Liberal pontificating at its finest

G8 summit: Gordon Brown has eight-course dinner before food crisis talks

Gordon Brown and his fellow world leaders have sparked outrage after it was disclosed they enjoyed a six-course lunch followed by an eight-course dinner at the G8 summit where the global food crisis tops the agenda.

The Prime Minister was served 24 different dishes during his first day at the summit – just hours after urging the world to reduce the “unnecessary demand” for food and calling on British families to cut back on their wasteful use of food.

I certainly hope Brown called for the reduction in the “unnecessary demand” and waste in food usage. How else could he and the other members of Napoleon and Squealer’s crew dine so sumptuously? Can’t expect them to eat slops now can we?

Mr Brown and his wife Sarah were among 15 guests at the “blessings of the earth and the sea social dinner”.

The dinner consisted of 18 dishes in eight courses including caviar, smoked salmon, Kyoto beef and a “G8 fantasy dessert”. [snip]

African leaders including the heads of Ethiopia, Tanzania and Senegal who had taken part in talks during the day were not invited to the function.

They had a scrumptious one course meal of bark, beetles and babies. The G8 did pay for this repast so no harm, no foul.

The dinner came just hours after a “working lunch” consisting of six courses including white asparagus and truffle soup, crab and a supreme of chicken. [snip]

URRRRRP! Migawd, they forgot the Tums course.

On the flight to the summit, Mr Brown urged Britons to cut food waste as part of a global drive to help avert the food crisis.

Opposition politicians and charities condemned the extravagant meals.

This is what opposition politicians do wile waiting to not be opposition politicians. Then they scarf down huge quantities of lavish victuals and urge others to conserve.

Dominic Nutt (isn’t he aptly named) of Save the Children, said: “It is deeply hypocritical that they should be lavishing course after course on world leaders when there is a food crisis and millions cannot afford a decent meal to eat.

“If the G8 wants to betray the hopes of a generation of children, it is going the right way about it. The food crisis is an emergency and the G8 must treat it as that.”

Andrew Mitchell, the shadow International Development Secretary, said: “The G8 have made a bad start to their summit, with excessive cost and lavish consumption.

“Surely it is not unreasonable for each leader to give a guarantee that they will stand by their solemn pledges of three years ago at Gleneagles to help the world’s poor. All of us are watching, waiting and listening.”

Mr Brown arrived at the G8 summit held on the holiday island of Hokkaido in northern Japan on Monday morning.

He arrived on a plane chartered from Texas, America, which had to fly empty for thousands of miles to pick up the Prime Minister and his entourage.

Unlike other countries, Britain does not have an official plane to transport the Prime Minister. [snip]

Look for this to help with Britain’s global warming stance too. Nice little portfolio of positional pornography the Prime Minister carries.

Can you offer a better reason for killing all governments? We can return to coveting and pillaging on our own. Cut out the middleman. Those that enjoy penury, can built little towns and call themselves peaceniks, then slaves.

Remember, the meek don’t inherit squat!

Remember, the government gave us OSHA, that organization which spent a great sum of your money ordering auto manufacturers to make hood ornaments that folded out of the way. All to protect you from cuts by said ornament when you are struck by a vehicle resulting in your passing over the hood.

Ask yourself a couple of questions. What does Congress know about making shoes? How about airplanes? Canoes? Trains? (Amtrak anyone) Interstate trucking?

Given this, why is Congress involved in controlling and regulating any of these businesses? Government interference costs us untold dollars through added costs to businesses which are passed on to the consumer.

Introducing the following ideas will reduce costs mostly by getting the government out of business.

In a previous post, I mentioned deregulation is good; no regulation is a fiasco. Safety is the primary consideration. Beyond that, let companies use equipment they like and pay prevailing wages. Return On Investment (ROI) to the shareholders determines size and scope of operations.

Markets scrutinize themselves with a Darwinian progression that cleans the bones of the weakest.

One item that goes with deregulation is ending all subsidies. Make it or fall down. Someone will step over the corpus and fill the slot.

Regulate Public interstate transportation for safety. All security devolves on the corporations with failures of the aforementioned piercing the corporate veil, putting all management’s, junior through top level, personal wealth as well as personal freedom in jeopardy.

No regulation of fares, let them charge what they want; let the public travel as they wish. Those that cannot control their bottom line soon are food for the bottom feeders.

Regulate utilities the same way, with the public able to buy from the cheapest company regardless of where they are. Only charges that one company may bill another for line usage come to scrutiny.

Sell insurance (Life, Health, Casualty) across state lines. Today, the Feds as well as the states regulate the financial strength of companies as well as policy wording for coverage. Surprised you’ll be at the rate differentials when one buys a basic policy and add the coverage one needs. Requirements like acupuncture and aromatherapy added to the policy as perqs for constituents, drive up premiums for all. Most persons need a Major Medical policy to cover catastrophic costs, a $10,000 deductible keeps premiums reasonable.

International companies comply with the regulations or shut them out of the market, no exports period. MFN trading status is a powerful club to get conformation with national trading conventions.

You know the following groups extol truth, light and the American way. Why would they fudge the facts or let them get in the way of desired ends.

The “Truths” We Accept

We think of teachers, and indeed the whole education community, as a group of noble, fair-minded, dedicated professionals. We think of tax revolters as self-interested, pompous obstructionists who care little about educating our society’s young people.

I see a parallel from the world of Earth science. We think of the scientific community as a group of noble, fair minded, dedicated professionals. And we think of oil company executives as self-interested, pompous obstructionists who care little about protecting our environment.

Let’s not kid ourselves. The scientific community is as self-interested as anyone else. As their monolithic thinking can be on any particular issue. The grant-writing potential in saying global warming is caused by humans is far greater than it is in saying otherwise. I do not know enough about global warming to dispute the statements of anybody on the topic. But I know enough about human nature to be skeptical of the statements of everybody on the topic.

And let’s not kid ourselves. The education community is as self-interested as anyone else. [snip]

Don’t believe me? The President’s Commission on Excellence in Education said the exact same thing a few years ago:

Since 1975, the “up to 40 percent” APPE target has taken on symbolic value far beyond congressional intent in 1975. Many still perceive this 40 percent figure as a representation of “full funding.” Over the past several years, marked increases in IDEA Part B funding have been based on a desire to meet this “full funding” target. However, the increases to meet this target have been based on expenditure-driven data, rather than on estimates of the true excess cost of achieving excellence for students with disabilities.

The Commission recommended a formula for determining true excess cost that hasn’t been followed at all. So imagine saying the federal government has imposed this burden on states and local school districts, when the exact opposite is the case!

We should all be skeptical now. Almost enough to wonder if the same twisted arguments are used in other areas of our lives, such as Earth science.

The Founding Fathers understood human nature.

Precisely because an armed populace can serve as an effective backup for law enforcement, the ownership of firearms was widely mandated during Colonial times, and the second Congress passed a statute in 1792 requiring adult male citizens to own guns.

The twin purposes of self and community defense may very well lie behind the Second Amendment’s language encompassing both the importance of a well-regulated militia and the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. As the constitutional and criminal law scholar Don Kates has noted in the journal Constitutional Commentary, thinkers at the time when the Constitution was written drew no real distinction between resisting burglars, foreign invaders or domestic tyrants: All were wrongdoers that good citizens had the right, and the duty, to oppose with force.

With the upcoming election, are we returning to the earlier days?

Need a raise?

The fastest way to increase your income is…work for the government. One may increase their hourly wage on average from $26.00 to $39.50 by this method. Explaining this gap simply requires noting that private employers need to be fiscally honest and keep certifiable books and MUST produce something, anything but mainly a profit. The difference of course is benefits, health care, a great pension and retirement medical programs, all unfunded liabilities, of more than $1 trillion to cover state and local government toilers. More here: Employee Benefit | BLS

From this stalwart student of Marxist economics:

“If there’s a benefit gap, it’s because the private sector is going the wrong way by cutting benefits,” says Paul McKenna, research director of the Oregon Public Employees Union.

… its probably because you are not a government employee. It seems the gap between private and public sector jobs is increasing. According to US Today, the gap is, “rising by an average $1.02 an hour last year and $2.45 an hour over the past three years

Widening Gap:Average hourly wages:

Year Public Private

2007 $39.50 $26.09

2004 $34.72 $23.76

State and local government workers are enjoying major gains in compensation, pushing the value of their average wages and benefits far ahead of private workers, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data shows. [snip]

A few governments are discussing how to cut costs:

• Rhode Island. Gov. Donald Carcieri, a Republican, wants to limit benefits and increase hours for state workers.
• Ohio. Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, plans to sign legislation next week that will reduce the value of retiree medical benefits for newly hired school employees, excluding teachers. The law would push back early retirement ages for bus drivers, custodians and other school workers.
• California. The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to sue to repeal pension increases granted earlier to sheriff’s deputies.

Vermont. You are confused. The only growth industry in Vermont is local and state government.