely convinced, that there will be no UK debt crisis as the pound sterling's value shrinks on world markets.

Translation:

This could be the start of the Big One, Pilgrims. Hang onto your hats.

A politician actually worth voting for?

Will Ron Paul don the helmet once more, and ride into the breach to fight the forces from hell?

Mark Crovelli is absolutely desperate for Ron Paul to announce his candidacy for the 2012 Presidential election in the United States. He thinks it would rock both the current rump of the Republican Mafia War Party and their Mafia brethren in the Obama War Party, in the White House.

I think he would be right.

If Ron Paul does announce his intention to run, however, it would be my very real advice for people never to ride in the same airplane as him, wherever possible. It's amazing how many 'accidents' can happen to troublesome old men when they displease unpopular kings and emperors.

Samwise Gamgee plays Harrison Bergeron

As Frodo Baggins himself said, the unsung hero of 'Lord of the Rings' is really Samwise Gamgee, as played by Sean Astin in Peter Jackson's magnificent trilogy.

Gamgee plays Everyman, up against the ultimate form of undying statist evil in the outward dark form of Sauron, overcoming all the power of Sauron's Mordorian socialist serfdom state, embodied in the one ring of communist power - one Leninist ring to rule them all - by bodily helping Frodo upwards towards the crack of Mount Doom in the face of all the coercive tyrannical power against him.

To play one such anti-state hero in your life is one thing.

However, to also play another, Harrison Bergeron, the great dystopian hero of Kurt Vonnegut's epic short story, a favourite of Uncle Murray's, is simply outstanding. So below, we have the 1hr 40min 1995 'Showtime' version of 'Harrison Bergeron', which preceded the later production of the 2081 movie.

There is, of course, only more role available for Sean Astin to get 'the set', and that is John Galt, if only somebody in Hollywood would actually dare go ahead and finally make 'Atlas Shrugged' - Is Peter Jackson available to get the job done?

BTW, look out for a guest appearance below, by George W. Bush, for some reason playing the President of the United States. And if the hugely ugly statist building where the rulers live isn't the truly horrific 'Government Center' in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, then I must be a monkey's uncle.


The text of the original story is also available, here (HT to byafi).

UPDATE: Wikipedia entry on the projected 2011 release of 'Atlas Shrugged':
A film adaptation of Atlas Shrugged has been in "development hell" for over 35 years. In 1972, Albert S. Ruddy approached Ayn Rand to produce a cinematic adaptation of Atlas Shrugged. Rand insisted on having final script approval, which Ruddy refused to give her, thus preventing a deal. In 1978, Henry and Michael Jaffe negotiated a deal for an eight-hour Atlas Shrugged television miniseries on NBC. Michael Jaffe hired screenwriter Sterling Silliphant to adapt the novel and he obtained approval from Rand on the final script. However, in 1979, with Fred Silverman’s rise as president of NBC, the project was scrapped.

Rand, a former Hollywood screenwriter herself, began writing her own screenplay, but died in 1982 with only one-third of it finished. She left her estate, including the film rights to Atlas, to her student Leonard Peikoff, who sold an option to Michael Jaffe and Ed Snider. Peikoff would not approve the script they wrote, and the deal fell through. In 1992, investor John Aglialoro bought an option to produce the film, paying Peikoff over $1 million for full creative control.

In 1999, under Aglialoro’s sponsorship, Albert Ruddy negotiated a deal with Turner Network Television for a four-hour miniseries, but the project was killed after the AOL Time Warner merger. After the TNT deal fell through Howard and Karen Baldwin obtained the rights while running Phillip Anschutz's Crusader Entertainment. The Baldwins left Crusader and formed Baldwin Entertainment Group in 2004, taking the rights to Atlas Shrugged with them. Michael Burns of Lions Gate Entertainment approached the Baldwins to fund and distribute Atlas Shrugged. A two-part draft screenplay written by James V. Hart was re-written into a 127-page screenplay by Randall Wallace, with Vadim Perelman expected to direct. Potential cast members for this production have included Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, and Brad Pitt. Subsequent developments have cast doubt on the participation of some of these individuals, although the resurgence of public interest in the novel appears to be attracting additional funding.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Good Doctor: My present inclination is to vote for the Conservative Party

Dr Sean Gabb puts forward this ...ahem... challenging viewpoint, in his latest think piece:

=> The 2010 General Election: Advice on How to Vote, By Sean Gabb

Personally, I think it makes absolutely no difference whatsoever, whether we vote in any state election, except that if you do vote for one particular Mafia leader over another, to chair the London Crime Commission for a while, then you legitimise the authority of said Crime Commission to rule over your life and to extract protection payments from you to fund this 'benevolent' rule.

If Dr Gabb thinks that the only benefit of voting Conservative is that they will allow us to vote again in the future (i.e. you legitimise them so they can continue giving you something you don't want, which is worthless), then I would rather vote Labour.

Because if he is right (and I suspect that he is), and the leftists in this country gerrymander a situation where it is impossible to get rid of them, even in the terms of democracy, then the ruins of democracy will crashing come down even sooner, as people realise the sham and stupidity of democracy.

Did the people of the Soviet Union and Iraq, in their 100% turnout elections, with only one candidate, actually think they were participating in something that had any genuine merit?

I wouldn't have thought so. And as the Soviet Union eventually collapsed when this sham could no longer motivate anyone to support this monstrosity, especially when the Soviet Union lost the nerve to shoot people for daring to dissent their system, then roll on the collapse of democracy in England, when nobody bothers voting (unless directed to the polling booth by an armed policeman) because there's absolutely no point.

So here I have to disagree with the Good Doctor, which hurts a little, as Professor Hoppe has instructed me, to my face, that I must help the Good Doctor whenever I am able.

Unfortunately, on this occasion, I am unable to support him. As Her Blessedness almost said once, 'You vote if you want to, this anarcho-capitalist is not for turning'.

I wonder what Professor Hoppe thinks?

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Animal Farm: Farmers told to produce more food to prevent high inflation

Comrade Hilary Benn, Raving Trotskyite Lunatic

There are some pretty stupid UK government ministers, but perhaps the stupidest is the ravingly insane Comrade Hilary Benn, son of privilege and secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs.

In his diatribe against British farmers there is no mention of quantitative easing, the crowding out effects of government borrowing which is preventing private industrial investment, nor the cornucopia of government regulations strangling everyone in this country from producing more, particularly farmers, or even the complex web of taxation and welfare which dominate the human actions of all farmers.

But even given these constraints, does Comrade Benn actually think farmers sit around all day waiting to be instructed by deities in Whitehall to produce as much as is economically efficient to make the best life for themselves as they so judge it? Perhaps we would be better off if we introduced Stalinesque collective farms, which worked so well in Russia, to force them to work harder? Comrade Benn is probably already contemplating it. He studied Russian and Eastern Europe at University, so he must know how well his fellow Commissars did in the Soviet Union, whom he so obviously apes to mimic.

Just check out this quote from this Über-Being, who knows so much more about farming than any mere farmer ever could:
Mr Benn said that he took action last year to prevent the pig farming industry from collapsing.
"You told me that if something wasn't done – and fast – then pretty soon England might not have a pig producing industry left," he said.
The Government's Pig Meat Supply Chain Task Force, which was set up in response to the problems, will "stop that nonsense from happening again", Mr Benn said.
Yes folks, you read that right. Here in Britain we now enjoy the benefits of being served by the 'Pig Meat Supply Chain Task Force'. Oh, I don't know how I could sleep without it, because the free market in pig farming couldn't possibly survive without government intervention. Indeed, it must have been a miracle how pig farming originated circa 30,000 years ago and made it all the way up to nearly the present day without the blinding wisdom of Comrade Benn to invigilate it.

Yes, 17 of the great and the good, plus administration staff, who man this quango, can now daily fill another government trough of tax slops to slurp their way through the pork to their hearts' content. The 'Pig Meat Supply Chain Task Force' must be the most appropriately named tax-feeding government body in England.

To me, Comrade Benn is actually the very picture of a raving 'Animal Farm' type socialist, reminding me most of either Snowball or Squealer, though I think Snowball gets the nod because of the Trotsky-style glasses Benn likes to wear.

Like Snowy and Squealer, Comrade Benn also loves living within the very heart of establishment privilege, in our socialist workers' paradise. Check out the entry on this tool, on Wikipedia:

Hilary Benn is a fourth generation MP as the second son of former Labour Cabinet Minister Tony Benn and the educationalist Caroline Benn. He attended Norland Place School, Westminster Under School, Holland Park School and University of Sussex where he graduated in Russian and East European Studies.

Now check out those schools:

=> Norland Place School is a coeducational independent school for boys aged 4–8 and girls aged 4–11. It is situated in the Holland Park area of London, and was founded in 1876 by Miss Emily Lord.

=> Westminster Under School is a private preparatory school for boys aged 7 to 13 and is attached to Westminster School in London.


And then, just to make things seem a little less privileged, his father, the infamous pipe-smoking Marxist Tony Benn, covered up the tracks a little by missing out Westminster School, plumping for a socialist finishing school, instead:

=> Holland Park School, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, was opened in London, UK, in 1958. It became the flagship for comprehensive education, and in its heyday had over 2000 in the student body. It became known as the "socialist Eton", and a number of high-profile socialists sent their children to Holland Park School, adding to its reputation as a left wing institution.

It ain't no 'bog-standard' comprehensive. I can absolutely guarantee that, just as I can guarantee that the Chelsea and Westminster state hospital (attended by most MPs) ain't no 'bog-standard' NHS hospital.

Yes, we in England really are ruled over by lunatics (in case you doubted it). As a former hard-core socialist myself, I met his father several times during my mis-spent youth, especially during the miners' strike, and even idolised him, usually hardly daring to speak to him. When the Socialist Scales of Damascus slowly fell from my eyes and I gradually saw the father for what he truly was, I had thought that there could be no-one madder in government.

That was until his son appeared on the scene, who really is the complete and utter nut-job; I suppose this was inevitable after his father gave him a girl's name.

Still, at least the father, the former 2nd Viscount Stansgate, is now president of the Stop the War Coalition, and he does have a sense of humour (as he proved with the naming of his son) so he can't be all bad. However, I'm afraid I cannot cut any similar slack for Hilary, who sits in a Cabinet which wants to spend umpteen billions of other people's money upgrading the Trident nuclear missile submarines, so that the American state can later tell the Royal Navy when to launch these weapons of mass destruction (because God has ordained that only white europeans and their descendants can possess such weapons).

So much for principle then, Hilary, when weighed against power and privilege.

Peter Schiff: Consumer confidence, job programs, Greenspan

The Duke discusses the drop in US consumer confidence and the correlated worries on Wall St about this diminution of spending recklessness when it comes to an economy where many are underwater on their mortgages, are unemployed, or fear unemployment, and have no savings.

He then talks about the ineffectiveness of government spending on infrastructure, especially bridges to nowhere - which Japan has now been building for 20 years with no recovery effect - with reflections on Bastiat's thoughts on the broken window fallacy where resources spent on bridges to nowhere can no longer be spent on real productive industry in the private sector.

Mr Schiff finishes off with a reminder about Alan Greenspan's involvement in the current global financial mess.



Free Range Serfdom

Wandering over Jock Coats' geo-mutualist site, I found the following highly interesting YouTube, which examines the general anarchist position on how states originated:



The video above is the third part of a (long) five-part series called 'Statism Is Dead'. I have chained all five episodes together in the YouTube playlist, below, in case you have a spare hour which needs filling:

"Against Intellectual Property": Audiobook Version

Oxfordshire's very own Geo-Mutualist, Jock Coats, has produced an audiobook version of Stephan Kinsella's "Against Intellectual Property". For full details, go here. MP3 link below:

=> http://www.stephankinsella.com/wp-content/uploads/media/AgainstIntellectualProperty.mp3

(Oh, and just blank out your ears when the first line of the Audiobook mentions who the copyright belongs to.)

Against Intellectual Property, by Stephan Kinsella

That David Cameron speech again, in full

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been called here today to explain the Conservative Party's position on our major policies to be implemented by the next Conservative government, led by me, and certainly not led by either Boris Johnson or by Daniel Hannan.

We are going to rein in spending, while at the same time ring-fencing all government spending on schools, the NHS, foreign aid to countries wealthier than ours, and indeed all other government programmes, while at the same time increasing government expenditure in other new fresh areas of heightened government concern.

We will be introducing several new government quangoes to reduce the numbers of government quangoes, reduce immigration, while encouraging the importation of vital economic skills, as well as fulfilling Britain's historic mission in the world of providing a safe haven for the refugees of the world. We will be maintaining Britain's independence while further integrating this country into the economic powerhouse of Europe, and ensuring a greater level of British military independence while helping with the creation of a European army and a greater co-operation with the forces of NATO. The police, always a vital body, will have increased powers to widen freedom and liberty and we will also be introducing stronger regulation into the markets to ensure that the bastion of the free market can function properly, in an unfettered way.

Now, as to the question of government spending cuts, we will be drastically slashing around £70 billion pounds from the current spending round, to pare down government debt, because this country cannot afford to be so profligate with taxpayer support for unproductive industry. We will compensate for this dramatic action with a stimulus injection of £70 billion pounds, created by greater fiscal loosening at the Bank of England, to ensure that those currently in government employment can keep contributing to the economy. To walk away from ensuring a balanced level of borrowing, at this stage, would be to put at risk the future of this country.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am a believer in freedom and in strong government. I want tax cuts for all and greater government investment. Most of all, however, I want all to reach up to their maximum ability and deserve all of the benefits of their talents while at the same time ensuring that all get to enjoy a greater level of fairness in society. I am, in short, a Conservative.

Thank you.

Life is never fair. So why does Labour pretend it can be?

"Just making sure life is fair, sir - I've just cauterized your witty banter which was making you such a hit with the ladies - that was really turning all of the other men a really nasty shade of green, sir. We can't have that, I'm afraid. It's unfair."

Sir Huffchester's latest ponderings are particularly interesting this morning because they contain a hefty reference to Atlas Shrugged.

Excellent.

Alas, he fails to mention one of Uncle Murray's favourite Sci-Fi novels, Harrison Bergeron, a superb book turned into the movie 2081, but it's still a pretty good piece, for all that.

Comment on article:
Jack Maturin on February 24, 2010 at 07:16 AM

Sir Huff, if you liked Atlas Shrugged, why don't you try the Kurt Vonnegut novel, Harrison Bergeron?

This was adapted into a recent film, 2081, the strapline of which was:

"Everyone will finally be equal"

The DVD of this film has just been released.

Another book you might want to try is:

"The Menace of the Herd or Procrustes At Large"

This is a book on socialism by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Deathbed of Keynesian Economics Will Be in U.K.

Although he tried everything he could think of, the Keynesian economist just couldn't stimulate the Frankenstein British economy
...In reality, Britain has the worst of all possible worlds: a stagnant economy, a crippling budget deficit and rising prices...
Splendid article by Matthew Lynn.

David Cameron 'unable to explain Tory spending plans'

Who could?

I know. Dr Seuss! :-)

Debt Dynamite Dominoes: The Coming Financial Catastrophe

I think even Uncle Gary might have been out-"Uncle-Garried" by this spectacular all-encompassing article, by Andrew Gavin Marshall, which covers the history of the western world from about 1965 onwards and contains more about the Bilderberg Group and the Trilateral Commission than even Uncle Murray was ever prepared to contemplate.

Here's a quote:
The people have been lulled into a false sense of safety under the rouse of a perceived “economic recovery.” Unfortunately, what the majority of people think does not make it so, especially when the people making the key decisions think and act to the contrary. The sovereign debt crises that have been unfolding in the past couple years and more recently in Greece, are canaries in the coal mine for the rest of Western “civilization.” The crisis threatens to spread to Spain, Portugal and Ireland; like dominoes, one country after another will collapse into a debt and currency crisis, all the way to America.
Lordy!

Monday, February 22, 2010

British Airways cabin crew vote in favour of strike action

Oh no, not again.

What a bunch of economically-illiterate muppets.

Well, hopefully British Airways will go completely bust this time and they can all find out what life is like on the dole, and all their planes and slots can be sold off to people willing to break out of the 1970s, and where 'pursers' actually have to serve customers on a flight, and all your mates and friends can't get free trips around the world in business class.

Hopefully this sale of slots and planes will be to Etihad, whose economy service is as good as BA's premium economy and whose business class makes BA's look like the bouncing double-seats on the London Underground's Bakerloo line.

UPDATE: Here's our previous thoughts on the earlier planned Christmas strike:

=> Why does BA have any passengers left?

Picture of Jack Maturin sleeping rough at Lagos Airport, Nigeria, outside the 'Cockpit Bar', during the last British Airways strike

Reign of Error

Another splendid post on Mr Dale's site, this time detailing how a pop artist has been inspired by our Glorious Leader.

Make your own Austrian T-shirts and Mugs

Sir Jeffrey Tucker has released all of the images on the Mises.org T-shirts for the rest of us to play with.

Outstanding.

=> http://picasaweb.google.com/MisesInstitute/TheAustriansTShirts#

The Jeffster really is living the dream of abandoning mercantilist copyright. Though it's probably just easier to hand some money over to Mises.org to get the originals.

=> http://mises.org/store/T-Shirts-C43.aspx

Gordon Brown's Top Temper Tantrums

Mister Dale has compiled a compendium of Gordon Brown's worst Nokia-chucking outbursts.

Cor lumme, guvnor! He's a right one, and no mistake.

Gordon Brown hit by fresh bullying allegations, shock

Who would'a thunk it? Gordon Brown, apparently, is still up to his old bullying tricks and several members of the 10 Downing Street staff have recently contacted a National Bully helpline to complain about him and to seek counselling.

I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked, that there's bullying going on in a Gordon Brown government.

Seriously though, if this was anyone other than Gordon Brown (say, Richard Branson bullying his Notting Hill Virgin staff), then the entire Nanny State book of hate crimes and predatory fines would already have been thrown at him, possibly by Gordon Brown himself, or more likely by that dreadful harpie, Harriet Harperson (who is currently defending Brown's indefensible behaviour). This alternative 'evil running dog capitalist' would possibly be under arrest or even thrown into jail, certainly made to undergo 'anger-management treatment' in a state penitentiary, as well as being forced to eat humiliation pie on national television. God forbid if any of these people this rotten cowardly man bullied were women, black, disabled, muslim, or Welsh (or knowing government tick-box employment practices, all five at once).

But because it's that Stalinist rat Brown, the real PM, Mandy "Who's a Pretty Boy?" Mandelson, flaps around on a Blitzkrieg TV studio tour and tells yet more blatant lies about Brown being 'emotional' rather than his obviously being a repulsive obnoxious bully, prone to fits of mental breakdown and physical abuse of taxpayer assets, chucking our phones about and damaging our furniture.

At least when Alex Ferguson chuck teacups around tiled dressing rooms, he does it on Manchester United's tab, and one suspects that Ferguson's 'rages' are really coolly manufactured affairs, designed to provoke players into maximum response, rather than the childish mentally disabled spats that we all know the psychologically-flawed Brown is prone to.



But how did he ever become Prime Minister? John Major, for all his faults, is a real smoothie when it comes to having a microphone shoved under his nose, just as Blair was after him. What is it about the Marxoid wretches in the modern Labour Party, as well as the feeble wimps in the government-licensed media, that led them to all fear this man so much, to allow him to become this horrible brow-beating Marxoid idiot in charge of wrecking all of our lives in a misguided application of a perverted form of Ricardianism which was discredited well before the end of the first half of the 19th century?

The great Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk himself completely destroyed all of Marx's pathetic economic theories in 1896 and yet Brown is still propagating this fantastical rubbish 114 years later, and yet nobody in the Westminster bubble has enough nerve or cojones to challenge this revolting ugly man because virtually the entire economics profession has been captured by Marx, and his great student Keynes (who Hayek thoroughly destroyed too, just for good measure).

But the saddest thing about this entire story is the need for all of these Downing Street staff to contact a charity bullying helpline. You would have hoped that the 'nerve centre' of the British government would have employed people with a bit more spunk in their spines, with the ability to tell Brown just where to get off, where to stick the job in Downing Street, or even to chuck the phones back at him, though his alleged assault on a female secretary is despicable and ought to lead to a court case against him rather than to an anonymous call to a helpline.

It appears the 'Bunker Mentality' really does seem to ring down through the ages, as socialist 'Men of Passion' push all around them to their mutual destruction, unconsciously terrifying everyone with their energy, conviction, and anger, despite everyone consciously knowing that they are idiots.

I no longer take part in elections, because to do so legitimises the state. However, having said that, it really will be a relief when we see the back of this appalling man in 73 days' time, as no doubt once again he will leave it to the absolute last minute before going to the country, to prove to us once again what a coward he is.



(Some rude words)

Mathematics Test

I don't know if you can see it, but I've generated a small picture of a cube of water, 1 millimetre along each side, just above. Can you see it?

Let's imagine that this cube contains just five drops of water.

Now, I've created another cube immediately below, which represents just one of those drops of water. You may not be able to see this cube:

If I've got my mathematics right, that's a 0.58 millimetre-sided cube, though it's difficult to get an accurate representation at normal screen resolutions.

Okay, fix this thought. That drop of water represents $1 US dollar.

So here's the question. If that one drop is $1 US dollar, what volume of water does $14 trillion dollars represent, the current 'debt ceiling' (i.e. soon-to-be current debt) of the US government?

The answer, according to Mogambo Guru, is 20 times the volume of all the fresh water in the Great Lakes. If you're struggling to figure that one out, it's the entire area of the continental United States covered in a depth of 50 metres of water.

Yes folks, one day SpongeBob really will be the President of the United States.

J.R.R. Tolkien as Libertarian

An excellent audio documentary by Jeff Riggenbach.

=> Silverlight

=> MP3

Lew Rockwell on von Mises, Ron Paul, Free-Markets and the Future of Freedom

A great interview with Sir Llewellyn.

HT to Tom Harrington

Time Travelling Backwards - The Mogambo Guru Archives

Calling all you Austrian information addicts. Do you have enough articles to read on your iPhone, MacBook, Kindle, Stanza reader, or even stone age PC? If not, check out the back catalogue belonging to the Mogambo Guru.

Here are hundreds of Mogambo Guru articles, in a convenient SafeHaven archive, going back all the way to 2005:

=> The Mogambo Guru Archives

Here's a far less convenient but presumably complete archive, at The Daily Reckoning:

=> The Mogambo Guru

Here's what I've so far discovered to be the oldest page on that archive, which goes back to what seems to be the first article in 2001, with the 'proper' main sequence of Mogambo Guru articles starting in 2003:

=> http://dailyreckoning.com/author/mogamboguru/page/44/

That should all keep you going for a few days. It's certainly keeping me occupied while on the various slowly trundling carriages of Great Western and London Underground trains, while I am going about my business, such as it is, while listening to various Colin Hay albums:

Here's a quote from that first 2001 article:
The American economy will probably not recover for at least a decade. There is no reason to expect that it will. The immutable laws of economics have not gone away, nor have they changed overmuch in the history of the world.

Mogambo Guru, 17th of October, 2001
If anyone knows of a single-page web page article which contains the entire back catalogue, I'd be pleased to receive the intelligence to help save the battery time on my iPhone.

Pip pip!!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Pilot leaves suicide note railing against US federal tax agency before flying into building



Crivens.

Just what do you say to that?

Here's a considered view from John W. Whitehead:

=> Is Joe Stack a Wake-Up Call to America?

UPDATE: Some more posts from people brave enough to comment on this:

=> A Suicide Attack on the IRS
=> Joe Stack and the IRS: the Christian Libertarian Response

Gordon Brown's fantasy is Britain's nightmare

Has Sir Huffchester been reading AngloAustria? His language in his current hit piece on Stalin's Heir is certainly very Maturinesque! :-)

Well, if you are reading Sir Huff, please keep up the good work taking large chunks out of our Glorious Leader.

Top man!

Peter Schiff: Rate hike, Obama in Las Vegas

The Duke discusses the surprise interest rate hike by Helicopter Ben, following this up with a dissection of a recent Obama speech on home prices:

Friday, February 19, 2010

Wall St Unspun - February 17th, 2010

Lord Baron Andrew von Schiff takes the lead on this show, with a good breakdown of the Greek debt situation including some analysis on how Goldman Sachs have been helping the Greek government hoodwink the rheumy Teutonic eye of the ECB regulator.

Baron Schiff's brother, The Duke, turns up hot off the campaign trail in Bridgeport, Connecticut, about 45 minutes in with the Chinese retrenchment on US bonds, though he does lose contact on his phone just as he's getting into his stride, at about 50 minutes. Shame.

(I must say, if I had to live in America, I'd have to choose Connecticut because I'd feel right at home with the town names!):

=> http://www.europac.net/media/PeterSchiff_02-17-2010.mp3

(The YouTube isn't up yet - I'll update this blog when it is)

Ambrose - Britain and the PIGS

A Picture of Keynesian Economics

As usual, Mr AEP is spot on with his analysis, and disastrous with his conclusions. Just check out the double-think, here:
They absolutely must map out systematic and draconian cuts, stretched out over four years in an orderly way, leaving it to the Bank of England to offset fiscal tightening with an easy monetary policy.
Confused? Just get a degree in Keynesian economics and all will become clear. Yes folks, borrow your way to fiscal prudence. Climb the underpass. Wear green shirts that are red.

Yes, several mutually exclusive impossible things are actually possible each day, with 'Keynes-U-Like', the new alternative reality product from Evans Ambrosia-Pritchard.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Calling all Estonian Austrians - Mises Circle founded in Tallinn

For all and any Austrians in Estonia who haven't heard of the new Mises circle in Tallinn yet, please email me and I'll put you in touch with the founders. Just to put you in the mood, here's the fantastic Hayek vs. Keynes rap with subtitles in Estonian. I can only say 'Hello' in Finnish (Hoovar, Hoo-o-menta), so I have no idea about Estonian, but it is fabulous to report that Austrianism is alive and well in a former Soviet republic.

I only wish I could say the same for Britain:

Britain at risk of worse deficit crisis than Greece

Ha ha ha ha ha heh heh ha ha heh heh ha ha ha ha ha ha heh heh..... [Pause for intermission] .....ha ha heh heh ha ha ha ha heh heh [That's enough Mogambo Guru nonsense, Maturin: Ed].

Sorry.

Yes, you thought it was bad in Greece.

Well. It's officially worse here.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha [You're fired!: Ed]

Shock £4.3bn deficit - Markets in retreat after Britain posts first-ever January deficit

For the first time ever in history, the British government had to borrow in January to keep itself up to the gills in paper fiat crapola cash. Tax revenues are usually flush in January, because this is when higher-rate taxpayers have to hand over great lumps of cash to the evil bottom-feeding lampreys in the Inland Revenue, after filling in their tax returns.

Gordon Brown was expecting to make a pelf-profit of £2 billion pounds, in January. As this has now turned into a need to borrow £4.3 billion to feed all of his gasping tax parasites, this puts him immediately £6.3 billion into the red, in the first month of the year, which is the only month the British government has never borrowed in before.

I'm sorry, I'm going to have to have a Mogambo Guru moment:

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha (tears) ha ha ha ha ha ha (bending over) ha ha ha ha ha ha heh heh (more tears) ha ha ha ha (wiping tears from eyes) ha ha heh heh ha ha heh heh (pause for breath) ha ha ha ha ha ha...heh heh heh

Thank you.

Gold. Silver. Oil. Are you still in the Pound? Are you mad? What are you waiting for? Just how bad does it have to get before you'll pull your finger out to save yourself?

You have been warned.

Gold. Silver. Oil.

Do it now.

UPDATE: Comment posted on article:
UPDATE II: Comment cut from article by Labourgraph apparatchik, but here it is anyway, revived from the memory hole:
Jack Maturin on February 18, 2010 at 10:58 PM

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha (tears) ha ha ha ha ha ha (bending over) ha ha ha ha ha ha heh heh (more tears) ha ha ha ha (wiping tears from eyes) ha ha heh heh ha ha heh heh (pause for breath) ha ha ha ha ha ha...heh heh heh

Gold. Silver. Oil.

Get out of the Pound. Do it now.

Two British soldiers killed in Afghan Taliban offensive

And so the parade of coffins continues.

Why?

I have absolutely no idea.

And when the British Army returns to these shores with its tail between its legs, with hundreds of dead squaddies and thousands of badly maimed and injured to its name, and the Taliban then take over Afghanistan again about three months later, I'll still have no idea why.

Does the British Army even know why it's in Afghanistan? Does anybody?

It's time to get out. It was nine years ago when we fell into this mess. Yes folks, that's three years longer than the entire second world war. And still nobody has any idea why we're there, what we're trying to do there, and when the slaughter of British soldiers and of innocent Afghanis will end.

Quote of the day

"Foreign aid is a process by which the poor in rich countries subsidize the rich in poor countries."

Peter Thomas Bauer

Why gold (and silver, and oil) can only go up

The Face of modern government – Yes, folks, it's a brain-scrambled Rat!

As Uncle Gary has reported, the ECB is in a real fix. If it lets Greece go, then the 'New Europe' dream of Napoleon and Hitler is over. Before this dream shatters, however, the banks of northern Europe (including those of Switzerland) will collapse first. This is because they have enormous sums pumped into the Greek carry trade, buying Euro-denominated bonds off the Greek government for high interest rates, then using these as collateral with the ECB to borrow money cheaply (with which to buy more Greek bonds). This 'money-pump' seems like perpetual motion, until you realise that it is paid for by the risk of the Greeks defaulting on their high interest payments, which stiffs the banks who owe the lower interest rates to the ECB.

Confused? Welcome to the mysterious world of banking.

So why have the banks taken on this risk? Well, they have to keep making money to keep paying all of their outrageous bonuses and to keep themselves in enough funds to keep buying government bonds in places like England, Germany, France, and the US. If they keep buying these bonds, then the governments involved will keep rewarding them with favours. And the banks have assumed that the ECB will bail out Greece should push come to shove, therefore Greek government bonds (paying high interest rates) can be treated like German government bonds (paying low interest rates).

Profits will be privatised and losses will be socialised.

Because if all of northern Europe's banks go belly up, then so do all of northern Europe's governments, which are totally dependent on selling their bonds to keep their deficits going, to prop up their client states.

(Obviously you may be thinking here, why don't these governments just live within their means. Surely they're making enough in tax each year not to have to be reliant upon endless borrowing? As Mogambo Guru might say, ha ha ha ha ha ha. These governments would never dare charge as much tax as they actually spend. They would all be booted out of office immediately as people finally realised the cost of delivering all of the politicians' promises.)

So the ECB will, by hook or by crook, bail out the Greeks (and then the Spanish, and then the Portuguese, and then the Italians) by printing as much paper as is required. The ECB works for the banks it allegedly controls, just like any central bank, so it will do their bidding and act as a lender of 'last resort'. So the Euro is finished.

Next, comes the Pound. This weakling European country has been living beyond its means now since WWII, with one stupid government after another constricting the economy with taxes and regulations, to satisfy one voting group or another, and then making up the shortfall with borrowing, as taxation income has declined - as set against gold. Yes, there have been blips and even years when some of the debt was repaid, but not many. And certainly not enough.

So once the speculators have had their fun with the Euro, they will have their fun with the Pound. There are two 'mighty' currencies left, but before the speculators wreck those, they will probably take on the last 'medium-sized' currency, the Swiss Franc. Bubble-headed politicians in Switzerland are just as stupid as those in the rest of the world, and they have managed to finagle the Swiss off the gold standard. With Credit Suisse and UBS as much up to their necks in CDO slime as the rest of them, the Swiss Franc is almost Icelandic in its leveraged status, and will come crashing down too, to head towards the ultimate value of all fiat currencies, i.e. nothing.

Having dealt with the Euro, the Pound, and the Swiss Franc, the Dollar will finally come under its much deserved scrutiny. With the Chinese beginning to offload their US Treasuries, the time is not yet ripe for the Dollar (because of the lower-hanging fruit of the Euro, the Pound, and the Swiss Franc), but its time is coming. Finally, when the Dollar implodes, the Yen will be the only target left in the gun sights. It will be taken out too, because governments just cannot help themselves. Given the availability of a printing press, they just keep doing the same thing again and again, which is to keep pressing the button, just like those poor mice who have their septal nucleii neural pleasure centres stimulated by electrodes activated by a button they can press with their feet.

These mice just keep pressing the button no matter what, even starving to death within inches of copious amounts of food just so they can keep pressing that button. That is what the governments are, behind the five major fiat currencies, rats addicted to the pleasure button of monetized debt.

So there we have it, the 'Five Fingers of Death', as Max Keiser puts it, when he talks about these currencies.

So what do you do then, if you are a rich Arab, or a rich Chinaman, or a rich Anywhere-ian? You can't put your savings in the Euro, the Pound, the Swiss Franc, the Dollar, or the Yen? You slowly realise this over the next couple of years.

Where are you going to store your wealth? You've got to make it 'un-grabbable' by government, you've got to make it portable, and you've got to keep it liquid? Norway, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with their commodities-based economies, may be able to soak up some of it. But surely not in the volume required.

So that leaves three solutions: Gold. Silver. Oil. Okay, we can add palladium and platinum too. And a few other bits and pieces. But the really simple way out is obvious. Gold. Silver. Oil.

It's going to be a rocky ride, with lots of ups and downs, but if you want to keep things simple, you know what to do.

Uncle Gary - The Euro is a lost cause

Ah, dear Uncle Gary, always there when you need him:

=> Squeaky Wheels Always Get 'Greeced'

Yes, the EU police are cracking down hard on the Greek casino which is keeping all of the northern European banks afloat. Cracking down real hard I tell you, because they didn't know what was going on:

George Soros buys gold despite dubbing it 'ultimate bubble'

Fancy that.

Golden Bough from Roman mythology 'found in Italy'

Robert Graves and Sir James Frazer would have been excited today by the discovery of the enclosure for the sacred oak at the heart of the Latin cult at Lake Avernus, in the Alban hills near Rome. The ancient royal oak was guarded by the purple-clad 'Jupiter', the first witch-king of the Latins who later evolved into two separate figures; the emperor of the Roman empire and the mysterious priest-king of Nemi. The story of this golden bough was expanded by Frazer and Graves into a comprehensive account of the formation of the ancient religions of Europe and the Near-East, including the Nordic, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and even Hindu religions.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Flight 1549 3D Reconstruction, Hudson River Ditching Jan 15, 2009

The incredible piloting skills of Captain Chesley Sullenberger have been recreated in this 3D flight simulator reconstruction. Prepare to be amazed once again at the sheer coolness of this incredible life-saving man, with bird strike to landing all done and dusted in less time than it would take me to make a peanut butter sandwich, with the perfect angle and speed achieved with no engines into the water. Outstanding:

David Cameron will transform Britain, if the Conservatives can win the political game

Bruce Anderson delivers some real tub-thumping cock about the Conservative Party, the biggest bunch of clowns since the Marx brothers.

Here's my pointless comment to the Brucester, on The Labourgraph:
Jack Maturin on February 17, 2010 at 08:29 PM

Talk to the hand, Bruce, the face ain't listening.

There will be absolutely no discernible difference the day after election day in how the British government is run.

Yes, a few different apparatchiks in different suits may be picked up by the state's limousines, but outside the Westminster bubble nobody will notice the slightest difference in any of the corrupt useless policies of the state.

Welfarism will keep increasing, money printing will keep increasing, government spending will keep increasing, crime will keep increasing, educational standards will keep falling, and taxes will keep rising. The police will continue to grow more aggressive and inept, the hospitals will continue to be awash with bacteria, and the local councils will continue to keep increasing their charges for less and less services.

The government is not the solution, Bruce. The government is the problem.

Only when the government is cut down to a small fraction of its current size will any of us notice any difference in the continuing decivilisation of Britain.

That will not be achieved by socialist bed-wetters like Osborne and Cameron, who are too frightened of the client state to do anything about it except whisper behind their hands about it behind closed doors.

Hannan and Johnson could possibly do it, but even they would find the resistance of the Leviathan state too much to bear.

No, the best thing any of us can do is to not vote and to drain the legitimacy out of all Westminster politicians, and all of their stupid programmes that they wish to engineer upon us.

The only solution to all of the current messes imposed upon us by central government over the last 100 years, and their continuing interventions to fix the messes created by their previous interventions, is a destruction of the central government, its fiat currency, its printing press at the Bank of England, and the revival of freedom and the free market.

Can Cameron and Osborne deliver this? I won't be holding my breath.
UPDATE: A reminder about Uncle George's attitude towards voting:

Keynesian Economics: A Halfwit’s Guide to Monetary Inflation

The All-Powerful Mogambo Guru (APMG) lays into all of the world's Keynesian halfwits in politics, the media, and most points south (which is to say virtually everyone).
...After being so rude to me, I was always secretly glad that I did not get the chance to tell them to buy gold, silver and oil in response to the government’s stupidity, and now they will suffer mightily, and I will cruelly laugh – hahahaha! – at their misery, as they now go without these three wonders as vital protections against the destruction of an inflationary collapse caused by these insane increases in the money supply, a collapse that is, I am sorry to say, unstoppable...

Peter Schiff: Unhappy Stimulus Anniversary

The Duke on why the previous US government stimulus failed and why the current Obama stimulus will fail:

Whee! This investing stuff is easy!

Speaking of the 'Land of the Silver', there is one Mighty Colossus out there who thinks that the only way to avoid the oncoming juggernaut of debt which is going to smash the western world into smithereens, is to sell everything, including your shirt, your farm, your inheritance, and your favourite collection of hand-painted Napoleonic toy soldiers made from Camphor Wood, and to put it all into gold, silver, and oil.

Who is this Mighty Colossus?

Why, the superb Mogambo Guru of course.

So here, direct from the Mogambo Bunker Of Paranoid Fear (MBOPF), we have four of my recent favourite jottings from his magnificent essay compendium. As Meriadoc Brandybuck might have said of a fine fruity South Farthing ale, the first one is particularly good:

=> Economic Warnings From an Elderly 3rd Grader

=> A Bull in a Silver Shop

=> Speaking Silver’s Language

=> Golden Umbrellas in an Economic Downpour

Most excellent.

The funeral Uncle Gary hopes to attend - That of the EU

God bless Uncle Gary:

=> Bankrolling the Incontinent Subcontinent

Tom Woods interviewed by the Southern Avenger, 16th Feb

Thomas E. Woods discusses his "Meltdown" book and his forthcoming book on nullification and states' rights, with the 'Southern Avenger', Jack Hunter:

Part I:


Part II:

Rise of the Fourth Reich - Greek nation ceases to exist in bureaucratic sweep of the EU's hand

The council of EU finance ministers said Athens must comply with austerity demands by March 16 or lose control over its own tax and spend policies altogether. It if fails to do so, the EU will itself impose cuts under the draconian Article 126.9 of the Lisbon Treaty in what would amount to economic suzerainty.
This is all going to end horribly. Next, we'll have German soldiers on the streets of Athens shooting live ammunition at Greek insurgents.

Will Britain be next for amalgamation into the thousand-year Fourth Reich, when our own massive deficit comes under scrutiny, once the Greek debt has finally blown up?

Oh, it's all happening today.

Still, at least Manchester United are doing well in the European Cup.

Can anyone explain what the Conservative Party stands for?

Sir Huffster asks the obvious question.

Sir Richard Branson: cut spending early to save UK economy

Have you noticed a subtle change in language recently? All government spending is consumption spending, but Gordon Brown used to get away with calling it 'investment'. Everyone else calls an investment something you do with money which produces a net positive investment stream from a productive future, but Brown used to be able to spend tax-stolen pelf on anti-smoking awareness campaigns and then spout nonsense about this consumption of resources being an 'investment in the future health of this country'.

But not any more.

Now everyone realises that it was all just 'spending'. For instance, if Richard Branson had said 'Government investment must be cut early', we would realise just how ridiculous it was to call it investment in the first place.

Yes, this subtle language change is not much of a shift, but it is at least a nudge in the right direction.

Here's Uncle Murray on why such government spending always creates busts and how to get out of the cycle:

Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure

It's official – stagflation is back, albeit not yet à la 1970s

High inflation, no growth and rising unemployment – they used to call that stagflation didn’t they?
Poor Jeremy Warner is still stuck in the Keynesian mind-warp that deflation is an evil thing, despite its virtual continual existence from 1815 to 1914 which made the US and the UK the richest and most powerful countries in the world, but he is still pretty good on the rest in his Labourgraph piece.

Check out the graph he has on the article, which marks out the Bank of England's initial inflation, its retrenchment because of a fear of losing control, which then brought on the credit crunch, which caused them to inflate again even more spectacularly, which is heading us towards an even bigger bust when they start retrenching again. Or hyperinflation, if they don't:

Welcome to the monkey house.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Osborne - More Power to the Workers' Soviets!

The preposterous George Osborne, apparently the shadow chancellor for the once great Conservative Party, recently marked a new low for even him by trying to shore up the public sector vote by promising to introduce 'worker co-operatives' for government agents in places such as state schools and state hospitals.

Straight from the Lenin propaganda play-book for increasing the power of the "Workers' Soviets", Osborne has rightly annoyed the Marxists in the UK's Labour Party by stealing their own half-baked ideas on such "co-operatives".

As Professor Hoppe has demonstrated time and time again, the major flaw of democracy is that the only hope for political parties to gain political power is to shower 51% of the electorate with pelf stolen from the other 49%.

The problem is not that David Cameron and George Osborne are evil people (though this could easily be debated), it is that they must appeal to the crooks and the parasites that make up the government agent class to have any hope of reaching Westminster as the drivers of the train set.

Now some may say that the homesteading constantly recommended by AngloAustria is the same as introducing "Workers' Co-operatives" to state "industries". However, there are many differences, the main ones being:

1. The state will still fund these producer-led bodies through taxation

2. These bodies will enjoy all the coercive monopoly power they currently enjoy

3. There will be no freedom of entry for other individuals and organisations to compete with these new 'co-operatives' on an even playing-field basis

4. The state will still ultimately control and direct these bodies

5. These new bodies will still be entirely producer-led, with tax-funding consumers a long way down the pecking order of producer interests

These workers' soviets policies, as unveiled by Osborne and Cameron, are designed to directly appeal to government agents, particularly the hard core who would immediately be sacked if someone like me ever had our way. What these policies amount to is a charter for government agents to have an even more feather-bedded existence, if that is possible. Where in this country there is still a modicum of consumer interest, with headteachers, for instance, occasionally sacking really poor teachers, whatever is left of this will go. Headteachers who dare contemplate such action will be sacked forthwith by the soviet councils at schools, whose most vociferous members will almost certainly be the worst teachers in the school. Therefore, to keep their over-large salaries and pensions intact, headteachers will kow-tow to these new workers' soviets, and whatever shred of consumer interest is still left in state schools will be finally devoured by the sloth and ineptitude of the teachers dominating these soviets.

I must say, for a leader and shadow chancellor of the once 'free-market' Conservative Party to espouse the soviet policies of Trotsky, Lenin, and Stalin, is not quite the shock it may once have been, but Margaret Thatcher, if she were dead, would surely be turning in her grave.

With the worst, most incompetent, and most hated government in modern history to still only be a few points behind the Conservative Party in the polls perhaps tells its own story about the competence of Cameron and Osborne to run the next government.

The pair of them truly are a rotten shower of ideologically-inept chancers.

Maturin Towers prediction for the next election? Conservatives to shade victory in a hung parliament, with Labour and the Liberals then getting together to form a joint government. Brown to resign to be replaced as leader by some apparatchik. The real prime minister to continue being Mandelson. Not that it actually matters, of course, because there is so little difference between the three main political parties in this country, and so little will change dependent on the outcome of the election, that I'll be more interested in the sports results on that day, rather than on who gets to kiss the Queen's hand.

Manchester United for the European Cup, anyone?

Is Bonson Jorris reading? Come on Bonson, challenge Cameron for the leadership, if you've got any spunk left, and bring back the Austrian-inspired legacy of Her Blessedness. Make Daniel Hannan Chancellor, while you're at it, and you might actually start making some inroads into Leviathan before it consumes you at the first hurdle.