FRIDAY MUSIC: Grappelli / Menuhin, by JD

Continuing our musical journey with an unlikely combination:

In 1971, British chat-show host Michael Parkinson, a longtime jazz fan, came up with the idea of including Grappelli on his show Parkinson, where he would be joined by the classical violinist Yehudi Menuhin, with the two musicians performing a duet. Although Menuhin had no jazz training and a distinctly classical style of playing, the result went down very well with the British public. The pair went on to record three collaborative albums between 1972 and 1976, with Menuhin playing parts written out by Grappelli while the latter improvised in a classic jazz fashion. During their appearance on Parkinson's show, Menuhin played his prized Stradivari dating from 1714, while Grappelli revealed his instrument was made by Goffredo Cappa in 1695.

Stephane Grappelli & Yehudi Menuhin - Autumn Leaves

Django Reinhardt & Stephane Grappelli - Minor Swing

Lullaby of Birdland

Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin

Menuhin (violín) & Grappelli (teclado)

‘Golden’ Brown’s cattle raid on pensions

Reposted from ‘Wolves of Westminster,’ 5 August 2024
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The new Labour Government plans to use our pension money to fund infrastructure and clean energy, but there are some major problems with this idea.

We can see the attraction for a cash-strapped government. The total value of British pension investments is over £1,800 billion. Taken together with the near £2,000 billion assets of UK insurance companies, there is enough to pay off the national debt and still have a trillion left over. A goldmine! Why not put it to use for the nation?

The idea is in the Brown Commission’s comprehensive plan for Britain’s future, as tasked by Sir Keir Starmer and issued in 2022:

‘We see scope for greater private investment in our infrastructure from careful, long-term investors, like some of our large pensions and insurance companies, who need stable long term assets to support pensions in payment. The regulatory framework which governs those investments should not discourage it, and government and local leaders should work with the industry to devise the best mechanisms to attract private capital into these long-term public projects.’ [p. 83]

It was then included in Labour’s 2024 General Election manifesto:

‘Britain’s world-leading financial services industry has a major role to play in mobilising trillions of pounds in private capital to address the greatest long-term challenge of our age. Labour will make the UK the green finance capital of the world, mandating UK-regulated financial institutions – including banks, asset managers, pension funds, and insurers – and FTSE 100 companies to develop and implement credible transition plans that align with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.’

The late, great Frank Field MP foresaw the temptation offered by juicy pension funds when he set up the Parliamentary Pensions Reform Group. The 2002 Civitas discussion document stressed [pp. 37-38] the importance of trustees in protecting the assets from outside interference:

‘Because it is desirable to curtail the influence of the government in running the pension, the trustees will be invested with quite considerable powers. These will also be established in the Act and will include:

• the power to appoint and dismiss fund managers and decide on the number of fund managers the scheme requires;

• the setting of investment strategy;

• the power to make changes in contribution rates.’

The primary responsibility of pension funds is to provide pensions. Using their assets for political objectives, e.g. to boost investment in the UK, risks compromising fund performance and thus the financial security of the pensioner.

Here are three drawbacks to Westminster’s proposed tinkering:

Over-investment in the UK. Writing for CapX, Tim Worstall says that UK pension schemes already allocate too much to the domestic market, when they should be seeking higher returns abroad from more dynamic economies. This is especially important now that many schemes have moved away from final-pension ‘defined benefit’ arrangements to ‘defined contribution’ plans, thus shifting the risk onto the beneficiaries, who will not know until retirement how much money they have, and what annuity or other form of income based on it they will receive.

The use of funds to develop ‘clean energy’. So far, most of the alternative energy provision is nowhere near cost-effective compared to oil, gas and coal. Without government subsidies and revenue guarantees, even nuclear power might falter. Besides, the supposed progress we have made in cleanness has been achieved by transferring industrial production to countries that press ahead with polluting power plants as they continue to catch up with our standard of living.

The ability of the market to front-run official initiatives. We saw this when Gordon Brown announced (on 7 May 1999) that he was going to sell half Britain’s gold reserves:

‘The advance notice of the substantial sales drove the price of gold down by 10% by the time of the first auction on 6 July 1999. With many gold traders shorting, gold reached a low point of US$252.80 on 20 July.’

If the Labour pension/insurance initiative proceeds, look for pinstripe suits buying into the boost – maybe even forming start-up green energy companies, then exiting as soon as they sniff a policy change coming. Exploiting pensions and other investments for political and eco-fantasy ends may result in hobbling fund performance, hitting pensioners and savers while enriching smart hedge fund managers.

In short, ‘Golden’ Brown’s idealism and naïvety could cost the country heavily – again!

FRIDAY MUSIC: Tuba Skinny encore, by JD

We have featured Tuba Skinny a couple of times so far. Well here they are again with their interpretation of Country Music. It seems they are regular guests at the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival.

https://delawarevalleybluegrass.org/

Tuba Skinny- Any Old Time, Jimmie Rodgers song, “Bluegrass adjacent” Del. Valley Bluegrass Festival

Tuba Skinny- It Hurts Me Too, Tampa Red song from 1940

Tuba Skinny- All Night Long at the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival 8/31/19”

Tuba Skinny - "Blue Moon Of Kentucky"

Tuba Skinny - Hank Williams New Orleans Style - Your Cheatin Heart

Tuba Skinny plays "I'm Going Back Home" from their album "Some Kind-A-Shake".

Rishi's Green Light For War

Can we stop the cross-party lurch towards Armageddon?

I love Quentin Letts’ cheeky wit but in describing last week’s PMQs as ‘a bore’ he missed this explosive moment from Rishi Sunak:

‘I know at first hand how important it is that our Prime Minister can use his prerogative power to respond quickly militarily to protect British national security, sometimes without giving this House prior notice. These are perhaps the most difficult decisions that a Prime Minister can take, and I welcomed his support when I made them. I want to take this opportunity to assure him of the Opposition’s support if he deems it necessary to take similar action in the future.’

Done in plain sight: the Opposition handing carte blanche to the Government to declare war. Not that the royal prerogative needs it, and that is another issue.

In the first instance we assume this refers to Ukraine/Russia, though other countries are also swimming into view. In their exchange, both Sunak and the PM approvingly said, reporting from Starmer’s attendance at the NATO summit two days earlier, that Ukraine was on an ‘irreversible path to [NATO] membership.’ Given Russia’s red lines, the implications are umistakable.

In my view, the direction of travel is insane.

Also, what happened to our adversarial Parliament, a system designed to thrash out the truth and restrain acts of folly by the Executive? We have seen with the Covid fiasco how multi-party consensus has its dangers; how much more so, with the prospect of atomic Mutually Assured Destruction.

If only the fiery left-wing orator George Galloway had been re-elected to Parliament, so that he could raise his dissenting voice. Instead he is reduced to using YouTube to interview former weapons inspector Scott Ritter on the risk of nuclear conflict. UK Army head General Sir Roly Walker has told the RUSI Land War Conference that our armed forces are under-resourced and we need to double them by 2027. Ritter says the crisis may come sooner, for the latest START Treaty, limiting the use of strategic nuclear weapons, is due to run out on February 4, 2026. After this, both sides may rush to reinstall intermediate range nuclear missiles close to Ukraine’s border with Russia.

Ritter thinks NATO stupidly believes it can continue to push on and call Russia’s bluff, but because of technological development the time for leaders to make rational decisions in an emergency has shortened. Russia might have as little as six minutes to follow protocols and decide whether to respond with atomic weapons; and there is, he says, no such thing as a limited nuclear war.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has now set its ‘Doomsday Clock’, an indicator of their assessment of potential global disaster from various threats, to ‘90 seconds to midnight—the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been—in large part because of Russian threats to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.’

Would a Trump victory in the coming Presidential election ease back the hands on the clock? Not according to Ritter, on his Substack site:

Donald Trump, meanwhile, has proffered rhetoric which has led many to believe he would end the conflict in Ukraine, and thereby open the door for better relations with Russia. But this policy is predicated on the concept of the “perfect phone call” between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin where the Russian leader accedes to American-dictated terms regarding Ukraine which would fall far short of Russia’s stated goals. Trump has made it clear that if Putin fails to bend the knee on Ukraine, he will then flood Ukraine with weapons.

Ritter is proposing a mass US voter movement telling Dems and the GOP that their November ballots will go to whichever side pledges a commitment to peace and the prevention of nuclear war. Surely we in the UK, too, should urge our MPs to turn back from impending disaster.

We must also hope that Sunak’s replacement as Party Leader will offer a modified position on Ukraine. As Churchill said in 1954, ‘Meeting jaw to jaw is better than war.’

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Also published at the Bruges Group blog

FRIDAY MUSIC: Stephanie Trick, by JD

Here is Stephanie Trick, a young boogiewoogie/stride piano player,  a style which emerged around 100 years ago. She is one of a surprising number of young musicians who are 'keeping the flame alive'

Stephanie Trick (born 1987 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States) is an American stride, ragtime and jazz pianist.

Trick began playing piano at the age of five. Her interest outside classical music began at the age of ten, when her piano teacher introduced her to ragtime. She received her BA degree in music with honors from the University of Chicago in 2009. Trick demonstrates piano performance and composition styles of stride, ragtime and jazz piano from the 1900s to the 1940s. She emphasizes jazz standards, stride and boogie-woogie tunes with an accent on her specialty of Harlem stride.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Trick
https://stephanietrick.com/biography.htm

MARGIE | Stephanie Trick

SUDDENLY | Stephanie Trick

THE MINOR DRAG (Fats Waller) - Stephanie Trick

"BOOGIE WOOGIE STOMP": STEPHANIE TRICK, NICKI PARROTT, HAL SMITH at FILOLI 2012

Stephanie Trick plays Handful Of Keys by Fats Waller stride piano

Bach Up To Me - Stephanie Trick, 2014

FRIDAY MUSIC: Lake Street Dive cover Beatles/Traveling Wilburys, by JD

Came across these videos last weekend and they deserve an airing!

Lake Street Dive paying homage to the Beatles with a rooftop concert of their own. Followed by an equally tongue in cheek tribute to The Traveling Wilburys and this version of "Handle With Care" is excellent (better than the original?).

Lake Street Dive - "Don't Let Me Down" [The Beatles cover]

Lake Street Dive - "Two of Us" [The Beatles cover]

Lake Street Dive - “Handle With Care” (The Traveling Wilburys cover)

More!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by Wiggia

The more they get the more they waste…

Currently we are getting more of everything that is bad for us. How that will evolve over the coming months and years can only be guessed at. The ones who tell us otherwise, are still adding to the never ending pile of unnecessary legislature and administration all of which has little or no effect on everyday life and despite never ending assurances has no bearing on any progress. In this miserable downhill world, more is added daily to help with our demise. Surely things are not that bad? Well convince me otherwise.

Starmer offers us change. Where have I heard that before and has anyone ever meant it or achieved it?

Between December 2023 and March 2024 the number of public servants increased by 27,000. Will we see a cull as needed? And likewise in the NHS bureaucracy, our gay health minister in waiting, I mention his sex choice because before he barely scraped home in Ilford he managed to get his gay boyfriend on the candidate list, as did many others like Sue Gray’s son now an MP. Nothing really changes does it Keef? Favours, narcissism, nepotism all are still rife in politics.

At the same time Michael Gove, remember him after 14 years in government? suggests cuts: ‘Michael Gove joins a think tank, recommends civil service be slashed.’ He always was good for a laugh.

Just in…

More taxes, as expected. Total denial by the Labour Party in the run up to election day that taxes will go up on top of the current record level we already pay, but they have no money. The country is bankrupt. all that is left are areas that can be regarded as non taxes on paper but in reality are. Get ready after the honeymoon period, if there is one this time, for the likes of fuel duty pay per mile, new forms of council charging. They will try to not use the word ‘tax’, yet it has been said in the past that politicians would tax the air that we breathe if they could - but they are, the ULEZ scheme does just that in London, soon to be followed by councils everywhere who are bereft of any original ideas other than paying themselves inflated salaries to run quite large organisations badly, see Birmingham, London etc etc.

Our local council is reducing payments to the genuinely disabled. This is the same council as with all others who quietly put thousands of asylum seekers aka economic illegal migrants into rented accommodation at our expense. Here in leafy Norfolk it seems every bus stop has a migrant waiting to taken into town while using their free mobile phones. I am sure that Keef will smash the gangs and stop all this nonsense pronto, for he has spoken.

Will the new government do anything about the water companies other than agree that they can fleece the public even more as monopolies who put dividends ahead of providing a decent commodity and service? Of course re nationalising has ben mentioned and who will pay for that? The working public silly, same with the railways should they go this route.

But with the debt mountain we have there is no money other than extra raised from tax on everything.

Even with their backs to the wall pre voting day Boris is wheeled out to save the nation and the party, party first of course, more lies from a serial liar come from him during his speech.

I really can’t be bothered to dissect his diatribe. This from the man who must be the first leader to annexe part of his country, N Ireland, in order to get a poor deal from the EU; that alone should see him never returning and worse to politics, and yet the nodding donkeys love him, God help us.

Did David Cameron’s ‘bonfire of the quangos’ ever achieve anything? Initially it was believed 180+ quangos had been abolished but further investigation found new ones had sprung up and many others had been moved into existing ones and expanded. This was repeated in 2015 and then Rees-Mogg had another bite in 2022. None have achieved any visible decline and there are now more than ever disguised as companies or outsourced and privatised,

The seemingly ever increasing desire for devolved areas and yet more government has resulted in what exactly? Can anyone point to any improvements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? All that has been achieved is further layers of government and bureaucracy with the accompanying costs which are not small. Not content with that more layers are suggested by forming yet more mayoral roles across the country in areas and cities.

More mayors are wanted according to our rulers. All that will come of that will be more and bigger offices full of more people shuffling papers and demanding we pay more to keep the whole thing afloat. All this watering down of Westminster’s responsibilities gives the powers that be the ability to shrug off responsibility when things go wrong, the classic ‘not my fault guv’ rather like the attitude when dealing with the EU that they can’t wait to go back to.

Naturally all parties promise the earth in election run ups, little of substance ever emerges on the statute books.

Perhaps they should change the regulatoryexemption that political parties get with advertising. The fact that only political advertising is exempt from the legal requirement of the Advertising Standards Authority should a client make a claim means that anything said or promised in print is just words.

More seats in Parliament: Labour as with the previous government has gained enormously by our ridiculously biased first past the post system, though unlike with Brexit you will not have those same baying mobs demanding another referendum (because they lost in a record turn out) calling for the same when Labour got a smaller percentage of the vote than Jeremy Corbin did but ended up with 411 seats. Sadly proportional representation is just as flawed because ‘populist’ parties are so often squeezed out as undesirable by coalitions, so expect more of the same.

Is there a solution. Probably not one that would solve all the faults of the two systems used by most countries. The days of a “fair fight” for representing us are long past. Any method that keeps any incumbent in power is now fair game. By contrast the Swiss have a hybrid that though not perfect does allow the people to say no or yes occasionally.

Meanwhile in the Netherlands …

https://x.com/i/status/1804084121477554618

Btw, if our politicians can go back 50 years to prosecute our soldiers in Northern Ireland, then there should be no problem going back twenty years and prosecuting the politicians responsible for Iraq.

Our new leader has started as he intends to carry on in this as he resolves the migrant crisis…

https://www.amren.com/news/2024/07/starmer-appears-on-bangladeshi-tv-after-illegal-migrant-comments-spark-backlash/

Expect more Lords appointments soon. They will need an overflow building to accommodate all these extra Lords and the Exchequer will have to find even more money to look after all the freeloaders that sign in and then go home.

How long have both parties when in power spoken of reforming the Lords, with no intention of doing anything as it suits the current system of government. Unless of course it is about something sensible such as solving the migrant crisis: ‘that’s different!’

Change, eh, Mr Starmer?