This is not Cricket

The Pakistani cricket team's summer tour of England ended in controversy. Three pakistani players are accused of spot-fixing. Spot-fixing differs from match-fixing in one significant way; spot-fixing relates to "fixing" specific incidents within the game. To my knowledge the investigation is still not finished, and as such the three players are still to be considered innocent. However, evidence is according to several sources convincing. 

The relationship between the chairman of the Pakistan cricket board and his counterparts in other parts of the old British empire is strained at best. He has been throwing out accusations right and left and received a lot of bad-will for his way of running the Pakistan cricket board. For some reason pakistani players more often than others are connected to this kind of activities, and a clean-up is needed.

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Who is John Galt?

I would like to recommend an excellent book, "Atlas Shrugged" written by Ayn Rand in 1957. At that time the political landscape was very different, with communism in a position of larger power. Ayn Rand escaped the Soviet Union and fleed to the USA, this historical background makes the setting of the novel more understandable..

The book is a dark depiction of a world in crisis, where the USA is slipping into a communism-like state. Companies are being taken over by the government or run by a sort of government controlled corporate puppet regime. The book is about the contrast between need and ability, and the right of ownership of property and your own intellect. It is about those willing to live in or unable to revolt against such a system, and about those that are trying to revolt. It is about the contrast between those that produce and those that loot. It is a philosophical thriller, with many discussions on politics, market economics and the role of the state.

If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose- because it contains all the others- the fact that they were the people who created the phrase to make money. No other language or nation had ever used these words before; men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity- to be seized, begged, inherited, shared, looted or obtained as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created.

(Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957)

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Just another tea party

The Tea party is a new political movement in the USA; the name is, of course, a reference to the Boston Tea Party, where colonists protested the British taxation of the American (British) colonies by disquising themselves as Indians (native Americans) and throwing tea into the water in the Boston harbour. The parole then was: "No taxation without representation". This was to protest the lack of governmental influence given to the colonies, despite the taxation.

The Tea party is today a conservative movement looking to decrease taxes, promote capitalism and decrease the size of the public sector and government to increase individual freedom. Also added to this are traditional conservative Christian values as banning abortion and gay marriage. Thus is can be perceived as a break-out group from the Republican party.

With the upcoming midterm election , they can be expected to have some influence. If nothing else they could be seen as a sign of splitting in the Republican ranks, which could help the Democrats. On the other hand president Obama's approval rating have decrease significantly and a sitting president often has worse results in the midterm election compared to the last election. So far president Obama has not been the great success that was expected, Obamacare cannot be seen as a success so far and the economic situation is not looking good for the USA.Projections are that the Republican will gain influence in the midterm election.

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Deadly drugs

A sort of bizarre debate is currently going on in the USA, whether or not it is legal to import thiopental from Europe. Sodium thiopental is a part of the lethal injection used for executions in parts of the USA. Currently there is a shortage of domestic sodium thiopental and buying it from Europe may be in violation to FDA (Federal Drug Administrations) rules regarding drugs. The issue is if these rules are applicable since it is not used as a drug. In the UK, the source of the import, the debate is about whether or not it is legal to sell a substance used for killing people when it is known that it will in fact be used for executions. 

Sodium thiopental induces unconsciousness, then the prisoner is paralysed by pancuronium bromide and finally the heart is stopped using potassium chloride. This may seem to be a rather medieval way of punishment, and not surprisingly the death sentence has been abolished in most democratic countries. However, it still exists in many states ruled by communism, religious fundamentalism or despotism. Not a fun group to be associated with for the USA...

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The real McCoy

 Lately customs in some European countries, such as France and the Netherlands, have stopped import of generic drugs manufactured in India. This has been done after complaints about counterfeiting from large pharmaceutical companies, with competing drugs. Generic drugs are "copies" of drugs that can be manufactured legally after the patent has run out. Thus these drugs are not illegal and stopping them should be in violation with World Trade Organization policies. What makes the holders of the expired patents worried, is that the generic manufacturer can provide the drugs without the very expensive drug development process, thus selling the same drug at a lower price. A typical drug development process is often estimated to cost around $2 billion and take around 10 years.

Now this problem has been resolved, at least for now, and Indian generic drugs can be imported again. However, Indian officials are still worried about coming developments in this matter. India is currently a leading location for manufacturing of generic drugs, much due to relatively low wages and high competence.

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The Story of Stuff

Here follows a short movie about the need to change the way we use resources, from a linear system to a circular system. The main point is, as previously mentioned, that using finite resource in a linear system is not sustainable. 

The Story of Stuff 

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Strike!

What is with the french and their willingness to go on strike?

News reports about french workers on strike are quite frequently heard, often for reasons that may seem rather small to foreigners. This time the strikes are against a new pension reform, which most controversial part is an increase of the retirement age from 60 to 62 years old. To many outside french retirement at 60 seems to be a luxury, and at this time something they cannot afford. An aging population need a larger working force for support, obviously reform is needed. 

The usual example of french strikes are french farmers dumping various farming products on the street and blocking streets with farm machines. This tend to center around insufficient government support or against European Union ideas about decreasing import tariffs on agricultural products. These protectionistic policies are often criticised and would need reform to create a better market.For some reason these french farmers are allowed to have a too large influence on the European community; the french government bows and their large influence in the European Union often enough to block suggestions "threatening" the french farmers.

This strike is however spread to more sectors and seem to be more widespread. The current strike has been estimated to cost, the already strained french economy, 200 to 400 million euros ($280 to $560 million) every day. The costs include fuel shortages, lost foreign investment, and damage to the country's reputation.

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