I was walking to a conference and spotted this building under construction on Finsbury Street, London. (you can click on the photo to get to a bigger photo)
It looked so amazing, just full of pillars and girders. can you see the worker perched on the far right pillar? in the middle? dangerous stuff!
Martin van Creveld is an impressive historian. I really like his work. And I was quite interested to read his latest missive. He echoed something that I have been saying before (and TBS got very excited about it as well!!!). That Israel actually won the Lebanon War. You see, there is no way that Hezbollah will try to pull another stunt like it tried to do before Israel thumped it very hard. It is reduced to pulling more silly stunts such as keeping Israeli body parts. Now that just simply tells me and rest of the world that he is seriously mentally deranged. So where does the Hezbollah go? Nowhere, I am afraid. And those who think that Nasrallah and Hezbollah won, erm, just one question, what did they win? Nothing, and in turn, were thumped to kingdom come. But read Martin's column and ponder.
This is a classic example of a solution looking for a problem. Specially government intervention. The problem? somebody noticed that non-white people have lower employment rates than white people in the UK. And this costs £8.6 billion an year to the UK economy.
Like women have lower employment rates than males. So they went and plonked huge amounts of my money down gigantic government programmes to get ethnic minorities back into work. I snorted when I read it in today's FT.
I quote: In spite of repeated government efforts to help to close the gap it would take 30 years to do so at the current rate of progress, the NAO said.......Between 2002 and 2006 the department put £40m into programmes aimed at ethnic minorities, which proved a qualified success, the NAO says, moving 15,500 into work at a cost of more than £2,000 a job.
So came back home and dug a bit deeper into this. Here's the full report if anybody is interested. And well, I am sure you can find out the simple reason why such large government programmes will fail.
You see, they assumed that anybody who is not white has a problem in getting a job. So you would expect that they have a very good analysis on exactly what problems they face? Yes? No. Their basis for sprinkling millions is based upon.
1. Human Capital: Apparently ALL ethnic minorities have problems with education (Figure 11). Oh, sorry, actually, Indians and Chinese are doing BETTER than the whites, so we will simply ignore them. So here's the first grand stupid moronic step. Let us just ignore 4 out of 10 ethnic minorities then, shall we? So pumping educational money to all minorities is a bit stupid, is it not?
2. Geography: Well, who lives in deprived areas with high unemployment? I quote from the report: Seventy per cent of ethnic minorities live in the 88 most deprived local authority districts, compared with 40 per cent of the general population. Notice they have not broken it down by the type of ethnic minorities but looking around anecdotally, there is a difference between the ghetto behaviour of many ethnic minorities as well as the desire / ability / willingness to move to another location where jobs are available. So instead of trying to find jobs where they are, ask the people to move to places where there are jobs.
3. Discrimination. Now I can well believe this despite lack of personal experience. But is it skin colour? or religion? or gender? or ethnic origin? In other words, is there a difference between
So we need to determine what is the discrimination vector before you can determine what is the best way to address it. If nobody has a problem with Green Skinned Buddhists from Mars, then there isnt much point in targeting them, is there? If people have a problem with skin colour, then address that. But in this case, they are targeting everything and everybody. It is like ignoring the 200 piece tool kit and just using a hammer for everything.
4. And then there is a pathetically limp list of "other factors". I quote: There may also be cultural factors which discourage
ethnic minorities from participating in the labour market. Ethnic minorities can face multiple barriers to obtaining employment (Figure 13 on page 20). In addition to those above, they can include: lack of, or reluctance to take up, childcare provision; lack of job readiness; and low confidence or motivation. Many of these factors
are interrelated. Many if not all these factors are not colour, religion, origin specific at all. Childcare provision applies to everybody.
So here we are, £40 million of taxpayer money, poured down some hole, minimal progress, will need 30 years (multiply this with 12 to get to 30 years, plus say a factor of 2 on top to cater for population growth rates plus say a factor of 2 to cater for the increased fertility of ethnic minorities), all based upon some very very stupid half baked reasoning.
We have not spoken about the fact that there is a very large self employment and improvement ethic in the Indian and Chinese communities and that manifests itself by showing up in higher earnings. They value education, they do not mind setting up their own businesses, they do not treat their women like brood mares (much!).
The NAO report addresses this point in 1.20 and I quote: One important result of lower employment for all ethnic minorities is poverty. Nineteen per cent of the white population live in low income households compared with 56 per cent for Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. Twenty three per cent of white children live in low income households compared with 60 per cent of Pakistani and Bangladeshi children. This in turn affects many areas of life including housing, health, education and childcare.
Even after identifying that their problem identification sucks big time, they proceed to shower my tax money down this hole and then wonder why it is not working as well as it should. Why do you not put in time limits on welfare payments for economically capable persons? And this itself was ignored in the study, for example see Table 23, USA section. So instead of asking, what makes the Indians and Chinese minorities work and replicating it, they will force weird public policy down the throat of everybody.
And the amusing thing is, the Table says that targets for affirmative action do not work based upon USA results but see this quote from the FT: Measurable targets for ethnic minority employment should become a condition of funding for local City Strategies, which were being developed to run welfare-to-work programmes. Sometimes I just get reduced to helpless giggling reading these.
Disclaimer: I am one of those ethnical minorities mentioned above.
Welcome to the world of madness.
There once was a young person named Little Red Riding Hood who lived on > the edge of a large forest full of endangered owls and rare plants that > would probably provide a cure for cancer if only someone took the time > to study them. Red Riding Hood lived with a nurture giver whom she > sometimes referred to as "mother", although she didn't mean to imply by > this term that she would have thought less of the person if a close > biological link did not in fact exist.
Nor did she intend to denigrate the equal value of nontraditional
> households, although she was sorry if this was the impression conveyed. > One day her mother asked her to take a basket of organically grown fruit > and mineral water to her grandmother's house. "But mother, won't this be > stealing work from the unionised people who have struggled for years to > earn the right to carry all packages between various people in the > woods?"
Red Riding Hood's mother assured her that she had called the union boss > and gotten a special compassionate mission exemption form. But mother, > aren't you oppressing me by ordering me to do this?" Red Riding Hood's > mother pointed out that it was impossible for women to oppress each > other, since all women were equally oppressed until all women were free.
"But mother, then shouldn't you have my brother carry the basket, since > he's an oppressor, and should learn what it's like to be oppressed?" > And Red Riding Hood's mother explained that her brother was attending a > special rally for animal rights, and besides, this wasn't stereotypical > women's work, but an empowering deed that would help engender a feeling > of community. "But won't I be oppressing Grandma, by implying that she's > sick and hence unable to independently further her own self hood?"
But Red Riding Hood's mother explained that her grandmother wasn't > actually sick or incapacitated or mentally handicapped in any way, > although that was not to imply that any of these conditions were > inferior to what some people called "health". Thus Red Riding Hood felt > that she could get behind the idea of delivering the basket to her > grandmother, and so she set off.
Many people believed that the forest > was a foreboding and dangerous place, but Red Riding Hood knew that this was an irrational fear based on cultural paradigms instilled by a
> patriarchal society that regarded the natural world as an exploitable
> resource, and hence believed that natural predators were in fact
> intolerable competitors.
Other people avoided the woods for fear of thieves and deviants, but Red > Riding Hood felt that in a truly classless society all marginalised > peoples would be able to "come out" of the woods and be accepted as > valid lifestyle role models. On her way to Grandma's house, Red Riding > Hood passed a woodchopper, and wandered off the path, in order to > examine some flowers. She was startled to find herself standing before a > Wolf, who asked her what was in her basket.
Red Riding Hood's teacher had warned her never to talk to strangers, but > she was confident in taking control of her own budding sexuality, and > chose to dialogue with the Wolf. She replied, "I am taking my > Grandmother some healthful snacks in a gesture of solidarity." The Wolf > said, "You know, my dear, it isn't safe for a little girl to walk > through these woods alone." Red Riding Hood said, "I find your sexist > remark offensive in the extreme, but I will ignore it because of your > traditional status as an outcast from society, the stress of which has > caused you to develop an alternative and yet entirely valid worldview.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I would prefer to be on my way." Red Riding Hood returned to the main path, and proceeded towards her
> Grandmother's house. But because his status outside society had freed > him from slavish adherence to linear, Western-style thought, the Wolf > knew of a quicker route to Grandma's house. He burst into the house and > ate Grandma, a course of action affirmative of his nature as a predator.
Then, unhampered by rigid, traditionalist gender role notions, he put on > Grandma's nightclothes, crawled under the bedclothes, and awaited > developments. > Red Riding Hood entered the cottage and said, "Grandma, I have brought > you some cruelty free snacks to salute you in your role of wise and > nurturing matriarch." The Wolf said softly "Come closer, child, so that > I might see you." Red Riding Hood said, "Goddess! Grandma, what big > eyes you have!" "You forget that I am optically challenged." "And > Grandma, what an enormous, what a fine nose you have."
"Naturally, I could have had it fixed to help my acting career, but I
> didn't give in to such societal pressures, my child." "And Grandma,
> what very big, sharp teeth you have!" The Wolf could not take any more > of these spaciest slurs, and, in a reaction appropriate for his
> accustomed milieu, he leaped out of bed, grabbed Little Red Riding Hood, > and opened his jaws so wide that she could see her poor Grandmother > cowering in his belly.
> "Aren't you forgetting something?" Red Riding Hood bravely shouted. "You > must request my permission before proceeding to a new level of > intimacy!" The Wolf was so startled by this statement that he loosened > his grasp on her. At the same time, the woodchopper burst into the > cottage, brandishing an axe. "Hands off!" cried the woodchopper. "And > what do you think you're doing?" cried Little Red Riding Hood. "If I let > you help me now, I would be expressing a lack of confidence in my own > abilities, which would lead to poor self esteem and lower achievement > scores on college entrance exams."
"Last chance, sister! Get your hands off that endangered species! This > is an FBI sting!" screamed the woodchopper, and when Little Red Riding > Hood nonetheless made a sudden motion, he sliced off her head. "Thank > goodness you got here in time," said the Wolf. "The brat and her > grandmother lured me in here. I thought I was a goner." "No, I think > I'm the real victim, here," said the woodchopper. "I've been dealing > with my anger ever since I saw her picking those protected flowers > earlier. And now I'm going to have such a trauma. Do you have any > aspirin?"
> "Sure," said the Wolf. "Thanks." "I feel your pain," said the Wolf,
> and he patted the woodchopper on his firm, well padded back, gave a > little belch, and said "Do you have any Maalox?"
China has a controlled economy. Well, some bits. Well, it tries. Now look at the current situation and the law of un-intended consequences flow through.
The basic problem?
Not sufficient power being generated by the power plants.
Why aren't they generating power?
Well, because power prices are controlled.
Why are power prices controlled?
Because general overall prices are going through the roof in China and the communist controllers do not want inflation to go rampant. They have to keep the great unwashed herd quiet. And there is nothing like inflation to get people excited. So control prices.
But whose prices are not controlled?
Coal.
So what's happening to the coal price?
Its going through the roof and becoming very expensive. I quote: "Global coal prices, in the meantime, have soared in recent months, by 50-60 per cent, with the largest rise occurring in recent weeks because of the Australian floods."
So why is that important?
Well, most of the power generators in China use coal to generate power. And if the final product - power - is price controlled and the inputs are not, then this happens: I quote: "Against this background, power companies have been refusing to pay the prices they negotiated with the coal companies earlier this year. And the longer the delay in honouring these contracts, the higher the asking price for coal."
So, no coal, no power. Welcome to a controlled economy. What happens to inflation?
Well, that's still going to go through the roof. I quote: Snow battering central China has dealt an "extremely serious" blow to winter crops, a top agriculture official warned Thursday, raising the likelihood that future shortages would exaggerate already surging food prices.
See here for what happens when food prices are too high. This is becoming a serious world problem.
How interesting indeed. Check out this story. I quote:
People with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor, according to new research. A team of scientists has tracked down a genetic mutation that leads to blue eyes. The mutation occurred between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago, so before then, there were no blue eyes. "Originally, we all had brown eyes," said Hans Eiberg from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Copenhagen.
Reminds me of the story around Genghis Khan. I quote: An international group of geneticists studying Y-chromosome data have found that nearly 8 percent of the men living in the region of the former Mongol empire carry y-chromosomes that are nearly identical. That translates to 0.5 percent of the male population in the world, or roughly 16 million descendants living today.
Mind you, even if you are not genetically descended from him, names are important as you can see from this story. Then again, given his popularity, most wanted to use Borjiin, the family name of Genghis Khan. That would have sort of negated the original purpose so its a mess.
But there you go, if you are blue eyed, then dont marry another blue eyed person otherwise your kids will turn out to be Genghis Khan :).
Here's a comment on my previous post
Sure, check these out
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/food-miles-does-distance-matter-401558.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4807026.stm
and here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/politics_show/6381605.stm
(disclosure, that's my alma mater!) :)
I quote: The report even suggests that car use by consumers driving to farm shops and supermarkets may well be more damaging than the transport used to get the food to the retail outlet.
Very counter-intuitive, but there you go.
It is so amusing, more things change, more things remain the same. We now have grocery delivery to home via the Sainsbury's to you business. They generally come to your door in a van like this. What is the convenience factor? Well, you select what you want on a website, select a time, and in time, a van rolls up and delivers the cabbages and onions that you had ordered.
Well, India, the store comes to you.
Here's the vegetable seller weighing up something for my darling mother-in-law. He has pulled into the driveway. So I hared out to take some photo's.
She is very particular about her veggies. See the bucket hanging in the front? that contains water which is used to clean and keep the vegetables cool. But the provenance of the water is suspect which is why never eat salads there generally. Best are cooked vegetables.
Now Sanjay has joined with a basket.
All freshly grown and freshly harvested, you cant get fresher than this (some stuff is from the cold storage facilities, but most of the vegetables is locally grown and sourced). I miss durian, specially the ripe one but it is rarer than gold.
We would like some radish please, and these radish's were capable of bringing tears to your eyes. Woof Woof.
Check out the scales and the weights on the front left of the photo.
Picking the right stuff and she cooks divine mean vegetable curries!
Yum Yum!
But strange. If you look at food miles, the miles your food travelled to get to you, you might want to think that it is better to purchase locally grown food. But that might not be necessarily right. Because it might well end up that the grapes from Chile are more effective because of factory farming. And you actually pollute more in the going and coming to the store anyway.
On the other hand, if you order over the internet, you need to run a very large data centre which is slowly becoming one of the major consumers of energy and that in turn pushes up energy usage and pollution. Gosh, way too much complicated.
Lets just go have baigan ka bharta with methi ka paratha. :)
