www.idiocy.com - Or How Industrial Leaders Eat Their Own Profits.

I wanted an illustration to show a fat person
 eating their own backside
 (with apologies to fat people).
  Because that is what I believe companies are doing

What is the world economy based on?  Expenditure by - well people

Is the majority of expenditure on "high price" items? - I don't know, but I am guessing that the majority of profit is made on items worth less than £500.00.

What proportion of the world is rich? (has an income of over £200,000 a year - yeah, my own dodgy definition). - almost certainly less than 10% of the world economy.

I am guessing that the majority of profits made by all companies throughout the world result from people spending on low value items or services.

What are all big companies trying to do?  Reduce the wages and salaries, hours and job security of the people working for them.

What is the results?  Less money in the economy to spend on - well anything.

To summarise.  In order to increase their own profit and bring more wealth into the hands of their owners/shareholders (e.g. Barclays reported that 231 of its key staff were paid a combined £554m in 2010 - an average of £2.4m each.  Their counter staff were paid an average of £16,000 annually), organisations are pushing down the incomes of the very people who create their wealth.

No wonder we have fallen into what seems to be an unending recession.

Like I said - world wide web of idiocy

Press in the Dock?

The UK press are no doubt delighted with current events in England because it takes attention off them and their propensity to use underhand methods to get news.

Perhaps we should be asking questions about the role of the press in our problems with the current riots.

How many times have the press slammed the police because of how they handled a protest (definition - middle class? Protest.  Underclass? Riot.) 

They were too soft, too hard, too wishy-washy, not collegiate enough.  In other words, no matter how the police treat protestors they are slammed by the press, TV etc.

Then, our two top Met policemen resigned rather than be dragged down in scandal because it emerged they used the same tools as politicians to try and protect their force against this type of onslaught.

Is it any wonder the Met (for whom I have little sympathy generally) floundered when these riots broke out?

Once more the UK press need to inspect the filthy corners of their own houses.

A World Wide Web of Hypocracy

We are spending a fortune and wasting the lives of wonderful young people (of all nationalities)  because of the mess we have made trying to bring "democracy" to Afghanistan.

In support of that effort the Americans (and us?) are spending a fortune helping a rotten government in Pakistan.

We welcomed the "Arab Spring" and the uprising of people against their dictatorial governments in Tunis, Egypt, Lybia, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain (and why do all commentators forget Bahrain when commenting on these events?)

We are spending a fortune and risking the lives of our own and other NATO young people by helping rebels in Lybia. 

The world is strongly condemming what is happening in Syria - and all have positively welcomed decisions by the governments of Saudi Ariabia, Bahrain Kuwait etc to withdraw their Ambasadors from that country.

So how come there is no protest against the continuing crack-down on Bahraini Shias by their own government supported by Saudi Arabia's troups? 

How come there is no protest from America or the UK when Pakistan (being massively financially supported by the West don't forget) agrees to continue to send troups to Bahrain to support Saudia Arabia and the Bahrain government in the crack-down on those Bahraini citizens who object to being treated as second-class citizens because of their religion, and medical staff because they treated protestors?

It is true that my freedom fighters are your terrorists, and my protestors are your criminal rioters!

Passive Agressive oldies

Yeah, I know I am an oldie.  But I hope I am not this passive aggressive.
An elderly couple sat waiting in the sun for a ferry to arrive.  She asked him if he wanted a cup of tea.

"No", he said grumpily, "it's too late.  The ferry will be here soon."
"if you want a cup, I'll get you one"  she replied.
"It's too late." he huffed.  "You took too long shopping.  I don't have time."

"I'll get you a cup" she said and walked away.  A little later she came back out to where he sat sunning himself and put a big cardboard cup of tea in front of him. 

"Oh good", he said.  "Coffee."
"You asked for tea".  She exclaimed.

"You got me tea!" he said.  "And in this bloody silly great cup!  Well that's just great."  Silence. 

I have sulked because I did not get my cup of tea or whatever; but only for a few minutes, and I have never done anything like this.  This goes beyond  grumpy to nasty IMHO.

Barclays "Threaten" to Leave UK

I read in the Financial Times today that Barclays is threatening to leave the UK if the tough measures proposed by the Vickers Commission about big banks being made to ringfence core high street operations from the rest of their business are implemented.

Barclays may not actually have taken government hand-outs in the last recession, but without the handouts from the British taxpayer to its fellow banks it too would have gone down the tubes.  But did this cause them to hesitate when deciding how much to pay in bonuses?  Did it hell.  This year they paid out £2.7 BILLION in bonuses - nearly half of their profits.  I am surprised shareholders take it! 

Now I accept that some tax is paid on this.  But I will bet my bottom dollar that not a single big bonus winner pays anything like full PAYE - I have no doubt at all that Barclays hire a raft of tax lawyers to help find ways of avoiding tax for their "big swinging dick(head)s"

Well, this wise old woman (a customer of Barclays) says sod off Barclays; we will not be blackmailed by you.  If you want out we want you out.  We will close down our accounts, and you will lose a huge income stream as well as you reputation in this country.