Oh, shit!

Dragon Khan


Markets crash as Congress rejects bailout plan.

September 29, 2008 | Filed Under Capital | Leave a Comment 

Fascists rise again in Austria

Bad news from central Europe. Far-right and neo-fascist parties have done extremely well in general elections in Austria, claiming nearly 30% of the vote and seizing control of the balance of power.

It looks likely that the centrist parties of the former 'grand coalition' will try to create another coalition, excluding the fascists, which will probably fail again. Which will probably increase the popularity of these hateful bigots.

Combined with an economic depression, dissatisfaction with mainstream parties can often cause a worrying increase in the popularity of far-right wing parties… I can only hope that the Austrian left works harder to smash this increasingly popular movement before it manages to seize control of the Austrian government.

September 29, 2008 | Filed Under Politics | 1 Comment 

The real Alan Partridge?

Check out this clip of BBC local radio presenter, Les Ross, making a complete ass of himself during an interview. It's all funny but I wish he'd used the classic Alan line, after the guest leaves the interview: "And furthmore do you accept that everything I have said is true?" to which his assistant, Lynn, responds "Yes".

[Nicked from Popbitch!]

September 23, 2008 | Filed Under General | 2 Comments 

Ostriches

It's amazing to think, but there really are people out there who seek to deny human involvement in world climatic change. This despite the vast weight of scientific evidence, the overwhelming agreement of the scientific community and the visible changes occurring right now.

Today's climate change deniers are no less foolish than the appeasers of the 1930s: blind to the threat, not because of ignorance but because of a pig-headed obsession for resisting the changes we all need to make.

September 21, 2008 | Filed Under Home | 2 Comments 

McCain: them Spanish names all sound the damn same!

Poor old John McCain. Yes, he of the strange shape. Yes, he of the hilarious "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" song. I'm not writing about the US presidential elections for various reasons, but given that this is a Spain-related story, I couldn't resist.

Republican presidential candidate, John McCain was being interviewed recently about how he'd manage relations with the various leaders of Latin American countries upon which the US wreaks havoc at will who don't have great relations with the United States. As if in training for another GenericOff, McCain muttered about standing up to America's enemies etc…. But when the interviewer asked him about Spanish PM, Zapatero, McCain allegedly went blank and blustered for a bit, clearly clueless about exactly who this Zapatero guy is.

Now there will be some out there who see this as a surefire sign that Zapatero's a loser who has taken Spain 'off the world stage' where it was put by prince Ansar. That's the wrong tack, I reckon. The truth is that these days, politicians (and especially presidential candidates) have to answer so many questions about so many things that all they can really do is bluster banal generalities, hoping that they don't mess it up. McCain's an old man (which makes this sort of thing that much harder) and clearly suffers from some psychological problems, along with cancer, so I think people should just cut the man some slack and leave him be.

Yes, he's a dangerous fool; yes, he probably will be president (and potentially an even worse one than GWB); yes, he called his own wife a cunt; yes, he will probably die in office, leaving the the "ugliest hottie ever" to manage the world's only superpower in the style of a hockey mom…. but you know, there are a hell of a lot of things that McCain doesn't know, many of them far more important than the PM of Spain's name.

September 18, 2008 | Filed Under Politics | 7 Comments 

Antisemitism rate 'doubled' in Spain

Islamophobia and antisemitism are both on the rise in Europe, according to a report quoted in the Guardian.

Disturbingly, the scale of 'unfavourable feelings toward Jews' in Spain has more than doubled, going from 21% to 46% of the population. That makes Spain the most antisemitic country in Europe. Actually, I happened to see a crappy 'Jew joke' on some Spanish blog today, so I guess it's hardly surprising.

Download the full Pew Global Attitudes report here.

September 18, 2008 | Filed Under Politics, Spain | 36 Comments 

'Antisistema' activist 'stole' €492,000 from banks, to prove how stupid they are

This is a brilliant story.

Basically, this guy claims to have defrauded several banks and Caixas (savings banks) of €492,000, purely in order to prove how easy it was to do. He used the money to publish 200,000 copies of his free newspaper, Crisi, which denounces the world financial system for inefficiency, dishonesty, living in a make-believe land and causing poverty and famine throughout the world. The money not spent on the Crisi newspaper project was given to charities and NGOs. And the author has also fled Spain (understandably) and will only return when his crimes have been pardoned.

The author couldn't really have timed this better as the world's financial markets are still reeling from the largest crisis since 1929, and the insurance giant AIG has just been nationalised by the US government (something they refused to do for Lehman Brothers just the other day).

Opinion is divided on who exactly is to blame for this calamitous situation. I think it's obviously the bankers' fault as they're the ones playing with imaginary money, things they don't own and other things which they invent the value of. Banking analyst, Diana Choyleva made the incredible claim on Monday's Newsnight that central banks (and therefore, by extension, governments) were to blame for the crisis because they had allowed a long period of low policy (interest) rates to occur, they allowed a situation to develop whereby bankers felt almost obliged to take more and more risks. In other words, bankers are nothing but irresponsible risk-taking children with no control over their actions, who need to be reigned in better. I'm not sure how well that will go down with her banking chums.

Actually, there have been a lot of people who put this entire crisis down to poor or ineffectual regulation. Yes, the very same regulation which was previously railed against as strangulating and diametrically opposed to the 'ethics' of neo-liberal free market capitalism. Of course, the real problem is the system of so-called free market capitalism. From inventing vast amounts of 'value' where no true capital exists, to deregulating money markets, this socio-economic ideology has done nothing more or less than place the fate of pretty much every living person under the direct control of three unelected, practically unseen organisations. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation are the tripartite leadership and main proponents of this ideology, and they are all wholesale controlled by the United States government.

If we are ever to escape this inherently unstable and totally illusionary cycle of boom and bust, it will not be, as Gordon Brown thought, via the means of free market capitalism which is, after all, the name of the problem itself.

September 17, 2008 | Filed Under Capital, Politics | 5 Comments 

"The bus is full"

Noel Edmonds has made a new play in his "biggest wanker ever" campaign. Now neck and neck with Jeremy Clarkson (no relation), Edmonds has called for immigrants to be thrown out and the UK's borders closed. According to the News Of The World:

“We can all go down the pub and go, ‘Oh it’s terrible, all these immigrants.’ But what are we going to do in Britain to change this toxic culture if we don’t say, ‘Enough is enough.’

“If I was Prime Minister for a day the first thing I would do would be to close the border.

“Then we could work out how many people we’ve got here.

“Then you get people out who have committed crimes and you look at others who shouldn’t be here. Nobody knows how many people we’ve got here.”

Indeed. I avoided the boycott of TeleCinco for their anti-Catalan stance because I'm not that keen on boycotts. But Noel "cunt" Edmonds has made me rethink my position. "Noel's HQ", the wanker's new vehicle, will be avoided at all costs. Well, it would have been anyway, but now I won't even tune in to see if he kills another guest.

September 14, 2008 | Filed Under Politics, UK, tv | 1 Comment 

Fascist attacks in Bolivia

The US has recently been involved in a truly disgraceful campaign of provocation and manipulation in the republic of Bolivia. While they have been vociferous in their condemnation of Russia's occupation of South Ossetia, the American government have been actively promoting independence for the region of Pando, centre of opposition to Bolivian president Evo Morales.

Now, fresh news arises about "fascist" assaults on state infrastructure and peasant markets in Santa Cruz, Pando, as well as other towns and cities outside the region. The death toll as a result of these attacks is officially 28 but there are reports of bodies on roadsides and dumped in the country: the number of dead really isn't known.

But it's not just the US who are to blame for fanning the flames of insurrection in Bolivia: Brazil has already agreed to do business with an independent Pando, assuming they control the region's mineral reserves.

There are fears that the right-wing led disturbances migh lead to a coup d'etât in Bolivia, an event which would surely benefit Bush's government. It seems clear that strikes and martial law will do little to subdue the far-right attacks… with the support of the US, expect Pando to be a class war zone for quite some time.

September 14, 2008 | Filed Under Capital | Comments Off 

Guardia Civil: "Esto es España, hable en español"

This story was sent to me by a fellow traveller.

Apparently, the mayor of pretty Montblanc in Tarragona province received a court summons for 'disobeying authority' after an incident with some cops over the weekend. Mayor Josep Andreu, of the left-wing Catalan nationalists, ERC, and a town councillor apparently came upon a police control point and approached the Policia Local and Guardia Civil officers in order to find out what was going on. The mayor spoke to the Guardia officers in Catalan but was told "This is Spain, you speak in Spanish". Not the sort of line that goes down very well with any Catalan, sounding as it does, very much like something out of the dark years of the dictatorship… and even more so if you happen to be a politician in ERC.

Anyway, some sort of row ensued with the mayor refusing to identify himself until he had the officers' names. Eventually, he showed his ID card and was allowed to leave, only to receive the summons a few days later.

Two things stike me as a bit mad in this story: firstly, I've been told that most Guardia Civil officers in rural Catalonia speak Catalan and are pretty jovial fellows, so long as you don't get on the wrong side of them. So perhaps Senyor Andreu has already had some sort of falling out with them which precipitated this incident. Either that or the Guardia in question is a complete prick… both are utterly possible. Secondly, what the hell kind of offence is 'disobeying authority' anyway? I can't help but think that it was inspired by one Eric Cartman of South Park, Colorado… or perhaps that should be the other way around?

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September 10, 2008 | Filed Under Catalonia, Language, Politics | 3 Comments 

Iberian Notes thought the system worked

"I will admit, though, that Zap's regime has not been dreadful; he hasn't tried to nationalize the banks or anything."

"…you get kicked out of the EU if you do something like pull a military coup or nationalize the banks."

"One man's speculation is another man's investment. What do they want, the government to nationalize all real estate?"

…

US housing crisis: Freddie and Fannie are nationalised

September 8, 2008 | Filed Under Capital | 2 Comments 

Haha… radical separatist to be US VP?

The selection of John McCain's running mate looks more and more foolish. It now turns out that Sarah Palin is a former member of the Alaskan Independence Party. Apart from this, she's being investigated for alleged abuse of power, and the investigation is due to end FOUR DAYS before the election. Seriously, I thought McCain was mad when I read that he called his wife "you cunt" in public, but this is too much.

September 2, 2008 | Filed Under Politics | Leave a Comment 

My life as a door to door salesman

Some time back, I spent the best part of a year living in Australia. The majority of this temporary residence was spent living at Gun House, a military residence in Fremantle, Western Australia. I was an exceptionally lazy young man and spent most of this 'gap year' spongeing from my father and stepmother, listening to music and chatting with girls rather than finding gainful employment. I like to imagine that this is what most 19 year-olds will do, given half the chance… but I was probably worse than most.

The only job I did during my 8 months in Fremantle was a 3 1/2 month stint working as a door to door salesman for Primus, a company which offered cheaper phone calls in comparison with Telstra, the Australian national phone company. I'd like to state for the record here that we weren't selling moon dust or snake oil. There was a genuine opportunity for people to save money on their phone bills by opting for another company when phoning interstate or overseas. That said, I probably would have done the job even if it was a scam. It was one of the best, and one of the worst, times of my life. I've been thinking about it again recently, so I thought I'd try to collect my memories of the time.

Aparna, my stepmum's cousin helped me get to the interview which was somewhere near the Northbridge district of Perth. I know that as part of her task to help me settle in in Perth, she had also to try and get me employed. I turned up at the interview in baggy jeans and t-shirt and although the interview was full of warnings about hard work, commitment and so on it was pretty obvious from the start that if I could write, recite the pitch and above all, walk, then I had a job. They asked me to start immediately and so the next day, I was there in cheap trousers, cheap shirt, cheap tie and trainers. My training consisted of half an hour's orientation and then we were in the car. There was myself, Will, an ambitious Cambodian-born Australian and a couple of other guys who were just starting out.

Will was my mentor for a few days, taking me along with him as he convinced the citizens of one district after another to sign up for cheaper interstate calls. As we started our beat, he immediately criticised my tie, letting me know that it looked cheap. He was wearing a $100 suit, with a nice tie and probably some cufflinks. His shoes (every door to door salesman needs strong, easily polished, durable shoes), were sturdy but showed signs of wear. He signed about eight households up to the service, using the same pitch each time, "Good afternoon, my name's Will and we're just in the neighbourhood checking that everyone's signed up with Primus for cheaper phone calls. Oh you haven't? Well I'll tell you about the service and then we'll get the paperwork sorted". The pitch was cunningly engineered to make people think it was something that they'd almost forgotten about. Something they'd meant to do, even if they didn't realise or remember.

I can't be sure but I suppose we visited a hundred houses or so each day, of which we were expected to sign up about 12-18. Each sign-up was worth around $12 to us, on which we paid no taxes or social security ('self-employed contractors' as we were). We used the same pitch on each house, giving the person who'd answered the door little chance to speak or even think. We launched straight from the pitch into the sign-up process as an attempt to get the hapless customer to believe that they'd already agreed to the deal. Sometimes that worked and other times, we'd have to answer their questions about how much it would cost to call Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, England, China, India, New Zealand or Vietnam.

It wasn't hard to pick up the pitch, or the attitude you needed to use with it. Grinning, chuckling, smarmy comments and winks were, perhaps surprisingly, as useful as they are in the movies. I guess that having grown up in Devon, where very few (if any) salesmen came to the door, I was more surprised by the way the stereotype really applied than I would have been had I grown up in a big town.

Every day at about 11am, we'd leave our office near Northbridge in Perth and set off for the suburbs. We worked from Rockingham to Two Rocks, and covered much territory in between. Some areas we covered were well-to-do districts (not great for doorstep sales), some were fairly built-up (lots of flats equals lots of sales) and some were low-income outer suburbs (redback spiders above the doors). I saw it all, from swarms of bees to bored housewives, from kangaroos to gold miners (a trio of whom once insisted on giving me a bong before they signd up… I was so stoned for the rest of the day that I didn't make any more sales in the remaining two hours). I stopped at Aboriginal houses which were empty, as all life went on in the garden, and plush beach villas, most of which were empty just because it wasn't the holidays. But most of our targets were in the low-income white suburbs… these were the people who really wanted to save money, after all.

Abuse was a fairly common thing. This ranged from the odd, simple "Fuck off!" to a man threatening that he'd "have [my] balls for breakfast", to an Asian colleague being chased down the street by a gentleman with a metal bar. Some triad boys once threatened me with knives. But I also experienced a lot of kindness. The kindness of strangers is, to misquote, oddly reliable. I was treated for sunstroke by a kindly widow, I was given a bellyful of beer by a couple of proper ockers who asked me what I thought of their wives; I was given a cuppa and a chip butty by some Yorkshire expats. In fact, kindness definitely outweighed abuse. But abuse gets to you.

What really ended up pissing me off about the job was my colleagues. Some of them were lovely: Simon, a fellow Englishman who became a good friend, for example. But then there were the wide boys, like Miguel and Jermaine. These two wanted to be gangsters (one of them probably is now, if he's not dead), and pushed my patience to superhuman levels. And my boss, Alex. This guy was getting about $16 for every sale I made. For every sale I got $12 and he got $16. A good business for him but utterly demoralising for me.

All we did with our pay was drink, party and eat fast food. We went to a karaoke bar called Seoul Karaoke and nicked bottles from the storage area by the loos. Everyone took speed and ecstasy at the weekend and many of us would start work hungover… it was a highly unhealthy lifestyle. And that's without mentioning my unpleasant experience with Rohypnol.

I'm not sure why I've written this, other than to relive an experience I'll hopefully never have to go through again. If any prospective door-to-door salesmen read this, I have one piece of advice: if you must do it, do it. But get out as soon as you can. Doorstep sales is a depressing, dehumanising job.

What's the worst job you've ever had?

September 2, 2008 | Filed Under Capital, australia | 13 Comments