Saturday, February 20, 2010

The rape of Redcar

Another step in the slow ruination of Britain occurs today. A report in The Northern Echo is linked from here. The great ground-breaking journalist and former editor of that pioneering newspaper, W.T. Stead, whose earthly remains lie amongst the wreckage of the Titanic in the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean would surely today find little rest for his spirit were he to have witnessed the treachery that has brought this sorry situation to come to pass. My own Great Grandfather, Mark Fooks, who reputedly introduced Stead, the reputed 'father of modern journalism' to the ideas of spiritualism, must surely rest uneasy in the quiet churchyard of St Felix under the moors at Felixkirk, for he himself was a former leading light in bringing prosperity to Teesside not only throughout his career as a journalist, but also a regular attendee at the Middlesborough Iron Market. What of the mendacious self-serving Labour politicians who have brought this about? The now almost supremely powerful Mandelson, who has found personal wealth by trampling on the lives of his former constituents just along the coast in Hartlepool; and whose record of mortgage and passport resignations must even astound his own Grandfather, were he alive to see them, hint at a deviousness and cunning totally lacking in coming to the aid or assistance of this once great steel industry brought low by the reported double dealings in a supposedly binding commercial contract. In the home town of the Northern Echo is to be found the constituency home of another powerful political figure, William Hague, supposed Rt Hon, Deputy leader of the Conservative Party and Shadow Foreign Secretary, MP for Richmond Yorks, has he brought any influence to bear by use of his influence and presumed coming importance in Foreign Affairs? Has he even got on the telephone to mobilize support among the rich and powerful he so readily milks on the after dinner speaking circuits? Not that any noticeable effect can be seen, he hasn't! Finally what of the nation's present Prime Minister? This odious object, from whom if maggots began to secrete from every orifice of his latter-day Dorian Grey features, they would provide no further evidence of the complete internal rottenness of this creature as his every action in the wrecking of the British economy over so many years already unarguably demonstrates. Perhaps Redcar may rise again, but for today the fires go out. We must hope that the proverbial hellfires of eternal damnation keep burning to welcome those Labour Party members who have so betrayed the principles of their Fabian forebears during their occupancy of the Governement benches during the past thirteen years.

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

If Greece or Spain were California!

The long forecast euro-wreck has arrived, the jagged rocks surround. As I blogged last week, if the Eurozone or the EU mount a rescue for Greece then the end result will be tyranny in Europe. AFP reports that Juncker declared Borg's call for greater IMF surveillance and monitoring of Greece to be an "absurd" irrelevance "fuelled by Anglo-Saxon voices" seen as hostile to the shared currency. "If California had a refinancing problem, the United States wouldn't go to the IMF," Juncker said.

The response to this smug, self-satisfied tripe from the federalist Luxembourger who has always been at the forefront of further EU federalization, is contained in an Op-ed in the IHT by Paul Krugman, linked here, from which I quote:

Now, if Spain were an American state rather than a European country, things wouldn’t be so bad. For one thing, costs and prices wouldn’t have gotten so far out of line: Florida, which among other things was freely able to attract workers from other states and keep labor costs down, never experienced anything like Spain’s relative inflation. For another, Spain would be receiving a lot of automatic support in the crisis: Florida’s housing boom has gone bust, but Washington keeps sending the Social Security and Medicare checks.

But Spain isn’t an American state, and as a result it’s in deep trouble. Greece, of course, is in even deeper trouble, because the Greeks, unlike the Spaniards, actually were fiscally irresponsible. Greece, however, has a small economy, whose troubles matter mainly because they’re spilling over to much bigger economies, like Spain’s. So the inflexibility of the euro, not deficit spending, lies at the heart of the crisis.

None of this should come as a big surprise. Long before the euro came into being, economists warned that Europe wasn’t ready for a single currency. But these warnings were ignored, and the crisis came.

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Thursday, February 11, 2010

Today's required reading for Greeks and Germans!

As the Puppet President of the EU Council "summons" the 27 ex-National Leaders of the EU to a meeting of the EU Council, while Germany stands ready to go to the aid of Greece, "alone" if necessary, the following statement should be read Any outcome from today's EU Council meeting, other than a call for the IMF to assist Greece, will place Europe on the threshold of yet another dark era. The testimony of Kitty Werthman ( A lesson for all in the EU)

What I am about to tell you is something you've probably never heard or will ever read in history books.

I believe that I am an eyewitness to history. I cannot tell you that Hitler took Austria by tanks and guns; it would distort history. We elected him by a landslide - 98% of the vote. I've never read that in any American publications. Everyone thinks that Hitler just rolled in with his tanks and took Austria by force.

In 1938, Austria was in deep Depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25% inflation and 25% bank loan interest rates.

Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily. Young people were going from house to house begging for food. Not that they didn't want to work; there simply weren't any jobs. My mother was a Christian woman and believed in helping people in need. Every day we cooked a big kettle of soup and baked bread to feed those poor, hungry people - about 30 daily.

The Communist Party and the National Socialist Party were fighting each other. Blocks and blocks of cities like Vienna, Linz , and Graz were destroyed. The people became desperate and petitioned the government to let them decide what kind of government they wanted.

We looked to our neighbour on the north, Germany, where Hitler had been in power since 1933. We had been told that they didn't have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living. Nothing was ever said about persecution of any group -- Jewish or otherwise. We were led to believe that everyone was happy. We wanted the same way of life in Austria. We were promised that a vote for Hitler would mean the end of unemployment and help for the family. Hitler also said that businesses would be assisted, and farmers would get their farms back. Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler.

We were overjoyed, and for three days we danced in the streets and had candlelight parades. The new government opened up big field kitchens and everyone was fed.

After the election, German officials were appointed, and like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed. The government made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work Service.

Hitler decided we should have equal rights for women. Before this, it was a custom that married Austrian women did not work outside the home. An able-bodied husband would be looked down on if he couldn't support his family. Many women in the teaching profession were elated that they could retain the jobs they previously had been required to give up for marriage.

Hitler Targets Education - Eliminates Religious Instruction for Children:

Our education was nationalized. I attended a very good public school. The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the crucifix replaced by Hitler's picture hanging next to a Nazi flag. Our teacher, a very devout woman, stood up and told the class we wouldn't pray or have religion anymore. Instead, we sang "Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles," and had physical education.

Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance. Parents were not pleased about the sudden change in curriculum. They were told that if they did not send us, they would receive a stiff letter of warning the first time. The second time they would be fined the equivalent of $300, and the third time they would be subject to jail. The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports. As time went along, we loved it. Oh, we had so much fun and got our sports equipment free. We would go home and gleefully tell our parents about the wonderful time we had.

My mother was very unhappy. When the next term started, she took me out of public school and put me in a convent. I told her she couldn't do that and she told me that someday when I grew up, I would be grateful. There was a very good curriculum, but hardly any fun - no sports, and no political indoctrination. I hated it at first but felt I could tolerate it. Every once in a while, on holidays, I went home. I would go back to my old friends and ask what was going on and what they were doing. Their loose lifestyle was very alarming to me. They lived without religion. By that time unwed mothers were glorified for having a baby for Hitler. It seemed strange to me that our society changed so suddenly. As time went along, I realized what a great deed my mother did so that I wasn't exposed to that kind of humanistic philosophy.

Equal Rights Hits Home:

In 1939, the war started and a food bank was established. All food was rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same time, a full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn't work, you didn't get a ration card, and if you didn't have a card, you starved to death. Women who stayed home to raise their families didn't have any marketable skills and often had to take jobs more suited for men.

Soon after this, the draft was implemented. It was compulsory for young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps. During the day, the girls worked on the farms, and at night they returned to their barracks for military training just like the boys. They were trained to be anti-aircraft gunners and participated in the signal corps. After the labor corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front lines. When I go back to Austria to visit my family and friends, most of these women are emotional cripples because they just were not equipped to handle the horrors of combat. Three months before I turned 18, I was severely injured in an air raid attack. I nearly had a leg amputated, so I was spared having to go into the labor corps and into military service.

Hitler Restructured the Family Through Daycare:

When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child-care centers. You could take your children ages 4 weeks to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, 7 days a week, under the total care of the government. The state raised a whole generation of children. There were no motherly women to take care of the children, just people highly trained in child psychology. By this time, no one talked about equal rights. We knew we had been had.

Health Care and Small Business Suffer Under Government Controls:

Before Hitler, we had very good medical care. Many American doctors trained at the University of Vienna. After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything. When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8 a.m., 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full. If you needed elective surgery, you had to wait a year or two for your turn. There was no money for research as it was poured into socialized medicine. Research at the medical schools literally stopped, so the best doctors left Austria and emigrated to other countries.

As for healthcare, our tax rates went up to 80% of our income. Newlyweds immediately received a $1,000 loan from the government to establish a household. We had big programs for families. All day care and education were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing.

We had another agency designed to monitor business. My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables. Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners. Then they said he had to have additional toilet facilities. It was just a small dairy business with a snack bar. He couldn't meet all the demands. Soon, he went out of business. If the government owned the large businesses and not many small ones existed, it could be in control.

We had consumer protection. We were told how to shop and what to buy. Free enterprise was essentially abolished. We had a planning agency specially designed for farmers. The agents would go to the farms, count the live-stock, then tell the farmers what to produce, and how to produce it.

"Mercy Killing" Redefined:

In 1944, I was a student teacher in a small village in the Alps. The villagers were surrounded by mountain passes which, in the winter, were closed off with snow, causing people to be isolated. So people intermarried and offspring were sometimes retarded. When I arrived, I was told there were 15 mentally retarded adults, but they were all useful and did good manual work. I knew one, named Vincent, very well. He was a janitor of the school. One day I looked out the window and saw Vincent and others getting into a van. I asked my superior where they were going. She said to an institution where the State Health Department would teach them a trade, and to read and write. The families were required to sign papers with a little clause that they could not visit for 6 months. They were told visits would interfere with the program and might cause homesickness.

As time passed, letters started to dribble back saying these people died a natural, merciful death. The villagers were not fooled. We suspected what was happening.Those people left in excellent physical health and all died within 6 months. We called this euthanasia.

The Final Steps - Gun Laws:

Next came gun registration. People were getting injured by guns. Hitler said that the real way to catch criminals (we still had a few) was by matching serial numbers on guns. Most citizens were law abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not long after-wards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily.

No more freedom of speech.

Anyone who said something against the government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up.

Totalitarianism didn't come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. Now, our only weapons were broom handles. The whole idea sounds almost unbelievable that the state, little by little eroded our freedom.

After World War II, Russian troops occupied Austria. Women were raped, pre-teen to elderly. The press never wrote about this either. When the Soviets left in 1955, they took everything that they could, dismantling whole factories in the process. They sawed down whole orchards of fruit, and what they couldn't destroy, they burned. We called it The Burned Earth. Most of the population barricaded themselves in their houses. Women hid in their cellars for 6 weeks as the troops mobilized. Those who couldn't, paid the price. There is a monument in Vienna today, dedicated to those women who were massacred by the Russians.

This is an eye witness account.

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Greek Tragedy

My comment to The Times Leading Article today (with the above title), linked here, was as follows:
Martin Cole wrote:
The issue is whether the EU is to be allowed to temporarily (?) remove Greek Sovereignty. If so for what reason? The economic excuse does not hold water as the IMF exists to handle such events. Your paper reports that the German Chancellor is objecting to an IMF rescue suggesting pride as a cause. Can this seriously be the case? Is wounded pride sufficient reason to remove self-rule from the nation that was the cradle of democracy? Whatever precedent is set by the Greek crisis will soon be likely to also need to be applied to other countries within the eurozone in similar plights, drastically upping the stakes. Britain is in a different plight where IMF intervention remains a likely possibility. Even the cowed and disenfranchised British electorate would thus surely reject EU intervention to aid euro-zone basket cases under article 122 of the Lisbon Treaty?
February 10, 2010 5:26 AM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk
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Germans may save Greeks on their own!

As widespread strikes spread across Greece Spiegel Online reports that the Germans might mount a rescue on their own; here. Another article from that report worth reading is here. At PMQs in Westminster, meantime, PM Brown twice fielded questions as to whether Britain would refuse to aid Greece, firstly responding that there were provisions available under G20 arrangements and secondly to the EU savvy Labour MP Gisele Stewart with a more aggressive negative response.

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Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Reuters reports Eurozone to bail out Greece

The link is here. We must hope this is correct and that it is not an EU operation under Lisbon Article 122. A rough ride thus lies ahead for French and German taxpayers. Sterling too of course with neither politicians nor leaders with any credence or stature.!

World's Transnational Socialists mount propaganda blitz.

Last evening on the Jeff Randall business programme on Sky News he interviewed a World Bank economist Professor Joseph Stigler, see here. This morning whilst brewing my first cup of tea the BBC Radio 4 Today programme quoted Professor Stigler's views on double dip recessions, burning speculators etc., apparently merely quoting a section at random from this morning's Financial Times! A co-incidence perhaps? I think NOT! The democracy smashing European Union is this week wavering on the brink of making the final leap from its Transnational Socialism (as fully described over the years in this blog and its forerunner) and full bloodied fascism which will be the almost certain end result of rescuing faltering Eurozone members under article 122 of the Lisbon Treaty. The IMF is poised and ready to go to the aid of Greece leaving the world with business as usual. It is terrifying that the EU convinced G7 finance ministers in Canada at the weekend that this was a matter for EU resolution. Does the world really wish to see the non-democratic EU taking direct control of the small countries of Europe? If so why then did our fathers fight against fascism and their forebears oppose tyranny in various other forms down the centuries in support of freedom and democracy? I will be posting further on the Greek/Portugal crisis, Article 122 and the particular danger it holds for the UK in more detail shortly.

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Friday, February 05, 2010

Wooden Nickles - Dodgy Euros

A reminder for our regular readers of the serial number prefixes of the main EU member states central issuing banks: Germany ................................ X France ................................... U And the one to particularly avoid at present (along with all the smaller countries): SPAIN .............. V

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Treasures from the Threads - Number Thirty-eight!

Panic over the debt of EU countries is reported in The Times this morning, no surprise on this blog of course which has been warning of this inevitable outcome for many years. A comment from Bob D seemed worth passing along in spite of the normal requirement for a full name being missing on this occasion: Bob D wrote:
Wonder where the money has gone?!! - it was never there in the first place. Let's say I buy an acre of land for £1000 and then you buy it off me for £10000. I then buy it back for £100000 and you borrow a million to buy it and then whoops everybody realises the land is worth a measly grand. (If we have borrowed to do this we can split a coll half million each and screw the lender - sound familiar?) Where did the £999K come from? where did it go? are the wrong questions. Unfortunately alot of financial geniuses have been asking the wrong questions for an awful long time. The trouble here being that a lot of these people hold influence on the governments who have been bailing out the sinking ship. These governments have thus bailed out all the idiots who bought an acre of dumpsite and in the process either underwritten this idiocy or ended up themselves with 4840 sq yards of mud. I wrote to the Times yonks back enquring as to why markets believe governments will be able to hold this toxic debt any better than, say, Lehmans. I got nowhere then and I expect to get nowhere now. But that is why the markets are skittish because they are beginning to realise they have been asking the wrong question for decades.
February 4, 2010 11:44 PM GMT on community.timesonline.co.uk
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