Author: Chris Snuggs

Israel and the Palestinians

ISRAEL – Can anyone tell me which of these statements is not true?

  • Fatah, long-time sworn enemy of Israel, no longer sponsors attacks on Israel.
  • Fatah poses no military danger to Israel.
  • Fatah has accepted the right of Israel to exist; threats to obliterate it from the map have come from Iran, but that is not Fatah’s fault.
  • Palestinians in general are among the best-educated and most democratic of Arabs.
  • A democratic Palestinian State trading freely with Israel would greatly increase prosperity in both states, but especially in Palestine.
  • Free, democratic and prosperous states do not in general cause conflict.
  • A free, democratic and prosperous Palestine would cause ordinary people in Gaza and elsewhere in the Arab world to wonder why the hell they were bothering to support extremists and “terrorists”.  Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda and Iran would have the ground cut totally from under them. The latter are terrified of anything free and democratic, so it is no wonder that their main aims are to foment disorder and chaos. Israel sometimes seems to play their game for them.

I believe all the above to be true, though am willing to stand corrected. And so the next question is, Why does Israel still occupy the West Bank and impose roadblocks on ordinary Palestinians trying to create some sort of normal and prosperous life for themselves?

West Bank and Gaza

It seems to me that Israel’s policy here is potty. In all walks of life, you encourage good behaviour (assuming you want progress, peace and prosperity). I am unclear how the good behaviour of Fatah in the last few years has been rewarded. On the contrary, there is endless talk as ever but little action on the ground.

One understands Israel’s existential fears, but the dangers no longer come from Fatah and Palestinians in the West Bank. They should and could become the allies of Israel.

Has Israel become so accustomed to battering its enemies with force that it cannot learn the humility of victory and take a longer vision?

The major sticking points?

  • Jerusalem? This has to become a shared city in some form. Israel has no right to claim it as its own. We all share the planet; I can see no fundamental problem with sharing a city.
  • The exiles? There has to be some sort of justice. We – I believe – empathize with Jews. We understand their fears for their existence. We support their right to exist. But they do not seem to empathize with those Arabs whose land was taken from them first in 1948 and then later by conquest. EMPATHY – this is sorely lacking in the current Israeli leadership.

Israel Blockade Challenged

The Aid Ship Fiasco? Once again, Israel is its own worst enemy. The critical thing is to establish the truth, so if Israel has nothing to hide then why does it not permit an independent enquiry?

It seems pretty clear to me that the majority of activists on the first ship were peaceful but you only have to have a few prepared to use violence and this will cause big trouble, which seems to have been the case here. And everyone knows that if Israel or Israelis are attacked then they respond with overwhelming force.

But “winning hearts and minds” CANNOT be done without the truth being known, and nobody who matters (ordinary Arabs, Iranians and Turks in particular) is going to trust an enquiry carried out solely by the Israelis. This is so obvious that one wonders if – as often seems the case – Israel has taken leave of its senses.

by Chris Snuggs

China’s Chance to Join Humanity?

Well, whom the Gods wish to destroy ……

Kim Jung-Il

But is Kim-Jong Il (leader of North Korea) insane or just clever?

Or of course both?

There is after all no rationale or logic to the NK gulag, merely the survival of its gruesome regime.

For this the brainwashed people’s attention needs to be constantly diverted away from the utterly-bleak moral, intellectual,  spiritual and physical deprivation of their lives to some external enemy. And of course if no such enemy exists, then it is necessary to invent or – in this case – provoke one.

I would not be surprised if some sort of hostilities broke out, if not from calculation then from miscalculation, as NK is playing a dangerous game.

Could this at last be the turning point we who identify with the NK prisoners have long waited for? The sanctions will definitely  hurt an already tottering NK economy (if you can call it that).  Even the North Koreans, past-masters at brinkmanship, had one day to overplay their hand, as there are hints that they may have now done.

And should hostilities occur, while no doubt they could initially do a great deal of damage to Seoul I wonder if – like all such shoddy regimes – it could all fall apart like a pack of cards?

It is not only the NK people who are habitually starved – NK soldiers are also reported to be  undernourished and low on morale. And what have the people to fight for? Merely to support the regime’s continued existence on a diet of fine foods, fast cars and other imported luxuries while they starve?   

But as ever, all depends on China, which materially and politically supports NK, which is in effect no more than a vast prison camp led by a bloody, murderous gang of utter scum who must surely one day have their Nuremberg (or perhaps Mussolini/Ceausescu) moment.

This alone begs the question of why the free world so constantly sucks up to China and more importantly sustains its economy by buying its artificially-cheap products.

Yes, the land of the free and home of the brave is the major trading partner of a dictatorship that could put an end to the North Korean people’s suffering, but chooses not to. Not only that, any poor soul managing to escape from their NK prison is sent back by the Chinese. You couldn’t make it up …..

The total triumph of greed for cheaper washing-machines and thousands of tons of shoddy plastic artefacts versus support for an entire and utterly oppressed people?

As for the Chinese, one can imagine them inwardly seething at its ally’s (Christ, what a shameful fact) lunacy. For China can in this case no longer sit on the fence. The unprovoked murder of 46 innocent South Koreans has put them on the spot. Ban Ki Moon himself is making angry noises.

Can China REALLY afford a situation where it is NK & China against the entire rest of the world? The next few days will tell, but if – as one fears – China as usual delays and obfuscates, then where will Obama and Clinton sit? The fence is exceedingly uncomfortable, after all.

Some final points. It is often said (principally I believe by China itself) that it fears an NK collapse and mass immigration into China by its people. Surely this is silly? There might WELL be a big exodus in the case of all-out fighting, but I believe this would be brief and, of course, after it is all over the South would take over and – as in Germany – do whatever was necessary to reunite and help all the people. And the idea that NK refugees would feel they had better prospects in China rather than a reunified and free Korea is bizarre.

No, China is still trapped by its post-revolutionary insanity and inhumanity. Oh God, please free them from the chains of their past and from their obsession with not losing face ……

An optimist (are there any left?) might see these latest events as the death throes of the world’s most horrible regime. A pessimist will consider the latest posturings as just another scene in the longest-running political tragedy of our generation. I am in this case an optimist, but of course one who has usually been disappointed.

POSTSCRIPT: I notice that a NK football team just drew 2-2 in an international “friendly” with  Greece. Can anyone explain why the West banned sport with South Africa over apartheid but seems to rejoice in allowing sport with North Korea?

The apartheid regime was nasty; no problems with the boycott for me. But there is no comparison in the awfulness of NK with the old SA regime, nasty though it was. Do the Greek footballers have ANY idea of the barbarity of the NK regime? How can Greece – home of democracy – PLAY with representatives of mass-murderers? A serious reality check is in order here.

By Chris Snuggs

Euro Crisis Master Plan

STOP PRESS – Now we have a Master Plan!

EU Foreign Ministers meet to draw up a policy re euro crises.

Herman Van Rompuy

European Council President Mr Herman Van Rompuy (aren’t we so lucky to have yet another tier of vastly-expensive management – a President of a country that doesn’t even exist?) said: “Everyone shares the will to go forward together”.

Indeed. It would be rather strange if one or more didn’t share “the will” and preferred to go backwards. But going forwards together infers at the same speed and in the same direction.

The Meeting drew up this plan of action.

  • greater budgetary discipline (will you tell France and almost every other country that never stuck to the 3% budget deficit or shall I?)
  • find ways to reduce the divergences in competitiveness between member states (so German IS going to take over Greece then? What fails in war can be achieved in the economy.)
  • establish an effective economic crisis management mechanism (you mean, prepare to borrow billions more to bail out those who fail in the above two areas?)
  • strengthen economic governance to be able to act quicker and in a more coordinated and efficient manner to deal with any future economic crises (yes, you could get a bit more efficient  than ignoring the rules for 10 years – certainly scope for improvement there.)

Is there any way not to be simultaneously cynical and depressed about Europe at the moment?

By Chris Snuggs

Merkel loses the Plot

This beats the annual Christmas Pantomime

Well, every day the eurofarce gets more surreal. Yesterday, Frau Merkel said this:

“The current crisis facing the euro is the biggest test Europe has faced in decades. If the euro fails, then Europe fails.”

What on earth does she mean by “Europe fails”? Why this recourse to sensationalism?

If the euro is sinking it is because people don’t think it is serious. If that is the

Two happy leaders!!

case, the only thing to do is MAKE it serious. This is not to be done by borrowing EVEN MORE money.

In the worst-case scenario (which Merkel’s antics are rapidly talking us into) the euro collapses and we go back to our old currencies. This would be a failure of the EURO, not of EUROPE.

Germany would return to being the economic powerhouse of Europe under the strong Deutschmark. Italy, Greece and other usual suspects would return to their quaint old ways with frequent devaluations.

So what? Better to be honest than go on suffering from a vast ego-bubble that will inevitably collapse in an explosion of hubris. (Thank you for the vocabulary, dear Greeks)

Read the rest of this Post

LIES and the EURO

MERKEL IN TROUBLE

You eventually pay for LIES and STUPIDITY, even if it takes time. Sadly, the euro was born in a lie and now Merkel has compounded the problems by giving in to French pressure and being stupid. But the German people (in contrast to their leaders) have no desire to be the bankers of all Europe.

What Merkel has done is utter folly and, worse, won’t even fix the problem. The ONLY way to fix a problem is to DO THE RIGHT THING, which is not rescue people from their idiocy but allow them to take the consequences of it. This is not wishing to be cruel but just the way people learn difficult lessons.  As J J Rousseau observed,  “The fastest way to teach a child about the danger of fire is to let him burn himself once”… or words to that effect!

J J Rousseau, philosopher

Besides, the euro WITHOUT Greece would be a damned sight more convincing than WITH it. The Germans gave up the Deutschmark on the PROMISE that the euro would be as strong by following strict rules.  The EU even MADE A RULE that no country could have a budget deficit of more than 3%. This was insisted on by Germany PRECISELY in order to avoid this sort of surreal situation where the Greeks, Portuguese, Irish, etc. (and Britain, but we are not in the euro …) would NOT wildly overspend.

These “strict rules” were breached before they had hardly started, first by letting in Greece and then France a year or so later, justifying the decision by saying that the rules didn’t apply to big countries — in other words, the rules didn’t apply to themselves.  Brussels, and the French and German elites, LIED to the people.

The criminal bit is that these countries just IGNORED the rules. And even more criminal, they (Germany included) just IGNORED what was going on in Greece and elsewhere until, surprise, surprise, it all reared up out of the sand and hit them in the face. Now the Germans have to accept even MORE tax increases, despite being already very highly taxed, just like the French and – increasingly – the British. The British finally got fed up with being lied to and dumped their government. Germany may be going the same way. (France swings wildly from left to right anyway, and each time it seems worse than before.)

Besides, Germany can’t AFFORD to bankroll the whole of Europe. France, too, is ludicrously over-spent and top-heavy with her state. The consequence of all this will no doubt be vast political gains for the left in both countries, but the left have even LESS idea about how to run an economy – see Gordon Brown of “I do know how to run an economy”  fame (perhaps he meant “ruin an economy?!”).

Europe is in deep trouble and I really don’t think the politicians even now understand it. Some say that a gradual decline of Europe is already inevitable as Asia rises; the current mentality of  lying, overspending, over-borrowing, bailing out undeserving basket cases and over-centralisation will only accelerate this decline.

But for some, of course – such as Jose Manuel “Boring”oso –  this crisis is manna from Heaven; a big step towards a United States of Europe and vastly increased power for Brussels. For God’s sake call his  bluff. We don’t WANT an “economic union” run from Brussels. It will be a bureaucratic, tax-heavy nightmare, as in France.

Jose Manuel Barroso, EU President

“Let’s be clear,” said the European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, last week. “You can’t have a monetary union without having an economic union. Member states should have the courage to say whether they want an economic union or not. And if they don’t, it’s better to forget monetary union altogether.” EuroActiv May 12, 2010.

These people are really unbelievable. If Barroso is so sure about not being able to have monetary union without economic union (and, of course, ipso facto political union as well) then why didn’t he say this at the beginning? The pro-USE lobby really kept that quiet, didn’t they. It is all a big LIE.

So, to cure indebtedness, you incur FURTHER vast debts? It is surreal.   Niall Ferguson, an economic historian at Harvard University, put it this way: “This bailout wasn’t done to help the Greeks; it was done to help the French and German banks. They’ve poured some water on the fire, but the fire has not gone out.”  NYT May 17, 2010

The European rescue plan, which totals 750 billion euros thus far and was intended to head off the risk of default, will instead greatly increase borrowing.  That could be the end of Europe’s nascent recovery.

by Chris Snuggs

Merkel Suffers Greek Bailout Backlash

I told you so!

From the BBC…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party and its coalition allies have been defeated in regional elections in North Rhine-Westphalia.

North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

German Chancellor Merkel appears to have lost the state vote in NRW and may see her control of parliament reduced or eliminated. It’s her own fault.

Germany and in particular NRW (the industrial powerhouse of Germany) are in a serious economic situation with enforced cuts left, right and centre and yet she has loaned (aka given) billions to feckless, idle, corrupt and shambolic Greece.

The Germans have had to tighten their belts and are still paying vast sums to bring East Germany up to speed, yet Merkel feels she can fritter away her people’s money to “save the euro“. It won’t save Greece or the euro.

The Greeks fully deserve to go bankrupt and are incapable of complying with the degree of “cuts” the Germans are demanding. Other European countries will lose money if Greece defaults. Tough.

Better to suffer a one-off loss than an endless shelling-out into a black hole. No bailout of Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland or Britain. Did the PEOPLE of ANY of the rest of EU countries have ANY say in this at all?

It seems the French pushed hard for a bailout. What a coincidence that some of their insurance companies have invested heavily in Greece. TOO BAD. Greece’s problems have been well-known for years; which moron poured billions into their black-hole, retire-at-53, inherit-your-sister’s-pension, go-to-work-if-you-feel-like-it economy?

And the Greeks? They seem to feel it is the fault of the REST of us that they have to make cuts. Was a reality check ever more fully needed? Sadly, but inevitably, there will be social breakdown in Greece from which something new will emerge. What that is, one cannot say, but I do not believe it can include membership of the Euro.

The Brussels Overlords think differently. Their little Euro brainchild must be saved at all costs. But they are all personally very well off and have no problems with money, unlike the majority of their constituents thanks to the despicable fraud perpetrated on them by the banks under the appallingly-negligent supervision of a multitude of governments.

I have written about Greece several times in recent weeks since to me it is a symbol of the combination of arrogance and utter folly of many of Europe’s governments – and in particular Brussels – who have overspent wildly, who have allowed their banks to make fraudulent loans and have imposed an ever-increasing burden of bureaucracy, Human rights, paperwork and regulations on the peoples of Europe.

How we are supposed to compete effectively when we A) price ourselves out of the market and B) wildly overspend is a mystery.

Has Europe now to prepare itself for a long period of decline and retrenchment in living standards as Asia maintains its inexorable growth and raw materials rocket in price? I fear so, but it’ll be the ordinary people bearing the brunt of all this, not the increasingly-remote politicians in national governments and Brussels.

Greece is a warning for the rest of us. There is no law that says we cannot go the same way. The UK and France in particular have bloated, feather-bedded public sectors. The chickens always come home to roost, and they are now flocking rapidly towards the hen-house.

By Chris Snuggs

The Dust Settles

Who dares, Wins!

The new British Conservative & Liberal-Democrat Cabinet

I can’t remember a more momentous week in British politics. It seemed silly to comment as events unfolded so swiftly – one would have risked being out of date before finishing the article – but it is perhaps time to summarize what has happened:

  • The outcome was in retrospect the best possible, even if none of the parties might think of it that way.
  • We have a stable government locked into a coalition that commands a large majority in the House of Commons and a considerable majority of the popular vote. Nobody can deny this coalition “the right to govern”, whichever way you regard the statistics.
  • The country’s finances are in a terrible mess and a stable government was essential to put things right and recover confidence.
  • Yes, there will be strains and stresses in each party, but both have now invested so much in this that  neither can afford to rock the  boat and risk another general election to let Labour back in under a new and more charismatic leader.
  • Both parties have shown a spirit of compromise and both have had to ditch some of their cherished (and more wacky) policies.
  • “First Past the Post” has taken a lot of stick and it seems the time of electoral reform has arrived. The Lib-Dems have a firm commitment to a referendum on the Alternative Vote (not optimal, but an improvement) plus other essential elements – long-delayed by the previous Labour dinosaur – such as fixed term parliaments, a redistribution of votes per constituency and a reduced number of MPs.
  • The country has seemed fragmented and divided in recent years, with much bitterness and a sense of drift and failure. The coalition has brought fresh hope, though it is born in very difficult times. But as a coalition it is perhaps better-placed than one single party to make the very difficult decisions needed. A single party would have had to make the same decisions but with the risk of losing a vote in the HOC and a lurch to the other side to start all over again.
  • The wretched previous government is gone. The most pleasing aspect of this is that those architects of spin and PR, the unelected Lord Mandelson and the unelectable Alistair Campbell, have seen their stars not only wane but disappear into a black hole. Their last-ditch attempt to stagger on in a Lib-Lab coalition was effectively torpedoed by their own back-benchers and party Grandees, who found the whole process undignified. It is indeed the end of Noo Labour, and few will regret its passing.
  • Last but not least, the Labour Party survives, whereas there was a time when it seemed it might be humiliated and destroyed. The extent of the defeat could not be spun – even if Mandelson et al had a go at it – but it survives as an essential part of the British political scene. Moreover, though Brown rightly had to go, he was not humiliated either and was able to depart with grace and dignity. One is far from sad to see him retire to the back benches, but the bad feeling that anything worse might have produced has been avoided.

The change has been momentous. Politics is unpredictable, so who can tell if this bold experiment will work. But “Who dares, Wins”, and they should have the best wishes of all who love their country.

By Chris Snuggs

Today’s Election Funny

What fun the Cubans miss out on!!!

No bloated hyperbole about past achievements! No slagging off of the opposition! No daft prognostications. No ludicrous excuses. No pretentious blather. No lies! No wild scare-mongering!!  No spin-ridden soundbites! Yup, deciding whether Britain staggers back to its feet again or sinks ever-deeper into irrelevant, bureaucratic and debt-ridden mediocrity is pretty important, but you also have to see the funny side of things.

Just recently Peter Hain said:

I think it’s important for people to act intelligently in this election.

This is brilliant advice, suggesting of course that once the election is over we can all happily go back to being stupid.

It is so useful to get really good advice from our prospective leaders. Thanks Peter.

I will try to act intelligently, but it’s never been a real strong point.  Got any hints?

Would voting Labour be intelligent, perhaps? Or indeed the opposite? I am a bit confused ….. which is sad, as the future of my country is at stake.

Without intelligence we are done for. Such a shame it has been so lacking in government for the last 13 years of course.

is this what Peter Hain meant?

By Chris Snuggs

Please pass this on….

Really only relevant to our British readers, but I’m sure all will get the idea.

As a rule, I don’t pass along these “add your name” lists that appear in emails,
BUT this one is important.  It has been circulating for months and has been sent to over 20 million people.
We don’t want to lose any names on the list so just hit forward and send it on.

Please keep it going!

To show your support for Gordon Brown please go to the end of the list and add your name.

1.  Mrs Brown.
2.

By Chris Snuggs

Today’s Funny

The art of saying something and meaning something totally different.

I must confess to being a bit fed up with Greece.

In Anglo-Saxon language their attitude used to be called “taking the piss“.  Today’s “funny” (or if preferred take your pick from: tragic, surreal, ludicrous, ridiculous,bizarre, insane or indeed all of these at once) is something the Greek Prime Minister said. Admittedly he said it in February and I’ve only just picked up on it.

Here’s an extract from what was said:

‘We are a country which cannot alone deal with the speculation. So this has become a European problem, because if we do have a major problem, this could create a contagion for other countries too who are not to blame.’

Brilliant and I especially love the use of the word “speculation”.

This makes it seem as if it isn’t Greece’s fault at all; it’s all down to those nasty fat people in suits and sunglasses, the evil international financial mafia seeking to destabilize his country.

Then there is the “if” word. Now normally this is associated with a condition, but anyone who even in February thought that there was any conditionality involved in Greece’s meltdown must have been looney, or perhaps the Head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) who said this on March 8th:

Greece will be able to deal with its own financial problems without needing a bailout, the head of the International Monetary Fund said today.

IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that Greece’s debt mountain is unlikely to spread to other eurozone countries with high levels of public debt.

And Mr Strauss-Kahn dismissed market speculation of potential default by other heavily indebted eurozone countries such as Portugal, Spain or Ireland as scare-mongering.

IMF Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn answers questions on a panel with Bob Geldof in Nairobi yesterday. Mr Strauss-Kahn has said he believes Greece will not need an IMF bailout .

Yes, this is the same DSK who is paid a vast salary and expenses and could be the next President of the EU.Of course he could have been lying to try to restore “confidence”. However, lying is lying, for whatever reason. Or he could have just been humungously wrong.

That’s the trouble with our leaders and financial experts these days; you never know whether they’re lying or just stupid; it’s usually one or the other and sometimes of course both.

And Papandreou’s quote continues: ” a contagion for other countries“. Indeed, Mr P. And what do we do with a “contagion” in the body? We destroy it and get rid of it …. and finally we have “other countries too who are not to blame“.

AHA! At last! Proof that my old Mum in the UK on her measly pension is not to blame. Thanks Mr P. At last some recognition fo the truth. Let’s have a bit more of that ….

As for the merits of Greece’s plea for funds, you only have to read this devastating article to feel your flabber gasting to breaking point.

No wonder the Germans are increasingly threatening to dump Greece, and so they should. Not the German government (all governments seem currently to lack the guts to do anything really necessary or serious).

No, this time it’s an economics professor threatening to take the EU to court if they allow this blatantly EU-illegal bailout, and public opinion is increasingly on his side.

It is a horrendous mess, but the only solution is for Greece to leave the euro. Bailing them out is a black hole. Does anyone in their right mind think the Greeks can really change their traditional practices and suddenly become honest, thrifty and hard-working?

Well, the answer is probably  “Yes”, but then cloud-cuckoo land is becoming seriously over-populated.

Which reminds me, I must get back to the British General Election Campaign ……

By Chris Snuggs