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Sunday 24 October 2010

Bad news is coming in think and fast...

There is just too much bad news in the week-end papers, especially the Sundays - from the news that hospital waiting lists are set to rise hence lives being put at risk to selling off our forests, our ancient woodlands - an end to our beautiful landscape !  Whether we agree or not it's certainly what the Tories have in mind. And the lib dems seem to be supporting them yet again !  I always thought the lib dems were decent people...

After all the good work that Labour did in investing in our beloved NHS, the Tories are set to destroy it.  We shall once again, yes I'm harking back to the 80s, witness ill people lying in corridors for 24 hours, possibly in pain, before they see a doctor;  nurses running from one ward to another to find medication for a patient as their drug cupboard has run out but they aren't allowed to order any more until Monday;   patients being sent home as the surgeon finds that he can't allocate you to his list after all because the theatre has to close down as a theatre sister has taken redundancy (quite voluntary you understand...  in fact she was glad to 'get out' !) and the hospital has been told to freeze posts;  how long will it be before a new generation of diagnostic equipment comes along, only for it not to be afforded or one that has broken down has to be replaced but can't possibly ? http://url4t.com/i_J  And it will be no good turning to charities, hoping they'll be able to assist... http://url4t.com/oOI


Is this where the so-called 'Big Society' will be stepping in...  when we all 'chip-in' ?  Oh but hang on, many of us will be losing our jobs so not sure how we'll be able to do that...  some families are looking at a very unprosperous future...  middle-class families at that !  The poor will remain poor and actually become poorer.  Ah...  I get it !!  The rich will step-in and make a large donation towards that piece of much-needed equipment...  just like it was in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  They were called 'benefactors' and we all had to nod, tip our caps and be very grateful. Is that what life has in store for us ordinary folk in the 21st century ? Whether we agree or not it's certainly what the Conservatives have in mind. And the Lib Dems seem to be supporting them yet again !  


And then we come to the forests and ancient woodland - soon to be sold off to build more golf courses for the lucky few , centre parc type holiday camps where no-one will be able to afford to go...  Trees will be felled that have grown over centuries. And this isn't harking back to the 80s - it's harking back to the days of Magna Carta - the days of feudalism...  where only rich landowners had any say in what went on http://url4t.com/1Z0   Of course those with estates will still enjoy their ancient woodlands and forests...  they'll be able to roam at their will, rustle through the fallen leaves as they walk along, enjoy the sun as it dapples through the tree branches.   Oh yes it's all looking very jolly...  for the few.  But for the rest of us ?  The birds will lose their nesting grounds, the wildlife will lose their habitats...  Will such carnage affect our climate ?  The British landscape is going to resemble a prairie...  is that what we really want ?  Whether we want it or not, that's what the Tories have in mind.  And the Lib Dems seem to be supporting them, yet again


Those are just two areas of concern...  the papers are full of more...  even the Civil Servants are coming out telling us how it really is.  And it's scary...  quite appropriate as we approach Halloween !  http://url4t.com/Sjg


The newspapers appear happy to report this news..  but they were happy to report and promote the Tories..  they fell in love with Nick Clegg !  But it made news. It's big business - whether good or bad !  And recently it's all been bad.


The mantra that "it's Labour's fault" has stuck like glue !  People have bought it.  People believe it.  Is that why, despite a disapproval of the government rating, we're still below the Tories in the polls ? But what about the money that was used to bail out the Banks ?  However, I'm sure we don't need to worry - they'll feel that they can no longer pay huge bonuses and fat-cat salaries.  The loan will be paid back to the tax-payer in no time at all ! .


I can't see the private sector 'mopping up' as the Tories glibly spit out the rhetoric -  can you ?  The private sector is set to lose jobs too  http://url4t.com/NPF   
This certainly isn't what the Tories had in mind. And the lib dems seem to be supporting them yet again


I'm usually an optimistic sort of person.. but somehow.. I think things are looking dire.  The economy is not looking good.  And people are going to suffer as never before - all through no fault of their own !  It seems that we are being asked to pay for others' greed and mistakes..  Surely I've got that wrong !
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Thursday 14 October 2010

So who exactly is President Sebastian Pinera and do we need to be interested in him ? You bet we do !

We have all been moved by the scenes of the miners surfacing from that deep hole, in the mine.  All 33 were brought safely to ground level to be greeted by their President Sebastian Pinera.
I think we were all warmed by this human show of care and compassion for the miners and their families. The show of emotion and joy was a sight to behold,  brought to us by TV from a country in South America.  I suspect we may possibly know quite a bit about the country's wines but what do we know about Chile's President ?

Pinera was born into a priviliged background, his father was Chile's Ambassador to Belgium and the United Nations, based in New York. His uncle was Archbishop Bernardino PiƱera.  After spending some time at Harvard, Pinera graduated with a BA and a Ph.D and he became a Professor of Economic Political Theory at the University of Chile.

Pinera entered right wing politics and served in General Pinochet's Cabinet. Pinochet was invited to take tea at No. 10 with Margaret Thatcher...  and the rest is well known history unless you are too young to remember that time.  You may think that he was arrested for being a fascist dictator ?  Well, partly, but there was a little bit more to it than that...  For starters you could read http://url4t.com/Mla   http://url4t.com/dqs    There is much information on the internet.
And what is Pinochet's legacy in Chile ?   "Pinochet pushed through the education law just four days before leaving power; it placed the responsibility for education in the hands of the private sector at the same time as allowing complete freedom to create educational centres. The result was the deterioration of the quality of education, while making it prohibitively expensive. Working class people now struggle to get into university and have to make do with municipal secondary colleges – in other words, a second class education.."  Guardian  http://url4t.com/Dax  

So what else do we know about Sebastian Pinera...   He became President of Chile in January of this year, but only just by a lead of 4%. He is an extremely wealthy businessman, indeed he is a billionaire. An article in the New York Times gives some information.http://url4t.com/zjP and a little more information about his business interests...  and why he's pushed some aside into another organisation...  http://url4t.com/YZY.

His brother is  Jose Pinera who helped install Chile's economic programme as the General’s minister and today is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a rather influential research group in Washington.  He 'reformed' Chile's pension system...  This is what he's suggesting for now in the Western world - here he is on  Fox News (Murdoch's US News channel)   http://url4t.com/sqw video

What do we know about the Cato Institute ?  Well it's an American Think-Tank and one of it's former Board of Directors is one Rupert Murdoch.  A little info about Cato  http://url4t.com/Cfv   http://url4t.com/zZv. 
plus a further view  "Cato argues for the abolition of the welfare system, against the U.S. government pursuing an interventionist foreign policy, in favor of civil liberties and limits on executive power, and in favor of more relaxed immigration policies and for a more deregulated healthcare system"   http://url4t.com/O7Q

George F Will was guest speaker at the Cato Institute's Milton Friedman dinner this year. Take a look at the column on the right hand side...  recognise any names from the UK ?  http://url4t.com/4q0    George Will is a Pulitzer Prize-Winning columnist at the Washington Post - one of the newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch. Yes, his name crops up all over the place doesn't it ?

We mustn't forget to mention Milton Friedman  - he was probably the most influential economist in the Western world during the latter part of the 20th century.  Reagan and Thatcher are probably his most prominent, ardent fans !  "The core of Milton Friedman’s theories is that the free market, motivated by profit and self-interest, is capable of solving all economic problems. Governments should get out of the way and let the creative force of capitalism perform its magic".  http://url4t.com/1Lr

Maybe some of the above explains why we should be interested in President Pinera.   But maybe there's another reason....  one week we're watching Pinera on our television screens welcoming miners surface from the mine and the following week we have a little bit of history repeating itself - The President of Chile is invited to take tea with the British Prime Minister at No. 10... wonder what they'll chat about ? 

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Wednesday 6 October 2010

Why so little news coverage on Coulson/Murdoch ?... plus articles/videos from 4th/5th October...

Despite Dispatches being aired on Ch4 on Monday evening, there has been very little news reporting about the allegations made in that documentary which demonstrated to us that there is more to this than first met the eye !  And isn't it a little bit surprising considering the individuals involved in this - royalty, politicians, celebrities major and minor... big names !  And some big pay-outs too, presumably to keep some individuals quiet ! Why else were big pay-outs made... ? 

The programme even showed us how the alleged phone-hacking took place... (see link below).  Various people have come forward, seemingly concerned that invation of their privacy has been been confirmed, yet still very little reporting.  Witnesses who were previous staff at the News of the World are coming forward to confirm that the allegations hold some truth.  Yet anyone turning on their TV, listening to their radio wouldn't even know that these allegations/concerns are being aired...  In the programme various people said that they had been threatened by senior executives from News International.   Lord John Prescott & Tom Watson MP  spoke openly about threats/pressure.  Goodness knows how many other companies/interests Murdoch has, under what guise, or who in his family co-own other bits of the media or social networking...   Millions have been paid out to some people in out-of-court settlements...     why ?  What do they need to keep quiet about ?   And did you know that some of the key individuals in this drama live near each other - within screaming distance of one Mr. David Cameron ?  No, it was news to me too when Dispatches informed us.

In the documentary, the Met Police appeared to recognise that there was more to this than first reported yet chose to select only one piece of the jig-saw, allowing other parts of the story to be buried !  What does this say about transparency, the law and justice in this country ?  How can one man be allowed to dominate not just the media but political parties, business, and so much more.  How has this happened ?

A presenteer on Sky News really gave something away this evening.  During the press review she uttered that Obama appeared to be in trouble, but it wasn't surprising that the news appeared to be against him, as "news in the US is big business".  What does that mean - "news is big business" !  Surely news is news...  No I'm not so naieve...  how far have we travelled in recent years where business sometimes appears to be more important than the truth?  (see the link below to see who's influencing politics in the US)

We have always been served well by the BBC and its neutrality has been much to its credit. But that neutrality seems to have disappeared in recent times.  Why ?  Is there more to this than meets the eye.. ?

One last question - why did Mark Thompson from the BBC visit Cameron shortly after the election ? What did that conversation consist of ?  There was some transparency about his visit - he did, after all, knock on the front door of No. 10.   Er..  what's significant about that you might ask...  doesn't everyone ?  It appears not :  Murdoch also visited around the same time - but he went in through the back door ! If there's nothing to hide, why hide ?!

The next question is : what is really being hidden here - is it a matter of phone-hacking - which is serious and indeed illegal - or is there something more to worry about...  something more sinister...

Do we need to warn that every citizen should be worried about their liberty, about truth, about their children's futures...  Is news being suppressed ?  Will social media be taken over by media moguls ?  Who is snooping into our lives ?   Are we losing our free speech ?  Are we being manipulated by being ignored ?   And more sincerely,  are we losing not just the right to speak but the the right to be heard ? 

List of articles/videos  Coulson/Murdoch related
Channel 4 Dispatches - watch the programme here video 4th Oct  http://url4t.com/81F 
The Indy  Where we're at...      http://url4t.com/Hqg 
The Spectator  Andy Coulson will (probably, mabe) be in Court soon    http://url4t.com/jHp 
ITV News   Cameron defends Coulson  video  5th Oct  http://url4t.com/g7K
Guardian  How the phone-hacking story  the New York Times  has taken off   http://url4t.com/Y0-
PR Week  Dispatches programme may end Coulson's honeymoon.. 
Guardian   PM defends Coulson but says no-one is unsackable....   http://url4t.com/dUK
Latina Lista  Murdoch, Mayor Bloomberg, 'Keep America  competitive by fixing immigration'   http://url4t.com/5Wp
New York Times  $1million donation - Murdoch expands his political sphere  http://url4t.com/r6s 
Guardian   Murdoch makes another downpayment in support of Republicans - but gives Obama a bloody nose!   http://url4t.com/9dO

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