Alex Massie

Alex Massie

Tuesday

Alex Massie

Lessons from a Tory Revival

From our UK edition

At Culture11 today, I've a piece offering, however impertinently, some advice to the Republican party.That is to say, I suggest five lessons they could learn from the Conservatives' revival in Britain. The extent to which they are applicable, let alone replicable, in the United States, may differ of course. But they are notions, not policy prescriptions, broadly summarised as:  The Base is Not Enough  The Elites Matter  So do Ideas  When the Electrate Moves, You Move  Atonement Needs to be More than Rhetoric; Or, Time is Not Enough Check the rest out here.

Alex Massie

42 Days: Gone But Not Dead

From our UK edition

Peers reject the notion that it's fine to lock people up for six weeks without even telling them why and how does the Home Secretary respond? Well, yet again, by impugning the motives of those opposed to granting the state these extraordinary powers: "I deeply regret that some have been prepared to ignore the terrorist threat, for fear of taking a tough but necessary decision." And so the Labour party adopts the bullying thuggery that characterises much of the modern Republican party's approach to security issues. Power corrupts, of course and Jacqui Smith should be ashamed of herself. Curiously, those ignoring the terrorist threat included not one but two former heads of MI5, the domestic security service, who, now appointed to the House of Lords, voted against the government.

Alex Massie

42 Days: Jacqui Smith

From our UK edition

Here's video of Jacqui Smith's contemptible performance in the Commons last night. Basically, she says that if you don't support giving the police carte blanche then you're on the terrorists' side. At the very least, if you dare to question the government you don't care about security. And of course all you yoghurt-munching civil liberties pansies also don't care about the liberty of "not being blown up". Seriously. As I say, contemptible. Note too the bald-faced lies she tells. Apparently every security expert supports the government's proposals. Not so. Former policemen and, as I say, two former heads of MI5 opposed the government last night. So too, one should note, did two former Labour Lord Chancellors - Charlie Falconer and Derry Irvine.

Monday

Alex Massie

RBS is Nationalised

From our UK edition

The big news, obviously, is the collapse of RBS as an independent entity, now that the government is going to pump in as much as £20bn and take 60% of the company. In the long-run this is probably a good deal for taxpayers. At least in as much as that 60% ought to bring a return once (if) healthier times return. Still, it is a stunning fall from grace for RBS. And for Scotland. The financial implications are one thing, so too the political and, just as importantly, the psychological impact. It's not a coincidence that Alex Salmond was always quite happy to let folk know he had once been an oil economist at RBS. Equally, the battle between RBS and the Bank of Scotland to buy the English giant Natwest was a significant moment in modern corporate and psycho-political history.

Alex Massie

When Big Becomes Obese

From our UK edition

Quote of the day comes from Chris Dillow: Everyone knows centrally planned economies are a stinkingly bad idea. The lesson of the collapse of many banks is that centrally planned companies are also a bad idea. And they’re a bad idea for the same reason - that, in complex organisms such as economies or big companies, fragmented and tacit knowledge cannot be centralized, and “leadership“ often degenerates into mere rent-seeking. I suspect there's quite a bit to be said for this view. Then again, I would say that since this perspective also accords with my view of politics. That is to say, I'm unconvinced politics can be be effective in large, fragmented countries.

Alex Massie

Blogger wins Nobel Prize for Economics

From our UK edition

This is going to upset a lot of people... Paul Krugman wins the Nobel Prize for Economics. I can't wait for the loopy-right to complain that even when the Nobel committee awards prizes to Americans they only give them to Americans who hate America. Or something like that. UPDATE: Tyler Cowen, as you might expect, has much, much more. I should also say that whatever anyone thinks abotu Krugman's politics, pretty much everyone I know who knows a lot about economics considers him a serious, hugely influential figure. So the award is not, or should not, be that controversial. Still, don't expect that argument to convince everyone...

Alex Massie

They Haven’t Gone Away You Know

From our UK edition

The issue of whether the state can lock-you up indefinitely  for up to 42 days without even the courtesy of telling you why is back. Happily, the House of Lords seems certain to reject the government's plans, sending them back to the Commons where, again hopefully, they will finally die. Here's Labour MP Tom Harris, however, explaining that if you opposed giving the state these powers you're a "civil liberties" (feel the sneer with which he writes these words!) nutcase and if there's another terrorist attack on Britain, it will be your fault... It’s no secret that, along with the great, wise majority of our nation, I support a radical extension of the length of time the police can detain terrorist suspects without trial.

Alex Massie

Hats off to Gordon Brown?

From our UK edition

Commenting on this post, a reader asks: What does this do to Gordon Brown's political future?  He sure looks like a world leader as the rest of the world falls in behind his bailout plan. Neither McCain nor Obama seem to have a clue what to do for the financial crisis, so I'm wondering if I should write in Brown's name for President in here in the U.S.  Your opinion? This is a good question, not least because it permits one to escape from economics. My answer hunch, I guess, is that this will improve Gordon's position in the short-term but that he is still extremely vulnerable in the long-term. Yes, he's showing action right now. Yes, there are plenty of people who will like this renewed stamp of leadership.

Alex Massie

Cricket and ASBOs

From our UK edition

Like Norm, I am entirely unsurprised by this: The Phrase "it's not cricket" is reverberating again around state school classrooms. Good old-fashioned cricketing values have prompted an improvement in behaviour in schools, according to the evaluation of a project to promote the sport in schools to be published later this week. The "Chance to Shine" scheme, designed to promote cricket in state schools by sending in club coaches to teach the game, has had a spin off beyond PE lessons. According to researchers at Loughborough University, schools which have taken part in the scheme report improved behaviour in school generally as a result of participating in it. Admittedly even cricket cannot cure all.

Alex Massie

Political Advertising 18

From our UK edition

Is this the most famous presidential ad of all? Perhaps! Anyway, we're back in 1964 and LBJ wanrs that Barry Goldwater will end up incinerating your children. Tough stuff.

Alex Massie

Apple Grumble

From our UK edition

Can anyone explain why Apple thinks it's fine* to charge one £800 for a new MacBook that arrives without a proper freakin' word processing programme? This seems to be a new development, since my previous two Apple computers were so equipped. Why, Steve Jobs why? *I suppose it's because brand loyalty and convenience  - ie, knowing how to use Macs but not a  PC - means that they can fob one off with this sort of nonsense and trust that we'll still pony up for the latest edition of iLife. So, anyone have recommendations for a good open source word processing programme?

Sunday

Alex Massie

Department of Political Wisdom

From our UK edition

Michael Brendan Dougherty, splendid as always, brings it: At the end of the day, the arguments all seem to boil down to something similar: If it were more like me, the Republican Party would be better off. It’s failing because it’s like you.   (From a while ago, for sure. But it is even more true now.

Saturday

Alex Massie

McCain and the Ignorance of Crowds

From our UK edition

I've been down on John McCain for quite a while (but, heck, so have a lot of people!) but despite the ugliness of his campaign he shows the better side of his nature in this film. Then again, it's hard not to be struck by the boos that greet him. Boos, of course, from audiences of rock-solidly partisan Republican voters.

Alex Massie

Photo of the Day | 11 October 2008

From our UK edition

There would have been more - and better - blogging in these parts recently if I hadn't been helping to look after my niece, Florence, lately. She was, alas, suffering from abandonment issues as her mother was in London. Even the pastoral delights of the Borderland offered but a temporary reprieve. Still, here she is on her way to feed the two Jacob sheep (Rachel and Leah, obviously) yesterday: All of which is a way of getting round to reminding y'all that you should check out the wee beast's mother's website. If you felt like commissioning a painting then you'd a) be smart, b) be rewarded with a fine picture and c) feel good about yourself. More details at Claudia's own website.

Friday

Alex Massie

“Ambition” is the new “Uppity”

From our UK edition

Sarah Palin on Barack Obama and Bill Ayers today: This pattern raises serious questions about Senator Obama's judgment.  It raises serious questions about his truthfulness.  But there is no question about his ambition. Ambition explains launching your political career in the living room of an unrepentant terrorist. Indeed. Because you too would start your decades-long conspiracy to steal the Presidency in the home of an "unrepentent terrorist". That's a sensible ambition! Who could possibly fail to see that? Doesn't Obama's association - no more than that - with Ayers undermine the "he's a secret terrorist-sympathiser" narrative?

Alex Massie

Urban Farmers to the Barricades!

From our UK edition

The most depressing thing I've read today (so far): Many large US cities, including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, and Seattle apparently never thought to ban the domesticated fowl within city limits. That's from a Christian Science Monitor article on the increasing number of urban Americans keeping chickens. Why do depressing? Because the presumption is, quite clearly, that it's normal and appropriate for cities to make it illegal for you to keep a chook or two. Letting people lead their lives as they see fit is a Risk Too Far! As always it's If In Doubt Ban It. Actually, Just Ban It First And Don't Ask Any Questions.

Thursday

Alex Massie

Political Advertising 17

From our UK edition

Frank Sinatra cuts an ad for Hubert Humphrey in 1968 and they don't even ask him to sing? And what's with the Mafia Don setting? Strange.

Alex Massie

Financial Crisis: Cui Bono?

From our UK edition

Unionists of course. That. at any rate, is Alan Cochrane's argument in the Telegraph today. With his acknowledged acumen in this field, Mr Salmond has tried to put himself at the very epicentre of this crisis but with every day that passed he has looked more and more like a spear carrier in a major production being directed by people altogether more powerful than he. HBOS and RBS may have their brass plates in Scotland, but the measures needed to cope with the crises afflicting them required action on a scale far outwith the capabilities of one small nation. Mr Salmond’s actions have looked increasingly puny, revealed for what they are — mere whistles in the dark of a global disaster...

Alex Massie

Financial Crisis: All Uncle Milton’s Fault?

From our UK edition

Will Wilkinson has some fun with Naomi Klein's latest nonsense. Naomi Klein says [the financial crisis discredits neoliberalism]. Or she wants it to. She thinks it discredits Milton Friedman in particular, because for Klein not a sparrow falls without Friedman’s having somehow strangled it. Hers is a tiny intellectual universe containing, on the one hand, the things she likes and, on the other, the baleful influence of Milton Friedman. Did you know, for instance, that Paul Bremer was a Friedmanite agent of mass destruction in Iraq? Apparently so!