News review November 12

Russian doping
Well, seems like the threat of a suspension and banning from the Rio Olympics has got President Putin's attention.

Putin is now scrambling to show activity - meaningful or otherwise - and that Russia is taking the issue seriously and will conduct its own investigation.

So the IAAF must keep up the pressure and pass a provisional ban - suspend Russia from all international athletics competitions for up to two years, with a review in say 6 months.  This review would see if Russia has changed at all and if it has 'cleaned-up its act' then they could participate in the Rio Olympics, if not, they can't.

Incidentally, if any Russians are reading this, it is not relevant that other nations are allowing doping.  Fact (and it is indisputable) is that Russian athletes were doping.  Fact is that the Russian state supported the suppression of the evidence and findings - they didn't just close their eyes to it, they actively supported it.

I suspect/suppose that doping is occurring in other countries.  Maybe some of those countries are also 'doing a Russia' and, as a state, supporting the suppression of investigations.  That though, in no possible way, excuses Russia.

Russia must be punished so that it and every other country, understands that such cheating will not be allowed.

Refugees
So the solution to stopping the flood of African economic migrants from invading Europe, is to bung $2 billion to their governments!  Who knew?

These are the same governments who have mis-managed hundreds of billions of aid dollars in the past and squandered part of these vast sums on grandiose projects, with suitably large transfers to Swiss accounts.

A health tip for you - don't hold your breath for this 'solution' actually achieving anything.  For a start, given the parlous state of the public finances of many (most?) of the European countries, we can expect that this will not be 'new' money but rather diverted from existing aid budgets.  Then of course, since the money won't filter down to the people of Africa, it won't achieve the desired effect.

My tip to those European leaders in Malta.  If you want to stop the flood, do two things.  End tariffs on all agricultural exports from Africa to Europe.  This will dramatically increase the benefit of staying on the farm in Africa.  Secondly, send back any and all such migrants.

So carrot and stick!

Kurds and Sinjar
Today the Kurdish Peshmerga, supported with coalition air strikes, are seeking to re-take the strategic town of Sinjar.

This is very welcome news.  This might be a precursor to the re-taking of Mosul.

What would be more welcome though, is if European nations and the US, started arming the Kurds and doing so, in a big way.  The Kurdish Peshmerga have been holding the front line against Daesh since last year, when they halted the advance of this murderous death-cult.  They have been doing this at great cost to their people and without any materiel support from the West.  The West apparently don't want to offend the Iraqi government, in Baghdad.  I have news for the West, the Kurds can be our friends, while Baghdad is moving daily evermore into the Iranian sphere of influence and control.  

I will follow my own tip though and not hold my breath.  Obama is in such thrall to the Ayatollahs in Tehran and Qom that the US won't be doing the right thing, this side of January 2017!  Europe though, can and should start arming the Kurds.  Consider that the Kurds are doing, in Kurdistan, what might otherwise be happening much nearer to Europe's own doorstep.

Cameron under impresses
Not a surprise but people have seen the 'demands' that David Cameron has sent to Britain's European Union partners, and found them severely wanting.  They just don't get us anywhere near where we need to be, in terms of a changed relationship.  Also, why start with such weak demands and have nothing to concede as part of the negotiating position?

I am starting to come to the conclusion that Cameron is either a Euro-skeptic or his fast heading that way!  Knowing he can't get the German-dominated EU to see the error of their ways, he is putting forward something so weak, that if he doesn't get that, then he can campaign for Brexit.

Egypt plane crash
We don't no for sure but is seems pretty likely that the Russian Metrojet airliner was brought down as a result of a bomb, probably loaded into the luggage cargo hold.

People are pointing the finger at lax security procedures at Egyptian airports.  Truth is though, that many airports are vulnerable, in my view.

At the front of airports, we have very extensive (some would say intrusive) procedures to search passengers and their cabin luggage.  Yet, the back-door is potentially left wide open.  These airports are 'manned' by hundred and sometimes thousands of workers on minimum wage.  Many of these, in Europe, are immigrant and they may well be subject to local community pressure and/or pressure back in their home country's and yet the level of security, at the back-door, seems to be quite rudimentary.

Very worrying!

          

News update November 10

IAAF and Russia doping
Lord Sebastian Coe is either being excessively polite to the Russian athletics authorities or he is not yet entirely confident that he can persuade the organisation that he now leads, the IAAF, to do the right thing.

The World Anti-Doping Association - WADA - found widespread and state-sponsored support of a programme designed to thwart efforts to root out performance enhancing and other doping, from athletics.  The crystal clear recommendation is that Russia should be banned from international athletic meetings for a period of time.  Such time would include the 2016 Rio de Janiero Olympics.  Consider that there is none of the usual 'bureacratese' about the WADA report - nothing about 'appropriate disciplinary action' or 'measures should be taken'.  WADA are clear - a ban.

Come on Lord Coe!  Send the world of sport a very clear message that doping is unacceptable and will be punished.  This might be harsh on any 'clean' Russian athletes but that's just tough.  Russia needs to suffer for its sins and so that the world of athletics knows, that the IAAF has teeth.

Global Warming
I don't subscribe to the fad of changing a subject title simply because the facts stubbornly refuse to support it!  So I won't be discussing the faddish 'Climate Change'

The BBC and no doubt all of their fellow travellers in the environmental lobby are sounding the alarm bells because the temperature figures for 2015 through to the end of September are 1.02C above the average for the period 1850 to 1900.  They try to slide in a comment about 'confusion' relating to earlier periods but we have seen, time and time again, that the Global Warming scaremongers have consistently fudged and fixed the numbers to suit their pseudo-science.  Always, always remember, these folks have monetary and career based vested interests in pushing the warnings.

The latest data is a joint effort from the UK Meteorological Office and the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia.  The latter were heavily discredited, and remain so in many people's opinions, by their highly questionable behaviour in the Climate Gate scandal.

The BBC do have the good grace to admit that the so called El Nino weather phenomenon is also a contributory factor in the temperature increase but don't say whether or not this was present during the earlier time period - so we don't know if the data sets are comparing apples with apples!  Nothing new for the Global Warming industry!  

Refugees
Prepare yourself for a shock!

Sitting comfortably?  Okay, I'll begin.

It seems that a leading member of Daesh/ISIS has been discovered among the so called Syrian 'refugees'.  I know, what a shock, almost floored me.  Then I remembered that sensible commentators - you know, those that point out that most of the 'refugees' are in fact young men of military age and these far outnumber the relatively few families - the commentators have consistently predicted that Daesh would use the situation to infiltrate battle-hardened terrorists into Europe.

Don't be surprised at this story, when or more accurately if, you hear about it but do consider how many we don't know about!  It would be naive in the extreme, to suppose that these murderous maniacs have only slipped one killer in among the 'refugees'.  Especially when the extremely foolish Merkel, threw open the German border, to them all.

Incidentally, it seems that the 'refugees' are very fast wearing out their welcome - or in many cases have already worn it out - in Sweden, Austria and Germany. If Twitter chatter is to be believed, these countries are seeing significantly increased instances of rape and child molestation as well has attacks on Christians.  And that is before Daesh get themselves properly situated!  

Yemen
Just thought I would mention it.  It seems to have fallen off of the news agenda in recent months but the few available reports suggest that this Saudi/Iran proxy war is particularly bloody and, as is so often the case, civilians are the largest victim group.

Don't hear too much wailing and gnashing of teeth from Obama's White House though.  One senses that this will run and run.

Israel
You likely won't hear too much about what is going on in Israel either.

Palestinians - remember those people that 'right-on' countries have been rushing to recognise as a state - are entering Israel and then seeking to stab and kill random innocent Israeli civilians.  Old lady on a bus - stab her - in the name of peace!  Group standing at a bus stop - drive a car into them and then jump out and stab them, just to make sure they die - for peace, of course.

You will though, hear the usual Leftist bleating if Israel reacts by sealing off Gaza and the West Bank.  I am kind of surprised that Netanyahu hasn't done this already!

More tomorrow....

Professional politicians?

I sometimes wonder if it is an ‘age thing’.  Am I turning into a ‘grumpy old man’?  I will let others be the judge of that.

I certainly am becoming less tolerant of the foolish behaviour of those that have been elected as our leaders.  I will give four recent examples of what I view as poor leadership. 

The most egregious is that of President Obama.  I can’t figure out if it is by design or by default that Obama has managed to throw away America’s pre-eminence on the world stage but that is exactly what has happened on his watch.   

In the South China Sea, China is establishing itself as a regional superpower and flexing its swiftly growing naval muscles.  Where America’s navy used to have command and unfettered freedom to roam and support ‘Pax Americana’ the Chinese have been ignoring the claims (rights?) of South China Sea nations such as Vietnam and the Philippines.  They are simply moving into territory claimed by these nations and annexing them and expanding other small islands so as to extend their territorial claims.  All the while, the Obama administration downplays the actions of the Chinese, when it can be bothered to even recognise such actions, and refuses to meaningfully confront them.  It can be no consolation that by expelling the Americans, as the Philippines did in the post-Marcos era, they maybe brought some of this upon themselves because that misses the two fundamental points.  China sees that it has a manifest destiny to be a much bigger global player and, as a first step must have complete control of its own back-yard.  That they have also sent ships up into waters off of Alaska, even while Obama was visiting that state, maybe says something about how big they consider, their backyard to be!  Also, the lack of a robust response from the Obama administration will cause Pacific rim nations to read the writing on the will and start to drift from the American sphere of influence to that of China’s.

In the Middle East too, America has lost any initiative it had.  The unwillingness to confront Daesh and the blind support of any anti-Assad organisation has meant that America has effectively armed both its immediate and eventual enemies.  At the same time, America has failed to support the only local group – the Kurdish Peshmerga – who are taking the fight to Daesh.  Obama, having effectively lost Egypt, is now in danger of losing Iraq.  The inaction of Obama – and don’t be fooled with any talk about the coalition bombing missions, these have been nothing but a half-hearted sop to the home audience – has led to the emergence of Iran as a bigger player, that now, just about has to be at the table making decisions. 

More importantly, this has ceded to Russia, the opportunity to go in and bolster its long-time client state of Syria and to be portrayed as doing more forcefully and effectively what they Americans have been so far reluctant to do.  Like Bill Clinton, before him, Obama wants to (very reluctantly) fight an enemy, solely from the air, though Obama is even more squeamish about ‘boots on the ground’ or indeed any kind of meaningful involvement.  If news reports are to be believed, the Obama administration has spent $500 million training a handful – maybe as few as twenty – of Syrians to fight Daesh and/or Assad (their mission wasn’t really clear).  Of these only one or two remain in the programme and the caches of weapons and materiel that the Obama administration supplied, is now in the hands of rebels!  Shades of America’s actions in Soviet occupied Afghanistan, methinks.  Wasn’t Einstein who said that the definition of madness was doing the same thing, time after time and expecting a different outcome?

A further unfortunate outcome of Obama’s timid Syria policy, is that Russia’s muscular approach in Syria, is allowing their not-so-covert invasion of Ukraine to slide off of the news pages.   Pause for a moment and think back to the last time you heard a news story about Ukraine.  The invasion is still going on but the news media circus has moved on.   Remember too, that during this invasion, a passenger airline has been shot down from the sky by a Russian supplied ground to air missile.  The official report on the air crash came out and caused a minor stir and has now been filed away.  283 people died and still Russia gets to sit at the top table with civilised people!  Another gift from Obama!  In the recent talks on Syria, John Kerry praised the efforts of Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister.  Instead he should and so should the rest of the world, pound and pound the Russians until the murderers of those 283 people are brought to justice. 

Rather than focus on the short-comings of Obama and his inept administration, it wouldn’t do to ignore Chancellor Angela Merkel.  As I have said, in earlier posts, Merkel’s statement of an open invitation to ‘refugees’, was just like those teenagers that post on Twitter or Facebook ‘party at my house, tonight’ and then are shocked to discover that the whole world, or at least a significant part of the local area’s youth turns up and crashes the party.  Now Merkel is rueing the day she stupidly opened her mouth.  Germany, by the end of the year, may have taken in between one and one and a half million ‘refugees’ .  It is clear, from social media, that those ‘refugees’ already in country have worn out their welcome.  There are regular demonstrations against the ‘refugees’ and against Merkel’s policy – even though she is, belatedly, closing the door.  We hear and see  that these ‘refugees’ who, contrary to the images that are mostly portrayed in the media, are very predominantly young males.  We also hear that an epidemic of rape and sexual assaults is breaking out, in Germany and the satellite countries.  Also, a number of diseases such as scabies and STDs. 

Then there is David Cameron.  He was elected, with a parliamentary majority, in the May General Election.  This came as something of a surprise, to many (most?).  Maybe even to Cameron, himself?  Now Cameron is desperately trying to hold a renegotiation of the terms of Britain’s membership of the European Union without actually negotiating anything.  The result will be then put to a referendum before the end of 2017.  Cameron is in a difficult position (of his own making) because having been elected, as Conservative leader, in 2005, on a Euro-sceptic ticket, and needing to keep many of his own MPs on board as well as trying to see-off the anti-EU UKIP, he now has to negotiate something which he really doesn’t want and then run the risk of the British people rejecting his efforts and then his government needing to negotiate Britain’s exit from the EU. 

In case you are not clear on what it is that Cameron – and by extension, the UK – want as part of the renegotiation, you are not alone.  Most people in Britain have an idea of what the country wants, however, this hasn’t been expressed, other than through media polls and such, to our EU partners.  One appreciates that negotiations need to be conducted with a certain degree of secrecy but I get the impression that Cameron doesn’t even know what to put forward as Britain’s negotiating position.  Must be very frustrating for our EU partners.    

A sure sign of the way the political wind is blowing – or at least how Cameron and the political elite, want it to blow – is that there seems to be no contingency plan for how Britain might actually manage to extricate from the European Union, should the people of Britain, so decide.  To me, announcing that such planning was being undertaken, would serve as a very strong signal to the UK’s EU partners, that Britain means business but this negotiating tool isn’t even being mentioned. 

Perhaps all of these examples reflect what happens when we have professional politicians as opposed to those that have experience of the real world.  Obama, Merkel and Cameron between them, have never really had a ‘proper’ job.  Never run a business or worried about how to make this week’s payroll.  Never had to go through the same daily grind, that so many of the voters must endure, etc..

I started this post by wondering if this was an age thing.  I conclude though that it is them, not me.  I think I am reasonably sane and normal, it is just this political elite that is acting crazy! 

What do you think?

Ukraine, Banking and a Pink Bus

I try to write a blog every week.  Usually I cover a single, topical subject but regular readers will know that I sometimes stray off of topic.  For regular readers I say thank you.  For me this is a way to scream at the world for the idiocies that we see around us.

This has been a strange week for news. 

We have Labour’s Pink Bus for women, the Ukraine cease-fire  and the HSBC Switzerland story.  I will try and bring these into a single narrative, please bear with me.

Running throughout the week, we have had the spectacle of the USA and the UK sitting on the sidelines, while Germany and their favourite European poodle-nation, France, negotiating with Russia and a ‘dragged to the table’ Ukraine in an effort to get a ceasefire in place.  The ceasefire would be between the Ukraine government and the separatist rebels.  You will note that these separatist rebels were not involved in these talks.  Don’t worry though, they were ably represented by Russia.  If nothing else, these talks and Russia’s seeming ability to make commitments on behalf of the rebels, lays bare the fact that these separatists are in fact fully dependent upon the Russians.  It is Russian arms and Russian artillery fired by Russian soldiers  that has made advances and forced the Ukraine government to the table.  That and the appeasers in the German dominated European Union. 

In case you have forgotten, Ukraine is, in large part, in its current state because they were led up the path by the EU.  They were sweet-talked, by the EU, into rejecting an agreement that would have pushed them towards Russia and then, when Russia flexed its muscles, the EU ran away.  They, and the US and UK then embarked upon imposing sanctions against Russia and certain Russians.  Commentators regularly tell us that these sanctions are really biting.  Coupled with the collapse in the price of oil and with it the Rouble, the Russian economy is suffering (unfortunately that then means its people as well!).

So, we have a situation where Russia has made a land grab (Crimea) and has been fomenting and arming secessionist activity in Eastern Ukraine, while at the same time, the essentially feeble sanctions are finally starting to affect Russia and what is the EU reaction?  Go to the negotiating table and concede territory and legitimacy to both the rebels and Russia’s land grab, cut the throats of the Ukrainians  and then congratulate themselves on a war averted!

And what of the USA?  Good old President Obama was in Washington and given the snowfalls hitting that part of America, he was unable to attend to other presidential  duties, such as golf, and managed to make some comment on the Ukraine.  His comments, strangely, had the potential to be helpful.  He was making noises about providing the Ukraine with a re-supply of arms.  Reverting to type though, nothing came of these fine words.  Maybe it is because America is broke and cannot afford to ‘fight the good fight’ or maybe it’s because it’s President Obama – make your own mind up!

And David Cameron?  He was in the difficult position of being in electioneering mode and having to fend-off accusations that the UK was becoming irrelevant on the world stage because the UK wasn’t at these talks.  Possibly, Cameron could see where this whole shabby exercise would end and the idea of being a party to the sell-out of Ukraine, was too much for him to stomach or possibly he was focused on home-front issues.

Home-front issues, for Cameron are now all about the General Election to be held in May. 

He received a boost from Harriet Harman, Labour’s equality obsessed, deputy leader (so obsessed that rumours abound that she planned to change her name to Harriet Harperson!).  I have to use the word 'harpy' to describe her because all other thoughts and words might breach this blog’s no offensive language rule.

Anyway, this harpy has hit on the wheeze of having a pink bus which will travel around the UK, visiting marginal seats and then opening discussions with women because she claims that Labour speaks to women’s needs and wants to listen to women and their problems.  In spite of all, I repeat, all polling data suggesting that men and women rate the economy, NHS, immigration and education as high priority issues for them and their families, Harriet is expecting to be chatting aboard the, immediately and appropriately named 'Barbie Bus’, about domestic abuse as the number one issue affecting women. 

Of course domestic abuse is awful but does Labour really believe that this is the key problem facing women today?   All women?

One of the first, all-women, conversations that took place was gate-crashed by, horror of horrors, a man.  He was politely indignant that his genital arrangements caused him to be not worthy of voicing an opinion or to be listened to. 

Not sure I understand this approach by Labour.  Will women flock to the Barbie Bus and abandon the key issues that they have previously told pollsters that influence them and talk about an issue which, at the end of the day, politicians can do little about – domestic abuse.  I mean that does anyone think that more laws, from Westminster, will solve this particular problem?  Yes it is awful but of national importance?  I am reminded of President Obama's and John Kerry's claim that the number one danger facing the USA is 'climate change'.  Not Al Qaeda, not Islamic State, not illegal immigrants, not Ebola, not a jobs-absent recovery - no, climate change!  And now this fool is posting selfies all over the internet!  Boy, when Americans go for tokenism and ignore Dr Marting Luther King's comments about judging people on their character and not the colour of their skin, you go all out!

How then will this sexism play with Labour’s male voters?  Will they feel excluded and desert in droves?  Will they head to UKIP or to the Conservatives?  Or will they maybe just stay at home?  We will see.

They say in politics that you need to be lucky,  Labour got lucky and managed to get the Barbie Bus behind themselves with the breaking of the HSBC story.  This bank has a branch office in Switzerland  and – cue shock! cue horror!  Some British people had accounts there.  Labour played a good game on this one, aided as always by the ignorant and biased BBC and other media.  Labour seem to contend that any Brit  with an account in Switzerland  only has one for nefarious purposes – as in, tax evasion.  It produces no proof that this is so, it just throws the mud and some sticks.  Millions in taxes are being dodged they claim.  Even if that were true, the amounts that are being spoken of, are but a drop in the ocean relative to the spending of the current government leave alone of any future Labour government (is there something smaller than a drop in the ocean?)

Labours problem with HSBC is that while they can bang on about it, they need to be careful.  Already there are rumblings and stones being uncovered about the careful inheritance tax planning carried out by the Miliband family, following the death of the father of Ed and David.  This communist died and left the family with property that would cause the boys tax problems - as in lots of it to pay.  So they arranged for something called a deed of variation, which, if I understand correctly, allowed their now dead father to change the will and gift them parts of the property such that taxes were much reduced.  All perfectly legal but as said before, hypocrisy is rankest at the higher levels of government!

I will be absent from the UK for much of the election campaign - but of course will be voting - so my comments and this blog will be filtered through time, distance and a biased media.  Caveat emptor!

Have a good week!

Green fracking nonsense

Those readers in Britain will likely be aware of the fire that occurred at Ferrybridge C power station, yesterday.  Thankfully, no injuries to persons were recorded.  Britain's energy policy did though take a hit as yet another power station comes off of the grid.

Back in June 2013, I posted here, http://bit.ly/18jFqAB, on the looming power crisis that was facing Britain.  The shutdown of Ferrybridge C, for the 9-12 months it will take to rebuild, will only make the problem worse and heighten the risk of power outages, during the coming winter.

Is shale gas the answer?  Yes, or at least partly.  Be under no illusion though.  Fracking technology has advanced tremendously in recent years and is proving very beneficial to an otherwise anemic American economy, however this won't solve the UK's energy crisis, overnight.

Nor will it be particularly scenic!  For these very extensive gas reserves to be exploited, we will need to put-up with significant numbers of drilling derricks despoiling our landscape.  Before all of the greenies jump up in protest at the ruination of beautiful views etc., please have a care!  Those monstrosities called wind turbines do exactly the same, on the visual harm front but do far less to actually address our energy needs.

The crisis that Britain faces is perhaps now even more acute.  Russia has been flexing its military muscle in Ukraine and elsewhere in Eastern Europe and also flexing or at least showing off its energy muscle.  Letting it be known that if Russia is pushed too far, it might have to suspend gas supplies to Western Europe.  Further, the situation with Qatar, the other major supplier of gas to Britain, is not good.  Qatar is 'neck-deep' in funding and supplying terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East and beyond.  As are their near-neighbors but bitter rivals, Iran and Saudi Arabia.  It is easy to foresee a situation where these countries, particularly Qatar, feel the urge to use the gas weapon in furtherance of their extremist agenda.

So a crisis then. 

There are solutions.  They are short, medium and long term but they do require action and unfortunately, such action is not likely to be forthcoming before the outcome of the next UK General Election, in May 2015 (so too late for the coming winter!).  Even then, the solutions will only possibly be implemented if the Conservatives win outright power.  Possibly because pandering to minorities and ignoring the wishes of the majority is a trait that has been seen too often, from the Conservatives in the current coalition.  It is clear though, that Labour and the Lib Dems will not take the necessary actions, as they are so in thrall to the environmentalists within their own ranks and to the lunatics running the European Union asylum.

The solutions? 
Short term.  Cease the shut down programme that is being followed for power stations.  As said in my earlier piece, these shut downs are not driven by economy or utility.  The plants still have a long life of power generation, ahead of them.  The closures and dismantling is purely political and driven to meet idiotic goals set in the lalaland called the European Union.  Gesture politics at its worst!

Reconsider the closure programme for Britain's nuclear facilities.  I am not technically qualified enough to know if these really do have to be shut down or whether, without risk, they can have their lives extended but this does need to be reviewed and the last possible operating life squeezed out of them.

On the subject of nuclear and short term, accelerate the building process and most particularly the planning process.  We cannot allow Hinckley C and other future plants to be subjected to the same level of delay as was seen at Sizewell.

Start exploration drilling and move to development/exploitation drilling for shale gas on a large scale.  This is short to medium term in nature but we need to get going.  Britain's energy future, indeed energy security cannot be held in jeopardy by a minority that oppose drilling on the back of false science.  Just as people have been duped by the so called Global Warming (is that what they are calling it this week?  Or is it Climate Change or something else?) false science but are now seeing through this, so must we expect the government to ignore the nonsense about water table contamination (has only happened in the most extremely rare instance) and earthquakes (really!?) and look for the government to drive through planning applications - so get the Department of Energy and Climate Change to drop all of its drilling delaying tactics - and to support the exploration programmes.  The latter will involve a more robust police presence at these drilling sites.  These protestors simply cannot be allowed to hold-up progress and especially by unlawful acts.  Why is it that a natural resources company requires multiple permits to set-up a drilling location on private land but a bunch of eco-loonies can establish a protest camp on public land without any kind of permission?

Put in place now, long term solutions - that has to mean nuclear!  More power stations must be built and built nearer to urban population centres.  Given how long these take to actually build, once the over-lengthy planning process is passed, we need to start on these sooner rather than later. 

I know that this is 'pie in the sky' wishful thinking but politicians need to have a grown-up conversation with the British people.  The energy facts of life need to be spelled out.  If we don't continue to use existing power stations - conventional gas and coal-fired ones and nuclear - for longer, the lights will go out.  If we don't exploit the natural resources that lie under our soil - the lights will go out.  If we don't accept that 'not in my backyard' cannot continue to be used to oppose necessary energy developments, the lights will go out.  Oh, and it won't just be the lights!  Houses won't be heated, food won't be cooked, baby incubators won't work, air traffic control will shut down, production lines will cease to flow, no more internet, no more cell phones!  You get the picture. 

Going back to the TV pictures from the Ukraine, for a moment, you get a glimpse, when you see such pictures of parts of Eastern Europe, of what life would be like in the green heaven that the eco-loonies wish upon us.  You see people traveling around in horse carts and houses being heated by wood fires.  It might look like some kind of agrarian idyll but I bet that this is not something that most Britons would aspire to or for this to be a future that they would wish upon their children and grand-children.

The 2015 General Election campaign is likely to be dominated by the economy and Britain's relationship with Europe.  Of far greater importance though is the looming energy crisis.  If this isn't addressed, then we will have no economy, to speak of and Europe will be a place most people never get to travel to, anymore!

Russian complicity and American weakness

I write this having just read more words from the Dutch Prime Minister and the British Prime Minister and other members of the Euro elite.  The words from all of them are designed to sound tough but in fact portray spineless weakness.  

These leaders  bleat on (again) about a ‘last chance’ for Vladimir Putin and Russia but if I have figured it out, you can bet that Putin has.  These ‘threats’ are hollow.  The EU will do nothing to punish Russia.  Be clear, Russia is to blame (though the hands of the EU are not clean, either – see below).  Russia might try to push a technical line and say that it was ‘separatist’ rebels that fired the BUK missile but we can be sure that this was an act committed by Russia for Russian aims.  These ‘separatists’ want to have part of the Ukraine secede and become part of Russia.  Everything they do is in furtherance of this aim.  Everything that they do is supported, both materially and verbally and diplomatically, by Russia.  

The ‘separatists’ and Russia, have become emboldened by the supine reaction to the annexation of Crimea, by Russia.  Indeed Russia has known, since its 2008 invasion of Georgia,  that it can get away with invasion because the West will do nothing.  To be fair, the West does impose sanctions and this does cramp the style of Russian oligarchs and leaders who want to visit the West  but I think we can all agree that this isn’t really having any impact other than letting the leaders of the West have a moment of strength and solidarity photo-op on TV.

While not excusing the barbaric atrocity committed by Russia, it is not alone in deserving of blame.  

The European Union has fomented (along with Russia) the crisis in Ukraine.  They have led pro-Western Ukrainians to believe that the EU will stand behind Ukraine and will assist the country, economically.  Then, at the first sign of Russia flexing its energy muscles, the German-led EU backs-off.  Germany is heavily dependent upon Russian gas supplies.  Now more so than ever because they shut down all of their nuclear plants, after the Fukushima tsunami and because, in thrall to the lunatic Greens, they oppose exploitation of shale resources and are said to be pushing the Poles to do likewise.  So Russia gets the Crimea with just the tiniest slap on the wrist.

Now we have this atrocity and again all there are, are a few words of condemnation.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating that the EU and America and other similarly minded nations, declare war on Russia.  At least , not a military war.  I am though saying that those nations should conduct an economic war against Putin and his country.  Cease all economic activity with Russia, immediately.  Freeze all Russian bank accounts in the West.  All of them.   Ban all travel to and from Russia. 

In short, isolate them.

Of course not all countries will join such a blockade but the major players are the EU and the US and Canada.  Together these countries should be able to have some influence on other countries but even if they don’t,  other than China, does anyone think that these non-boycotters have the wherewithal to replace the West as suppliers to Russia.

Now to the ‘elephant in the room’.  The USA.  

I have tried to think of a word other than ineffectual, to describe the response of the Obama administration.  Shameful and shaming come to mind but they have been used so many times relating to Benghazi and the VA scandals that they don’t seem to demonstrate the depths to which America has sunk.   Incompetent?  That well describes the Administration’s response to the flood of illegal immigrants (Incidentally, since America doesn’t seem to have a Southern border, at the moment, what is the proper term for these people?) and the Fast and Furious scandals but again doesn’t quite show the shambles that is America’s foreign policy.

So ineffectual it has to be.  President Obama’s initial response was bordering on flippant.  His action in then continuing on to a fundraiser were un-statesmanlike and unworthy of the office he holds.  Biden did seem to recognise that this was a serious issue but then his intellect or courage ran out and he clammed-up.  John Kerry went into his default ‘speak slowly in a deep voice but actually say nothing’ default mode.  And that’s it. 

 

The so-called greatest nation on Earth has nothing to say or do against the unlawful killing of so many innocents.  Just a few words of condemnation and then let’s move on to the next fund-raiser or golf game.

I suppose we shouldn’t be too surprised.  The Russians have been jerking Obama’s chain over Iran and Syria for so long that they can now get away with just about anything and America will do nothing.  Obama and his acolytes are so fixated on destroying America that they have no time to concern themselves with the destruction of the lives of so many allies.  The Chinese are doing the same in Asia and the world is fast coming to the conclusion that being an ally of the USA  doesn’t mean what it used to, under both Republican and Democrat Presidents.  

I know that there is a convention that former Presidents, do not comment on current events but surely, given the seriousness, Bush Snr and Jnr, Clinton and Carter have a duty to speak-out about the outrage that is being perpetrated by the Obama Administration. 

 

Don’t be surprised if Russia (or China, for that matter) gets bolder.  Don’t be surprised if the illegals flooding into the southern states include some Muslim radicals and terrorists, hell bent on killing more innocents (American, this time)

Who would have thought that having won the Cold War, the Americans would, inside a generation, give back the gains to its arch-enemy, Russia?  

America’s ultra-weak leadership is imperiling the world.

Winston Churchill used to have a note put on documents, during the 2^nd World War – ‘Action Today!’  Obama and the American administration have reconstructed the letters to  ‘I no  act, today’