The increasing militarisation of Britain

Have you noticed how militarised the UK is becoming? The police look like and behave like paramilitaries and the military is being introduced little by little into civil life.

In just one and a half years, the coalition has wanted to use the military to "keep the peace" during the riots, has employed them to man immigration queues at airports when the unions were on strike and wants them to police the Olympics and other large events.

And this week, the government has floated the idea of privatising parts of the military.

It's because of the cuts, don't you know. Or for "security", of course.

Is May acclimatising us to being 'policed' by the military? Do she and the other freaking politicians temporarily in charge of our democracy realise what they're doing? If so, why are they doing it?  If not, why why are the cretins still in charge?

The police, under the Peel doctrine, are there to keep the peace and to investigate criminal activity. The military are trained to kill, acting under martial law where civilians have no rights at all. Not even, it seems, those 'protected' under the Geneva Convention, as various sham inquiries have shown in recent years.


The US constitution is very clear about not allowing the army to 'police' civilians - for damned good reason: it inevitably leads to abuse of power and/or military dictatorship. Our military industrial complex* is far too powerful as it is.

We can assume that the coming depression will see mass unrest; heaven help us if government uses the military to quell it.

During Egypt's uprising, the corporate media was obsessed - nay, awed - by the apparent friendliness of the military towards the protestors. But after Libya's regime change, the military weren't quite so friendly, were they?

If we refuse to learn from history, can we please, at least, learn from events of the past year? Please?

---

* Isn't is peculiar that our most profitable products - financial derivatives and military equipment - are weapons of mass destruction which we deploy ceaselessly?

Related:

• Information and power - EU defense policy - Ian Parker-Joseph (hat tip: Mr Witterings)
• The Article 36 Committee - Ian Parker-Joseph

Cameron's veto: waiting for the sound of the pin drop ...

As we await events in the unfolding Euro-drama that will determine the EU's fate, it is as if we  populate a world suspended in time, a world without roots in reality. A world Alice discovered.

A commenter on Tim Mongomerie's piece had this to say about Cameron's poll bounce:

The one defining issue of the accidental veto/non veto of David Cameron, is that those including some in the party and on this site, can no longer use the excuse that the British people don't care about the EU, in an attempt to stifle debate.

I expect nothing from the leadership and am rarely dissappointed, and I also expect the next move just like the veto to be forced on him. Whether the journey we now follow becomes a light stroll or a hard slog, depends on those who give him the benefit of the doubt at the GE, after a brief pre veto out of character rebellion, will they now blindly revert to type and follow him without question, or will they have learnt the hard lesson that it is pressure that actually gets things done, not blind subservience.

His final sentence encapsulates the essence of the problem. Thus far, Europhiles have always counted on conservatives blindly reverting to type - and thus far that assumption as profited them.

Cameron has used up all but one of his nine lives - each of the others having been spent on sophistry. This "veto" is surely the Daddy of all propaganda pieces.

You have to hand it to him - his "Veto That Never Was" (HT: Boudicca) was a masterpiece in spin. An artefact of sheer genius. It is abstract, amorphous and based on nothing concrete, nothing researchable, nothing deliverable. And yet it has had such a profound effect so far.

Whether or not Conservative MPs give Cameron the benefit of the doubt depends on whether they fear him more than they fear us.

Have a warm, contented, soulful Christmas.

Lord Pearson to force cost-benefit analysis of EU membership

Some background:

A plan by the UK Independence Party to force the Government to carry out a cost/benefit analysis of Britain's EU membership has been sent to the Commons.

Ukip peer Lord Pearson saw his European Union Membership (Economic Implications) Bill agreed by the House of Lords, meaning it will go to MPs to consider.

Before being picked up in the Commons, an MP will have to sponsor the Bill - but a Ukip spokesman said the party was "very confident" an MP could be found.

Following the third reading vote, Lord Pearson said: "For far too long the Government has simply maintained that the benefits of membership are so overwhelmingly obvious that such an analysis would be a waste of time and money.

"The people of Britain are no longer prepared to accept this. All great debates require knowledge, and there is no greater debate than the future governance of this country.

"It is in the interests of every single one of us that this ongoing debate is conducted from a position of knowledge rather than in a cloud of ignorance, obfuscation and dishonesty.

"My Bill provides for an independent panel, comprising of people from across the spectrum of opinion, to weigh up the evidence.

"We must know what the costs, and what the benefits, really are. This debate is long overdue."

Lord Pearson's Bill is unlikely to become law unless it wins Government support.

My prediction? If the government fails to back this plan, it's curtains for the Coalition, in which case, there'll be a general election in 2012.



Hat tip: UKIP TV

Banksters consolidate their power as they devour us

Magnificent analysis and eagle-eyedness from John Ward.

However, while the banksters' actions appear to be suicidal, as he observes, they never the less continue to consolidate their power - while ours drains away.

Our propensity to view their actions as "suicidal" can be attributed to the difference between their motives and ours. We try to judge them and their actions according to our worldviews. We are not megalomaniacs who would murder, plunder and plot outrages, therefore we find it difficult to believe that those who rule us are exactly of such a bent.

Their motives being profit, power and control, regardless of the effect such hegemony has on the world's economies and peoples, they need only spin their narrative in the corporate media to misdirect; our ability to discern  their motives and work out what their ultimate goals are is therefore stymied.

To catch them out before they execute their vile programmes, we need to understand their motives.

And, of course, we need to do everything in our power, as individuals, to curtail their power.

I suggest:

• civil disobedience (of the lawful kind) at every opportunity
• starving the beast.

Every possible individual action we can take to deprive these bastards of their power, should be entertained.

No counter action on our part should be considered to be too small or too trivial. If we work the ethos of “starving the beast” into ever more areas of our lives, becoming ever more independent of their systems and services, we can seriously dent their profit margins.

I’d wager that forcing a 10% drop in their profits will be enough to put some of them out of business. Each megalomanical corporation that falls, so deprives the government of spending power, as its tax take is reduced. Each such domino then removes another lobby group from the mix that corrupts our politics.

Hitting these bastards in their coffers is not only lawful, but it’s our duty in the cause of liberty and the salvation of our country.

Let’s do it. Our liberty is at stake.

Update: One of The Slog's commenters described the power of the individual aptly:

Chris Loughrey

December 23, 2011 at 2:50 pm

I’ve been saying (and doing) this for a while now, pay cash and avoid government levies wherever possible.

I always think of an ants nest when I think of what faces us. Ants are tiny but en masse they can wipe the forest floor clean and devour species many times their size. Whilst we may be small individually, mass action would be an unstoppable force.

It doesn’t even require large scale organisation. Each person acting in isolation adds to the weight of the power we can collectively wield.

The simple action of only using cash is the easiest place to start.

I think the politicians and financial elites underestimate us “lower beings”, we’re adaptable, resourceful and much, much tougher than we are given credit for.

Related:

• Plan B – How to loot nations and their banks legally - Golem XIV

Dan Hannan and Nigel Farage top Youtube views

The BBC reports that:

"Mr Hannan and his fellow MEP, UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, are the two most viewed UK politicians on YouTube at the moment."

It isn't just the outspokenness of the politicians themselves which propelled them to the top - it was their outspokenness on the subject of the Evil Empire and dictatorship that has attracted viewers.

Astonishingly, the BBC even posts a video of Nigel Farage within the article.

An unusually balanced piece for the BBC.

Related:

• Belittling the Gods of Youtube - England Expects

MF Global ramifications: Property rights under threat?

Corzine of MF Global didn't just steal funds from accounts, via its administrators - physical gold owned by (segregated) account-holders was also purloined. The gold owners might get 75% of it back. ...of their own certificated property.

Theft. Pure and simple.

Gerald Celente was one of the victims of the fraud:



Max Keizer illuminates the gold fraud and asserts that Comex has no gold - which is why customer-owned gold was purloined. More worryingly, he wonders if mortgage-holders are similarly at risk of being defrauded.



Keiser predicted last year that something like this would happen as the likes of JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs have sold more physical silver and gold than actually exists in the world.  (Which is why it's absolutely necessary to take immediate physical possession of bullion or sovereigns on purchase).

End of the Euro before Christmas? Hedge fund sues ECB over Greek debt

There may be trouble ahead ...

Will the Euro last until the New Year? Or might the markets savage it before the week is out?

Related:

• EU DEBT CRISIS – Surprise, surprise – the lenders are backing away from Greek haircuts - The Slog
• Clegg 'to set the agenda' at next Euro summit - Standard

Facebook account disabled

... because it wants my real name - which it ain't getting, given it's track record of privacy violations.

So it's goodbye Facebook!


Update: Gmail keeps nagging for my mobile 'phone number and just recently, has stepped up efforts to get it.

Are we moving towards compulsory Internet IDs - without which access would be denied?

Interestingly, both Facebook and Google had delegates at the Bilderberg conference this year.

Related:

• Facebook suing Mark Zuckerberg

You're next

First they came for the smokers,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a smoker.

Then they came for the bloggers,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a blogger.

Then they came for the eurosceptics,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't political.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Hat tip: europeon387 - a commenter on Delingpole's blog.

Automation and automatons

John Ward articulates the absurdities in 'modern life' and a few irritations.

My pet peeves in this artificial world we call everyday life are:

1) the automation of everything.

Call centres and corporate telephone menus are the obvious ones, where "customer service" often hides behind a premium number, and is provided by oiks who read from a script then try to sell you more of their crap at the end of your 'phone ordeal.

This automation extends throughout the procedures of corporations, so hog-tying the hands of its staff that they're forced to make ludicrous decisions so as not to break with procedure. Corporates have managed to squeeze initiative out of their workplaces, even at the very top, where execs either tear their hair out or just stop caring.

That's one of the reasons we have a nation of amoral imbeciles; they don't have to think for themselves or consider the rights and wrongs of anything. All they have to do is obey and produce the sausage in the way that procedure dictates, like good little automatons.

2) the planned obsolescence of just about everything.

No wonder our landfills are full. We buy too much crap because that suits the corporations just fine. Government stays large because of corporations.

The automation dehumanises our experiences and almost guarantees that in every transaction, there will be a cock-up - something that must be corrected by wasting more time and energy.  The planned obsolescence just rips us off.

So at this very festive time of year, I propose starving the beast.

• Close accounts in global banks (e.g., Lloyds, RBS) - instead use local Mutual.
• Boycott the supermarkets (e.g., Tesco, Lidl) - instead use Mom & Pop stores. They can do with the business, because the government is killing them.
• Pay down debt (e.g., credit card, mortgage) -  ASAP and never take on more.
• Reduce consumption and buy only goods that last, preferably from neighbours, car boot sales or other non-establishment outlets.
• Barter.
• Pay cash wherever possible - foil their tracking systems which enable them to target taxation finely at the middle classes, based on data mining info fed to them by the banks.
• Grow your own food. Who needs the toxins in the nutrient-deficient junk that the supermarkets sell, anyway! Else, buy from a local farm and pay cash. I bet the farmer could use the money.
• Walk or cycle more often. Don't use public transport or your car, where possible.
• Buy gold and be sure to take immediate physical delivery of it.

Kill the bastard, psycopathic corporations off.

And have a very merry Christmas!


Related: 

• GOLD: Why the old purchasing system is breaking down - The Slog

One basic truth

One
basic
truth can
be used as
a foundation for
a mountain of lies,
and if we dig down deep
enough in the mountain of lies,
and bring out that truth, to set it
on top of the mountain of lies; the entire
mountain of lies will crumble under the weight of
that one truth, and there is nothing more devastating to a
structure of lies than the revelation of the truth upon which
the structure of lies was built, because the shock waves of
the revelation of the truth reverberate, and continue to
reverberate throughout the Earth for generations to
follow, awakening even those
people who had no
desire to be
awakened
to the
truth.

-- Delamer Duverus

David Cameron's Brave New World

Nice arrangement!



Hat tip: Old Holborn

Van Rompuy prepares ambush for Cameron?

Apparently, EU-fanatic Van Rompuy wants the UK at the new emergency eurozone summit, as Ian Traynor reports (my emphasis):

"Herman Van Rompuy, chairing all these emergency Brussels summits, said he was convening another one at the end of next month. He also reiterated that the EU had pledged to beef up the IMF firewall, though that may be wishful thinking. Van Rompuy, despite the Great British veto, made plain that the UK was welcome at the new emergency summit. "With 27, with 27," he interjected, referring to all EU states."

Van Rompuy no doubt has an ambush ready.

Cameron would be foolish to attend such a summit; it will be used to arm-twist and to generate headlines for the EU fanatics.

He should instead insist that an EU17 deal is for the Eurozone alone, since he would not be signing any new treaty (whatever we might think of that manoevre).

It’s interesting that the EU-realist position of vetoing any potential EU27 treaty is currently in alignment with that of the bankers. One would hope that bankster haters (of which I’m one) will accept that this is merely an intersection of interests at this time.

It would be idiotic for us to refuse to ride the wave - momentum which bankster interests have provided – in pursuing our own interests of eventual freedom from the Evil Empire.

Tyranny of governing classes -v- morality and free market

"One of the most outstanding characteristics of our age is that ideas, even false and unworkable ideas, even ideas which are no longer believed in by their official guardians, rule the affairs of men and ride roughshod over stubborn facts. Ideas of enormous destructiveness, cruelty, and impracticality retain the allegiance of elites that benefit from them. The empirical record seems not to jut through into consciousness to break their spell. The class of persons who earn their livelihood from the making of ideas and symbols seems both unusually bewitched by falsehoods and absurdities and uniquely empowered to impose them on hapless individuals."

-- Michael Novak, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (1991)

Nigel Farage: Momentum for Britain's Great Escape is here

Nigel Farage had this to say in the European Parliament in Strasbourg today during the debate: "Conclusions of the European Council Meeting of the 8-9 December 2011":



Update: Dan Hannan gives the Euro tyrants an overdue mouthful:



Update: Hat tip again to Dan Hannan for hosting on his blog this great UKIP video compilation of the haughty Bonaparte utterances. Well done that man!

Truth

A stunning, well-argued article by Richard North in which he discusses the media and political establishments' dissemination of disinformation and misinformation - which people meekly accept, without critical appraisal.

We, as a population, have moved on quite a bit over the past few years.

In 2008, for instance, the authors of most of the top-rated comments in national newspapers like the Telegraph would have been dismissed as "swivel-eyed loonies", had they expressed then what they express now, with such passion.

From small seeds emanating from the dogged determination and hard work of people like Dr North and other great bloggers, the appreciation of liberty and what it truly means has spread. People are educating themselves, willingly - and they, in turn, are educating others.

The funny thing about truth is that once it's out, there's no way of stuffing it back into its box. Once born, it lives and nourishes.

Lies and spin, on the other hand, must be constantly tended and patched up. To achieve that aim requires an enormous expenditure of effort and resources. The greater the lie, the greater the stakes and the harder the fall for its proponents. The web of lies eventually destroys itself via its own mass of contradictions; it ceases to make sense. Once born, the big lie ensures its own destruction.

That's where we are now - truth gaining on the lie. People are waking up in ever greater numbers.

Provided that we keep the truth alive and constantly seek it, we should be able to counter the lunacy which we've had to endure for decades and ensure that future generations are raised on a diet of truth, common sense and integrity.

...

"The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is." 

-- Winston Churchill

Monckton: Warmists to create International Climate Court for 'criminal deniers'

Lord Monckton provides an update on the Alex Jones show on the Durban climate change conference.

The warmists, aware that they are losing the information war on their scam, are getting desperate.

Now, they want to set up an international climate court, where they can try those who inflict harm on "mother earth", as set out in the draft treaty text (PDF).

It shall truly be a religion, then.

Spanish Inquisition, anyone?





Related:

• Durban – the insanities the mainstream media conspire not to report - Lord Monckton, SPPI blog
• Durban: what the media are not telling you - Wattsupwiththat
• The 138-page treaty text: Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action Under the Convention (PDF)
• Black reveals some of the bad news  - The Purple Scorpion
  

EU 2.0 or exit?

Mixed opinions today. Most right-thinking people believe that Cameron did the right thing to reject the Merkozy proposal.

My own view is that some steam has been allowed to escape from the pressure cooker, but it is still on the stove and the temperature is still high. The need for vigilance is, if anything, greater than before.

Cameron made the right move. However,

• we don't really know what he's cooking, 
• the europhiles will be plotting behind closed doors and 
• Trojan Horses will abound.

As Douglas Carswell has been pointing out for months, the mandarinate who entangled us in this euro mess are still in situ. They need to be sidelined and replaced by officials elected by Parliament and accountable to Parliament.

Otherwise, we'll be using the same federalist ingredients in the hope of baking a [very different] EU-freedom cake!

Nigel Farage says:

"We're still members of the union, we're still bound by its legislation and yet, what's perfectly clear, is that henceforth, we will have no influence whatsoever. And actually, what I'm getting in the hall today, from journalists from all over Europe, is that Britain is now despised.  So I think what will happen now, back in the United Kingdom, is that we're about to launch into a very big national debate about to whether we should be members of this union at all."

Opinions:

• Cameron’s gamble: Britain ‘isolated’ in Europe, or independent? - Frank Fisher
• Europe's idiots and a flim-flam treaty - Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
• Right now, 'isolated' is a damn good thing for Britain to be - Charles Crawford
• Thanks for the mention, Boris! - Roger Helmer ("The €uro is a Bankruptcy Machine")
• Euro still headed for collapse - Raedwald 
• What David Cameron really thinks of Nicolas Sarkozy - Benedict Brogan (Did the French corner the UK into vetoing the treaty as a first step to UK exit?) 
• A huge coup de théâtre - Richard North, EU Referendum
• David Cameron stands by his country – now let's get the deal Britain wants - Daniel Hannan 
• I have in my hand a piece of paper... - Leg-Iron 
• Britain and isolation - Fraser Nelson 
• Eurozone leaders deluded if they think this 'sticking plaster' treaty can solve the debt crisis - Liam Halligan 
• EU treaty: Britain now faces a Europe that is becoming hostile - Bruno Waterfield
• Ten myths about Cameron’s EU veto - Mats Persson, Spectator
• Authors of our own grief - Richard North, EU Referendum (Excellent read!)
• Never, in the history of this island, has the fact that Belgium is 30 miles away mattered less - Douglas Carswell, Sunday Mail
• Sir Humphrey will already be fighting this with every fibre of his being - Daniel Hannan, Sunday Mail
  
  Read more:

Natural justice: wind turbine catches fire

Bwahahahaha!

"A £2 million, 100 metre tall wind turbine catches fire in hurricane-force winds at Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, Scotland. The wind turbine was spinning so fast it caught fire. The engine of the giant turbine went up in flames and its blades were blackened by smoke. The turbine was one of 15 set up on hills overlooking the Scottish coast, built to supply green electricity to 20,000 homes."

Related:

• The BBC and Climate Change: a Triple Betrayal - booklet by Christopher Booker, with forward by Sir Anthony Jay (PDF)

Eurozone fiasco: Full letter from Merkozy To Van Rompuy

Mr President,

To overcome the current crisis, all necessary measures to stabilize the euro area as a whole will have to be taken. We are confident that we will succeed.
We are convinced that we need to reinforce the architecture of Economic and Monetary Union going beyond the indispensable measures which are urgently needed to cope with immediate crisis resolution. Those steps need to be taken now without further delay. We consider this as a matter of necessity, credibility and confidence in the future of Economic and Monetary Union.

The current crisis has uncovered the deficiencies in the construction of EMU mercilessly. We need to remedy those deficiencies. To build a lasting Stability and Growth Union which allows us to preserve our unique European model combining economic success and social responsibility, we have to substantially reinforce the foundations of EMU. Alongside the single currency, a strong economic pillar is indispensable, building on enhanced governance to foster fiscal discipline as well as stronger growth and enhanced competitiveness. In order to achieve these objectives, we need a renewed contract between the Euro area Member States. This conviction is the driving-force behind our proposal.

***

We need more binding and more ambitious rules and commitments for the Euro area Member States. They should reflect that sharing a single currency means sharing responsibility for the Euro area as a whole. They should pave the way for a new quality of cooperation and integration within the Euro area.
We propose that those new rules and commitments should be enshrined in the European Treaties as. Alternatively , the Member States whose currency is the Euro will have to go ahead. In that case, we would ensure that those Member States willing and able to do so would be able to join and the European institutions would play an important role. We would also work towards bringing this new agreement into the framework of the European Union as soon as possible.

The main building blocks of the new Stability and Growth Union are:

A strengthened institutional architecture


Euro area governance needs to be substantially reinforced. We should provide for a more integrated and more efficient institutional set-up without duplicating existing European structures or institutions. This set-up should be based on:

•    Regular summits – at least twice a year - of the Euro area heads of State and Government with a permanent president. These summits will provide strategic orientations on the economic and fiscal policies in the euro area. The impact of our domestic economic and fiscal policies on the euro area should be considered as a matter of common interest, while safeguarding national responsibility.

•    During the crisis, the Eurosummit should meet on a monthly basis: each meeting should focus on a precise agenda regarding governance and policies to foster growth, competitiveness and fiscal stability. Member States having signed the Euro Plus Pact will be invited to participate to the discussions on issues related to it.

•    A ministerial Eurogroup and a reinforced preparatory structure to prepare and implement the decisions taken by the summit and ensuring the current functioning.

This framework will be fully consistent with the EU institutional architecture. We strongly reaffirm our willingness to fully associate the European Commission. The European Parliament and national Parliaments should also be involved in an adequate way.

A comprehensive framework of prevention

It is undoubtedly in the interest of all members of the Stability and Growth Union to detect and correct departures from sound economic and fiscal policies long before they become a threat to the stability of the Euro area as a whole. Therefore, we need a comprehensive framework on prevention consisting of strengthened co-ordination, surveillance and enforcement as well as positive incentives, building on current arrangements (new macroeconomic imbalances procedure, EU 2020-Strategy, Euro Plus Pact, a greater focus of structural- and cohesion funds on competitiveness etc.) and developing them further.

This framework should comprise in particular:

-    the adoption by each euro area member state of rules on a balanced budget translating the objectives and requirements of the Stability and Growth Pact into national legislation at constitutional or equivalent level. A new legal provison should set minimum requirements for the national rules on balanced budgets. The European Court of Justice, on request of the European Commission or a Euro area Member State, should have the possibility to verify the transposition in the national legislation.

-    Commitment of national Parliaments to take into account recommendations adopted at the European level on the conduct of economic and budgetary policies.

We need to foster growth through greater competitiveness as well as greater convergence of economic policies at least amongst Euro Area Member States. To these aims, building on Article 136 and/or on enhanced cooperation, a  new common legal framework, fully consistent with the internal market, should be established to allowing for faster progress in specific areas such as :

-    Financial regulation;
-    Labor markets;
-    Convergence and harmonisation of corporate tax base and creation of a financial transaction tax;
-    Growth supporting policies and more efficient use of European funds in the euro area.

A reinforced procedure to enforce sound fiscal policies

To complement the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact and in particular the goal to achieve a structurally balanced budget and ex-ante examination of draft budgets, a new procedure should be established to correct breaches of the 3 % deficit of GDP ceiling.

As soon as a Member State is recognized to be in breach with the 3 % ceiling by the European Commission, there should be automatic consequences unless the Eurogroup, acting by qualified majority, decides otherwise. Exceptional circumstances should be taken into account:

-    The obligation for the Member State to conclude with the Commission and approved by the Eurogroup by reversed qualified majority on behalf of the other Member States, a „European Reform Partnership“ specifying the concerned Euro area Member States’ fiscal and structural policy measures to overcome its difficulties and assisting them in those efforts.

-    A sequence of interventions of increasing intensity into Euro area Member States’ rights should be allowed as a focussed response to continued infringement. Steps and sanctions proposed or recommended by the Commission should be adopted by the Council unless a qualified majority of the Euro area Member States decides otherwise.

Buiding on the provisions for a numerical benchmark for debt reduction in the “six-pack” (1/20 rule), the procedure for debt reduction by Euro area Member States with a public debt of more than 60 % of GDP needs to be enshrined in the new treaty provisions.

A permanent crisis resolution mechanism

We will accelerate the setting of the permanent intergovernmental European Stability Mechanism which should be effective in 2012 to better address any future threats to the stability of the Eurozone as a whole, including through the risk of contagion for other Euro area Member States, thus assisting them in situations of emergency.

In order to maximize the efficiency of the ESM and its capacity to take decisions, specific super majority rules (85 % of signed ECB-Capital) should be implemented.

As far as the private-sector involvement is concerned, the ESM treaty should be revised to make clear that Greece required a unique and exceptional solution. We recall that all other Euro area Member States reaffirm their inflexible determination to honour fully their own individual sovereign signature. A recital in the preamble should clarify that the euro area will apply the IMF practice. As agreed, common terms of reference on CACs shall be introduced in national legislations.

***

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome we reiterated solemnly together with all Member States of the European Union our resolve to protect the achievements of European unification for the good of future generations. To this end, we committed ourselves to always renewing the political shape of Europe in keeping with the times. It is in this spirit that we submit our proposal to our European partners.

We are convinced that we need to act without delay. We need to take a decision at our next European Council meeting in order to have the new treaty provisions ready by march 2012.

Angela MERKEL                           
Nicolas SARKOZY

Hat tip: Zerohedge

These credit rating people are a nuisance, whine the technocrats

After Standard and Poors threatened Europe's nations with ratings downgrades, Luxembourg's PM joined in the "unfair" chorus from the banksters and social engineering totalitarians of the Evil Empire to shoot the messenger. Euro-fanatic and premier of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker, called the move:

"completely over the top and unfair", 

... insisting that Europe is ...

"on the way to solving the debt crisis."

Simply delusional.

Free markets, free choice and natural justice are anathema to these people. 


Related:

• The six point Europe policy - Douglas Carswell
• Goldman: A Clean Resolution From Friday's Summit Is Now Ruled Out; Outcome To Fall Short Of Market Expectations - Zerohedge
• European Parliament's TV Channel with 830 Viewers Costs £26 million - International Business Times
• Roger Helmer, MEP
• FU* - RT:

We are the people of England; and we have not spoken yet

As Cameron, in his arrogant, hapless way, encourages Merkozy to build a dictatorship on our doorstep, C K Chesterton's "The Secret People" seems apt.

The Secret People

SMILE at us, pay us, pass us; but do not quite forget.
For we are the people of England, that never have spoken yet.
There is many a fat farmer that drinks less cheerfully,
There is many a free French peasant who is richer and sadder than we.
There are no folk in the whole world so helpless or so wise.
There is hunger in our bellies, there is laughter in our eyes;
You laugh at us and love us, both mugs and eyes are wet:
Only you do not know us. For we have not spoken yet.

The fine French kings came over in a flutter of flags and dames.
We liked their smiles and battles, but we never could say their names.
The blood ran red to Bosworth and the high French lords went down;
There was naught but a naked people under a naked crown.
And the eyes of the King's Servants turned terribly every way,
And the gold of the King's Servants rose higher every day.
They burnt the homes of the shaven men, that had been quaint and kind.
Till there was not bed in a monk's house, nor food that man could find.
The inns of God where no main paid, that were the wall of the weak,
The King's Servants ate them all. And still we did not speak.

And the face of the King's Servants grew greater than the King:
He tricked them, and they trapped him, and stood round him in a ring.
The new grave lords closed round him, that had eaten the abbey's fruits,
And the men of the new religion, with their bibles in their boots,
We saw their shoulders moving, to menace or discuss,
And some were pure and some were vile, but none took heed of us.
We saw the King as they killed him, and his face was proud and pale;
And a few men talked of freedom, while England talked of ale.

A war that we understood not came over the world and woke
Americans, Frenchmen, Irish; but we knew not the things they spoke.
They talked about rights and nature and peace and the people's reign:
And the squires, our masters, bade us fight; and never scorned us again.
Weak if we be for ever, could none condemn us then;
Men called us serfs and drudges; men knew that were were men.
In foam and flame at Trafalgar, on Albeura plains,
We did and died like lions, to keep ouselves in chains.
We lay in living ruins; firing and fearing not
The strange face of the Frenchman who know for what they fought,
And the man who seemed to be more than man we strained against and broke;
And we broke our own right with him. And still we never spoke.

Our patch of glory ended; we never heard guns again.
But the squire seemed struck in the saddle; he was foolish, as if in pain.
He leaned on a staggering lawyer, he clutched a cringing Jew,
He was stricken; it may be, after all, he was stricken at Waterloo.
Or perhaps the shades of the shaven men, whose spoil is in his house,
Come back in shining shapes at last to spil his last carouse:
We only know the last sad squires ride slowly towards the sea,
And a new people takes the land: and still it is not we.

They have given us into the hand of new unhappy lords,
Lords without anger and honour, who dare not carry their swords.
They fight by shuffling papers; they have bright dead alien eyes;
They look at our labour and laughter as a tired man looks at flies.
And the load of their loveless pity is worse than the ancient wrongs,
Their doors are shut in the evening; and they know no songs.

We hear men speaking for us of new laws strong and sweet,
Yet is there no man speaketh as we speak in the street.
It may be we shall rise the last as Frenchmen rose the first,
Our wrath come after Russia's wrath and our wrath be the worst.
It may be we are meant to mark with our riot and our rest
God's scorn for all men governing. It may be beer is best.
But we are the people of England; and we have not spoken yet.
Smile at us, pay us, pass us. But do not quite forget.

-- G K Chesterton

How do we try our leaders for treason?

Bruce Anderson speaks for most of us when he says that those responsible for the EU crisis should be tried for crimes against humanity.

His analysis of where we are now and what happens next is thought-provoking but I believe he is looking at the problem through the wrong lens.

"... in pectore, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor believe that the collapse of the Euro would be the least bad option. But they are determined to keep their fingerprints off the dagger handle."

In other words, he believes that Cameron and Osborne are more scared of the EU mafia than they are of us.

He may well be right. But what does that say about our democracy?

He asserts that the "EU high command" (EUHC) is unrealistic and incapable of exercising common sense. I challenge that assertion on the grounds that the high command's goals differ from ours - therefore, what constitutes success for them will differ from our notion of success.

The EUHC view the world from behind the lens of ever-closer union, at all costs. Their goals are common to a small group of leaders and their groupies, to whom fiscal union makes perfect sense. So their proposals are common sense to their ilk, but not to the much wider group, whose worldview is very different.

"... but my guess is that this week's summit will find a way of postponing the crisis, to such an extent the the Eurozone leaders will be able to claim that the problem is solved"

Further "kicking the can down the road" will be instantly spotted by the markets and government bond spreads will reflect its disapproval. But that won't stop the EU mafia; they'll continue to find ways to by-pass obstacles, ignoring law and ignoring the famine and pestilence their agenda will leave in its wake. Why? Because, to the EU mafia, the problem would be solved - the problem (from their POV) being the ability to buy time so that ESM Treaty mechanisms can be put in place.

So when they claim that they've solved the problem, they're telling the truth - from their perspective.

The latest bypasses of the powers:

• Bernanke tries to disguise QE3 (which he's been itching to issue since September) which is given birth to fund EU bailouts via the IMF.

• Merkozy attempts to bypass law by lending to the IMF so that it can lend to EZ prisoner nations.

The people of Europe are mere debt collateral - that debt serviced via taxes. Hence the Italian and Greek PM appointees.

"They deserve to stand trial at the Hague, for multiple, grievous and premeditated offences against human rights.

Absolutely.

But how do we bring that about when those with their hands on the levers of power are the very people who should be in the dock?

Related:

• Merkel and Sarkozy meet in Paris: 'And now for our next coup...' - Mary Ellen Synon

Is Nick Clegg threatening to collapse the Coalition?

Near the end of the Andrew Marr Show (at about 55:30 mins in), Clegg said:

"If the Coalition government collapses, he can give me some tips on how to re-invent myself".

Blimey! Is that a threat?

Only minutes before, Clegg effectively expressed opposition to all the Conservative Party's stated goals.

Apocalypses are springing up all over the place.

This one might be fun, though!

Afterthought:  If Clegg hits the nuke button, we get a general election. So let's drive this godawful coalition to the edge of sanity, with reason, so that it blows itself up.

Nigel Farage: This is How Dictatorship Begins

UKIP Leader Nigel Farage MEP is interviewed by Claudio Messora of Byoblu.com (Italy) - aired 25 November 2011.


Hat tip: UKIP MEPs

Germany repositions itself to asset-strip debtor nations

Shauble has agreed to increase Germany's IMF stake so that EZ states can accept IMF loans.

“We are prepared to increase the resources of the IMF through bilateral loans. If the IMF wants to widen its freedom to take action by increasing the special drawing rights, then we are prepared to talk about it. But, to be clear, this is about IMF instruments. I approve in principle, but there is much we must discuss before Germany will move on the issue”.

Since IMF loans are 'senior' to others, the EU (aka Merkel) perhaps figures that this route gets the bankers off its back because:

• it kicks the can down the road - again - to give them time to bury more toxic junk;
• it removes the bankers /markets somewhat from the negotiation, so reducing the direct impact of any actions they take or threats they make;
• when the banks start to collapse, the UK and German banks will get first access to assets of the debtor nations.

So it looks as though the Germans are following Osborne's lead in positioning themselves as first-in-line asset strippers of the stricken EZ nations.

They're going in for the kill.



Related:

• EUROCRISIS ANALYSIS: SCHAUBLE PLAYS A CLEVER GAME OF FEAR AND CONFUSION - The Slog
• ECB - OpenEurope 
• The referendum question Pt. 2 - David Blackburn, Spectator
• Eurozone: France and Germany call for tougher treaty