BBC Blog Network

User Profile

Compton_Leofric

Listed below are comments made by Compton_Leofric between Monday, 19th May 2008 and Thursday, 21st May 2009.

«Newer
Older»

Would you claim MPs' expenses? 12:01pm on 21 May 2009 For more on Dan Ariely, check out his TED talks, especially the one this piece of Evan's seems to be based on. Also check out Hans Rosling - he should be a household name.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dan_ariely_on_our_buggy_moral_code.html
Unfair? We may have to hope so 5:12pm on 09 Feb 2009 Our fate is always in the hands of others, be they bankers, politicians or generals. Part of the answer has to be the withdrawl of temptation and greed from the equation, whilst at the same time keeping sufficient carrot available to keep them working on our behalf.

The prime minister doesn't receive a prohibitive salary, compared to banking bonuses at least. His reward theoretically comes after serving in office through public speaking, book deals, directorships, historical kudos etc.. If he performs badly whilst in office the rewards aren't his (misery memoirs excepted of course).

For a world that can come up with hedge funds, quanatitive easing, securitized mortgages and their ilk, surely we can frame a better scheme for rewarding success than cash bonuses and share options that are tantamount to a 2 year I owe you.
Bash-A-Banker 4:40pm on 09 Feb 2009 Alistair Darling has identified the correct question - why should a banker earn several orders of magnitude more than a heart surgeon.

The answer is that they shoudln't of course. Until we can curb human nature, we will keep coming up with imaginative , complex and ultimately flawed renumeration packages, all of which are fig leaves trying to cover human greed.

The current debacle has erupted like a volcano which periodically blows to relieve the underlying pressures. Yes, you have to clean up the mess made by the eruption, but you also need to address the underlying pressures which have been steadily building over the years.

In the case of the "credit crunch" it is greed, both personal and corporate. It is barely the blink of an eye in evolutionary terms, but in the 150 years since "On the origin of species" was published, how far have we really managed to drag ourselves?
Green shoots (2) 2:21pm on 16 Jan 2009 A valid story, yes, but also over played and revelled in by the media.

The ministers political mistake was in repeating the poisonous phrase that had just been set as a trap for her. In the real world, the mistake was not actually explaining what green shoots she was seeing - specifically the bond market.

Thousands of job losses for sure, but some of those have been picked up by the supermarkets and thier ilk. Admittedly it would be a brave soul to use the "green shoots" analogy here. It would also be cruel to characterize them as no more than bonded labour, employed to feed the banality of "mass man". It is at least employment, but whose toil will be generating the money to feed those tills ?

In the final analysis, something has to be produced which is of value to someone else. Historically, this has been agriculture, manufacturing and more recently finance and information services. We are now being trounced in all these areas by nations which still have early 20th century labour rates and relations.

Which way next for Brittania ?
The Glass Box. 5:47pm on 06 Oct 2008 The driving test should be just that, a test of driving capability.

I suppose the driving test Tsar is getting a roasting for not having enough A* passes at the first attempt ?

Soft issues such as "travel planning" and "hazard awareness" are all very well, but don't put the cart before the horse. You need to have the skill to drive from A to B without hitting a hazard first. Then and only then should you proceed to the finer points of tapping in a postcode to a sat nav while holding a multi-national conference call on your blue tooth gizmo, sat in the outside lane of the M6 doing 90 MPH.
Clarke's 'private chat' 5:36pm on 04 Sep 2008 Gordon obviously isn't suited to the top job. It's no doubt largely a personality matter, mixed with some behind the scenes bully boy tactics if the media are to be believed.

Chief mourner at a funeral, that is where I picture Gordon, the perfect job for the dour son of a Manse.

As the head of a government, I'm afraid there has to be an engaging personality along with the intellect. Gordon has never managed to deliver on that. The intellect I also suspect is highly over played.

Before CEH straps on his Zen equiped strategic blinkers, policy does matter and it matters a great deal. But yet again team GB are trotting out ill thought out financial packages soon to be followed by desparate energy measures (how many reviews over the last decade and no action...) Agree with them or not, but if you want policy initiatives, look north of the border. The SNP minority government has a direction that can be understood. The same cannot be same of the Labour Westminster government.

In the eyes of the nation, Gordon is dead man walking - smelling as rank as Sunny Jims winter rubbish piles, wearing Michael Foot's donkey jacket and getting a soaking from the waves that washed over Neil Kinnock.

Labour isn't working....
The crumbling ITV pillar 10:56am on 06 Aug 2008 As a viewer, if ITV disappeared from the airwaves, I wouldn't miss it.

Its saving graces are few and far between. Everyone has their own prefered content, but I could only identify two or three programmes in any calendar year of interest.

Michael Grade appears to want a reboot of the ITV franchise in much the same way as Hollywood has taken to doing with its stale offerings.

The current ITV model does fit uneasily with the digital age and subscriptions services. Inevitably it will slide further towards the lowest common denominator and become just more noise in the digital spectrum.

The three basic models of delivery - subcription, public funding and advertising led will continue to exist in the digital age. It seems to me that increasingly all will be pressured by the proliferation of digital services towards the lowest common denominator. All will try to resist this in their own way, but whatever the outcome for ITV, I only hope it doesn't weaken the BBC position with regards to the license fee.

The BBC is the gold standard and the key if subscription and advertising models are not to succumb to digital pressure. ITV needs to remould itself, but needs a strong BBC as a yardstick.
Westminster rumours 2:17pm on 12 Jun 2008 It's easy to see this as vanity. It may well be - he is a politician afer all. But all the same he's forsaking his salary, career and no doubt burning a few political bridges in the process. He's either more vain than a pampered pop diva or he has principles. I choose to believe he has principles as well as the required political vanity.

All the comments about a fascist state and their rebukes, well it's easy to jump in with the odd Hitler analogy and just as easy to counter it by saying "this is Britain, we're nothing like that". Truth is a grey colour in non trivial issues, not the black and white that many would like it to be.

Rather than invoke Hitler, I would highlight the apocryphal story of the humble frog, sitting patiently as the heat is turned up on his pan of water. Will he never learn to jump out before he's medium rare ?

How hot is the water for you - 42 days detention without charge, CCTV cameras, ID cards, DNA being held without conviction etc...
Westminster rumours 1:26pm on 12 Jun 2008 Once in a very infrequent while a politician rekindles trust in the political process. Today is such a day.

Having just heard that the lib dems won't put up a candidate to oppose him, the election maybe somewhat tilted in his favour. That is not to take anything away from the principled stand he is taking.

There's bound to be a gret deal of analysis and probing of the relationship with David Cameron. Put that to one side, David Davis deserves all our thanks for this opportunity to defend Manga Carta.
Negative campaigning 1:01pm on 19 May 2008 Putting aside the "Tory conman" aspect, the initial positioning of the Labour candidate irked me.

Dropping the Kneafsey from her surname which she used whilst in the Welsh assembly.

You have to draw your own conclusions, but it doesn't come across as being straightforward. Not like the woman she is looking to replace...

«Newer
Older»

^ Back to top

BBC MMVI

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC.co.uk

BBC Blog Network

Find and talk to the BBC's bloggers.

User Profile

Compton_Leofric