Last Tuesday (21/6/11) the British government announced a widespread review of it's courts and policing. Obviously this has provoked much discussion within the legal profession and led to some sensationalist legal rulings over the past week. These include Tuesday's (28/6/11) ruling on police bail and today's (30/6/11) ruling on the families of soldiers who were seeking compensation over their deaths in Iraq. Equally obviously these discussions have tried to use my name as a disguise in order to both confuse the discussion and provoke a reaction.
Although it wasn't the intention these discussions have raised two important points. Firstly that no-one who has participated in my situation is covered by the European Human Rights Act or any other legal protection. Secondly if Croydon Magistrates Court feels that the law does not allow for the prosecution of the Notting Hill Housing Trust (NHHT) then the government must immediately pass emergency legislation to rectify that flaw. However that is something of a moot point because the law does allow for that prosecution and an unwillingness to do so simply puts the court in the situation described by the first point. Anyway I hope the Brits enjoy the discussion because as they say, talk is cheap.
Also Prince William and his new wife, Catherine are making their first foreign trip to Canada. Rather sneakily the visit has been timed to co-incide with a long weekend forcing the Canadians to take an interest.
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Communications Fail.
Today (30/6/11) around 750,000 teachers and other public sector workers are on strike in Britain. I'm vaguely aware that the dispute has something to do with specific changes to pension schemes that the government are refusing to include in negotiations with the unions. However due to the unions failure to communicate what those issues are I haven't got a clue what their on strike about either.
Obama on Libya.
Yesterday (29/6/11) US President Obama gave his first full press conference since March. This was obviously timed to co-incide with the Chinese Prime Minister's visit to Germany. Although Obama covered a variety of topics in the hour long session the one that interested me the most was Libya because here the President appeared to be under very real political pressure.
Obama basically argued that because Qaddafi had killed some Americans in the 1980's American politicians couldn't possibly object to him being overthrown and instead were playing politics with the issue. That not true because it seems everyone - with the exception of Obama - can see that by authorising military action against Libya all Obama has done is caused tens of thousands of people to be killed unnecessarily while undermining US strategic interests. So I guess the question is what can American politicians do to get Obama to admit that he's made a mistake and correct it because right now it looks like America is facing death by a thousand cuts.
Obama basically argued that because Qaddafi had killed some Americans in the 1980's American politicians couldn't possibly object to him being overthrown and instead were playing politics with the issue. That not true because it seems everyone - with the exception of Obama - can see that by authorising military action against Libya all Obama has done is caused tens of thousands of people to be killed unnecessarily while undermining US strategic interests. So I guess the question is what can American politicians do to get Obama to admit that he's made a mistake and correct it because right now it looks like America is facing death by a thousand cuts.
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
The Greek Result's In.
Amid tear gas, rioting and several hours of delay the Greek Parliament today (29/6/11) approved a package of austerity measures that will allow the next tranche of funding from the first EU/IMF bailout. Meanwhile in Germany the Chinese Prime Minister met with the German Chancellor. As China is the largest holder of Greek debt the issue of debt re-structuring was no doubt on the agenda. Although I don't think either party was quite in a position to do a deal the good news is that Mr Wen seemed to be in a charitable mood. For example he explained - in no uncertain terms - that rather then switching from the US Dollar to the Euro China is instead diversifying it's currency reserves to include Dollars and Euros along with other currencies and mineral assets such as gold and oil.
Therefore the Americans, especially the Republicans have no excuse for not knowing that their current path is futile and will only lead to failure.
Therefore the Americans, especially the Republicans have no excuse for not knowing that their current path is futile and will only lead to failure.
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
See. That's (nearly) How You Do It.
Today (28/6/11) the Chinese prime Minister, Wen Jiabao completed his three day visit to Britain.
He flew in from the relatively benign Hungary on Sunday (26/6/11) and visited Stratfrod-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare and the Chinese owned Longbridge (Rover) car plant. Mr Wen then stayed overnight at the Chinese Ambassadors residence in London. On Monday (27/6/11) he held meetings with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron and other senior members of the British government before returning to the ambassador's residence. On Tuesday (28/6/11) he met with British "business leaders" before flying on to Germany for a quick, one day visit.
At no point did he meet with the British Royal Family or stumble, head-first into one of the top three summits of world leaders.
Anyway I'm a bit stoned. However if you have any further questions or concerns about this, or any other evening I suggest you contact you're local member of the British Establishment because I'm sure they'll be happy to act as your lynchpin.
He flew in from the relatively benign Hungary on Sunday (26/6/11) and visited Stratfrod-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare and the Chinese owned Longbridge (Rover) car plant. Mr Wen then stayed overnight at the Chinese Ambassadors residence in London. On Monday (27/6/11) he held meetings with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron and other senior members of the British government before returning to the ambassador's residence. On Tuesday (28/6/11) he met with British "business leaders" before flying on to Germany for a quick, one day visit.
At no point did he meet with the British Royal Family or stumble, head-first into one of the top three summits of world leaders.
Anyway I'm a bit stoned. However if you have any further questions or concerns about this, or any other evening I suggest you contact you're local member of the British Establishment because I'm sure they'll be happy to act as your lynchpin.
It's Brass Knuckles in New York.
And Prom night in Thornton Heath. The important thing though is that it's 20:01 and I'm back from the pub.
Slightly more importantly Christine Lagarde was appointed the new head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at around 18:00 GMT. As always with the IMF it was American weight that tipped the balance.
In other news the Qataris have provocatively announced that they have re-supplied the Libyan rebels on the Nafusa mountains front. Also if you did not see David Cameron's speech to the Local Government Association (LGA) conference at about 16:00 the short version is; The LGA conference is a meeting of the local senior civil servants and local business leaders that employ the public sector workers who are going on strike on Thursday (30/6/11). Cameron's speech, against a deep (Tory) blue backdrop was a clear attempt to incite those strikers to riot outside the conference venue on Thursday. Although there was an inflammatory question and answer session the conference is being held in Birmingham so I doubt many will bother even if they could afford the train fare. That's still on the tracks btw.
Slightly more importantly Christine Lagarde was appointed the new head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at around 18:00 GMT. As always with the IMF it was American weight that tipped the balance.
In other news the Qataris have provocatively announced that they have re-supplied the Libyan rebels on the Nafusa mountains front. Also if you did not see David Cameron's speech to the Local Government Association (LGA) conference at about 16:00 the short version is; The LGA conference is a meeting of the local senior civil servants and local business leaders that employ the public sector workers who are going on strike on Thursday (30/6/11). Cameron's speech, against a deep (Tory) blue backdrop was a clear attempt to incite those strikers to riot outside the conference venue on Thursday. Although there was an inflammatory question and answer session the conference is being held in Birmingham so I doubt many will bother even if they could afford the train fare. That's still on the tracks btw.
Worked Out the Qaddafi Warrants.
Well I worked them out at the time they were issued. However last night (27/6/11) I found information that supported my conclusion by simply reading the press release.
In order for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant a panel of three judges must be convinced that there is a case to answer. In the Qaddafi case those three judges were;
Judge Cuno Tarfusser, an Italian. The NATO bombing missions against Libya are actually being launched from Italy. Therefore the conflict of interest is so clear that Judge Tarfusser should have removed himself from the case.
Judge Sylvia Steiner, a Brazilian. Although clearly the best of a bad lot Judge Steiner has previously had to spend a lot of her time defending the ease at which she issues arrest warrants for suspects from resource rich African nations.
Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageg, the lead judge from Botswana. For over two decades Botswana has been a primary target for British government aid spending. Specifically furthering the cause of women's rights by developing a British style legal system. Judge Mmasenono Monageg is a product of that program and is so obviously a British pet she may as well change her nationality in her biography.
Anyway it's 11:01 on Tuesday June 28th and if anyone needs me before I get back from the pub around 20:00 I'll be pretending I'm dead. Or something equally productive.
In order for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant a panel of three judges must be convinced that there is a case to answer. In the Qaddafi case those three judges were;
Judge Cuno Tarfusser, an Italian. The NATO bombing missions against Libya are actually being launched from Italy. Therefore the conflict of interest is so clear that Judge Tarfusser should have removed himself from the case.
Judge Sylvia Steiner, a Brazilian. Although clearly the best of a bad lot Judge Steiner has previously had to spend a lot of her time defending the ease at which she issues arrest warrants for suspects from resource rich African nations.
Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageg, the lead judge from Botswana. For over two decades Botswana has been a primary target for British government aid spending. Specifically furthering the cause of women's rights by developing a British style legal system. Judge Mmasenono Monageg is a product of that program and is so obviously a British pet she may as well change her nationality in her biography.
Anyway it's 11:01 on Tuesday June 28th and if anyone needs me before I get back from the pub around 20:00 I'll be pretending I'm dead. Or something equally productive.
Monday, 27 June 2011
Freedom Flotillia Mark Two.
Over the coming days - possibly even tomorrow (28/6/11) - a group of Palestinian Solidarity activists will set sail from Greece. They will then attempt to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by sailing through the Israeli naval blockade. You may remember that the last time this was attempted back in May/June of 2010 it led to the Mavi Marmara incident when Israeli naval commandos shot dead nine activists aboard the Turkish ferry, the Mavi Marmara.
So while I hate to be the bearer of bad news I should warn the people aboard the second freedom flotilla that if they do break the naval blockade then the Israel Navy are fully entitled to sink all the ships and kill all those on board. This is because if Israel fail to enforce the blockade on this or any other occasion the blockade ceases to exist and Israel loses the right to intercept any other ships headed for Gaza, regardless of what they may or may not be carrying. Of course there are separate arguments over why Israel is imposing a blockade and whether it is right to do so, both morally and in terms of ensuring Israel's security.
It's a shame then that the flotilla isn't attempting to address any of those questions. Instead it is an American and European attempt to put pressure on the Israeli's, the Palestinians and the Chinese over September's upcoming vote at the UN over Palestinian statehood. I now actually think it's time for that motion to be withdrawn to make way for the much more pressing and significant issue of how the United Nation Security Council proceeds post-Libya. After all this will be the issue that everyone's really talking so it would be a shame for all the confusion to lead to the Palestinians getting a deal they didn't really expect. A break would also give the Palestinians time to reflect on who suggested this rather aggressive and loud strategy.
Apart from that my father and I have moved on to episode three of the Pacific. I think he was a bit annoyed because it prevented him from watching yet another repeat of the BBC show "Silent Witness." However I think if we persevere we might one day cure this valve-era electrician of his addiction to bad TV.
So while I hate to be the bearer of bad news I should warn the people aboard the second freedom flotilla that if they do break the naval blockade then the Israel Navy are fully entitled to sink all the ships and kill all those on board. This is because if Israel fail to enforce the blockade on this or any other occasion the blockade ceases to exist and Israel loses the right to intercept any other ships headed for Gaza, regardless of what they may or may not be carrying. Of course there are separate arguments over why Israel is imposing a blockade and whether it is right to do so, both morally and in terms of ensuring Israel's security.
It's a shame then that the flotilla isn't attempting to address any of those questions. Instead it is an American and European attempt to put pressure on the Israeli's, the Palestinians and the Chinese over September's upcoming vote at the UN over Palestinian statehood. I now actually think it's time for that motion to be withdrawn to make way for the much more pressing and significant issue of how the United Nation Security Council proceeds post-Libya. After all this will be the issue that everyone's really talking so it would be a shame for all the confusion to lead to the Palestinians getting a deal they didn't really expect. A break would also give the Palestinians time to reflect on who suggested this rather aggressive and loud strategy.
Apart from that my father and I have moved on to episode three of the Pacific. I think he was a bit annoyed because it prevented him from watching yet another repeat of the BBC show "Silent Witness." However I think if we persevere we might one day cure this valve-era electrician of his addiction to bad TV.
Bye Bye to the ICC.
Today (27/6/11) the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Muammer Qaddafi, Saif al-Islam Qaddafi and Abdullah Sanussi based on the chief prosecutor's report dated May 16th 2011. If you're that interested the case will rest on the question of whether the Libyan rebels are classed a civilians who are highly protected under the laws of war or non-uniformed combatants (spies) who are barely classed as human. Obviously that rule in itself is controversial and probably needs changing but at the time of the offence that was the rule.
However it's obvious that the issuing of today's warrants has nothing whatsoever to do with the situation in Libya. Through the rebels Britain has been manipulating the conflict in an effort to use it as a metaphor for so many things in the current UK/China bilateral talks that are being held in London. So by issuing these warrants all the ICC has succeeded in doing is to further destroy it's reputation by acting as a political tool of the UK.
You may have already noticed that the UK is currently on a mission to destabilise or destroy any international institution or treaty that threatens to restrict it's murderous rampage across the globe.
However it's obvious that the issuing of today's warrants has nothing whatsoever to do with the situation in Libya. Through the rebels Britain has been manipulating the conflict in an effort to use it as a metaphor for so many things in the current UK/China bilateral talks that are being held in London. So by issuing these warrants all the ICC has succeeded in doing is to further destroy it's reputation by acting as a political tool of the UK.
You may have already noticed that the UK is currently on a mission to destabilise or destroy any international institution or treaty that threatens to restrict it's murderous rampage across the globe.
No Sh*T.
It's 11:11 on June 27th 2011. I'm awake and the good news is that my bowels are functioning normally. The bad new is that the local health authority have decided that my grandmother suddenly needs a blood pressure test this lunchtime and also needs to go to the local hospital for a neck X-ray afternoon. I wouldn't get too excited about this because it's just an X-ray and really it's just a attempt to be disruptive.
So still no valid reason then.
So still no valid reason then.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
I'm Back
After a long day everyone was a bit tired so I actually got back about half an hour ago. Sorry I didn't report it at the time but since then I sought of got dragged into watching Atonement. So while I've still got to check my email I think tomorrow is going to be largely dedicated to lying down.
Shoreditch, Shoreditch, Shoredicth.
That's the reason my brother gave for not turning up until around 18:30. He'd been in Shoreditch. Anyway once he'd finally arrived we got to the restaurant about 19:00 and ate. Now it's 20:33 and we're back so the fun can really start. The last time I went to Harvester restaurant in March a dykey edl supporting whore bitch of a chef dosed my food with a laxative leaving me with painful stomach cramps for about three days.
Even if that hasn't happened then I'm pretty sure that at the time I said something about how the NATO operation in Libya was only going to make the situations in Yemen and Syria much worse.
Even if that hasn't happened then I'm pretty sure that at the time I said something about how the NATO operation in Libya was only going to make the situations in Yemen and Syria much worse.
Dammit I'm Hungry.
Remember how I said we'd be going out for dinner at 17:00. Well it's now 17:32 and due to train delays and his own free will my brother now reckons he won't be arriving at the house until 18:00. That means we should be leaving for the restaurant at around 19:00 and probably not eating till about 21:00.
In the meantime the Libyan rebels have started some nonsense about how their now ready to negotiate. As the Libyan rebels aren't really Libyan I'd ignore it especially as they've yet to provide one valid reason why Qaddafi isn't allowed to go from house and kill them all.
In the meantime the Libyan rebels have started some nonsense about how their now ready to negotiate. As the Libyan rebels aren't really Libyan I'd ignore it especially as they've yet to provide one valid reason why Qaddafi isn't allowed to go from house and kill them all.
Well it is Sunday.
It's been announced that at 09:00 this morning (26/6/11) Christopher Shale, the Chairman of the west Oxfordshire Conservative Party association was found dead at the Glastonbury music festival. Although not even a member of the government Mr Shale was said to be a close friend of the Prime Minister, David Cameron and the boss of his home constituency. So I'm going with "sign from God."
Oh and the washing machine's arrived.
Oh and the washing machine's arrived.
Yeah France Are F*cked
They've decided that they've got an E.Coli outbreak and are blaming it all on British seeds in trippy story just designed to make you want to smoke cannabis. I don't know why they're so angry at me though. I'm not the one who told them to form a strategic alliance with Britain. In fact I specifically warned against.
Anyway it's 11:26 on June 26th 2011. I'm awake and the Chinese are in town. The washing machine should arrive about 16:00 so we should be off for dinner around 17:00 and I'll be having a full nervous breakdown around 20:34.
Anyway it's 11:26 on June 26th 2011. I'm awake and the Chinese are in town. The washing machine should arrive about 16:00 so we should be off for dinner around 17:00 and I'll be having a full nervous breakdown around 20:34.
Saturday, 25 June 2011
The Train's Still on the Track.
And my grandmother's still on the patch. That means that all anyone who says they're protecting me is doing is protecting the status quo and that status quo is murder.
So let's stop pretending that the perpetrators are victims or that they have any rights under any law or treaty.
So let's stop pretending that the perpetrators are victims or that they have any rights under any law or treaty.
No You're Not.
Today (25/6/11) is Armed Forces day in Britain and the British military are busy patting themselves on the back. That's because after their efforts of the past week and my earlier post on Libya they're beginning to understand why Iran released their Royal Marines back 2006. I can't help but smile because that was six years ago and the answers been sitting on my desk since then.
Elsewhere BBC are being forced to create divisions within the leadership of the Labour Party, Britain's main opposition party. That's a shame because the Labour party have already made one mistake on that front.
Elsewhere BBC are being forced to create divisions within the leadership of the Labour Party, Britain's main opposition party. That's a shame because the Labour party have already made one mistake on that front.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 4, Week 3, Day 1.
Since Tuesday (21/6/11) Libya has been relatively peaceful. NATO bombing has continued but at a reduced rate. Libyan government and rebel forces continue to exchange fire along the three front lines of Ajdabiya, Misrata and the Nafusa mountains. Although they've been largely un-involved so far a large part of the coalition's (Britain, France, Qatar) recent effort has been to find out if Israel give thier consent for the American/Egyptian training of rebel fighters that continues in the Green mountains.
On Wednesday (22/6/11) the coalition, specifically Qatar tried to increase the stranglehold on Tripoli by accusing Turkey of breaking the UN resolution by supplying food to the residents of the city. This obviously had the knock on effect of increasing tensions between Turkey and Syria over the issue of Syrian refugees. It also prompted the international community to push back against the coalition and get them to explain and justify exactly what they think they're up too in Libya. This is the third reason why Britain decided to leak the news that it's military has command of an underground network of rebel fighters in Tripoli.
The increased international opposition has also prompted the coalition to accelerate their efforts to improve the public image of the rebels. This has involved the release of numerous videos and statements designed to show that the rebels are capable of running a functioning state which security, health care and an economy. It has also involved addressing the war crimes that have been committed by the rebels during the conflict in order to both teach them that this is unacceptable behaviour and convince the world that it won't happen again.
One example of this was a video report from rebel positions near the Nafusa front line. It featured Libyan government troops who'd been captured by the rebels in order to show that the prisoners were being humanely treated rather then tortured and executed as they were in the early part of the conflict. The only problem was that during the interview one of the prisoners went into a long and scripted speech about how Qaddafi had lied to him and he didn't know he'd be forced to kill "innocent Libyans." This is a clear example of a prisoner of war being used for propaganda purposes - something that it strictly forbidden by the Geneva conventions. To make matters worse none to the prisoners were identified in the video so it didn't even qualify as showing proof of life. The report has also managed to inflame an argument between the Israelis and Palestinians over whether or not the Palestinians should release another video of their prisoner - Ghalid Shilat - to prove that he is still alive.
The complexity of the Libya conflict along with the time it has gone on for has prompted many in Europe, led by Italy, to call for some sort of peace deal that will allow Qaddafi to remain in power. Obviously though no-one is suggesting that any such deal would in any way affect the coalition's access to Libya's oil.
On Wednesday (22/6/11) the coalition, specifically Qatar tried to increase the stranglehold on Tripoli by accusing Turkey of breaking the UN resolution by supplying food to the residents of the city. This obviously had the knock on effect of increasing tensions between Turkey and Syria over the issue of Syrian refugees. It also prompted the international community to push back against the coalition and get them to explain and justify exactly what they think they're up too in Libya. This is the third reason why Britain decided to leak the news that it's military has command of an underground network of rebel fighters in Tripoli.
The increased international opposition has also prompted the coalition to accelerate their efforts to improve the public image of the rebels. This has involved the release of numerous videos and statements designed to show that the rebels are capable of running a functioning state which security, health care and an economy. It has also involved addressing the war crimes that have been committed by the rebels during the conflict in order to both teach them that this is unacceptable behaviour and convince the world that it won't happen again.
One example of this was a video report from rebel positions near the Nafusa front line. It featured Libyan government troops who'd been captured by the rebels in order to show that the prisoners were being humanely treated rather then tortured and executed as they were in the early part of the conflict. The only problem was that during the interview one of the prisoners went into a long and scripted speech about how Qaddafi had lied to him and he didn't know he'd be forced to kill "innocent Libyans." This is a clear example of a prisoner of war being used for propaganda purposes - something that it strictly forbidden by the Geneva conventions. To make matters worse none to the prisoners were identified in the video so it didn't even qualify as showing proof of life. The report has also managed to inflame an argument between the Israelis and Palestinians over whether or not the Palestinians should release another video of their prisoner - Ghalid Shilat - to prove that he is still alive.
The complexity of the Libya conflict along with the time it has gone on for has prompted many in Europe, led by Italy, to call for some sort of peace deal that will allow Qaddafi to remain in power. Obviously though no-one is suggesting that any such deal would in any way affect the coalition's access to Libya's oil.
Friday, 24 June 2011
The Second Reason.
Also with 40% weighting.
On Thursday (23/6/11) a British court convicted Levi Bellfeild of the murder of Amanda (Milly) Dowler, a white, British female aged 13 years old. The short version is that Mr Bellfield is one of Britain's pet killers who has killed and sexually abused an unknown number of women and teenage girls. He was rewared for this with a lucrative career as a night club bouncer (door security). Then in 2002 he killed Ameilie Delagrange - a 22 year old, white, French, female who was in Britain "studying." The French government of the day took offence to this and Mr Bellfield was imprisoned for life for that kidnap & murder and for the kidnap & murder of Marsha McDonnell, a 19 year old white, British female.
By putting Mr Bellfield in prison for life the initial judge made him the happiest he's ever been in his life by giving letting him run his cell block. The current French government clearly didn't see a problem with this so gave permission for Britain to hold a theatrical trial of Mr Bellfield for numerous offences including the kidnapping and murder of Milly Dowler.
While this case has dragged on for over two months and although it made no difference to Mr Bellfield he was convicted of that murder on Thursday afternoon. The important thing though is that in passing the Milly Dowler verdict the Judge - Mr Justice Wilkie - gave the BBC national news team little option other then to turn their headline story on the 22:00 (10 o'clock) bulletin into an incite-full and instructional video in how to break into my grandmother's home. To their credit the news team caught a grenade on that one and instead broadcast a nice, toned down version of the story. Then I made my evening post.
Not one to be put off his stride the Judge responded to my first post of this morning (24/6/11) by dismissing the trial jury due to "adverse media coverage" and in the process dismissed another (largely irrelevant) kidnapping charge involving a woman called Rachel. This prompted a police helicopter to adopt a low hover over the home of the local thieves while I was in the gym (approx 13:15). It also prompted the British news media to nearly collapse into a paranoid mess as the BBC got involved in a nasty argument about funding and we all had to deal with the Dowler family lining up - one by one - to theatrically tell us how they should never have been put through the trial while we wondered what effect the debate over the conduct of Mr Bellfield's QC (barrister) would have on the government's legal reforms that were announced on Tuesday.
Anyway it's now 23:19(BST) on Friday 24th of June 2011 (4/6/11). I left my grandmother just as BBC London were leading on two stories about old women being beaten to death in their own homes including a Stanford Hill case. So while my father and I are on episode two I think I'm in for a long night.
On Thursday (23/6/11) a British court convicted Levi Bellfeild of the murder of Amanda (Milly) Dowler, a white, British female aged 13 years old. The short version is that Mr Bellfield is one of Britain's pet killers who has killed and sexually abused an unknown number of women and teenage girls. He was rewared for this with a lucrative career as a night club bouncer (door security). Then in 2002 he killed Ameilie Delagrange - a 22 year old, white, French, female who was in Britain "studying." The French government of the day took offence to this and Mr Bellfield was imprisoned for life for that kidnap & murder and for the kidnap & murder of Marsha McDonnell, a 19 year old white, British female.
By putting Mr Bellfield in prison for life the initial judge made him the happiest he's ever been in his life by giving letting him run his cell block. The current French government clearly didn't see a problem with this so gave permission for Britain to hold a theatrical trial of Mr Bellfield for numerous offences including the kidnapping and murder of Milly Dowler.
While this case has dragged on for over two months and although it made no difference to Mr Bellfield he was convicted of that murder on Thursday afternoon. The important thing though is that in passing the Milly Dowler verdict the Judge - Mr Justice Wilkie - gave the BBC national news team little option other then to turn their headline story on the 22:00 (10 o'clock) bulletin into an incite-full and instructional video in how to break into my grandmother's home. To their credit the news team caught a grenade on that one and instead broadcast a nice, toned down version of the story. Then I made my evening post.
Not one to be put off his stride the Judge responded to my first post of this morning (24/6/11) by dismissing the trial jury due to "adverse media coverage" and in the process dismissed another (largely irrelevant) kidnapping charge involving a woman called Rachel. This prompted a police helicopter to adopt a low hover over the home of the local thieves while I was in the gym (approx 13:15). It also prompted the British news media to nearly collapse into a paranoid mess as the BBC got involved in a nasty argument about funding and we all had to deal with the Dowler family lining up - one by one - to theatrically tell us how they should never have been put through the trial while we wondered what effect the debate over the conduct of Mr Bellfield's QC (barrister) would have on the government's legal reforms that were announced on Tuesday.
Anyway it's now 23:19(BST) on Friday 24th of June 2011 (4/6/11). I left my grandmother just as BBC London were leading on two stories about old women being beaten to death in their own homes including a Stanford Hill case. So while my father and I are on episode two I think I'm in for a long night.
What, I'm Awake.
But seeing as it's 15:52(BST) on a Friday (24/6/11) that's not really newsworthy.
So instead I'll take the opportunity to inform you that between approx 23:30-01:00 last night there was a very specific banging noise coming from #50 Beechwood avenue. This means that the property is at least occasionally occupied and is one of three reasons (40% weighting) why BBC news made the post-mortem leak of the fact that Britain's military has command of a network of rebel fighters in Tripoli. It also means we have to rule back in sabotage as a reason for my washing machines unfortunate demise.
Either way the new washing machine is set to be delivered on Sunday (26/6/11). Due to a mysterious computer fault the vendor is only able to offer a delivery slot between 07:00-21:00. As this is also my grandmother's 90th birthday we were planning to go out to dinner at around 17:00. So this new development only makes that already very stressful situation all the more stressful.
So instead I'll take the opportunity to inform you that between approx 23:30-01:00 last night there was a very specific banging noise coming from #50 Beechwood avenue. This means that the property is at least occasionally occupied and is one of three reasons (40% weighting) why BBC news made the post-mortem leak of the fact that Britain's military has command of a network of rebel fighters in Tripoli. It also means we have to rule back in sabotage as a reason for my washing machines unfortunate demise.
Either way the new washing machine is set to be delivered on Sunday (26/6/11). Due to a mysterious computer fault the vendor is only able to offer a delivery slot between 07:00-21:00. As this is also my grandmother's 90th birthday we were planning to go out to dinner at around 17:00. So this new development only makes that already very stressful situation all the more stressful.
Oh Dear.
It's 11:19 BST on June 24th and the European Leaders Summit in Brussels has entered it's final day. Meanwhile Britain is still pushing ahead with a flurry of a legal verdicts. Yesterday (23/6/11) we had the Levi Bellfield murder verdict and today there's been the verdict in a waste dumping and money laundering case.
Now I really shouldn't have to explain this to Her Majesties Court Service but the principle of due process means that you can't have these discussions until the Notting Hill Housing Trust have appeared before Croydon Magistrates Court and a verdict has been delivered.
Now I really shouldn't have to explain this to Her Majesties Court Service but the principle of due process means that you can't have these discussions until the Notting Hill Housing Trust have appeared before Croydon Magistrates Court and a verdict has been delivered.
Thursday, 23 June 2011
So I Do Need To Explain.
Back in April 2011 a collective of computer hackers describing themselves as "LulzSecurity" hacked a number of websites. These include but were not limited too; the Sony online gaming service, the Microsoft online gaming service, the Nintendo online gaming service, the public webiste of America's CIA and the public website of Britain's Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Then Sega hacked their own website to prove they've still got customers.
On Tuesday (21/6/11) Britain's Serious and Organised Crime Agency announced that they had arrested the head of the "LulzSecurity" collective. It turns out it was just a 19 year old, white, male from Essex, UK who has been officially named as Ryan Cleary. Through the many, many emotional problems that Mr Clearly suffers from it is obvious that he is weak minded individual who is therefore easily led. So it is obvious that that the LulzSecurity's hacks were actually carried out by Britain's Government Communications Head Quarters (GCHQ) along with other British espionage agencies. The primary objective of the operation was to highlight how weak computer security can be in order to open a dialogue with all nations in order to bring in tighter controls on the actual Internet following the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.
The secondary objective was to open a more specific dialouge with the Americans to explain why Britain has reduced American access to my father. The hope was to replace the Gary McKinnon hacker case. Back in 2002 Mr McKinnon hacked into the a number of the American government's private computer systems including the Pentagon - which is a much more difficult hack. The Americans issued an arrest warrant for Mr McKinnon and Britain spent the next nine years fighting the extradition on various grounds including the alleged fact that Mr McKinnon suffers from Aspergers Syndrome which is allegedly a form of Autism. The during Barack Obama's visit to Britain in May 2011 American dropped the charges against Mr McKinnon effectively saying "Actually we're not that interested." or "Britain bravely saves Gary McKinnon" as it was reported in the British media.
That aside tonight (23/6/11) I introduced my father to idea of watching DVD's on the big TV. As he does suffer from Aspergers Syndrome and is therefore very unsettled by change we started with episode one of the US (HBO) TV mini-series "The Pacific." While he was clearly impressed this does unfortunately lead onto discussions about; my grandfather (world war two Royal Marine), the 2005 Steven Spielberg film "Munich" and the Japanese earthquake. So while not exactly a comedy it was a start I suppose.
Also - as you may already know - my washing machine broke overnight. While there is no evidence of sabotage it did force my father to go out an buy a new one and meant my day started with the phrase; "Well I suppose once you start hearing it rattle it's only a matter of time."
On Tuesday (21/6/11) Britain's Serious and Organised Crime Agency announced that they had arrested the head of the "LulzSecurity" collective. It turns out it was just a 19 year old, white, male from Essex, UK who has been officially named as Ryan Cleary. Through the many, many emotional problems that Mr Clearly suffers from it is obvious that he is weak minded individual who is therefore easily led. So it is obvious that that the LulzSecurity's hacks were actually carried out by Britain's Government Communications Head Quarters (GCHQ) along with other British espionage agencies. The primary objective of the operation was to highlight how weak computer security can be in order to open a dialogue with all nations in order to bring in tighter controls on the actual Internet following the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.
The secondary objective was to open a more specific dialouge with the Americans to explain why Britain has reduced American access to my father. The hope was to replace the Gary McKinnon hacker case. Back in 2002 Mr McKinnon hacked into the a number of the American government's private computer systems including the Pentagon - which is a much more difficult hack. The Americans issued an arrest warrant for Mr McKinnon and Britain spent the next nine years fighting the extradition on various grounds including the alleged fact that Mr McKinnon suffers from Aspergers Syndrome which is allegedly a form of Autism. The during Barack Obama's visit to Britain in May 2011 American dropped the charges against Mr McKinnon effectively saying "Actually we're not that interested." or "Britain bravely saves Gary McKinnon" as it was reported in the British media.
That aside tonight (23/6/11) I introduced my father to idea of watching DVD's on the big TV. As he does suffer from Aspergers Syndrome and is therefore very unsettled by change we started with episode one of the US (HBO) TV mini-series "The Pacific." While he was clearly impressed this does unfortunately lead onto discussions about; my grandfather (world war two Royal Marine), the 2005 Steven Spielberg film "Munich" and the Japanese earthquake. So while not exactly a comedy it was a start I suppose.
Also - as you may already know - my washing machine broke overnight. While there is no evidence of sabotage it did force my father to go out an buy a new one and meant my day started with the phrase; "Well I suppose once you start hearing it rattle it's only a matter of time."
What a Contradiction
Yesterday (22/6/11) US President Barack Obama announced plans to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan. Although I've only seen about two minutes of the speech let alone read the full plan the main points seem to be;
5,000 troops will be withdrawn in July 2011. Following a review of the situation on the ground another 5,000 troops will be withdrawn in December 2011. Then another review will take place before another 23,000 troops are withdrawn in September 2012, just in time for the November Presidential election. The remaining 68,000 troops will be gradually withdrawn until the 2014 deadline when the country will be handed back to the Afghan security forces (Afghan National Army, ANA/ Afghan National Police, ANP.
By contrast Britain has announced that it will make a statement on the withdrawal of Britain's 9,500 troops in the coming weeks. However the military and crown elements of the British state are pushing for British troops to remain in Afghanistan beyond 2015 and there are rumours that they also want full responsibility for training (read control of) the Afghan security forces. France has today (23/6/11) announced that it is pegging the withdrawal of it's 4,000 troops to the timetable set by the Americans.
So for all his talk of need for nation building at home Obama still wants to teach the world to sing.
5,000 troops will be withdrawn in July 2011. Following a review of the situation on the ground another 5,000 troops will be withdrawn in December 2011. Then another review will take place before another 23,000 troops are withdrawn in September 2012, just in time for the November Presidential election. The remaining 68,000 troops will be gradually withdrawn until the 2014 deadline when the country will be handed back to the Afghan security forces (Afghan National Army, ANA/ Afghan National Police, ANP.
By contrast Britain has announced that it will make a statement on the withdrawal of Britain's 9,500 troops in the coming weeks. However the military and crown elements of the British state are pushing for British troops to remain in Afghanistan beyond 2015 and there are rumours that they also want full responsibility for training (read control of) the Afghan security forces. France has today (23/6/11) announced that it is pegging the withdrawal of it's 4,000 troops to the timetable set by the Americans.
So for all his talk of need for nation building at home Obama still wants to teach the world to sing.
Response From Magistrates Court.
Today (23/6/11) I received a response from Croydon Magistrates Court over this statutory nuisance matter. The letter claims that the court cannot allow the prosecution because the offence "appears" to fall outside of a six month time limit. This argument is of course false because the allegation is of five years of intermittent, malicious nuisance with the most recent offence occurring on May 24th which was two days before the case was brought before the court. So well within the six month time limit then. The letter offers no explanation of why the court cannot allow the prosecution of the offences of May 20-24th.
Therefore Britain's position is that it is unwillingly to prosecute. Presumably because they've now realised that I'll win.
Now I will obviously have too consider my position before I react and make my next move because I think the court should have a right to reply after their mistake has been pointed out to them. However in the meantime Britain is now under an obligation to report itself to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and request that it carries out an investigation on their behalf. I don't think that will be happening anytime soon but the American's are quite right, this should have been tried as a habeas corpus matter.
Edited @ 13:42 (23/6/11): Of course today's BBC news is leading with another story about how UK authorities failed to protect an infant (not Baby P) from torture and death at the hands of his parents. At Wimbledon tennis tournament the big match will be between Britain's Laura Robson and Maria Sharapova. So Britain is currently running the little used "this offence was committed during the commission of a much greater crime" defence. Meanwhile EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss Greece's Sovereign Debt Crisis.
Therefore Britain's position is that it is unwillingly to prosecute. Presumably because they've now realised that I'll win.
Now I will obviously have too consider my position before I react and make my next move because I think the court should have a right to reply after their mistake has been pointed out to them. However in the meantime Britain is now under an obligation to report itself to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and request that it carries out an investigation on their behalf. I don't think that will be happening anytime soon but the American's are quite right, this should have been tried as a habeas corpus matter.
Edited @ 13:42 (23/6/11): Of course today's BBC news is leading with another story about how UK authorities failed to protect an infant (not Baby P) from torture and death at the hands of his parents. At Wimbledon tennis tournament the big match will be between Britain's Laura Robson and Maria Sharapova. So Britain is currently running the little used "this offence was committed during the commission of a much greater crime" defence. Meanwhile EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss Greece's Sovereign Debt Crisis.
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
John Galliano Trial
Today (22/6/11) the British fashion designer, John Galliano has go on trial in France for charges of anti-semitism and racism. It's that level of skill that explains why French banks are so heavily exposed to Greek sovereign debt.
Now do I need to explain the LulzSec hacker arrest because he's no Gary McKinnon.
Now do I need to explain the LulzSec hacker arrest because he's no Gary McKinnon.
Northern Ireland Riots.
It turns out that last night's (21/6/11) rioting in the Newtownards road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland escalated as the night went on. Between approx 19:00 and 22:00 it was limited to Protestant/Loyalist rioters fighting with the police as they attempted to attack a Catholic/Republican community on the other side of the road. Between approx 22:00 and 01:00 residents in the Catholic/Republican neighbourhood started to fight back after coming under attack from bricks, petrol bombs and fireworks for several hours. At the peak of the violence (around 00:00) shots were fired from a handgun at a group of press photographers wounding one in the leg.
Although this is slightly more violence then has been seen in recent years it's still pretty normal for Belfast in June. So today (22/6/11) local shops are open, the roads are clear and public transport is operating normally. There are still worries though that tensions could rise again during the day leading to a third night of violence. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) seem to be trying their hardest to make sure that there is. This morning they announced that the will be holding talks with the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) a Protestant/Loyalist paramilitary group who are being widely blamed for orchestrating the violence. This afternoon the PSNI went on to make a statement blaming the shooting incident on Catholic/Republican paramilitaries which contradicts earlier reports.
Although this is slightly more violence then has been seen in recent years it's still pretty normal for Belfast in June. So today (22/6/11) local shops are open, the roads are clear and public transport is operating normally. There are still worries though that tensions could rise again during the day leading to a third night of violence. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) seem to be trying their hardest to make sure that there is. This morning they announced that the will be holding talks with the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) a Protestant/Loyalist paramilitary group who are being widely blamed for orchestrating the violence. This afternoon the PSNI went on to make a statement blaming the shooting incident on Catholic/Republican paramilitaries which contradicts earlier reports.
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Today At Wimbledon...
...We've learnt that tennis fans are wasting their lives and should really be watching the cricket.
In Tuesday's newspaper we also learnt that on Monday (20/6/11) the so called "Murry Mound" which is the small hill just outside Wimbledon which shows the tennis live on a big screen was closed due to health on safety worries. This was due to an incident on Sunday where the organiser of a country fair didn't follow health and safety rules resulting in a horse and trap crashing into the crowd killing one woman and injuring 10 others. My father and I discussed this at length and decided while the horse wasn't legally at fault it should be shot.
Elsewhere tonight (22/6/11 @ 00:52) in East Belfast the local police (PSNI) have warned the local Protestants to f*ck off home before they get hurt. Also the British government have announced their new legal reforms which contains the new offence of "threatening someone with a knife." As "threatening to kill or wound" and "carrying a knife" are already criminal offence I think that this new offence is incredibly specific. Specifically aimed at gobby 13 year old boys in tracksuits who tell police officers that they're "Gonna cut you up!" Damn those Tories and their anti-white racism.
Anyway it's 00:26 and I promise I going to try to go to bed because even if it is Channel 4 for the win there's really only one way to wake up.
In Tuesday's newspaper we also learnt that on Monday (20/6/11) the so called "Murry Mound" which is the small hill just outside Wimbledon which shows the tennis live on a big screen was closed due to health on safety worries. This was due to an incident on Sunday where the organiser of a country fair didn't follow health and safety rules resulting in a horse and trap crashing into the crowd killing one woman and injuring 10 others. My father and I discussed this at length and decided while the horse wasn't legally at fault it should be shot.
Elsewhere tonight (22/6/11 @ 00:52) in East Belfast the local police (PSNI) have warned the local Protestants to f*ck off home before they get hurt. Also the British government have announced their new legal reforms which contains the new offence of "threatening someone with a knife." As "threatening to kill or wound" and "carrying a knife" are already criminal offence I think that this new offence is incredibly specific. Specifically aimed at gobby 13 year old boys in tracksuits who tell police officers that they're "Gonna cut you up!" Damn those Tories and their anti-white racism.
Anyway it's 00:26 and I promise I going to try to go to bed because even if it is Channel 4 for the win there's really only one way to wake up.
I'm Doomed. I'm Doomed
So horribly doomed because it's 22:46 BST and I'm doomed. Apart from that I've been to the pub and now I'm on the Internet (22:48).
Anyway it's 22:57 and it turns out the Greek government have won their confidence vote. Either way I'm quite off because it turns out that this week the local health authority have been buzzing around my grandmother like flies. For the purpose of the rest of this post health authority means; the family doctor (GP), Monday, the health visitor (Wednesday), the radiology and phlebotomy clinics at the local hospital and all the office staff in between.
The reason for all this excitement is that the BBC have been showing TV shows like "Case Histories" and "The Shadow Line" which have had my father and I nudging each other in the ribs and saying: "I've been there" when neither of us have been talking about the exact physical location.
I think that it's a shame that all these health care professional spend all this time (23:04) watching TV rather then doing their jobs. Otherwise they might have noticed that my grandmother has started experiencing drug induced hallucinations because I would know them when I see them.
Apart from that I came back from the pub at around 19:55 and started to watch the US TV show "Justified." Apparently though episode 9 of series 2 is a little late to join the party so we quickly turned over to "Our War" on BBC3. If you didn't catch the final episode this series features gonzo footage of British troops in Afghanistan mixed with interviews of the soldiers who came home and photographs of those who didn't. In short about 90 seconds in I got so scared that I officially informed my father that my mother will be marrying that other woman on August 6th. As I finished speaking the narrator announced that the troops were on operation "Courageous Restraint."
So I went off and took more drugs. Which I think means that it's 23:12 and tomorrow means either work or the gym but never the two together. And it's [post at 23:15.
Anyway it's 22:57 and it turns out the Greek government have won their confidence vote. Either way I'm quite off because it turns out that this week the local health authority have been buzzing around my grandmother like flies. For the purpose of the rest of this post health authority means; the family doctor (GP), Monday, the health visitor (Wednesday), the radiology and phlebotomy clinics at the local hospital and all the office staff in between.
The reason for all this excitement is that the BBC have been showing TV shows like "Case Histories" and "The Shadow Line" which have had my father and I nudging each other in the ribs and saying: "I've been there" when neither of us have been talking about the exact physical location.
I think that it's a shame that all these health care professional spend all this time (23:04) watching TV rather then doing their jobs. Otherwise they might have noticed that my grandmother has started experiencing drug induced hallucinations because I would know them when I see them.
Apart from that I came back from the pub at around 19:55 and started to watch the US TV show "Justified." Apparently though episode 9 of series 2 is a little late to join the party so we quickly turned over to "Our War" on BBC3. If you didn't catch the final episode this series features gonzo footage of British troops in Afghanistan mixed with interviews of the soldiers who came home and photographs of those who didn't. In short about 90 seconds in I got so scared that I officially informed my father that my mother will be marrying that other woman on August 6th. As I finished speaking the narrator announced that the troops were on operation "Courageous Restraint."
So I went off and took more drugs. Which I think means that it's 23:12 and tomorrow means either work or the gym but never the two together. And it's [post at 23:15.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 4, Week 3, Day 4.
Today (21/6/11) Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper published briefing notes prepared by the second in command of the Royal Air Force (RAF) for Members of Parliament (MP's). These notes agreed with the head of the Royal Navy that Britain will not be able to continue operations against Libya beyond September without cutting other operations which in the case of the RAF means defending the Falkland Islands, training, defending the airspace of the British Isles or the war in Afghanistan. Mainly though these notes are the military trying to get themselves exempted from the spending cuts.
Yesterday (20/6/11) the Libyan government announced that NATO had killed 15 in an overnight attack on a civilian home near Zawiya. On this occasion NATO (read Britain) not only quickly claimed responsibility for the attack but made a lot of noise about it with even the BBC being allowed to broadcast a special report from the scene. Britain's position was that there was nothing wrong with the attack because it was targeting Khweildy al-Hamidy who is a Libyan military commander and a member of Muammer Qaddafi's inner circle. Although the fact that al-Hamidy is a military commander makes him a legitimate target whether or not it is therefore also right to try and kill him with an air strike while he is at home with his wive(s) and children is highly contentious especially as Khweildy al-Hamidy was un-injured in the attack.
So I think Britain's main aim in carrying out this attack was to try and force all the gory details about the Osama bin Laden killing and the effect it's had on US/Pakistan relations out of America - Britain's NATO ally. It was also rather a petulant attempt to ask why it's OK for America to kill Osama bin Laden but it's not OK for Britain to kill Muammer Qaddafi. To answer that I shall refer them back to what I said at the time;
Back in 1996 Osama bin Laden, as the head of Al Qaeda declared war on the United States of America and started to carry out terrorist attacks of increasing severity and lethality until September 11th 2001 when Al Qaeda carried out simultaneous attacks against the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a failed attack on the White House which killed around 5000 people. America responded by fighting back militarily and over the next ten years both Al Qaeda and America carried out numerous attacks against each other in a war that is still on going. So at the time of his death Osama bin Laden posed a clear and present danger to the security of the United States and it's citizens. Therefore America was fully entitled to kill him under the right to self defence.
By contrast until the Libyan rebels picked up weapons and started to fly a foreign flag Muammer Qaddafi posed no threat to the international community and arguably still doesn't. Although he did support international terrorism including the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Black September who carried out the attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics and the Lockerbie bombing this all stopped in the mid-1990's. Also while Muammer Qaddafi holds the ceremonial title of "Colonel" he was a purely civilian leader who since 2003 has actually played an important role in fighting terrorism and solving some of the more unpleasant problems of Africa and the middle east.
So not only does Britain not have the right to kill Qaddafi it didn't even have the right to attack Libya in the first place.
Anyway it's Tuesday night and I'm about to go to the pub. So if you're in the northern hemisphere and think it's going to be a long day your probably going to be right.
Yesterday (20/6/11) the Libyan government announced that NATO had killed 15 in an overnight attack on a civilian home near Zawiya. On this occasion NATO (read Britain) not only quickly claimed responsibility for the attack but made a lot of noise about it with even the BBC being allowed to broadcast a special report from the scene. Britain's position was that there was nothing wrong with the attack because it was targeting Khweildy al-Hamidy who is a Libyan military commander and a member of Muammer Qaddafi's inner circle. Although the fact that al-Hamidy is a military commander makes him a legitimate target whether or not it is therefore also right to try and kill him with an air strike while he is at home with his wive(s) and children is highly contentious especially as Khweildy al-Hamidy was un-injured in the attack.
So I think Britain's main aim in carrying out this attack was to try and force all the gory details about the Osama bin Laden killing and the effect it's had on US/Pakistan relations out of America - Britain's NATO ally. It was also rather a petulant attempt to ask why it's OK for America to kill Osama bin Laden but it's not OK for Britain to kill Muammer Qaddafi. To answer that I shall refer them back to what I said at the time;
Back in 1996 Osama bin Laden, as the head of Al Qaeda declared war on the United States of America and started to carry out terrorist attacks of increasing severity and lethality until September 11th 2001 when Al Qaeda carried out simultaneous attacks against the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a failed attack on the White House which killed around 5000 people. America responded by fighting back militarily and over the next ten years both Al Qaeda and America carried out numerous attacks against each other in a war that is still on going. So at the time of his death Osama bin Laden posed a clear and present danger to the security of the United States and it's citizens. Therefore America was fully entitled to kill him under the right to self defence.
By contrast until the Libyan rebels picked up weapons and started to fly a foreign flag Muammer Qaddafi posed no threat to the international community and arguably still doesn't. Although he did support international terrorism including the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Black September who carried out the attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics and the Lockerbie bombing this all stopped in the mid-1990's. Also while Muammer Qaddafi holds the ceremonial title of "Colonel" he was a purely civilian leader who since 2003 has actually played an important role in fighting terrorism and solving some of the more unpleasant problems of Africa and the middle east.
So not only does Britain not have the right to kill Qaddafi it didn't even have the right to attack Libya in the first place.
Anyway it's Tuesday night and I'm about to go to the pub. So if you're in the northern hemisphere and think it's going to be a long day your probably going to be right.
Marching Season's Begun.
There's never been an official start or end date to Northern Ireland's sectarian marching season. However I think we can safely say the 2011 season has started.
Last night (20/6/11) at around 21:00 BST rioting broke out between Protestants and Catholics in the Newtownards road area of east Belfast. In early reports the police are blaming the Protestant Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) for orchestrating the violence. Although both sides are reported to have used firearms only two people were wounded and both are believed to be Protestants. By Northern Ireland's standards this is barely news worthy and it's likely that there will be further outbreaks of violence leading up to an including the so called "Glorious Twelfth" on July 12th. Although the Rory McIlroy victory at the US golf open didn't help this slight upsurge in violence is no great surprise because the British state has spent the last three years inflaming sectarian division in the province.
In other news today (21/6/11) I telephoned Croydon Magistrate Court over this nuisance case. I was rewarded by being given a direct number meaning that I don't have to deal with the switchboard in future. Unfortunately the person at the end of this direct number was in a meeting all morning and I'm going to be food shopping all afternoon. I may call them tomorrow but I already know that the case is still sitting on the Clerk of the Courts desk waiting to be actioned.
Last night (20/6/11) at around 21:00 BST rioting broke out between Protestants and Catholics in the Newtownards road area of east Belfast. In early reports the police are blaming the Protestant Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) for orchestrating the violence. Although both sides are reported to have used firearms only two people were wounded and both are believed to be Protestants. By Northern Ireland's standards this is barely news worthy and it's likely that there will be further outbreaks of violence leading up to an including the so called "Glorious Twelfth" on July 12th. Although the Rory McIlroy victory at the US golf open didn't help this slight upsurge in violence is no great surprise because the British state has spent the last three years inflaming sectarian division in the province.
In other news today (21/6/11) I telephoned Croydon Magistrate Court over this nuisance case. I was rewarded by being given a direct number meaning that I don't have to deal with the switchboard in future. Unfortunately the person at the end of this direct number was in a meeting all morning and I'm going to be food shopping all afternoon. I may call them tomorrow but I already know that the case is still sitting on the Clerk of the Courts desk waiting to be actioned.
Monday, 20 June 2011
The Greek Crisis.
Once again the people of Greece are on strike and rioting in streets it what seems like three continuous years of strikes and rioting. This latest round is in protest against austerity measures that the Greek government needs to pass in order to release the latest tranche of the first European Union (EU) bailout. Today (20/6/11) EU ministers have decided to withhold this funding until Greece puts those austerity measures in place and passes an inspection. Tomorrow (21/6/11) the Greek government faces a no confidence vote in Parliament. However while everybody argues over this first bailout everyone also knows that it won't be enough and Greece will need, at least, a second bailout.
There are many, many reasons why the Greek economy is on the brink of bankruptcy. For example they have an overly generous social welfare package that guarantees everyone a free university education, labour laws that are so restrictive that it's pretty much impossible to employ anyone under thirty and seemingly a national culture of tax evasion. The main problem though is debt. Specifically the type of debt that Greece is in. While it varies greatly and specifics are very important most national debt (Sovereign debt as it's known) is paid back over a period of 10-15 years with regular interest payments. Greek debt though is only about 3-5 years in length. As a result the Greek government is almost constantly having to take on more debt to re-pay outstanding loans as they come of age. Put simply Greece is trying to pay off one credit card with another credit card and they're fast running out of credit cards.
So the most obvious solution to Greece's problems is a debt consolidation deal only on a massive scale. This would involve the European Central Bank (ECB) buying up all of Greece's short term debt at say 30 cents in the dollar and then working with Greece to make sure that money is paid back over a longer term and at a lower interest rate. The only problem is that this means that Greece's creditors will lose most of their money.
A lot of people are not keen to see this happen because the first thing that will happen is that all these banks, pension funds and other nations will get really angry. Secondly it will break the current rule that sovereign debt always gets paid regardless of the national economies ability to do so. If that happens then the people who buy sovereign debt will start looking much more closely at a Country's credit ratings and ability to repay before they lend them money. This prospect makes a lot of people nervous because across the globe there are quite a few countries whose excellent (AAA) credit ratings are more the product of fast talking and charm then economic reality. Hence all the posturing.
So while it will be difficult to find support for this plan I really can't see what the alternative is. After all the other members of the EU simply can't afford to keep giving Greece millions of Euros every time the need to raise capital because even the strongest economy in the EU, Germany is not as bullet proof as a lot of people think. Besides why should the Germans be forced to pay more tax just the Greeks can't be bothered to pay any?
The only other option is that Greece leaves the Eurozone and goes bankrupt by defaulting on it's debt. Although this would be great news for the rest of the Eurozone it means that Greece's creditors will still lose most of their money creating the same problems in the debt market. It also means that the Greek people will also have to put up with even more austerity measures, savings being wiped out as banks collapse and their economy basically being dead for the next ten to twenty years because no-one will want to do business with them. Apart from that though it sounds like a brilliant idea.
There are many, many reasons why the Greek economy is on the brink of bankruptcy. For example they have an overly generous social welfare package that guarantees everyone a free university education, labour laws that are so restrictive that it's pretty much impossible to employ anyone under thirty and seemingly a national culture of tax evasion. The main problem though is debt. Specifically the type of debt that Greece is in. While it varies greatly and specifics are very important most national debt (Sovereign debt as it's known) is paid back over a period of 10-15 years with regular interest payments. Greek debt though is only about 3-5 years in length. As a result the Greek government is almost constantly having to take on more debt to re-pay outstanding loans as they come of age. Put simply Greece is trying to pay off one credit card with another credit card and they're fast running out of credit cards.
So the most obvious solution to Greece's problems is a debt consolidation deal only on a massive scale. This would involve the European Central Bank (ECB) buying up all of Greece's short term debt at say 30 cents in the dollar and then working with Greece to make sure that money is paid back over a longer term and at a lower interest rate. The only problem is that this means that Greece's creditors will lose most of their money.
A lot of people are not keen to see this happen because the first thing that will happen is that all these banks, pension funds and other nations will get really angry. Secondly it will break the current rule that sovereign debt always gets paid regardless of the national economies ability to do so. If that happens then the people who buy sovereign debt will start looking much more closely at a Country's credit ratings and ability to repay before they lend them money. This prospect makes a lot of people nervous because across the globe there are quite a few countries whose excellent (AAA) credit ratings are more the product of fast talking and charm then economic reality. Hence all the posturing.
So while it will be difficult to find support for this plan I really can't see what the alternative is. After all the other members of the EU simply can't afford to keep giving Greece millions of Euros every time the need to raise capital because even the strongest economy in the EU, Germany is not as bullet proof as a lot of people think. Besides why should the Germans be forced to pay more tax just the Greeks can't be bothered to pay any?
The only other option is that Greece leaves the Eurozone and goes bankrupt by defaulting on it's debt. Although this would be great news for the rest of the Eurozone it means that Greece's creditors will still lose most of their money creating the same problems in the debt market. It also means that the Greek people will also have to put up with even more austerity measures, savings being wiped out as banks collapse and their economy basically being dead for the next ten to twenty years because no-one will want to do business with them. Apart from that though it sounds like a brilliant idea.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 4, Week 3, Day 3.
Late on Saturday night (18/6/11) NATO finally admitted that they'd attacked a rebel convoy near Ajdabiya wounding at least 16. Just a few short hours later on Sunday morning (19/6/11) the Libyan government announced that a NATO air strike had struck a civilian home in Tripoli killing at least nine members of the same family. This time NATO were much quicker to admit responsibility blaming the incident on a weapons system failure i.e a Paveway guided missile falling short of it's target. However as the intended target was about a mile (1.6km) away from the house a lot of people have suggested that NATO did this on purpose. I personally don't believe that theory but it would fit in with NATO's current strategy in Libya.
When the NATO operation began back in March the plan was that the Libyan army would quickly desert, the government would fall and the rebels would walk from Benghazi to Tripoli being welcomed as conquering heroes every step of the way. Clearly this did not happen. So American and Egyptian special forces began covertly training the rebels in camps between Benghazi and Tobruk. Although they were quickly and overtly joined by British, French and Italian military trainers this training program is going to take until September/October at the earliest. In the meantime NATO have focused on trying to collapse the Libyan government in Tripoli both by extensively bombing the city and trying to starve it of food, gasoline and electricity.
In order to achieve this there are three key objectives; the Ghadamis/Bordj Messaouda border crossing with Tunisia/Algeria, the oil refinery at Zawiya & the pipline that feeds it and the gas fired power station at Zuwara & the pipeline that feeds it. Led by soldier's from Britain's SAS* Libyan rebels captured the border crossing back in late April. Since then they've been fighting their way across the Nafusa mountains towards Zawiya and Zuwara in the hope of strangling off supplies to Tripoli. That's why last weeks fighting was a major setback for the rebels and NATO because it appears that they've run into a Libyan government stop line and are unable to advance any further much like what happened when the rebels tried to advance on Sirte back in March.
Of course the easiest way to shut down the oil refinery at Zawiya and the power station at Zuwara would be to destroy the oil and gas pipelines that feed them. However the British troops that have been commanding rebel forces in the area have so far been hesitant to do this because Britain's objective is to suck as much oil and gas out of Libya as quickly and cheaply as possible. Destroying the pipelines will make that task all the more difficult. Likewise if the rumours that Libyan government forces have seized the oil pipeline feeding Tobruk is true then it has been a very bad week for the rebels and NATO. In fact it looks like they're back to plan A of waiting until the rebel army can be trained up and hoping that they can smash their way through Sirte.
* A member of the SAS was killed on Thursday (17/6/11). However Britain's Ministry of Defence (MOD) described the solider as a member of the Parachute Regiment who was killed in Afghanistan where "Parachute Regiment" was clearly a euphemism for "SAS." It makes you wonder if "Afghanistan" was also a euphemism for "Libya."
When the NATO operation began back in March the plan was that the Libyan army would quickly desert, the government would fall and the rebels would walk from Benghazi to Tripoli being welcomed as conquering heroes every step of the way. Clearly this did not happen. So American and Egyptian special forces began covertly training the rebels in camps between Benghazi and Tobruk. Although they were quickly and overtly joined by British, French and Italian military trainers this training program is going to take until September/October at the earliest. In the meantime NATO have focused on trying to collapse the Libyan government in Tripoli both by extensively bombing the city and trying to starve it of food, gasoline and electricity.
In order to achieve this there are three key objectives; the Ghadamis/Bordj Messaouda border crossing with Tunisia/Algeria, the oil refinery at Zawiya & the pipline that feeds it and the gas fired power station at Zuwara & the pipeline that feeds it. Led by soldier's from Britain's SAS* Libyan rebels captured the border crossing back in late April. Since then they've been fighting their way across the Nafusa mountains towards Zawiya and Zuwara in the hope of strangling off supplies to Tripoli. That's why last weeks fighting was a major setback for the rebels and NATO because it appears that they've run into a Libyan government stop line and are unable to advance any further much like what happened when the rebels tried to advance on Sirte back in March.
Of course the easiest way to shut down the oil refinery at Zawiya and the power station at Zuwara would be to destroy the oil and gas pipelines that feed them. However the British troops that have been commanding rebel forces in the area have so far been hesitant to do this because Britain's objective is to suck as much oil and gas out of Libya as quickly and cheaply as possible. Destroying the pipelines will make that task all the more difficult. Likewise if the rumours that Libyan government forces have seized the oil pipeline feeding Tobruk is true then it has been a very bad week for the rebels and NATO. In fact it looks like they're back to plan A of waiting until the rebel army can be trained up and hoping that they can smash their way through Sirte.
* A member of the SAS was killed on Thursday (17/6/11). However Britain's Ministry of Defence (MOD) described the solider as a member of the Parachute Regiment who was killed in Afghanistan where "Parachute Regiment" was clearly a euphemism for "SAS." It makes you wonder if "Afghanistan" was also a euphemism for "Libya."
Saturday, 18 June 2011
Operation Oil Theft: Month 4, Week 3, Day 1.5.
I really should have done a mid-week update because it's almost been two weeks in one in Libya.
Due to the blitzkrieg style bombing of Tripoli the previous week (4/6/11 - 11/6/11) and the arguments over Syria international support for the NATO campaign is at it's lowest ever. Realistically there are now only three nations that support the operation; Britain, France and Qatar and France is beginning to wobble. International support was further undermined by incidents where NATO bombing killed both civilians and rebels and the government counter offensive which showed that on their own the rebels are incapable of overthrowing the Libyan government and too disorganised to run Libya should they overthrow the government.
The NATO campaign has also come under internal pressure from within the nations that are taking part. Apart from the legal challenge in America the head of Britain's Royal Navy warned that if Britain were to continue the mission in Libya beyond September 2011 it will have to cut other operations such as training, anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean or anti-drug operations in the Caribbean. As a result NATO has been trying to keep a low profile in Libya. Matters came to a head though on Thursday (16/6/11) when Muammer Qaddafi offered to hold internationally supervised, democratic elections within three months and step down if he lost. As with all other offers of a peaceful solution the rebels quickly turned it down because as a loose group of fascists and monarchists their focus is on killing Qaddafi not building a free and democratic Libya.
This prompted NATO to re-intensify it's bombing campaign on Friday (17/6/11) in order to send the message that it is still united and committed to the overthrow of Qaddafi. However behind the scenes the coalition (Britain, France, Qatar) have started discussing with other nations like Germany and South Africa the possibility of allowing Qaddafi to remain in power but send in a peace keeping force to keep the rebels and the government apart. This would be a terrible idea because although in terms of territory the rebels now control about 55% of Libya in terms of population they only control about 35% of the country and that doesn't include the large area in the centre of the country which is Qaddafi's tribal home. So introducing a peace keeping force will, at best, lead to the country effectively partitioned into three countries. At worst it will bring about a protracted, chaotic and violent tribal conflict. Both of these scenarios appeal to the coalition because the rebels control the parts of Libya with oil in it. The more chaotic the country becomes the lower the price the rebels will be able to sell that oil for boosting the profits of the coalition.
Due to the blitzkrieg style bombing of Tripoli the previous week (4/6/11 - 11/6/11) and the arguments over Syria international support for the NATO campaign is at it's lowest ever. Realistically there are now only three nations that support the operation; Britain, France and Qatar and France is beginning to wobble. International support was further undermined by incidents where NATO bombing killed both civilians and rebels and the government counter offensive which showed that on their own the rebels are incapable of overthrowing the Libyan government and too disorganised to run Libya should they overthrow the government.
The NATO campaign has also come under internal pressure from within the nations that are taking part. Apart from the legal challenge in America the head of Britain's Royal Navy warned that if Britain were to continue the mission in Libya beyond September 2011 it will have to cut other operations such as training, anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean or anti-drug operations in the Caribbean. As a result NATO has been trying to keep a low profile in Libya. Matters came to a head though on Thursday (16/6/11) when Muammer Qaddafi offered to hold internationally supervised, democratic elections within three months and step down if he lost. As with all other offers of a peaceful solution the rebels quickly turned it down because as a loose group of fascists and monarchists their focus is on killing Qaddafi not building a free and democratic Libya.
This prompted NATO to re-intensify it's bombing campaign on Friday (17/6/11) in order to send the message that it is still united and committed to the overthrow of Qaddafi. However behind the scenes the coalition (Britain, France, Qatar) have started discussing with other nations like Germany and South Africa the possibility of allowing Qaddafi to remain in power but send in a peace keeping force to keep the rebels and the government apart. This would be a terrible idea because although in terms of territory the rebels now control about 55% of Libya in terms of population they only control about 35% of the country and that doesn't include the large area in the centre of the country which is Qaddafi's tribal home. So introducing a peace keeping force will, at best, lead to the country effectively partitioned into three countries. At worst it will bring about a protracted, chaotic and violent tribal conflict. Both of these scenarios appeal to the coalition because the rebels control the parts of Libya with oil in it. The more chaotic the country becomes the lower the price the rebels will be able to sell that oil for boosting the profits of the coalition.
Operation Oil Theft: Month 4, Week 3, Day 1.
In Libya it has been a bad week for the rebels. Between Sunday (12/6/11) and Tuesday (14/6/11) government forces mounted a counter offensive in the areas of Ajdabiya, Misrata and Zintan. Although this counter offensive only served to consolidate the position of the government troops rather then break the stalemate it did serve to highlight the limitations of the rebel forces and increase the daily death toll for a around 25 per day to around 40 per day across both sides. The death toll was not helped by the fact that on Wednesday (15/6/11) NATO aircraft mistakenly targeted rebel positions near Ajdabiya injuring 16.
Despite mistakes like this the rebels have been calling for NATO to carry out more air strikes in order to help them defeat government forces. While NATO did resume daytime air raids against Tripoli of Friday (17/6/11) - the traditional day of rest - the air campaign has been kept to a minimum this week. In part this has been a response to an incident on Tuesday (14/6/11) when NATO aircraft killed 12 civilians after targeting a bus near the city of Kikla, south west of Tripoli. Mainly though it is an admission by NATO that they have run out of targets to attack and an acknowledgement of the growing international opposition to the campaign against Libya.
In the United States a group of Senators representing both the Republican party and the Democrat party have begun a lawsuit designed to end America's involvement in the conflict. The case is centred on something called the War Powers Act which states a US President can only conduct a war for 90 days before they must seek the approval of Congress. Barack Obama thinks that this rule does not apply in this case and has not applied for Congressional approval. It is now up to a US judge to decide if the case can proceed because it is highly unlikely that the US Congress will give permission for the Libya war. In fact the lower house (House of Representatives) has already voted for a bill cutting off funding for the Libya conflict although it still needs to pass the Senate before it comes into effect.
This mounting pressure has caused the international coalition (Britain, France, Qatar) to circulate the idea of introducing an international peace keeping force to Libya. The reason why they now feel confident to allow this is because the map which looked like this at the start of operations;
Now looks like this;
Where the blue lines mark the front line between rebel and government forces and the areas of black represent Libya's oil fields.
Despite mistakes like this the rebels have been calling for NATO to carry out more air strikes in order to help them defeat government forces. While NATO did resume daytime air raids against Tripoli of Friday (17/6/11) - the traditional day of rest - the air campaign has been kept to a minimum this week. In part this has been a response to an incident on Tuesday (14/6/11) when NATO aircraft killed 12 civilians after targeting a bus near the city of Kikla, south west of Tripoli. Mainly though it is an admission by NATO that they have run out of targets to attack and an acknowledgement of the growing international opposition to the campaign against Libya.
In the United States a group of Senators representing both the Republican party and the Democrat party have begun a lawsuit designed to end America's involvement in the conflict. The case is centred on something called the War Powers Act which states a US President can only conduct a war for 90 days before they must seek the approval of Congress. Barack Obama thinks that this rule does not apply in this case and has not applied for Congressional approval. It is now up to a US judge to decide if the case can proceed because it is highly unlikely that the US Congress will give permission for the Libya war. In fact the lower house (House of Representatives) has already voted for a bill cutting off funding for the Libya conflict although it still needs to pass the Senate before it comes into effect.
This mounting pressure has caused the international coalition (Britain, France, Qatar) to circulate the idea of introducing an international peace keeping force to Libya. The reason why they now feel confident to allow this is because the map which looked like this at the start of operations;
Now looks like this;
Where the blue lines mark the front line between rebel and government forces and the areas of black represent Libya's oil fields.
Friday, 17 June 2011
Because You Know You Love It.
It's Natalie Portman's tits. If you can't see the above image then it's 23:52 and it's not getting any better any time soon.
I Dunno There Was Claret Everywhere.
Apparently Natalie Portman dropped the kid on Wednesday (15/6/11). Curiously this was the day before I brought a copy of "Nuts" magazine featuring a photo of her tits as part of their June 17-23 "When Stars Go Topless!" "Topless Beach Babes!" summer special.
If you're unfamiliar with "Nuts" magazine then it's what Imogen Thomas did before Ryan Giggs. Now the important thing to remember about "Castle" is that the second series of "Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles" was filmed across the lot from the first series of "The Mentalist" and both series featured Owen Yomen.
Anyway it's now 23:03 on an Friday night. I've drunk a lot of Kronenburg, smoked a lot of weed and snorted in derision but still I'm ashamed to have a copy of "Nuts" in my house.
If you're unfamiliar with "Nuts" magazine then it's what Imogen Thomas did before Ryan Giggs. Now the important thing to remember about "Castle" is that the second series of "Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles" was filmed across the lot from the first series of "The Mentalist" and both series featured Owen Yomen.
Anyway it's now 23:03 on an Friday night. I've drunk a lot of Kronenburg, smoked a lot of weed and snorted in derision but still I'm ashamed to have a copy of "Nuts" in my house.
So Yeah
You know that thing that the UK Ministry of Justice Minister - Kenneth Clarke - said about rape that made a lot of (wo)men in Britain angry. Well it turns out it's not going to be UK government policy after all.
So I suppose in it's funny old way this leads onto a debate about Grand Jury selection for one Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Apparently he should be tried by a Jury of his peers but no-one knows exactly who is suitable. It could either be the residents of New York or it could be a number of global politicians. Either way I hope [it's not me]* because here in London it's 20:00 BST and I'm drunk I'm stoned and it's raining. Not Colombian rain though because apparently that's been made illegal.
(not) Edited at 20:03 to add;
*I hope it's not me
So I suppose in it's funny old way this leads onto a debate about Grand Jury selection for one Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Apparently he should be tried by a Jury of his peers but no-one knows exactly who is suitable. It could either be the residents of New York or it could be a number of global politicians. Either way I hope [it's not me]* because here in London it's 20:00 BST and I'm drunk I'm stoned and it's raining. Not Colombian rain though because apparently that's been made illegal.
(not) Edited at 20:03 to add;
*I hope it's not me
IMF Nominations.
The nominations for the new Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are now closed and there are two candidates to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn; Christine Lagarde of France and Augustin Carstens of Mexico.
Christine Lagarde: As the first female finance minister of a G8 nation Ms Lagarde is the clear front runner in the race already enjoying a significant public profile. The only problem is that she lacks any formal training or qualification in economics. Ms Lagarde qualified as a lawyer and went on the gain a masters degree in politics before rising to the Chair of the executive committee of the internationally respected Baker & McKenzie law firm where she specialised in European Union law. Then in 2005 she took up the role of French trade minister on behalf of the centre right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) party which is now led by Nicholas Sarkozy. In 2007 Ms Lagarde was appointed as the agriculture minister before quickly moving on to become the finance minister where, like everyone else, her record is unproven due to the 2008 - 2012 economic crisis. So while Ms Lagarde has undoubtedly won the respect of many of her peers she is likely to find it difficult to move from the political role of finance minister to the more purely technocratic role of IMF head. She is also currently facing some corruption charges that a French court still has to rule on.
Augustin Carstens: By contrast Augustin Carstens is a heavyweight in all senses of the word. He earned a bachelors degree in economics from the Instituto Technologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) before going on to gain a masters degree and a PHD in the subject from the University of Chicago where he met his American wife. He returned to Mexico in 1991 to become the Treasurer of the national bank (Banco Nacional de Mexico) at the tender age of 33. One of Dr Carstens first tasks in the job was to deal with the aftermath of the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980's. Rather like the problems the global economy faces now this was a regional debt bubble that burst leading to a deep and prolonged recession. Due to his success in meeting this challenge Dr Carstens went on to become the head of economic research at the bank in 1993. Here he helped redesign the Mexican economy following the collapse of the national currency (peso) in the mid-1990's. In 2003 he took up the post of deputy managing director of the IMF and held the post until 2006 when he returned to Mexico to become the countries finance minister in 2009 under the Presidency of Felipe Caledron. One of Dr Carstens first decisions in that post was to surprise everyone by hedging Mexico's oil revenues against price falls in a move that made the country US$9bn. So on paper Dr Carstens is by far the most qualified and experienced candidate. Also because he is Mexican if he is appointed he will break the rather outdated tradition of the IMF always being headed by a European. This will please the developing and newly developed nations by making the IMF a less Euro-centric organisation.
In preparation for the vote Britain has almost doubled it's contribution to the IMF from US$16.8bn to US$31.5bn. The way the IMF works is the more money a member nation contributes the more say they get in how the organisation is run. So Britain must really want Christine Lagarde to be the next head of the IMF. Presumably so she can continue where DSK left off in messing up the Eurozone bailouts.
Christine Lagarde: As the first female finance minister of a G8 nation Ms Lagarde is the clear front runner in the race already enjoying a significant public profile. The only problem is that she lacks any formal training or qualification in economics. Ms Lagarde qualified as a lawyer and went on the gain a masters degree in politics before rising to the Chair of the executive committee of the internationally respected Baker & McKenzie law firm where she specialised in European Union law. Then in 2005 she took up the role of French trade minister on behalf of the centre right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) party which is now led by Nicholas Sarkozy. In 2007 Ms Lagarde was appointed as the agriculture minister before quickly moving on to become the finance minister where, like everyone else, her record is unproven due to the 2008 - 2012 economic crisis. So while Ms Lagarde has undoubtedly won the respect of many of her peers she is likely to find it difficult to move from the political role of finance minister to the more purely technocratic role of IMF head. She is also currently facing some corruption charges that a French court still has to rule on.
Augustin Carstens: By contrast Augustin Carstens is a heavyweight in all senses of the word. He earned a bachelors degree in economics from the Instituto Technologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) before going on to gain a masters degree and a PHD in the subject from the University of Chicago where he met his American wife. He returned to Mexico in 1991 to become the Treasurer of the national bank (Banco Nacional de Mexico) at the tender age of 33. One of Dr Carstens first tasks in the job was to deal with the aftermath of the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980's. Rather like the problems the global economy faces now this was a regional debt bubble that burst leading to a deep and prolonged recession. Due to his success in meeting this challenge Dr Carstens went on to become the head of economic research at the bank in 1993. Here he helped redesign the Mexican economy following the collapse of the national currency (peso) in the mid-1990's. In 2003 he took up the post of deputy managing director of the IMF and held the post until 2006 when he returned to Mexico to become the countries finance minister in 2009 under the Presidency of Felipe Caledron. One of Dr Carstens first decisions in that post was to surprise everyone by hedging Mexico's oil revenues against price falls in a move that made the country US$9bn. So on paper Dr Carstens is by far the most qualified and experienced candidate. Also because he is Mexican if he is appointed he will break the rather outdated tradition of the IMF always being headed by a European. This will please the developing and newly developed nations by making the IMF a less Euro-centric organisation.
In preparation for the vote Britain has almost doubled it's contribution to the IMF from US$16.8bn to US$31.5bn. The way the IMF works is the more money a member nation contributes the more say they get in how the organisation is run. So Britain must really want Christine Lagarde to be the next head of the IMF. Presumably so she can continue where DSK left off in messing up the Eurozone bailouts.
Thursday, 16 June 2011
There is a Storm Coming
And I'm not talking about the weather.
For a generation in Britain there has been an unwritten agreement between the government and workers in the public sector - a covenant if you will. In return for low pay throughout their working lives which keeps inflation low public sector workers will be rewarded in retirement with slightly better pensions then their colleagues in the private sector. Now the Conservative Party, who have an ideological hatred of the public sector, have got into to government this agreement has been torn up without warning or meaningful negotiation.
In response the main teaching unions, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), the National Union of Teachers (NUT), the Association of Teachers & Lecturers (ATL) and the University College Union (UCU) have all voted for one day of strike action on June 30th 2011. The other major teaching union the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) are voting soon on whether or not to join them. Yesterday (15/6/11) the Public & Commerical Services union (PCS) which represents civil servants from the highest levels of national government down to the security guards at local job centres also voted to strike on June 30th over pensions. The Prison Officers Association (POA) which represents prison officers also announced yesterday that it intends to defy a ban on strike action and walk out on June 30th. Unison which represents health care workers and the two large general unions, Unite and the GMB are also to vote on holding strikes over pensions on June 30th. The Rail, Maritime & Transport Union (RMT) who operate London's underground rail network will already be on strike on June 30th over London Underground's decision to disregard the ruling of an employment tribunal into an employee who was sacked for union activity.
So although June 30th won't be a General Strike because that would be illegal it looks as though Britain's public services including the courts, prisons, schools and hospitals along with London's transport system will be seriously disrupted on that day. However as the plan seems to be for striking workers to picket their local work place rather then hold a big national march there is little risk of March 26th style disorder. The only exception could be in London because many of the buildings around Whitehall and Parliament square are the work places of PCS members. If their pickets are joined by a march of students and school children who will have the day off then it could turn out a lot like the student protests of the winter.
For a generation in Britain there has been an unwritten agreement between the government and workers in the public sector - a covenant if you will. In return for low pay throughout their working lives which keeps inflation low public sector workers will be rewarded in retirement with slightly better pensions then their colleagues in the private sector. Now the Conservative Party, who have an ideological hatred of the public sector, have got into to government this agreement has been torn up without warning or meaningful negotiation.
In response the main teaching unions, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), the National Union of Teachers (NUT), the Association of Teachers & Lecturers (ATL) and the University College Union (UCU) have all voted for one day of strike action on June 30th 2011. The other major teaching union the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) are voting soon on whether or not to join them. Yesterday (15/6/11) the Public & Commerical Services union (PCS) which represents civil servants from the highest levels of national government down to the security guards at local job centres also voted to strike on June 30th over pensions. The Prison Officers Association (POA) which represents prison officers also announced yesterday that it intends to defy a ban on strike action and walk out on June 30th. Unison which represents health care workers and the two large general unions, Unite and the GMB are also to vote on holding strikes over pensions on June 30th. The Rail, Maritime & Transport Union (RMT) who operate London's underground rail network will already be on strike on June 30th over London Underground's decision to disregard the ruling of an employment tribunal into an employee who was sacked for union activity.
So although June 30th won't be a General Strike because that would be illegal it looks as though Britain's public services including the courts, prisons, schools and hospitals along with London's transport system will be seriously disrupted on that day. However as the plan seems to be for striking workers to picket their local work place rather then hold a big national march there is little risk of March 26th style disorder. The only exception could be in London because many of the buildings around Whitehall and Parliament square are the work places of PCS members. If their pickets are joined by a march of students and school children who will have the day off then it could turn out a lot like the student protests of the winter.
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
I've Decided to Take the Day Off
Well I say decided. When I went to get out of bed this morning my body sort of went "no you don't" because even my toes hurt.
However because Wednesday's a odd day to take off in any culture the Southern Cross Care Homes story is still running in the British media. As I think is obvious to everyone in this story Southern Cross is code for the Notting Hill Housing Trust. It's a shame then that the whole debate's invalid. As the NNHT have committed various crimes against humanity allowing them to remain in business is not an option available to the court. The only question is whether their assets are given to the Crown or used to compensate their victims.
Mind you the fact that this is all being discussed before a summons has even been issued doesn't say much about Britain's commitment to due process.
However because Wednesday's a odd day to take off in any culture the Southern Cross Care Homes story is still running in the British media. As I think is obvious to everyone in this story Southern Cross is code for the Notting Hill Housing Trust. It's a shame then that the whole debate's invalid. As the NNHT have committed various crimes against humanity allowing them to remain in business is not an option available to the court. The only question is whether their assets are given to the Crown or used to compensate their victims.
Mind you the fact that this is all being discussed before a summons has even been issued doesn't say much about Britain's commitment to due process.
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
OMG! I've Totally Just Placed Selena Gomez.
If you're not familiar with this Disney star who stole Justin Bieber's heart then frankly your life shall a richer place be. However it turns out she looks just like my friend's (I'm only allowed the one) girlfriend's daughter. As the product of a British loyalist mother and an Iraqi father who sought asylum during the first Gulf war she is apparently of a lot of interest to a lot of people. Unfortunately I'm not one of them. This is a shame because apparently her current boyfriend works for the UK version of "The X Factor" and his family is based in Croydon which forces said adjective to occasionally manage the Croydon branch of "TKmax" from where I brought my loverly boots.
Now I hope this helped because it's certainly not going to make my next trip to Brighton any f*cking easier is it.
Now I hope this helped because it's certainly not going to make my next trip to Brighton any f*cking easier is it.
A Small Detail.
Today (14/6/11) my father and grandmother visited the House of Lords. In my world this normally happens about 2-3 times a year so there was really no reason for the youngsters in the lower house to get all excited about their arrival at around 14:30. Anyway apparently my father got to sit at the top table right next to Baroness Gardiner of Park and the main topic of conversation was assisted suicide as inspired by the Terry Prachett documentary that was shown on BBC 2 yesterday which we did not watch. So I think that's the myth of the higher echelons of the British state having no knowledge of the case thoroughly dispelled because although I didn't telephone them Croydon Magistrates Court now have less then three weeks left.
Elsewhere the Royal Ascot horse racing meeting has begun in well Ascot. Apparently the course owners had called in market research people in to ask race goers how they felt about the use of the whip. Apart from the obvious sexual innuendo this was an attempt to gauge whether or not I should be granted use of an Asp baton for self protection. As it's a Tuesday night and I've been to the pub personally I'm thinking I will require at least a Crown exemption and a shotgun.
Anywat 22:51 BST.
Elsewhere the Royal Ascot horse racing meeting has begun in well Ascot. Apparently the course owners had called in market research people in to ask race goers how they felt about the use of the whip. Apart from the obvious sexual innuendo this was an attempt to gauge whether or not I should be granted use of an Asp baton for self protection. As it's a Tuesday night and I've been to the pub personally I'm thinking I will require at least a Crown exemption and a shotgun.
Anywat 22:51 BST.
Egypt Catch an Israeli Spy.
Yesterday (13/6/11) the Egyptian security services announced that they have arrested a 27 year old US/Israeli dual national on charges of spying and inciting violence.
The allegation is that after being wounded during the 2006 Lebanon war Israeli paratrooper, Ilan Chaim Grapel was discharged from combat duties. He then returned the the United States, where he was born, and enrolled to study law at the Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Emory is said to be one of the top 25 universities in the US, has close links the the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), has challenged the US government over the treatment of Guantanamo Bay inmates and boasts former US President Jimmy Carter as a faculty member.
Using contacts from the university Grapel travelled to Egypt on his US passport just before the start of the Egyptian uprising on the pretext of volunteering for the Saint Andrews Refugee Services charity. However St Andrews claim that he only worked for them for a total of four days and they had no knowledge of either his Israeli citizenship or his military record. Then following the January 25th "Day of Rage" which started the Egyptian uprising Grapel played a central role in the protests and the occupation of Tahrir square where he was photographed holding a placard saying "Stupid Obama. This is a pride revolution not a food revolution." During the protests Grapel used both the cover stories of being an Egyptian American who had returned to Egypt to support the uprising and being a foreign journalist who was in the country to cover the protests. He is said to have paid and otherwise incited protesters to violently attack the Egyptian army - something that surely would have caused the uprising to fail as the army retaliated against the protesters.
Following Mubarak stepping down on February 18th Grapel then went to ground in the Imbada district of Cairo which was scene of deadly rioting between Salafist Muslims and Coptic Christians following the burning of a Church on May 5th. Here Grapel is accused both of inciting sectarian divisions and violence between Christians and Muslims and trying to recruit Egyptians as Israeli agents/informants. He was finally arrested at a five star hotel in central Cairo and is currently being detained by the authorities for a minimum of 15 days. He has already been granted contact with US Embassy officials who no doubt also want to have a long chat with him about his activities.
Incidentally this story is making front page across most of the middle east yet the BBC has not reported a single word about it.
The allegation is that after being wounded during the 2006 Lebanon war Israeli paratrooper, Ilan Chaim Grapel was discharged from combat duties. He then returned the the United States, where he was born, and enrolled to study law at the Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Emory is said to be one of the top 25 universities in the US, has close links the the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), has challenged the US government over the treatment of Guantanamo Bay inmates and boasts former US President Jimmy Carter as a faculty member.
Using contacts from the university Grapel travelled to Egypt on his US passport just before the start of the Egyptian uprising on the pretext of volunteering for the Saint Andrews Refugee Services charity. However St Andrews claim that he only worked for them for a total of four days and they had no knowledge of either his Israeli citizenship or his military record. Then following the January 25th "Day of Rage" which started the Egyptian uprising Grapel played a central role in the protests and the occupation of Tahrir square where he was photographed holding a placard saying "Stupid Obama. This is a pride revolution not a food revolution." During the protests Grapel used both the cover stories of being an Egyptian American who had returned to Egypt to support the uprising and being a foreign journalist who was in the country to cover the protests. He is said to have paid and otherwise incited protesters to violently attack the Egyptian army - something that surely would have caused the uprising to fail as the army retaliated against the protesters.
Following Mubarak stepping down on February 18th Grapel then went to ground in the Imbada district of Cairo which was scene of deadly rioting between Salafist Muslims and Coptic Christians following the burning of a Church on May 5th. Here Grapel is accused both of inciting sectarian divisions and violence between Christians and Muslims and trying to recruit Egyptians as Israeli agents/informants. He was finally arrested at a five star hotel in central Cairo and is currently being detained by the authorities for a minimum of 15 days. He has already been granted contact with US Embassy officials who no doubt also want to have a long chat with him about his activities.
Incidentally this story is making front page across most of the middle east yet the BBC has not reported a single word about it.
Monday, 13 June 2011
Update on Syria.
Over the weekend the Syrian army entered the town of Jisr al-Shughour and today (13/6/11) they claim to be in complete control of the town. In the process it is claimed that 60 insurgents were killed and 200 arrested. If you believe Syrian claims about the type of opposition they faced then far from being a bloodbath this has actually quite a reasonable military operation.
Since mid-February the Syrian government have been reporting that Islamic extremists have been bringing in weapons and other equipment into Syria from Iraq and it is these insurgents that have been responsible for the unrest. This version of events is actually very believable. Although I'm no expert there are broadly four mains sects within Islam; Salafists, Shias, Sunnis and Alawites. The Salafists are the most extreme of the groups believing that there is no political or religions ideology other then Islam and Islam must be practiced in the way it was during the time of the Prophet. However since the time of the Prophet the majority of Muslims have split into two main groups, the Sunnis and the Shias. These two groups relate to each other much like Catholics and Protestants do in Christianity in the sense that while they disagree and fight with each other they accept that they are both part of the same religion. The most recent sect to emerge were the Alawites who have a very mystical almost hippyish interpretation of Islam. Due to this very liberal interpretation of Islam neither the Sunnis and Shia recognise Alawites as true Muslims and the Salafists especially hate them.
The Assad family and most of Syria's ruling class are Alawites. Therefore Iraqi Salafists, who are at a bit of a loose end at the moment, wouldn't need much encouragement to cross the border into Syria in order to overthrow the Alawites in the hope of turning Syria into a more extreme Islamic state.
Elsewhere the author of the infamous "A Gay Girl in Damascus" blog has been unmasked. If you're not familiar with this English language blog it has been giving a highly personal account of what it is like to be a lesbian in Syria and how gay people are so oppressed by Assads government. Since the start of the unrest it has also played a central role in stirring up protests and bringing "news" of the government crackdown to the western world. Today (13/6/11) it has been the revealed that the blogs author is a married man in his forties based in Edinburgh, UK. So it's nice to known that the Brits still see the gay rights mob as easy marks.
Since mid-February the Syrian government have been reporting that Islamic extremists have been bringing in weapons and other equipment into Syria from Iraq and it is these insurgents that have been responsible for the unrest. This version of events is actually very believable. Although I'm no expert there are broadly four mains sects within Islam; Salafists, Shias, Sunnis and Alawites. The Salafists are the most extreme of the groups believing that there is no political or religions ideology other then Islam and Islam must be practiced in the way it was during the time of the Prophet. However since the time of the Prophet the majority of Muslims have split into two main groups, the Sunnis and the Shias. These two groups relate to each other much like Catholics and Protestants do in Christianity in the sense that while they disagree and fight with each other they accept that they are both part of the same religion. The most recent sect to emerge were the Alawites who have a very mystical almost hippyish interpretation of Islam. Due to this very liberal interpretation of Islam neither the Sunnis and Shia recognise Alawites as true Muslims and the Salafists especially hate them.
The Assad family and most of Syria's ruling class are Alawites. Therefore Iraqi Salafists, who are at a bit of a loose end at the moment, wouldn't need much encouragement to cross the border into Syria in order to overthrow the Alawites in the hope of turning Syria into a more extreme Islamic state.
Elsewhere the author of the infamous "A Gay Girl in Damascus" blog has been unmasked. If you're not familiar with this English language blog it has been giving a highly personal account of what it is like to be a lesbian in Syria and how gay people are so oppressed by Assads government. Since the start of the unrest it has also played a central role in stirring up protests and bringing "news" of the government crackdown to the western world. Today (13/6/11) it has been the revealed that the blogs author is a married man in his forties based in Edinburgh, UK. So it's nice to known that the Brits still see the gay rights mob as easy marks.
Canada: Mild Mannered No More.
For as long as anyone can remember Parliamentary democracy in Canada has been a shambles. The Conservative Party has governed both as a minority government and as part of various ramshackle coalitions. There have also been long periods where no government could be formed so Canada has been run by the Governor General on behalf of the Queen of England.
This all changed in March 2011 when the Conservative Prime Minister, Stephan Harper was found in contempt of Parliament for lying about the cost of new fighter/bomber aircraft. This prompted the other parties to bring down the government and force a General Election on May 2nd 2011. Although contempt of Parliament is technically a criminal offence that would prevent Stephan Harper sitting in Parliament his Conservative Party went on to win that election and form Canada's first majority government in the best part of a decade.
The main reason for this victory was that the Canadian economy has suffered during the years of chaos and become overly dependent on dirty industries such as oil & gas production, tar sands production and mineral mining. With so many Canadian jobs now dependent on these industries the Canadian voters were never going to vote for a government that was perceived to threaten those jobs by bringing in more environmental protection. So politically and socially Canada is now a lot like the USA was under the Presidency of George W Bush.
Mind you it doesn't say much about the opposition parties that they would agree to a General Election two days after Britain's Royal Wedding when loyalist fervor was at it's highest.
This all changed in March 2011 when the Conservative Prime Minister, Stephan Harper was found in contempt of Parliament for lying about the cost of new fighter/bomber aircraft. This prompted the other parties to bring down the government and force a General Election on May 2nd 2011. Although contempt of Parliament is technically a criminal offence that would prevent Stephan Harper sitting in Parliament his Conservative Party went on to win that election and form Canada's first majority government in the best part of a decade.
The main reason for this victory was that the Canadian economy has suffered during the years of chaos and become overly dependent on dirty industries such as oil & gas production, tar sands production and mineral mining. With so many Canadian jobs now dependent on these industries the Canadian voters were never going to vote for a government that was perceived to threaten those jobs by bringing in more environmental protection. So politically and socially Canada is now a lot like the USA was under the Presidency of George W Bush.
Mind you it doesn't say much about the opposition parties that they would agree to a General Election two days after Britain's Royal Wedding when loyalist fervor was at it's highest.
Sunday, 12 June 2011
Yeah I'm Still Not Loving Canada
Especially as after May's General Election they're now officially more right wing then the United States. But that's something I've got to add to my already very long "things to do tomorrow" list.
Anyway the Canadian Grand Prix did eventually re-start at around 15:50 local (19:50 GMT). Then after a couple more safety cars and me getting too drunk to care Jenson Button stole the race in his McLaren followed by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in their Red Bull's.
Of course what I would have done was; After the rain eased off for the first time I would've sent them all out behind the safety car and waited them for get round to 53 laps so everyone could've got full points and it could have gone down in history as the most boring F1 race ever even if that would've p*ssed off the local sponsors.
Anyway the Canadian Grand Prix did eventually re-start at around 15:50 local (19:50 GMT). Then after a couple more safety cars and me getting too drunk to care Jenson Button stole the race in his McLaren followed by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in their Red Bull's.
Of course what I would have done was; After the rain eased off for the first time I would've sent them all out behind the safety car and waited them for get round to 53 laps so everyone could've got full points and it could have gone down in history as the most boring F1 race ever even if that would've p*ssed off the local sponsors.
Worst Race Ever!
Today (12/6/11) it's the Canadian Grand Prix. Unlike most Formula 1 races which are shown between roughly 13:00 and 15:00 in the UK due to the time difference this race is shown between 18:00 and 20:00. So I decided to use it as an excuse to get out of cooking dinner and go to the pub instead.
I needn't have bothered though because the rain is so bad in Canada they've so far only managed about 20 minutes of racing, most of it behind the safety car before the race was stopped. So rather then watching loads of cars driving round an track in a procession for two hours for the last hour and a half I've been watching a load of cars parked on a race track under umbrellas while mechanics eat biscuits.
So go on own up, who thought it was a good idea to invite Rhianna.
I needn't have bothered though because the rain is so bad in Canada they've so far only managed about 20 minutes of racing, most of it behind the safety car before the race was stopped. So rather then watching loads of cars driving round an track in a procession for two hours for the last hour and a half I've been watching a load of cars parked on a race track under umbrellas while mechanics eat biscuits.
So go on own up, who thought it was a good idea to invite Rhianna.
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Operation Oil Theft: Month 4, Week 2, Day 1.
This past week has seen the third meeting of the International Contact Group on Libya in Abu Dhabi. As a result it has been a busy week in Libya itself with lots of excitable reports of rebel forces breaking out from both Misrata in the west and Ajdabiya in east and gaining territory. However on all occasions the rebel's assaults have been beaten back by Libyan government forces maintaining the stalemate with the usual 20-24 people being killed each day across both sides.
The big difference though has come in an intensification and tactical change in the NATO bombing campaign. Up until now NATO have been attacking single targets like air defence systems, tanks etc at night. This week they've started using sustained day time air raids. According to American sources in Tripoli on Tuesday (7/6/11) the air raid began at around 10:00 (local) in the morning and continued until 23:00 (local) at night. During this time a minimum of 90 bombs were dropped on the capital alone. Although it might not seem like it this is a clear sign that NATO have run out of things to bomb. So rather then trying to destroy military targets like tanks they are now bombing in an attempt to terrorise the Libyan population because even the morale of battle hardened troops breaks under continuous bombardment. Some commentators have compared this tactic to the Blitzkrieg tactic that the Nazi's used at Guernica and throughout the second world war. While they're being a little overly dramatic they're not that far from the truth.
Equally now that Qatar is up and running as the rebels oil merchant the International Contact Group is also running out of things to talk about. At the Abu Dhabi meeting there were the usual claims that the Libyan government could fall at any moment and the usual attempts to legitimize the rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) including referring to it as the more formal sounding National Transitional Council. The main news of the meeting though was the TNC's announcement that it is incapable of feeding the population of "Free Libya" that it represents. The prospect of a looming famine prompted international donations to the Libya fund to rise to US$1.4bn including the US$250 million already pledged. The most interesting of these pledges are the US$420 million pledged by France because it is around 60% of the amount that France spends on the bombing campaign each week. The US$586 million pledged by Italy is also interesting because it is backed by frozen Libyan assets. Although I'll need to look at the details this could set a worrying precedent. Overseas assets are normally held by private companies rather then governments so apart from announcing it's going to allow the Libyans to spend Libyan money by making this announcement Italy appears to be saying that it has taken the assets of one person and given them to someone else. That is more commonly known as theft.
The contact group also agreed that it's next meeting will be held in Turkey in July. This seems appropriate because through reconstruction contracts it looks like most of the money in the Libya fund will be going to the Turks rather then the Libyans.
The big difference though has come in an intensification and tactical change in the NATO bombing campaign. Up until now NATO have been attacking single targets like air defence systems, tanks etc at night. This week they've started using sustained day time air raids. According to American sources in Tripoli on Tuesday (7/6/11) the air raid began at around 10:00 (local) in the morning and continued until 23:00 (local) at night. During this time a minimum of 90 bombs were dropped on the capital alone. Although it might not seem like it this is a clear sign that NATO have run out of things to bomb. So rather then trying to destroy military targets like tanks they are now bombing in an attempt to terrorise the Libyan population because even the morale of battle hardened troops breaks under continuous bombardment. Some commentators have compared this tactic to the Blitzkrieg tactic that the Nazi's used at Guernica and throughout the second world war. While they're being a little overly dramatic they're not that far from the truth.
Equally now that Qatar is up and running as the rebels oil merchant the International Contact Group is also running out of things to talk about. At the Abu Dhabi meeting there were the usual claims that the Libyan government could fall at any moment and the usual attempts to legitimize the rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) including referring to it as the more formal sounding National Transitional Council. The main news of the meeting though was the TNC's announcement that it is incapable of feeding the population of "Free Libya" that it represents. The prospect of a looming famine prompted international donations to the Libya fund to rise to US$1.4bn including the US$250 million already pledged. The most interesting of these pledges are the US$420 million pledged by France because it is around 60% of the amount that France spends on the bombing campaign each week. The US$586 million pledged by Italy is also interesting because it is backed by frozen Libyan assets. Although I'll need to look at the details this could set a worrying precedent. Overseas assets are normally held by private companies rather then governments so apart from announcing it's going to allow the Libyans to spend Libyan money by making this announcement Italy appears to be saying that it has taken the assets of one person and given them to someone else. That is more commonly known as theft.
The contact group also agreed that it's next meeting will be held in Turkey in July. This seems appropriate because through reconstruction contracts it looks like most of the money in the Libya fund will be going to the Turks rather then the Libyans.
Friday, 10 June 2011
Syria at the UNSC.
On Wednesday (8/6/11) Britain and France introduced a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) condemning the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad for violence against peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations. At the time there was much excitement in Britain with seemingly the only question being whether Russia or China would dare to veto the resolution. Since then Britain has gone distinctly quiet on the matter. This is because the resolution failed to gain enough support to even be put to a vote. So on Thursday (9/6/11) Britain and France introduced a second draft of the resolution. Although the text has not been made public it is believed that the new draft removed all condemnation of President Assad and dropped all reference to peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations. Even so this new draft again failed to find enough support to be put to a vote and the matter is currently resting.
Today (10/6/11) Syrian army units have entered the town of Jisr al-Shughour to restore order. As this operation will see the Syrian army go up against armed insurgents, some of whom are believed to be the very same Iraqi insurgents who fought British and American troops in post-invasion Iraq it will result in people being killed. However as it's clear that this situation would not have arisen if the UNSC had not intervened in Libya it poses an important question for the UNSC post-Libya; As they have purposefully lied too and deceived the UNSC in order to start an illegal war of aggression against Libya and then willfully broken the terms laid down in resolution 1973(2011) can Britain and France continue as members of the Security Council?
As for Syria they'll be back up in front of the UNSC in a couple of days. This is because yesterday (9/6/11) the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) referred them to the UNSC over what is essentially a planning dispute about the Deir Alzour nuclear power plant. That'll teach them not to disagree with Israel.
Today (10/6/11) Syrian army units have entered the town of Jisr al-Shughour to restore order. As this operation will see the Syrian army go up against armed insurgents, some of whom are believed to be the very same Iraqi insurgents who fought British and American troops in post-invasion Iraq it will result in people being killed. However as it's clear that this situation would not have arisen if the UNSC had not intervened in Libya it poses an important question for the UNSC post-Libya; As they have purposefully lied too and deceived the UNSC in order to start an illegal war of aggression against Libya and then willfully broken the terms laid down in resolution 1973(2011) can Britain and France continue as members of the Security Council?
As for Syria they'll be back up in front of the UNSC in a couple of days. This is because yesterday (9/6/11) the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) referred them to the UNSC over what is essentially a planning dispute about the Deir Alzour nuclear power plant. That'll teach them not to disagree with Israel.
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Shocking Journalism.
Today (9/6/11) the BBC are reporting that the head of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has uncovered evidence that Muammer Qaddafi ordered Libyan government forces to use rape as a weapon of war against the Libyan rebels. The only problem is that it hasn't happened. What has happened is that for weeks Britain has been putting pressure on the ICC to investigate rape claims. The chief prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo - who is answerable to the ICC's judges has finally given into that pressure and announced that the ICC will investigate those claims. Considering the announcement co-incides with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) debate on Syria and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights meeting to discuss the allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity leveled against both the rebels and government forces its timing appears to be further evidence of political bias on the part of the ICC.
As for the rape claims themselves they're actually quite weak. They all seem to stem from an Internet posting from the end of February in which the rebels media team claimed that they had seized vehicles from government troops and found them to contain hallucinogenic drugs and Viagra type drugs. This anonymous account has not been corroborated and the rebels have been unable to provide any evidence to support it such as the drugs themselves or the testimony of the government soldiers who appear to have all been killed by the rebels.
This is of course not the only time that rape allegations have been levelled against the Libyan government. In March a woman, Iman al-Obeidi burst into a Tripoli hotel filled with western journalists claiming to have been gang raped by Qaddafi supporters. Although this emotive allegation has been repeated time and time again what has been less well reported is that al-Obeidi has recently been deported from Qatar back to Benghazi after the sort of money grabbing behaviour that would make a reality TV contestant blush. She is currently trying to gain entry to the United States where she hopes repeating the rape allegations will help her gain political asylum.
As for the rape claims themselves they're actually quite weak. They all seem to stem from an Internet posting from the end of February in which the rebels media team claimed that they had seized vehicles from government troops and found them to contain hallucinogenic drugs and Viagra type drugs. This anonymous account has not been corroborated and the rebels have been unable to provide any evidence to support it such as the drugs themselves or the testimony of the government soldiers who appear to have all been killed by the rebels.
This is of course not the only time that rape allegations have been levelled against the Libyan government. In March a woman, Iman al-Obeidi burst into a Tripoli hotel filled with western journalists claiming to have been gang raped by Qaddafi supporters. Although this emotive allegation has been repeated time and time again what has been less well reported is that al-Obeidi has recently been deported from Qatar back to Benghazi after the sort of money grabbing behaviour that would make a reality TV contestant blush. She is currently trying to gain entry to the United States where she hopes repeating the rape allegations will help her gain political asylum.
Wednesday, 8 June 2011
The Situation in Syria.
In an effort to see where they stand post-Libya Britain and France are today (8/6/11) tabling a resolution at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) condemning Syria. As with Libya the allegation is that the Syrian government are violently suppressing peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations. Also like in Libya the Syrian government are arguing that they are in fact putting down a foreign backed, armed insurgency that is threatening both their territorial integrity and national sovereignty. Although like all middle-eastern governments the Syrian government don't have the best record on this occasion they are telling the truth.
For about a year there has been a growing movement within the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to recognise Palestine as a sovereign state. One way or another this matter is set to be resolved in September 2011. Personally I think they whole thing's more trouble then it's worth and the Israelis especially are livid about it. Granting Palestine statehood is obviously an important step in the two state solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict and in the short term it will immediately allow Palestine to speak for itself at the UN on issues such as the Gaza blockade and the Goldstone report into Operation Cast Lead. Although they claim to support the two state solution Israel is, in reality, violently opposed to anything that might actually make it happen. This is why they distributed how to riot manuals in Egypt in order to bring forward and kill off the Egyptian uprising in order to make sure that Egypt continued to be run by a compliant Mubarak who would have opposed Palestinian statehood.
Even before the Egyptian uprising came to an unexpectedly successful conclusion these manuals were up on the Internet and being circulated in various middle-eastern countries especially Syria. Then from mid-February onwards there were various reports of weapons and foreigners being smuggled into Syria from Iraq, Israel and Turkish Kurdistan. These reports have been borne out by the way unrest in Syria in spread. It began in the south-western towns like Dera which are close to the Israeli border. Then after NATO's operation against Libya fanned the flames the unrest spread south from towns like Jisr al-Shughour on the Turkish border to towns like Hamah.
Wherever it has taken place the unrest in Syria has been defined by two things. Firstly it is backed by a very slick Internet marketing campaign that is seemingly capable of bringing high quality footage of protests/alleged atrocities to the eyes of the international community almost as it happens. This is something that is beyond the capability of protesters in Tunisia, Egypt and even Britain. The second is the level of violence used against the security services. Since the start of the unrest some 700 Syrian police/soldiers have been killed in organised attacks where firearms have been used. The most dramatic of these came on Monday (6/6/11) when armed men staged a commando style raid on a military base in Jisr al-Shughour. They killed around 120 soldiers and reportedly stole up to ten tonnes of high explosives. This incident prompted residents of Jisr al-Shughour to call on the Syrian government to send the army into the town where the violence is said to be out of control.
So what is happening in Syria is clearly not peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations. Therefore the only resolution the UNSC can pass is one condemning the insurgency and calling on the international community to provide support to the Syrian government to help them bring the unrest to a swift conclusion before any more innocent Syrians are killed needlessly in yet another of Israel's geo-political rampages.
For about a year there has been a growing movement within the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to recognise Palestine as a sovereign state. One way or another this matter is set to be resolved in September 2011. Personally I think they whole thing's more trouble then it's worth and the Israelis especially are livid about it. Granting Palestine statehood is obviously an important step in the two state solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict and in the short term it will immediately allow Palestine to speak for itself at the UN on issues such as the Gaza blockade and the Goldstone report into Operation Cast Lead. Although they claim to support the two state solution Israel is, in reality, violently opposed to anything that might actually make it happen. This is why they distributed how to riot manuals in Egypt in order to bring forward and kill off the Egyptian uprising in order to make sure that Egypt continued to be run by a compliant Mubarak who would have opposed Palestinian statehood.
Even before the Egyptian uprising came to an unexpectedly successful conclusion these manuals were up on the Internet and being circulated in various middle-eastern countries especially Syria. Then from mid-February onwards there were various reports of weapons and foreigners being smuggled into Syria from Iraq, Israel and Turkish Kurdistan. These reports have been borne out by the way unrest in Syria in spread. It began in the south-western towns like Dera which are close to the Israeli border. Then after NATO's operation against Libya fanned the flames the unrest spread south from towns like Jisr al-Shughour on the Turkish border to towns like Hamah.
Wherever it has taken place the unrest in Syria has been defined by two things. Firstly it is backed by a very slick Internet marketing campaign that is seemingly capable of bringing high quality footage of protests/alleged atrocities to the eyes of the international community almost as it happens. This is something that is beyond the capability of protesters in Tunisia, Egypt and even Britain. The second is the level of violence used against the security services. Since the start of the unrest some 700 Syrian police/soldiers have been killed in organised attacks where firearms have been used. The most dramatic of these came on Monday (6/6/11) when armed men staged a commando style raid on a military base in Jisr al-Shughour. They killed around 120 soldiers and reportedly stole up to ten tonnes of high explosives. This incident prompted residents of Jisr al-Shughour to call on the Syrian government to send the army into the town where the violence is said to be out of control.
So what is happening in Syria is clearly not peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations. Therefore the only resolution the UNSC can pass is one condemning the insurgency and calling on the international community to provide support to the Syrian government to help them bring the unrest to a swift conclusion before any more innocent Syrians are killed needlessly in yet another of Israel's geo-political rampages.
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
The Big News.
After the Royal foreplay Britain is preparing for the biggest wedding of the year when in August my mother gets married.......to another woman. If you're still trying to find a way to break this news to the religious right then bear in mind that I've still got to find a tactful way to explain it to my father.
If it's any consolation then the woman she is getting married too is an atheist lawyer who works for the British government so it's more of a legal ceremony then a religious one. The biggest problem I have is that I've been asked to sign the marriage register as a witness to the ceremony. This will make it quite a bit more difficult for said lawyer to certify my passport photographs while pretending not to be one of my relatives. The second problem is that I will have to attend a big wedding reception. There I will meet said adjectives family for the first time along with my solider cousin, his wife and their child. His brother, my cousin, his girlfriend and my other cousin. But before I do all that I've got to buy a suit because apparently because it's a lesbian wedding I'm not allowed to turn up in drag.
If it's any consolation then the woman she is getting married too is an atheist lawyer who works for the British government so it's more of a legal ceremony then a religious one. The biggest problem I have is that I've been asked to sign the marriage register as a witness to the ceremony. This will make it quite a bit more difficult for said lawyer to certify my passport photographs while pretending not to be one of my relatives. The second problem is that I will have to attend a big wedding reception. There I will meet said adjectives family for the first time along with my solider cousin, his wife and their child. His brother, my cousin, his girlfriend and my other cousin. But before I do all that I've got to buy a suit because apparently because it's a lesbian wedding I'm not allowed to turn up in drag.
Yay! Tedium.
It's been two weeks since I filed that nuisance paperwork with Croydon Magistrates Court. So today (7/6/11) I gave them a call to find out how it's progressing. Apparently the file's on the Clerk of the Courts metaphorical desk and is just waiting to come to the top of the pile to be actioned. I think a calender month should be enough before it's starts looking like an unwillingness to prosecute.
Since then I've been food shopping and doing the sort of filing that involves putting lots of boring bits of paper in order. Due to the excitement I missed the EU meeting about the German E.Coli outbreak. However if they haven't got to the root of the problem yet they either need to look harder or think differently.
Since then I've been food shopping and doing the sort of filing that involves putting lots of boring bits of paper in order. Due to the excitement I missed the EU meeting about the German E.Coli outbreak. However if they haven't got to the root of the problem yet they either need to look harder or think differently.
Monday, 6 June 2011
More Bloodshed in the Middle East
Yesterday (5/6/11) Palestinian and Syrian refugees attempted to gather at the Golan Heights to mark the anniversary of the start of the six day war. Israeli troops responded by opening fire on the unarmed group with live ammunition killing 20 and wounding around 380. In an attempt to make their shooting of unarmed civilians appear different from say the Yemeni governments shooting of unarmed civilians the Israeli government claimed that they were doing what was necessary to protect their borders and claimed that international law prevented them from using non-lethal weapons although they did use tear gas later in the day. The only problem with this is that the Golan Heights are part of Syria. The Israeli border is about 20km west of where the shootings took place. So rather then just shooting civilians in their country Israel actually went into someone else's country to shoot unarmed civilians.
The Israelis were right about one thing though. They accused the Syria government of drawing attention to the 44th anniversary of Naska day as it's known in order to distract from the current unrest in Syria. Here they've got a point because the reason why Israel has been orchestrating the unrest in Syria is to provoke a reaction from the Syrian government in order to make Israel appear as the victim of it's dangerous neighbours. The second part of this provocation strategy came today (6/6/11) with the news that Syria could be referred to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) over an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report into Israel's 2007 decision to bomb a nuclear power plant the Syrians were building near Deir Alzour. Although Syria should have notified the IAEA before they started construction the nuclear non-proliferation treaty allows them to build civilian nuclear power plants so I'm not really sure what Syria have done that was so wrong it would warrant a referral to the UNSC let alone an Israeli air attack.
The Israelis were right about one thing though. They accused the Syria government of drawing attention to the 44th anniversary of Naska day as it's known in order to distract from the current unrest in Syria. Here they've got a point because the reason why Israel has been orchestrating the unrest in Syria is to provoke a reaction from the Syrian government in order to make Israel appear as the victim of it's dangerous neighbours. The second part of this provocation strategy came today (6/6/11) with the news that Syria could be referred to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) over an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report into Israel's 2007 decision to bomb a nuclear power plant the Syrians were building near Deir Alzour. Although Syria should have notified the IAEA before they started construction the nuclear non-proliferation treaty allows them to build civilian nuclear power plants so I'm not really sure what Syria have done that was so wrong it would warrant a referral to the UNSC let alone an Israeli air attack.
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Operation Oil Theft: Month 4, Week 1, Day 1.
Today (4/6/11) Britain finally deployed ground attack helicopters against Libya. Overnight two Apaches engaged Libyan government targets near Brega in the east of the country. This suggests that the helicopters will be used as out and out anti-personnel weapons flying low and using their mini gun and Hellfire missiles to kill people. In effect they will be acting as an airborne two man fire team each providing the other with cover while providing air cover for any infantry advance. Unlike the more traditional Helarm anti-tank tactic which uses wave after wave of helicopters to identify and destroy targets this tactic leaves the Apaches more exposed to shoulder launched anti-aircraft missiles and even guided anti-tank weapons like the MILAN and the Spigot.
Obviously one single attack by a pair of Apaches has not suddenly changed the course of the conflict overnight so there are still around two dozen people being killed a day as Libyan government and rebel forces exchange fire around Misrata in the west and Brega/Ajdabiya in the east. The timing of the deployment of the helicopters is interesting though because it would suggest that the Qatar based news channel, Al Jazeera's decision on Tuesday (31/5/11) to release footage of British special forces on the ground in Libya was an attempt to bring forward any argument over the deployment of ground forces in order to pave the way for the use of ground attack helicopters.
Also today the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague and the International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell are making their first visit to Benghazi in an attempt to further legitimize the rebels Transitional National Council (TNC).
Elsewhere in the region the Yemeni President was yesterday (3/6/11) injured after his Presidential compound was shelled by rebel fighters. What's happening there is that the Saudis are now backing and arming Yemeni tribesmen in order to overthrow President Saleh and avoid a civil war that could cause neighbouring Saudi Arabia to disintegrate. That means that if reports of Saleh travelling the Saudi Arabia to receive medical treatment are true he is unlikely to return alive.
Obviously one single attack by a pair of Apaches has not suddenly changed the course of the conflict overnight so there are still around two dozen people being killed a day as Libyan government and rebel forces exchange fire around Misrata in the west and Brega/Ajdabiya in the east. The timing of the deployment of the helicopters is interesting though because it would suggest that the Qatar based news channel, Al Jazeera's decision on Tuesday (31/5/11) to release footage of British special forces on the ground in Libya was an attempt to bring forward any argument over the deployment of ground forces in order to pave the way for the use of ground attack helicopters.
Also today the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague and the International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell are making their first visit to Benghazi in an attempt to further legitimize the rebels Transitional National Council (TNC).
Elsewhere in the region the Yemeni President was yesterday (3/6/11) injured after his Presidential compound was shelled by rebel fighters. What's happening there is that the Saudis are now backing and arming Yemeni tribesmen in order to overthrow President Saleh and avoid a civil war that could cause neighbouring Saudi Arabia to disintegrate. That means that if reports of Saleh travelling the Saudi Arabia to receive medical treatment are true he is unlikely to return alive.
Friday, 3 June 2011
Pembrokshire Refinery Explosion
Yesterday (2/6/11) a Chevron owned oil refinery exploded in Pembrokshire, west Wales killing four. Clearly this was no accident. Instead it was designed to send a two part message. Firstly as the dead workers have been described as "contractors" it is Britain's way of denying that it has deployed ground troops in Libya by arguing that the 11 men caught on video on Tuesday (31/5/11) were private military security contractors (PMSC) rather then British soldiers. Although the practice of de-badging members of the SAS so they can take part in covert/illegal operations has been going on since Oman in the 1970's this argument still doesn't really work. Apart from banning the deployment of ground troops the UN resolutions on Libya also call on foreign governments to prevent their citizens from travelling to Libya to act as PMSC or mercenaries as they're more commonly known.
More ominously the incident also appears to be Britain sending the message to American that if they in any way interfere with Britain's attempts to steal Libyan oil from out under their noses Britain will respond by attacking American economic interests. That's probably something America will want to bring up through the World Trade Organisation (WTO) court.
Speaking of courts Ratko Maldic today (3/6/11) made his first appearance in front of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. He has been committed to trial on two counts of genocide including Srebrenica, one count of persecution, three counts of extermination, two counts of deportation/forcible transfer, two counts of inhumane/unlawful acts designed to cause terror and one count of hostage taking. No plea was entered but the next part of the trial was scheduled to take place on July 6th 2011. However it's clear that in this proceeding both the accused and the court intend to be belligerent and we might not just be talking about the Mladic case.
More ominously the incident also appears to be Britain sending the message to American that if they in any way interfere with Britain's attempts to steal Libyan oil from out under their noses Britain will respond by attacking American economic interests. That's probably something America will want to bring up through the World Trade Organisation (WTO) court.
Speaking of courts Ratko Maldic today (3/6/11) made his first appearance in front of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. He has been committed to trial on two counts of genocide including Srebrenica, one count of persecution, three counts of extermination, two counts of deportation/forcible transfer, two counts of inhumane/unlawful acts designed to cause terror and one count of hostage taking. No plea was entered but the next part of the trial was scheduled to take place on July 6th 2011. However it's clear that in this proceeding both the accused and the court intend to be belligerent and we might not just be talking about the Mladic case.
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Operation Oil Theft: Month 3, Week 4, Day 1.
Following the intensification of the air campaign to co-incide with the G8 Summit fighting in Libya has settled back into it's normal pattern. NATO are carrying out around 60 bombing missions per day and around two dozen people are being killed everyday as Libyan government forces and rebels exchange fire in Misrata in the west and Brega in the east.
This stalemate has caused a particular problem for NATO because the mission in Libya was originally only authorised for 90 days and was set to come to an end at the end of June. On June 1st (1/6/11) NATO extended that authorisation and the mission will now continue until the end of September 2011 at the earliest.
Although Britain and France authorised the use of ground attack helicopters last week (27/5/11) there has been no evidence that they are actually being used in Libya. This is probably due to concerns that the use of ground forces would clearly put Britain in France of UN resolution 1973(2011). I don't see why they're that worried about the helicopters though because on Tuesday (31/5/11) this video; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju-xouWdImM emerged which shows 11 white, western men fighting alongside the rebels in Misrata. The men have since been identified as de-badged members of Britain's Special Air Service (SAS) and the Parachute Regiment although there is no word on when they left the British army and when they intend to re-join. Yesterday (1/6/11) this incident forced the British government to officially deny that it has deployed ground troops in Libya although few people in Britain will be aware of that because the BBC was showing wall to wall coverage of the FIFA election.
Following the theme of media manipulation yesterday (1/6/11) it was again announced that the Libyan oil minister, Shukuri Ghanem had defected to the rebels. As this was the fourth time that Ghanem's defection had been announced not even the rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) believed it until they were shown footage of a press conference Ghanem had given in Italy.
After the International Criminal Court's (ICC) investigation into war crimes in Libya the UN released a report on their own investigation into the matter yesterday (1/6/11). Unlike the ICC investigation it found that both sides in the conflict had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The rebels specialised in ethnic violence specifically the torture and killing of sub-Saharan (black) migrant workers. So I guess the Libyan National Front aren't that much different from the British National Front after all.
In the most worrying development of the conflict the Tibetsy hotel in Benghazi which houses foreign diplomats visiting the rebels TNC was hit by a car bomb yesterday (1/6/11). Although no-one was killed in what seems to be a rather crude attack the incident is reminiscent of events in post-invasion Iraq just before the country descended into carnage.
This stalemate has caused a particular problem for NATO because the mission in Libya was originally only authorised for 90 days and was set to come to an end at the end of June. On June 1st (1/6/11) NATO extended that authorisation and the mission will now continue until the end of September 2011 at the earliest.
Although Britain and France authorised the use of ground attack helicopters last week (27/5/11) there has been no evidence that they are actually being used in Libya. This is probably due to concerns that the use of ground forces would clearly put Britain in France of UN resolution 1973(2011). I don't see why they're that worried about the helicopters though because on Tuesday (31/5/11) this video; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju-xouWdImM emerged which shows 11 white, western men fighting alongside the rebels in Misrata. The men have since been identified as de-badged members of Britain's Special Air Service (SAS) and the Parachute Regiment although there is no word on when they left the British army and when they intend to re-join. Yesterday (1/6/11) this incident forced the British government to officially deny that it has deployed ground troops in Libya although few people in Britain will be aware of that because the BBC was showing wall to wall coverage of the FIFA election.
Following the theme of media manipulation yesterday (1/6/11) it was again announced that the Libyan oil minister, Shukuri Ghanem had defected to the rebels. As this was the fourth time that Ghanem's defection had been announced not even the rebel's Transitional National Council (TNC) believed it until they were shown footage of a press conference Ghanem had given in Italy.
After the International Criminal Court's (ICC) investigation into war crimes in Libya the UN released a report on their own investigation into the matter yesterday (1/6/11). Unlike the ICC investigation it found that both sides in the conflict had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The rebels specialised in ethnic violence specifically the torture and killing of sub-Saharan (black) migrant workers. So I guess the Libyan National Front aren't that much different from the British National Front after all.
In the most worrying development of the conflict the Tibetsy hotel in Benghazi which houses foreign diplomats visiting the rebels TNC was hit by a car bomb yesterday (1/6/11). Although no-one was killed in what seems to be a rather crude attack the incident is reminiscent of events in post-invasion Iraq just before the country descended into carnage.
Tantrum Over?
Back in December 2010 Britain missed out on the chance to host the 2018 Football World Cup after being beaten by a far superior bid from Russia. As the British Queen had already recorded a Christmas message in which she made reference to Britain's bright sporting future this prompted Britain to throw one of the biggest hissy fits in the history of world sport. With help from their new BFF, Qatar they set about overthrowing the boss of FIFA, Sepp Blatter so he could be replaced with someone who is better at following Royal command. Eventually America got in on the act because they really don't know much about soccer.
Six months later it appears that apart from an ill-conceived proposal to put future World Cup hosting decision to the FIFA congress rather then it executive committee this plan has failed with Sepp Blatter being re-elected. In response Britain is now threatening to withdraw from FIFA - a move that will effectively end professional football being played in the UK. Although I'm pretty sure that is just a negotiating position I wouldn't put it past them. After all a lot of the proles do insist on watching football when they could be set to work.
Six months later it appears that apart from an ill-conceived proposal to put future World Cup hosting decision to the FIFA congress rather then it executive committee this plan has failed with Sepp Blatter being re-elected. In response Britain is now threatening to withdraw from FIFA - a move that will effectively end professional football being played in the UK. Although I'm pretty sure that is just a negotiating position I wouldn't put it past them. After all a lot of the proles do insist on watching football when they could be set to work.
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Ah Yes Casablanca.
As I'm sure most of you know there is this really famous black & white film from the 1940's called Casablanca which stars Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and is set in Morocco. Now I've never seen this film but every time I mention that fact to someone who has they all say the same thing; "Oh you really should." So while I was out doing my Christmas shopping at the end of 2010 and I saw a DVD copy on sale for about £2 I picked it up thinking I could watch it over the Christmas break. Unfortunately while making conversation on Christmas day I mentioned this to my family, all of whom have already seen it so they said; "Oh you really should watch it" before telling me everything that happens in it. So obviously I couldn't watch it until I'd forgotten everything they'd told me and by that time the Arab Spring and caused most of north Africa to catch fire so I couldn't possibly watch it then without it being weird. Since then the word Casablanca has hung ominously in the air.
Along with the Arab Spring this has made the King of Morocco very nervous leading to false flag terror attacks and a crackdown on protesters and anyone who might possibly become a protester. Although I'm not aware of any plots to overthrow the Moroccan Monarchy you can see their point. As the Arab Spring began in December in Tunisia you would have thought it's natural direction of travel would have been from Tunisia to Algeria and then from Algeria to Morocco. Done properly this would have taken up until about September 2011 by which time the Egyptians would have been able to organise themselves to more neatly overthrow Mubarak when he tried to steal the election. With all this swirling around it's borders the pressure would have forced Muammer Qaddafi to hand over power to his son Saif al-Islam bringing to fruition a peaceful transfer to democracy which had been nearly ten years in the making.
It's a shame then that Egypt went off early and the UN decided to declare war on Libya. So instead we have a civil war in Libya that is destabilising the newly free Egypt and Tunisia, Yemen is sinking further into chaos and unrest in Syria is threatening to ignite a wider middle eastern war.
Along with the Arab Spring this has made the King of Morocco very nervous leading to false flag terror attacks and a crackdown on protesters and anyone who might possibly become a protester. Although I'm not aware of any plots to overthrow the Moroccan Monarchy you can see their point. As the Arab Spring began in December in Tunisia you would have thought it's natural direction of travel would have been from Tunisia to Algeria and then from Algeria to Morocco. Done properly this would have taken up until about September 2011 by which time the Egyptians would have been able to organise themselves to more neatly overthrow Mubarak when he tried to steal the election. With all this swirling around it's borders the pressure would have forced Muammer Qaddafi to hand over power to his son Saif al-Islam bringing to fruition a peaceful transfer to democracy which had been nearly ten years in the making.
It's a shame then that Egypt went off early and the UN decided to declare war on Libya. So instead we have a civil war in Libya that is destabilising the newly free Egypt and Tunisia, Yemen is sinking further into chaos and unrest in Syria is threatening to ignite a wider middle eastern war.
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