Savings on ice

I've just realised the full weight of the tax-haven and the laws in the semi-British bailiwicks which surround this verdant fortress of rectitude. The Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey (home of the cow) do not have the same banking laws as the rest of the country. Thus, offshore banks can set up shop and if things go tits-up, as they did, the savings of British people are not protected. This allowed some of the Icelandic banks to 'take' the savings of families, organisations, municipal governments, etc.
It is fitting for a government that presents itself [or at least did until recently if the law has changed] as 'the City', where rich Germans could hide their money from their own government. So, tax-haven Britain has no moral leg to stand on in this case. Iceland is not a tax haven, as far as I can tell. How can the UK petition the government of Iceland for those deposits when their whole country is bankrupt, and when their banks did nothing illegal? They just lost all of their deposits because they followed the laws of international banking, i.e. grab the lucre and run. Britain cannot complain about that either, for obvious reasons of authorship. If Iceland pays up on behalf of its '25 crazy bankers' then it will be branded as a haven for stupid politicians. The IMF will instantly set up a torture chamber there
-Costick67 ( 8^P

lions led by donkeys

A dream sequence:

Tony Blair is just elected leader in 1997 and he gathers the members of his Labour cabinet for a photo behind the Parliament. He's setting up the camera and giving directions, "move to the right" he says, 5 or 6 times, and the cabinet goes so far that they all fall into the Thames. How were they supposed to know he was talking politics, not art?

How things change. Once, one Briton helped the Arabs rise up and fight for freedom, and another Briton carved up the map of the Middle East to suit petroleum politics, YES, including Iraq, an "unworkable country from the beginning." Now, the PM went to these princes (pic. below), cap in hand, to have them 'help the IMF', i.e. his country, with its financial problems. This is progress, for the Arab nation.
Salam, everyone.

Bom dia from Lula. Wake up and smell the Braz coffee

As per the CBC G20 summit report from Brazil, the local politicians have taken the rich world to task for the world-wide financial meltdown. Lula and FinMin Mantega, and the rest of the sane world, believe that new financial regs are required. I'm embarrassed to say that the Canuck FinMin was speaking out his backside when he rejected the idea, (he says) due to the difficulties we're having with the present crisis. To him: Nobody's talking about making this crisis worse, you pelt! (By the way, Canada has largely avoided the repurcusions DUE TO ITS CONSERVATIVE BANKING REGULATIONS.) We're talking about what to do if we survive this one. I foresee a samba protest, worldwide. Ole.
If they have the time, perhaps Brazil should take those communist G7 countries to the WTO for illegally subsidising their businesses and banks. No es monetarism, amigo, now is it?
G7 says: It's ah--ah--ah--ahypocrisy!
Response: Bless you! Thanks for truthing.
[G7 politicians are advised to heed message, below]