Fly from Iran to relocated cities in Asia

Go here and check out the airline that flies to Delhi in Tibet, Shanghai in Japan, Bangkok on the Cambodian/Vietnamese border, Damascus in Turkey and Bahrain Saudi Arabia. Now it might be a perfectly good airline, and presumably its pilot don't get lost, no thanks to the IT department.

Paris riots not political - just thugs

The leftie bloggers who might think the Paris riots are some sort of youth proletarian fight against capitalism. Well, one word... bollocks.

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The report this morning on the BBC World Service was from a journalist who was there, who said that he noticed the element of troublemakers who quietly were gathering while most protestors peacefully opposed the new youth employment law. Reuters reports much the same with "a few dozen youth" causing havoc. The riots were caused by teenagers out wanting to confront Police and wreck cars, vandalise and loot - many protestors distanced themselves from them - I doubt if most of the rioters even understood what they were getting involved in. That doesn't match with the romanticised leftist view of French political activism though.

Call for state funding of UK political parties

This is due to the scandal of loans given by rich Labour supporters in exchange for peerages. No doubt this happened with the Tories too. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott wants state funding for political parties, no doubt meaning most should go to Labour and the Tories. Political parties should be able to be funded by whoever wants to fund them – but that does not mean the state. The state would never fund new parties and will always be set up to primarily fund those already dominant. It is fundamentally undemocratic and corporatist – the status quo funding parties supporting primarily variations on the status quo. State funding of political parties will be resisted by many, and hopefully will be buried as a ridiculous socialist fantasy. If people wont voluntarily fund a political party, why should they be forced to pay for it campaigning to run their lives? If the British Labour Party struggles to get money (which seems unlikely), it might want to look at itself - maybe it doesn't deserve the campaign its power hungry MPs wish it to have?

Ken Livingstone blames Jeremy Clarkson for armageddon

According to The Times Red Ken - Mayor of London - has said that areas threatened with flooding will be called Clarkson zones, because he blames Jeremy Clarkson for global warming and the possible “destruction of life on earth”. Nutter. Jeremy Clarkson hosts the most popular show on BBC2 (and Prime TV in NZ), "Top Gear". Top Gear is fun because cars are fun, they are enjoyable to drive and there are millions who agree - because personal transport is pleasurable.

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Now free market me believes the only problem is that roads are run by politicians, central and local government - who administer roads for political purposes, not according to the demands of users or the costs. In some cases roads are overcharged, in others undercharged, so in some places roads are too good, others they are inadequate - pristine empty roads and congested roads - it's central planning gone mad. I support his congestion charging zone, though not the extension - and generally support road pricing, as long as it is efficient.

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You see I am neutral on whether people should drive or not, it is their choice as long as they don't expect anyone else to subsidise them and take responsibility for their actions - but Red Ken hates cars – he doesn’t own one or even drive. He blames London’s traffic problems on cars, ignoring that London has only around 9% of its land area covered by roads, unlike the average of most cities of 25%. Greenies would celebrate that, but it adds enormously to the cost of transport - and the burden on the economy, environment and people's health. It is no pleasure walking extensively on many London streets because of it - buses get caught in it too - the famous Kings Road in Chelsea was often quicker to walk than to drive or catch buses down. However, without decent highways traffic is funneled down local 2 lane streets.
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Of course, the fact Ken uses London citizens' council tax to pay for buses to run, empty or not, doesn’t help either. The Strand is full day in day out of nearly empty buses clogging up the lanes – bus subsidies promote bus companies running services regardless of demand. Ken’s policy of free bus rides for under 16yos also encourages them to bus instead of walking – hardly environmentally or health friendly (or passenger friendly).
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London would reduce emissions if a network of toll highways was built as originally planned (planned to be free, but tolls would ensure demand was reflected with user pays), completing the inner circular highways, even if tunnelled to avoid impact on the local environment. The tolls would restrain growth and the highways would remove cars from local streets, speeding up bus travel and reducing health impacts – but don’t expect Transport for London or Ken to support that – roads are evil after all. Far better to have pedestrians and cyclists choking with exhaust fumes from buses, trucks, cabs and cars.
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Don’t say people should catch public transport, only 13% of peak commuting to central London is by car, it would be difficult to increase the public transport share much more. London public transport is excellent, although at peak times is at crush capacity (and it isn't efficient to provide more capacity). Most motoring in London is suburb to suburb, where it takes far longer to bus than to drive (a bus takes a more circuitous route and stops a lot after all) and these orbital movements will continue to grow. London has one of the worst roading networks of any major city in the world – it simply needs to let the private sector provide, and to let it toll freely to pay for it.

Belarus on tenterhooks - freedom or bloodshed

This blog rails against attacks on freedom in NZ, the UK and other western countries - but we must be grateful for small mercies - I wont get arrested for what I say here. To the right is the regime's official flag, and the banned pre 1995 flag.

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In Belarus I'd be arrested, imprisoned and maybe tortured or executed - 20 years ago, half of Europe was like that, today Belarus is one of the few left which tolerate absolutely no dissent. Not heard of Belarus? Well it enjoyed receiving most of the fallout from Chernobyl, and with the breakup of the USSR it slipped quickly back into dictatorship - its early elections were dominated by Alexander Lukashenko, who supported the communist past. He may have abolished the commnist party, but he will win the rigged election in Belarus today, because, like North Korea and Myanmar, opposition isn’t really allowed. Lukashenko is Europe’s last remaining Marxist-Leninist leader, in effect. Belarus has a state owned and run economy, and as a result is a stagnant, scared and impoverished people. Well not entirely, a reasonable proportion of Belarussians support him, because they haven’t faced the reforms of their neighbours – nobody is starving, and there is stability (and low levels of crime – if you exclude Lukashenko’s goons abusing their unlimited powers). Belarus still has Soviet era factories producing Soviet era goods, including bicycles, one of which collapsed under Lukashenko when it was presented to him. If you like a boring existence where you don't starve and don't rock the boat, Belarus is for you. It is anti-capitalist after all.

Putin is backing Lukashenko, in fact if it wasn’t for the cheap gas and oil he provides, the regime would be a goner. Lukashenko has repeatedly called for reunification with Russia, but Putin is smart enough to not want to be brought down with Minsk.

Tonight as I write this, snipers have been placed around Minsk, so Lukashenko can aim at demonstrators as the results come out, which of course, appear to support Lukashenko’s overwhelming re-election. The latest report indicates no violence, although the regime has been good at ensuring the disappearance of opponents.

The UK Liberal Democrats are supporting the campaign for liberal democracy in Belarus, as is No Right Turn (the LibDem Youth wing has a magazine called the Free Radical hmmmm), and I agree. The first step towards freeing Belarus is freeing politics, allowing dissent and elections – beyond that we’d probably disagree.

I hope the people of Belarus can effect change, as has happened in Ukraine and Georgia, but I am not optimistic. If they try, many will die – as Lukashenko is not shy about shedding blood. Belarus threatens no one, except its own people, all that western countries can do is support the opposition and continue funding broadcasts of uncensored news from sources such as Deutsche Welle, BBC World Service and Radio Liberty. I wish the people of Belarus freedom – they deserve nothing less, I hope if they stand up against the heartless, lifeless evil of the current regime tonight - the puppets of Lukashenko turn their guns against the regime instead of the people. I doubt much will change.

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Read more about Belarus at the Belarus Virtual Guide and Lonely Planet guide report. If you want Lukashenko's side, the site of the Belarus Embassy and Radio TV Belarus in English will fill you with Pravda - traditional Soviet style.