Wanker of the Week

Is the improbably named 'James T Kirk', for the following comment on the BBC News' Have Your Say:

"In their 2005 manifesto New labour promised a referendum on whether or not to sign the Lisbon treaty."

No, it was on the EU constitution, not the Lisbon Treaty. Irrespective of that, Blair did that to ensure the French held a referendum which he believed (rightly) would reject the Constitution and enable Britain and other countries to renegotiate some of the more ambitious aspects and gain more opt outs. This was achieved with the result that Lisbon really is just a tidying up exercise.

Well, as much as I like Star Trek (alright, alright, stop sniggering at the back... :-), this 'James T Kirk' is an utter wanker. I mean, does anyone seriously buy this shit? Gordon 'Courage' Brown didn't hold a referendum because he was scared that he would lose. As the Meerkat says, 'Simples'...

Meanwhile, most (though not all) of those making comments show their general ignorance by attacking Free Trade. My favourite is this:

We need a bit of both [Free Trade and Protectionism!]. Exporting comes from reciprocity [NB A protectionist concept, much favoured by the French...], and we need to keep key domestic skills safe.

BUT the net result should be that we export a little more than we import.

Eventually that WILL solve our economic woes.

You just can't be a net importer and fund it by debt...as we have seen.

Gordon-Charisma Brown, Brownutopia, Republic of Tax, Spend and Waste.

As much as this person has obviously picked out Gordon the Moron's, ahem, 'qualities', the statement does suggest one slight mathematical problem: how can all countries export a little more than they import?!!! That means that we can't all follow this policy, which makes it unsustainable... that way lies the 1930s Depression, to which protectionism made no little contribution.

What these muppets need to get is some basic economics (and history) lessons:

- Some countries import more than they export. This deficit can be funded in a number of ways: borrowing, a transfer / sale of assets abroad / etc.

- This is not a problem! It's a good thing!

- If a country can no longer afford - or is perceived as no longer being able to afford - to do this, its currency tends to depreciate against those of others. This makes its imports more expensive, and its exports cheaper, allowing it to reduce / eliminate its trade deficit. [For the benefit of the likes of Mr Kirk, this is one reason why joining the Euro is a really dumb idea - just look at its impact on Italy, for example...]

- This is a natural part of the economic cycle... like recessions. You can't 'cure' a recession, as idiots like Brown seem to think. Of course, you can make them worse, by entering them with a structural fiscal deficit, built up during a boom... But who would be stupid enough to do something like that?!

They smell...

The French, that is. Well, French politicians, at least. Even more than our own, with the exception of Gordon the Moron, who looks like the last time he saw soap and water was when he lived in the Manse.

Why am I fucked off with the French? Well, apart from the obvious (I think I've ranted about the CAP before)? They do produce good wine, after all (I enjoyed a particularly delicious bottle of 1997 Cornas last night, so much so that I finished the whole bottle...). And their food's good too. Although the Bishop prefers Spain for both.

Well, the French Church currently presides over our European Eucumenical Affairs Council. And the bastards sent a draft communication, to be sent to the Chinese Church, for agreement within the hour in fucking French! Trying to pull a fast one, they included provisions for communion wine to be sourced only from France, and for communion wafers to have 'special geographic status' that means they could only be made in Archbishop Barnier's cow shed!

Unfortunately for them, the Bishop speaks French. So I told them to fuck off.

So a pretty good day, all in all. :)

Time for a good bottle of Ridge Cabernet - 1997. Mmmmm. I might just have to finish the bottle. Only to piss off the health fascists who have been putting stupid ads up all over the Metrocity Metro, you understand?

Cheers!


BB

Losing Their Religion Too...

Whilst senior management at the Diocesan Council are as depressing as ever after their summer break - resorting to pleas, nay, begging (!) to the rank and file of priests, nuns and bishops for information as to why we think they're shit! - the Bishop has been cheered up this week by a seeming rebellion rising in the ranks - it appears that the Bishop is far from alone in feeling that he is losing his religion...

One priest is leaving the Bishop's team, having decided that she would rather carry out missionary work in Newcastle or Manchester (!) than continue to work at the Diocesan Council.

This follows the departure of another colleague to join a far more 'liberal' church, also to engage in missionary work.

Another is showing symptoms of the same 'disease'.

And yet another told me on Thursday that he was looking forward to my leaving speech (a little worrying as I have not yet made definitive plans to leave - does he know something I don't?!).

Sometimes it's good to be open about how you really feel - you'd be surprised at the positive reaction and support you receive.

Those in authority need to know when to back fuck off - it was the story of Civil Serf that inspired the Bishop. And, like the Devil, Cranmer and many of my co-religionists, I won't be shut up by wankers in the European Parliament or fuckwits in what appears to now be popularly known as ZaNu Liebour (at least now I understand why it's OK to intervene in Iraq to get rid of a dictator -something the Bishop, to the annoyance of others :-), supported and continues to support, albeit recognising that Cheney et al fucked it up - but not, apparently, in Zimbabwe...)

I see there may even be some more 'Civil Serfs' in need of anger management sessions... (scroll down a bit to find the relevant article - unfortunately, the link doesn't seem to work, but the precis is enough...)

Oh, and lest I forget, note to the senior beggar Archbishop who made the pleas this week:

• You're not the problem - at least, from what people around the Council said afterwards, we quite like you!
• But the same can't be said for your deputies! Particularly Archbiship D'Inde - apparently, the Bishop is not the only one that thinks he's a total and utter cunt!
• So when you do your 'Heartbeat' surveys which ask us what we think, how about asking about different layers of the Curia, rather than lumping yourself with gobshites like D'Inde.
• And recognise that we're (at least, mostly) intelligent people - trying to spoonfeed us propoganda is going to make us (even) more cynical. Tell it like it is, be honest - and you'll earn our respect. Just like I and many others have more respect for Cardinal Sam after his comments to The Tablet recently...

BB

Europhiles rumbled!

Dear Reader,

Apologies for the light blogging recently - travel and Mrs B's demands for DIY around the house (despite the Bishop's, ahem, 'differently-abled' DIYing talents... :) have cut into the Bishop's blogging time.

The good news, however, is that the Bishop is able to catch up with things now...

First story: many of you may have noticed this recent gem on the (usually reliably Europhile) BBC website about wonky bananas and overly-bent cucumbers...

Hang on a second! Weren't these things supposed to be myths peddled by evil Eurosceptics?!

Well, no, apparently not. Indeed, it appears that our friends in Brussels have had time to determine the precise required geometry of particular fruits and legumes. For example,

"the difference between the smallest and largest aubergines in the same package must not exceed 20mm for elongated aubergines [and] 25mm for globus aubergines"

What the fuck?! Why do such regulations exist? Are shoppers really so stupid that they would allow themselves to be ripped off by supermarkets on things like this? What happened to caveat emptor?

The reality, as the Bishop has seen at the Diocesan Council, is that the more bureaucrats there are, the more that stupid laws will be created - when people are judged by what they do, and punished for doing nothing (even if it is the most sensible thing to do), who can blame them for doing it?

Nor is the claim in the above link that legislation on bananas was sought by the industry is no excuse. Given that companies are not normally big fans of extra legislation (because it means higher costs), the question that needs to be asked is why would they actually want more legislation. The answer, of course, is to squeeze out potential new entrants or increase costs for smaller competitors.... Again, another cost of too many civil servants is that it increases the number of people in positions of power that can be 'captured' by vested interests.

So, when Europhiles claim that 'there are actually very few civil servants in Brussels', I suggest you send them this post, and ask them to justify the waste of time, food (that gets thrown away) and resources (e.g. the significant pay of the Eurocrats involved, not to mention the costs of enforcing these stupid rules to taxpayers and consumers).

The answer is to follow the usual rule of thumb with regard to the EU, i.e. to tell them to go forth and preferably not multiply :)

What makes this even worse, as the Al-Beeb article makes clear, is that the stupid tossers in Brussels want to respond to the current 'Global Food Crisis' (a result of monstrous stupidities such as the Common Agricultural Policy) by adding even more bureaucracy to the mess:

'The Commission says misshapen fruit should be sold "with some sort of label for use in cooking"'

Well, that sounds like a sound basis for legislating! Perhaps we should ask the people who wrote the Dangerous Dogs Act to help in drafting it?

Suggestions in the comments about the definition of 'label' for the legislation would be most welcome... The Bishop will then forward them to Brussels, in a spirit of 'solidarity' with our 'fellow European serfs citizens'.


BB