A surreal election
David Cameron, we are told by The Guardian will today "promise to deliver the most extensive devolution of power in a generation" when he declares that a Conservative government would hand people "direct control" over how they are governed nationally and locally.
Global Banking System Still Quietly Bankrupt
Over the past 12 years or so, I've been repeatedly astonished at the tendency of investors to do things that they should have known to avoid simply with the use of a calculator and basic arithmetic. We've used numerous metrics during this period to show that the estimation of long-term market returns (7-10 years and beyond) doesn't require calculus or statistics, but fairly direct methods to normalize earnings, plus a bit of arithmetic.
Gold Protection as U.S. Drifts From Freedom to Facism
The parallels between present times and those during the rise and fall of the Third Reich are becoming increasingly startling, with Obamacare easily being the most profound power grab in the history of America. Healthcare is almost 20% of US GDP, and now, with this one Bill that the electorate doesn’t even want, the bureaucracy has accomplished the coupe de grass – it’s effectively taken almost complete administrative control of the US economy – increasing deterioration From Freedom To Fascism. People should of course be deathly afraid of all this, as out of control episodes such as this always end badly.
The Robin Hood Tax is dead
Rootling around, as one does, the EU servers I found this lovely document which tells us that the Robin Hood Tax is dead. Dodo'ed. A Norwegian parrot.
Freedom Week 2010 - Apply Now! (Adam Smith Institute)
If any of our younger readers are interested in learning about liberty, why not apply for a place at Freedom Week?
Nurse who told heart patient to mop up his own urine is free to continue working
A nurse who claimed she was suffering from personal problems when she gave a bed-ridden patient a mop and bucket to clean up his own urine has been cleared to continue working.
Thank God for the one man who has the courage to stand up to our ruling elite's assault on Christianity
The Church and the judiciary are two of the most venerable pillars of the establishment.
But in an explosive development, war has been declared between them over one of the most fundamental aspects of our society - freedom of religious conscience.
Gaza militant: Hamas stopping rocket fire into Israel
Hamas is forcing other Gaza Palestinian factions to guarantee they do not launch rockets or mortar bombs at Israel, a source told the French AFP news agency on Monday.
Peace soldier suffering 'cruel and degrading punishment'
An anti-war soldier serving a prison sentence for refusing to return to Afghanistan is receiving "cruel and degrading" treatment at the hands of military prison staff, according to lawyers.
Labour's nuclear no-show
Today, President Barack Obama hosts leaders from 46 countries for a two-day nuclear security summit that will focus on how to better safeguard weapons materials, both old and new, and to keep them out of the hands of terrorists. Labour’s manifesto was also launched today. What do the two things have in common? Not a lot, really. But they could have had a lot in common – if the Labour government had been willing to be bold.
Parliamentary wash-up washes away liberties
In the mad rush that is "parliamentary wash-up", it is traditional for civil liberties to be trampled to demonstrate that no party fails the "tough on crime" test – and 2010 is no exception.
After Peak Oil, Are We Heading Towards Social Collapse?
Recently, Glen Sweetnam, director of the International, Economic and Greenhouse Gas division of the Energy Information Administration at the DoE, announced that worldwide oil availability had reached a "plateau". However, his statement was not made known through a major U.S. mainstream media outlet. Instead, it was covered in France's "Le Monde."
Escaping India's pesticide trap
India's rejection of GM aubergines shows a shift in emphasis towards cultural exchange as a solution to agricultural problems
The End of the Internet as We Know It in Britain
On April 8, the lords who pretend to represent the people in Britain (instead of large corporations and banks) passed the Digital Economy bill. The bill sets the stage for enforcing draconian measures for internet users. CNet UK runs down the down side. I summarize.
You will be restricted from accessing copyrighted material without paying for it, a no-brainer really since this was the presumed reason for the bill — or the excuse to get it passed. “The bill aims to make it more difficult to access copyrighted content, by blocking Web sites built around sharing such material. From the other side, the bill creates sanctions that can be applied to you, the user, should you be caught with your fingers in the copyright cookie jar,” writes CNet.
Rothschild World Domination Plan Via Private Nuclear Weapons
When nuclear power is eliminated from the hands of all nationalist
governments, the Rothschilds will control their own as a monopoly and their secret private
space-based delivery system as well. Say hello to your new god.
Surging Interest Rates Ahead, Part I
Brace yourself for one of the greatest interest-rate surges in decades — beginning first in the long-term Treasury markets … later spreading to shorter term Treasuries … and ultimately enveloping nearly every loan, debt, credit, and money market instrument on the planet.
Doctors 'losing skills because of EU rules'
European cuts to junior doctors hours means in 'ten year's time the NHS will have surgeons who do not know how to operate', a survey has warned
Council considers banning word 'obesity' to avoid offending overweight children
A council is considering banning the word “obesity” from its health campaigns for fear of offending overweight children
Labour caught out over NHS petition e-mails
Labour was today caught up in a new row over its use of personal data after e-mailing NHS professionals using their work addresses to ask for their support.
Map Of The Day: Awesome Visualization Of Global Debt Levels
As government debt levels surge worldwide a sea of red balance sheets have begun to engulf the world
Will Britain Be British in 30 Years Time? Not if the Tories and Labour Have Their Way
Mass immigration policies pursued by both Labour and Conservative parties havecaused English-speaking children to become a minority in 1,500 schools in Britain and if left unchecked, will see British people reduced to an absolute minority within 30 years.
According to a new report issued by the Department for Children, Schools, and Families, more than half the pupils in 1,284 primary schools, 210 secondary schools and 51 special schools across England now come from a “non-English speaking background
MPs' expenses: Politicians granted legal aid
Three politicians accused of fiddling their expenses have won a bid to get the public to pick up their legal bill
Depressed about our future
America is broke. We Americans have spent the last 15 years borrowing money for consumption instead of investment. Because of our high levels of debt, several prominent economists, including Gerald Celente — who predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union, the housing bubble and the tea parties — and Peter Schiff — who predicted both the NASDAQ bubble and the housing bubble — are predicting a coming collapse that will dwarf the housing bubble
'Israel may drag US into new war'
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has expressed fears that Israel may attempt to involve the US in a new aggression against Lebanon or the Gaza Strip.
Intel Wants Brain Implants in Its Customers' Heads by 2020
If the idea of turning consumers into true cyborgs sounds creepy, don't tell Intel researchers. Intel's Pittsburgh lab aims to develop brain implants that can control all sorts of gadgets directly via brain waves by 2020.
Spend It Now! A Huge New Tax Is Coming...
Everything you buy is about to become 20% more expensive..
Afghan fury after Nato troops open fire on bus full of civilians, killing four
International troops opened fire on a bus carrying Afghan civilians today, killing four people and setting off anti-American protests by furious locals.
Witnesses said the bus, which was travelling in Kandahar province's Zhari district, had pulled over to allow an American convoy to pass when gunfire broke out.
Taxpayers' Alliance begins nationwide tour with 'debt clock' to highlight national deficit
Britain's crippling debts were put centre stage in the election campaign today when a new ‘national debt clock’ began a tour of the country.
The custom-built clock, commissioned by the Taxpayers’ Alliance, will broadcast a rolling record of Britain’s national debt in red LEDs standing almost three feet high.
The clock had to be built 23 feet long to display the huge figure, which is ticking up at a rate of more than £5,000 per second
Why UK Inflation Will Increase in 2010
The 'expert' economists tell us that Inflation is not a risk to the UK. They say it has risen but will decline again fairly quickly and everything is under control. But it's not. Ask real people running real businesses and they will tell you there a host of reasons why inflation will increase:
Leaked U.S. Document Calls For “Global Regime” To Tackle Climate Change
Says critics must be disarmed, all elements of Copenhagen Accord must be operationalised
Soros warns Europe of disintegration
The eurozone area and wider European Union is now “on the brink” of disintegration unless Germany steps up and provides loans at below-market rates to Greece, George Soros, the hedge fund manager, has warned
The low-energy light bulbs that take control of your TV
Some feared it must have been a problem with their remote. Others suspected ghostly goings-on.
But when TV viewers complained their sets were changing channel by themselves, few could have guessed the real culprit - their light bulbs.
Low-energy bulbs can make your television turn over the station at random, according to customers.
US denies climate aid to countries opposing Copenhagen accord
Bolivia and Ecuador will be denied aid after both opposed the accord
Microchipping Airport Workers
Strict guidelines prevent political parties from using NHS sites for electioneering.
In bitter scenes as the key event threatened to flop, journalists quizzing Gordon Brown from the BBC, Sky News and The Sun were also booed at the bad tempered event.
The glamorous activist who introduced Labour's manifesto has previously called for the violent death of Margaret Thatcher and for Gordon Brown to be removed as Prime Minister.
Ellie Gellard has over 3,000 followers on Twitter and includes Ed Balls, Sarah Brown and Alastair Campbell among her fans.
But the decision to ask the 20-year-old student to introduce Mr Brown at such as high profile event risked backfiring today.
Miss Gellard - who goes under the name 'Bevanite Ellie' on her website - last year suggested that she would like to see elderly Baroness Thatcher fall down the stairs on a skateboard.
READ it all and weep
Brit Conquers Space - With Helium Balloon
A space enthusiast has taken spectacular images of the Earth's surface from space - using a standard digital camera taped to a helium balloon.
Live Ammo Removed From Soldier's Head
A US military doctor has removed a live round of ammunition from the head of an Afghan soldier in an unusual and harrowing operation.
Exclusive: NHS targets and secrecy are hurting patients, doctor warns
Consultant warned that patients were being lied to by hospital officials. But health managers responded with false accusations about his competence. Clearing his name cost him dear
Doctor 'exploited vulnerable MS patients'
A doctor who exploited a group of "vulnerable" multiple sclerosis patients used stem cells that were not designed for human use, a fitness to practise panel found.
Three politicians accused of fiddling their expenses have won a bid to get the public to pick up their legal bill.
Court officials confirmed that the trio of Labour MPs will receive taxpayer-funded legal aid.
David Chaytor, Elliot Morley and Jim Devine are due to go on trial later this year accused of theft by false accounting.
They are accused of stealing almost £60,000 in allowances through false mortgage applications, rent claims and invoices for services.
Tens of thousands of British women warned their breast implants could rupture
Nearly fifty thousands women in the UK have been warned by health chiefs that their breast implants could explode.
A Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate who is facing "serious" criminal allegations has been forced to stand down, it emerged today.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said David Murray had "done the right thing" by withdrawing as the party's candidate in The Wrekin, Shropshire.
Whole article here
We are exactly one week in to Election 2010, and already the tabloids have got bored. They tried for the first few days: they gave plenty of pages to the coverage, they wheeled out their big shot columnists and they amped up the tribal invective. Sadly though, seeing as interesting events have so resolutely failed to occur, this early barnstorming gusto has swiftly tapered away into nothingness.
The once feared political operator Lord Mandelson - whose strategy backfired spectacularly when he attacked business leaders who opposed Labour's hike in national insurance - has blundered again.
Tedbits 2010 Outlook: When Hope Turns to Fear, Part V
2010 Outlook Conclusions
As we near the APEX of the countertrend rallies in many markets and economies, the air is full of HIGHLY-COMBUSTIBLE situations just waiting for someone to light the MATCH. The full debacle of the next leg down in developed world economies is at the doorstep. What event will act as catalyst is unknowable, and the list of candidates is mountainous. Corruption and criminality within the public sectors, crony capitalists and banksters set the stage for an explosive cocktail, are set to immolate the private sectors that still produce wealth and the public at large.
Labour provokes outrage after botched attempt to sign up doctors for election stunt
Underhand tactics? Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah on the way to the Labour manifesto launch in Birmingham today
Labour has provoked outrage from doctors after a botched attempt to enlist their support in an election stunt.
The party was caught out approaching senior clinicians and other health staff - via their personal NHS addresses - asking them to sign a letter backing Labour's NHS policy
Soybean Overconsumption (first seven months of 2009/10)
What this means
The soybean prices are going way up. How high they go depends on how long the current overconsumption lasts. In other words, right now it would take a 50 to 80 percent rise in prices to ration demand until next harvest. However, with one months more of the current overconsumption, soybeans prices will have to double or triple to ration demand.
Watch for the USDA’s Madoff Moment
As his ponzi scheme collapsed due to withdrawal requests, Madoff had to face reality and shocked the world by admitting the truth. Investors who believed they owned billions found they had a little over 100 million to divide among themselves. The USDA, in the next two months, will also have to face the reality and admit to the world that the US is missing a ten to twenty million metric tons of soybeans. The news should be as well received as Madoff’s announcement.
(Regular readers of Mr deCarbonnel's work will realise the full implications of what this means. If he is correct in his analysis the SHTF in about 2 months. We'll keep you up to date with any further developments.)
Doctors fear that they are being used.
A doctor has complained that senior Labour figures are trying to pressure her into publicly backing the party against her will.
UK TAXPAYERS FACE £650M BILL TO BAIL OUT DEBT-RIDDEN GREECE
BRITISH taxpayers are facing a £650million bill after debt-hit Greece was handed a huge financial bail-out by the international community.
BOMBSHELL – Whistle Blower Comes Forward With Solid Proof The Price Of Gold And Silver Is Being Manipulated By Major Financial Institutions
For a long time many of us have had very serious suspicions that the prices of gold and silver were being highly manipulated. But now, thanks to the mind blowing testimony of one very brave whistle blower, the blatant manipulation of the world gold and silver markets is being blown wide open. What you are about to read below is absolutely staggering. Once the American people learn how incredibly corrupt the world financial system is, it is going to change everything. The government that we are all trusting to guard the integrity of the financial system is failing to do that job. It turns out that the Commodities Futures Trading Commission has been sitting on solid evidence that the elite banking powers have been openly and blatantly manipulating the price of gold and silver. Even though they were basically handed a "smoking gun", they have done absolutely nothing with it. But now the information has gone public and the CFTC is red-faced.
With 1 in 5 Americans out of work, Obama issues over a million green cards
Is The Metals Market A Ponzi Scheme?
The stories are certainly gaining credibility - and volume
Gold Set to Re-Test All Time High of USD 1,225 in Coming Weeks
“Hello out there. Have you been watching the price of gold lately?” In dollar terms the gold price is now about 5 percent below its all time high, but the weakness of the pound and the euro against the American currency means that the price of the yellow metal in sterling and euros has just made new record highs. The price of an ounce of gold has reached record levels of £754 and €865 in recent trading, and the dollar price has reached a three-month high of $1,157. In August last year the gold price in sterling terms was £562, so British gold investors have made a profit of 34percent, compared with a rise in the dollar price of 23percent over the same period.
Climategate bust: UN’s last, desperate bid for unelected world government depends on Bonn
There are not many empty seats in the dismal, echoing conference chamber in the ghastly concrete box that is the Hotel Maritim here in Bonn, where the UN’s latest attempt to maneuver the 194 States Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change gets underway today
The Fifteen Most Fabulous Herbal Sedatives
Do you ever just feel like you need to take a pill to take the edge off?
Well a lot of us get extra stressed around the holiday season, and if you don’t want to take something that will totally knock you out, try a gentle relaxing cup of sedative tea instead of popping a pill.
Metal$ are in the pits
Trader blows whistle on gold & silver price manipulation
There is no silver lining to the activities of JPMorgan Chase and HSBC in the precious-metals market here and in London, says a 40-year veteran of the metal pits.
The banks, which do the Federal Reserve's bidding in the metals markets, have long been the government's lead actors in keeping down the prices of gold and silver, according to a former Goldman Sachs trader working at the London Bullion Market Association.
Maguire was scheduled to testify last week before the Commodities Futures Trade Commission, which is looking into the activities of large banks in the metals market, but was knocked off the list at the last moment. So, he went public.
(The NY Times has finally covered this story. Maybe they realised that they couldn't ignore the independent internet media and blogs any longer)
The Pirate Party: how to bypass the great Australian firewall
When Exit International wanted to ensure its members could access its pro-euthanasia material, set to be blocked under the government's proposed Internet content filter, it turned to the Pirate Party of Australia.
Evidence that Depleted Uranium is intended as a weapon of genocide
Now that the horrors of Depleted Uranium are being revealed to the world, we can expect for apologists to begin moving into the next phase of damage control within the coming months. It will likely be claimed that the depopulation of much of the Middle East was an unfortunate result of the DU that the Pentagon used because it was not aware of the health effects it would have.
This article is meant to demonstrate why this is not the case. The radioactive waste is intentionally used to depopulate and economically cripple the nations that the United States
Obama going off the deep end
A recent analysis by Roger Simon of PJTV Media maintains that Obama is showing signs of mental illness. A wide variety of commentators have observed that Obama displays severe narcissism. Obama is conceited, and he is demonstrating a serious disassociation from reality.
Now office workers face slop bins plan
Officer workers snacking at their desks could be forced to put their leftovers into slop buckets under a Government recycling scheme
Ofice workers snacking at their desks could be forced to put leftovers into special slop buckets, it emerged last night.
Election hate row explodes
● Board of Deputies asks Labour Party to withdraw conspiracy-theory MPs from poll
The Board of Deputies has asked the Labour Party to consider whether two anti-Zionist MPs should be withdrawn as candidates following comments warning voters about the alleged influence of the "Israel lobby" on the UK election.
The unprecedented intervention from the Board follows comments from Martin Linton and Sir Gerald Kaufman last month at a meeting in Parliament held by Friends of Al-Aqsa to discuss Israeli house demolitions.
The 'Obama doctrine': kill, don't detain
George Bush left a big problem in the shape of Guantánamo. The solution? Don't capture bad guys, assassinate by drone
Organic food sales plunge as shoppers tighten belts
Shoppers are turning away from expensive organic food as they cut back on their household budgets.
Sales of organic food, drink and other products fell by 12.9 per cent compared to last year.
The Soil Association's Organic Market Report 2010 published today showed that sales in the UK dropped from £2.1billion in 2008 to £1.84billion last year.
'This will outrage British taxpayers': Deal to rescue Greece to soak up millions
Greece was last night handed a generous national bailout by its euro partners which will end up costing British taxpayers more than £600million a year
UN process in danger unless world agrees on climate change
The United Nation process is in danger of collapsing unless countries are able to agree on the best way to stop global warming by the end of this year, the outgoing head of climate change negotiations has warned
NHS Bankrupts Britain
The government is set to spend an estimated £677 billion this financial year on the public sector (2009-10), that is currently running an ANNUAL £167 billion deficit, i.e. the government spends £167 billion a YEAR more than it earns in revenue which is contributing to towards igniting Britains inflationary debt spiral, that risks accelerating trend towards an hyper inflationary bust leaving savers with worthless paper and the economy in ruins, i.e. bankrupt
Full Spectrum Internet Media Censorship, UK Bill Heralds Death of the Internet
All Human Cattle To Be Microchipped By 2017
Jacqui Smith's secret plan to carry on snooping
The home secretary has vowed to scrap a ‘big brother’ database, but a bid to spy on us all continues
NHS RULES RELAXED FOR MUSLIMS AS CRUCIFIX IS BANNED
THE NHS was accused of hypocrisy last night after relaxing rules on superbug hygiene to let Muslim staff wear long sleeves and Sikhs display their religious symbols.
Who REALLY Owns The Media In 2010?
I’m paid too much, says police chief, and so are lots of other public service bosses
The pay packages of public sector chief executives are unjustifiable, irresponsible and must be reined in, according to one of Britain’s top police officers. Writing in The Times today, Sir Norman Bettison, the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, said that his £213,000 salary and pension package was too large.
The Wake Up Call...Shattering Denial
Some of the assertions made in this document are astounding and I confess that there was a time when I would have dismissed these notions without a second thought. Now, after the research I have conducted over the last 4 months I can no longer enjoy the luxury of blissful ignorance. I admonish you to eat the fish and spit out the bones as your read but I believe there is a lot more fish than bones in this article
What happens to petrol prices when the economy starts motoring again?
"A weak currency arises from a weak economy which in turn is the result of a weak government." It was a simple equation trotted out by now-Prime Minister Gordon Brown when in the opposition party during the 1990s.
Hold on tight: Britain's amusement parks are closing fast
Global warming: It has to be catastrophe
We have a surplus of people pretending to know the truth about climate change, and the truth they pretend to know is uniformly disastrous
Digital Economy Bill: Nine things you can't do any more
The Digital Economy Bill has a number of clauses that, if taken to their logical extremes, could see some pretty horrible outcomes. It's completed its whistle-stop tour of the legislative process, sprinting from Commons to Lords with barely a pause for breath before getting the nod from Her Maj. MPs decided to get the bill into law first and worry about the details later.
Until Ofcom hammers out the mechanics of the processes outlined in the bill, it's impossible to say how we'll be affected. We take a look at some of the worst-case scenarios.
NSA Wiretapping, Digital Economy Bill, Bonn Climate Talks - Sunday Update
corbettreport — 11 April 2010 — Sunday Update is a public service of The Corbett Report podcast. Download the latest episode of The Corbett Report from the homepage:
http://www.corbettreport.com
The Angry Exile, Upside Down Correspondent
According to The Australian support for scrapping the state governments is rising as around four in ten now see them as the least effective level of government. Four in ten people may well have a point, but I wonder if a large part of that is because the states have ceded far too much power to the federal government in Canberra. It's harder for state level government to be effective when it's restricted either legally or financially or both by a layer of government above it. It's just as hard for the state level government to be truly answerable to its citizens when it can simply shrug and pass the buck up to the federal level. Small wonder several Australians I know have said they'd be quite happy to ditch the states altogether. A good look at Britain and its place in the EU should show them why this view is dangerously wrong. If you want your life run by a powerful and remote government and for the elected representatives from where you live to have less and less significance then sidelining state governments is the way to go.
Now federalism in itself is not a bad thing. Quite the reverse. There is a lot to be said for having a level of government that deals with borders and relations with other parts of the world, but leaves much of the internal running to a number of smaller governments who are elected and look after their own areas according to the wishes of the people who actually live there. A federation of competing states, which I'm told is what Australia was supposed to be, has the benefit of offering a la carte rather than Hobson's choice to citizens and business. If one state has high local taxes and/or poor services then it faces the prospect of people moving to another state with lower taxes and/or better services. If someone disagrees with a law in one state they may find that it doesn't apply somewhere else. In the US there are fifty options just at the state level, with county and city ordinances providing for even more variation. Want to be able to just pop out and buy a gun, no questions asked? Move to Vermont. Want to pay no sales taxes? Move to Alaska. Don't mind gun laws and up to 10.75% sales tax as long as it's warm? Try California. Even here in Oz where there are only six states and two territories it's possible to make choices about where to live based on how things are done. Take abortion for example - if you're pro-choice Victoria and the ACT are most in line with your views, New South Wales to a lesser extent. If you're opposed to abortion you'll find the toughest laws are in Queensland. Similarly if you think prostitution should be illegal then South Australia is probably for you, and you should certainly steer clear of the eastern states, especially NSW. Similarly certain taxes such as stamp duty and payroll tax vary from state to state, so if that's a hot issue then again you have a choice. On issues where there is no choice and the law, services, the tax regime, whatever is the same everywhere then this is usually because the decisions are being made one level further away from the citizens.
Choice means individuals get to live nearer to their ideals and preferences. Choice is good. Unfortunately choice is not what you get if you give the federal government too much power. I'm all for federalism - yes, even in Europe - but as a way to promote choice for all individuals in a federation, not to make everything the same. That is what the EU is doing wrong, and that is why 60 million plus people in Britain, not to mention the thick end of half a billion across the rest of the EU, are finding ever greater areas of their lives run by a remote central government that has little knowledge of their situation and even less reason to care. If that's the model Australians want then abolishing state governments is the way to go. But if it's the end of ivory towers and a move towards government that understands the local issues that matter to individual citizens then far from abolishing state governments Australians should be demanding they take on much of the federal government's roles and powers, and perhaps even to have some of that brought down to city or shire level. The problem of irresponsible and ineffective government is rarely improved by moving responsibility further away from the governed - the closer it is to the voters the more incentive there is to get it right.
© Blogger template 'Perfection' by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008
Back to TOP
