The indiscriminate shooting of South African mine workers protesting over poor conditions and wages was a step back to the days of apartheid. Admittedly, some of the workers were armed, albeit with spears and machetes. To shoot thirty of them was barbarous in the extreme. The BBC news story this morning is laying the blame solely at the feet of the workers. No surprise there. No attempt to actually investigate the incident, just spouting the official line. They really are a disgrace to the name journalism. It will be interesting to see what action is taken over this.
I have been doing a bit of research into the Russian female punk band Pussy Riot case. My opinion is that the whole thing is a huge publicity stunt. I have tried to watch a couple of videos on youtube and they are absolutely appalling. To a certain extent the stunt has worked because the bands music sales have soared throughout the world. The down side is that some of them could be going to jail. I think they should all be going to jail, not for what they did, but for inflicting their so called music on to us.
On a lighter note, IKEA are planning to open a chain of budget hotels. I can just imagine booking in at reception and being handed a flat pack and being told to build your room yourself. Perish the thought. Till next time.
Friday 17 August 2012
Thursday 16 August 2012
Julian Assange Granted Political Asylum.
Julian Assange has been granted political asylum by the Ecuadorian government. The first place the government post this important news is on twitter. They can't even be bothered to make an official statement in front of the UK news cameras. Well Cameron, your governments bluff has been called. The empty threat to storm the embassy was just that, empty, just like your brain Cameron. The Ecuadorian government have acted with integrity and transparency at all times in this matter. They even offered the Swedish government access for them to come to the UK to question Mr. Assange. They refused. The reason for this is as I expect, that the case they have is flimsy in the extreme or, it is a totally fabricated case. Earlier in the year they sent officials to Serbia to question a suspected murderer. Why not in this case? Double standards is the answer. The US involvement is in my opinion, confirmed.
It is unlikely that the police will "storm" the embassy, they will probably mount a siege of sorts in the short term, but in the longer term, who knows. Going by Cameron's past handling of crises, he will do a complete U-turn. Thankfully, Julian Assange has some breathing space and hopefully he can be spirited away to carry on his work. Till next time.
It is unlikely that the police will "storm" the embassy, they will probably mount a siege of sorts in the short term, but in the longer term, who knows. Going by Cameron's past handling of crises, he will do a complete U-turn. Thankfully, Julian Assange has some breathing space and hopefully he can be spirited away to carry on his work. Till next time.
Julian Assange. Israel. Extradition.
Today, the UK government reached a new height of stupidity. It was announced that if Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, who is seeking asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, is not sent out to be arrested by the police, they will force an entry in order to arrest him. It is about time that this farce was ended once and for all. it is widely known that the charges the Swedish government have brought against him are completely false and it is just an excuse to hand him over to the US authorities. If the police do actually storm the embassy, it will have serious repercussions for UK embassies throughout the world.
An article in the Israeli, Haaretz newspaper says that hundreds of Israelis have signed an on line petition urging Israeli Defence Force pilots to refuse to carry out orders to bomb Iran. This is just part of growing opposition to Israeli government policy. Street protests have been taking place for the last year or so but it is not reported in the lamestream media. Ordinary Israelis are beginning to realise that a strike on Iran would not go unpunished. Iran is well armed and has the capability to strike back. I don't think that the US actually wants Israel to carry out it's threat, at least not until the Syrian crisis is settled.
On the 24th February, Christopher Tappin, a retired UK businessman was extradited to the US on charges of selling batteries to Iran. The US say that these batteries could be used as components of surface to air missiles, Mr. Tappin says that he was lead to believe that they would be used in the automotive industry. If found guilty, Mr. Tappin could spend the rest of his life in prison. This week, a UK bank, Standard Chartered, was fined around $300,000,000 for dealing with among others, Iran, Libya, Burma. Yes, you read it right, they were fined, no one was arrested. Where is the justice? The answer is that where banks are concerned, there is no justice. Banks rule the world. The money involved in Standard Chartereds dealings were upwards of $250,000,000,000. Yes two hundred and fifty billion dollars. Double standards in the extreme. Till next time.
An article in the Israeli, Haaretz newspaper says that hundreds of Israelis have signed an on line petition urging Israeli Defence Force pilots to refuse to carry out orders to bomb Iran. This is just part of growing opposition to Israeli government policy. Street protests have been taking place for the last year or so but it is not reported in the lamestream media. Ordinary Israelis are beginning to realise that a strike on Iran would not go unpunished. Iran is well armed and has the capability to strike back. I don't think that the US actually wants Israel to carry out it's threat, at least not until the Syrian crisis is settled.
On the 24th February, Christopher Tappin, a retired UK businessman was extradited to the US on charges of selling batteries to Iran. The US say that these batteries could be used as components of surface to air missiles, Mr. Tappin says that he was lead to believe that they would be used in the automotive industry. If found guilty, Mr. Tappin could spend the rest of his life in prison. This week, a UK bank, Standard Chartered, was fined around $300,000,000 for dealing with among others, Iran, Libya, Burma. Yes, you read it right, they were fined, no one was arrested. Where is the justice? The answer is that where banks are concerned, there is no justice. Banks rule the world. The money involved in Standard Chartereds dealings were upwards of $250,000,000,000. Yes two hundred and fifty billion dollars. Double standards in the extreme. Till next time.
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