tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62175170147662711012024-03-13T23:08:10.945-07:00News & ViewsA big world seen from a small island.Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-30927631767134071462021-01-15T07:49:00.000-08:002021-01-15T07:49:34.028-08:00US: Thank you Mr. President<p><span style="font-size: medium;">As</span> we approach the end of your first term in office, it is worth taking stock of your major achievements in that time.</p><p>The first to note, is that you actually attempted to implement the policies on which you were elected - an increasingly rare event these days, and one of the many reasons that a record number of Americans voted for you to be returned as president.</p><p>You made great efforts to extend the wall on the southern border, and, despite the many objections to its construction, it is difficult to see how else your country can protect itself, unless and until its involvement and support of corrupt and violent regimes is ended.</p><p>No new wars in four years is also a remarkable achievement, and this despite unremitting pressure to engage in such follies, from inside and outside government. These pressures had the additional effect of preventing action on much of the other work that needed doing, but this is not a time for making excuses, because your greatest achievement is unfolding right now, for all to see.</p><p>By your strength and character, you have drained the swamp and left all those who dwelt there exposed and floundering in the light of public scrutiny. It is true that they have not been removed, but they are now visible and vulnerable in a way that seemed impossible just a couple of months ago.</p><p>Whatever happens over the next days and weeks, even the next few years, never again can those with vested interests in the demise of freedom and prosperity for the people, say that they are working in our best interests, and expect to be believed.</p><p>Know your enemy is the first requirement in any conflict, and we now know who they are, and what they are capable of, and for that, Mr. President, once again, thank you.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p>Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-9284293228100066902020-11-10T07:41:00.001-08:002020-11-10T07:43:24.735-08:00US: Biden team under investigation<p> Election Special</p><p>Now that Attorney General Barr has authorised a federal investigation into the allegations of widespread and coordinated fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election, the two camps are squaring up for the legal and propaganda fight while the world outside USA waits to see what happens next.</p><p>Although US politics has been riven with claims of corruption and voter intimidation for many years, until now this was seen as a problem <a href="https://going-postal.com/2020/11/voter-fraud-in-pennsylvania/" target="_blank">restricted to individual States</a>, but what is now unravelling looks like the systematic and coordinated corruption of the actual US democratic process, and it is this continued threat which has prompted such an early investigation.</p><p>Investigators will start with the many claims and witness statements of irregular and illegal activity during counting and even before, when millions of unsolicited ballots were sent out across the country, the potential for fraud following this was highlighted by <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/02/politics/barr-mail-in-voting-playing-with-fire-situation-room/index.html" target="_blank">Barr back in September</a>, but investigators will also want to know how high and wide this goes.</p><p>For example, when Nanci Pelosi boasted to CNBC back in June that Trump would be leaving White House "<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/20/pelosi-says-trump-will-leave-white-house-due-to-2020-election.html" target="_blank">whether he knows it yet or not</a>", was she just being an arrogant and partisan politician, or was she confident of plans already in place to rig the election? And Hillary Clinton also seemed to have some very accurate fortune telling abilities when, in August, she described the situation in which Trump would win the election but insisted that Biden should not concede, "<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8663511/Hillary-Clinton-says-Joe-Biden-NOT-concede-circumstances.html" target="_blank">under any circumstances</a>" (why should that be, was it because she knew that extra votes would magically appear?).</p><p>But the real interest will be on Joe Biden himself.</p><p>Much has been made of his apparent admission to having put together the most extensive and inclusive <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-voter-fraud-organization-video-gaffe" target="_blank">voter fraud organization in the history of American politics</a>, although we suspect that was an unintended assertion, the question remains, was it an innocent or a Freudian slip of the tongue.</p>Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-28767940517164933682020-04-03T09:24:00.000-07:002020-04-03T09:24:00.598-07:00Covid-19: Conspiracy and the War on Bugs<span style="font-size: large;">In</span> this age of conspiracy theories, we shouldn't be even slightly surprised that the unprecedented reaction to a virus that was declassified as an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/high-consequence-infectious-diseases-hcid" target="_blank">HCID</a> back on March 19th., has generated so many questions as to what is going on, and why.<br />
<br />
Huge chunks of the world's economies have experienced shut-down with entire populations placed in lock-down, and the the freedom of association and ability to even cross the street, is now at the discretion of law enforcement. All this with barely a whimper from our banner waving anti-establishment liberals and socialists.<br />
<br />
If that's not worthy of a decent conspiracy theory, then nothing is.<br />
<br />
So what's happened, what could have caused such global insanity over a nasty cold that is hastening the demise of those already sick and vulnerable with a few (but highly publicized) exceptions?<br />
<br />
Firstly, the virus is either natural or engineered, and, if manufactured for whatever reason, it either escaped or was released into the general population. Note also that 'natural' in this context also includes what many of us regard as decidedly unnatural, culinary customs.<br />
<br />
<i>The options:</i><br />
<br />
A deliberate release must be the greatest stretch of plausibility, what could anyone hope to gain from such an outrage, and how could they hope to evade discovery or control the spread and consequences? This idea, is a complete non-starter for me.<br />
<br />
An accidental release from a research lab or some other bio-technological operation is possible, and the resulting attempts at cover up allowed the spread to go unchecked, and this is the preferred theory among many observers, but there's another possibility.<br />
<br />
A naturally occurring new strain of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus" target="_blank">Coronavirus</a>, possibly caused by bringing animal carriers into unhygienic food markets where they lived in close contact with humans and other food animals, is the least conspiratorial and also most likely in my view.<br />
<br />
But how did this develop into the situation that the world finds itself in today?<br />
<br />
Here is where conspiracy meets its match, for the word that nobody wants to hear, and the word that rarely means what it says, is coincidence.<br />
<br />
What? You say, there's no such thing as coincidence in matters like these. But there is, and this may be it.<br />
<br />
Consider the reaction in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuhan_Institute_of_Virology" target="_blank">Wuhan Institute of Virology</a> to news that local people were dying with an unrecognisable viral infection, and they undoubtedly would have known. As the first <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosafety_level#Biosafety_level_4" target="_blank">BSL-4</a> laboratory built in mainland China, they should have had strict procedures in place for monitoring and containment in the event of an accidental release from any of their sites (one of which is only 280 meters from the now <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200214144447/https:/www.researchgate.net/publication/339070128_The_possible_origins_of_2019-nCoV_coronavirus" target="_blank">infamous seafood market</a>. Suspecting the worst (an outbreak of something deadly and traceable to them), they responded as only a communist state could - lockdown, police and soldiers on the streets, reporting restrictions; the whole 9 yards.<br />
<br />
Tragedy and farce seldom travel apart, and as the virus spread, so the Chinese 'method' of containment became the norm, and once copied in Italy, itself a destination hub for <a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/made-in-italy-by-chinese-workers-idUSRTX16XEA" target="_blank">countless Chinese workers</a>, this became the accepted way, demanded by many whose real intention is to sow fear and division among their own populace, to destroy our economies (for the furtherance of socialism and the good of the planet), and to generally make life difficult for ordinary hard working people.<br />
<br />
And there we have it, like a bonfire next to a dynamite factory, one simple coincidence and the world struggles to prevent economic meltdown. Not the most dramatic theory, but the most likely, for now at least.<br />
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<br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-18297787350092603162020-03-25T08:27:00.000-07:002020-03-25T08:27:03.252-07:00CV: Financing the War on BugsContinuing the discussion on <a href="https://primaryaccount.blogspot.com/2020/03/cv-winning-war-on-bugs.html" target="_blank">WoB</a> , perhaps the best news comes last.<br />
<br />
<b><i>10. Capital</i></b><br />
Saying that world currencies have coped well with this crisis would be what is euphemistically termed as <i>under-reporting</i> of the facts.<br />
<br />
As world trade collapses and billions, even trillions, are earmarked for bailouts, we should be witnessing the final days of Fiat currencies, but the magic money promised out of thin air, or more correctly, out of electronic bits and bytes, has brought stability, not chaos.<br />
<br />
Of course, the ideological Capitalists are already complaining about <i>Who will pay for all this</i>? And it's a valid question, but <i>Pay for what</i>? Is also a valid reply.<br />
<br />
What service has been provided for these vast sums of money? Only that they allow business to continue and for life to go on, so our governments have effectively spent it on themselves.<br />
<br />
There is also a fear that taxes will need to be raised, but there is no tax regime on earth that could realistically pay for the current and projected world debt, so why bother? We found this magic money to bail out the banks after 2008, and continued with QE until now, when we are bailing out businesses and supplementing their wage bills, perhaps next we will bail out the people.<br />
<br />
<i><b>It's only money.</b></i><br />
<br />
The difference between using capital for trade, and the ideology of Capitalism, is difficult for many to grasp yet the invention of money is perhaps the most underrated achievement in our collective history, and without it civilization as we know it would have been impossible.<br />
<br />
When trade was based on barter and exchange, each party needed to have something of value to the other, which prevented expansion beyond a very local and limited marketplace. The first intermediaries were probably manufactured goods, tools, pottery, trinkets and the like, which allowed towns to grow, but only when coins of exchange arrived was it possible to develop large cities and trading empires; the agricultural revolution was also an enabler, but capital was the driver and the complex systems required to keep the city functioning were only possible via the medium of money.<br />
<br />
It would not have taken long for this coinage to take on a life of its own, to be hoarded and traded as an end in itself and most of us, religious or not, know the story where Jesus purged the temple of money lenders and merchants, we should also remember that the love of money is at the root of many evils, so the dangers of deifying capital are long known and well established and we should not fall into that ancient trap in this age of impending enlightenment.<br />
<br />
Imagine a world where taxation of income is non-existent, and governments instead harvest their needs from this invisible money tree, accounts are reconciled annually and a balance maintained. Trade between nations is established so that no country falls into debt or accumulates surplus, but rather, as accounts are settled each country's value is reflected in the purchasing power of its (crypto-?)currency. I would also imagine that each country might hold two such currencies, one for internal use, and one for international trade and travel.<br />
<br />
Since abandoning the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bretton_Woods_system" target="_blank">Gold Standard</a>, money is a concept only, a matter of confidence and convenience, and we should treat it as such, write off world debt and start again. Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-23316845095910338742020-03-17T10:53:00.000-07:002020-03-26T11:24:32.787-07:00CV: Winning the War on Bugs.<a href="https://primaryaccount.blogspot.com/2020/03/cv-19-continuing-war-on-bugs.html" target="_blank">Contd.</a><br />
<br />
While the world waits and wonders whether we all die from Climate Change or Coronovirus, there are some very positive signs.<br />
<br />
Aside from those who have been taken ill and are suffering, most healthy people seem to be coping with fairly minimal symptoms and we should all hope that situation remains - although most of the partisan media and Globalist politicians appear saddened by this lack of mortality and public disorder.<br />
<br />
<i>It's not all bad news.</i><br />
<br />
<b><i>7. The Economy</i></b><br />
The potentially good news is that we still have an economy, despite the determined attempts of the aforementioned media and Globalists, the markets were spectacularly stable with loses little more than common sense adjustments after more than 10 years of QE inflation. One thing is clear, the trading algorithms seem to have been fixed or managed to prevent a total sell off and force exchanges to close until now, at least, and there have even been a few minor rallies so some trading has happened.<br />
<br />
But politicians cannot help themselves from interfering, and we are about to see how much damage they are capable of.<br />
<br />
It has been noted by many observers that share prices were being maintained artificially high, and the eventual fall would be quick and hard, but the initial tumble has been relatively gentle, however, the effects of ministerial determination to scare the public and to shut down trade, is something that nobody can accurately predict and where we go from here is very much in the balance. Do markets collapse, or hold their nerve? We should soon find out.<br />
<br />
<b><i>8. Gold</i></b><br />
Another good sign is that precious metals have not unduly escalated, so panic is not overriding common sense.<br />
<br />
When currencies were backed by gold, it made sense for this commodity to rule in times of trouble, but now its intrinsic value is what appears to be determining price, it may even be that the recent years of price manipulation weren't even needed.<br />
<br />
<b><i>9. Bitcoin </i></b><br />
Another indicator that sanity is in control, is the moderate trading in crypto currencies which have previously been the target of much speculation and hype. This is the first time they've been tested in an extreme real world scenario and, again, good sense seems to be the victor.<br />
<br />
Bitcoin is an interesting phenomenon, but it's real value is in the underlying technology and Blockchain is where the potential lies.<br />
<br />
A way of visualizing this is to imagine when the wheel was first invented and our hero, or heroine, first showed this marvel to a gathering of villagers who immediately set to work producing and distributing wheels, and of course it was not long before wheels increased in price and were hoarded, so to prevent theft the villagers built sturdy huts with stone walls, rather than the usual wooden construction, which became known as wall-huts.<br />
<br />
One day a rival tribe arrived in fast chariots and large carts made with wheels, either bought or copied. This was obviously a raid of robbers with ill intent, so the villagers quickly surrounded their wall-huts and vowed that none on their wheels would be stolen, but the raiders laughed and shouted.<br />
<br />
"<i>We don't want your stupid wheels.</i>" They then loaded all the villager's crops and livestock onto their wagons, and left the way they had come.<br />
<br />
For me, the biggest problem with Crypto lies in its limitations as a store of wealth, which has been ably highlighted in our current predicament. Because when power is down these digital currencies cease to exist, and while it has been observed that in times of extreme crisis Fiat currency is only as valuable as the paper it is printed on and that you can't eat gold, what we have recently discovered is that you can't even wipe your arse with Bitcoin.<br />
<br />
When the world's economies are ready it will likely be USCoin, ChinaCoin, BritCoin and the like, that will drive trade while Bitcoin, although remembered with great fondness, will have limited value, not unlike an old vinyl collection of 60s classics.Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-39598935434598370002020-03-15T11:45:00.000-07:002020-03-17T06:42:58.942-07:00CV-19: The continuing War on BugsFollowing my <a href="https://primaryaccount.blogspot.com/2020/03/cv19-war-on-bugs.html" target="_blank">earlier ramble</a> here are some more thoughts:-<br />
<br />
<b><i>4. Globalization is bad.</i></b><br />
If one lesson can be learned at this early stage it is surely this.<br />
The outsourcing of essential production to foreign manufacturers has historically been seen for the folly that it is, but outsourcing almost everything to countries half a world away is closer to insanity than stupidity and we are witnessing how big the resulting potential for disaster is.<br />
<br />
In particular, for the manufacture of basic medicines and supplies to be handed to foreign actors is inexplicable, no matter how many pennies it pretends to save. Given the size and structure of our NHS who compete with nobody and spend taxpayer's money, there is no excuse for allowing the nation's health to be put in such jeopardy.<br />
<br />
Regardless of how quickly this pandemic is contained, we can all see just what is almost bound to happen in the future if we do not reverse the current madness.<br />
<br />
<b><i>5. Globalization is very bad.</i></b><br />
The abdication of responsibility from elected national government, to global 'institutions' and corporations is the unpaved road to disaster, and it gets bumpier and more dangerous every time it is travelled.<br />
<br />
When unwillingness to challenge our Chinese 'partners' over their claims about the outbreak for fear of upsetting those on whom we are so dependant, was clearly instrumental in not taking early and adequate precautions, we should reconsider this state of reliance and trust in foreign entities, especially those whose priorities are to save face, and maintain control of their population.<br />
<br />
It may well be that this virus needs to simply run its course, and we should just try to slow down the infection rate to manageable proportions, but another strain may arrive far more deadly and infectious, and in that circumstance borders will need to be shut quickly, but it appears this is not the way we do things any more. Our government must abandon this nonsense and protect our interests, not those of people whose interests we do not even comprehend.<br />
<br />
<b>6. Globalization is very, very, bad.</b><br />
How can any government plan effectively for a national emergency or epidemic, when it doesn't even know how many people reside here? And this is not a question of being out by a few hundred thousand, or even a million, because official figures may be out by <a href="https://www.migrationwatchuk.org/statistics-net-migration-statistics" target="_blank">anything up to 10 millions</a>.<br />
<br />
Imagine living in a house and paying for the food and services, but not knowing who or how many people were living upstairs, and it being illegal to ask.<br />
<br />
The mindset that pervades the Globalist ideology is damaging to the extent of producing a form of collective mental illness that prevents rational thought and overrides even the most basic self interest of preservation for ones own being, or family, friends or country.Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-63247439419212651132020-03-13T07:47:00.001-07:002020-03-14T09:58:38.479-07:00CV19: The War on Bugs<span style="font-size: large;">It is</span> seldom wise to address something as fluid as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus_disease_2019" target="_blank">COVID-19</a> outbreak at this early stage, but if we can't get a decent vision of what's happening in 2020, when will we be able to?<br />
<br />
There are already several interesting points to note:-<br />
<br />
1. <i><b>Newts.</b></i><br />
Fake news has moved over the years, from the on-line fringes to the Mainstream broadcasters who seem now to have developed an aversion to objective truth. It appears that they no longer lie just to bolster their socio-political aims, but because they are no longer capable of telling the truth, such that we can confidently predict that reported events are Never Ever What They Say, and the problem now, as the pandemic takes hold, is that if MSM presented us with concrete evidence that it was under control, who would believe them?<br />
<br />
2. <i><b>Social collapse is dangerously close.</b></i><br />
For many years we have been assured that diversity is our strength, but what has been promoted as diversity has been nothing less than creeping genocide. In a world where order and cooperation between nations is vital to the flow of goods and services, and very few countries are self-sufficient in the essentials for their survival, we are now so dependant on infrastructure and electricity, that interruption of either would lead to dire and completely unpredictable consequences.<br />
<br />
Civil society has taken centuries to get where it is today, and it is built on trust and consent, but importing large numbers of people from places where aggression and intimidation are used to control populations and maintain patriarchal supremacy, has had a devastating effect on much of western civilian life and continues unabated via the studious non-reporting of facts.<br />
<br />
Anyone worried by the levels of vicious and wanton violence on our streets today, should consider what these knife-wielding, acid-throwing gangs and their enablers would do if there is ever a shortage of food and water and our fingernail painting police are all that separates them from us.<br />
Which brings me to another point highlighted by CV19.<br />
<br />
3.<i> <b>There are too many people in the world.</b></i><br />
The proverbial elephant in the room is really more akin to an alligator in the swimming pool, and there are few in the public eye, and far less in authority, who will even make this observation much less attempt to deal with it. Using Western countries as a form of overspill car-park while we wait for the world to become unviable is not the solution, any more than is paying billions of dollars to corrupt and despotic 'leaders' to keep them in power and privilege.<br />
<br />
The greatest tragedy for the Third World, is that, while education is the first step to improving their lot, it is their educated few who are most able to leave and who we are most often willing to receive.<br />
<br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-36101214105781996062020-03-12T07:09:00.002-07:002020-03-13T06:14:12.958-07:00UK: The art of the (no) DealWith Tory backbenchers <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51806704" target="_blank">defeated for now</a></span>, Boris is able to plough on with including Huawei in UK's 5G infrastructure, and while I would usually be against such a move, this time there is much more at stake.<br />
<br />
During the whole Brexit debate and following stand-off, a trade deal with America was touted as both easy and so essential that Barak Obama came to lecture us while threatening to relegate us to the <span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://news.sky.com/story/cameron-personally-requested-obamas-back-of-the-queue-brexit-warning-11423669" target="_blank">back of the queue</a></span> if we dared vote Leave.<br />
<br />
<i>Trump has reversed this nonsense, but do we need or even want such a Trade Deal? </i><br />
<br />
Free Trade sounds great, but most know that anything worth having is seldom free, economically at least, and, while TTIP contained many onerous demands, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investor-state_dispute_settlement" target="_blank">ISDS alone</a> was enough to scare the pants off any self-respecting democracy that values its own population's interests over international corporation's profits.<br />
<br />
One driver for voting Brexit, was seeing how EU attempted to bring in TTIP without any discussion or scrutiny, and only a series of leaks and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/14/ttip-defeated-activists-donald-trump" target="_blank">public resistance</a> prevented this tyranny, so why would we leave EU and then sign up to an even worse deal, because President Trump is a tough negotiator and he will ensure that his US benefits from any future arrangement will far outweigh anything that we can hope for.<br />
<br />
So Boris is left with a conundrum, after placing such store on a Deal with Donald, how does he now get to walk away without receiving a savaging from the hostile press at home...enter Huawei.<br />
<br />
By accepting Chinese involvement despite US objections, he may yet manage to scupper any phony Free Trade Deal, and let Trump take the blame.Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-35667501075212803522020-03-05T08:51:00.000-08:002020-03-10T10:22:57.127-07:00UK: Whose side are you on?<span style="font-size: large;">The drive </span>for change that saw the Tories sweeping to victory in December and Brexit enacted at the end of January continued into February with the launch of <a href="https://heartsofoak.org/" target="_blank">Hearts of Oak</a>, a non-political and unashamedly populist movement, which sees the erosion and subversion of our freedoms as possibly the greatest threat that Britain and the World faces today.<br />
<br />
I covered the event for <a href="https://going-postal.com/" target="_blank">Going-Postal</a> and this is a short postscript to <a href="https://going-postal.com/2020/03/hearts-of-oak-launch/" target="_blank">that article</a>, because two days later Tommy Robinson <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2020/03/02/tommy-robinson-arrested-assault-row-centre-parcs-pool-12337088/" target="_blank">was arrested </a>for assault after allegedly striking an 'accidental' child molester during an altercation which occurred when Tommy attempted to perform a citizen's arrest on the man who had admitted indecently touching his 8 year old daughter.<br />
<br />
My purpose here is not to redress the imbalance in the way this incident has been reported, because most people will have their own opinions which are unlikely to be changed by me, but to talk a little about someone who has become the personification of all that's wrong in today's UK, and this is true whether you love or loathe him.<br />
<br />
To the Left, he embodies the political Right-wing, aggressive and outspoken with views that they find uncomfortable and intolerable, but contrary to what you might expect, many on the supposed political Right feel exactly the same, because with Tommy, the issue is not so much Right or Left, but right or wrong, and the question we should be asking about him, is not how nice a guy is he, or whether he likes Islam or not, but, does he speak the truth?<br />
<br />
What<span style="font-size: large;"> </span>the media omit when they delight in reminding us that he is using an assumed name, is the reason Tommy had to change his public identity. They choose to ignore the death threats by the so-called religion of peace, the threats against his livelihood and his family and the constant harassment he endures from all sides.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">When</span> we spoke briefly after the Hearts of Oak launch, I voiced my concerns for his safety, especially during his all too frequent incarcerations, and he simply shrugged and said "What can I do?"<br />
<br />
This was not a cry for help (as it would be with most people in his position) but an acceptance that the next spell in prison might be his last, and if the state wants to get him, then get him they will. As <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/julian-assange-wikileaks-extradition-prison-trump-chelsea-manning-a9351246.html" target="_blank">Julian Assange</a> can testify, <a href="http://www.shadolsonshow.com/2020/01/20/free-press-society-gives-award-to-tommy-robinson-so-of-course-facebook-bans-them/" target="_blank">Tommy's acceptance of awards for journalism</a> is no guarantee of acceptance by our mixed-up and messed-up society.<br />
<br />
But there is hope for Tommy, the reception he received when called to speak showed the regard in which he is held by many, not just in Britain, but around the world, and the growing demands that this persecution ends.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
The general refusal of our media to explain why the police were called to Centre Parcs, or ask why they then let a child molester leave the scene whilst at the same time arresting the assaulted girl's father, does not bode well for the rough diamond that is Tommy Robinson.<br />
<br />
<i>It seems that the most difficult thing for our would-be elites to understand, is that Tommy Robinson is not an individual, <a href="https://primaryaccount.blogspot.com/2018/03/uk-walk-in-park.html" target="_blank">he is a phenomenon</a>. </i><br />
<br />
I have met many Tommy's over the years, on jobs and in pubs, at football matches and on the streets and you can see images of their forebears in every photograph of those who fought for the freedoms which many of us now are prepared to throw away.<br />
<br />
He's not everyone's cup of tea, and there are many things we might try to change about him, but only a lazy coward would deny that he is brave and determined. The point is that you don't need to like Tommy Robinson to listen to what he has to say.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-59153103908606329642019-10-20T11:48:00.000-07:002019-10-20T11:48:17.970-07:00Brexit: Agreeing to leave<span style="font-size: large;">Just</span> spent some time perusing the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/759019/25_November_Agreement_on_the_withdrawal_of_the_United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Northern_Ireland_from_the_European_Union_and_the_European_Atomic_Energy_Community.pdf" target="_blank">Withdrawal Agreement</a> and <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/759021/25_November_Political_Declaration_setting_out_the_framework_for_the_future_relationship_between_the_European_Union_and_the_United_Kingdom__.pdf" target="_blank">(Original) Political Declaration</a>, and have some layman's observations:-<br />
<br />
<i>They're not as bad as portrayed.</i><br />
<br />
Yes, there are lots of protection for EU interests, but why wouldn't there be? It's their club, and they're making the rules. The main objection to May's deal was that the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_backstop" target="_blank"> 'Irish backstop' </a>left us without a proper negotiating position in the following trading arrangements which had to be agreed before the Transition Period could end (and this TP is very heavily weighted in favour of EU as already noted), so Britain could have been disadvantaged for a very long time.<br />
<br />
From what I can see, after the TP finishes we're out, with or without a Deal, and yes, that is the Deal which actually matters, the WA is just setting the ground rules and the more slanted they are towards the EU, the more incentive there should be to conclude the new FTA as quickly as possible, and there appears to be an honest emphasis within the documents, that both parties should negotiate in good faith.<br />
<br />
There are legal ties and protections which stay in effect after Britain leaves, but they are mostly mutually agreed, beneficial and necessary, or purely to conclude disputes and other matters arising, and these do eventually disappear with a minimum of 8 years (seems a long time, but it's already more than 3 years since the referendum).<br />
<br />
Committed Brexit campaigners have painted the EU as a vicious and Machiavellian conspiracy, but my main objection is merely that it is Globalist and Expansionist in nature, a bureaucracy which feels it cannot be faulted or questioned and that is why leaving is important and why the time taken is well worth the effort.<br />
<br />
Most of the objections to this WA (DUP aside), are from those with unrealistic expectations on the speed and completeness of leaving the EU, and those whose only intent is to stop Brexit from happening under any circumstances.<br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-54076745024364148732019-09-13T06:07:00.000-07:002019-09-13T10:39:53.429-07:00UK: Is Boris big enough for Brexit?The installation of Boris Johnson as UK Prime Minister was a unique event in my lifetime - a new and truly popular Conservative leader. But what about Mrs Thatcher? [I hear the squeals, but she was initially <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher#Domestic_affairs" target="_blank">extremely unpopular</a> and only achieved popular approval courtesy of a certain Generalissimo named <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopoldo_Galtieri" target="_blank">Galtieri</a>.]<br />
<br />
And, let's be honest, what's not to like?<br />
<br />
A big, bouncy, blonde in No 10 is surely a welcome change from the humourless inhabitants that we have had the misfortune to have govern us in recent times. But it is this very popularity that now threatens him.<br />
<br />
The forces are rallied and ranged in their lines of attack, and the suddenly sainted <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-49661855" target="_blank">Scottish Judiciary</a>, having declared open season on the British PM, have allowed the BBC to abandon all pretence of impartiality and join those <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49683797?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c8nq32jw8r1t/boris-johnson&link_location=live-reporting-story" target="_blank">clamouring for Johnson's head</a>. Yet the northern judges are themselves guilty of the most egregious projection we have witnessed in many years, claiming the government are unlawfully "<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/scottish-judges-rule-boris-johnson-s-suspension-of-parliament-unlawful/ar-AAH8cKY?li=AA30Oe" target="_blank">stymying parliament</a>".<br />
<br />
<i>But just who is stymying what? </i><br />
<br />
For more than three years Parliament has stymied those trying to enact the referendum result, and these 'judges' are now complicit in that criminality. With barely pause to catch their collective breath, they have branded the British PM a liar and usurper of parliamentary privilege and they have attempted to foment constitutional upheaval. If they really believed the PM was guilty as they charge, they should demand that Parliament be dissolved and a General Election called, but of course, that is not on their agenda.<br />
<br />
Where does this all end, with Brexit on 31st October as planned, or a further extension or worse?<br />
<br />
We shall have to wait and see, but one thing is becoming very clear, the opposition to the people's decision is now so entrenched and unwilling to accept anything less than capitulation and Remain, that only an immediate and absolute clean break will be workable, when the time comes.<br />
<br />
Anything less, any sort of slow or 'soft' Brexit will be met with such obstruction and institutional malevolence, that progress will be impossible and we will be confined in a perpetual state of conflict until we limp out, or are returned to the EU, weakened and divided, no longer an island Nation but a chastened province, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46333338" target="_blank">a coastal state</a> of the European Union.<br />
<br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-2678371335161010112019-05-19T04:59:00.001-07:002019-05-19T05:00:03.742-07:00UK: What the state has done<span style="font-size: large;">Yesterday</span> saw a veteran's rally outside Broadcasting house in London.<br />
<br />
Whatever your views on politics or war, the message was clear that the old order has changed and ever more people are waking up to the reality of how the establishment regards us all.<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/65c5z3B1KDc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/65c5z3B1KDc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-59277527368404062532019-04-03T10:37:00.000-07:002019-04-03T10:37:37.192-07:00Brexit: It's all in the mind.<span style="font-size: large;">You</span> are excused if you do not know that there is a<u><a href="https://robintilbrook.blogspot.com/2019/03/lawyer-starts-case-to-block-extension.html" target="_blank"> legal challenge</a></u> to Teresa May's attempted delay of Brexit, when she requested an extension to Article 50 date for leaving EU, because none of the regular media outlets seem to know anything about it either, if their lack of coverage is any indicator.<br />
<br />
Even following Gina Miller's <u><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gina_Miller#Brexit_legal_challenge" target="_blank">successful challenge</a></u>, I, among many, will be surprised if our judiciary are sufficiently independent to overturn the assumed position now, and declare that Britain did, in fact, leave EU on 29th March, but hey, stranger things have happened (or so I am reliably informed).<br />
<br />
<i>Whatever the outcome, this situation does raise an interesting point.</i><br />
<br />
If the extension was illegal, and we are no longer members of EU, then all trade carried out since 29th. was conducted over the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/brexit-business-economy-easyjet-cips-manufacturing-survey-liz-truss-no-deal-wto-rules-manufacturers-a8849181.html" target="_blank">Brexit cliff edge</a> that we've heard so much about. Indeed, we are all now tumbling, or have already tumbled, over said precipice.<br />
<br />
Now, this really is interesting, because all those medicines that were to be in such short supply, and flights that were to be cancelled and every other disaster that was to befall us, never happened of course.<br />
<br />
The Irish 'backstop' and border, didn't interfere with anyone or anything, and all those illegal transactions that took place and tariffs that weren't collected, will just have to be adjusted over the next weeks and months, prices changed, books accounted and forms filled, just as businesses always do. In truth, that's exactly what they always do.<br />
<br />
Every time that production costs, regulations, the price of fuel, VAT or any other tax, changes, then businesses adjust and prices reflect those variations. It's what happens.<br />
<br />
If prices rise too high, less is sold, or different suppliers are sought, that's also what happens.<br />
<br />
The point is, that these are all man-made or market obstacles, with man-made or market solutions, and there is no cliff-edge outside the fevered imaginings and machinations of the EU and it's complicit comrades.<br />
<br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-51061935917646014982019-03-27T04:58:00.000-07:002019-03-28T15:33:00.160-07:00Brexit: Just say no WAIn all the Brexit shenanigans, the fact remains that if the people want to leave the EU, then eventually that is what will happen.<br />
<br />
All this talk of May's deal or no Brexit is nonsense. May's deal <b>is </b>no Brexit, because it is the only scenario in which Brexit is guaranteed to fail.<br />
<br />
Look at the alternatives and you will see that there is not a thing called 'no Brexit'.<br />
<br />
There are only two ways to thwart Brexit:-<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Extend Article 50</b> to allow for another Referendum, or a General Election.</li>
</ul>
Or<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Revoke Article 50</b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<i>And neither path forces us the remain in EU if the people really want to leave.</i><br />
<br />
The popular thinking, that a second referendum will easily overturn the previous result, is grossly mistaken.<br />
<br />
When/if it is called, the media must return to fair and balanced coverage of the debate, and the British public are far more aware of the issues and deceptions than they ever were before the last vote.<br />
<br />
Both sides will have their cases scrutinized in depth, and previous lies will be exposed remorselessly.<br />
<br />
<i>What effect will that have?</i><br />
<br />
Well, the Brexit bus will need to remove it's £350 million per week, and replace that with £20 million per day or whatever, perhaps less dramatic, but hardly a deal breaker, and undeniably accurate. True the remainers will also point to the difficulty of negotiations, but an electorate that has watched events over the last two plus years, will know that uncommitted and weak negotiators were to blame, and they will demand a tougher, more determined team; in effect, they will want more Brexit, not less.<br />
<br />
<i>And what of the Remainers case? </i><br />
<br />
The true face of EU has been revealed over the last while, and Brexit exaggerations will pale against the downright lies of Remainer rhetoric:-<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>No EU army. <u><a href="https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/01/12/eu-army-already-taking-shape-brags-german-defence-minister/">Lie </a></u></li>
<li>ECJ does not supersede UK Courts. <u><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primacy_of_European_Union_law">Lie</a></u></li>
<li>EU is for Internet freedom. <u><a href="https://www.wired.co.uk/article/eu-article-13-passed-meme-war">Lie</a></u></li>
<li>No plans to make UN migration pact EU law. <u><a href="https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/03/21/austria-eu-report-un-migration-pact/">Lie</a></u></li>
<li>EU is honest broker and will not seek to punish UK.<u><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4709742/Brussels-wants-punish-UK-Brexit-says-German-MEP.html"> Lie</a></u></li>
</ul>
<br />
An early General Election would probably result from either of these attempts to halt Brexit, and the results of this would be carnage for the main parties, resulting in a solid Leaver Parliament, with a firm mandate to get us out of EU forthwith. It's ironic, that the only person who might scupper this outcome, is the very one who did most to deliver the first referendum: Nigel Farage.<br />
<br />
If Nigel allows his ego to trump Brexit, and splits the Leave vote, then history will judge him very severely. Should he choose to work with the other Leavers, the Brexit parties can concentrate their efforts and resources in constituencies with remainer MPs, by also agreeing not to stand against MPs who have a consistent voting record in favour of Leave.<br />
<br />
The only people who should have anything to fear from a GE or 2nd Referendum, are those who have deceived and delayed during the past nearly three years; and the voting public know who they are, in a way that they have never known before.<br />
<br />
What happens after the WA is finally voted down may not be entirely predictable, but if the people still want to leave, then it most certainly does <b>not</b> mean no Brexit. But, regardless of what the people want, voting for Teresa May's deal means that negotiating a beneficial Brexit would be virtually impossible, because the threat of <u><a href="https://primaryaccount.blogspot.com/2019/01/brexit-preparing-for-worst.html">backstop</a></u> and remaining tied to the EU during negotiations, is the actual catastrophe that No Deal is supposed to be.<br />
<br />
The EU have already <u><a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/871424/Brexit-news-guy-verhofstadt-uk-brussels-EU-european-union-austria-enf-video">demonstrated</a></u> their lack of respect for Britain, and that was before they held the upper hand, and May's Wretched Agreement gives them that whip hand, while tying ours firmly behind our backs.<br />
<br />
Just say NO way, WA.Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-28500859281356331302019-03-26T07:26:00.000-07:002019-03-26T07:26:14.597-07:00US: Donald where's your deal, then?<span style="font-size: large;">When</span> the winds of change brought Donald Trump to the White House, only fools thought that everything he did would be good, and only bigger fools believed that everything he was to do would be bad. And so it has proven.<br />
<br />
Perhaps his greatest achievement was in preventing Hilary C. from becoming POTUS, and for that, we should be forever grateful and this certainly colours my opinion of his actions; but his latest pronouncement, that America now <span style="color: blue;"><u><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-israel/trump-recognizes-golan-heights-as-israeli-boosting-netanyahu-and-angering-syria-idUSKCN1R61S6">recognizes the Golan Heights</a></u> </span>as part of Israel, is for me, the wrong decision, at the wrong time, and for the wrong reasons.<br />
<br />
After his apparent success in bringing North and South Korea closer together, it would also be foolish to dismiss this latest gambit as irredeemable, but whatever the outcome, there were surely much better options available to the US President.<br />
<br />
<b>If peace between Israel and it's neighbours really is an aim, then the Golan has both political and strategic importance.</b><br />
<br />
The most obvious solution, if Israel really wanted good relations, would be some form of joint sovereignty and a permanent demilitarized zone, all dependent on Syria's recognition of the State of Israel, the removal of Hezbollah and all Iranian forces from Syria etc.<br />
<br />
Of all the Holy Lands, the Golan Heights have possibly the weakest historic claim to inclusion in Israel, unlike Judea and Samaria, which are well understood to be part of the Jewish heritage, Golan seems to have been fought over and occupied/reoccupied over many centuries, going back into antiquity and possibly the strongest claimants to the land today, are the <u><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze#In_Syria">Druze</a></u>.<br />
<br />
After moving the US embassy to Jerusalem - a long overdue step, and one which all right-minded people should support - it would be a great shame if righting ancient wrongs were to descend into nothing more than an opportunistic land grab.<br />
<br />
The first principle of the art of the deal, must surely to be to keep your options open, and always hold the end-game in mind.<br />
<br />
But it appears that keeping Bibi in power at the upcoming elections, and making life difficult for President Assad, are more important short term goals than bringing a workable peace agreement to at least one part of the Middle East.Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-26226486906422576532019-03-23T11:02:00.000-07:002019-03-23T11:59:21.277-07:00UK: Brexit lies and statistics<span style="font-size: large;">As </span>the anti-Brexit forces gather on the streets of London, estimates of their number will be growing <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/brexit-peoples-vote-march-london-put-it-to-the-people-a4097286.html" target="_blank">exponentially</a> on the various pro-EU news channels, it might be a good time to see what 'facts' are flying around today.<br />
<br />
Yesterday, in conversations on <a href="https://going-postal.com/" target="_blank">Going-Postal</a>, about the petition to revoke Article 50, the origin of those voting and the number of votes they were casting, was guided how to capture the source metadata and <a href="https://going-postal.com/2019/03/roger-ackroyds-question-time-review-21-mar/#comment-4389537677" target="_blank">this is what I found</a>:-<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>{"name":"United Kingdom","code":"GB","signature_count":<b>1261367</b>}</i><br />
<br />
At that time, the total was a little over 3 million votes.<br />
<br />
Today, hearing that the vote miraculously approaches 4.5 million (did nobody sleep last night?), I decided to check the numbers again [bold type is mine], and, hey presto:-<br />
<br />
<i>{"name":"United Kingdom","code":"GB","signature_count":<b>4171187</b>}</i><br />
<br />
Miraculous indeed.<br />
<br />
Whoever said <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies,_damned_lies,_and_statistics" target="_blank">Lies, damned lies and statistics</a>, they were undoubtedly highlighting the way that figures can be manipulated to serve a specific purpose, but what what see here is the manufacture of numbers that clearly cannot exist, because either the first or the second is false, or perhaps neither is true.<br />
<br />
Either way, the data is contained on <a href="https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/241584.json" target="_blank">Parliament's own website</a>, which takes the deception/stupidity to another level of deceit.<br />
<br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-13480240129387348402019-03-22T18:52:00.000-07:002019-03-22T18:52:08.367-07:00NZ: When ideologies collide<span style="font-size: large;">So </span>the New Zealanders have accepted their opportunity to show the world just <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newzealand-shootout-headscarves/new-zealand-women-don-headscarves-to-support-muslims-after-shootings-idUSKCN1R304O" target="_blank">how virtuous they are</a>, from the Prime Minister to the local biker gangs, all are united in their displays of piety and compassion.<br />
<br />
Wonderful news, but when one crazy goes on a killing spree, why does nobody ask <b>why</b>, anymore?<br />
<br />
Tragedies like the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christchurch_mosque_shootings" target="_blank">Christchurch massacre</a> are thankfully rare, yet the media immediately jump onto the 'white supremacist' bandwagon, as though there is some well thought out and defined movement driving the perpetrators, yet their actual reasoning is never examined nor their fears addressed.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, while the 'white supremacist' tag is used for attention grabbing headlines, but the articles tend to more accurately write about 'white nationalist', as these people are usually not the spreaders of supremacist ideologies, but reacting to fears in an increasingly hostile environment, where all the world's ills are the fault of white privilege, and every free thinking person is a racist ideologue, little wonder that they resort to violence as the only voice that will be 'listened' to.<br />
<br />
The terrible irony is that these attacks receive so much attention because they are so rare, yet islamist attacks against civilians and particularly Christians, have become so common, that they barely make the footnotes in our daily news reports.<br />
<br />
Coming only weeks after the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47018747" target="_blank">murder of 20 worshipers</a> in a catholic cathedral in the Philippines, it is difficult not to contrast the different coverage, and if those numbers aren't enough, the more recent <a href="https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/cwn/2019/march/nigerian-christians-under-siege-attacks-claim-120-lives-since-february-nbsp" target="_blank">120 killed in Nigeria</a> were also notable by their seeming irrelevance to our 4th Estate.<br />
<br />
When Turkey's Erdogan showed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/17/world/middleeast/erdogan-video-new-zealand-mosque-attack.html" target="_blank">video footage</a> to encourage support for his islamist ideologies, did the Western media bother itself? Apart from a little tut tutting, not much.<br />
<br />
Ignoring the Global Jihad ensures that these incidents continue in frequency and intensity, and gives all the motivation and justification that some will use to plan and carry out equally violent acts in response.<br />
<br />
Hiding bad news does not make it go away, and pretending that only white people do bad things is a sure way to ensure that increasing numbers of white people will continue to do bad things.<br />
<br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-62377529510406727872019-03-13T06:22:00.000-07:002019-03-13T06:22:55.295-07:00Brexit: 13th March, a day of infamy?<span style="font-size: large;">With</span> the second defeat for Teresa May's Wretched Agreement, our esteemed Members of Parliament now have the chance to finally support the referendum result of July 2016.<br />
<br />
Today they can vote for a clean, uncluttered, un-fudged exit from the European Union, but that is the least likely of today's possible outcomes, and we will almost certainly move on to a debate tomorrow, on whether to extend or repeal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_invocation_of_Article_50_of_the_Treaty_on_European_Union" target="_blank">Article 50</a> (which allows us to leave the EU on 29th. March, about 16 days from now).<br />
<br />
The greatest tragedy of this obstructionist and undemocratic rejection of the Will of the People, is that it will leave our future negotiators desperate to sign any and all trade deals that are dangled before them, probably resulting in the abandonment of all of those promises of worker's rights, food safety and environmental/pollution protections, that we have been assured would be paramount.<br />
<br />
This display of disunity, and our abject inability to negotiate Brexit with the EU, has also left the UK weakened as a viable trading partner and potential ally for those in the rest of world at large.<br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-70356633491109285782019-01-11T05:58:00.000-08:002019-01-11T06:09:00.028-08:00Brexit: Preparing for the worst<span style="font-size: large;">Hope</span> for the best, prepare for the worst - sound advice, and in that spirit, it's worth examining what is the worst could be.<br />
<br />
We've all been told about the 'cliff edge' no deal scenario, which is in truth a well understood return to WTO terms and conditions, so there is nothing much to add here as by now we should all know where we stand and where that is likely to lead.<br />
<br />
There is also a variety of referendum reversal scenarios, requiring an extension or withdrawal of Article 50, and a 'people's vote' (though who these 'people' are and why they didn't vote last time is not explained other than bringing inexperienced and impressionable youth into what is an already confused and uncertain debate).<br />
<br />
But the one scenario that has not been addressed, because it is currently seen as the least likely outcome, is actually most pressing at this time, and, as such, should not be ignored.<br />
<br />
<i>What happens if Mrs May's deal <b>is</b> passed in parliament?</i><br />
<br />
With the initial failure of her <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/withdrawal-agreement-and-political-declaration" target="_blank">WA</a> almost assured, May is already talking to others about linking UK labour and environmental laws to EU regulations, and if she could manufacture an Irish fudge, it might only take Corbyn to allow a free vote, for the resulting abstentions and defections to swing the commons in her direction.<br />
<br />
<i>So what happens then?</i><br />
<br />
In a word.<b> Disaster.</b><br />
<br />
Brexit in name only, NI backstop. End of sovereignty, the list goes on, and, unlike the scaremongering we have previously seen, this list is real.<br />
<br />
<i>And the effects will be equally real. </i><br />
<br />
<b>Expect early disturbances in Ireland</b>, with the Unionists taking to the streets almost immediately, and such street displays will only increase in frequency and intensity until the official summer Marching Season arrives. How violent these become will largely depend on events outside the North, but bombs and bullets will certainly be on the agenda.<br />
<br />
Many Unionists are unhappy with the <a href="http://education.niassembly.gov.uk/post_16/snapshots_of_devolution/gfa" target="_blank">Belfast Agreement</a>, and with demographics moving against them, this will be seen as possibly their last opportunity to take back control of the province, and unlike the IRA, they have well known and established <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-24645945" target="_blank">links</a> to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/26/special-branch-ruc-put-evidence-before-arrest-walker-mi5-report-northern-ireland" target="_blank">police</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Showband_killings" target="_blank">military</a>, so that a Protestant insurrection will take a shape and scale that we may not yet comprehend.<br />
<br />
I doubt that the British mainland will also descend into extreme violence, although there will be ugly scenes and much discontent, but things can change very quickly, so, who knows; but the <b>UK government will surely fall, quickly and decisively. </b><br />
<br />
Disgusted politicians and voters will leave the Tories and Labour in their droves and if May doesn't choose to go to the people, the defectors will indeed force her hand. Expect UKIP to become a major force in British politics, probably even the leading party, not enough to win an outright majority, but enough to completely change the composition of the House, and what then: A Conservative/Labour coalition? Unlikely yet almost certain in the name of keeping out the 'Far Right', for which the ground is already being prepared relentlessly in the establishment media.<br />
<br />
And all the time that this is going on, we will be trying to negotiate a future Trade Deal which prevents the Backstop from being implemented, while the EU will be blaming Brexit as they squeeze and choke their advantage over us. <b>Expect Gibraltar, Fishing, Financial Services and everything else that they covet to be on their agenda, with only a split and impotent bunch of negotiators opposing them. </b><br />
<br />
<i>Just how bad can Ireland get?</i><br />
<br />
If they take hold, then the new Troubles will undoubtedly spread, not to the British mainland this time, but south, into the Republic where pressure to impose a hard border will be Unionist strategy, thus causing the WA to be null and void. What will Varadker do; will he call for help from the EU and ask for them to assist as 'impartial' peacekeepers?<br />
<br />
We do not know what will actually happen, but one thing is certain, whatever occurs, Brexit will get the blame.<br />
<br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-89100219285010752682018-12-06T06:33:00.000-08:002018-12-06T06:33:01.550-08:00Brexit: Who's idea was this?<span style="font-size: large;">There</span> is an old joke (probably deemed inappropriate in today's super sensitive society), which said of a particularly unattractive child, that it was so ugly, only its mother could love it, well now we have such an ill-conceived idea, that even those who brought it into the world struggle to find any virtue or value within it.<br />
<br />
Watching the House of Commons debate on Theresa May's <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46237012" target="_blank">Withdrawal Agreement</a>, it is clear, thus far, that the only persuasive speeches have come from those who oppose it.<br />
<br />
Both Leavers and Remainers, have shredded the iniquitous document with an impassioned eloquence derived from clear and careful consideration. In contrast, those defending this ghastly proposition have rambled and stumbled their way through an unconvincing and poorly scripted list of fears and objections to the aspiration that the UK can survive, and even prosper, as a free and independent Island Nation, once again.<br />
<br />
What happens next is unclear, the forces against independence are gathered, but they are in a fight of their own making and they should understand that things can never just revert to the day before 23rd June 2016.<br />
<br />
<i>The EU should also consider its position.</i><br />
<br />
If the UK is forced to remain in their belligerent bureaucracy, they will encounter an increasingly hostile and uncooperative member State, set on a path of disruption and confrontation such that they may rue that we never left when the opportunity was here.<br />
<br />
Having tried and failed to reform the EU from within, we took the honourable path and decided to leave, if this decision is thwarted then the only option will be to destroy their wretched enterprise, and start again.<br />
<br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-50689657795218538752018-06-29T07:33:00.000-07:002018-06-29T07:33:53.195-07:00UK: Re-lying on others<span style="font-size: large;">Question:</span> What do liars do when people no longer believe them, do they:-<br />
<br />
1. Stop lying and begin speaking the truth, however inconvenient and/or incriminating<br />
or, do they:-<br />
2. Enlist/cajole/coerce others to lie on their behalf?<br />
<br />
<br />
<div>
By definition, a liar is one who tells lies, so the 2nd answer must always be true, because, if they cease telling lies, they can no longer be accurately called a liar.</div>
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This phenomenon can be seen in all manner of people, from serial killers to naughty children; a lie is immeasurably more potent (and believable) when it is supported by a third party, especially one who is otherwise regarded as being truthful.</div>
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The methods of manipulation can vary from deception to bribery, strangely though, the moral argument is often employed, 'it's for the greater good', 'that person deserves to be blamed' etc. This moral justification is most odd, because by knowingly joining such a subterfuge, the previously honest party becomes a liar too.</div>
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<div>
There is an added bonus to the tactic of enlisting others to confirm an untruth.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Responsibility for the lie can then be diverted towards such a collaborator, as if it was they who first initiated the falsehood.</div>
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<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">As</span> we approach four months from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Sergei_and_Yulia_Skripal" target="_blank">Skripal poisoning</a>, Boris Johnson has finally got OPCW to join his <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/uk-wins-bid-for-opcw-to-attribute-blame-for-chemical-weapons-attacks-11418767" target="_blank">scheme of apportioning blame</a> for chemical attacks, rather than simply confirming they took place. His <a href="https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/did-boris-johnson-lie-about-porton-downs-evidence-against-russia" target="_blank">previous attempt at garnering support</a> from Porton Down, for the party narrative did not succeed particularly well, but politicians have a habit of ignoring history. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Determining who is guilty of using chemical weapons is a fine a laudable notion, but the OPCW track record is poor at even establishing if such events have occurred, much less at who might have carried them out. They appear to accept 'open source' reports i.e unattributable hearsay; as evidence and even regurgitate statements from al-Qaeda's white helmets, as though they were credible witnesses. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The most ludicrous piece of 'evidence', which shows a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/syria-chemical-weapon-attack-douma-leaves-dozens-dead-opposition-says-04-08-2018/" target="_blank">roomful of supposed victims</a> piled on top of each other, is laughable in it's naivety. Chlorine is an extreme irritant and the notion that people would lay down and wait to die with eyes and lungs burning, and not run to clean air, is as unbelievable as the assertion that Assad would use gas when the battle was already won.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Chlorine is also a heavy gas, so how did it find a way up into these apartments (unless the chemical was already stored there).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The outrage and ridicule that resulted from the preposterous claims of Western governments was no surprise to many of us, but Boris & co are nothing if not persistent, and as a way of preparing for the next 'chemical attack' and the subsequent strike against Syria, enlisting the collusion of OPCW is a steady preliminary move, but I still prefer option 1. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Stop telling lies. </div>
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Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-14947557660929335082018-04-02T11:21:00.000-07:002018-04-03T08:19:31.069-07:00EU: What's the alternative?<span style="font-size: large;">Since</span> Britain elected to leave the European Union, one question is rarely asked: Why did 17 million voters turned their back on greater European integration despite the scares and insults hurled at them? Little mention is made of David Cameron's failed attempt to secure the sort of deal that would prevent Brexit and whether it was the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-35609968" target="_blank">EUs refusal to budge</a> that caused today's crisis.<br />
<br />
It is also strange that EU proponents are now unashamedly admitting that ever closer union really means an eventual <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/07/german-spd-leader-martinschulz-seeks-united-states-europe-2025/" target="_blank">United States of Europe</a>, despite the lack of appetite for such a monolith. Have these people become so emboldened by their control of European media and institutions, that they are now merely demonstrating what has always been their plan, or have they themselves fallen into that abysmal vision-less pit, where the dying can only cry, 'There is no other way'.<br />
<br />
The debate over Europe has been stifled and effectively hijacked so that the UK position no longer counts and EU deficiencies are ignored. All the talk of punishment and retribution for leaving this bureaucratic flophouse located in Brussels, has neatly obscured the fact that growing numbers of people in Europe <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euroscepticism" target="_blank">no longer want</a> what the EU has to offer.<br />
<br />
<b>Why would anyone want to stay?</b><br />
<br />
The first thing to remember, is the EU has not always been here.<br />
<br />
Since it's beginnings, after WWII, treaties have been signed, ratified, amended, re-written and even re-invented, with never more than a decade between <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_pillars_of_the_European_Union#History" target="_blank">significant alterations</a>. So leaving EU is not leaving Europe, but extricating ourselves from a legislative hodgepodge that is bound to fail, and is only preserved by intimidation and false reporting of it's aims and general direction.<br />
<br />
Tying economic growth and prosperity, to political and financial union, was what Eurosceptics have always feared, and as we witness today, justifiably so with the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/08/after-nearly-a-decade-of-economic-crisis-greece-has-stopped-dreaming.html" target="_blank">bankrupting of Greece</a> and the wider migration issue which now threatens to destroy the very fabric of European culture, and possibly worse.<br />
<br />
<b>And the alternative?</b><br />
<br />
The original concept of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Community" target="_blank">Single European Market</a> was what most countries wanted, and to what most would prefer to return. It was not perfect and tried to evolve, though with each stage of development the European Project became more entrenched and pervasive, but hindsight is indeed a wonderful thing, and there is no insurmountable reason why we cannot re-energize Europe in the 21st Century.<br />
<br />
<b>What should the European Market look like?</b><br />
<br />
The first thing that a fully functioning market needs, is a Common Trading Currency.<br />
<br />
Call this the Euro, the NewEuro the EuroTC or whatever else you like, the benefits for nations trading into, out of, and within Europe cannot be understated. Tourists and travelers too need and demand the same, for are they not also consumers of goods and services?<br />
<br />
The failing of the Euro, was not in it's desirability, but in it's inception and implementation. There is no need for a single currency in Europe, just one that is universally transferable across our borders. Previous attempts at making this possible faltered when the bureaucrat's fear of markets aligned with certain politician's expansionist motivation.<br />
<br />
The ERM was doomed by it's need to impose boundaries and thresholds and all manner of Eurospeak that translates simply to control at all costs.<br />
<br />
All that is required of a Trading Currency, is that it be administered by someone who knows money, and be accepted as legal tender in participating countries whose own currencies are free to rise and fall against it, but cross-border traders have a single, relatively stable currency to use and can plan their financial and contract commitments accordingly.<br />
<br />
<i>This is already a de facto standard today. </i><br />
<br />
When making purchases within the Eurozone a UK citizen is presented with the option of paying in Euros or Pounds, so where's the problem?<br />
<br />
The problem is in the mind and on the agenda of European bureaucrats who see the need for a common currency as a way of furthering their grand European Project of ever closer integration towards a United States of Europe, with them in control. Open Markets and Price Discovery are alien concepts to most of these career paper-weights.<br />
<br />
<b>We need borders.</b><br />
<br />
How<span style="font-size: large;"> </span>those borders work, and where they are, is quite different to demanding that they be removed altogether.<br />
<br />
Frau Merkel's manufactured migrant crisis has proved that national boundaries are there for a reason and must be respected. Again, in this electronic age, movement of people can be a quick and efficient part of living in Europe, but that movement must be in the best interests of the safety and prosperity of individual member states, and of Europe as a whole, anything else is treachery.<br />
<br />
Those nations with external borders to non-member states, must be supported as Europe's front line in protecting the integrity and security of all its members, and the notion that those in the center can get fat off the efforts of those at the extremities must be exposed as the unfair contrivance that it is.<br />
<br />
<i>The devil is in the detail</i><br />
<b><br /></b>
Negotiating how agriculture, finance, fishing and trade are handled, is what a European Market should do. It is where politicians, economists and bureaucrats earn their living, but the overriding principle of sovereign states working for the mutual benefit of themselves and their neighbours, must be non negotiable.<br />
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<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-18329249464738720092018-03-22T10:36:00.000-07:002018-03-22T10:36:11.328-07:00EU: It's us or them<span style="font-size: large;">So</span> Teresa May is <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5532057/May-arrives-EU-summit-set-sign-Brexit-transition-deal.html" target="_blank">about to sign</a> her wonderful transition deal in Brussels.<br />
<br />
It must be some relief for her, after all those threats and accusations against <a href="https://primaryaccount.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/uk-russias-poisoned-cup.html" target="_blank">Putin and Russia</a>, to be among friends and those who only seek mutual benefit in the these latest talks, and yes, I am being sarcastic.<br />
<br />
With UK fishing as the latest offering, she is hopeful that we can perhaps be allowed to take the upcoming beating, without deriving too much scorn and ridicule. She has the manner of someone on the receiving end of a lashing who cries 'Not the face', so as to minimize the injuries by allowing them to remain hidden.<br />
<br />
But time is running out, and if the ill-intentions of our EU counterparts is not yet obvious to her and our team, then we are in for a very rough ride.<br />
<br />
One fact is simple: a successful departure from EU will leave that body so weakened that it will likely not recover, so what on earth does she expect from a Brussels bureaucracy that desperately needs to prove itself and intimidate others into acquiescence?<br />
<br />
With <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-politics-eu/poland-accuses-eu-of-double-standards-on-democracy-as-standoff-deepens-idUSKBN1GX1QS" target="_blank">Poland</a> only one example of internal dissent, EU authority is under constant challenge, and why would it not be, for what does it offer and what tributes does it demand from its provinces?<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Forced acceptance of unemployable, uncooperative and potentially seditious migrants, who no longer even pretend to be refugees and quickly cluster in ghettos of anti-European zones of occupation. </li>
<li>Fiscal policies that favour only Germany and continual removal of all democratic processes and all notions of independence and National sovereignty.</li>
<li>A money grubbing and self-serving administration that seeks only greater authority for itself and does not even try to hide its disdain for those on whom it depends.</li>
<li>The destruction of Europe's very essence and historical place in the world, such that our eventual fall to the horrors of islamic conquest, resisted for some 1400 years, looks increasingly likely and even, as they would have us believe, inevitable.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
The list goes on, but I'm frankly tired of even thinking about that discredited stain on our once great civilization.<br />
<br />
Negotiations are over, and it's time to take sides. So, Ms May, are you with us?<br />
<br />
Just over 40 years of membership has left us politically and diplomatically dependent. We no longer seem to have the knowledge or the will to negotiate anything that even resembles an acceptable deal with those arch conspirators in Brussels, so take your gloves off, and start fighting to win.<br />
<br />
Ireland was the only realistic party that could make the transition harmonious and possibly beneficial with the requisite amount of give and take, but they are lead by a man obsessively engrossed in the new liberal ideologies and life-choices so popular in European circles, that, rather than seize this chance to become a focal nation in European affairs, they have chosen to remain anonymous, a minor member of EU27, as they now quaintly regard themselves.<br />
<br />
After so many years fighting for Statehood, Ireland has again found the challenge too daunting, and, just as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1800" target="_blank">in 1800</a>, where they signed away the independence gained <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_1782" target="_blank">in 1782 </a>, they have now thrown away any chance of proving themselves a major diplomatic force in Europe, and instead, taken to <a href="https://sluggerotoole.com/2018/03/05/leo-varadkar-and-mary-lou-mcdonald-have-been-making-eyes-at-each-other-using-brexit-as-chaperone/" target="_blank">settling old scores and wallowing in petty prejudices</a>.<br />
<br />
<i>So what's to be done?</i><br />
<br />
<b>Fight.</b> If Freedom is worth fighting for, then fight for it. Tell us all:- What should Europe look like?<br />
<br />
Lay out the plans for the sort of European Common Market that we thought we were joining, and describe the sort of Europe we would be proud and happy to live in. Let those other states, the V4, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, France and even Germany, let them know what a real European future can hold, and watch the discredited and false EU crumple.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://primaryaccount.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/uk-talking-about-brexit.html" target="_blank">We need allies</a>, not handouts.<br />
<br />
The EU has made it clear that we are to be punished and defeated, nothing more than collateral damage in their shameful attempts to coerce and cajole their members into accepting their own (and our) demise, so we have nothing to lose except our heads, and everything to gain.<br />
<br />
The time has come, Ms May, it's us or them.<br />
<br />
<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-35690782363663123682018-03-19T09:30:00.002-07:002018-03-19T09:30:56.520-07:00UK: A walk in the parkFor anyone who does not know about Tommy Robinson, I suggest you watch his appearance at the Oxford Union, to find something of what has brought Tommy to the public's attention.<br />
<br />
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_YQ94jFg_4A/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_YQ94jFg_4A?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
For the rest of us, yesterday's Free Speech event marked something of a turning point in the political awakening for many people who had previously been sleep-walking towards the end of Western culture and freedom.<br />
<br />
<b>And that is no exaggeration.</b><br />
<br />
That London even needs a Free Speech movement, should be all the clue we require to assess how dire our situation has become.<br />
<br />
The fact that small gangs of 'activists' tried to intimidate those attending and prevent Tommy from speaking, is further proof of our predicament, I personally did not witness the altercations, but there are videos circulating which appear to have been shot before Tommy's arrival, and show at least one gang of Asians (that's their official name, btw) attacking attendees.<br />
<br />
Anyway, Tommy arrived to great applause and general excitement and those Asians, and their Antifa accomplices, quickly disappeared among the crowd or off to skulk in the background, such that many people had no clue they had even turned up. But they will be back, and that is all we need to know about them.<br />
<br />
Below is some hand-held phone footage which I hope gives an impression of the general good natured enthusiasm in Tommy's reception.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzZh7Z4ctHB37k6Bp0CU6cJVP9lmHytTXhxoGTZAAzLO-ZSOLFL0Oz7TRi5Cyd1g7YI80DV4xGuNlGhVGzCSA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br />
Those who deride the Tommy Robinson phenomena, would do well to remember that Democracy needs Free Speech to exist, for how else can we know who to vote for, or just as importantly, who to vote against.<br />
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Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6217517014766271101.post-25727355578746399072018-03-16T10:30:00.001-07:002018-03-16T17:05:05.446-07:00Russia: Let the investigation begin<span style="font-size: large;">So</span> Boris Johnson thinks it likely that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-16/boris-johnson-says-likely-putin-personally-ordered-u-k-attack" target="_blank">Putin personally ordered</a> the chemical attack on a Russian double agent, this after Teresa May said <a href="https://www.channel4.com/news/may-says-highly-likely-russia-behind-salisbury-attack" target="_blank">something similar</a> a few days earlier, but, are you convinced?<br />
<br />
<i>Well, I'm not convinced, not yet, anyway</i>.<br />
<br />
The only vague consensus is that this attack was, in all probability, the work of a State actor rather than an individual with a grudge or financial interest. So lets start from that assumption, and, unlike the aforementioned politicos, I will refrain from putting a name to the chief suspect, but will instead leave you to draw your own conclusion.<br />
<br />
<b>Motive</b> - Which State has the greatest incentive to discredit president Putin and turn the West against Russia. Is there any State currently in conflict with Russia or likely to be, if given sufficient support?<br />
<br />
<b>Means</b> - The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novichok_agent" target="_blank">chemical compound</a> used was developed during the Soviet era, so, which State, currently hostile towards Russia, was either in the USSR, or has access to Soviet era technologies and personnel?<br />
<br />
<b>Opportunity</b> - The <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/03/09/sergei-skripal-poisoning-did-daughter-unwittingly-carry-nerve-agent-into-ex-russian-spys-home.html" target="_blank">latest intelligence</a> suggests that the nerve agent was planted on the ex-spy's daughter, possibly during a recent visit to Russia, so who among her friends and associates would have links to a State hostile towards Russia? It is fairly safe to assume that the daughter of a Russian defector would have few friends within the Russian establishment, but rather more likely among the activists and dissidents most disaffected with Vladimir Putin & Co. So which State speaks Russian as a first or second language and has easy access to Moscow?<br />
<br />
Intractable as this issue seems, the possibility that someone got close enough and was trusted enough by Yulia Skripal, to fool her into accepting such a deadly nerve agent, could be the only reliable path to solving this dreadful crime.<br />
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<br />Working class posthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11565574887752132457noreply@blogger.com