Right, who wants it ?? Form an orderly queue, please !
Excuse my forthright nature this morning, but it arises from a sequence of misfortunes which befell me on the way into the office this morning ... buses + trains + incompetence = very unhappy Potter. Couple that with the fact that Harry is wrapping a keyboard around various techies' heads and you will understand why I have 'hijacked' Harry's Thoughts for a rant !
First up, Anglia Railways. Did you know that as part of the on-going impementation of privatised services on our fabulous railway network (not !) they will offer not just First and Standard class tickets, but now they will also be offering passengers the chance to purchase a Third Class ticket. This will come at exactly the same price as Standard Class, but will also entitle you to an extra special seat .... situated on the floor between the freezing cold 30 year old carriages at no extra cost ! How about that, then ? Oh, I can see the queues forming at Liverpool St. as I type ! Apparently, if you accidentally purchase a Second Class ticket under the misguided perception that that would actually entitle you to a seat on an InterCity sevice, they may even offer Third Class passengers compensation for being so stupid. How nice of them !
Next ......
I apologise to long standing members of the service, but it has got to be our old friends across La Manche Anglaise .... ie France !
On the serious (!) front it was intriguing to note that France is currently arguing with the Euro Commission that it shouldn't be subject to the same budgetary rules as Germany and other Euro States, since France has a far greater defence expenditure than most other states, particularly Germany. I find that a bit rich coming from the country which installed the Maginot Line .... but, forgot to plug up one end ! I also find all this wrangling over whether France, Germany et al should be allowed to break the rules pertaining to the Suicide Pact in times of an economic downturn somewhat surprising. Was this not the very argument expounded by most rational economists when this ridiculous idea first surfaced ?? Euro Finance Ministers seem indifferent to a strong Euro, saying that it demonstrates the market's confidence in the future Euro economy. Crap ! We all know it's a direct result of the structural imbalances surrounding the dollar, so why try to kid us ? All the current dollar weakness is doing is putting more strain on the Euro economy at exactly the time when it is the least well positioned of the major global economies to help the dollar out of its quagmire ! If the rules are not going to be followed, just scrap the Suicide Pact .... you never know it may allow for those 'automatic stabilisers' to work as the god of economics originally planned.
Continuing on the French theme, you have got to love the cheek of the Haitian government ! Just at a time when France is doing all it can to restrain government spending in order to get its finances back below the 3% deficit limit, Haiti comes along and demands $22 bln of backpayments ! For what ? For compensation resulting from the FFr 90 mln Haiti was forced to pay France to escape the shackles of slavery back in 1825. Nice one ! However, I imagine the demand will be met with pretty short shrift from Paris. After all, senior politicians have got enough on their plate with the current 'Jobs for the Boys' scandal surounding Juppe's tenure as Paris Mayor at the start of the 90s. Chirac had nothing to do with any of this, of course !
Finally, continuing on the political front, California has got to be having an official laugh ! The new Governor can probably hardly even speak German, let alone American English ! You would have thought they would have learned their lesson from past actors taking up political posts, but at least I guess it means we won't have to be subjected to any of his wonderful films for the next few years. However, it does look like the waters ahead may be somewhat stormy for the new boy. Given the number of women lining up claiming various forms of sexual harassment against the new Governor, maybe Arnie would have been better advised to take up a new career as a Premiership footballer, or doesn't he like Coke ?
I wonder who will win our next General Election ? Will it be Pierce, Roger or Sean ? James Bond as Prime Minister ? More stupid things have happened .......
Calm Potter.