Author Archive
Vauxhall Vivaros and their gearboxes
Leave a comment
My delightful Vauxhall Vivaro has – since I bought it last July – had a reluctant 2nd gear. On Friday this reluctance became obstinance. It ceased to be co-operative. Moreover, it had equally convinced 4th and 6th to join the club.
A quick look on the internet demonstrates that this is not an uncommon problem with these vehicles. Maybe I should have stuck with the Transit and not listened to the salesman? Oh well. It looks like my wallet will need to be opened pretty widely to compensate for this poor engineering.
See new post from 24 July, 2012.
Privatising roads
Not content with the National Health Service, now the Conservatives want to privatise the roads on the grounds that we do not have enough money to build or repair the network. Some thoughts.
First, governments, even indebted ones, can raise money for infrastructure cheaper than the the private sector (as the Private Finance Initiative demonstrates only too well). Second, tapping into sovereign wealth funds means ceding infrastructure to the Gulf States? Third, we know it is not about raising money, rather it is about paying big business well to run services that we can manage better – cheaper – inside. The railways are a case in point, nomatter how the Transport Secretary thinks she can reorganise the railways, the private sector has milked and will continue to milk the public coffers because they can. Because we let them. And every time the Government offers more assets, not surprisingly they accept them and get fatter.
Privatisation of the NHS
Why do the Conservatives hate public provision of services so much? The Guardian reported this week the privatisation of
NHS Devon and Devon county council’s frontline services for children including some child protection services, treatment for mentally ill children and adolescents, therapy and respite care for those with disabilities, health visiting, and palliative nursing for dying children.
Who are the two front runners in this £130m contract? Serco and Virgin. Seemingly fallen by the wayside is a joint bid between Devon Partnership NHS trust, bidding along with Barnardo’s and other local charities.
I’m no fan of poor NHS management and care. But it does matter who runs the NHS. It does matter that those running it are not subject to shareholder pressure. Money is tight enough as it is, adding another shareholder dimension is unhelpful or even unethical. Virgin branded healthcare is in bad taste.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/mar/15/devon-nhs-childrens-services-privatisation?INTCMP=SRCH
American assassin of Afghanistan
A lone man with personal problems was responsible for the massacre of 16 civilians in an Afgahn village on 11 March. The soldier, a 38 year old staff sergeant, we are told, was under stress, had himself been injured and had recently seen some of his own comrades seriously injured resulting from Taliban attacks. It was too much for him, seemingly. He left his compound, found some houses in a nearby village and then shot 16 people in the head. Now in custody in the USA, we’ll see what justice is meted out.
The story needs unpicking somewhat. Robert Fisk, writing in the Independent, reports that something like this was anticipated. General John Allen addressed the soldiers a mere three weeks before against taking revenge against Afghans for American losses arising from the riots generated after American soldiers foolishly burned copies of the Koran. ‘Now is not the time…’ etc (not sure if any time is the time for murderous revenge, but we take the point).
The media has, however, bought into the the lone deranged madman story, rather than reporting that he was in actual fact a cold-blooded murderer of Afghan civilians.
At best, this is shocking news reportage – across the board. At worst, collusion. This is not what the news media are for. Shameful.
The special relationship
So David Cameron is now in The USA shoring up the special relationship. The speeches yesterday on the Whitehouse lawn were 
somewhat over-the-top with respect to how fabulous the Camerons and the Obamas are. The description of beacons of liberty, freedom, justice, etc. from both sides seemed to have a certain other worldliness quality. Where does constant regime change, interference in other countries’ affairs, Guantanamo Bay, assassination squads, privatisation, bank bailouts….fit into all of this.
Nice clothes.
Cigarettes in the German spring
This is certainly turning out to be quite a thread for me. Whenever I pass through Laim station in Munich, I must view the latest episode in the smoking young people for Pall Mall. The latest has a spring theme. Same old toxic sticks. But now we can smoke them on the green pastures of the Alps.
Cigarette advertising revisited
So, what is new on the German cigarette advertising front? Only three weeks ago (see post 23 Jan 2012) I reported on advertising for Pall Mall 
cigarettes in Munich involving beautiful young people being poisoned. This time, on the exact same advertising hoarding, I found Lucky Strike brand demonstrating its environmental credentials. (Both brands incidentally are owned by the same American and British producers.) Again, notwithstanding that these products are toxic and cause known chronic diseases, Lucky Strike’s marketing people seem to think that packing them in recycled or sustainably sourced cardboard without aluminium foil is a worth shouting about.
60 years
We are now into the Jubilee year. On the Eve of her accession anniversary on 5 February she went to Church on her Sandringham Estate and then reaffirmed her pledge of service to her subjects. Then on the anniversary itself she went to King’s Lynn Town Hall and then to a local school. Very nice.
The Royal press office has been busy. Harry is doing the talk shows about his Grandmother. The old friends, too, are coming out of the woodwork to talk her up. John Major has been drafted in to chair her new trust for underprivileged people. And the media are soaking it up uncritically.
And now we have Gary Barlow announcing that he loves the monarchy and the Queen and is organising a concert for her in London with a packed line-up of all of our favourite artists including Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, Elton John, Jessie J (I bet the Queen knows who she is) and others. What a really exciting time we are all going to have this summer. Doesn’t it make one proud to be British?
Please remember, this is a hereditary monarch. And even if she has been devoted to her subjects, the institution itself is outdated and inappropriate for a modern democracy. Remember also that Charles – next in line – lobbies politicians and the civil service to maintain his privilege and tax advantages. They are very rich and own a lot of land. Unlike the rest of us.
Paul Smith on Design Museum, London
Paul Smith, the fashion designer, was interviewed on the Today Programme on 24 January 2012 to discuss the significance of the Design Musuem’s move from the South Bank to Kensington (along with the other key national museums including the V&A). Whilst he was not electrifying, he does give a sense of what design is and why it is important. And maybe why the British are quite good at it. The interview can be heard here Paul Smith on Design
Bank bonuses
So, Stephen Hester has declined his £1m bonus. Well done.
This morning’s radio comments on the issue have been revealing and need a more robust response. Though I give credit to Evan Davis again for challenging one interviewee who suggested that firms need to be able to pay on the basis of desert. Davis came back very quickly and said that the logic of capitalism was that firms try to get labour as cheaply as possible. Only senior managers seem to think that they deserve high salaries.
Stephen Hestor, noted Robert Peston on the Today programme, is a ‘determined man’ who may find himself with job offers to go to other banks where he could claim his bonus without political interference. Here are the things to say to all of those senior bankers – and anyone else who thinks that they deserve more.
Go. If you can find a better place to live than London, go. Second, having got us into this mess, you might feel that you have some responsibility to help clean up the mess. The banking sector owes the taxpayer a lot of money and gratitude. There wouldn’t be a banking sector without us. Go to Beijing, Singapore, Dubai. We really need a reformed banking sector – one that serves the citizens rather than exploits them. We want small businesses to be able to function and develop. Banks, as they are currently manifested, are a hindrance.
Finally, I have heard the argument that we need Stephen Hestor so that we can return the bank to the private sector and retrieve the £45bn or so that we have invested. At the moment it is ‘worth’ half of that. The experience from Northern Rock is that we will not get our money back with or without Stephen Hestor with or without his bonus.
Be informed 