🚀 go-pugleaf

The following caught my eye as something that might be of 
interest to fellow physicists.  Prof. Hawking is talking about 
the political situation in the UK.  

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Subject: Re: Simple message
Message-ID: <1992Apr6.160447.14197@unix.brighton.ac.uk>
From: wjmc@unix.brighton.ac.uk (-*_Spikey_Tribble_*-)
Date: 6 Apr 92 16:04:47 GMT
Organization: Brighton Polytechnic, UK
Lines: 40


 It's obviously too late to affect the result now but did anyone read the
Observer this weekend ? They published a collection of responses to the
questions "Who would you support and why ?" -- the most sensible reply, in
that it simply answered both questions without slinging mud, was that from
Stephen Hawking [ Lucasian Prof. of Mathematics, Camb. ]. For those who may
have missed it :-

> The Conservative governments of the last 13 years have
>
>  1) Made a massive transfer of resources from the poorer sections of
>    society to the better-off by raising VAT and lowering income tax,
>    restricting social security and housing benefits, and by imposing
>    the poll tax.
>
>  2) Seriously weakened local democratic control and greatly increased
>    the power of central government by measures such as abolition of the
>    GLC and the metropolitan counties, removal of business rates from
>    local control and collection, rate and poll tax capping, encouraging
>    schools to opt out and the imposition of a national curriculam. There
>    would have been howls of Big Brother if Labour had done that.
>
>  3) Badly underfunded education and science. The Conservatives have
>    behaved with arrogance and disregard for public opinion on matters
>    like the poll tax and reform of the NHS, confident that they would
>    be re-elected whatever they did. If they were to get back this
>    election, they would feel they were indeed invincible. It is time
>    for a change, and Labour is the only serious alternative, at least
>    until the voting system is changed.

 Hawking has one of the greatest minds in today's world -- his words
should at least be given consideration.

.
-- 
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#  Bill Crawford  aka  *Cuddly_Cactus*     |     wjmc@uk.ac.bton.unix     #
#  BSc (Hons) Computer Science Year One    |     wjmc@uk.ac.bton.vms      #
#  Any views I express are not necessarily those of Brighton Polytechnic  #
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The Einstein/Sakharov/Li-Zhi tradition is apparently alive and
well.  Something about cosmology, I guess :)

C.S. Cornuelle
bob@sclera.physics.arizona.edu