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FlacidCasual

Listed below are comments made by FlacidCasual between Monday, 1st September 2008 and Saturday, 28th February 2009.

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The Goodwin pension questions 03:03am on 28 Feb 2009 Sorry but Fred the Useless should have been fired for incompetence rather than "being asked to take early retirement". It just goes to show how the system takes a generous view towards the incompetent managers, who have shafted the financial system. Just think about the thousands of people who have lost their job as a result of Fred's catastrophically incompetent decision to take-over AMB. Having made millions over the last few years at the expence of the people who work for him, the most he should be due is the minimum state pension. He should be thankful that the people of the UK don't sue him for all the money his atrocious decisions have cost. If he's worth 600k per year then every other RBS employee is worth 1bn. In the case of RBS there's only one name that should be taking responsibility: Control Freak Goodwin.
Does the Bank Rate matter? 11:00am on 09 Jan 2009 Hello all

There's a missed point here. Fact is that it's not only the banks who are sitting on their cash, the public as a whole is saving more because of fear what lies around the corner. I'm sure the stricter lending criteria from banks is having a direct impact upon overall economic activity, but it's just one piece of the puzzle.

Lower interest rates will disincentivize saving, which could lead to more spending and increased economic activity. Alternatively people might just stuff their cash in shoe boxes under their bed, which would be the nightmare scenario because its helping neither the banks with their liquidity or the consumer sector and overall economic activity. Hmmm. By the way has anyone thought about all the OAPs who are sitting on mounds of secret cash rather than using a savings account thanks to the system where you get a higher pension if your net assets are below a certain level?

Anyway back to topic. My feeling is that the lower interest rates are probably a good thing in the short term. The current economic cycle is something we have to go through; the banks' liquidity, consumer confidence and all the other negative economic factors all need time to correct. All the Government and BoE can do is undertake measures to speed up or slow down this process and mitigate the worst concequences. There's no silver bullet I'm afraid.
Confirming our prejudices 8:49pm on 19 Nov 2008 My feeling is that a majority of the columnists and opinion writers were probably leaning towards Obama. This is wholly understandable though, seeing as it's been standard GOP policy over the last fifteen years to rile up their base by ranting about "Northeastern Media Elites". You had the Republican VP candidate effectively say that anyone living in a city isn't a proper American. Can you really blame the media intelligensia for preferring someone else?
The Mormon backlash 8:36pm on 19 Nov 2008 What I don't understand is why a homosexual couple choosing to get married should undermine the marriage of a heterosexual couple. Why should that matter?

Aren't the anti gay marriage people often those who tell the government to get off their back? Yet now they want the government to enact a law that says the relationship of a couple up the street, who have never done anything to harm them, is not the equal of their own relationship.

That's hypocrisy on at least three different levels.
Obama in enemy territory 4:23pm on 01 Nov 2008 @320 Steven.

Sure, not disagreeing that the election is critically important and that there are clear divisions between the two men in terms of policy. My point though is that far too many of the people commenting upon the election aren't really engaging facts and policy, they're throwing mud in a partisan manner and pretending that their opinion is the truth. Just take a look at some of the nuttier posts on this page, or go to some of the left or right wing blog sites.

My personal feeling is that the right is probably more guilty of the demagoguery than the left, but both sides have form when it comes to mud-slinging. The problem is that when you lose track of facts and balance, it does just become a tribal contest, which turns off people who don't automatically associate themselves with either group.

Lets do away with the poorly educated loudmouths who are brainwashing the population into believing that their small-minded prejudices are a key part of the American way.
Obama in enemy territory 11:54am on 01 Nov 2008 Nessie 205. I'm talking about the McCain brand. He's still running 5pts ahead of the GOP in general.

I prefer not to look at negative accounts of McCain's service, because that kind of thing sounds frighteningly similar to what happened to Kerry in 04. Regardless of that, anybody who chooses to serve in the military, knowing that they may be putting themselves in harm's way deserves my respect.

I'll be glad when the election is over. At the moment it's like the Jets and Sharks or Bloods and Crips on these message boards. Nobody can remember what the argument is really about, we just know we don't like the other guy.
Obama in enemy territory 01:19am on 01 Nov 2008 I write this under the influence of a couple of glasses of Friday night wine, so apologies if rambles a little.

If you look at the larger sample polls (Gallup, Rasmussen), they typically state that Obama is up about 7 points nationally. Because their sample-size is in the thousands rather than hundreds it means that their results should be more reliable.

In terms of the electoral collage Obama appears to have a more convincing margin. RCP puts him at over 300 electors, without any toss-up states being included in the count. Whilst recent state polls have indicated Obama's statewide support slipping back within the margin of error (Missouri and North Carolina for example), he still seems to have a clear advantage.

My overwhelming thought at the moment is that Obama supporters are expecting him to achieve some kind of landslide, 10 points nationally and 370 plus in the electoral college, whilst McCain's supporters are banking on 270 college votes. This can come across as arrogance on the part of Dems. However, the fact that the battlegrounds (bar PA) are all Bush states from 2004, would lead me to believe that this arrogance is justified. Remember to win the election, Obama only needs to hold Kerry's states plus win Iowa, Colorado and New Mexico (or IA and VA). Obama has many more options when it comes to victory, McCain needs all of the undecideds to break for him.

I don't believe it will be a landslide for the Dems. McCain is a compelling personality whose patriotism and service cannot be questioned. He will attract a lot of independent support on election day, but realistically we seem to be looking at a five percent and 300 electoral vote win for Obama.
'Events dear boy, events!' 2:39pm on 01 Sep 2008 I was just thinking about responding to MA2's post @ 280, by talking about FDR and how I think he was the best US President, however, I'm not going to do that now, because I realise that even FDR's achievements were shaped and amplified by the circumstances of the day. And that brings us back to the topic of Justin's blog - politics, government, management - they're all about reacting to events and rolling with the punches.

Is it realistic to have expected Wilson to forsee the Bierkellerputsch and the rise of fascist nationalism in Germany as he sat down at the table in Versailles? I guess time will give us more perspective on whether the hawkish foreign policy advocated by John McCain and already carried out by Bush/Cheney was the right way to go. Time may be kind on the Hawks and decide that the pre-emptive action saved thousands of lives. Evidence today suggest that's not the case.

I do have concerns about a hawkish response to Russia's current actions. Russia owns over sixty billion dollars of the US's national debt. The US owes China over half a trillion dollars. Are you really going to go toe-to-toe with countries that have your IOU in their pocket?
'Events dear boy, events!' 11:52am on 01 Sep 2008 @230 Real Frigid.

The paradox of being pro-choice and anti-death penalty is matched by the hypocrisy of being pro-life and pro-death penalty. That's just a general point, I'm not predicting your views.

In my opinion it's sometimes difficult to rationalise why we hold the opinions we do, so sometimes we're going to have to accept someone's view on spec, even if it contradicts what we personally feel to be true.

On the question of when life begins and what constitutes a life, who knows? I certainly don't. Lets allow people to make this judgement for themselves. However, I can't believe that the decision to abort a pregnancy is ever taken lightly. I know two people who have for reasons of their own personal circumstances considered having an abortion, but neither could bring themselves to do it. Both are now happy, loving mothers.
'Events dear boy, events!' 08:41am on 01 Sep 2008 For me the negative side of Palin's creationists views isn't that she has those beliefs, which is fine, but it is that she would have them taught alongside evolution as part of science lessons. Now I'm not an expert in education, but shouldn't the teaching of science be based on facts that have been tested and proven? Replacing science with religion would take us back towards the dark ages, when the church ruled and oppressed the people, using the bible as their weapon. Is there an english word for Madrassa? I think there's also a constitutional amendment that prohibits this; it's the one that comes before the one about the guns. Typical right-wing nut-job selectively editing the constitution.

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