Old Oxfordian overseers...

Now you would expect that those that rule over the UK, sorry, I mean those who do the UK citizens bidding, well them in parliament (!!) would be well educated, even very well educated, even attending the best universities...but what do they all do? The older generation of politicians all seem to be solicitors or barristers...lawyers. Not any more: the new crop of modern, "trendy", "professional" politicians seem to be very similar, and with reason: half of them seem to have done the same degree at the same university: PPE at Oxford. From Little Man in a Toque

"I was reading this Guardian article about which of the Miliband brothers is least obnoxious when I got bored and scrolled down to the comments. And the comments alerted me to a very interesting fact: Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University is responsible for much of our failed political class."

The article in question is HERE and the comments provide much of the info, but not all at once. Only the Miliband brothers at first then bit by bit other comments add to the list until we end up with the following by Trigmar posted at 25 Nov 2009, 12:45PM, albeit quoting several others as well (Toque has added more to get a mini cabinet and shadow cabinet)...startling. Ominous.

So to recap, the choices are: David Miliband (PPE degree from Oxford), Ed Miliband (PPE degree from Oxford), James Purnell (PPE degree from Oxford) and Ed Balls (PPE degree from Oxford).

I think this is New Labour's idea of diversity.

If they want a bit of female diversity they could always choose

Jaqui Smith (PPE oxford)
Yvette Cooper (PPE oxford)
Ruth Kelly (PPE oxford)

If they wanted a bit of unelected dark-knighted-ness they could always choose

Peter Mandelson (PPE oxford)

And hey, if the proles want a bit of a change we could always elect

David Cameron (PPE oxford) ably assisted by William Hauge (PPE oxford) [sic]

...and if we wanted to really push the boat out we could go crazy and go for a crazy liberal like

Chris Huhne (PPE oxford)

Is it any wonder that all our politicians say the same thing? The most influential political figures in British politics are the Oxford PPE lecturers...

And the proles could hear about it through the wonderful media:

Stephanie Flanders (PPE oxford)
Rupert Murdoch (PPE oxford)
Nick Robinson (PPE oxford)
Nick Cohen (PPE oxford)
Michael Crick (PPE oxford)
Krishnan Guru-Murthy (PPE oxford)
John Sergeant (PPE oxford)
James Robbins (PPE oxford)
Evan Davis (PPE oxford)
David Dimbleby (PPE oxford)

What would be interesting if some decent journalist/anyone with time could compile a list of all University PPE course graduates...it seems to me to be more urgent now - rather than just important - that any new MPs should have actually "lived" before joining the ruling elite.

Only obeying orders...

As is so often the case the bravest among us never see their own actions as brave or heroic. Captain Noel Chavasse is one of only three VCs and Bar in the 150+ year history of this highest award, those that have won two Victoria Crosses. After more than one episode of "conspicuous bravery" and dying of his own wounds he said "Duty called and duty must be obeyed." It's a wonderful story not very well known and in the news today after his VC and Bar was bought by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft for his VC collection (owned by a Trust); it is believed to have been purchased for a world record price of nearly £1.5 million.

Photo: TIME/GETTY IMAGES: Allied forces on the battlefield as they recapture the Passchendaele ridge. From the article in The Daily Telegrpah (click on image)

Odious oration...

Now Hugo is really pushing the boundries, and I'm not on about him ordering his troops to start destroying frontier bridges. Today he's been defending his "brothers": this not only about people responsible for 'destroying' entire nations but also know murderers and known terrorists. Robert Mugabe isn't who many sane people would call their brother, much less saying it of Idi Amin:

"We thought he was a cannibal," Chavez said, referring to Amin, whose regime was notorious for torturing and killing suspected opponents in the 1970s. "I have doubts. ... I don't know, maybe he was a great nationalist, a patriot."

...or Carlos the Jackal!

"They accuse him of being a terrorist, but Carlos really was a revolutionary fighter," [From AP about an hour ago] "Chavez said during a televised speech to socialist politicians from various countries, who applauded."

A person known (not just accused) of being guilty of multiple terrorist attacks, a known multiple murderer, well Chavez "defends" him; it's not the first time either, a few years ago he announced how he considers him a friend, and about that time Citizen Feathers reminded us he had corresponded with "El Chacal". Worth noting that letter was written AFTER Chavez became president. Let's hope that what Shimon Peres said last week turns out ot be true.

Occasional outrage...

Not an electrical outrage this time but there's certainly a current involved! Colleagues of mine are outraged (faux) by the news that The Royal Navy in the Strait of Gibraltar use buoys with a Spanish flag for target practice! From El Mundo online (no news yet in English) and clearly polemical - there are already nearly 200 comments, 40 or so of which were written whilst I was writing this blogpost (many, as one would expect, against the inaction of Spanish politicians!). El Mundo says that according to Military Institute 'sources' a Civil Guard patrol boat spotted a Royal Navy boat that, as soon as they [the British] detected the presence of the Spanish Civil Guard, picked up a buoy that had the Spanish flag attached which up to that point they had been using for target practice.

"La nave británica, al ver acercarse a la patrullera española, lanzó advertencias por megafonía: "No pueden estar ustedes aquí, son aguas internacionales"... ..."The British ship, seeing the approaching Spanish patrol 'launched' warnings by megaphone: "You cannot be here, these are international waters.""

Update 14:30: now over 500 comments but a fine response by one of many named anonimous (message 477):

Yo creo que ninguna bandera merece la enemistad de dos pueblos. Yo vivo en el Campo de Gibraltar y la convivencia entre espanioles y gibraltarenios es muy buena, de mucho respeto y todos queremos que asi siga siendo. Los politicos lo embrollan todo y lo ultimo que necesitamos en una de las regiones mas desfavorecidas del pais, es que ahora quieran enemistarnos con nuestros vecinos.

"I don't think any flag should cause (deserves) the enmity between two nations. I live in Gibraltar and the coexistence between the Spanish and Gibraltans is very good, with lots of respect and we all want it to remain so. Politicians entangle everything and the last thing we need in one of the most disadvantaged regions of the country is that they now want us to be at odds with our neighbours."

P.S. (11pm) Just in time to tell you that by one of those strange coincidences today is one of the 27 official UK's flag-flying days :-)

Orgasms: ollapod's ophelimity...

"Come on luv, give us a smile." "I can't manage that but how about a quick shag?"... A drug that underwent tests for use as an antidepressant has being called 'Viagra for women' after "surprising but not unpleasant side effects. In three separate trials, the drug flibanserin did wonders for women's flagging sex drive despite doing nothing to lift mood." [BBC] As would be expected some doctors are sceptical about use of medication to boost a female's sex drive but I don't know why, if certain foods and drink can then it seems logical and obvious that some sort of pill could be found: just like men, why would women be so different; the European Society for Sexual Medicine (click on image) tells us that

"Recent research suggests that approximately 40% of women may be affected by some sexual dysfunction."

Also, as I've mentioned before, more than once, one of the many sexual myths is that women, all women, experience orgasm with "penile penetration and thrusting" whereas research has shown that probably only one in four achieve orgasm in this manner!!! "A difference in sexual desire is one of the most common problems couples face and can cause much unhappiness and frustration if it is not talked about. Tiredness, depression, illness, stress, anxiety, relationship disharmony, drug or alcohol abuse can affect energy levels and sexual desire." No joking matter; so the lips are sealed.

ollapod n. - pharmacist
ophelimity n. - the ability to please (sexually)

"The conclusion - Corruption hurts everyone." "The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) measures the perceived level of public-sector corruption in 180 countries and territories around the world. The CPI is a 'survey of surveys', based on 13 different expert and business surveys." From Transparency International (the 'global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption'). Corruption stats 2009:

LINK to full table.

New Zealand 1st
UK 17th: (no improvement of previous worst ever...)
Spain 32nd (getting steadily worse, this is the 5th year in a row that the perception of corruption has grown: Spain was bettered by two Latin American countries: Chile and Uruguay that were 25th =
Venezuela 162nd!!: most corrupt in Latin America, beaten only by Haiti as most corrupt in The Americas. What will Hugo say about this? I'm sure we won't have to wait long... [BBC Mundo]
Somalia last (180th)

LINK to interactive World map.

Out of one...

Out of one job and into another: this is the advice given to Philip Hammond MP (Conservative Party spending spokesman)..."what he doesn't know about public spending isn't worth knowing." But Dr Eamonn Butler, director of the Adam Smith Institute, believes he needs to become their spokesman on public service renewal based mainly on the [correct] premise that you can't streamline the public sector by Treasury bullying [ring any bells?]

"Instead, you need a complete review of what government does, what it has to do, what it can do better, and what can be done better by other people and by the public. All departments need to buy into that, and it needs a reform, not a finance minister in charge if everyone is going to trust the process and be a part of it. After all, the process may find that spending in some areas should be increased, even if other departments are found to be doing a lot of pointless stuff."

"Why Philip Hammond MP should resign" by Dr Eamonn Butler on the Adam Smith Institute blog [ASI blog]. Dr Butler is author of, amongst other things, "The Rotten State of Britain".

Hat tip; Iain Dale's Diary.