Tag Archives: Barack Obama

February 12, 2014 · 19:13

The last Australian car

Australian news has been all over the place. The one thing that is so expected is now on the fritz. Car makers are moving away from Australia. The events have not been out of the air, but what has been a revelation, is the amount of ‘subsidies’ the government had thrown into that direction to begin with. What can we (me, myself and my sources) tell you? First, the four big car makers in Australia were Ford, Holden, Mitsubishi and Toyota.

1. Ford
Last year, Ford announced plans to shut its two Australian plants in October 2016, blaming strong currency as well as high production costs that are hitting the manufacturer. These are all decent reasons, but I personally do not think that this was the whole picture. In addition Ford is cutting 300 jobs this June, which has some worried that Ford will leave before the 2016 announced point of departure.

2. Holden
Holden will be leaving Australia in 2017. Holden’s 2017 exit from its automotive assembly operations in Elizabeth put 13,000 jobs at risk in South Australia. (at http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/21/holden-exit-2017-sa-needs-330m).

3. Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi shuttered its assembly plant in 2008.

4. Toyota
The world’s largest car maker announced it would stop building cars in Australia by the end of 2017 and would operate in this country only as a sales and distribution company. One additional factor needs to be told, which will have bearing down the road. Namely “Toyota is Australia’s biggest vehicle exporter with around 70,000 of the 100,000-plus cars it builds here being sold in foreign markets” (at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/toyota-to-make-major-announcement/story-fn3dxiwe-1226822810074).

So, by 2017 all carmakers will have bailed out of Australia. Why is this all a big deal?
Many will go directly for the job losses. ABC stated “The Australian Council of Trade Unions has warned the decision could cost as many as 50,000 jobs and wipe $21 billion from the economy as the impact rolls through the associated components sector” (at http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-10/toyota-to-pull-out-of-australia-sources/5250114).

Is that all the truth? No! Listening to Labour leader Bill shorten is to hear a lot of misinformation and tweaked wordings. Labour had messed up a lot of issues. In my personal view, I personally think that Bill Shorten is not telling the whole truth because his lips are moving! Let’s not forget that the Liberals are not blameless either, the entire situation has covered both sides of the political aisle. Part of the disgrace can be read in the Business insider (at http://www.businessinsider.com.au/australias-car-industry-out-of-gas-after-billions-in-subsidies-that-were-always-going-to-lead-to-a-dead-end-2013-12) the quote “The car industry is estimated to have received a total of $12 billion in direct subsidies and protections over the past 20 years, including $1.8 billion to Holden in the 11 years to 2012.” is at the heart of this. So basically, 4 car makers have enjoyed an annual $600 million in subsidies a year. This is so off the wall it is not even funny! So our taxation goes to an industry who advertises a dozen times a day that they are so great? How can we take either the car industry, or the government in this regard serious? Let us not forget that Labour was part of this all as well. This also links back to the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership). An interesting link we find is a Japanese site that had the following to say (at http://www.jama-english.jp/publications/tpp_pr_mar2013.pdf) “Japan’s auto market is completely open to other countries’ products. No restrictive customs or other regulations apply to imported vehicles.”

What about the exported vehicle side of all this? If we see it in that light, we see that the TPP is opening up borders as it should, so, that from now on Japan (Toyota and Mitsubishi) as well as USA (Ford and Holden) have a dire reason to return to their home flock. The TPP is giving options to get these brands all home build. Whatever assurances we see now on support and spare parts will soon be removed too (like in the month as they leave). Yes, there will be a few ‘exclusive’ distributors, but as the TPP comes to full power, the entire online experience will not just hold books, movies and video games. they will likely include car parts soon enough. If you doubt this all (which would be fair), then consider the following article (at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/lies-damn-lies-and-car-subsidy-statistics/story-fnbkvnk7-1226824091831#), where writer Judith Sloan brings a case that Australia has subsidised almost $1900 per vehicle produced. If we take that and we add the initial quote I mentioned “Toyota is Australia’s biggest vehicle exporter with around 70,000 of the 100,000-plus cars it builds here being sold in foreign markets” leaves me with the question whether we have been sponsoring that part too.

Is this just the story? No! I think that there is more at play. Even though several sources are not making any mention of it, Ford and General Motors (Holden) are American companies and i think it is not just about removing plants, I personally think that members of the US government have had talks with all the big boys of industry. The American situation cannot continue. If America is to survive (which is slowly becoming less and less likely), they need taxable incomes. To get this done they will have to get the industry back. This will soon become an era of in-sourcing. This is not a new or a novel thought. It had been on the mind of many in 2012 and several articles had been written in 2013 that in-sourcing would grow big in USA. One of the people outspoken in that area had been Charles Fishman. Even though no one took him that seriously, the man appeared to have been right on the money. I personally think that it was the dumb spending sprees by both Japanese and American governments that forced the in-sourcing hand. This is also part of the pressure we saw in December as President Barack Obama spoke out for a quick closure of the TPP (it still think that the pharmaceutical patents are the largest part, but that I will cover at a later date).

Is it all a bad idea? No!

It is for us, but can you blame these two nations for thinking of themselves? It will however be important for us to find another solution. I already mentioned this on December 11th when I wrote about ‘The Holden circus’. If Toyota is leaving Australia too, then my thoughts on this are not just validated to some extent, they become a lot more important to follow up on. A nation of 23 million needs its own car industry. I do believe that it should not be subsidised, the designers just need to become really clever and we the people of Australia will need to support our own industry. If the Japanese and the Americans are all about nationalism (as we have seen on many occasion), then why not the Australians? If Japan and America walk away from a 23 million customer base, why should we keep any level of loyalty towards them?

We must all realise that we need to adjust our focus, we must change our way of working and thinking. We need to walk away from subsidies and sponsoring. We must move to an age where we design in a more clever way, we must bring to market in a brighter way and we must adhere to a different customer collective. The 4 brand approach to 12 models a year is just not sustainable. If these makers claim so, ten let them refund the subsidies!

When the last car is built in Australia, the eager beaver that launches their brand in Australia will start with the audience of a lifetime!

1 Comment

Filed under Finance, Media, Politics

Tagged as ABC, Australia, Barack Obama, Bill shorten, Charles Fishman, Ford, Holden, Jama, Judith Sloan, Labour, Liberals, Mistsubishi, the Australian, The Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Guardian, The Holden circus, Toyota, TPP

December 23, 2013 · 22:44

Questions at this time

I have been fighting with myself in regards to certain issues that have been rising in this day and age. When we look at the definition of treason we see this statement “In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one’s sovereign or nation.”

The question is not just in regards to a nation as is the case with Edward Snowden, but what about the acts against the people? If we accept the following statement as an acceptable fact “Republicanism is the ideology of governing a society or state as a republic, where the head of state is a representative of the people who hold popular sovereignty rather than the people being subjects of the head of state.”

So, if that is true, then should we consider the acts or even the absence of acts that stops dangers to the people as an act of treason? I have written about some of these parts for some time now, as per 5 days ago the guardian is now a little more vocal about it (at http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/dec/18/rich-countries-money-laundering-tax-evasion-oecd)

It seems that governments are FINALLY getting on the horse of action (as seen at http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/20/us-usa-tax-fatca-idUSBRE9BI13J20131220). Yet it seems that larger tax holes are still in existence in Ireland (at http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/15/us-ireland-tax-idUSBRE99E0PD20131015)

So should tax evasion be seen as a form of treason? I am not talking about the people left right and centre trying to find every possible tax hole. I am talking about the large corporations and their boards of directors (at http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/7/15/social-media/looking-beyond-apples-tax-evasion-tactics). If we accept the quote “Taxed at 0.004 per cent“, then how un-national (or in this case un-American) should these people be regarded? And it goes far beyond that part. This is shown in http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-23/yahoo-dell-swell-netherlands-13-trillion-tax-haven.html as we see a glimpse of the size of evasion. It is nice to see that the Netherlands are getting of the tax evasion horse, but consider this article from the Guardian (at http://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/oct/19/tax-avoidance-in-netherlands-becomes-focus-of-campaigners) shows that this horse had a very comfortable 3 years. Simon Goodley and Dan Milmo from The Guardian reported all this in October 2011, if we consider that then the words of President Obama sound even more hollow when we read “President Barack Obama presented a series of proposals in 2009 to curb offshore tax benefits“. Hollow? Yes, because only now at the end of his second reign is he making an effort, making it clear that keeping rich friends near you is all about re-election. So, when the hard times hit in the next term he can point the finger at the Republicans. The idea that we hold large corporation’s tax accountable does not seem such an option for either administration (Democrats and Republicans alike).

So, after all these years, as the US is getting in a financial state more and more desperate actions are finally taken, which in my view is well over half a decade too late. The issue remains, as people are hit harder and harder for taxation, not just in the US, big business seems to escape their share of taxation, giving them a massive advantage. In addition, in what I would call the ‘incestual’ relationship between a board of directors and their ‘ability’ to avoid taxation on a borderline of actual fraud (example HSBC to name but one). The game does change when we read that governments themselves start to offer assistance in this field (at http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jim-love-canadian-mint-chairman-helped-run-offshore-tax-avoidance-scheme-for-clients-1.2441347)

So, as we go towards Christmas and those high and mighty people do their ‘charity’ thing, then also consider that it is not impossible that they have been paying less taxation (like in +18% less), how very adult adults!

So if you want to cheer for anyone, cheer for that 60+ person, who after getting cut on life, living standards and retirement funds, this person is still doing over 20 hours a week in a community centre getting it all done for the people in their neighbourhood, because that is true charity and one more noble then I could actually muster at present.

If we get back to Republicanism, if it was all about ‘representing the people’ and consider that the fat cats are the chosen few (like 100,000 in a nation of 325,000,000), are these acts of non-accounting a form of treason too? Especially as tax evasion leaves a nation in a state of destitution? America seems to be clear evidence of that as its total debt will be roughly $60,680,485,000,000 on Christmas evening. Still think delaying acts against tax evasion was ever a good idea?

March Hare of Government

Most of us have seen the news and heard the messages of the sequester cuts for the US of 85 billion dollars. How so many are now up in arms.
Let us be honest! This is all a load of rubbish (imho)! The deficit is 16+ trillion dollars. At 0.5% interest annual interest should be well over 80 billion a year, so they are still skating backwards if only 0.5% interest was due. In reality, as we doubt whether the US will EVER correctly deal with their debts we could consider the fact that it should be a lot higher than that. Also, important that even at 0% interest, it will take 200 years to get rid of a deficit this high. Are you awake yet?
I already mentioned it in 2011 that America was joining the 3G nations (nations that will need 3 generations to get rid of their debt). I was not alone in these thoughts; people like Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and others were on THAT bandwagon as early as 2010. No one listened, all claimed it was not that bad, and it is now shown more clearly on a daily basis that it is getting worse. Yes, a March Hare is in charge of US Government. Oh Boy! The US is not alone in this situation, that same Looney Tunes character, created by Lewis Carroll seems to be in charge all over the commonwealth too. You know, those smaller world leading countries like UK, Australia and to some extent even in Canada. Lewis would be so delighted that he could have added in the cover of his book “These characters are based on leading individuals of the British Empire and those bloody colonials” (sorry US, I could not resist this).
First of all, for the next part, you must realise something first: “I AM NOT A RICH MAN!”
All capitals, I insist! The issue is that I am on the Republican side in this. It is also why I am so angry in regards of the (imho) the statement, which i consider to be BS, voiced by President Obama all over the news. He states “This was not necessary”, I say yes it is. He has overspent to such a degree that these cuts are essential for that nation to NOT go bankrupt. It is also linked to my life philosophy. I have always believed in being a Return on Investment. I get a job and that boss makes a profit by having me. I have worked on dozens of projects every quarter for over 20 years, and my bosses made more than just a small profit. This is how it should go. A company makes profit and that company continues and its staff members have a job. I believe in this simple premise with all my being.
You might think it is a simple and naive approach, but consider to alternative from the financial industry. They play markets on assumptions and reap benefits on image and commissions on a premise, not a given, and not on an actual creation of wealth. That was shown by Goldman Sachs in the 2008 issue where they banked on bad credit and foreclosures to make quick cash. All legal, but that should never have been allowed. This part now reflects back to the US government as these loop holes are still NOT stopped, and they just keep on grabbing from the wealthy and not from the immoral. These two groups are not the same.
This is however, not just about the US. the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Italy and even France are going in EXACTLY the same direction. In the Netherlands on March 1st their Easter Bunny surprise is about to show the nasty side as it might go into a burnout as they are trying to find 4.3 Billion Euro in cut backs. Not unlike the US, they have been overspending for almost a decade and instead of taking heed then, they left it until they were no longer in office. You just need to check the Dutch newscasts between 2009 and 2011 to see dozens of articles “GroenLinks: bezuinigen is helemaal niet nodig” (the Greens state that cutbacks are not needed). These were often specific issues; however, the overall clear issue is that cutbacks were left too late. Any doubts? Consider that 250 million Euro annual cutbacks in 2008 onwards could have prevented a 4 billion cutback almost essential now. I use the word ‘almost’ as the method of cut backs is nearly always a debatable thing. All parties are passionate on protecting THEIR groups, but some must give in to the needs of cut backs. The CDA (Christian Democrats) are actually voicing a lot like the Republicans. It cannot remain about cutbacks; it must be about proper spending of what is available. So here we have our first direct link.
Two parties who I personally never really agreed with are voicing a solution that is simple and clear. I am NOT against taxing the rich to a certain degree (I am not rich, so fair enough). But NO nation can continue when the rich are taxed to such a degree they move away to other liveable lands. And in all fairness, that group is small. So small that taking them another 1% will NOT EVER get the government the money mountain they need. Should you doubt this, and that is fair enough, one must always question things, consider 1% to make 85 billion needs an Income group of billionaires making a sum of 8.5 trillion dollars. The US, UK and Australia combined do not have that amount of billionaires. This is the empty cloud that Democrats are offering. Which is why I oppose this mindless action. Spending needs to be put under control for a long time, long before 2011. I will state that this is not all President Obama’s fault. He did inherit a bad situation and that must be stated if we look at this honestly. I believe he truly thought that his approach to the bad economy was the best solution. I cannot fault or blame ideology. Yet, 4 years in office showed so clearly that this was NEVER a solution. So why he is continuing that method in his second term is in all honesty beyond me.

So, now let us add the next shackle in this chain. The UK and Australia are already feeling the weights of healthcare. In 2011 the UK had a population of 60 million people. For the period 2010-2011 the NHS had spent 51 billion pounds (as mentioned by the UK department of health). That almost equates to 1000 pounds per person (roughly $1500). A large slice of the UK population never gets sick or treated, yet the group that needs healthcare therefore required more than the 1000 pounds. This figure will shift as the population is growing old and grey. It is clear that the NHS will need more and more money, which is a clear reality many nations face. That links back to US healthcare. Whether it is labelled as Obamacare, as Healthcare or whatever coat of labelling it needs. Forbes reported in 2012 that US healthcare was set around 3 Trillion dollars. Now take a population of 325 Million in the US. Then we see that 1500 dollars do not get us anywhere near the needs of the UK. We can make two conclusions. Either the average American is very unhealthy, or that Medicare in the US is vastly overpriced.
OK, I admit that this equation is very simple and there are more factors at work. However, I hope that it is clear to most that something is wrong. I have stated before that the US seems to be a greed driven society (even though it is mostly visible in Banking and Financial Institutions), Shakespeare would state that there seems to be a stench coming from the state of budgeting (Hamlet banking association, 2008). Just to be certain you do not get the wrong impression, oddly enough Nurses seem to get the smallest part from that barrel, so they are constantly being underpaid (a global truth), so where does all the money go?

The next is generic and not just connected to healthcare. There seems to be too many managers in a company. If America is a ship, then the President is its captain. That is simple and clear. It is however an issue that this administration could be regarded as a badly stocked Titanic with 132 Pursers, 373 stewards, 83 cooks, 227 barkeepers, 93 janitors and the odd Marshall. The issue is that the paying crew is roughly 2000. This could never continue. When the servicing crew is at almost 50% of the paying customers, then either this population starts paying a hell of a lot more, or the ship sinks. I hope that this comparison is a lot clearer. It is actually close to the comparison as the RMS Titanic was populated. Yet, that ship was mostly designed for the indulgent and the wealthy. I hope that some will remember what happened. 1502 people died there. The numbers almost equates that one crew member saves one passenger, the rest is out of luck (I am NOT stating that this is what happened on the RMS Titanic). That is however how the US economy is seen by many. The numbers are a little harder. They are unclear on how many people lost their homes and never got another home. The numbers add up into the millions, and it seems to be around that one in six lost a home forever. So one government worker saves one citizen, the rest is out of luck. This seems to be the Nanny state as some call it. Funds for all! Yet, when no money is coming in, that nation gets shut down real fast. All nations depend on actual money making contribution to survive.

This is how 2013 is starting for the US. The bad issues coming is NOT because of some sequester. It is NOT because someone reports moderate growth. There is a collection of machines left, right and liberal trying to get what they can secure. We can look at Heidi Moore of the Guardian or Maxwell Strachan of the Huffington post. There is long term of financial pain coming and no one is safe. Yet, in all this, it is interesting how some ‘experts’ like Agentschap NL and NABE seem to predict a +2% growth in 2014. What is this? The land of the Umpa Lumpa’s?

I would love those numbers to be realistic. It seems however that those ‘experts’ are more and more moving to the mindset of market research where they seem to present what a government would like to reflect then to the area of research where we reflect the actual facts. Neither is a lie, but one is very very incorrect. All governments want to see nice indications, so they can forward the invoice. That time is gone; we have overspent for too long. Unless spending is reduced greatly, and fat is cut all over we will not see any good growth. If you doubt that, then look at the issues now going on all over Europe as horse meat is added to ‘expensive’ beef. When the daily issues of life are frauded on, then they have met rock bottom. There is no way you can ignore that (as far as I know it takes twice the time to grow a horse to adulthood, compared to a cow, which makes me wonder what on earth is ACTUALLY going on).
So let us get back on that horse steak and drive back to the so called ‘financial growth’. The seen level of misrepresentation is exactly how we move towards the Abyss. Some of those ‘experts’ might point to such good profitable places like China and India where things are currently so prosperous and how we all could be this successful. They are deceiving YOU and delusional towards themselves. You see, YES, Those two places are going forward, and 10,000 new millionaires seem to pop up. Yet, this is due to them voicing the need of outsourcing. WE lost those jobs (perhaps forever). They were cheap, and like on any ‘slave’ farm, there are guards and overseers getting a fair wage for every 10000 workers who are getting mere pennies (in comparison). Now consider that one third of the global population lives in those two nations. So that number of 10000 millionaires seems ‘fair’. Now add to this, a consumer market that could be slowly collapsing. We now have the means for that iPad, Ultrabook or iPhone, but is that still possible in January 2014? Soon this curve will level and then I expect it to decrease. Whether the decrease is short term, or long term I cannot foresee at present (there is no way to tell). But from my point of view it seems that America with their 200 years of debt would be living on slim margins for a very long time to come. If the Commonwealth and the EEC do NOT severely change their budgeting habits we will end in a similar predicament. Make no mistake; America will happily push US over the edge to survive a little longer. Then what?

We need to get a lot better and clever on how we do business and how we govern. My worry is that too many politicians on a global scale are not willing to consider that, especially if they and their constituents have to cut back.

Be the change you want to see in the world

Well, here is my second attempt to today’s blog. The first one went almost into burn down mode, so it is not getting published, but it does have elements that might make it later.

Why mention this?

It seems that there are several areas where we could look for a probable initial solution to diminish the danger to women in India. Yes, a straight law and a ‘functioning’ police system there would work, but the overwhelming feeling I had was the oddity of it all. India is not a little village in the middle of nowhere. That place has a few more people than most. Almost 20% of the entire population of the planet lives there, so what to do?

So, now I mention the next fact that bothered me. NO ONE helped! Everyone was standing by all in a state of apathy. This got my goat! I’ll happily spend 20 years in prison for decapitating some rapist in the street, and I know I am not the only one feeling that way (I am likely the only psycho who would actually do it though). SO, if we consider the aggravation a population has when so many people live close together, then the inaction makes even less sense to me. I personally do not belief it would be a religious thing, because we were all children, and most of us become parents, so that primal rage to protect innocence is in all of us.

Good Samaritan laws are there to do something in aid of others. I personally belief that it is for the simple reason that the police cannot be everywhere all the time and the following duty to rescue that follows from it could drive down violence statistics and it also means that people will come to the aid of these innocent women. Isn’t it interesting that hundreds get raped, yet Richard Gere got a warrant instantly for a kiss? How interesting this looks against the rape victims who have to wait for week to get any kind of acknowledgement (especially by the police).
So let’s talk about the Good Samaritan Act.

The US does have Good Samaritan acts; however this does not seem to be the same for all states. In many states this umbrella will only protect professional assistance. Nurses, rescue workers are in those cases protected against liability (as it should), however, a bystander rendering assistance, could in theory get sued in several states, and under certain conditions. Volunteers are often protected (unless gross negligence can be proven).

The Good Samaritan act exists in almost identical forms in many Common Law countries. It is important to note that this is only their as a defence in criminal and Tort law cases. It is not a duty to rescue, a duty that professional workers are bound to (fire fighters, emergency medical staff and so on). We could see the Good Samaritan Act (GSA after this) as a moral compass for those who do not act. Do you really want to be bystander telling a judge in court that you wanted to help, but alas. That darn broken nail prevented you from applying pressure to a fatal wound bleeding out (of course some faint at the sight of blood, and that in not something they can control).

There are however places where the Duty to rescue applies to its citizens. In Germany and Canada (yes go figure), these two have a law in place that OBLIGES a person to give aid where needed, and as long as their assistance was given in good faith, this law also protects them from prosecution. It is a much stronger version then the GSA, I personally am on the fence whether we should go for GSA or Duty to Rescue. However, the Canadian version was short to the point and in simple English written, so it seems to be a simple ‘rule’ to follow. I personally think that it is not a bad thing to render aid when needed. Personally I must notice that Canadians tend to be much too nice and will give aid and render assistance at the drop of a hat (any hat). This makes life north of the US extremely liveable and friendly flavoured.

The Daily News and Analyses from Mumbai reported on the 6^th of January “Coming to someone’s rescue — an accident victim or a woman violated — is fraught with risks. The good Samaritan will be summoned to the police station several times, sometimes at odd hours, forced to become an eye-witness, and seldom offered any protection, even if he/she is ready to testify in court against a dreaded criminal who probably has the means to hurt the witness.”

From these words it seems that there is no proper GSA active in India. This changes everything, and the fact that many newscasts seem to have ignored that little fact seems to bias us in the wrong way about India. When the need is there we would all happily help, but often not at our own expense. So it seems that in India the consequences to the financial stability (and therefor the family of the one helping) could be very consequential. It therefor becomes clear that this stops people people from rendering aid. Why was this not tackled?

The interesting part is that:

I am not that clever (really I am not).
This has been going on in India for some time.

No one in Indian Legislation, or the Bar council of India could have started this? This has been going on for years. It is time that questions should be raised quite loudly in this regard and in my humble opinion.

My first thought is that a group of people that others might have heard of at some point should speak out on this issue. For example Prime Ministers Julia Gillard (AUS), David Cameron (UK) and President Barack Obama (US). Then off course a few other names come to mind. Lord Neuberger, Lord Hope, Lady Hale to name just 3 of the 12 that come to mind at present. In that regard Australia might have a few titans to contribute to this cause. There is former Justice Michael Donald Kirby and not to forget Sir Gerard Brennan who is actually presently in office holding the position of Justice of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong. These people are not just names to throw around.

The reason for the three UK justices I mentioned is because I have always seen England as the foundation of law in Australia (it actually is). They are also the roots of law for India, and even though most of us have adapted the protection through the Good Samaritan act, it is interesting that India does not have such an approach (or so it seems to me, so if I am wrong please correct me).

Now, it seems to me that others might be able to help in this regards. The UK at present still enjoys an annoying (read frustrating) amount of red tape all over the place (also locally known as rules of the game). These rules dictate that at some point people become members of an elite squad of people given long term paid vacation (aka pushed into mandatory retirement, and at times against their wills). Amongst these people are Lord Walker, Baron Walker of Gestingthorpe (as per march 2013) and Lord Hope, Baron Hope of Craighead (as per June 2013). These two are Legislative Titans!

As law lords they could be the experts to offer expertise with their views of Legislation, which could assist India direly needs for implementing a clear and quality Good Samaritan Act; one that might give actual support to the women of India, aiding their protection against the current waves of violence that they face. More important, the gang rapes would then be stoppable by all. It would be a strong first step to make things a lot better for women in India.

So, from the thoughts we all might have had on who to blame for their non safety, we moved to a how to fix this. I do think that additional changes are needed. As mentioned in the Daily News and Analyses, people who helped are picked up, have to give statements and it seems that the approach there is extremely discouraging to give aid. That part would have to change too. Combined it will bring improvement to the women in danger there.

Perhaps I am still too naïve at times, but if we selected the field of law, is it not in our interest to make the laws better, more just and more protective for victims?

These thoughts also reflect the thoughts of the founding father of modern India, the Honorable Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Inner Temple), stated as displayed at the bar council of India website “Be the change that you want to see in the world”, words to live by!