Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story review‏

I recently watched Michael Moore's  documentary Capitalism: A Love Story.

I always enjoy Michael Moore's films but I do always have problems wrestling with the agenda of his stories. Although often don't disagree with the agenda I don't like have it smacked in my face every five minutes. This of course does happen in Moore's films.

This film covers how capitalism is not working for the working people of America and goes on to say all the problems with it. Its not offering alternatives just suggests that it needs control. there is plenty of ammo for him to get his teeth into.

One thing lacking in Moore's film on capitalism is an explanation as to what happened in the banking crisis perhaps he could of done a funny cartoon to cover this as his films have done in the past (I'm thinking of Bowling for Columbine with the cartoon of white people needing guys to protect themselves from African Americans). Maybe he didn't bother because others have covered it, I'm not sure but I would of like to of seen this in the film.

The best bits for me n the film is when Moore deals with the stories on people lives like employee insurance where companies have not had enough employees die to meet their profit margins 'Dead Peasant Insurance'. The Florida estate agent who buys cheap foreclosed properties with Condo Vultures from 'bottom feeders' as he calls them.

The film is more like his old TV program 'TV Nation' and therefore a return for me to his best. I think his over documentary thought good and enjoyable have missed some of the old Michael Moore.

There where a few flashes of Moores dislike of Bush which led him putting too much faith in Obama. Although it would appear that Moore feels like he is doing this all on his own and at the end he calls for others to help him. I think Moore needs to be prepared to be disappointed on both counts.

Labours unfair voting system

Early today while I was listening to the Labour Leadership debate on BBC Five Live I tweeted this '#labourhustings what an unfair voting system for labour leader no wonder they don't now support AV'.
 
The Labour leader is voted under a more unfair system than the Deputy Leadership see Harriet Harman won under Alternative Vote System
(not as many members of course as this was done at the Labour Party conference)
 
The Labour leadership system is made up of weighted votes. Voters do have a list candidates in order of preference system but use an electoral college system.
 
This is how it works, Ballots of the three sections of the electoral college are completed. Weightings depend on the number of people in each of the 3 categories. There are the activists, members of affiliated organisations, such as trades unions and socialist societies and those whose votes are worth the most are the MP's and MEPs. In addition Unions recommend their preference but it is still up to the voter to decide.
 
Results from the separate categories each make up a third of the final result.
 
All this and the fact that candidates need a nomination of 12.5 per cent of MP's (or 33 MP's) to stand.
 
So its no wonder that Labour are going back on their manifesto pledge on AV and will now vote against the bill. Althought I cant see how anyone in Labour could claim that other voting systems are too complicated when theirs is both complicated and unfair.
 
I call on the Daily Mail to defend the case for voting reform 'UK voting system would baffle aliens... Labour in third place but would still win most seats (276 to the Lib Dems' 99)'

Blog & Newsweek: 14 Bracknell & National politics

Here is a selection of issues making headlines during the past few weeks:


Local News

£1m leg up the housing ladder - First-time buyers will get a leg up on to the housing ladder with the help of a pioneering, multimillion-pound scheme that will benefit house buyers, the council and the taxpayer in a “virtuous circle”.

‘Mixed response’ to wind turbine plans - A public exhibition detailing plans for four wind turbines near Arborfield, Shinfield and Earley prompted a “mixed bag” of comments.


Local Links

Green Reading restarts Reading Lists Top of the Berkshire Blogs

Ask Alvin joins Race Online 2012 in bid to get everyone online by the London Olympics


Green Gabbles - Has Bracknell MP Philip Lee’s maiden speech

Mark Reckons wonders Do I have as much at stake as some other Lib Dems?


National Link (Links of the day)

Paul Waugh Examines more Lib Dem influence on Home Office policy in Yobs' iPods are safe

Dean Nelson asks 'Can Britain choose more business but less immigration from India? Of course not'

Scarlet Standard examines Burkas and Feminism

Tom Watson MP has Extract from the BBC Charter

And Spider Plant Land goes to the Farnborough Airshow and has some nice pics

Local Blog: Daily Mail rubbishes Bracknell and Wokingham's bin spies

I'm always amazed at how upset the Daily Mail gets about the subject of rubbish. It would appear however that there is an element of truth to their story on council race spies secretly rummage through rubbish bins to discover families' habits see here.

I'm really not sure why the Daily Mail thinks this is about race as claimed in the article 'Often, officials deliberately picked streets where different types of men and women lived to see if their ethnic origins, type of home or wealth affected the amount or rubbish they threw out'. I doubt this is even possible in Bracknell.

Bracknell council have admitted that they do employ companies who will empty some bins from a random location into a separate white van to find out if that area is recycling or not. They then send leaflets to that area. the council do claim that they are not spies and that no profiling is conducted of individuals or households. Still it must be tempting after all if you know where the bin came from you may know who throw the rubbish away incorrectly.

The same article also claims that 'Officials in Wokingham, Berkshire, went through the bins of almost 500 homes, identifying almost a ton of rubbish that could have been recycled'.

There are people going through the bins in both Bracknell and Wokingham. If this is not about profiling and includes helpful leaflets to given areas than I don't see a problem with it. But I would not want someone to know that I have thrown away something personal or any ID or data and to of know where it came from.

So if you do have anything that contains important data I would not throw it away in your local bins but have it shredded before hand.

See the Get Bracknell story
http://www.getbracknell.co.uk/news/s/2075306_council_staff_are_rummaging_through_your_bins

Party policy verse coalition agreement

Mondays Newsnight coalition special highlighted a problem for me with understanding the difference for the public of coalition policy and party policy.
 
One young lady said she would not vote Liberal Democrat again because of the Vince Cables proposed graduate tax. Firstly I got the impression that she thought this was going to happen when it is one idea to be discussed. Secondly the Liberal Democrats have not dropped their policy on scrapping tuition fees. If the Liberal Democrats were in power on their own I have no doubt that within the 4 or 5 years of government they would scrap fees by the end of the term or when affordable.
 
I also wondered if she understood that this is a progressive tax and would mean no more tuition fees and not an additional expense. Maybe the word taxation scared her off the idea. I guess this has not been explained to the public.
 
I thought Liberal Democrat MP for Burnley Gordon Birtwistle could of done a much better job explaining the differences between the two parties and explaining Liberal Democrat policy. It seems some MP's need a bit of coaching on how to explain coalition verse party policy.
 
The problem is that people don't always understand that both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives still have these policies, its just that they can't introduce them into a coalition.
 
I think both parties need to make it clear during the conferences and during other campaigns that they both still have their distinctive policies.

I agree with Early Day Motion opposing Coalition's timetable for AV vote

As per the Conservative Home blog '44 Tory MPs sign Early Day Motion opposing Coalition's timetable for AV vote'. and Benedict Brogan Blog 'Bernard Jenkin lines up his Tories against AV '. I find myself agreeing with this motion. As a supporter of voting reform I find this a strange situation to agree with Bernard Jenkins Conservative MP who is a supporter of FPTP.


I agree for different ideological reasons but I also believe the date is wrong. I think a fair time to have the referendum would be Thursday, 5th June, 2014 during the euro elections. Because the whole country will be voting, I know there is a low turnout for the Euros but there is also a low turnout for most other voters.

I blogged my reasons why in this posting 'Is the AV referendum badly timed'.

Bernard Jenkins does have some good points in the statement.


DATE OF PROPOSED REFERENDUM ON AN ALTERNATIVE VOTING SYSTEM


That this House notes that in 2002 the Electoral Commission, following consultations on the holding of a possible referendum on the Euro on the same day as other elections on 1 May 2003, issued a statement making clear that referendums on fundamental issues of national importance should be considered in isolation and that they should not be held at the same time as devolved assembly or local government elections; further notes that in a recent report the House of Lords Constitution Committee recommended that there should be a presumption against holding referendums on the same day as elections; recognises that this advice is in accordance with best constitutional practice in countries such as Switzerland, where referendums are more regularly held; believes that this constitutional practice should be observed unless there are very exceptional reasons for it to be set aside; is concerned at the proposal to hold the referendum on whether to change the voting system on 5 May 2011, which is the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and to local authorities in Northern Ireland, but only in parts of England; further believes that this proposal would allow other issues to cloud the referendum debate before the vote, would artificially inflate turnout in some parts of the country but not others, and that it may accordingly advantage one campaign at the expense of the other; proposes that any referendum on this issue should therefore be held on a different date; and looks forward to advice from the Electoral Commission on this matter which is consistent with its previous statements.

I believe it will allow other issues (mainly party politics) to cloud the vote.


It would mean that other parts of the country would have a bigger say due to turnout.

The campaign I think needs more time.

A loss for this vote is a risk for the Liberal Democrats as we can't then claim to have AV in our back pocket, question would be asked by Liberal Democrats on the coalition.

The current low support for the Liberal Democrats could also effect the vote for AV as it maybe seen as a pro Lib Dem vote if we do not get another support from some Labour and Conservative MP's.

This is a major and inportant vote and should not be confussed by other campaigns. What better time to vote for a new voting system then when you are already voting in a proportional system (all be it regional).

There would of been 4 years of a working coalition why upset the boat now.

I would add that the this vote does not have to be during the Euro elections but I feel it should be later than next year and not during the Scottish Parliament or National Assembly for Wales elections.

Wikileaks shows more than one side‏ of the story

The Wikileaks (see here) release of 92,000 reports shows not only the heavily reported coalition killing of civilians, kill or capture missions and the Taliban using deadly surface-to-air missiles. It also shows just how Taliban are killing civilians and there are some awful reports of Taliban attacks. There are also reports of funding,training and arms supplying from Iran (see here).

It's worth bearing in mind that there are two sides to this story (or more) with the Afghans in the middle who are the biggest losers. I know there are now more children including girls going to school and some safer areas and some people are now protected from some of the awful Taliban laws but there can be no doubt that the short term (if I can call it that) is awful.

The press conference today given by Wiki Leaks founder Julian Assange also told how the Australian secret service was asked to investigate Wikileaks (who refused the US request) and that there is a further 15,000 reports yet to be published. These reports have not yet been released because they are being checked to ensure that they don't endanger civilians.

Perhaps this data is dangerous for the military but it does show that if you try to hide secrets then sooner or later they will be exposed if that secret is big enough.

It should also be noted that not all of these report will be 100 percent accurate but they are only as accurate as any other reports taken by the military during a conflict can be. But its the general picture of the war that it paints that is most important.

I would also add that I have been quite impressed with how the guardian have reported this story on their Web site. With a live blog and map of the significant incidents (see here). Expect this story to not only run and run but actually effect the way this war is reported an conducted.

A presumption from David Miliband

Bit of a presumption David 'The Grassroots choice' How do you know. The vote wont be known until September 25th!

The banner above is show on www.davidmiliband.net/

DAB Radio energy & cost

I sent the the letter to Chris Huhne who is the Energy and Climate Change Secretary as I am concerned about a number of issue related to the switch off of the anologe signal for radio broadcasts.


Dear Mr Huhne,


DAB Radio Energy, cost and Climate Change


I was and am very pleased that you are the coalitions Energy and Climate Change Secretary and I was very impressed when I met you at the Southern Conference in Eastleigh and you spoke to me about the BNP and I was very pleased with your support for Professor David Nutt. But now you’re in government there is something I think you could act on quite easily.


I wish to bring to your attention my concern with DAB Radio and Energry Management. Firstly not only is the replacement of the current FM radios a concern but also the worry that DAB radio themselves many have to be replaced within a few years because of the new AAC+ audio codec, and existing stations that use the old MP2 format will probably be switched off completely in the UK in around 7-8 years' time.


All this replacement of radios tends to use materials and energy. Surely we should not be forcing people to throw away their old radios.


It is a known fact that DAB radios tend to consume more electricity than old-fashioned analogue one although this is improving I doubt they will ever use as little power as current analogue radios.


Also as Liberals I do not believe it is right to force people to give something up that works perfectly well. I myself like to use a small MW/FM radio at football games and I cannot find a DAB radio that functions this way.


I do not understand how this fits in with the Lib-dem’s environmental policies of greening our economy and tackling climate change or indeed the Conservative Green pledges. Is this not another piece of Big government Labour that needs to be scrapped. If not can this not be greatly delayed or put on


Of course the other issue is cost imagine how many voters particularly some older voters will be happy to hear that we are not spending all this money on digital radio antennas and adverts or indeed the saving they will make by not having to buy one. It would demonstrate good Liberal values and also not force the poorer people who pay the same money for DAB radios to buy them.


Please do write back to me and let me know your course of action as I will be publishing it on my Blog (www.bracknellblog.blogspot.com/).


Other past contributors to this blog have also written letters to Chris Huhne on this issue, the letter below is from Bill Bloggs;


I wish to protest in the strongest possible terms against the Coalition Government’s plan to force all UK residents to change over from Analogue to Digital radio.


First of all, there is the needless personal cost to each and every one of us in a period of recession, money that could be far better spent by us - e.g. home insulation.


Secondly, this will mean the scrapping (and the costly and extremely limited recovery of any useful raw materials by recycling under WEEE) of millions of perfectly good FM radios.


This will not only include the great many cheaper basic radios, but will range right on up to lots of very expensive Stereo outfits. It will also involve all CD players that are combined with FM radios, as well as all clock radios - and worse still, it will encompass all those radio receivers fitted in our cars and trucks as well!


Can you please consider in great detail the total carbon footprint of this proposed changeover, as compared with all of the perceived benefits?


Can you please list these benefits for me, in any respect, including any conceivable energy saving, climate change and any other environmental advantages that may be involved?


The way I see it, it is true to say that the only really tangible benefit is to the manufacturers and retailers of all this new radio receiving equipment!


Making all of this new equipment is going to not only consume a great deal of money that is in very short supply, but also needlessly consume a huge amount of precious energy, and use up a lot more increasingly scarce raw materials as well.


I really cannot see how this fits in with the Lib-dem’s environmental policies of greening our economy and tackling climate change.


It looks far more like a Tory policy, giving way to a big business lobby once again!


When you have reached the sensible and logical conclusion that I would expect from you, both as a Lib-Dem MP and the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, I trust that you will do all in your power to stop this enforced changeover going ahead..


IMHO, purchasing a DAB radio, in any shape or form, should be left as a free market choice by the consumer, when such a purchase is under their unpressurised, natural consideration.


Furthermore, from an Energy Saving and Climate Change Action perspective, wouldn’t you agree that, ideally, each and every one of these new DAB radios should be sold with a reminder that, if you are buying one solely to keep up with the latest technology, you are needlessly consuming precious energy and natural resources and adding to your personal carbon footprint?


I very much look forward to hearing from you in due course.


There are other letters but I think you get the idea. When we receive our replies I will post them here.

Nick Clegg Q&A in Abingdon

Just got back from the Q&A with Nick Clegg. I'm told on Twitter by Mark Reckons that this was on Sky News unfortunately I didn't know this.

So I'm not going to blog all the Q&A like I normally do because I wanted to talk the whole event in without thinking about the event like a reporter.

First thing that struck me was that there was no registration as there was when I attended the Cameron Direct in Reading. I could just turn up, show my picture and walk in. I'm not even sure why photo ID was required.

It was amazing to me to see so much security around a Lib Dem leader, There wasn't really a chance to talk to Nick Clegg afterwards as far as I can tell.

There was a funny reference to David Davies who today was caught making some negative views on the "Brokeback Coalition".

I was impressed with the way Nick Clegg answered the questions although he was no better or worse than David Cameron in my view. I was also impressed at how packed the room was, some people had to stand.

Questions ranged from a quote from the Daily Mail, to unfair council tax, benefit cheats, pensions, Academies, local building planning. Nick Clegg try to answer all the points and could not answer only two questions. One a local question about a bridge build and one about an NHS memo on flexible hours as this was not due to the government but was a local NHS issue.

There were some funny moments, Nick Clegg does operate well infront of the British public. I was very impressed with the audience too who did not interupt or heckle and listened to Nick Cleggs answers even when they were clearly not happy about with Cleggs answer, such as when he answered a lady question asking why he did not sack Chris Huhne MP because of his mistress scandal.


My questions would of been on the timing of AV voting reform, IR35 and keeping the Liberal Democrat identity (I know thats 3 questions). Sadly I never got to ask any of them as 1 hour is never enough time at these events.

I hope the next Q&A event I get to attend is with the new leader of the Labour party so I can see all the leaders in operation.

Blog Update

As you can see I have changed the design of Bracknell Blog. I will also be adding in more links and will be updating them so I can provide my readers with a better service.

Hope you like it.

Deputy Prime Minister, in Abingdon this Saturday

I will be attending the Open Question & Answer Session with the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. I will report back on any points of interest. I will be wearing a a green top with Living Colour written on the front and tour dates on hte back and blue jeans if you wish to chat.

It's being held on Saturday 24 July, at 14.00hrs. at the Abingdon Guildhall, Abbey Close, Abingdon, OX14 3JE

Seats will be allocated on a first come first served basis and a photo ID is required.

See you there