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Like America, Britain is unfit and unsafe to live in – both countries police states, serving privileged interests exclusively, allied in waging wars OF terror in multiple theaters, along with abolishing fundamental homeland freedoms.

The latest civil rights abuse came from hardline home secretary Amber Rudd. She’s spearheading a Tory effort to criminalize readership of so-called extremist content online – punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The same holds for anyone publishing content Tories call extremist, especially about Britain’s military, intelligence services and police that could be considered related to preparing terrorist acts.

“I want to make sure those who view despicable terrorist content online, including jihadi websites, far-right propaganda and bomb-making instructions, face the full force of the law,” Rudd blustered, adding:

“There is currently a gap in the law around material (that) is viewed or streamed from the Internet without being permanently downloaded.”

“This is an increasingly common means by which material is accessed online for criminal purposes and is a particularly prevalent means of viewing extremist material such as videos and web pages.”

A Home Office analysis showed thousands of online ISIS tweets and other material over the past year.

Unmentioned was US and UK support for the terrorist group, recruiting, arming, funding, training and directing its fighters, using them as imperial foot soldiers in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.

The way to end extremist online content from ISIS and likeminded terrorist groups is by no longer supporting them, combating their fighters instead of using them.

Most important is ending US-led imperial wars in multiple theaters. ISIS and likeminded terrorist groups were created to serve as imperial ground forces, aided by Pentagon-led terror-bombing.

Changes Rudd proposed aim to strengthen Britain’s 2000 Terrorism Act. It authorizes civil liberties-destroying police powers, including repressive stop-and-searches ruled illegal by the European Court of Human Rights.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Social Destruction by the Abuse of Money

October 5, 2017

SOCIAL DESTRUCTION BY THE ABUSE OF MONEY

In Britain, the top 1% of earners pay over a quarter of all income tax collected, and while super-rich British residents perhaps don’t have the tax breaks the Macklowes enjoy, the bulk of the burden falls on lawyers, bankers, company executives and owners of successful private enterprises. And it should, say the collectivists….

One of the juicier stories doing the rounds in New York society is the Macklowe divorce. Harry, the husband, kept a French mistress for two years before seeking a divorce from his wife of 58 years. So far, this is a run-of-the-mill marital split. But what made it the subject of gossip is the extraordinary lifestyle of the Macklowes, the mud being slung, and the expectations of the wronged 79-year old wife, seeking a billion or so to see out her remaining days.

They say hell hath no fury, and all that. Here is one of New York’s richest couples, washing their laundry in public, and it emerges that Harry has not paid tax since 1983. Harry’s lawyer bluntly stated in court that “people in real estate don’t pay taxes”. It echoes Leona Hemsley’s infamous quote that emerged at her trial thirty years ago, when the Queen of Mean said “We don’t pay taxes, only little people pay taxes.”

This still surprises many of us little people, but we must believe a top New York lawyer when he makes a statement in a court of law. The source of immense personal wealth in cities like New York is often from property development, and if this is a tax-free activity, it makes a mockery of the state redistributing money from the haves to the have-nots.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Britain bans gasoline and diesel cars starting in 2040

August 11, 2017

Britain bans gasoline and diesel cars starting in 2040

When will hybrids and electric cars really take over?

The decision to phase out the internal combustion engine heralds a new era of low-emission technologies with major implications for the auto industry, society and the environment.

“We can’t carry on with diesel and petrol cars,” U.K. environment secretary Michael Gove told the BBC on Wednesday. “There is no alternative to embracing new technology.”

Almost 2.7 million new cars were registered in the U.K. in 2016, making it the second biggest market in Europe after Germany.

Meeting the 2040 deadline will be a heavy lift. British demand for electric and fuel cell cars, as well as plug-in hybrids, grew 40% in 2015, but they only accounted for less than 3% of the market.

Still, experts say sales of clean cars are likely to continue on their dramatic upward trajectory.

“Ending diesel and petrol car sales by 2040 is a step in the right direction but given that electric cars are coming anyway this is probably pretty irrelevant. It’s a bit like saying we’re banning the sale of steam engines by 2040,” said David Bailey, a professor of industrial strategy at Aston Business School.

The car industry says that demand for electric vehicles will only reach a tipping point once they’re cheaper to own than conventional vehicles.

“Much depends on the cost of these new technologies and how willing consumers are to adopt battery, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen cars,” said Mike Hawes, CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. “Consumers have concerns over affordability, range and charging points.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Images Of British Troops Deployed In London

May 24, 2017

Images Of British Troops Deployed In London

As Prime Minister Theresa May promised, troops have been deployed to guard “key locations,” including the Palace of Westminster, several embassies and “other sensitive sites,” in London and other British cities, the Evening Standard reported.

The mass deployment follows Monday’s attack at Manchester Arena, which killed 22 kids attending an Ariana Grande concert, as well as the 23-year old attacker. It was the worst terror attack in the U.K. since 2005.

The Financial Times reports that nearly 4,000 military personnel have been deployed across Britain to help police with counter-terror efforts after May raised the threat level to “critical” on Tuesday as authorities scramble to apprehend any accomplices that may have aided Salman Abedi, the chief suspect in the bombing who was known to police prior to Monday’s attack.

“There are fears an Islamist bombmaker may be on the loose because of the sophistication of the device used in the Manchester attack on Monday,” the Evening Standard noted.

The FT also noted that the attack occurred at a time when police chiefs across Britain have warned about difficulties recruiting the extra 1,500 police the U.K. government promised following the attacks in Paris and Brussels.

Counter-Terrorism forces have arrested Hashem Abedi, the younger brother of the Manchester attacker, in Tripoli, according to media reports.

Parliament has been closed to the public, the changing of the guard at Westminster has been cancelled and the Old Bailey’s public galleries were also shut, the Evening Standard reports.

Soldiers are likely to be on duty at this weekend’s FA Cup Final at Wembley. And Chelsea have cancelled Sunday’s victory parade to celebrate their premier league win, ESPN reported.

Here’s a few photos showing troops arriving outside the Palace of Westminster, Scotland Yard and 10 Downing Street:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Facebook Deletes Tens Of Thousands Of Accounts Ahead Of UK General Election

May 8, 2017

Facebook Deletes Tens Of Thousands Of Accounts Ahead Of UK General Election

Ahead of the British general election on June 8, Facebook has deleted tens of thousands of accounts in Britain in its ongoing battle with “fake news” the AP reports. The campaign is part of Facebook’s evolving response to accusations the group was responsible for influencing the US presidential election, through the spread of fake news stories and “filter bubbles”.

“People want to see accurate information on Facebook and so do we. That is why we are doing everything we can to tackle the problem of false news,” said Simon Milner, Facebook’s director of policy for the UK. “To help people spot false news, we are showing tips to everyone . . . on how to identify if something they see is false.”

Simon Milner, the tech firm’s U.K. director of policy, says the platform wants to get to the “root of the problem” and is working with outside organizations to fact check and analyze content around the election. Milner added that Facebook is “doing everything we can to tackle the problem of false news.”

Additionally, on Monday, the social announced a national print advertising campaign in the UK to “educate the British public” about fake news, as part of a concerted global effort to crack down on the false information epidemic it has seen on its platform. The ads suggest that readers should be “skeptical of headlines,” and to “look closely at the URL.” The company says it has made improvements to help them detect fake news accounts more effectively.

The social network’s full-page print ads will appear in four UK newspapers on Monday, including the Telegraph, Times, Metro and Guardian, reproducing the same 10 tips to spot fake news that it launched on Facebook itself last month the FT adds. The UK campaign follows similar newspaper ads in Germany and France last month ahead of their elections, in newspapers including Bild, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Le Monde and Les Échos.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Meet Britain’s Nuclear Nutcase: Defense Secretary Micheal Fallon

May 1, 2017

Meet Britain’s Nuclear Nutcase: Defense Secretary Micheal Fallon

Michael Fallon’s recent claim that Britain under Theresa May’s leadership would be willing to launch a preemptive nuclear strike confirms what many suspected – namely that the British people are being ruled by a clutch of certifiable fanatics who will get us all destroyed unless they can be reined in, and soon. The Defence Secretary’s stupendously stupid statement came in the same week that the BBC’s Andrew Marr asked Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn in an interview if there were any circumstances in which he would launch nuclear weapons?

Both taken together suggest that the moral sickness that has long pervaded the country’s privately educated elite, when it comes to unleashing wars against poor countries abroad and attacking poor people at home, has progressed into the realms of actual insanity. Have we seriously now entered an age when nuclear weapons are considered anything other than an abomination that no civilized country or non-sociopathic human being would ever contemplate using for more than a second?

If the likes of Michael Fallon and Andrew Marr are to be believed, yes we have.

The willingness to trigger armageddon is, in the run-up to the general election on 8 June, being used as evidence of the Tories’ fitness to rule. In this regard, Mr Fallon wants us to believe that the British public are convinced that North Korea and Russia to be more of a threat to its security than than the Tories are. It really does bespeak ineffable arrogance, recklessness, and irrationality to wave the prospect of launching nuclear weapons as part of an electoral strategy. Within this strategy, the inference that Jeremy Corbyn is weak because he refuses to countenance a first-strike policy vis-a-vis Britain’s Trident nuclear arsenal, is more confirmation of the upside down world that these people inhabit.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Blowout Week 172

April 16, 2017

Blowout Week 172

In this week’s Blowout we return to Brexit and its impacts. It is now reported that following Brexit the UK will “scale down its concern over climate change” and scrap the EU’s 15%-of-total-energy-from-renewables-by-2020 target. Can outright repeal of the 2008 Climate Change Act be far behind?

Telegraph: Britain preparing to scrap EU green energy targets after Brexit

The UK is currently committed to getting 15 per cent of all energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020. The UK is currently on course to miss the target and incur millions of pounds in fines from the European Union.

Government sources told The Daily Telegraph that the target, under the EU Renewable Energy Directive, is likely to be scrapped after Brexit. It comes after civil service documents, photographed on a train, revealed that Britain plans to scale down its concern over climate change after Brexit. Details of the policy change were contained in the papers of a senior civil servant at the Department for International Trade (DIT) photographed by a passenger earlier this month. The notes say: “Trade and growth are now priorities for all posts — you will all need to prioritise developing capability in this area. Some economic security-related work like climate change and illegal wildlife trade will be scaled down.” The target has led to billions of pounds Government subsidies for renewable power sources such as wind, solar and biomass power plants, which are ultimately paid for by customers through their energy bills. The National Audit Office estimated that green energy subsidies will cost every household £110 a year by 2020.

We follow up with the usual mix of energy and related stories from all over the world, including how OPEC cheated on production cuts, the North Sea revival, Japan makes natural gas from methane hydrates, the growth of nuclear subsidies in the US, more US underground nuclear waste storage planned,

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Fake and False and Just Plain Nonsense

February 9, 2017

Fake and False and Just Plain Nonsense

Paul Cézanne Les (Grandes) Baigneuses 1905 Two and a half weeks after the inauguration, and yes it’s only been that long, the media still don’t seem to have learned a single thing. They help the Trump campaign on an almost hourly basis by parroting whatever things, invariably judged as crazy, he says. One day it’s that negative polls are all fake news, the next it’s some list of underreported terror events. All of it gets an avalanche of attention provided by the very people who claim to be against Trump, but greatly help his cause by doing so.

Not a single thing learned. If Trump tweets tomorrow that tomatoes are really fruits and he’s going to have someone draw up a law to make them so, or that Lego should be recognized as an official building material in order to have the Danes, too, pay for the wall, it will be on the front page of every paper and the opening item for every TV news show. The crazier he makes them, the more serious they are taken. The echo chamber is so eager to incessantly repeat to itself and all its inhabitants that he’s a crazy dude, it’s beyond embarrassing.

And it takes us ever further away, and rapidly too, from any serious discussion about serious issues, the one very thing that the Trump empire desperately calls for. The press should simply ignore the crazy stuff and focus on what’s real, but they can’t bring themselves to do so for fear of losing ratings and ad revenues. All Trump needs to do, and that’s not a joke, is to fart or burp into their echo chamber and they’ll all be happy and giddy and all excited and self-satisfied. A spectacle to behold if ever there was one.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The Floodgates Begin To Open

October 16, 2016

The Floodgates Begin To Open

It’s now clear that what governments did to counter the Great Recession may have delayed systemic collapse, but did not resurrect the old normal. Growth around the world is anemic – which is to say debt continues to increase faster than the productive capacity to service it – and inflation (the other way to shrink a debt burden) remains below target.

Now “anemic” is becoming “non-existent.” In the US, mini-credit-bubbles like auto loans, home mortgages and student loans are sputtering, leading economists to dial back their rosy scenarios for 2016. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow forecast for Q3 growth, for instance, was a robust 3.8% in August but is now less than 2% — and still falling.

Not surprisingly, everyone is starting to panic. In the UK, where admittedly Brexit has created a unique situation:

Mark Carney: Bank of England will tolerate higher inflation for the sake of growth

(Telegraph) – Official data on Friday showed house building, infrastructure and public construction all slumped in August, indicating that the UK’s building industry is slowing sharply and could even enter a recession. Construction output dropped by 1.5pc in the month, an unexpected drop after growth of 0.6pc in July, according to the Office for National Statistics. Separate Bank of England figures showed banks suffered a big drop in demand in the months following the Brexit vote as fewer Britons were prepared to take major financial decisions. Demand for mortgages dipped strongly, with a net balance of 44pc of banks reporting a fall in customer interest – the biggest negative score in almost two years.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney told an audience in Nottingham that the current environment of low inflation was “going to change”, with the drop in the value of the pound likely to push up prices across the economy.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

10 Years (Or Less): Orwell’s Vision Coming True

July 10, 2016

10 Years (Or Less): Orwell’s Vision Coming True

orwell-map

In the wake of all of the Brexit vote, a chilling blurb made headlines and it went largely unnoticed and uncommented upon. The line was couched within comments made by Boris Titov, an economic policy maker for Russia’s Kremlin. Actually all of the following merits attention, but one line stands out. The source for this excerpt is a Facebook post by Titov. Here it is:

“…it seems it has happened — UK out!!! In my opinion, the most important long-term consequence of all this is that the exit will take Europe away from the anglo-saxons, meaning from the USA. It’s not the independence of Britain from Europe, but the independence of Europe from the USA. And it’s not long until a united Eurasia — about 10 years.”

This is a very revealing post to show how unfavorably the past 50 years of post-World War II American imperialism has been viewed. The tipping point, as mentioned in a previous articlewas the outright 180-degree that George H.W. Bush pulled on Mikhail Gorbachev: the promise of NATO membership upon reunification of the two Germany’s and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and then not fulfilling that promise.

The American corporate interests inserted themselves, as the communist government shattered, leaving in its wake oligarchs, the Russian mafia, and a “Wild West” environment within Russia proper and the ex-SSR’s, the former Soviet satellite nations. A tremendous amount of chaos occurred for a decade that was both enabled and further fostered by the United States. The perception in Russia even before the Soviet Union came into being was that Russians were in an economic war with Great Britain, and the United States was looked upon as an “extension” of Britain: a country with language, law, and cultural parallels,especially in terms of expansion.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Desperately Trying to Salvage Canada-EU Trade Pact after Brexit, EU Escalates Assault on Democracy

July 3, 2016

Desperately Trying to Salvage Canada-EU Trade Pact after Brexit, EU Escalates Assault on Democracy

The European Commission, it seems, will never learn. Despite the existential crisis caused by Britain’s decision to leave the EU and the serious questions being raised about the EU’s gaping lack of democratic legitimacy, the European Commission just escalated its assault on European democracy. This week the Commission announced that it would ratify CETA, the controversial trade deal between Canada and the EU, as a unilateral EU agreement, not as a so-called mixed agreement.

What that means is that the national parliaments of the 27 remaining EU member states will have no influence whatsoever over the approval process, even though (or more likely because) the trade agreement will have huge, sweeping effects on the society, governance, and economy of all the nations concerned. In other words, the EU’s democratic deficit, one of the decisive factors in Britain’s decision to sever the cord from Brussels, just got a whole lot bigger. Yet it was barely reported in the press.

Here’s more from Euractiv, one of the few English-language media outlets that actually bothered to cover the story:

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker reportedly told EU leaders on Tuesday (28 June) that the Commission considers the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) an “EU-only” agreement and would propose next week (5 July) a simple approval procedure…

“The agreement we have made with Canada is the best agreement the EU has ever made,” Juncker said, insisting that the Commission had come to the conclusion that CETA was not a mixed agreement, after a detailed analysis. “But if the member states decide legal opinions are not valid in politics then I am the last person that would stand in their way.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

US imperialism the BREXIT culprit

June 26, 2016

US imperialism the BREXIT culprit

How Western Military Interventions Shaped the Brexit Vote, TRNN, June 25, 2016.

Michael Hudson argues that military interventions in the Middle East created refugee streams to Europe that were in turn used by the anti-immigrant right to stir up xenophobia

GREGORY WILPERT, TRNN: Welcome to the Real News Network. I’m Gregory Wilpert, coming to you from Quito, Ecuador.

Britain’s referendum in favor of leaving, or exiting, the European Union, the Brexit referendum, as the results are known, won with 52 percent of the vote on Thursday, June 23, stunning Europe’s political establishment. One of the issues that has raised concern for many is that what does the Brexit mean for Britain’s and Europe’s economy and politics. This was one of the main topics leading up to the referendum, but a lot of disinformation [reigned] in the discussion.

With us to discuss the economic and political context of the Brexit is Michael Hudson. He is a research professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and author of Killing the Host: How Financial Parasites and Debt Destroy the Global Economy. Also, he is an economics adviser to several governments, including Greece, Iceland, Latvia, and China. He joins us right now from New York City.

Thanks, Michael, for joining us.

MICHAEL HUDSON: Good to be here again.

WILPERT: So let’s begin with the political context in which the Brexit vote took place. Aside from the right-wing arguments about immigrants, economic concerns, and about Britain’s ability to control its own economy, what would you say–what do you see as being the main kind of political background in which this vote took place?

HUDSON: Well, almost all the Europeans know where the immigrants are coming from. And the ones that they’re talking about are from the near East. And they’re aware of the fact that most of the immigrants are coming as a result of the NATO policies promoted by Hillary and by the Obama administration.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

The consequences of leaving the party

June 26, 2016

The consequences of leaving the party

The collective decision of the British electorate is to reject the recommendation of its government, excepting those of its few dissenting ministers, that Britain should remain in Europe.

It is a signal failure of government policy. Above all, it is a failure that undermines the state’s control over ordinary people. Time will tell whether it is just a temporary setback for the world’s economic planners, or the removal of a keystone supporting the whole structure of modern statism.

There are, therefore, two aspects of this development that must be considered, domestic UK politics and the international economic and political consequences.

There can be little doubt that David Cameron and George Osborne the Chancellor are now only caretakers, with the duty of managing a planned withdrawal from Europe until their replacement as executive politicians. The withdrawal will be a lengthy process, which over the next two years at least, will lead to the final, official separation. It is possible there will be attempts by the European elite in Frankfurt and Paris, to come up with proposals to keep Britain in the EU club and to force a second referendum. Any such attempt will fail, because it cannot even be entertained by a caretaker Prime Minister.

David Cameron’s days as Prime Minister are numbered and he now has no real authority. The Conservatives will have to elect a new leader, and the bookies’ favourite is almost certain to be Boris Johnson. He is likely to be elected by the Conservative Party by the end of this year.

Britain’s future will therefore be subject to the policies of a Boris-led government, which it has to be admitted, will have obtained power basically through the failure of the Remain camp to come up with a convincing argument. It was arguably Remain that lost, and not Leave that won.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Not So Fast: Scotland And Northern Ireland May Have Brexit Veto Rights

June 25, 2016

Not So Fast: Scotland And Northern Ireland May Have Brexit Veto Rights

Two days after the shocking Brexit result, the nightmares for the Remain camp – which refuses to accept a democratic reality – will not go away. As a result, it has gotten to the farcical point where disgruntled Remain voters have launched a petition demanding a second EU referendum, having clearly forgotten that it was the dramatically low turnout among their ranks that allowed the Leave vote to have such a knockout victory. To be sure this is a well-known technocrat approach: keep voting and revoting until the desired outcome is finally achieved.

We doubt this particular approach has any hope of success. We also doubt that a call by Labor MP David Lammy, urging for a vote in Parliament to “stop this madness”, the madness in question being the will of the majority, which clearly is not appreciated by a member of a “democratically” elected institution. One can spend all day analyzing the amusing ironies in that statement.

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David Lammy ✔@DavidLammy

Wake up. We do not have to do this. We can stop this madness through a vote in Parliament. My statement below

11:36 AM – 25 Jun 2016

However, while these are merely desperation antics by a group who will do almost anything to hang on to the benefits presented to them by the status quo, regardless of the will of the majority, a curious observation has emerged courtesy of Jim Fitzpatrick, who points out that according to the 28-page government Command Paper laying out “The Process of withdrawing from the European Union“, which goes through the infamous Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the first time in history when Article 50 will be invoked, there may actually be a hurdle to the actual Brexit process, in the form of a Scottish and Northern Irish veto to Britain’s separation from the EU. To wit:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

ANALYSIS: Brexit vote a sign U.K. ‘longing for a time and place that never was’

June 25, 2016

ANALYSIS: Brexit vote a sign U.K. ‘longing for a time and place that never was’

‘Free movement of people is a major point of European integration,’ says political scientist

European Union leaders said Friday that the U.K. should begin the process of leaving the EU as soon as possible. It's expected that some countries will take a tough approach in negotiations over new trade deals, which will take at least two years to complete.

European Union leaders said Friday that the U.K. should begin the process of leaving the EU as soon as possible. It’s expected that some countries will take a tough approach in negotiations over new trade deals, which will take at least two years to complete. (Neil Hall/Reuters)

If it’s difficult to understand why the United Kingdom would vote to leave the European Union, spawning deep uncertainty about what happens next on any number of fronts, look no further than immigration.

The Brexit result was, in large part, a reaction to growing anxieties over migration to the U.K., realistic or not.

Immigration was a top priority for voters in the Leave camp, according to pre-referendum polling, and Leave leaders like the U.K. Independence Party’s Nigel Farage and former London mayor and likely next prime minister Boris Johnson have been clear on their position that “taking back control” of the U.K.’s borders is critical to future economic health.

It was a deliberate strategy to target migrants and the nostalgic whims of Britons “longing for a time and place that never was,” said Geoff Smith, professor emeritus of history at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont.

A pro-European Union protester holds a sign near the Palace of Westminster in London on Friday, protesting Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

A pro-European Union protester holds a sign near the Palace of Westminster in London on Friday, protesting Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. (Marc-André Cossette/CBC)

“There’s an unhappiness with the status quo and the tendency has been to blame it on migrants,” Smith said. “They became a scapegoat, and it worked.”

Part of that scapegoating has been to point the finger at migrants for the U.K.’s slow and disappointing recovery from the financial crisis of 2008, as well as for disappearing public services, especially in places outside of major urban centres.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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