Telegraph
"America's base money supply – the bedrock of the world's reserve currency – has doubled in little more than two years. Despite consternation among many US voters, and dismay – rapidly turning to anger – across the world, most of America's political elite refuse even to debate QE. Such is the state of democracy in the "land of the free and the home of the brave". And America is not alone. "
Saturday, 30 April 2011
'I don't think you should bow quite yet': Lip-reader reveals just what WAS said at the royal wedding
Daily Mail
"As all of us were trying to work out what Kate and William were discussing at various points throughout their wedding day, a lip-reader can reveal what was really said.And what is clear to see is that the relaxed words the couple exchanged throughout the day of celebration shows just how comfortable they are with each other."
"As all of us were trying to work out what Kate and William were discussing at various points throughout their wedding day, a lip-reader can reveal what was really said.And what is clear to see is that the relaxed words the couple exchanged throughout the day of celebration shows just how comfortable they are with each other."
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Berlusconi and Sarkozy resolve row over unwanted North African refugees - as 1,000 of them camp outside Eurostar in bid to get to Britain
Daily Mail
*Immigrants who have fled Tunisia say Britain is their 'only hope'
*Franco-Italian immigration problems comes amid international business tensions and discord over Libya
*Agreement reached to revise Treaty to account for 'exceptional' circumstances
*Immigrants who have fled Tunisia say Britain is their 'only hope'
*Franco-Italian immigration problems comes amid international business tensions and discord over Libya
*Agreement reached to revise Treaty to account for 'exceptional' circumstances
London mosques train terrorists
The Australian
"BRITAIN'S mosques became a crucible of terrorism, with at least 35 Guantanamo Bay prisoners being trained by radical preachers before being sent to fight against the West, WikiLeaks documents have revealed.
The files show that a prisoner who promised US officials he would return to Yemen and work in his family's furniture business if released, is now the second-in-command of the most dangerous terrorist group in the world."
"BRITAIN'S mosques became a crucible of terrorism, with at least 35 Guantanamo Bay prisoners being trained by radical preachers before being sent to fight against the West, WikiLeaks documents have revealed.
The files show that a prisoner who promised US officials he would return to Yemen and work in his family's furniture business if released, is now the second-in-command of the most dangerous terrorist group in the world."
A taxpayer-funded haven for terrorists
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"How could Britain have been so lethally stupid:
According to files obtained by Britain’s Daily Telegraph, a mosque in north London served as a “haven” for Islamic extremists as the capital became a hub in the worldwide movement of militants.
The files called the Finsbury Park mosque “an attack planning and propaganda production base”.
Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza, two preachers at the mosque who lived off state benefits after claiming asylum, sent dozens of extremists to train and fight in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
At least 35 detainees at Guantanamo were captured while fighting against allied forces in Afghanistan having arrived there via British mosques.
Of these, 17 were British nationals or citizens who had been given residence after claiming asylum with the rest coming from abroad."
"How could Britain have been so lethally stupid:
According to files obtained by Britain’s Daily Telegraph, a mosque in north London served as a “haven” for Islamic extremists as the capital became a hub in the worldwide movement of militants.
The files called the Finsbury Park mosque “an attack planning and propaganda production base”.
Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza, two preachers at the mosque who lived off state benefits after claiming asylum, sent dozens of extremists to train and fight in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
At least 35 detainees at Guantanamo were captured while fighting against allied forces in Afghanistan having arrived there via British mosques.
Of these, 17 were British nationals or citizens who had been given residence after claiming asylum with the rest coming from abroad."
Setting the agenda
Dr Richard North
"Now that we are seeing the photographs of the tunnel (above), supposedly used to afford the escape of nearly 500 Taliban prisoners, it is getting a little bit difficult to believe in the story we are being told. The sheer practicalities of passing that many people through in the time claimed stretches belief to its limits and beyond.
One suspects now that the tunnel could have been for show, and the bulk of the escapees walked out of the front door. But, by whatever route they secured their freedom, the Christian Science Monitor puts its finger on it. It cites Ahmad Shah Khan Achakzai, a former member of parliament in Kandahar, who says: "It is impossible for the Taliban to get 500 men out of prison without anyone's help. I believe there are some people from the prison or the government who gave the Taliban support … It's now clear to everyone how corrupt the government is".
"Now that we are seeing the photographs of the tunnel (above), supposedly used to afford the escape of nearly 500 Taliban prisoners, it is getting a little bit difficult to believe in the story we are being told. The sheer practicalities of passing that many people through in the time claimed stretches belief to its limits and beyond.
One suspects now that the tunnel could have been for show, and the bulk of the escapees walked out of the front door. But, by whatever route they secured their freedom, the Christian Science Monitor puts its finger on it. It cites Ahmad Shah Khan Achakzai, a former member of parliament in Kandahar, who says: "It is impossible for the Taliban to get 500 men out of prison without anyone's help. I believe there are some people from the prison or the government who gave the Taliban support … It's now clear to everyone how corrupt the government is".
Monday, 25 April 2011
It's time Tesco haters stocked up on facts
Telegraph
"But the facts are irrelevant to UK Uncut, an anti-capitalist protest group that has sprung up over the past year and which is heavily involved in protests against Tesco (along, in the Bristol protests, with the gloriously named but astonishingly silly Peoples Republic of Stokes Croft).
UK Uncut claims to be peaceful, involved only with sit-ins and orderly demonstrations at businesses it targets such as TopShop, Boots and Vodafone. But many of its activists seem, by a remarkable coincidence, to have been at the scene of a number of the riots and public order disturbances in recent months. Its beef is tax avoidance, arguing that the businesses it targets are culpable because they structure their affairs to minimise tax liabilities. In other words, they structure their affairs entirely legally, in accordance with tax rules, and avoid paying what would in effect be additional voluntary tax. "
"But the facts are irrelevant to UK Uncut, an anti-capitalist protest group that has sprung up over the past year and which is heavily involved in protests against Tesco (along, in the Bristol protests, with the gloriously named but astonishingly silly Peoples Republic of Stokes Croft).
UK Uncut claims to be peaceful, involved only with sit-ins and orderly demonstrations at businesses it targets such as TopShop, Boots and Vodafone. But many of its activists seem, by a remarkable coincidence, to have been at the scene of a number of the riots and public order disturbances in recent months. Its beef is tax avoidance, arguing that the businesses it targets are culpable because they structure their affairs to minimise tax liabilities. In other words, they structure their affairs entirely legally, in accordance with tax rules, and avoid paying what would in effect be additional voluntary tax. "
Thursday, 21 April 2011
Family of 12 Ethiopian asylum seekers who have just landed in Britain get £1,460-a-week for vast London home
Daily Mail
"An Ethiopian family of 12 are being put up in a vast house costing the taxpayer almost £1,500-a-week just two months after arriving in Britain.The couple and their 10 children are receiving a staggering £1,460-a-week housing benefit from the cash-strapped Tower Hamlets council in London - Britain's poorest borough.The jobless family - who will also be receiving other handouts such as unemployment and child benefits - only arrived in London from Africa in the past few weeks.It is yet another example of taxpayers having to pick up the bill for families to stay in vast houses in the capital."
"An Ethiopian family of 12 are being put up in a vast house costing the taxpayer almost £1,500-a-week just two months after arriving in Britain.The couple and their 10 children are receiving a staggering £1,460-a-week housing benefit from the cash-strapped Tower Hamlets council in London - Britain's poorest borough.The jobless family - who will also be receiving other handouts such as unemployment and child benefits - only arrived in London from Africa in the past few weeks.It is yet another example of taxpayers having to pick up the bill for families to stay in vast houses in the capital."
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
British taxpayers face £600m bill as EU defies Cameron's calls for austerity
Telegraph
"Brussels has demanded that British taxpayers stump up more than £682million in extra contributions to the European Union next year to meet a proposed £5.5billion increase in spending that has defied David Cameron’s repeated calls for austerity."
-------------------
The proposed EU budget hike will wipe out all Britain's spending cuts
"To grasp the extent of the EU’s disconnection from reality, ponder the two tables at the foot of this post. Almost every country in Europe is trying to hold expenditure down, and many are making more significant cuts than the United Kingdom. From Ireland to Greece, from Portugal to Latvia, public sector employees face redundancies and pay cuts. And where are all the savings going? To public sector employees at EU level.
Today, the Commission demanded a 4.9 per cent increase in the EU budget – on top of last year’s increase, which saw Britain’s net contribution rise by an almost unbelievable 74 per cent. What does it need the extra money for? Five words: more staff on higher salaries."
"Brussels has demanded that British taxpayers stump up more than £682million in extra contributions to the European Union next year to meet a proposed £5.5billion increase in spending that has defied David Cameron’s repeated calls for austerity."
-------------------
The proposed EU budget hike will wipe out all Britain's spending cuts
"To grasp the extent of the EU’s disconnection from reality, ponder the two tables at the foot of this post. Almost every country in Europe is trying to hold expenditure down, and many are making more significant cuts than the United Kingdom. From Ireland to Greece, from Portugal to Latvia, public sector employees face redundancies and pay cuts. And where are all the savings going? To public sector employees at EU level.
Today, the Commission demanded a 4.9 per cent increase in the EU budget – on top of last year’s increase, which saw Britain’s net contribution rise by an almost unbelievable 74 per cent. What does it need the extra money for? Five words: more staff on higher salaries."
Monday, 18 April 2011
US and EU political resolve cracks in the face of fiscal ruin
Telegraph
"Credit rating agencies should never be taken too seriously, but for Standard & Poor's to put the United States on "negative outlook" is none the less something of event. ...If nothing else, S&P's bombshell highlights the hopeless mess the world's largest economy has managed to get itself into.
Coming on top of renewed escalation in the eurozone crisis, it feeds into a sea of worry about the sustainability of the economic recovery and the increasingly parlous fiscal position of many advanced economies.
Experience in Japan over several decades shows that it is perfectly possible to have apparent fiscal catastrophe as well as repeated credit agency downgrades, and still be able to borrow from the markets at absurdly low interest rates. As if to confirm the point, Monday's "negative outlook" was only mildly negative for US Treasuries.
Yet unlike Japan, which raises virtually all its debt from domestic investors, has mountainous foreign exchange reserves, and maintains of relatively low levels of private debt, the US is highly reliant on overseas capital to fund its spending, is as badly indebted privately as it is publicly, and runs a still massive current account deficit.
America cannot for ever rely on Chinese reserve accumulation to finance the deficit on affordable terms. The dollar's status as international reserve currency of choice is also quite plainly on the wane. "
"Credit rating agencies should never be taken too seriously, but for Standard & Poor's to put the United States on "negative outlook" is none the less something of event. ...If nothing else, S&P's bombshell highlights the hopeless mess the world's largest economy has managed to get itself into.
Coming on top of renewed escalation in the eurozone crisis, it feeds into a sea of worry about the sustainability of the economic recovery and the increasingly parlous fiscal position of many advanced economies.
Experience in Japan over several decades shows that it is perfectly possible to have apparent fiscal catastrophe as well as repeated credit agency downgrades, and still be able to borrow from the markets at absurdly low interest rates. As if to confirm the point, Monday's "negative outlook" was only mildly negative for US Treasuries.
Yet unlike Japan, which raises virtually all its debt from domestic investors, has mountainous foreign exchange reserves, and maintains of relatively low levels of private debt, the US is highly reliant on overseas capital to fund its spending, is as badly indebted privately as it is publicly, and runs a still massive current account deficit.
America cannot for ever rely on Chinese reserve accumulation to finance the deficit on affordable terms. The dollar's status as international reserve currency of choice is also quite plainly on the wane. "
Drivers who don't renew their insurance in time face having their car clamped on their drive
Daily Mail
"Motorists whose insurance runs out and isn’t renewed on time face having their car clamped in their driveway, seized and destroyed under tough new rules laid before Parliament today. The new clamp-and-scrap powers are being given to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) by ministers and are a new weapon in the Government’s armoury against uninsured drivers. The new system, called continuous insurance enforcement, goes fully live in June and means cars must be insured at all times - and no long have to be spotted on the road to be clamped and seized. ....AA Insurance said their own survey had shown that 6 out of 10 motorists were completely unaware of the changes that could see their car clamped and impounded from their driveway.
An AA/Populus study of nearly 13,000 AA members, an ‘extraordinary’ 59 per cent had not heard about the new law and of the balance who were aware of it, with four out of ten (38 per cent) saying they ‘don’t know what it means’.
"Motorists whose insurance runs out and isn’t renewed on time face having their car clamped in their driveway, seized and destroyed under tough new rules laid before Parliament today. The new clamp-and-scrap powers are being given to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) by ministers and are a new weapon in the Government’s armoury against uninsured drivers. The new system, called continuous insurance enforcement, goes fully live in June and means cars must be insured at all times - and no long have to be spotted on the road to be clamped and seized. ....AA Insurance said their own survey had shown that 6 out of 10 motorists were completely unaware of the changes that could see their car clamped and impounded from their driveway.
An AA/Populus study of nearly 13,000 AA members, an ‘extraordinary’ 59 per cent had not heard about the new law and of the balance who were aware of it, with four out of ten (38 per cent) saying they ‘don’t know what it means’.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Britain 'will not join eurozone bail-out fund'
Telegraph
"Britain will not be part of any future eurozone bail-out fund, officials from the UK have told their European counterparts in the face of pressure to back a new safety net for troubled countries from 2013. ...George Osborne, the Chancellor, has already stressed that Britain is not in the business of bailing out eurozone nations, but must honour its existing agreements."
"Britain will not be part of any future eurozone bail-out fund, officials from the UK have told their European counterparts in the face of pressure to back a new safety net for troubled countries from 2013. ...George Osborne, the Chancellor, has already stressed that Britain is not in the business of bailing out eurozone nations, but must honour its existing agreements."
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