Europe 2013 – The Fifth Reich?

The idea of the Third Reich was something that we became expressly familiar with through the second quarter of the last century. The German Empire was established by a power hungry megalomaniac hell bent of World Domination and German Totalitarianism. A single nation, under the leadership of one party, for the good of one race of people, come hell or high water. The effect of this madness? A war that wiped out millions of people, flattened whole cities throughout Europe and damaged the economies and geopolitical landscape of the Euro Zone for decades to come.

Fast forward sixty years, and the current German Chancellor seems to have pulled off what the Nazi Dictator Adolf Hitler yearned to do without the shot of a single bullet, without the concentration camps, massive armies and widespread destruction of infrastructure, assets and the establishment. How? Simple, forget about using the dominance of force, and allow the folly of man’s greed play the power into your hands.

Europe 2013 is meant to be a United Zone of nations, brought together in a common interest, to give equality, diversity and collective prosperity to every member country right? Governed by a parliament, protected by a system of complex legal legislative directives, and operated for the preferential treatment of members through a variety of agreements and allowances that enable growth and development through trade, financial stability and equality.

In its simplest terms, the Euro Zone is an agreement which sort to unify Europe. In a world unbalanced by national policies designed to protect and ensure the stability of the national economy of a country, areas of global inequality in terms of workers rights and how the protection of these rights has lead to areas like the Euro Zone finding themselves incapable of competing against developing markets where labour is cheap and operating costs are low, the idea of a unified, equal and protected Europe was appealing to all.

Industrialised nations were only too happy to climb into bed with their lesser developed neighbours as they saw opportunities to secure markets for their skills, manufacturing industries and productivity. As prosperity grew, the union, flush with the proceeds of member nations keen on building equality to stimulate trade, grow internal markets and develop the region, was only too happy to distribute huge financial incentives in the forms of this grant or that loan to facilitate infrastructure projects which in turn lead to the stimulation of job creation, and promoted an internal demand for manufactured goods, skills and supply lines throughout the Euro Zone.

All well and good while the system is working. Everyone seems to be equals, there is a collective system of bringing concerns to the table, discussing them, and working together to resolve any issues. Legislation is worked out, debated and determined to the benefit of all the member states, bringing into effect a national style of identity across the board in all EU Member Nations. Employees suddenly have equal rights from Romania through to France. Members from any member nations enjoy freedom of travel/movement. Protections are in place to protect savings, business, trade, infrastructure, natural resources, the environment and the collective economies of every member of the union.

Courtesy – Derek Bacon – Getty Images

That is, until something goes wrong. Cue the global financial meltdown of the last five years. In these unprecedented financial times, it is clear to see the cracks in the system. Equality? What equality. For the first time in half a century, German dominance has once more taken centre stage as Angela Merkel shows time and time again over the last few years the reality of what equality means for Greek and now Cyprian citizens.

What truly beggars belief is the complete madness of fiscal policies that the Euro Zone seem willing to implement in nations on the edge of the system, places where it would seem to be of little consequence whether the idea is of sound and logical design, but drawn out more from a need to appease voters at home, than the equality or future reality for real, honest citizens of this United Europe. In a market desperate for stability, direction and a clear sense of responsibility, all we see are leaders rushing to dodge the bullet, pass the buck, and make sure at whatever cost that they are protecting their own national interests. Bugger the United Europe in this instance.

The worrying trend for me is the way in which at every turn along this torturous road it has been the German politicians that have really been calling the shots. Since the demise of the world money markets, we have seen any number of wealthy European Economies fall into fiscal woe. Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal to mention but a few. Yet in these cases billion dollar bail outs were handed out freely, without bringing a nation to its knees. Now however, when it comes to less important member states, economies perhaps not viewed as critical to the Euro stability, that we see the reality of what equality means to the German powerhouse. The sad thing is that when it comes down to it, no one within the Euro Zone has the financial muscle to stand up to Angela Merkel, and for this reason, she is able to bull headedly put the very future of Europe at risk to maintain credibility back home.

There is an argument that says Cyprus has become a safe haven for Russian Billionaires who use it as an off shore centre of storing large deposits of dirty money, and for this reason, why should German tax payers foot the bill to bail out the Cyprian government in their hour of need. I would love to see this argument used in Switzerland should heaven forbid, it ever need a financial bailout. Regardless of who has banked their money in a nations financial banking system, how does this translate to fairness when a fiscal demand attached to a bailout offer sees consideration given to taxation of ordinary savers who have placed their hard earned money into accounts throughout a nations banking system.

Stop for a single moment and consider what savings are. I have listened to numerous financial experts who freely wag their chins on Radio and National Television suggesting that savers should be exposed to the same type of risk as anyone investing their money in any type of investment based on the expectation of a payment of interest on their savings. For the vast majority of people, savings are exactly what they would suggest. Deposits made into what is perceived to be a safe and secure domain to prepare for a capital purchase at some time in the future. Why do we use bank? If it were safer to keep my money stored under my bed do you not think I would do this? The only reason we place our hard earned capital into a bank account is based on the idea that for the 95% of the population that are not wealthy, the bank is the only safe institution where we can store our money while we go through the motion of saving up for that deposit on a house, a new car, a family, education, business idea.

If we perceived a savings account as a financial risk, would we use it as a way of keeping our money safe? If we were told openly and honestly that in real terms, this is NOT a savings account, but a vehicle of investment, a loan in effect to the bank, and there was no guarantee that we would get out of it as much as we put in at the start, would honest, hard working, average people be at all interested in depositing any sum of money into a savings account?

Quite honestly, if this was the truth they were forced to print in the literature of a savings accounts terms and conditions, I could see the sales of home safes going through the roof in the next five years. If you are looking for a fairly good stock market investment right now, Chubb would be a pretty good bet!

All jokes aside, it is astounding to me, or any lay person, that anyone with access to the top financial economists money can buy, would even consider the proposal we currently see on the table in Cyprus. A tax on savings is ludicrous. Do you WANT to start a run on the banks? Are you seriously looking to destabilise the rest of Europe? I mean come on, can you honestly tell me that no one considered that a possible result of such a proposal would be that savers in every European Country in financial difficulties right now, would not look at the proposal in Cyprus, put two and two together, and realise that, just maybe, their own savings could now be at risk?

I am no economist. I do not work for any government, nor do I confer or speak daily to financial experts, and even I can figure out that this is a potential risk. Why? Simple. I am a saver, with funds in a large British Banking institution who is wondering if my savings could ever be pounced on if the UK gets into choppy waters. We’ve already been downgraded by one financial institution, indicating that they are expecting us to have difficulties in repaying our debt. What can I draw from this? At some point in the future, it is likely if not certain that the UK will default on its payments. When this might happen, who knows. It is even possible it will never happen, however, for someone out there, it is a very real possibility, and for that reason, it is a very real concern to me.

So what do I do? Rush down to the bank and draw out my savings? How many other people throughout Europe are asking themselves the exact same question right now? How do we now AVOID a run on the banks?

For many people, this is quite simply a fore runner of a tax on wealth. This means that for 5% of the worlds population, they are really itchy about having to pay more on their vast sums of money, so they would prefer to see 95% of the worlds population suffer to foot the bill so they can continue to live in the lap of luxury.

Fair? Where is the equality in that? No, I am sorry this is not balanced Europe. This is not a place where it does not matter what you bring to the table. When it comes down to the crunch, it is the people with the power, in this instance our good friends the Germans’ that are calling the shots. If it is not in their interest to offer a bail out plan, then to hell with it, they will bring the EU to its knees before they see any more of their taxes paid out to help their neighbours in the Euro Zone. So that concept of equality, openness  fairness? Yes well, it works when it is in our interest to see it work, but when risk is put before us, and you expect us to come to the rescue, expect your lives to become a living hell while we do it.

As a simple worker, a person much like the majority of the sixty plus million people living in the UK, all I can see from where I stand is a super powerful Germany becoming a dictatorial leader within this Europe on our borders. When ludicrous fiscal policies are being put forward, debated, considered and insisted on by the weight of a financially powerful nation within a Union, I would suggest that the union is not quite a union. I cannot help but wonder if there are people behind the strings, hell bent on collapsing Europe. Plunging the world into an economic melt down like no other. Let us be quite clear. When the normal man is losing everything he owns, there are powerful institution’s, and hugely wealthy people making money as a result of the collapse. Is this what is really going on in the Euro Zone?

I cannot believe that the German’s do not know what they are doing. I am not able to believe that no one in a position of power has not been able to consider the very things that I have written about above, without considering the risks associated with these actions, and for this reason alone, I cannot help but wonder what the real reason behind it is. For a long time, people have talked about a single currency, a worldwide monetary system, the phasing out of dollars and cents, and the introduction of a financial monetary system for the digital age. Is this how they are going to do it? Force the collapse of one major economy? It is only logical that the collapse of one single national economy will start a chain reaction around the globe.

We are teetering on the edge of oblivion. In our life time, money, the way we buy and sell, our value system and how we trade will change. For this to happen certain things have to take place. Look for example at how the British people have resisted the Euro. The offer 20 years ago of a single currency, an inter dependence, a great new world was a bridge too far for simple people. The idea was shunned, and so back to the drawing board they went. So if you can’t get people to buy into an idea openly, how do you introduce the idea? You create a set of circumstances that demand that people have to adopt your idea to survive. Bring the world to the brink of a financial melt down, threaten peoples savings, lose people money in bank collapses, bankrupt a country or two along the way and what happens? You will cause a panic like never before. Introduce a solution, in a single currency, a digital trading system that does away with paper money and plastic credit cards, and means that you store your financial certainty in your body in the form of a chip or some such device, safe, secure and never again at threat from being lost in some scary international collapse, and every single person will buy into your idea without batting an eye lid.

How certain are you now that Germany are not behind some weird kind of world domination conspiracy? Didn’t the Third Reich want to own the world?

I am not one for a conspiracy theory if I am honest. There are too many ifs, buts, ands, etc. Questions without answers, and assumptions without evidence. I don’t like assumption. However what I am saying is that there is something more than meets the eye going on here, and if it looks like a dog, sounds like a dog and feels like a dog, then sorry it is a dog!

I don’t know exactly what is going on, but one thing I am certain about. We will see a very different world soon. It is going to happen in our life time, and not for the first time in my life, I am certain that these are the end of days as we know them. Something very different is coming and it is coming soon.

The Black Shadow of the British Press

When it comes to reporting the British Press have perfected the art of bearing all in the national interest. The biggest question I believe lies in what is really in our interest, and what is to our detriment.

The Leveson Inquiry is sitting right now to try and establish the scale of the blame that falls at the feet of the press when it comes to standards of professionalism. It is interesting to note that while the world focuses its attention on the role that the press have played in eves dropping on the lives of the rich and famous, those that have become unwilling stars in the media spot light or the people whose lives have become the focus of national interest, I have to wonder why no one is asking to what extent the press actually keep us informed for the best interest.

Allow me to demonstrate my argument. Anyone who has done a business class at school, college or in university is taught that when you enter into a negotiation you keep your cards close to your chest. It is basis common sense that when you sit down to win a contract, get a job, buy a house, you never let the other side know everything about your position. If half the companies that deal with each other knew the truth of their potential partners position, the multimillion dollar deals that keep the world turning would never happen.

If half the employers around the world knew the real truth about you and me, they’d never employ anyone. If when you went to buy a house, the potential buyer knew your true intentions for your purchase, would they be so readily willing to complete the deal?

No, the truth is that you keep your weaknesses hidden, you keep the illusion of ability firmly in your favour, and you work to create an impression of ability or capability as the case may require. In this way you win the contract, get the job or close the deal on your new house.

So why the hell would the British Press take such great pleasure in advertising to the world that Britain is very much in reality on its last legs? It is strange to me that in this hour of need, when the reality is that we should really be pulling together in the national interest to try and win credibility and respect for Brand Britain, we are so readily willing to sit by and watch the press sell our nation down the drain.

Mr Cameron went to the Brussels summit last week severely handicapped as he sort to strike the best deal possible for Britain. How the hell could we seriously expect France or Germany to take us seriously when all they had to do was watch British telly to see clearly how desperate the British economy are for European stability? Can we even begin to realistically expect a good result when we’ve shot ourselves in the foot by openly admitting that without European partnerships we are finished?

It’s little wonder why Mr Cameron was ignored. He’s sat at the table fighting to get the best for Britain when everyone around the same table knows that he’s got nothing to offer. The city of London was once the financial power house of the world. In these trying times it would seem only right that we strive to keep that attention focused on the FSTE stock exchange.

There was a time when if it was on the FTSE, Dow Jones, or the Kikkei stock markets, then it was a mark of stability, strength and reliability. I agree that the banks were allowed to take stupid risks and bring the world to the brink of a global depression, but that ability to create a world of plastic credit was driven by our greed and consumerism.

Fifty years ago if you wanted it, you saved up until you could afford it. In the 21st Century if you want it you put it on plastic. It is that desire of ‘I want it and I want it now’ that gave the banks the green light to create this world of intangible debt. We knew through the media in 2005 that the debt ceiling was rapidly approaching One Trillion pounds. Did we slow down?

The press were quick to shout to the world that Northern Rock was in difficulties causing a run on a British bank for the first time in a hundred years. There was evidence that the treasury were already aware of the situation and had realised it would need to step in to save the bank, so was it really in the best interests of the nation to create the hype in the media that attributed to the run on the bank?

The press are seasoned veterans at creating a villain out of a criminal. Ok let’s not forget that criminals are a scourge on society to that I agree. They damage society and wreak havoc on innocent individuals. They cost our society an stupid amount of money in the costs associated with Law and Order. They are in very simple terms exactly what the press would paint them as, villains.

My issue here lies in two concerns with the attention that the press give to criminal activities. Since time in record, mankind has had a fascination with crime, death and punishment of criminals. So it is little wonder that when a crime is committed, the press scramble to sensationalise the affair. However how often do the press stop to consider the impact of their reporting on the people whose lives are affected by the actions of the criminal, but are not the focus of the media’s attention.

Criminals have families. In some cases the whole family are effected by a criminality and there is little cause for concern. But in the majority of cases, the families are just as innocent as the victim of the crime. Yet they are forced to see the content of their lives, home, family pulled apart in the eye of the national tabloids.

News report after news report we are reminded in vivid terms of the sordid details of the crime as the press scramble to make every report as juicy and controversial as possible. My question lies here. What impact does the incessant attention on a crime have on the wider families and friends of the criminal and victim? How many lives are ruined forever by association with someone that they have no option to be associated with?

In point of case, the Raoul Moat incident. What about the family of Raoul Moat, who have committed no crime, are not associated with the preparation or criminalisation of the man, but forever have to now live with the vivid portrayal of a disturbed and unbalanced man. Let’s look at the victim’s families. The family of his girlfriend will forever be haunted by the graphic images on her murder through the lenses of a news camera.

Or the family life of the police officer who was shot. We are now aware that the officer was recently arrested for allegedly beating up his wife. Was that as a result of the continuous reminder through the media of his nightmare? How is a family, a victim or those associated with the people affected meant to get on with their lives when there is a consistent habit of rehashing things through the media?

What is the long term effect of this media attention on people’s lives? Is it really necessary to delve so deeply into the lives of people and dissect, analyse, report on every speculation, suspicion, theory or rumour pertaining to a news story? What is reporting the news, and sensationalising the news really all about? What is it really in the public’s best interest to know? How much is too much?

Freedom of the press is a freedom that is given attached to great responsibility. The press should be an arm of service to the national interest, and it should be governed with a view of humility and a duty of care. The press should be a source of enrichment to our lives, a reliable deliverer of information that enhances our society, keeps us informed and builds unity in our communities. Disinformation is a disservice to our country. Being so fixated on reporting every little thing ultimately hurts our nation’s ability to be strong. There is a fine line between too little and too much, and it is at the heart of journalism to tread this line careful consideration to the impact of a news item. I can only hope that one of the outcomes of the Leveson enquiry is that the press come to realise that they have lost sight of their role in society and make measures to reform. Right now the attitude of the press is incorrigible. The time to break that cycle of stubborn resistance to change is now. The press can become a tool for powerful good in Britain. It’s up to us to see that we force the establishment to see reason and take action today.

Blood on the hands of our Media

I have watched the latest press coverage of the Haitian earthquake with some irritation at the sheer lack of responsibility with which our modern press portray national emergencies. In writing this post I do not in any way want to take anything away from the pain and suffering of the Haitian people, nor the impact of what they have had to endure and go through since the disaster struck their homeland just a few short days ago. To them my condolences and respect I give gladly. I do however want to put a bit of perspective into our minds of this world that we live in and the irresponsibility of the international media in focusing our attention at things they feel or deem important enough to make the new, and corrupt our minds into forgetting what we cannot or no longer see.

My feeling of discontent at the direction of the British press core in Haiti had been felt from the start, when almost immediately they began to look for blame at the lack of support from the international community at reacting to this disaster. With all the good will in the world, there are logistical and monetary issues that face the entire world at this moment in time that would mean any response would have been met by this problem. I am struck at this time at the audacity of the British press in demanding that the USA do more and look to blame them for security issues on the ground that make distribution of AID a headache for everyone, not least the US.

What disturbs me the most is that while we appreciate that the US and Europe, and much of the world have been gripped in the worst economic disaster for the last twenty four months, that it is once more to the Western world, namely the US and Europe that the victims of this disaster look too for their salvation. Why I ask myself are the British media not asking why more has not been done by the Asian community, whom have we are told, completely avoided the economic crisis that has befallen most of the modern world. Surely in a time such as this it is into their pockets that they should be dipping, and surely in a time like this their military might could have been swung into action and flown in just as easily as US troops.

Ok, fair enough, distance might prose its own practical issues to this argument, however I am sorry but I am sick and tired of hearing people blame the US and the West for its lack of support and delay at getting help in. Since as far back as the great earthquake that levelled the centre of Mexico City, I have heard disaster appeal after disaster appeal go out to the giving and generous people of Great Britain, and every time they have risen up and met the call. Billions of pounds of money has been risen over time for all manner of disaster appeals. In the same way I have never seen America fail to step up to the plate and deliver, even when it cannot really afford to itself, it has never let the greater world down.

Whenever it is a disaster around the world, it is always the same people and countries that time after time reach out and touch the lives of those who have been dealt a devastating blow. Be it the earth quakes in Pakistan, China, India, Indonesia, Iran and many others around the world, or the Boxing day Tsunami, or the famines of Africa, Hurricanes of the Gulf of Mexico, to almost any kind of human suffering, the press make a good job of showing us the vivid impacts of these disasters, emoting us into action, and demanding reaction and support from the same corner every single time. Never before have I heard the press condemn the Chinese or the Russians for the lack of support or assistance.

I have to ask myself as the seats of power swing in other directions as things change in our world today, if things shouldn’t be slightly different. I cannot help but feel that if AID workers had been rushed into the field in Haiti and violence had broken out resulting in the deaths of AID workers, that the press would have been the first to ask why security had not been organised, and press long and hard for heads to roll to satisfy their ill placed passion with pointing a figure and finding blame.

The main reason that I write this evening is that in my own opinion, I feel that the press themselves are the root cause of much of the blame for inciting and creating a news that they feel is sensational and worthy of hitting our screens. I firmly believe that the press go out specifically looking for stories that they are able to twist and manipulate into witch hunts of blame and fault and hatred. Imagine a reporter stood before you, well clothed, well educated, healthy and well fed, at a time when you have lost family and loved ones, at a time when hunger is a pressing issue on your mind as your stomach gnaws within you. Imagine if you can a man who seems to be in charge at a time you feel the world around you is falling at your feet, presenting you with a question like, “Do you feel that the USA should do more to help you?” What do you really think your answer would be?

This evening as I sat watching the ITV evening news, the straw on the camel’s back finally broke for me. I sat and watched as the news teams jumped on a story of the thousands of children caught up in the confusion of Haiti, rushing to sensationalise how it was children now who were starving and suffering the worst as AID failed to reach Haiti. I was angered and sickened at this gross display of pure irresponsibility on the part of the reporters. I was saddened to think that for one moment in time, the suffering of every child anywhere else in the world meant nothing as these reporters could manipulate and emote its watchers to the plight of the children of Haiti.

It is not that I do not feel for those children, but I was sickened to my stomach as I thought to myself, that in a day, week or month, when they have totally thrashed and exhausted everything that they can out of the Haitian disaster that those children that today were so credible as a news story will be forgotten about, and left to fend for themselves just as much then as they are now, while the spot light falls on them in the aftermath of this disaster. Yes I was angered at the way that our so called perfect press would stoop so low as to use children’s suffering to make its news worthy for our screens tonight, when in a year or two’s time, when the AID given now dries up and the world is focused on the next big news story, those very children that the press were so willing to sensationalise tonight will be forgotten about and left to a life of misery and pain.

Could it be so true in this day and age that our press could be so corrupt and work with such scant regard for human life and suffering? Please, wake up. This is 2010. Think if you will of the orphans of Eastern Europe where children have systematically been abused, abandoned and brought up in some of the most extreme conditions imaginable. Children who were gagged to stop them from crying, children who were left without clothing for months. Children who were starved and abandoned because they had birth defects, or were slow or stupid as the institutions of the Soviet state believed. Orphanages in the Ukraine where if you had enough money you could go and buy time with any child you liked. In their time, they were an adequate news story to shock and sensationalise the news we were watching, but today, the British press couldn’t give a damn about the conditions which according to any number of agencies that are working with organisations based in Eastern Europe are just as bad if not worse in some places.

Then there are those who’ve been orphaned by war. Huge blocks of children brought up by the state in places in Europe where the press dare not tread for fear of being beaten like the thugs they are. Chechnya and the Balkans, Rwanda and Brunei, Congo and Uganda. In these places millions of children have been completely left to their own devices. In many of the African conflicts children fell into war lords clutches and we fashioned into armies of little value, put on the front line to be slaughtered till the enemy ran out of ammunition and the elite forces of the war lord could then sweep in an annihilate their enemy. Are we as a society so dull as to imagine that the moment that the press stopped telling us these stories that the problems went away? Visit Africa today. Take a walk around in Darfur right now and look at how many of the rebel soldiers carrying AK47’s are kids of 13 and 14 years of age, high on marijuana to keep them controllable, and ever ready to die for their precious leader who cares not for anything but his position in power and maintaining it behind his army of children for as long as he can.

Could we believe that those children that were shown to us just last year as the Burmese cyclone wiped out half a nation as unprecedented flooding brought the country to its knees? I recall then how loudly the press shouted about the lack of AID given, despite the military junta’s refusal to allow the AID in. But in the press’s eyes, it was far more sensational to blame the international world for the failure, and show the suffering of the people, children, men and woman alike, while they painted a vivid picture about how inept the leaders of the world were at putting pressure on the government of Burma to allow the AID in. Do any of us pretend now that since our esteemed press core choose no longer to tell us of their suffering that the people of Burma have it any easier? The truth is that the military Junta kept the aid that was allowed into the country for itself, and the people continue to suffer as they struggle to rebuild a life shattered in the waters of that cyclone. But that wouldn’t be a very exciting story, and report it as they might, it would not change the status quo, nor make any difference to the people on the ground, so they are left to suffer, as sensationalising that story and emoting us would be futile and worthless, and so the story is now not news worthy.

For far too long the media have reported with scant regard to the effect of such sensationalism in the press. Let us take for example a few years ago right here in Wales. An area close to where I live became known as Lynch Rope Central or Suicide Alley, as a growing number of teenagers fought to get their name on the headline news through acts of suicide. For a bunch of teenagers it became cool and hip to get your name and story on the news, and have everyone talking about how wonderful you were and for a moment in time your name was a celebrity as the media pounced on the news of “WOW, yet ANOTHER suicide victim in Bridgend and the number of teenage suicides goes up in the town! Police are baffled as they fail to find any link!”
The link was you, you idiots! The very press who didn’t even consider for one moment that your actions were the root cause and reason for such an sudden growth in teenage deaths. Right up to the end the press fought a vicious and costly campaign to maintain that they were whiter than white and had a right to report the news. It eventually took a direct order and “agreement” from the press to stop reporting on teenage suicides in the town, before the war was won, and what happened? The moment that kids realised that their stupidity wasn’t going to get them on the national news, none of their mates were going to get interviewed, no one would talk about how wonderful they were, it stopped. And so it was that the mighty body of the press right here in deepest darkest Wales were taught a lesson. That their lack of foresight and sensationalism of one simple act of stupidity on behalf of one teenager who now lies in a box, six feet under, and whose name is probably forgotten by the very reporter that sensationalised his death, started a trend that took over twenty lives before it was forcibly stopped. This is the wreckless disregard for their reporting standards that I talk about when I say that the press don’t care. Today’s suffering doesn’t simply disappear because you stop talking about it, and reporting in this way is callous and wrong.

I am Zimbabwean, and a passionate one as anyone who knows me would agree, and so as I watched the television last night, and saw them walking among the orphans of Haiti, I was angered. Perhaps in reality my anger towards the failure of the press core has a lot to do with the situation in Zimbabwe. You see, Zimbabwe has to daily deal with over 2.1 million orphans, who have little in the way of assistance to survive. Those agencies on the ground in Zimbabwe are given little in assistance by the world to feed, cloth, educate, provide health and safety to these children. Many live on the streets, fending for themselves. Many are cared for by people who have other uses and ideas in mind for them. Many are abused and mistreated. Most of them have little future if any. Today 1 million Haitian children need our help. So does that mean that 2.1 million Zimbabwean children today are no good to care about? Does that mean that those trying desperately to make a difference for these kids in Zimbabwe, don ‘t need anything today, because your attention is now focused somewhere else where you can sensationalise your story and make the world watch your news coverage? No the reality is that you’ll make your millions out of covering this disaster and forget about the plight of those children just as quickly as you forgot about those in Zimbabwe. You see Mr. Reporter, power lies in your hands. Responsible reporting would be to continually apply pressure, to constantly remind the world and keep those vulnerable and in precious need of help daily in the front line of your reporting. Not just when you need numbers to watch your program or buy your rag.

And it is for this reason that I am sickened when I hear our reporters on a front line trying to make out that nowhere else in the world are their people suffering, because now their story is no longer applicable or exciting to you as a reporter. Such irresponsibility would be subjected to a government being removed from power, or department heads being changed were it a different organisation, and they acted in such a manner. News is news, but exploiting those who befall the news, and making their suffering and hardship the centre of attention of your news for the simple demand of ratings or sales is both disgusting and scandalous. It is high time that reporting became more about the story and less about the visual impact and sensationalism of preying on those unable to protect themselves. I hope in time that our generation become more in tune with people’s feelings and less interested in such diabolical reporting.

Lisbon Treaty, Yes Vote in Ireland, Europe and the UK

Sitting out on the Western extremes of the European Union, Ireland must feel very alone in this time of financial uncertainty. While the rest of the world seem committed to supporting each other and each government is actively involved in negotiating for the best possible trade deals to support their own shaky economies, when your an Ireland cut off from the rest of the Europe, it must be even more worrying to be fighting to survive right now. So it is little wonder that the Irish people have finally succumbed to the European might and voted yes in today’s referendum.

If you look at the realities of their situation, there is a very clear reason for why Ireland should vote yes. But I do wonder at what cost this acceptance will have long term for us here in the UK and the world as a whole. Personally I don’t think the world is quite ready for a United States of Europe right now. And if what I read in the Huffington Post and Times of London is true, then we are all headed for yet another term under Tony Blair, I am even less convinced that we need a Europe united under one flag at this precise moment.

The fact that the Euro is finally a currency worth considering as pound sterling and the US dollar crash and burn is not our saving grace. The appearance that a united Europe will mean that preferential trade agreements will bolster up our withering economies is further from the truth today than it was ten years ago. When the West finally wakes up and realises that the bandwagon has left town and is headed towards South East Asia, the quicker that we will realise that a united Europe is not going to help anyone but the wolf in sheep’s clothing among us. Nay, Europe is not our saviour as Brussels would have us all believe. If anything Europe is a mix and match of unequal brides, different size yokes and a whole bag of skeletons in closets we never even knew existed.

Take for example the UK. New Labour assured us that there would be no mass migration of Eastern European workers desperate to find work in an attractive UK market. The reality was that huge numbers of migrant Eastern European workers flooded into the UK under the freedom of movement treaty between the new European States. All well and good while the boom was floating, but when the bottom was blown out, the first cry that went up was British jobs for British workers. We now suddenly find that three million British people are out of work as during the golden years when British people turned their noses up at minimum wage jobs, a work force willing to do the job and not argue about what they earned slowly moved into the country under our noses. Now that we all want a job so desperately, Labour can’t do a thing to help, knowing full well that Europe would come crashing down on them if they tried for one moment to protect British jobs.

I am still mystified at how European politicians can imagine bringing an area where more than ten different national languages are spoken together under one united parliament and tell us that the European politicians have the best interests of every nation at heart. No matter which way you look at it some countries are going to get cream pie and others will land up with sorbet instead. The intricacies of our agreements to stick to green plans, energy production, imitations’ goals etc on its own presents a mine field of hiccups that would give even the most seasoned project manager indigestion. Then consider if you will the intricacies of our different financial institutions, government taxations, employment laws, health plans, pensions policies, mortgage and banking regimes, and so much more to baffle even the most educated economist. When you look at places like the United States, or Russia where vast areas are brought together under one banner, you can see that the process was one of time, war and heartache. The North still fight the South in America to this day, even though no one will officially agree to that. The Union of Socialist Soviet Republics broke apart, understandably at the spectacular failure of Communism, but of more interest is the failure of a nation once unified under that banner to come to agreement on how to govern itself. Huge numbers of people died in a civil war in America and under dictatorship in the USSR before any sort of peace could realistically be achieved. What does that spell out in time for us?

Let’s throw another confusion into the mix. Spain has ETA, Northern Ireland has the IRA, Italy has the Red Brigade, Greece has the Revolutionary Nuclei, the PKK in Turkey just to name but a few of the terrorist organisations within Europe that are already fighting for a democratically independent and free country. So under the unification of European states we become a nation with more terrorist groups than any other nation in the world, and who does their fight now fall at the feet of? Do we all automatically become enemies of these groups, as we all stand for a unified country oppressing their desire to become independent? Personally I think it would be quite nice for the IRA to focus their attention at bombing Brussels rather than right here at home, but in reality if so many people are still actively fighting for a homeland in 2009, how on earth can we claim to be a United Europe? And all this before we’ve even begun to talk about the international war on terror!

I wonder how France, Italy, Germany and all the other European nations will like the fact that when the United Kingdom enters the EU officially we will be bringing with us the largest national debt since before World War two. For us I think that would be a wonderful break, our debt being swallowed up by the might of Europe, but can you really see the other members of the EU accepting to shoulder the huge black hole that Tony Blair’s New Labour created before walking out and leaving Gordon Brown with a mess unlike any other in the modern world. How is it that a war monger, thief, liar and traitor can suddenly be up for the most powerful post in the new Europe? We all knew that Tony Blair coveted after a position in Europe. Europe was the holy grail as far as the king of spin was concerned, and that is exactly how he has got where he is today. No one understands the power of spin more than Tony Blair. One wonders with this accolade in the wings, how much he is willing to pay Gordon Brown to keep him out of the lime light in his bid to rule in Europe. He must be trembling in his boots that Gordon will drop him right in it with a public hearing on the Iraq war. Unfortunately there can be no deal on the back of a matchbox this time around, and any promise to Gordon to take him on his coat tails into Europe must ring out like echo’s in an empty vessel as the bitter realisation of his defeat at the expense of Tony Blair dawns on the aging Prime Minister.

Yes I can see that the Irish need Europe. They need it a whole lot more than the slip of land between it and the shores of mainland Europe needs it. We know that the referendum on Europe must pass through a number of other countries now before it is finally ratified in Brussels, but let us be honest with ourselves in looking at the situation we now face as a continent. With America more and more focusing on its own affairs, and relations between ourselves and the US taking a decidedly frosty turn since Brown took office, we must ask ourselves where our real future lies. A united Europe is the only real opportunity on the cards, and to say we refuse to enter the Euro Zone now is to cut your own throat in more ways than one. As more and more work haemorrhages south of the equator we have to look within to find a solution to our spiralling debt and find new ways to prevent destruction in the form of destitution. While Europe will never be a popular subject with anyone who is a patriot to their national identity, alone we are doomed. The pound has taken a battering of a life time, and will not regain the ground it has lost. Taxation alone cannot repay the loans we have borrowed to prop up our beleaguered economy, and there is no more empire to rape and plunder for riches. The United Britain that we knew as the power house of the world, the leader of the free nations, the ruler and commander of the empire is no more. And this is the grim reality that must face us all as we awake to a 21st century Britain.

So if it means that we must face becoming part of the Euro Zone, then let us prepare for it, and begin to put our thinking caps on as a nation. Let us use our time wisely as France, Germany, Portugal and Italy have already done. Let us instead of trying to resist the change and campaigning our time and effort in this resistance, let us use our time wisely to establish a premier place for ourselves within Europe. Let’s not be left at the wings, with little say about decisions that shape our life style and the way our country is run, but let’s ensure our place at negotiation table as one of the leaders of the first world, this is surely our rightful place. We have been mislead by a wicked and cunning plotter, who for so long spoke carefully veiled words that led us as a nation to think that Europe was not in our best interests, while quietly plotting behind our backs to position himself as the saviour of the European Constitution. In times gone by it may not have been in our best interests to prepare to join the Euro Zone, but perhaps the time has come to admit defeat and work to ensure a decent place at the table when we sit down to feast.

Once Ireland ratifies the European Constitution and Brussels has all the power, it will be a lonely place to find ourselves pinned between the extreme west of Europe and the might of the East of Europe. Sandwiched in the middle is not the place to be, and while losing our identity as British people may not be easy to swallow, I have had to live through worse at the hands of the British politician as they failed to step up to the mark and accept their responsibility to their people who were persecuted and expelled from the land they worked as British colonialists. Becoming European will just be another step in this end game that politicians play. I do however believe that if we are going to be forced into accepting that the Euro Zone is our only hope for survival that we ensure that we get everything we deserve from the treaty.

We don’t want pussy foot politicians as our representatives in Europe. Under no circumstances should we roll over and accept what we are told, but our representation must fight to give us equal and adequate rights as members of Europe. If this is going to be “Our Europe”, then it must be spelled out that we demand the right to elect our leaders, and not be subjugated to living under an appointed leader. If this talk that Tony Blair is to be appointed as the first premier of the European Union then our representatives must shout from every roof top that they can find that this is not the will of the people. We have no wish at all to fall under the rule of this clown and poodle any longer, and have no wish to see a power house such as the European Union take such a dramatic step towards its own destruction.

If we are part of Europe we’ll have petrol at equal prices, and energy pumped directly into the UK, as we are an equal member of Europe and fully entitled to our share of the spoils. We will enjoy freedom of travel and when we want a job elsewhere we will be thankful that we have robust and energetic leadership that goes out and ensures that British labour is welcome anywhere throughout Europe and the Germans nor the French dare stand in our way if we want a job that a Frenchman or German wants. We will enjoy the same benefits as any other European, and if I choose to have medical attention in Spain where the weather will aid my recovery, I shall be entitled to have the treatment I require at the same standard and on the same basis as the NHS. France will wake up and realise that a raft of illegal immigrants camping on our doorstep is totally unsuitable as we are now Europe, and allowing them to sneak into Britain is allowing them to sneak into Europe, and therefore deal with the problem decisively and professionally once and for all.

Yes, I defiantly think we need to rethink our approach to Europe, and begin to realise that maybe, just maybe this whole “No Way, We Won’t Go!” approach to entering the EU is not in our best interests. I say this on the basis that we get good, strong and reliable leadership, that are willing to fight, maybe not a good fight at times, but fight to ensure that British rights, and the good of the British people are protected as members of Europe. I guess that after so many years of living under poor, inadequate, mediocre leadership, I yearn for some real direction from the politicians that I vote for. Where are the Churchill’s among us? Why can’t we find another Iron Lady to take us head first into a bold new world? If we are going to see a united Europe in my life time, dear god let it be with a decent British government in power at the time.

The Lies of Gordon Brown

Never before has the British Nation regarded with such bitter distaste by the wider international community. At no time in the past 2000 years has there been more loathing for the British Politician like we see daily living here in the UK. Yes Kings and Queens have been deposed, revolted against, dispatched by the gallows even, but never has there been a more widely felt unease about British Politics since the inception of Parliament in 1707.

How is it then that the image of one of the leading super powers of the 21st century has slipped from its once hallowed place in the ranks of Empire? How does a country that once owned half the world suddenly become the bitter taste in the back of one’s throat as if swallowing a lemon. I fear that the image of a nation of people is tarnished by the brush stroke of a mere few. As the saying so rightly goes, it only takes one rotten apple to spoil the barrel. At whom then should a finger be pointed, for it is only one rotten apple that has caused the breakdown of society as we know it in the United Kingdom.

Personally I’d say that there are two who I’d be inclined to point a finger at, but I guess that as I am not British, and as I have not lived under any but two of the last British prime ministers, it is only fair that I draw my conclusion from my own experience. It is easy to point a finger when you have lived under a fools governance, for you know the fool well. Believe you me, I know this fact having grown up in an African country, and having been fooled once into believing that a leader was a good man, I am more inclined to look with my eyes open when I look at politicians.

So let me stab my finger in the direction of our glorious leader the bumbling Gordon Brown. In his first term in office, no leader of the first world has managed to isolate himself more from his constituents, the public, the party he leads, nor the world as a whole. None before him have reduced Britain to the laughing stock that it is today more effectively that Mr Gordon Brown. No one remains blind to the blatant disregard for democracy and due diligence as a leader any more. We are all aware that Gordon Brown can’t see his failure, even when the writing is in Black and White in the Times. Opinion polls for Labour have never been so low, and public opinion about our leaders must leave them wondering if they dare campaign for the next election, let alone turn up for work.

I don’t believe any government has performed as many U-Turns as our dear Gordon. From one week to the next I am sure that he never really knows which direction he should be turning. It is a frequent occurrence to hear that he has totally retracted his statement, making a completely different one days after having attempted to convince the nation of one thing or another. Is he not aware at how easily one can trash one’s credibility? Trust is earnt from being honest, diligent and steadfast. Making difficult decisions and being bold enough to explain why some decisions have to be made, even when they may seem not to be in the interests of the nation as a whole.

But this is something Gordon clearly never got taught at home. Perhaps his childhood was spent on street corners having a cheeky flagon of cider smoking pot. Something I am sure he’d emphatically deny but come on Gordon, we don’t really believe anything you say. From your very first major betrayal when you took away the right to vote in a referendum on Europe, denying every person that has earned the right to vote in the UK their constitutional right to democracy, and then being too much of a coward to even admit you were going to Europe to sign us into the next step of the alignment of European nations clearly shows that you are among the ranks of those like my former leader Robert Mugabe. Shocked that I’d compare you with him? Oh come now, it’s no wonder people like Robert Mugabe mock you with such delight when they know full well that you totally side stepped the wish of your people, denied them a democratic right, and sold them down the drain. No wonder when you stood and demanded that Robert Mugabe take heed of the national election in Zimbabwe, which clearly showed Mugabe had been removed from power by the choice of his people, that he simply followed in your footsteps and chose to ignore the will of his people. It was you that showed him the way, so we can be little surprised when he ignores your council and regards you as a hypocrite.

I recall how you lead us all to believe that an election was nigh until you realised through the national polls that you’d get your arse whipped. You ran with your tail tucked neatly between your legs, trying to tell the nation that you’d never lead anyone to believe that there was going to be a national election, a surprise and shock to your own cabinet who were in full swing planning for a national election. Bit strange that don’t you think Gordon? When you tried to convince the nation that you didn’t have a clue about Earnie Ecellstone’s donation to the Labour Party and then threw a hissy fit when the press pushed you hard on it. The Northern Rock fiasco when you wouldn’t, oh then you might, they you defiantly would not, then you just bloody well had to buy it. We all realised from the moment that the news was broken that you’d have to nationalise the bank. You just couldn’t be a leader and lead, you had to act like a prom queen, not quite sure if you should be happy or sad your date, the British Nation has just walked out on you!

The Pension fiasco that left untold millions of elderly pensioners living on the bread line, barely above poverty. Yet you flew around the world promising as many leaders as you could that we’d Make Poverty History. Who the hell do you think you’re fooling. A pensioner on a National Pension gets less money than someone who has never worked, never paid into the National Insurance Scheme and has been more likely to be involved in criminal or anti social behaviour. Yet these are the very people that build your Britain Mr Brown, and all you can do is mock them. You should be ashamed of yourself and the government you represent. Its estimated that over 2 million people live in poverty in the United Kingdom, and in these current financial woes, I can only see that figure increasing, yet it is not the wealthy that you tax. No, it’s the companies that give people a chance of employment that you tax and drive into liquidation. Don’t point the finger anywhere else Mr Brown, we aren’t blind. You stole from the pension funds. You promised to look after the elderly. You failed to meet your goals on the removal of poverty. Yet you’re incapable of apologising.

Our troops daily face a battle for survival. A battle not made any easier by your side stepping and avoidance of the truth. The truth Gordon is simple. You don’t have the money to pour into an expensive military campaign. You can’t afford to order massive amounts of military equipment that would make our soldiers lives easier. Yet your incapable of admitting this. You are so spineless that you would leave our precious men and woman on a front line that really has nothing to do with us, in harm’s way because your too afraid to stand up to pressure and remove the troops from the risks they face without the equipments we cannot provide them. I admire the Germans. They know their troops can’t take the risks that an army as well equipped as say the US can. They protect their troops by keeping them out of harm’s way. Let me ask a simple question. One that thousands of like minded people in this country ask every day. Why should we sacrifice our population in support of your war, when you can’t afford to equip them? Two of my friends are serving in Afghanistan right now, and another has just returned. I shudder and feel ill when I listen to them talking about what life is really like in the British Army. But if its Snatch Land rovers, Helicopters or just simple personal equipment, you’d rather lie to the nation and keep our troops exposed to a meaningless war in a theatre that has no respect for Britain even though we are apparently there to help them.

On the whole the British people are good people. They work hard, party hard and are just like the rest of us. Unfortunately there is a class system in the UK, and there is a sector of society that really do believe that they are better than the rest. A large chunk of these people are British Politicians, and the whole expenses fiasco clearly shows how little regard the whole establishment has for the rule of law, the feelings of the people, or the state of their country. I can honestly see why people resort to crime in the UK. Their own leaders show them the way. If the law lords can get away with it, no wonder the Tesco store manager helps himself to a boot full of groceries every week, and the security guard takes what he pleases from the stock cupboard of the premises he guards. When Police officers can kill a man going home from a protest and get away with it, no wonder a mugger kills a man on his way home from the chippy and thinks he can get away with it. If a convicted killer who brings down an airplane and kills in excess of 100 people can be released or a train robber who stole millions from our economy gets let go as he’s ill, no wonder we have the liked of Ian Huntley committing the most heinous of crimes, assuming that one day they’ll be let go.

Whether it’s on crime, education, taxation, truancy, health, child poverty, public finances, economic growth rates, domestic elections, the European treaty (aka constitution) or the most obscene distortion of all, weapons of mass destruction, almost nothing we are told seems to bear scrutiny. Gordon you’ve got it wrong. Very wrong! You’ve reduced a pillar of the World Order to a helpless laughing stock. Our closest allies are totally pissed off with us, World Leaders make every effort to avoid you, especially when you’re talking about finances. Our nation is in the worst debt it has ever been in, all the hallmarks of a nation with bad governance are knocking on our door, and you only have yourself to blame. You coveted this job, and you failed to be anything close to a leader. It remains for you to do one thing. Be man enough to step aside and let someone with a clear vision, and more ability take over the running of this proud nation. Allow us a chance to rebuild a shattered economy, a national unity, a trust in our leadership, and a place where we want to work, live and die. If you don’t I truly believe that we are headed for destruction. I’ve watched one nation fall apart under bad leadership, I really don’t fancy watching another. Mr Brown, if there is anything that you should do, its call a National Election and let us get on with it.