Masters of the Universe aren’t as awe-inspiring as they used to be.  Until recently, with a track record burnished by net job creation and material increases in living standards, this microscopic subset of the human race was given a free pass to exact astronomical economic rents from the rest of us.  Dynastic wealth became a confirmation of greatness, rather than an obscene injustice perpetrated by a few deft players on an economic playing field tilted in their favor.  Given recent events, however, the latter interpretation is ascendant.  It seems our lordly masters have many of our same predilections and hang-ups, just with much greater access to resources–a volatile cocktail.

John Robb has a recent post on his blog Global Guerrillas, entitled “Random Thoughts on SuperEmpowered Individuals.”  It makes this point, that a complex liberal market economy in which nation-states lose their moral right to govern not only creates “fat tails” of income distribution, but also creates the possibility of ever more extreme outcomes that affect more people than ever, both positively and negatively.

More so than ever before, a small cadre of individuals can co-opt the gears of power by holding governments hostage.  More so than ever before, we as a human race are harnessing our environment to our species-selfish desires.

Here is a particularly rich passage from Richard Linklater’s 2001 movie Waking Life on this topic:

              If we’re looking at the highlights of human development,
              you have to look at the evolution of the organism...
              and then at the development of its interaction with the environment.
              Evolution of the organism will begin with the evolution of life...
              perceived through the hominid...
              coming to the evolution of mankind.
              Neanderthal, Cro-Magnon man.
              Now, interestingly, what you’re looking at here are three strings:
              biological, anthropological--
              development of the cities, cultures--
              and cultural, which is human expression.
              Now, what you’ve seen here is the evolution of populations,
              not so much the evolution of individuals.
              And in addition, if you look at the time scales that's involved here--
              two billion years for life,
              six million years for the hominid,
                      years for mankind as we know it--
              you're beginning to see the telescoping nature of the evolutionary paradigm.
              And then when you get to agricultural,
              when you get to scientific revolution and industrial revolution,
              you're looking at        years,     years,      years.
              You're seeing a further telescoping of this evolutionary time.
              What that means is that as we go through the new evolution,
              it's gonna telescope to the point we should be able to see it
              manifest itself...within our lifetime, within this generation.
              The new evolution stems from information,
              and it stems from two types of information: digital and analog.
              The digital is artificial intelligence.
              The analog results from molecular biology, the cloning of the organism.
              And you knit the two together with neurobiology.
              Before on the old evolutionary paradigm,
              one would die and the other would grow and dominate.
              But under the new paradigm, they would exist...
              as a mutually supportive, noncompetitive grouping.
              Okay, independent from the external.
              And what is interesting here is that evolution now becomes
              an individually centered process,
              emanating from the needs and the desires of the individual,
              and not an external process, a passive process...
              where the individual is just at the whim of the collective.
              So, you produce a neo-human with a new individuality and a new consciousness.
              But that's only the beginning of the evolutionary cycle...
              because as the next cycle proceeds,
              the input is now this new intelligence.
              As intelligence piles on intelligence,
              as ability piles on ability, the speed changes.
              Until what? Until you reach a crescendo in a way...
              could be imagined as an enormous instantaneous fulfillment of human,
              human and neo-human potential.
              It could be something totally different.
              It could be the amplification of the individual,
              the multiplication of individual existences.
              Parallel existences now with the individual no longer
              restricted by time and space.
              And the manifestations of this neo-human-type evolution,
              manifestations could be dramatically counter-intuitive.
              That's the interesting part. The old evolution is cold.
              It's sterile. It's efficient, okay?
              And its manifestations are those social adaptations.
              You're talking about parasitism, dominance, morality, okay?
              Uh, war, predation, these would be subject to de-emphasis.
              These would be subject to de-evolution.
              The new evolutionary paradigm will give us the human traits of truth,
              of loyalty, of justice, of freedom.
              These will be the manifestations of the new evolution.
              That is what we would hope to see from this. That would be nice.

I am writing this post as an individual who has generally prospered under a liberal market economy.  In this sense, I can’t complain too much.  People like me (decidedly un-Super, but privileged nonetheless) at this point in time have more choice and freedom than even prominent historical figures.  Although we still have to deal with cumbersome tax regimes and immigration protocols, the nation-state no longer necessarily defines who we are or where we can pursue our interests.  We strike allegiances and form communities around the world based on the merit of our ideas, not proximity.  For the first time known to me, competition for high-performance individuals at the nation-state level is actively discussed in the MSM.  As distasteful as it may be, whingeing about 50% tax rates appears to have become a national sport in affluent Great Britain.

Human choice is a necessary condition of the creative process that brings the New into the world (“New” defined as “novel”).  Whether or not you believe in free will in formal terms, the human condition and the attendant experience of freedom does spur creative action.  If this blog post wrote itself, you’d find me living like King-Size Homer.  Instead, I know writing takes effort and that effort is a choice.  Luckily, the human organism has a tremendous capacity for imposing its will to choice, in even the most difficult circumstances.  Unfortunately, capacity does not equal results, and in a sense, our current economic/societal predicament owes more to Homer Simpson than anyone would like to admit.  To this point, later in Waking Life, a philosophy professor harangues the protagonist:

              There are two kinds of sufferers in this world:
              those who suffer from a lack of life...
              and those who suffer from an overabundance of life.
              I've always found myself in the second category.
              When you come to think of it,
              almost all human behavior and activity...
              is not essentially any different from animal behavior.
              The most advanced technologies and craftsmanship...
              bring us, at best, up to the super-chimpanzee level.
              Actually, the gap between,
              say, Plato or Nietzsche and the average human...
              is greater than the gap between that chimpanzee and the average human.
              The realm of the real spirit,
              the true artist, the saint, the philosopher,
              is rarely achieved.
              Why so few?
              Why is world history and evolution not stories of progress...
              but rather this endless and futile addition of zeroes?
              No greater values have developed.
              Hell, the Greeks      years ago were just as advanced as we are.
              So what are these barriers that keep people...
              from reaching anywhere near their real potential?
              The answer to that can be found in another question, and that's this:
              Which is the most universal human characteristic--
              fear or laziness?

So, what do we need?

Der Uebermensch–but only if he or she doesn’t get lazy at the top (or has enough humility and self-knowledge to step down when appropriate).  And only if they mean well by the rest of us.  Sounds like a lot of people I know, at least potentially.

As for unintended consequences, well, maybe that’s the price we pay for freedom.

Until Chilcot hears UN weapons inspectors’ testimony, the fiction of Britain honestly seeking a WMD smoking gun prevails

Scott Ritter, The Guardian/UK, Nov27, 2009

I’m nearly illiterate when it comes to cricket, but I recognize a great cap when I see one.  I spotted this cap on England cricketer Andrew Strauss while cruising PicApp for anything that struck my fancy. The cap Strauss wears with the crown atop three lions is very cool. From what I can infer from photos on the Web site of the England and Wales Cricket Board, that must be the cap bearing the national team logo.

Mr. Strauss evidently is quite the stud batsman. Below is a shot of him in action, and it looks as if he packs quite a wallop. Note the logo also adorns the helmet he wears. And check out the red ball. Now that’s cool.

It’s always good to look to Great Britain as the litmus test for particularly vile, insipid and racist ideas, since they’re likely to work their way through the commonwealth. A perfect case in point is the recent news that political parties will now be forced to declare how many women, ethnic minority and disabled applicants they turn aside in an attempt to change their Parliament from one whose image is, apparently, one of middle class, middle-aged men:

The all-party Speaker’s Conference said parties were the “gatekeepers” to the Commons and had to be the agents of change but that their record on promoting diversity was “uneven”.

Its inquiry found that while more women and black and Asian people were trying to become candidates, “the fact remains that at present the House of Commons continues to be largely white, male, middle-aged and middle class.”

It added: “People from under-represented groups who are putting themselves forward for selection are still proportionately less likely to be selected, or to be selected for a seat the party thinks it can win, than their counterparts.”

I hate to be the bearer of unwelcome logic, but the reason that political candidates tend to come from middle and upper class ranks is that most poor people are too busy working all the time to spend the time necessary to get elected. At any rate, I think we’ve established that as the population changes to include larger segments of recognized “minorities”, those changes to our public “face” eventually work their way through the system. Here in Canada, the regions which are heavily populated by immigrants, tend to be represented by immigrants in political office.

I really don’t understand this obsessive need to ensure that everybody who isn’t a white heterosexual male needs to be encouraged to seek public office. I recently read a most interesting article on the subject of women and public office, and although for the life of me I can’t recall where I read it, the explanation was rather simple.

Most feminists would love to assure us that women want to be politicians and business leaders, and I’m sure that’s a great thing to aspire to. But the fact is that nurture cannot change nature entirely. Whether people want to admit it or not, men and women tend to go into different careers. Women tend to go into fields like education, arts, and humanities, not political science, math, and business; the kinds of education that can lead to public office.

Women also eventually stop to have children. Having children can put a serious damper on a woman’s political ambitions. As they tend to focus on rearing their children, personal aspirations tend to fall by the wayside. Interrupting a career of any kind can put women further back than men who didn’t have to take the time off, or women who chose not to have children. These are, of course, generalizations, but it explains why so many more men are in politics than women.

Is the greed a fault? Nonsense! In such lovely boxes, created in limited edition for Ladurée, by Consuelo Castiglioni, the fashion designer of Marni, those macaroons are so tempting! XS sized fashion victims:  forget them! For the others: let’s ourselves be tempted! What a great idea! From December the 1rst in Ladurée’s shops in Paris, London, Dublin, Tokyo and Switzerland.

Related posts:

VOGUE Fashion’s Night Out: Marni in Paris etc… 

Chrismas Trees of Fashion Designers, in Paris

Saint Germain des Près, Paris

City guide: Destinations

The scientific-fraud scandal that’s rocked the Global-Warming Cult is rapidly moving from outrage to farce. First the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) refused for years to release their raw data and programming code, conspiring to resist UK FOIA requests. Then, after emails and code were leaked indicating extensive data manipulation and efforts to corrupt the peer-review process, word comes today that CRU has agreed to release their data. A victory for transparency, right? It’s the beginning of the restoration of trust in science, no?

No.

In fact, the London Times Online reports that the data, if it is released, is not the raw data. The CRU threw that away.

Climate change data dumped

SCIENTISTS at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have admitted throwing away much of the raw temperature data on which their predictions of global warming are based.

It means that other academics are not able to check basic calculations said to show a long-term rise in temperature over the past 150 years.

The UEA’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) was forced to reveal the loss following requests for the data under Freedom of Information legislation.

The data were gathered from weather stations around the world and then adjusted to take account of variables in the way they were collected. The revised figures were kept, but the originals — stored on paper and magnetic tape — were dumped to save space when the CRU moved to a new building.

The admission follows the leaking of a thousand private emails sent and received by Professor Phil Jones, the CRU’s director. In them he discusses thwarting climate sceptics seeking access to such data.

In a statement on its website, the CRU said: “We do not hold the original raw data but only the value-added (quality controlled and homogenised) data.”

In other words, “Sure we’ll share the data. And, aren’t we nice? We cleaned it up and made it all pretty for you. Look! A hockey stick!“

I’d ask how dumb they think we are, but they’ve already answered that question. 

The CRU data set has been one of the primary sources for researchers around the globe conducting their own investigations into global warming. The refusal to share the raw data itself is bad enough (Good science depends on letting others test and challenge your theories.), but then to admit you tossed the original data, that only the manipulated data is available and that others will just have to trust that your corrections were appropriate is nothing short of appalling. Without the original, raw, unadjusted data to test against, the CRU data set is worthless and likewise any research based on it

And yet these are the same people who demand we regulate and massively tax the world’s most productive economies to deal with a crisis they claim is proved … by this same data.

The real crisis is when crooked science meets stupid politicians.

RELATED: More on the revealing comments hidden in the CRU’s program code; Hot Air on weird science; Michael Mann, the originator of one of the now-discredited hockey sticks, is now under investigation by his employer, the University of Pennsylvania, in the wake of the CRU revelations. Information on the other debunked hockey stick. Climate Skeptic translates the double-speak in the CRU’s announcement that it had destroyed the raw data. Sister Toldjah wants a show of hands to see who believes the CRU’s excuse.

No matter how you slice it, this is just frightening.

I stumbled upon this diagram (from Great Britain’s National Health Service) on the BBC news site. Check the site out, please. Am I missing something? I read and re-read the article and could find no reference to the numbers – only those on the picture. And they certainly don’t jive with the numbered list below Mr. Skinned.

Point #1 clearly aligns with the #1 symptoms listed below the figure: whole body | high temperature, tiredness and lowered immunity. Point #2, ditto. #3 location is the stomach: this is where you get a sore throat? I don’t think so. And it just goes downhill from there.

So what am I missing?

If by some wild coincidence I’m not missing anything and the chart is messed up, what does that say about an industrialized country’s  nationalized system of medicine? (And yes, I know that the folks across the pond can differentiate between the throat and the stomach. And I also understand that they can count!) But my point holds… Who signed off on this? Who released it to the press? Was this a joke, or an act of complete and utter incompetence (and if the latter, what does that say about the NHS)?

As I said, it must be me. But then again, google on the following and read the first half-dozen hits: “great britain” NHS… Say no more. Say no more!

What in the world are we doing?

Alan Speakman

I’ve Been Single Too Long: Yearnings of an Overheated Imagination

I’ve Been Single Too Long is a shadowy, dream-like 3-minute short film directed by Shane Davey, which was commissioned for a special showcase at the Tate Modern Museum in Britain.  Whether a declaration of yearning or an admission of an overheated imagination, the title of Davey’s single-shot film offers an insight into the scene that’s being played out before us.  Arising from his bed in the early morning, a listless young man wanders through the rooms of his house and into a hammock in his back garden. All the while, the young fellow is seemingly oblivious to the many young women, wearing only their underwear, who are seductively lounging about all around him.

I’ve Been Single Too Long: Yearnings of an Overheated Imagination

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What do you know about
London?

POĆWICZ JUŻ TERAZ – Kliknij w zdjęcie Tower Bridge
lub w ten link: London Sights

Zapraszamy wszystkich pierwszoklasistów ZS nr 2
do sprawdzenia swojej wiedzy o stolicy Anglii

Konkurs odbędzie się
9 grudnia 2009r. (środa)
w godz. 13.35 – 14.20 (7. lekcja)
w auli

w dwóch kategoriach:

• GRUPOWEJ (zespoły dwuosobowe – wskazane jest zapoznanie się z mapą Londynu)
• INDYWIDUALNEJ (materiały ksero pomocne w przygotowaniu się do konkursu do pobrania u organizatorów)

Chętni proszeni są o zgłaszanie się
do mgr B. Będkowskiej (9 B) lub mgr R. Oślizło (106 B)

Gwarantujemy dobrą zabawę i ciekawe nagrody!

The former UK ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock says that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was “of questionable legitimacy”.

Greenstock was speaking on day four of public hearings at a wide-ranging inquiry into the US-led, British-backed Iraq War covering the period from 2001 to 2009.

Jeremy Greenstock said the United States seemed to be “preparing for conflict” despite British efforts to secure consensus following a United Nations resolution in November 2002 giving Saddam Hussein a last warning to disarm, AFP reported.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 in late 2002 gave Iraq a “final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations” but the council did not ultimately agree to a second resolution clearly authorizing the March 2003 invasion.

This meant the invasion was “legal but of questionable legitimacy, in that it didn’t have the democratically observable backing of the great majority of member states,” Greenstock said in spoken evidence to the Chilcot inquiry.

The first UN resolution, 1441, was “equivocal” on what should happen if Iraq did not comply with international demands and, although Britain tried to resolve some of its ambiguities, this was hindered by the US, Greenstock said.

“The UK’s attempt to reconstitute a consensus had only a slim prospect of success, made slimmer by the recognition by everyone else following events closely that the US was not proactively supportive of the UK’s efforts and seemed to be preparing for conflict whatever the UK decided to do,” Greenstock said in a written statement also submitted to the inquiry on Friday.

His written statement also revealed that Greenstock, Britain’s ambassador to the UN between 1998 and 2003, considered resigning if there was no resolution clearly backing military action.

I am preparing to teach Wuthering Heights to my Advanced Placement Literature students, and rereading this book hardly feels like “work” to me.  You see, I love Wuthering Heights; not only because it’s an amazing novelistic feat, but also because I associate this book with my very first big trip abroad.  This book was a cornerstone of the curriculum when I spent a semester in Great Britain as a college student. (Forgive the photo quality–this was pre-digital!)

Okay, okay.  I admit to spending some time in the British pubs.  But hey, I was 21 and a first-time victim of lust—wanderlust, that is.

Hampton Court - London

My study abroad experience was unique.  Students enrolled in three courses: British Literature, British History, and British Art History.  Instead of attending one school in England, my group traveled with American and British professors.  We set up camp on a variety of campuses in London, Cambridge, Edinburgh, York, Exeter and Oxford.

Thomas Hardy's house - Dorset

We’d read a book by Thomas Hardy, and then go to his house.  We’d study Sir Christopher Wren, and then visit St. Paul’s Cathedral.  We read Wuthering Heights and then toured the moors and read excerpts from the book along with some of Emily Bronte’s poetry.

The Brontë Parsonage - Haworth, Yorkshire

In front of the house that inspired Thrushcross Grange in Wuthering Heights

This experience transformed how I viewed education, because it made British literature and history come alive for me.  It ignited a passion for experiential learning and a humanities-based curriculum that I nurture to this day.  But more importantly, that trip made me a traveler.  After eight weeks on the road that semester in 1996, I can still vividly remember sitting at London-Heathrow and wondering what would happen if I just didn’t get on that flight home.  Would I get in trouble? (Maybe.) Would anyone notice? (Definitely.)  What would happen if I just kept traveling? (Still wish I could have found out.)

Stonehenge

Teaching has provided me with time to continue seeing the world.  Even during the school year, I have an outlet for my wandering imagination: books are one of the best forms of armchair travel, and I get to choose where my students and I visit.  However, the most important lesson I stress to the kids in my classroom is to GET OUT THERE.  Explore the world.  Traveling provides you with the most authentic learning available.  Since I teach seniors in high school, I tell them they’d better study abroad in the next few years—and I am overjoyed when they contact me from London or Germany or the Netherlands to tell me they followed suit.

This trip also taught me about the importance of the travel journal.  But more on that in the future…

Eight players will experience the pride of pulling on a Great Britain shirt for the first time next month after Great Britain Head Coach Danny Kerry announced his 18-athlete squad for December’s five game test series against Argentina in Salta.

Included among the eight GB debutants are four Leicester players: Gemma Darrington, Katie Long, Hannah Macleod and Laura Unsworth. Also due to make a first appearance are Kirsty Mackay, Reading’s Emily Maguire, Natalie Seymour of Canterbury, and Slough’s Nicola White. For Mackay, the Bowdon Hightown goalkeeper, an appearance in South America would mark her full international debut as she has yet to play for England at senior level.

The series will also mark the return of Crista Cullen to the international fold, the international centurion having taken a year out after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games where she helped Great Britain to a sixth place finish.

Also included in the squad are Helen Richardson and Susie Gilbert who were shortlisted for World Player of the Year and World Young Player of the Year respectively on Wednesday afternoon by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

Speaking as he announced his squad, Kerry said: “This is a good opportunity for us on a number of levels. It is the earliest a GB squad has ever assembled for such a test series during an Olympic cycle and we look forward to developing a number of parts of our game playing against the World’s current number two side.

“We welcome back the presence of Crista Cullen while for a number of the younger members of the squad, such as Emily Maguire, the series will offer them further exposure to top flight hockey and a first taste of the technical skills of ‘Las Leonas’.”

In October, the squad began its Centralised Training Programme, with the coaches and athletes benefitting from more contact time as Kerry explains: “As part of our preparations for London 2012 the group has been training together on a weekly basis at Bisham Abbey. Even though it is early days in the programme there are some very good signs of gains being made and we look forward to putting those into practice against Argentina.

“Playing in Argentina is one of the most enjoyable experiences of an international career. The crowds are several thousand in number, with an amazing carnival atmosphere and I’m certain the players will benefit immensely from the occasion.”

Running from 12-18 December, the women’s series is being held to coincide with the BDO Champion’s Challenge I, an International Hockey Federation (FIH) event for the men’s teams ranked between 7th and 15th in the world.

THE SQUAD

Name (Club) Position [Home Nation]

Crista Cullen (Leicester) Defender [England]
Alex Danson (Reading) Forward [England]
Gemma Darrington (Leicester) Defender [England]
Jo Ellis (Reading) Forward [England]
Susie Gilbert (University of Birmingham) Midfielder [England]
Rebecca Herbert (Leicester) Forward [England]
Katie Long (Leicester) Forward [England]
Kirsty Mackay (Bowdon Hightown) Goalkeeper [England]
Hannah Macleod (Leicester) Forward [England]
Emily Maguire (Reading) Defender [Scotland]
Helen Richardson (Reading) Midfielder [England]
Chloe Rogers (Leicester) Midfielder [England]
Natalie Seymour (Canterbury) Defender [England]
Laura Unsworth (Leicester) Defender [England]
Abi Walker (Canterbury) Goalkeeper [Scotland]
Kate Walsh (Reading) Defender [England]
Sally Walton (Bowdon Hightown) Defender [England]
Nicola White (Slough) Forward [England]

On the morning of Nov 26 I made a post here to the effect that something was afoot in the UK and one small toe is now beginning to poke itself through a hole in the sock:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/6673550/Prime-Minister-stays-upbeat-on-Dubai-setback.html

Prime Minister stays upbeat on Dubai ’setback’

Gordon Brown has moved to calm global markets by claiming Dubai’s debt crisis will not have a widespread impact on the worldwide economic recovery.

The Prime Minister said he had spoken with senior figures in Dubai and was confident that the debt problem was containable and localised.

“Upbeat”. “Containable and localized”. Yeah, I’ve heard that song and seen the dance before.

Mr Brown said in his capacity as G20 president he called the chairman of the Financial Stability Board, Mario Draghi, and was “satisfied” that there was no risk of contagion. He said: “The world economy has put in place mechanisms by which when a problem starts in one country we are in a far better position to monitor it and to gauge the effects.”

On Wednesday, Dubai World, the government investment company behind some of the emirate’s most ambitious projects, stunned global markets by announcing it was seeking to delay repayments on $3.5bn (£2.1bn) of its $60bn debt. The so-called “standstill” prompted fears that Dubai could default on its sovereign debt, which sparked a sell-off on global markets, particularly of emerging markets. In Britain, the banks were particularly hard hit on the back of reports that they have the biggest exposure to Dubai’s debt.

And, the Brits just happened to have that computer problem on Thursday…

The fears were carried into Friday as the confusion was compounded by a lack of information from Dubai, which has started a 10-day holiday for Eid.

In Britain markets were further destabilised by a report from the Bank of International Settlements which showed that foreign banks have lent a total of $123bn to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The list, which does not break down the UAE borrowing by nation, shows that British banks are collectively the biggest lender with a total exposure of $50.2bn. France is the next biggest with $11.3bn followed by Germany and the US with $10bn each.

Surprise, surprise: some US exposure to risk.

British banks moved to allay fears about their exposure. Michael Geoghegan, chief executive of HSBC, said: “Although our business on the ground in the Middle East represents only 2pc of the group’s balance sheet, it’s an important and high-potential part of our international business mix and a region we are completely committed to. I am confident that the leadership of Dubai and the UAE will overcome any short-term issues they face, which appear to have been somewhat sensationalised, and continue to lay the foundations for sustainable growth.”

“Somewhat sensationalised” but great timing for that computer glitch on Thursday.

Dubai’s Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, chairman of the Supreme Fiscal Committee, said: “While the government understands the concerns of the market and the creditors, it had to intervene because of the need to take decisive action to address its particular debt ­burden.” He said the government had acted in full knowledge of how markets would react.

Of course.

I’m beginning to wonder which banks will be under economic attack in the coming weeks. This will trickle down to various sectors of the US economy later and result in yet tighter credit against small business.

In any case, while Gordon Brown and the Telegraph are proclaiming “don’t panic” the Times has taken a bit of a different approach:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/the_gulf/article6935620.ece

The spectre of “Financial Crisis 2” continued to loom over global markets yesterday after Dubai’s revelation that it may not be able to meet its debt obligations.

Stock markets in Asia and the United States fell sharply while the dollar and Japanese yen rose as investors shifted their money to their perceived safety.

UK banks were also revealed to be the biggest lenders to the United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, with more than $50 billion owed by the Gulf state’s residents.

In another blow to the beleaguered UK banking sector, the Royal Bank of Scotland emerged as the largest single loan-arranger to Dubai World, the state-owned conglomerate that sparked this latest financial crisis when it sought a standstill on its debt repayments on Wednesday.

RBS, which is owned by British taxpayers, has arranged loans worth up to $2.3 billion to Dubai World.

The Financial Services Authority, the regulator, is understood to have sought assurances from banks that their exposure to Dubai will not threaten their financial strength. The FSA said it would continue to keep a close eye on the situation.

Dubai World, which owns a range of assets including the Turnberry golf club in southwest Scotland, sparked panic when it asked for the debt standstill.
….
The standstill has raised the prospect that Dubai World and, by extension, the government of Dubai might default on their debt.

As the drama in Dubai has unfolded, financial traders have had to come to terms with the possibility that other countries may also struggle to repay their ballooning debts in coming months.

This has sparked fears that we may be entering another phase in the financial crisis should lenders take fright and hold on to their cash rather than lend it, leading to another seizure in the world economy.

“If you look to government balance sheets around the world you’ll find plenty of potential banana skins,” said Jim Reid, strategist at Deutsche Bank. “Given the nature of this crisis the probability of further sovereign events remains elevated.”

Bank of America analysts also warned that Dubai’s crisis could trigger a wider problem as countries default on their debts, resulting in a “major step back” in the global economic recovery. Another analyst dubbed this scenario “Financial Crisis 2”.
….
One indication of the fear among investors has been the rise in credit default swaps (CDS), which is the cost of insurance against a debtor defaulting.

I seem to recall those CDSs caused some big problems in the past. But according to Brown it’s “everything is fine, nothing to see here, please move along”:

Gordon Brown attempted to calm growing panic over the threat to a global economic recovery. Speaking at a Commonwealth summit in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Mr Brown said: “While it is a setback, I think we will find it is not on the scale of previous problems we have dealt with. I think global recovery has depended on monetary action and fiscal stimulus.”
….
British banks are among the most vulnerable to a potential Dubai World debt default, partly because of the strong historical ties between the countries — Dubai was a British protectorate until 1971.

Goldman Sachs estimated that HSBC, Britain’s largest bank, could lose up to $611 million if Dubai World defaulted. The bank has a total of $15.9 billion loaned to the UAE.

Standard Chartered, another British bank, could lose up to $177 million if Dubai World defaults, while RBS is the biggest potential loser with an exposure up to $2.3 billion.

More than £14 billion was written off the value of British banks on Thursday but the FTSE 100 regained momentum yesterday and rose 51.6 points, or 1 per cent, to 5,245.73.

Must be the books and computer glitches were all fixed on Thursday. Sure, people, go ahead and swallow it.

Dubai is estimated to have total debts of $88 billion but investors had assumed that this would be manageable because, if worst came to worst, the emirate could be bailed out by Abu Dhabi, its oil-rich neighbour.

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds have reserves estimated at over $700 billion, so a bailout of Dubai is easily within its reach.

What if one or both of those countries decide to screw western banks and throw in with that Chinese, Russian, etc currency block that was talked about over the summer? Oh, surely they wouldn’t. That’s how really big world wars get started.

WHO IS THE PATRON SAINT OF SCOTLAND?

St. Andrew’s Day is the feast day of Saint Andrew. It is celebrated on 30 November.

Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and St. Andrew’s Day is Scotland’s official national day . In 2006, the Scottish Parliament designated St. Andrew’s Day as an official bank holiday. Although most commonly associated with Scotland, Saint Andrew is also the patron saint of Greece, Romania, and Russia.
(…)
In parts of Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Romania, superstitious belief exists that the night before St. Andrew’s Day is specially suitable for magic that reveals a young woman’s future husband or that binds a future husband to her. Many such customs exist, for example the pouring of hot lead into water (in Poland, one usually pours hot wax from a candle through a key hole into cold water), divining the future husband’s profession from the shape of the resulting piece

In Germany, the feast day is celebrated as Andreasnacht (“St. Andrew’s Night”), in Austria with the custom of Andreasgebet (“St. Andrew’s Prayer”), and in Poland as Andrzejki (“Andrews”).

From Wikipedia

One of the most popular Polish traditions performed by young girls during the St. Andrew’s Night is pouring hot melted wax through a key into a bowl of cold water. After the wax has hardened, it is held up to the light and its shadow cast on the wall must be observed to guess the future. Usually the only light comes from a candle, which not only helps to read from the shadow but also to keep a mysterious atmosphere of this evening. While guessing the girl’s future for the upcoming year, it’s best to observe the shape of the shadow from different angles.

Here’s a special treat THINK ENGLISH has found on the Internet for you:
CLICK on the key
and find out about your future:

What shape did YOU get?
What does it say about YOUR future?

Check what others said
and write about your own results! – CLICK HERE

The weather in November was extremely variable with several days of hard frost, which turned the leaves a glorious colour, followed by mild, wet and windy weather that brought down said leaves in a hurry. We have been very lucky here at Findhorn even though there has been very heavy rain we have not had the floods and devastation that so much of the country has experienced. I phoned Diana Cooper and asked her if she could shed any light on why there were so many floods and her response was: “This is all part of the cleansing that needs to occur prior to 2012 to allow the Earth Star in London, the Heart Chakra in Glastonbury and the Portal in the Yorkshire Dales to open. It has been tragic to see the dreadful flooding in this country and my heart goes out to all those affected. We all need to co-operate to help them. On a spiritual level it is part of the cleansing of the planet for we are told that the planet is to be purified so that the world and all of us can ascend. It may help to remember that we can each of us make a difference. First the more light we send into Earth the less cleansing is needed. We do not necessarily know where pockets of negativity are held from events that happened aeons ago but when we send the planet light and love, it will automatically go to where it is most needed. Secondly much of the damage is caused by the elementals of the air, earth, fire or water being affected by the panic of the people. The elementals then get out of control, which is where much of the damage happens. By staying calm and peaceful we can affect them, so they can do their cleansing gently. By holding a peaceful, centred space we can help turn a hurricane into a breeze, a torrent into an overflow, an inferno into a controllable fire and so on.” This had already been my own inner sense but it was good to receive confirmation from Diana. I would like to suggest we all spend time each day, in whatever way we feel comfortable, visualizing the planet surrounded by light being blessed and held. Diana’s book 2012 and Beyond and the double CD Preparing for 2012 and Beyond are available in stores and give detailed information on how we can prepare ourselves as individuals and the planet as whole for this transformative event. Let us focus on the good and the positive! -Carol Shaw

In late 2006 Charlie and I went for a road trip to the UK to visit family and friends. Our route took us from Germany, through Belgium with a stopover near Bruges, and then a ferry from Calais to Dover.

Waiting for the ferry at Calais

Charlie on the ferry with all the little cars

We headed straight up north to see family in Yorkshire, and after a couple of days went further north to Scotland. Our first night in Scotland was spent next to Loch Lomond.

The dawn light at Loch Lomond

Charlie and I were both in awe at some of the scenery in Scotland.

Having a little rest at Loch Shiel

The next night was spent on Skye. Apparently there were no other people on the island the days we were there. At least we didn’t see anybody!

Camping out in the wilds of Skye

Could this be the loneliest phone box in the world?

After trekking around Scotland for a while, we went back down south again to vist friends in Manchester, Lichfield, Wales, and then on to Portsmouth where Charlie found an English friend.

Charlie and his English friend

This road trip finished off with seeing some more friends in Bishops Stortford, and then back home to Germany.

American Minute with Bill Federer

It may be a holiday here in the US, but the news and revelations about the scandal that may sink the Cult of Anthropogenic Global Warming didn’t take the weekend off. Here are some of the more interesting links to cross the Public Secrets case desk:

There’s never just one:

The biggest item, and the one that has to have cultists and alarmists worldwide burning candles to Al Gore, is news that the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit may not be the only site to have manipulated data to fit a preferred result. New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has been accused of manipulating data to show a warming trend where none existed. Lawrence Solomon of Canada’s Financial Post reveals a connection from NIWA back to the corruption-tainted CRU, while James Delingpole comments on the deepening shame.

It seems the arrogant priests of the AGW cult have at last met their Nemesis.

The Silence of the Lambs American Media:

You would think that a scandal of this potential magnitude would be on all the networks and in all the major papers of the United States.

You would be wrong. They are doing their level-best to ignore or downplay this crisis in AGW orthodoxy. In fact, the Russians are covering this more honestly than the American press:

Hang your heads in shame, MSM. The Russian press has more integrity than you.

Update: The New York Times refuses to publish the leaked emails, citing ethical concerns, yet it had no problem releasing national secrets in wartime. Ethics. Yeah. Sure. 

Other Links:

Senior members of the opposition Liberal Party in Australia have resigned in protest of the Party leader’s support for a cap-and-trade scheme. Though no direct link to ClimateGate was drawn, it’s a reasonable inference thanks to the timing.

Perhaps this is a good time to reread the late Michael Crighton’s speech about environmentalism as a religion.

Oh, my. The revered BBC had the CRU’s files a month ago and didn’t say a thing. Media bias at the Beeb? Say it ain’t so!

An excellent summary of the significance of the CRU email and program files. I disagree with the author’s conclusion after item four (I think this sets AGW theory back to square zero), but the summation itself is good.

I have to ask: without utter and complete transparency on the part of advocates of man-caused climate change, how can anyone trust their claims in the future? They have to release all raw data and make available the raw code of their programs. If they’re right, why hide anything? Nothing else will do.

Their credibility is in ruins.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

‘Shameful Flight’ relates the history of the final years of the British Raj in India, including the partition of India into both Pakistan (West and East) and India, and the early hostility of the two new nations destined for perpetual warfare in such regions as the Kashmir.The history of this era of political instability on the subcontinent includes all the main players from Great Britain, India and Pakistan.These main players include Winston Churchill, Viceroy Louis Mountbatten, Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah. There is not a single figure in this history of India’s partition who comes out of it in a good light, though several seem to have had very well-intentioned aims and motivations. It is the true story of lost opportunity and the devastating consequences of human pride and selfishness that have reverberated down through the decades to the present day and remain visible in the continuing clashes between India and Pakistan, as well as in the extremism expressed in both the Islamic and Hindu communities throughout the sub-continent. It is a story of perpetual tragedy and human suffering with no end in sight.

This book is extremely easy to read, passes on a wealth of historical information and whets the appetite for further research on the India/Pakistan situation. It provides enlightenment, by bringing understanding to the current political instability in both India and Pakistan, by clearly revealing the root of the problem – the manner of the birth of both nations out of British imperialism and that nation’s final haphazard departure aptly described as a ‘Shameful Flight.’ This is a great book for understanding the sub-continent and the wounds it still carries to this day.

This book was provided to me for review by Oxford University Press – www.oup.com

The company announced on Thursday that it would perform a trial of deep packet inspection technology from Detica to gauge the levels of unlawful file-sharing on its network, on behalf of music companies and other rights holders.

A Virgin Media spokesperson told ZDNet UK on Thursday that customers would not be asked for consent before the trial, and that data would be anonymised.

. . .

Privacy campaigners said they were “very disappointed” that Virgin Media is performing the trial without gaining customer consent, and that this may breach European privacy law.

“We’re very disappointed that Virgin Media will start trialling the technology,” said Alex Hanff of NoDPI. “We feel this breaches the e-Privacy Directive, which says interception of communications requires either consent or a warrant.”

via ZDNet.co.uk.

By Rumeana Jahangir
BBC News

The British have long enjoyed food with a bit of bite. And 200 years ago, an Indian migrant opened Britain’s first curry house to cater for the fashion for spicy food.

“Indian dishes, in the highest perfection… unequalled to any curries ever made in England.” So ran the 1809 newspaper advert for a new eating establishment in an upmarket London square popular with colonial returnees.

“ These were curries made with coriander seeds, salt, peppercorns and lemon juice ”
Janet Clarke

Diners at the Hindostanee Coffee House could smoke hookah pipes and recline on bamboo-cane sofas as they tucked into spicy meat and vegetable dishes.

This was the country’s first dedicated Indian restaurant, opened by an entrepreneurial migrant by the name of Dean Mahomed.

But Britons already had a taste for curry. A handful of coffee houses served curries alongside their usual fare, and in the gracious homes of returnees, ladies attempted to recreate dishes and condiments their families enjoyed on the sub-continent.

Some wrote out their own recipes; others may have used one of the many editions of Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery, first published in 1747, which contained recipes for curries and pilaus.

“The first recipes were very mild, using more herbs than spices,” says antiquarian bookseller Janet Clarke, who specialises in gastronomic titles. “These were curries and pilaus made with coriander seeds, salt, peppercorns and lemon juice.”

By the 19th Century, ginger, cayenne, turmeric, cumin and fenugreek had been added to the mix. “I have tried making these old recipes myself – they are wonderful.”

Piccalilli is an early English attempt at Indian pickle; kedgeree’s origins are more ambiguous, but this colonial-era dish uses Indian spices.

Food historian Ivan Day says cooking methods also differed. “The British didn’t really get the idea of frying the meat in ghee or another fat. Rather than the fresh spices available in India, these had been on a boat for half a year.”

Spicy mix

Peter Groves, co-founder of National Curry Week, which started on Sunday, says the Western taste for spicy foods developed centuries earlier. “All the spices of the East came back with the people who fought in the Crusades.”

OED DEFINITION OF MASALA
# A mixture of ground spices, sometimes blended with water or vinegar to make a paste, used in Indian cookery
# A person who or thing which comprises a highly varied mixture of elements
# Indian English: Piquancy, pep, vigour, excitement

The lucrative spice trade prompted various European powers to establish their presence in India, either through trading companies or colonisation.

This “masala” of cultures, and the Mughal conquest of India, resulted in hybrid creations, including Persian-inspired biryani and vindaloo, a Goan version of a Portuguese meat dish.

Indians tend to label dishes by specific names like korma and dopiaza. “Curry is a catch-all term,” says Dr Lizzie Collingham, author of Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors. “It’s easy shorthand for ‘what Indians eat’.”

One theory suggests the word comes “kari”, Tamil for sauce. However, an English cookbook, The Forme of Cury, was published in the 1390s. (Read it online with)

“All hot food of the time was referred to as cury. It came from the French word ‘cuire’ which means to cook.”

Exotic tastes

A 19th Century account records the British in India eating curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Yet within three years of opening the Hindostanee in London, its proprietor, Mr Mahomed, applied for bankruptcy.

“It was a good restaurant but the climate was wrong,” says Mr Groves. “People didn’t go out to eat then. They tended to have their own chef or do cooking at home.”

The restaurant carried on until 1833, but under different ownership.

The British enthusiasm for all things Indian spread to the expanding middle classes over the 19th Century.

“Queen Victoria made it very fashionable, as she had an Indian staff who cooked Indian food every day,” says Mr Day. At Osborne House, Victoria – the Empress of India – built an Indian-themed state room decorated by an eminent architect of the Punjab.

CURRY SCENE in VANITY FAIR “Give Miss Sharp some curry, my dear,” said Mr Sedley, laughing. Rebecca had never tasted the dish before. “Do you find it as good as everything else from India?” said Mr. Sedley. “Oh, excellent!” said Rebecca, who was suffering tortures with the cayenne pepper. “Try a chili with it, Miss Sharp,” said Joseph, really interested. “A chili,” said Rebecca, gasping. “Oh yes!” She thought a chili was something cool, as its name imported, and was served with some. “How fresh and green they look,” she said, and put one into her mouth.

Curry became so popular, an 1852 cookbook stated “few dinners are thought complete unless one is on the table”. Novelist William Thackeray – who was born in Calcutta – penned a Poem to Curry, and inflicted a blisteringly hot curry on his anti-heroine Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair.

But the interest in curry cooled after 1857 when Indian soldiers rebelled against British rule in the subcontinent.

“[Curry's popularity] recovered by the 1870s when Prime Minister Disraeli decided to make empire a part of his politics,” says Dr Collingham.

India became the brightest jewel in the crown, but Mr Groves says British culinary interests were turning from East to West. “Everyone who was anybody had French chefs.”

Curry and chips

“At the beginning of the 20th Century, curry was not very popular,” says Dr Collingham. “It was not well-to-do to have a house that smells of curry.”

Instead, the British diet was dominated by red meat, accompanied by home-grown vegetables such as cabbage and potatoes.

At the same time, a number of Indian sailors jumped ship or were dumped at major ports including Cardiff and London. These seamen from Sylhet – now a region in Bangladesh – opened cafes, mainly to cater for fellow Asians.

“They were self-taught but they cleverly adapted themselves to the British palate,” says Mr Groves.

And in the 1940s, they bought bombed-out chippies and cafes, says Ms Collingham, selling curry and rice alongside fish, pies and chips. “They stayed open really late to make money to catch the after-pub trade.”

And so the ritual of the post-pub curry was born.

“It took quite a long time for the British to recover from World War II,” says Ms Collingham. “They were willing and more open to try new things.”

After 1971, there was an influx of Bangladeshis following war in their homeland, particularly to London’s rundown East End. Many entered the catering trade, and today they dominate the curry industry.

“They own 65-75% of the Indian restaurants in the country. Without their input and hard work, we wouldn’t have the curry industry that we have today,” says Mr Groves.

An industry so popular the then foreign secretary Robin Cook described chicken tikka masala as “a true British national dish” – and yet another example of an Indian recipe modified for British tastes.

Ms Collingham says ultimately, the British love affair with curry boils down to the imagined glamour of the Raj.

“India has a certain magic because of the colonial relationship.”

Additional reporting by Megan Lane

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8370054.stm

Climate change is already affecting wildlife in Britain, with traditional species under threat while those associated with warmer habitats, such as wasp spiders and spoonbill birds, thrive.

Conservationists have warned hazel dormice and bluebells could be under pressure because of warmer weather which will affect hibernating animals and bring trees into leaf earlier.

The Wildlife Trusts said action was needed to help plants and animals cope with rising temperatures as well as protect humans from the heightened risk from flooding and heatwaves.

Brian Eversham, an expert on climate change for the charity, said warmer temperatures could mean birds, animals and plants such as the spoonbill, wasp spider and loose-flowered orchid could become more abundant or colonise for the first time.

However, species such as the mountain hare may struggle as uplands shrink, he warned in the charity’s newsletter Natural World.

He said: “Some favourite species may decline or disappear: the Bluebell may be genetically unable to flower much earlier, and forest trees open their leaves much earlier, bluebells may disappear from the deep shade and survive only on the edges.

“Animals which hibernate, such as the native Dormouse and some butterflies and moths, may struggle to survive warmer and wetter winters.

“In future, wet woodlands may be the last home to shade-loving and moisture-demanding plants such as ferns in southern Britain.”

Tom Tew, chief scientist at the Government’s conservation body, Natural England, said wildlife was already feeling the effects of climate change.

Studies show oak trees are coming into leaf three weeks earlier than in the 1950s – causing insects to shift their emergence patterns and thus depriving birds of food to feed their chicks.

Newts are coming back into ponds in November, instead of March as they were in the 1970s, and swallows in Cornwall ”aren’t even bothering to migrate” south in winter, he said.

European birds and insects which can easily move could be the first to increase their range into this country, while those native species least able to move their ranges further north or higher into the uplands as temperatures rise are most at risk of declines or extinctions.

Dr Tew said the creation of salt marshes on the coast was a more cost-effective flood protection than concrete walls and provided habitat for wildlife.

He also called on planners to make the landscape more ”permeable”, allowing wildlife to move by providing more ‘’stepping stones” such as ponds and hedgerows.

Mr Eversham added: “About 80 per cent of UK species are southern and only about 20 per cent northern so if the landscape allows them to move the majority may do well. ‘And many which currently live in France or southern Europe may colonise for the first time.”

Wasp spiders live on the south coast of Britain but have been recorded as far north as Cambridge; they are mostly found around the Mediterranean Sea.

Source: Telegraph, Alastair Jamieson, 23 Nov 2009