Post Election Blues

There have been two things fluctuating every hour in Britain over the past few days – the volcanic dust cloud from Iceland, and the state of talks between the Tories and the LibDems, and Labour and the LibDems. Funny how a Party that came third in the popular vote and in the number of seats, can stop our Parliament from getting on with its business, cause a dip in the money markets, and ultimately even have the final say in which Bills manage to get through the Commons.

In the past couple of hours, Labour seem to have given up their wooing of the LibDems, so we’ll just have to wait and see if they (the LibDems) will crawl under the duvet with the blue brigade. The talks are cloaked in secrecy, making the election of a Pope seem like a school open day. We don’t even have the benefit of smoke being emitted, to give us some idea of how things are going. I suppose the no smoke rule is because they are so worried about the environment. It’s certainly not done me any favours, as I was hoping to make a quick buck out of my not inconsiderable number of peatbanks.

Of course, most Labour top knobs will see this as a blessing in disguise – tough measures have to be taken right from the outset if our economy is to recover, and their hope is that the electorate will clamour for an early election, blaming the other two parties for making us tighten our belts. Gordon Brown’s belongings are exiting Downing Street as I write, leaving another scramble for the leadership of the Labour Party. Many Conservatives do not like the idea of being in a coalition of their party with the Liberal Democrats, and vice-versa. Alex Salmond is bleating over his Cullen Skink that nobody seems to want to make a deal with him. As far as I can see, not many politicians in Britain today care a hoot about the electorate or how to reverse the country’s slide into poverty – all that matters to them is their own inflated egos and bellies.

If you think our politicians are bad, bickering and sniping and taking a couple of days to form a coalition government, then take a look at Taiwan - where legislators have finally passed a controversial law after repeatedly getting into physical fights in parliament over the issue. The controversial legislation - which would open university enrolment to students from the Chinese mainland - has sparked repeated bouts of fisticuffs this year. It finally passed late on Monday after legislators grabbed one another's arms and necks, in a move that is expected to bring the two main rival parties closer together - and not just so they can get more punches in. The new law would allow the admission of up to 2,000 top students every year from China, which claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan. It is intended to help build people-to-people relations after decades of limited contact. But it's raised fears that it will force Taiwanese students out of the system and see them going to offshore universities. 'The Chinese mainland will attract our best students, meaning Taiwan's educational industry will go bankrupt and unemployment will rise,' opposition legislator Tsai Huang-lang said.

Meanwhile, a friend of mine across the Pond sent me the following snippet -- The outer road along Interstate 44 near St. Louis is freshly paved — with asphalt made from recycled swine manure. It is believed to be the first time asphalt has been created from swine manure. Two St. Louis County companies, road contractor Pace Construction Co. and the engineering firm Innoventor, joined together on the project. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Innoventor perfected the process of converting the animal waste into a bio-oil used in asphalt binder. Hog producers are optimistic that, if the project works, it will create an additional source of revenue while helping the environment. I don’t think I’d like to be driving on it in one of their sweltering hot summers, somehow.