http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-last-exit-the-union-flag-is-lowered-british-troops-depart-and-afghanistans-next-chapter-begins-9819826.html The closure of British base marks the end of Britain’s ground war in Afghanistan The "cost" to the United Kingdom alone, of this Blair/Bush adventure into Afghanistan is the lives of 453 British service personnel, and hundreds if not thousands of maimed and injured.At the end of the day, this "cost" becomes another statistic of a futile war, which never had any possibility of fulfilling the objectives set out in 2001. The ego's of Blair and Bush, fueled by the rhetoric of politicians both here and in the United States, has resulted in what can only be described as a defeat for the western powers. The Taliban are still very much in evidence, the Poppy and opium industry is still flourishing, and the Afghan army has little if any possibility of maintaining control of even the small amount of the ...
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/clocks-go-back-remember-to-change-yours--for-possibly-the-last-time-ever-9817740.html The clocks go back, so remember to change yours – for possibly the last time ever The Persistence of Memory - Salvador Dali British Summer Time (BST), officially ended at 2 AM this morning, which means that we are now all on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and will remain so until sometime in March of 2015. This ludicrous practice of changing the clocks by one hour twice every year, was originally a wartime measure designed to boost production. Even after the war the practice has continued apart from the short experimental break during the period 1968 two 1971. The experiment did not continue beyond this time as it was considered that darker mornings would somehow provide a more dangerous environment for schoolchildren and early-morning workers.An argument that I have never really understood or accepted. Notwithstanding all the available ev...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/putin-accuses-us-of-causing-global-instability-9816775.html Putin says US 'throwing its might' is to blame for almost all the world's major conflicts President Vladimir Putin Whether we like Putin or not, we cannot escape the reality that he is absolutely right. Viet Nam, Grenada, Panama, Chile, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, and numerous other places together with countless covert operations against democratic (and non democratic) governments and countries around the world provide compelling evidence that American foreign policy since 1945 is based upon a policy of intervention, which itself causes global instability. The "shoulder to shoulder, pro America, the United States can do no wrong", lobby will no doubt respond to the comments coming out of Sochi, with the usual hysterical anti Russian, but predominately anti Putin, rhetoric, as if shouting insults and personal abuse s...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/23/labour-immigration-reform-bill-voter-concerns?commentpage=1 Ed Miliband: immigration is at top of Labour’s agenda Ed Miliband: Another career politician. The hypocrisy of career politicians is breathtaking. It is not possible to have more than one subject "at the top" of any agenda. One day it is the NHS at the top, then the economy and the national debt, then education etc. It seems that the item at "the top of agenda" can vary on a day to day basis, dependent upon which subject the political party perceives to be the most popular with the British people at the time. Echo's of the SDP back in the 1980's. No wonder that politicians generally are despised and not trusted, by the British people who are in any case disillusioned with the political process. YouGov reports today that the next general election could result in a "dead heat" with party being able to form any sort of ...
Traveling by coach in the United Kingdom Coach travel UK If, for any reason, you need to travel by coach in the United Kingdom, and the route happens to take in Bristol as a stop over or change, there are some important points that you will need to be aware of. In my case, it was travelling last Sunday,(12th October) as a passenger with National Express from Dorchester to Swansea in Wales, with changes at Bristol and Cardiff. The journey had a duration of some 6 hours, including changes and some minor diversions to obscure pick up points along the way. A lengthy time traveling, which would in any circumstances require "comfort breaks" even with the provision of toilet facilities on the coach. As it so happens, the "facilities" on the first coach were in fact blocked and therefore unusable. This must have been even more inconvenient, (no pun intended) for those traveling with this coach to its ultimate destination, which was in fact Blackpool, some...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/08/nick-clegg-lib-dem-conference-speech Nick Clegg makes case for power sharing role in future coalitions Nick Clegg Clegg and the LibDems making their grubby little bid for another coalition. It seems that these political opportunists will go to any lengths and make any promise necessary to hang on to their seats around the cabinet table, their ministerial cars (and other perks of the job) and of course their over inflated ministerial salaries.When it comes to hypocrisy and self interest, the LibDems have few equals. Herbert Asquith My grandfather, a life long Liberal since before World War 1, must be spinning in his grave. Thankfully he did not witness the duplicitous behaviour of the LibDems over the past five years and even before, since the "marriage" of Liberals and SDP.