Rule Britania
I have lived around the world and find the British government one of the most open, accountable, inclusive and least corrupt systems in existence.
A level of accountability and honesty exists here, unimaginable in most countries. In how many states could a lowly immigration civil servant, bring down a Minister over a fib. Where else would the PM’s closest assistant resign over an un-founded, un-proven passport affair. Try that in Italy and the entire government would have to go.
The House of Lords is a fiercely independent body, often non-partisan and unafraid to defy the executive.
Labour politicians (along with most of the public) are generally content with Mr Blair, despite some disagreements. However, bitter and vicious criticism of the leadership over the war continues without recrimination, a sign of healthy democracy.
During the war, debates in the House of Commons were broadcast to millions around the world. PMs Questions broadcasts internationally, to the extent that Speaker Betty Boothroyd gained fame in the US.
Despite its Socialist identity and painful bias, the BBC provides a high level of political reporting and discussion unseen in most countries. It is not the planets main news service without reason.
Government is more open and accountable, and the public has more access to information, than at any time in British history.
It would be a dark day for Britain if that bunch of useless, upper class, Champaign guzzling Socialists at the Guardian were to indicate any contentment in our governmental system.
3 commentsPigeons coming home to roost ?
This item in the Grauniad makes me think that maybe, just maybe, people are starting to sit up and take notice of the way things are running. It must be said that it may not be the end, it may not even be the beginning of the end, but it may just be the end of the beginning – to quote one W S Churchill.
It would seem from the comments to my last posting that some, at least, have misunderstood the thrust of my argument. This was not about any one party; it was about the general loss of democracy across the board. No party will ever fully represent the ideals and desires of the electorate; the trick has always been to identify which one offers something closest to the voters’ own vision of good governance. It is that which has now been lost. The myth of “Parliamentary Democracy” is just that, a myth. It is no more democratic than was, say, the Politburo in the USSR. On the surface it appears to be an elected group who represent their constituents, but in fact it is a permanent group of career parliamentarians and their equally permanent cronies in the civil service who determine the what, how, when, and by whom of all matters of governance.
But wait…..there’s more !!
Read more 1 commentT-shirt comp and other blog gos
Silent Running, keen to take advantage of the onslaught of hits they got via their expos of judenhaas activity in New Zealand, are now running a t-shirt competition. We at Dodgeblogium like to do our bit for the beautification of blogdom.
Blogcritics is TWO! Why not pop over and give a slap em’ on the back?
The Symphony is up as well.
CoV is going strong over at the Smallest Minority.
Update: Blog Cuba is once again up.
Comments are off for this postTerrible Tech Tales
You’ve probably read some of the horror stories by computer techs dealing with moronic customers. It works the other way, too.
Via Steel White Table:
I was getting several “illegal operation” errors on a new Windows 95 machine I was trying out. So I called tech support.Customer: “I want to buy this computer, but I’m a little concerned that I’m getting so many error messages. Is that common with this machine?”
Tech Support: “Well, we have to reformat the hard disk and reinstall the software every day. That’s normal.”
Customer: “Wait, wait, wait. You’re saying that I will have to reinstall Windows every single time I use the computer?!?”
Tech Support: “When it has errors, ma’am, that’s the only way to get rid of them.”
I’ve actually been lucky with tech support in that I’ve almost never had to use it. I’ve been able to muddle through any problems I’ve had. I’ve only had to phone my ISP once. I can’t remember exactly what the problem was, but I was using Netscape to put together a webpage.
The guy I was talking to seemed very nice, but he was adamant that I couldn’t use Netscape to do that. Well, I could and I was; but I just let it drop, as he didn’t seem to know much about the subject.
Back in February, an amusing article appeared in Salon, by a freelance writer who worked for a while in tech support for a major computer company. (He didn’t say which, but it was probably Dell or Gateway.)
It’s worse than you think:
Several people confess that they’ve never done more with a computer than check their e-mail. Others admit they haven’t even gotten that far. An impromptu contest develops to see exactly who knows the least. There are lots of contenders. I’m listening to them battle for the crown of incompetence as I’m dealt a new hand of cards when a frightening thought occurs to me. Our clueless bunch is now part of the technical-support staff for one of the world’s top three computer manufacturers, and in seven days we’re going to be taking your calls.
You can read the rest here. (It’s in Salon’s “premium” section, so if you’re not a subscriber you’ll have to watch a short advertisement before reading the full thing.)
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