Russia, Weddings & The Snow

I was watching a re-run of Spooks the other day and Harry was quoted as saying "if you need a feel good factor, organise a Royal Wedding".

And so Kate & William marry next year, cost to the tax payer £1bn, loss predicted by the CBI of having a bank holiday £7bn. Exactly what we need.

Russia have just been appointed the hosts of the 2018 world cup, just as wikileaks say Russia is run by the mafia and FIFA say most of Russian football fans are right wing thugs, allegedly.

Still my share portfolia has made a 10% gain today so i am off to Mayfair with Baxter to celebtrate.

If Private Eye publish my latest letter i will be made.
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Free Speech for the Stupid

I have been frequenting the HYS board at the BBC over the last few days and i am shocked by the staggering ignorance of many of the posters. I could understand if i had stumbled upon the letters page of The Daily Mail or some other out of touch tabloid. But no.

Even on the message board at the castle people are blaming immigrants on the woes of blighty, squatters for being alive, George Bush on not being dead etc..

When Bush / Blair decided to launch their crusade against Iraq there was alot of pro war sentiment on the forum, now its all "we shouldnt have gone to war". Well, too bloody late im afraid. I for one was always against this course of action and spoke up against it only to be chastened by what I thought were intelligent people.

Hopefully HYS does not represent society, hopefully it is people baiting others for fun, but if we take what they are saying seriously then boy i will be on the first boat out of here...

On another note Rolls Royce are scoring with the Chinese and losing face with various airlines. (My little flurry on their shares may have paid off)

And as for David "we really want your trade and will only mention HR as a token measure" Cameron's little jaunt to China, well it just goes to show who's really in charge of the world now.
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The Death of British Industry

As the UK becomes ever more obsessed by Strictly Come X Factor Dancing I have been pondering the yet to come fate of Rolls Royce. One of our best companies and one of the last companies in the UK to actually make anything.

I have flown the A380, a cumbersome machine but an enjoyable flight, only ruined by the time spent getting off and unloading the thing. But to have an engine explode is a frightful affair. It happened to me once in Laos flying Air America and i still bear the scars from that little affair.

If Airbus are right and there is a design fault or build fault in RR's engines then RR will be wrung out like BP were over that spill in the Caribbean. Already their shares are dipping..

Which leads me to think that this is truly the end for British manufacturing. Soon we will be owned by the Chinese as we cant pay off our debt and they can.

I spent a wonderful night in a Mayfair club at the weekend with Baxter and met some wonderful people including an ex computer hacker, a hedge fund manager, an ex stripper and a retired stock broker. If only life was as simple as drinking Vintage Moet.
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Pants, Bombs, UPS and a new Enemy

..and here we go again, not taking away the fact that blowing an airplane out of the sky is not a good thing to do, the media have whipped themselves into an absolute frenzy over the finding of a few (or maybe one) printer cartridges which may or may not have contained explosives being sent to Chicago Jews from a Yemeni student.

Following? Well the alleged student has links with "The Master Bombmaker" (so far so James Bond..) who is a friend of "Osama Bin Laden" who may or may not be dead. Oh, and our wonderful security didnt find it, we were allegedly tipped off by a "Saudi Arabian"

I have no idea what is going on but i do know that this weekend also saw two bombs being found in Ireland, planted by "dissidents", a bombing in Turkey and an awful lot of killing in Iraq and Afghanistan, lots of natural disasters and millions dieing from Malaria and bad sanitation.

On the positive side the pope is considering an apology for all the pedophile cover ups.

I gave up reading news papers along time ago, media frenzy is to blame. Obama should just come out with it and say "Yemen have been bad and the USA need another war but a positive one, unlike Afghanistan and 'Nam'.

A Yemeni student?? Please.

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War, Winter and Damp

Gorbachev has warned NATO that victory in Afghanistan is not possible. I tend to agree with the old boy on this one. We have been there 9+ years and have achieved very little, apart from killing a few tribal leaders, civilians, insurgents and increased the supply of Opium.

The USA should have read the history books before venturing into this neck of the woods. And what about Osama Bin Laden, why is nobody talking about him anymore? Do we believe the rumours that he died a few years ago or the rumours that say he doesn't actually exist?

Pointless - Public opinion no longer matters in this day and age. People in power will rough trod over all to achieve their objectives and throw the necessary spin so that the prols wont rise up.

The weather is getting me down, it is damp grey and miserable in the way that only the UK can be.

And the long predicted winter of discontent is on its way..
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Greed

For the last few months we have been told that Greed is bad and that we need to tighten our belts and be more frugal with our money.

So, how can one jumped up little oik have a hissy fit one day and then demand a £200,000 per week salary the next?

Two questions remain;

1 - Has Sir Alex lost his usual managerial acumen?
2 - Why hasn't Rooney been stoned to death or lynched at the very least?

On the one hand you have this media show and on the other Portsmouth FC are fighting liquidation.

I predict that the people of Manchester will rise up and say they have had it with Mr Rooney and his complete disregard for reality and the public and his total and utter bare faced greed.

If i were the spud face nipper i would go into hiding post haste.

PS - as for the re-opening of the whole David Kelly affair, well, I shall be coming on to that later...
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Cuts, Riots, Apathy and being away

Has it really been that long?

I have been in the Far East recently, a mixture of work (which due to HM's OSA I cannot divulge) and a bit of R&R.

I have only recently returned and this weather is causing me all sorts of problems. Spending time in 30 plus degrees then coming back to single figures can be a shock to the system to say the least.

I spent yesterday in the club watching that frightful Osbourne chappy mumbling on about this and that interspersed with conversations with Baxter and a fine 12yr old malt.

I am surprised today that the prols haven't taken to the streets like our friends across the water. Our Govt has made cuts and changed retirement ages considerably more than Zarcosy has.

The public sector are up in arms and waving their marxist flags in the air, still some say that this will give them a taste of what the private sector is like.

And why ring fence the NHS? There's a pit that seems to guzzle lots of money. Keep A&E as that is a wonderful service, but get rid of the back end bit which is where all the money is squandered, do away with NI contributions and make everyone go private, like the USA.

Politics is tiring, everyone has an opinion, we have a massive debt and are headed the way of becoming a 2nd rate country that everyone vaguely remembers. A bit like Liverpool FC. But without the Red Sox bail out.

Im off to see Finbar, my old hedge-fund / investment banker friend later, Im sure he'll have a lot to say on whats going on. He's also consulting with one of the top UK companies on how to move more tax liabilities off shore, cant disclose for obvious reasons. If HMRC got their arse in gear that would be an £8bn gain.

Perhaps trading in Opium again is the answer, its worked before.
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