Australia: Anarchists Have A Point

AUSTRALIA Anarchists Have A Point  [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]   [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]   [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]  [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE] COMMENT This isn't 'democracy'. It's capitalist controlled theatre:  vote capitalist puppet OR capitalist puppet. Nothing ever changes:  it just gets worse, as these d*ckheads fall over themselves to destroy and emasculate the country. Democracy is a DESTRUCTIVE lie. Give me an intact military junta.

Abby Martin on Hillary Clinton's Form - 2016: A Recipe for Endless War

Hillary Clinton 2016:  A Recipe for Endless War Source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fO-jQFKyeeI  FOLLOW Abby Martin @ http://twitter.com/AbbyMartin Thought this was a cool catch-up on Hillary Clinton's form, as she's launched into the US 2016 electoral campaigning. Enjoy.  LOL

Bling Bling's Come-Back

FRANCE RT >> "Sarkozy: suspension of the investigation for corruption" [Le Parisien Poodle] >> Gee, how did that happen? - #France > Bling Bing wants 2 head UMP party : making a play for presidency in 2017 > 'love of #France' reason / not self-interest lol - on gaining presidency in econ/ downturn, first thing Bling did was give himself a 140% payrise - http://goo.gl/TZra5j - FT >> "Mr Sarkozy’s penchant for money and glitz helped earn him the nickname President Bling-Bling." - [FinTimes] >>    LEGACY:  "higher unemployment, higher taxes, inflated public debt & doubling of trade deficit"  !!  [FT] >Challenge: con ... er, convince the public ... piece of cake. media savvy, dynamic, skilled & ambitious ... bye #Hollande http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bb179a4c-4269-11e4-9818-00144feabdc0.html Suspension Graft Probe #France - Graft Probe Suspended by Paris appeals court pending study of request by Bling Bling > http://www.therakyatpost.com/world/2014/09/24/paris-court-suspends-graft-probe-sarkozy/ … > suspension & inquiry could last months COMMENT As the reporter said, this should spice things up. I'm betting on Bling Bling.  Sure winner.   Hollande's popularity is at an all time low -- and he's the one enforcing an austerity budget ... although he inherited higher unemployment, higher taxes, inflated public debt & considerable trade deficit from Sarky.

Sweden - Parliamentary Election on Sunday

After 8 years of tax cuts and pro-market reforms, Sweden's left projected to make comeback By KARL RITTER Associated Press First Posted: September 12, 2014 - 2:39 am STOCKHOLM — Gone are the days when Sweden was the undisputed world champion of high taxes. "We are not even top three anymore," boasts Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, reflecting on the tax cuts that have defined his eight-year rule — the longest ever for a conservative leader in Sweden. Polls before a parliamentary election on Sunday show voters could shift back to the left amid worries that Reinfeldt's smaller-government policies have undermined Sweden's famed welfare model. Many Swedes say they no longer recognize the country once considered the quintessential welfare state — an almost classless society where high taxes supported a generous social safety net. Instead, Sweden now has become an inspiring example to conservative leaders like British Prime Minister David Cameron, who is a friend of Reinfeldt. "They have sold out our country," said Jens Evaldsson, a 39-year-old Stockholm artist with a fluffy beard and a firm dislike of Reinfeldt's government. "The rich are getting richer and things are getting worse for the poor." The pro-market reforms didn't start with Reinfeldt, 49, but have accelerated during his two terms in office. Since it took power in 2006, his center-right coalition government has cut income and corporate taxes, abolished a tax on wealth, trimmed welfare benefits, eased labor laws and privatized state-owned companies, including the maker of Absolut vodka. Meanwhile, the gap between rich and poor has grown faster in Sweden than in most developed countries, though it remains among the world's most egalitarian, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Sweden's tax-to-gross domestic product ratio is now the fifth highest in the developed world at 44 percent, down from 48 percent (second-highest after Denmark) when Reinfeldt took office, according to the OECD. Swedes continue to enjoy free education, heavily subsidized health care and generous welfare benefits, including 16 months of paid parental leave. But the government's influence on people's lives has decreased significantly. More private actors run publicly funded schools and hospitals. The government still controls liquor stores, but has ended its monopoly on pharmacies. "All the kinds of choices that I was not given when I was young, or my parents, are now there," Reinfeldt told a small group of reporters last week at the government headquarters in Stockholm. "You can now choose your kindergarten, your school, your health care, your elderly care." The problem for Reinfeldt is a lot of Swedes don't seem to like all that choice. Even though his government has won praise internationally for keeping Sweden's economy intact during Europe's financial turmoil, at home the perception has taken root that he's selling out the welfare system to greedy capitalists. Negative headlines have dominated the Swedish media: privately run schools shutting down because of mismanagement by profit-hungry owners; elderly homes cutting back on adult diapers to minimize costs. Reinfeldt's government is struggling to change that narrative, and polls show his four-party coalition trailing the Social Democrat-led opposition bloc by 5-10 percentage points. Social Democrat leader and prime minister-candidate Stefan Lofven blames the government also for the declining performance of Swedish schools in international surveys and for failing to reduce the unemployment rate, which has remained steady at 8 percent in recent years. "A lot of people are wondering what's going on in Sweden," Lofven told The Associated Press after a debate Wednesday. "What's at stake in this election is whether we should continue to cut taxes and privatize, and think that's the solution to Sweden's problems." Though his answer is "no," he's not ready to roll back some of the government's most popular reforms, including tax cuts for middle-income earners. Lofven, 57, says he would raise income taxes only for people earning more than 720,000 kronor ($100,000) a year. Even if the opposition wins the election, the result is likely to be among the worst ever for the Social Democrats, who once got up to 50 percent of the votes. Now they have around 30 percent and depend on the backing of the environmentalist Greens and the ex-communist Left Party. Another game-changer is that Sweden no longer bucks the European trend of far-right parties gaining ground. Polls show the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, who entered Parliament in 2010, could nearly double their support to 10 percent. A once-radical far-right group that has softened its image, the party is alone in opposing Sweden's generous welcome to refugees from Syria, Iraq and other conflict zones. This year, Sweden expects up to 80,000 asylum-seekers, the highest number since 1992. Both blocs shun the party and are expected to reach a compromise in case neither side wins a majority, to avoid giving the Sweden Democrats the balance of power. In a campaign speech, Reinfeldt urged Swedes to "open your hearts" and accept that the increasing cost of admitting refugees, who are offered free housing and a small daily allowance, will restrict the budget for the next government. "What's unusual with Sweden is that even a conservative leader like Reinfeldt speaks in glowing terms about a generous refugee policy," said Ulf Bjereld, a political science professor at the University of Gothenburg. "Even if it's going to cost a lot of money." http://www.tribtown.com/view/story/03d393b094974640ae36e88839ea47bb/EU--Sweden-Election

Another elections article.

Good set aside article.


After hours of messing about online, I've come back to file stuff away.

Only problem: I'm too tired to think & to revisit the contents again. LOL

Will have come back for another read.

Sweden - Election - Unemployment & other analysis

Young voter push as election hovers Published: 12 Sep 2014 08:17 GMT+02:00 Sweden's election is now just two days away and the main parties are pushing to attract young and undecided voters. One in three voters have not yet chosen who to vote for, according to a poll for Sveriges Radio on Thursday. Among young people that figure rises to almost two in three. The figures follow a campaign during which youth unemployment has been a hot topic. Sweden elections: who's who? The Swedish economy and its AAA credit rating might be envied by most European countries, but unemployment among people aged 15 to 24 has been oscillating between 20 and 25 percent over the past years -- about three times higher than overall joblessness. Sweden's general election campaign has even spilled over into Norway as political rivals pursue votes among the tens of thousands of mostly young Swedes emigrating to find work. Close to full employment, Norway is seeking foreign workers to meet labour shortages, and many Swedish waiters, nurses, dentists, engineers are crossing the border. Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, has been campaigning in Oslo. He argues that the reason so many Swedes have to emigrate is that foreigners are taking their jobs back home. "When Sweden grants twice as many residence permits as it creates jobs, that's what you get," he told news agency AFP. However, Malin Sahlén, an economist who has written a book on the issue, believes that the reasons for the high unemployment are different. She argues that low-qualification jobs are rare in Sweden's economy and that high protection of employees on permanent contracts make employers resort to hiring temporary workers, which tends to create frequent gaps of unemployment when those workers change position. "According to Eurostat, 14 percent of the jobs in Europe are low-paid, and that figure is only 3 percent in Sweden," she said. Meanwhile Thursday's party leader debate on TV4 ended in a brawl over nuclear power. In the final stages of the discussion, the Alliance party leaders pushed Social Democrat leader Stefan Löfven on how he intends to tackle the issue. Centre Party leader Annie Lööf provoked a strong reaction in the debate. Watch a clip of the leadership debate here Löfven has previously spoken out in favour of retaining Sweden's nuclear power stations, but during the debate he would only speak broadly about offering a "future analysis" of the country's energy demands and the need for a Red-Green bloc agreement on he issue. Centre Party leader Annie Lööf asked him to be more specific, producing a copy of a report by the Swedish Energy Agency and taking it over to him. He held his hand up in protest and appeared as if he was trying to push her away. "This is just bickering. You can keep it there," said Löfven. Carin Jämtin, party secretary for the opposition Social Democrats told Sveriges Radio there were still a lot of votes to play for: "The last part of the election campaign is very important. We will knock on doors, take part in debates and talk with voters in other ways right up to the end of polling day," she told Sveriges Radio. Per Nilsson, head of analysis for the ruling conservative Moderates says his party will also do what it can to attract the undecided voters: "It's not about targeting a specific part of the electorate with surgical precision", he told Swedish Radio, adding "we're going out with a broad message about how we want to make Sweden better together with our colleagues in the Alliance." Elections take place on Sunday with a major exit poll expected soon after voting closes at 20:00. http://www.thelocal.se/20140912/young-voter-push-ahead-of-polls

Good piece to set aside.

Gives an idea of the climate.

Cameron's opportunistic pre-election strategy - sackings for votes

Reshuffle: Ken Clarke out as David Cameron prepares to promote women

Ken Clarke has lost his role as minister without portfolio as David Cameron starts making a series of high-profile sackings as part of his final reshuffle before the general election 

6:39PM BST 14 Jul 2014

Ken Clarke has lost his Cabinet post as part of David Cameron’s final reshuffle before the general election.

Mr Clarke, who first became a minister in 1972, stepped down as minister without portfolio after being informed that he would lose his job.

Mr Cameron wants to use his reshuffle to end the dominance of “old, white men” in his Cabinet ahead of the election campaign.

He will promote a series of women including Liz Truss and Esther McVey to Cabinet positions, it is understood.

Mr Clarke waved to the cameras as he departed Downing Street after the decision was finalised.
...
As many as 10 women are expected to be promoted in the reshuffle.
...

Extract only - FULL - The Telegraph - here.

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Following have been ousted by Conservatives:

David Jones
David Willetts
Stephen Hammond
Alan Duncan (resigned)
Andrew Robathan (resigned)
Owen Paterson
Nick Hurd (standing down)

Eric Pickles (thought to be facing dismissal)

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 Ken Clarke 

One of Britain's best-known politicians, he has served in the Cabinet as Education Secretary, Health Secretary, Justice Secretary, Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Since 1997 he has been the President of the Tory Reform Group. He has contested the Conservative Party leadership three times – in 1997, 2001 and 2005 – being defeated each time. Although opinion polls have shown him to be popular with the general public, his pro-European views conflict with the Conservative Party's Euro-sceptic stance. He is the fifth-longest-serving cabinet minister in the modern era having spent more than 20 years in the cabinets of Conservative prime ministers Margaret Thatcher, John Major and David Cameron. [wikipedia]

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COMMENT

So these people were good enough before the election but now that the election's coming:

"Mr Cameron wants to use his reshuffle to end the dominance of “old, white men” in his Cabinet ahead of the election campaign. "

This was a joint decision of the Conservatives and they sound like a pack of slimy bastards ditching experienced ministers, in the scramble to win over:  the liberal votes, women's votes and ethnic votes.

Who would vote for a party that has no loyalty to their own?

Moreover, no loyalty to the 'old, white men' that have served their government well; and no respect for hard earned political experience.

Cameron is such a slime.  What a con artist.

Can you imagine the Conservatives standing by their campaign promises?  Nope.  I don't think so.

If they can't stand by their own ministers, what are the odds of them standing firm on anything.

Sound like a pack of opportunists.