John Howard punctures Bono's balloon
Great story from the Sydney Morning Herald:
"In Australia on tour, Bono, who hangs out with politicians in Europe and the US, let it be known he would like to meet the PM. On Tuesday, Howard said he was open to the idea if a formal request was made.
Then, says the PM's office, Bono listed conditions - primarily that Australia increase the proportion of gross domestic product it gives in foreign aid from 0.3 per cent to 0.7 per cent. No dice, said the PM yesterday. "I don't accept preconditions from anybody. I don't commit in advance to businessmen in this country and I certainly don't do it to - much in all as he's high-grade - Irish entertainers." (my emphasis)
Outstanding work Mr Howard.
"In Australia on tour, Bono, who hangs out with politicians in Europe and the US, let it be known he would like to meet the PM. On Tuesday, Howard said he was open to the idea if a formal request was made.
Then, says the PM's office, Bono listed conditions - primarily that Australia increase the proportion of gross domestic product it gives in foreign aid from 0.3 per cent to 0.7 per cent. No dice, said the PM yesterday. "I don't accept preconditions from anybody. I don't commit in advance to businessmen in this country and I certainly don't do it to - much in all as he's high-grade - Irish entertainers." (my emphasis)
Outstanding work Mr Howard.
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Classic!
He is a very, very fine prime minister. He puts Oz and Ozzies first.
The amount of money Bono and his ilk cheat out of the taxman could eradicate poverty in Africa overnight.
UK Pundit - Who cares?
Although I've never heard or seen him, I do know that Bono's a pop star. So he made his own money.
If Bono can make tens of millions, why can't Africa?
O nob
Not ones for pussyfooting, our Oz kin.
There are some awesome insults mouthed by Paul Keating here.
"I suppose that the Honourable Gentleman's hair, like his intellect, will recede into the darkness."
"We're not interested in the views of painted, perfumed gigolos."
"I was nearly chloroformed by the performance of the Honorable Member for Mackellar. It nearly put me right out for the afternoon."
"He's wound up like a thousand day clock..."
"Those opposite could not operate a tart shop"
"The Opposition crowd could not raffle a chook in a pub".
What does O nob mean ? Oh right got it .” Bob “ …doesn’t work so well does it . Saint Bob went to rather a posh school , as did Joe Strummer. ( I forgive the latter despite his hysterical delusions of grandeur )
One of the reasons that Africa can’t make money is that in Sub Sahara Africa Aid is an average of 10% of GDP . If you think about it this cannot be the way to go . It keeps the continent in a state of economic and political infantilism as does the misguided objective of “wiping out third world debt” . This will have the worst possible effect and cannot proceed without being allied to enforced regime change and legal change . Unhappy either way but .. I would not have started from here .
Verity do you really have so vague a notion of who Bono is ? I have always despised his fake rock which is overblown pop music IMHO but to avoid him entirely is an impressive feat. I find the lyrical content detestable on aesthetic grounds alone.
It is entirely clear that Africa is not a problem that can be solved by throwing money at it and yet it continues. I have hopes that this Bill Gates mega charity will adopt a more intelligent approach.
I do find the pictures that emerge heart breaking though ,( especially now I have child for some reason) I would be prepared to listen to anything that sounded helpful , even if it was outside my normal political parameters . This is like being prepared to suspend democracy in war.
This is not the first time I have admired this Hawke. Remember this
this culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language! `
There are two ways,working in tandem, to get Africa back on an even footing:
1. A group from the Anglosphere - it does not necessarily have to be the British again; it could be Indian or Aussie - will have to come in and administer Africa back to its former wealth and general good government. (The Anglosphere - the largest - part of Africa, that is. The rest will have to fend for themselves or maybe their French former colonial masters will kick in with some help.)
At the same time as good governance is being re-applied,and this will take 20 or 25 years, the EU, if it exists then (please, God, no) will have to open its markets for produce from Africa. Keeping out African growers is outrageous. Let the African growers try their hand. If they succeed in delivering delicious African fruits and vegetables to Britain and European markets - welcome to capitalism! If they fail, they fail. But they should be accorded the chance.
Those two things would eliminate a great deal of the poverty and, frankly, intellectual listlessness and gross dishonesty on that very wealthy continent. They've got diamonds, gold, oil, uranium and every other mineral known to man, plus some of the most fertile land in the world.
There is no excuse for failure on this scale, and no excuse for constantly forgiving their debts as though they were children.
And no, Newmania, I have absolutely no idea who Bono is except I've heard of him and I know he's a rock star. I wouldn't have the faintest idea who he was if he parked next to me or was standing next to me in a checkout line. But he should get his ego back in the box and stop contributing to the African victim mentality.
newmania
the gates foundation is all about preserving the wealth of the gates family not keeping darkies alive.
Some thoughts on Africa
The obvious reality of Evolution, which coexists quite nicely with the fact of Creation, did its job in culling out the dimwitted amongst our ancestors. In Africa, evolution culled out the physically slow and those less prone to self-protective violence, not to mention those not given to profligate sexual behavior, necessary in a world where death is the order of the day, all of which goes a long way toward explaining the current state of affairs in London, as well as every city in the World with a large concentration of Blacks. African evolution never motivated invention of a rudimentary wheel, nor a written language. Call me a rascist but its true.
I believe there was at least one literate culture in sub-Saharan Africa, but I can't find the reference.
The Aztecs did not have the wheel, but were an extraordinarily complex civilization.
C any literate Africans will have been either Arabs or Falasha jews maybe Ethiopian Christians.
As to the Aztecs they had organised barbarism not civilisation.
Good night sleep tight.
PHITCH- I very much appreciate your intelligence and savage sense of humour…( wait for it )…but this sort of pseudo science is not for me ( unless its mine of course) . Compared with any or our close relatives the “Large Penis-ed Ape” is astonishingly uniform genetically . In a closely related family group of chimpanzees you will find vastly more difference than between the world`s population of humans. . The appearance of different breeds , that fascinated Victorians is illusory and probably connected to sexual selection acting quickly , and superficially , on skin pigment. Black Africans are not ,as I `m, sure you know , of one kind . The world’s population is all “nested” in a group of one kind There are the , four or five others depending who you read. .
It is clear that the explosion of humans across the world is a second ago ( in evolutionary terms) and comes from a small Africa population. We do not have to go back very far at all to find common ancestors Eve`s as they have been called . There is absolutely no evidence that there is any IQ difference between the genetic inheritance of racial groups . Minute differences are detectable with a word class telescope almost certainly attributable to social factors that have not been possible to screen out . In fact Caucasians come below Asians and top of the pile are Eskimos . This comes from research conducted by very right wing Americans not Liberal apologists.
The reason the Africans did not develop the wheel is the same reason the Incas did not develop writing of the Romans discover the zero. Cultures do not necessarily proceed upwards or in the same way if isolated a given system reinforces itself and stagnates. If you read a history of the world (Penguin ) It is very noticeable that culture are widely divergent until the Globe became connected . These things are mysterious but the isolation of Africa is to do with disease and parasites . Disease is the main reasons that the new world is full of white people and Africa full of Black people. It is also the reason for the distinctive cultural facts you mention that are not by any means uniquely African.
This is not to say there might not be different prevalent traits in given populations of any race both physically and mentally . I do not expect to see a white heavy weight champion or a Black mark Spitz. On the other hand I will not see a Kenyan Heavy weight or , most likely , a West Indian Middle distance runner. There are , obviously , similar micro divergences in white populations. Finns for example have a differently configured ankle bone. As a race there just isn1t anything in the Darwinian ideas you mention. It is not impossible then that there are inherited tendencies in a small population like the West Indians in London . They are very different indeed to the Africans who are now the majority and whose huge numbers is the main immigration problem hidden beneath Labour movement like the Poles ( as per migration watch).
Not all black people approve of all other black people .Dianne Abbots constant inference that she does is not very popular in my house.
I have a genetic tendency to be very very boring which you have rightly told me off about and I see once again I droned on tediously to myself . I have always been interested in evolution since I got a toy Dinosaur . That’s my excuse.
wish we had him instead of DC
Newmania
I will consider myself "told" (+:
My racial theories vary as to the amount of alcohol consumed ,i wake up as a cuddly liberal ,in the evening after a couple of drinks I become a disgruntled daily mail reader then after a couple more Alf Garnett , if as yesterday (a day off) I started early by 23;00 I am ready to adress a torchlit rally.
I enjoyed reading your opinions disagree with some of them , although not about Diane Abbott.
N - Blimey, quite the post. Having checked, all the current heavyweight champions are white and hail from Mother Russia or thereabouts. Not exacly household names, and the descent of professional boxing into alphabet soupery is a disgrace.
RM - Amen brother.
P - I wonder if drinking has the reverse effect on folk who start at the other end of the debate?
C Agree very much on boxing.
PH Phew , that could have been worse
http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/content/islington/gazette/postbag/
That Mr. C is how you get politics into the cat up a tree local rag
N - Good work there.
Which was yours Mr Mania?
I have been "published" thrice in the MSM ,twice in airgun world and once in the Daily Mail.
i do also get a lot put up at www.holymoly.co.uk
As you can imagine it being me its mostly filth , however, funny to some.
Croydonian is right about heavyweight boxers _ not all black these days. A couple of years ago I met Roman Greenberg, who is a big srong boy indeed. A Russian Jew, Israeli citizen, currently resident in Finchley with 23 wins to his name (incl. 16 KOs) and no losses or draws _ whoever thought they'd meet a heavyweight boxer called 'Greenberg'?
PH - Newmania's is the lead letter, about Dick Whittington.
There used to be plenty of Jewish boxers way back. A friend's grandfather was a boxer before the war, and upon retiring took up a new trade as a greengrocer. Having a clearly Jewish name above his shop in the East End led to some bone-headed blackshirt barging in and abusing him as a 'Jewish c***'. After a thorough and practical lesson in manners, he was never bothered by the Union of Fascists again.
your story of the jewish butcher made me laugh
There used to be very famous drag queen and clubowner in manchester called frank "foo foo " lammar every now and again he would get trouble at his club being called a queer and such, what the idiots didn't know was that despite being a "queer" he was also a very tough and skilled boxer from salford, always took pride in ejecting trouble makers himself, probably few things more humiliating than getting beaten up and slung out on your ear by some bloke in high heels, a wig and a ballgown after you have just called him a poof.
I think there is something in genetics re boxing. One grandfather was a British national champion, my other one boxed for Ireland. Since my British grandfather's death we have discovered some direct descendants of his famed for generations of bare-knuckle boxing champions. Last time I had a go with my fists I found I was pretty handy. Prevalence of Alzheimers amongst boxers and concerns over my unbroken nose prevent me from taking this fighting talk beyond words.
PT - I won't be insulting you any time soon....
A great great uncle or somesuch captained England at rugby in the 30s, but I've got the hand / eye co-ordination of a toaster, so those genes can't have carried.
Bono is getting to big for his boots and needs knocking down a peg or two.
PT cannot punch me from Prague. Still I take no chances he may be back and he can be fiery when roused.
PH In the Daily Mail - That is impressive. My dream is to get into the Telegraph but numerous attempts have come to nought.
I. The Newmania family is actually as old as any in Europe . Unfortunately up until about 1930 there are no records of their lives as anonymous zeros . To this very day there is a strong tradition of irrelevance in national affairs indolence and general insignificance. It is tradition I am determined to uphold
Our motto is” Toujours Rien Jamais …oh I can’t be bothered.
Yes gays can be good boxers can`t they Lennnox ?
nearest to fame the "hitchens" have got is one lord mayor of manchester and my great great grandfather was involved in the Phoenix park murder , thats not official but we as a family know that , and the above mayor was his cousin.
The Phoenix Park murders eh? For some reason a snippet from A-level history is burnt into my memory '...murdered by The Invincibles with surgical knives'.
Looks like PH is another poster I don't want to annoy....
Another point on Africa - we should remember that they were used as a pawn by the Soviet Union, which wooed them with vast sums of money not long after their independence, before they had really become established in self-governing. And the Russians installed "strong men" with Swiss bank accounts as their leaders. So I think in a sense, Africa was knocked back by Soviet interference at a time when they were just adjusting.
They don't seem to have the will to straighten themselves out now -- all those who were motivated by independence now being dead, and a dependency mentality from Soviet days has persisted.
Whoever's fault it was, I don't think we should allow this to persist.
That is why I think they should invited us (a team from the successful Commonwealth nations - and God knows, that could include Singapore Chinese, who are meticulous administrators, Indians, Aussies, Brits if they wanted us) as administrators and work for 20 or 25 years undoing the damage done by allowing themselves to become a puppet of the USSR.
As each country is up and running, with people trained to come up behind us, we leave. The situation now is, they are never going to catch up with the rest of the world in their current state of lassitude. Both India and China are now miles ahead of them.
And as I said above, the EU is going to have to face facts and open their markets to cheap African produce and let them get a toehold.
Can't see the former happening, but the erecting of protectionist barriers against some of the poorest countries on the globe is beyond scandalous - it is criminal.
Croydonian - Neither can I see my idea above happening, which is a shame, because, as is only too evident, African governments are not exactly adept at running large economies and they'll have to start learning from the ground up again.
What is a hoot is, Croydonian has photos of himself with his face covered among the relatively small audience of the conservative blogosphere and then goes on national TV.
V - Agreed, it is a bit silly, but I've always liked that photo. Not sure I'd want to switch now - it is my trademark.
Not sure what 18DS's audience figures are like, but I haven't been mobbed by autograph seekers or had any death threats yet. Apparently Fawkes gets recognised in public, despite all of his efforts at anonymity / subterfuge etc.
Maybe if you go out flashing those yellow socks you'll be mobbed. Do the neighbours know what you do?
I've got dozens of pairs of yellow socks, so the good burghers of Croydon will not be lacking in opportunities to identify the blogger in their midst.
Thanks for the props in the Burgin interview, by the way.
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