http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/9-reasons-greeces-experiment-with-the-radical-left-is-doomed-to-failure-10008608.html Greece's experiment with the radical left is doomed to failure (says Sean O'Grady of the "Independent" ) Syriza party and its leader Alexis Tsipras gain decisive national election victory, This Sean O'Grady "article" seems to be yet another piece of journalistic nonsense which is, unfortunately, becoming very common in the Independent over recent months. The article argues that countries have no option but to succumb to the power of Brussels, Germany and the IMF. Countries must obey the will of the Troika, no matter what the people of the country may seek. The natural evolution of this proposition of course, is to dispense with elections completely,(whether the y be FPTP or PR) disband or even outlaw political parties and organisation and accept that the "will" of the centre be it in B...
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"We can't allow these Greek people to win" "The verdict of the Greek people ends, beyond any doubt, the vicious circle of austerity in our country," Alexis Tsipras The obnoxious arrogance of some European pundits is breathtaking. I have just heard a comment in respect of the Greek renegotiation of their "bailout" conditions with the Troika.The Greek election happened less than 36 hours ago and this arsehole actually said, "Of course we cant allow these Greek people to win (the negotiations) as this would be bad for Germany, Holland and others.If they (the Greek government) are allowed to win, then other governments Spain and Italy for example would be queuing up to renegotiate their bail outs". This seems to be the dictatorial attitude of many in Germany, Brussels and the European banks, encouraged by the IMF. To Hell with the people of countries, it seems that only the banks and financiers are worthy of consideration in ...
http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/11739329.Honesty_not_the_best_policy_as_Cornwall_Council_refuses_to_house_ex_soldier_and_family/?ref=mr Cornwall Council refuses to house ex-soldier and family Jamie and Charmaine Streets and their four children, Suvannah, Briea, Leo, and Tyler Since the mid 1980's Councils across England have been using the "intentionally homeless" reasoning to abdicate any responsibility for providing housing to families or even individuals, no matter what the circumstances of any particular case may be. Council housing officials often will say privately to councillors (I know because it has been said to me) that there is a chronic shortage of available housing due to government restrictions on building social housing. This is, and has been for the past 30 years, an outrageous and unacceptable situation where ordinary and usually deserving families, are penalised for the failure of successive government policies in respect o...
The inquiry completed its public hearings in 2011 Sir John Chilcot opened his two-year inquiry in 2009 There are a number of examples, particularly over recent years, where issues of great interest or even concern to the public, have been ignored, delayed or even stopped from investigation (as was the case of the BAE Systems involvement in bribery and corruption in Saudi Arabia). The badly worn clichés of "not in the public interest" or insufficient evidence", have been trotted out by the "authorities" as if in some way these weasel words will pacify people into accepting the government or the DPP or who ever know best and we should not press the matter further. We all know however, that the reasons for delay or abandonment of investigations into these matters, is usually more to do with avoidance of possible exposure or embarrassment for government or individuals, than with informing the public of facts. The Hillsborough investigation is perhaps t...
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jan/23/-sp-blair-gaddafi-letter-thanks-spy-cooperation-libya-uk-dissidents Revealed: how Blair colluded with Gaddafi regime in secret This revelation should come as no surprise to anyone. Blair was involved in and even instigated numerous breaches of human rights and abuses of power ranging from renditions, Guantanamo Bay and illegal invasions to stopping criminal investigations into corruption and the excesses of government departments . He is perhaps one of the most culpable alleged war criminals never to have faced trial and yet he still exerts influence in British political and social circles. His involvement in the Middle East, both in his role as "Peace Envoy" and his cosy relationship not only with Gaddafi, but also with other equally repugnant regimes in the region are well known and have been the subject of comment and speculation for many years. Today, notwithstanding all the mounting evidence to the contrary,...
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/worldmarkets/oil-surges-after-saudi-kings-death/ar-AA8uAC4 Oil prices surge following the death of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Of Saudi Arabia The speculators and parasites never miss any opportunity to make money. The despot of Saudi Arabia dies and the price of oil surges.The connection between two unrelated events will be explained by the pundits as "the markets do not like uncertainty" All those tankers lying at anchor and full of oil waiting for the right circumstances to unload their cargoes, can now head towards the terminals and discharge the liquid. We can expect the oil companies to announce huge increases in profits at the next round of company announcements and in the meantime, the recent fall in the price of petrol at the pumps will be reversed within days if not sooner. An enlightening perspective on the oil companies, dealers and speculators in a sick and greedy industry. In t...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/chilcot-inquiry-into-iraq-war-will-not-report-before-election-9991412.html Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq war will 'not report before election' There are many people involved (a) with the decision to take this country to war, (b) the "conspiracy" between politicians to manufacture justification for intervention in Iraq, (c) the disputes between the intelligence services of the United States and the united Kingdom and (c) the prevarication and delays in publication. Too many people with too much to hide creating seemingly endless delay in order to prevent disclosure of themselves and their part in illegal war. The report may be published "after the election", but personally I believe that further means will be found to prevent the findings coming into the public domain
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/18/theresa-may-pledges-extra-police-patrols-counter-antisemitism-threat Theresa May pledges extra police patrols to counter antisemitism threat Eric Pickles and Mrs May hold up signs declaring 'Je suis juif' It is a shameful act of duplicitous hypocrisy, when Theresa May and too many other politicians like her, spout pious rhetoric about " the risk to the Jewish community" and the measures to be taken to deal with hate crime. These "political leaders" fall over themselves with acts of appeasement, and yet completely ignore the daily "hate crimes" against Palestinians in the occupied territories and the slaughter of more than 2000 women and children in Gaza during "Operation Protective Edge" in June/July of last year. These politicians and their despicable hypocrisy, deserve nothing but contempt.
The governments of the west, preparing us for what is becoming an inevitable clash of civilisations. The governments in the West, particularly those of France, the United kingdom and the United States, are out of control and the media and television, so eager to absorb the latest round of “updates” emanating from the government propaganda machine, vie with each other to produce the most sensational or vivid headlines for the next edition or the next news broadcast on their channel. In this respect, the media have done a first class job in persuading vast sections of the people, that the “threat” of Islamic extremism is so severe so as to warrant even more restrictions on individual civil liberties and to justify the proposition that government agencies, should without any checks, controls or balances, be able to monitor all forms of communications between people, by fax, e-mail, Skype links, telephone or any other means. In addition to this, government agencies are forc...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/tim-willcox-apologises-to-daughter-of-holocaust-survivor-at-paris-rally-for-saying-palestinians-suffer-hugely-at-jewish-hands-as-well-9972840.html Tim Willcox apologises to daughter of Holocaust survivor at Paris rally for saying 'Palestinians suffer hugely at Jewish hands as well Tim Willcox I am not a great fan of Tim Willcox, and have frequently been very critical of his bias and general manner both in his reporting and news presentation. However, why should he be forced to apologise or even resign for a remark which is demonstrably true and echo's what many people believe to be the hypocrisy of western values when discussing the question of Palestine. The BBC again demonstrates their corporate bias and hypocrisy, this time directed at one of their own reporting staff. Clearly the concept of "Freedom of Speech" has been conveniently overlooked and emphasises the point that the BBC and other bodies, cons...
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.636538 Egypt to raze 2000 more homes for Gaza "Buffer zone" Demolishing homes in Rafah Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, dictator of Egypt, who with American and Israeli backing overthrew the democratically elected President with a bloody coup, authorised mass arrests and show trials of journalists, political opponents,and dissidents continues with his programme of terror and punishment on the people of Gaza and Palestine. Acting on "instructions from Tel Aviv and no doubt Washington, Egyptian authorities have begun implementing phase two in the flattening of large swaths of Rafah. An evil cabal in Cairo conspiring with the evil Tel Aviv and Washington axis to inflict punishment, pain and misery on men women and children in Palestine. The world says nothing in criticism of this shameful act.
http://metro.co.uk/2015/01/11/milk-is-now-cheaper-than-water-but-its-driving-farmers-out-of-business-5017526/ Milk is now cheaper than water but it’s driving farmers out of business Supermarkets exploiting milk producers with their purchasing power and water companies exploiting their customers with their excessive charges. A sign of the times in this age of corporate greed profiteering
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/paris-attacks-france-to-hold-emergency-meeting-to-avert-future-terror-attacks-9969643.html France to hold emergency meeting to avert future terror attacks There is little worse than hypocrisy. The Western governments have for many years been engaged in the most crass form of hypocritical explanations of their actions, particularly in the Middle East. These governments pass laws which marks criticism of Jews as anti semetic and a criminal offence and yet defends criticism of Muslims as "Free speech". These governments condone the killing of thousands of Palestinians, men, women and chi ldren in Gaza with the cliche of "Israel has the right to defend itself". They defend the excesses and barbarism of the IDF in the occupied territories, demolishing homes, destroying crops and infrastructure and the killing of demonstrators as part of the "war on terror" preventing suicide bomber...
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jan/08/tesco-chief-unveils-dramatic-shake-up-troubled-supermarket Almost 100 stores to close What a sick and nasty world the speculators create and live in. On the announcement that nearly 100 Tesco stores will be closed, Head Office will be "relocated" , the employee pension scheme will be axed and that thousands of people will loose their jobs, the share price increases by 15%. The financial "markets" make "loads a money" at the expense of peoples lives. I have little sympathy for Tesco. My criticism is of the speculators making money from the share price increase as a result of people losing their jobs. As usual it is the employees who pay the price of management ineptitude and in the case of Tesco, boardroom practices which probably verge on illegality. Personally, I never shop in Tesco for three main reasons. The price of their produce is too high. The quality of their goods is in many cases ...
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/nhs-explainer-why-are-we-experiencing-an-ae-crisis-now-9961468.html Why are we experiencing an A&E crisis now? A very busy HNS Since the 1980's, when it became the policy to close hundreds of the smaller hospitals and create super size “centres of excellence” at a few locations around the country with the rather naive assumption that “Bigger is better”, we have had an “A&E crisis”, which has not been limited to the A&E departments but has percolated throughout the hospital system. This A&E crisis, was exacerbated throughout the 1990's with the fallacious proposition, that in order to solve the problem it was essential to introduce more and more layers of management, introduce “targets” to monitor performance of departments and individuals, and to pour money into the system. A fiscal policy which mainly went into financing the expanding bureaucracy rather than improving the standards of care. ...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/04/alexis-tsipras-antonis-samaras-greece-syriza-election Alexis Tsipras or Antonis Samaras? Greece begins to weigh up the options Antonis Samaras SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras On Sunday, 17 June 2012, in response to a Daily Mail article, I wrote the following comment in the news paper, and posted it on the pages of my Blog, Hew Agenda”. “When fear is employed as a weapon to influence voters, it is obvious that the scaremongers are very worried. European leaders yesterday piled pressure on Greek voters to reject Left-wing parties threatening to rip up the country’s bailout deal – a move that could leave the euro on the brink of collapse." They now use fear as a weapon to conserve their untenable positions. The "European leaders" who in collaboration with the banks,the IMF, the speculators of the markets, caused and perpetuated this whole mess in the first place, and incidentally got ver...
Happy New Year 2015 Happy New Year The curtain has come down on the Year 2014 and we may now look forward to the new year 2015. May the aspirations, hopes and dreams of each of us on this 1st day of January, be fulfilled over the next 12 months. To readers of this "New Agenda" Blog all Facebook "Friends", "Followers" on the Twitter account, readers of "New Agenda on Sunday" and any others who may venture onto any of the pages, I wish you and your families a very Happy, Prosperous and Peaceful New Year.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/31/palestinian-president-international-criminal-court Palestinian president signs up to join international criminal court Mahmoud Abbas has signed the Rome statute, the ICC’s founding treaty The United States is, according to the State Department, "deeply troubled" by the Palestinian move to join the international criminal court. Likewise, in Israel Netanyahu said, Israel would take unspecified “retaliatory steps”. to maintain their occupation of Palestine and the expansion of their "settlement" building program. It will be interesting to see whether the International Criminal Court will cave in to the blackmail, threats and other intimidation that the United States and Israel frequently employ against any country prepared to support the Palestinians, in order to maintain the subjugation of the Palestinian people by occupation, frequent use of military force and blockade. We must hope and trust that the I...