UK - Human Rights Under Attack

UNITED KINGDOM #UK - labour party conference - some guy vows: human rights at heart of general election campaign / Tories to scrap Human Rights Act [Ind] -- Therese May, Goddess of Human Rights & ors., question whether 2 walk from European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). [ind] >> Liberal Democrats have refused to countenance changes re human rights laws - http://goo.gl/izztAu COMMENT An interesting development.

UK - Gary McKinnon Case

UK - Gary McKinnon #Hacker -- Gary Mckinnon beat US extradition + 60 yrs>> http://goo.gl/DqHqDy  - humanitarian grounds - rest on hacking general, East Africa -- accused of hacking into 97 US military & NASA computers / deleted critical files / 24hr shut-down of 2,000 computer network - deleted weapons logs - rendered 200 PCs inoperable - paralysed munitions supply delivery US Atlantic Fleet! / Data + p/words -- "Your security is crap" message left for authorities ... LOL -- free for 3yrs ... then subject to bail ... involving daily sign-in @ police station >> 2012 Home Secretary Theresa May - extradition blocked HR ground - DPP, Keir Starmer no 2 pros in UK b/c evidence in USA UK govt easy on hacker that blocked weapons delivery ... but holding a publisher - #Assange - prisoner w/out charge 4yrs. Why? SRC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_McKinnon COMMENT The McKinnon matter was mentioned generally in an article on hacking. Curious.  Checked it out. McKinnon was free for 3 years, until he became subject to bail conditions in 2005 (daily sign-on at local police station) and then got off on humanitarian grounds (which would probably cover every single accused on the planet, if you think about it) and the matter against him did not proceed in the UK because the evidence was in the US! Not that I want to see McKinnon in a US prison, but I'm curious how this works and why the vast discrepancy between the handling of a hacker case that involved tampering with weapons delivery, compared to the case against a publisher -- Assange -- who is undoubtedly a political prisoner and has been for 4 years at great cost to the UK. Something is wrong here -- and what a pack of slimy, corrupt hypocrites.

Poland - New Appointments & Coal Miners Strike

POLAND New Appointments #Poland - Grzegorz Schetyna appointed Foreign Min. / Radoslaw Sikorski candidate for speaker of the lower house - http://goo.gl/9ymZvr - hahahahaa .. Pres Komorowski favours 'continuity' of Radek ... Too bad. Suck it Radek!! President Komorowski has officially sworn in the new cabinet under Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz - http://goo.gl/9ymZvr Prime Minister Kopacz is to seek a vote of confidence in the new government in parliament on 1 October. Spot of Anti-Russian Propaganda 69th session of the #UN General Assembly / #Poland wants limit to #Russia's UN veto / http://goo.gl/ljl3p0  / Pres Bronislaw Komorowski Next to impossible: two-thirds of the General Assembly and the consent of all five permanent Security Council members. >> So it's an anti-Russian smear for the press? Massive US Arms Deal US sells mid-range missiles to #Poland - 40 SAMs AGM 158-missiles, low radar profile/1,000lb warhead/ http://goo.gl/ZdnrCj  43 miles "pounds €390 million package incls. upgrades to Poland's 48 F-16 jets" /Valery Heletey = Defence Minister / excuse Russian 'aggression' Spot of Trade Union Bother - Coal Mines  #Poland - Trade unions strike Warsaw 1 Oct - http://goo.gl/6GMGlE  - 4 biggest mines low revenue - want clear stance coal mining sector - Coal provides #Poland will over 55 percent of its primary energy consumption. >> #environment #energy >> 4 biggest running @ loss = state owned .. one sold off to Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa - A privatisation lobby?? - JSW - holding company / US$ 1.78 billion revenue/ looks like it might also be state owned?? - http://www.jsw.pl/en/about-us/about-jsw/ … NO, JWS = private: >> x2 = state owned / x2 = private coys: Jastrzębska SW SA & Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka SA. #Business - Coal - #Poland 2012-2013, market conditions worsened 4 largest players/cheap imports applied downward pressure on coal prices coal seams in Poland too deep to mine cost effectively / http://goo.gl/5e4n1A  / By 2030 will be10-15 working mines in Poland >> x2 State + x2 private coys = the 4 mining = account for about 92% of all coal mining in Poland. #Business - Slump in coal prices has hit New Hope Corp’s annual profit, which dropped 21.2 per cent to $58.4 million. [wikinvest] >> Noooo! Price slump!! -- Check out the PROFITS, will ya?!!! That's an obscene amount of money!! - Slump my ass. > So business whines when they're not making an even more obscene amount of money? No economic 'downturn'. Just GREED. #Business /coal slump / imports by China (1/4 of global trade in coal) fell for 2nd mnth - 6yr low - 1. slowed eco. 2. hydropower /reuters Fears #China policies 2 restrict imports - chill on industry - http://goo.gl/nv8Yc6  - uncertainty Hey, China did ban imports of poorer quality thermal coal & it sent WAVES .. it was ahead of UN Climate Change talks / SMH -- Hey, China did ban imports of poorer quality thermal coal & it sent WAVES .. it was ahead of UN Climate Change talks / SMH - China 2 get points for above ... but real reason is it is bailing out its local miners & pwer generators / eco slowing ------------------------------------------ COMMENT Above's probably not easy to follow. Not sure I'm in the mood to summarise.  Been a long day and I'm a bit perlexed about something, so I'm not much in the mood for going back to my 'coal study'. Should also point out that some of this stuff with the coal sounds familiar to me, so I might have covered the coal information before. Anyway, new appointments in government.  Tusk has gone to European Commission, looks like Radek's been demoted and there could be a touch of tension between the Prime Minister and the President -- either that or they often contradict in public.  Hey, maybe that's Europeans -- perhaps they like to talk. Not looking good for the coal miners.  Yes, there's a slowing of the market because a big hunk of the world's coal market is imported by China, which is having an economic downturn and looking to support its own coal industry.  Furthermore, Poland's coal mines have a limited life span because it becomes too expensive to extract (at some point, I don't recall & couldn't be stuffed looking up .. even if at the top of this page :)). From my perspective, there's plenty of profit to be made and the very nature of capitalism, which demands greater and greater profits, is obscene.  Basically, they're not making as much as they'd like to -- ie whatever it was 6 years ago (or more than that).  So what?  They're making plenty. The coal miners are working to survive. No idea about Polish coal mines in question that are presumably running unprofitably.  Odds are, their idea of unprofitable is the same:  just making less profit than they'd like to. The 4 big coal mines produce virtually all of the coal and two are state owned and two have been privatised. The first thought I had is that someone's got the miners to agitate so that it becomes too much to handle and the mines get privatised.  But I'm always looking for some negative angle and haven't read up any further on the reasons there's industrial action. So that's today's look at Poland covered, I guess.

Greenwald Article: Australia's Prime Minister gives a Master Class in Exploiting Terrorism Fears to Seize New Powers

AUSTRALIA Tony Abbott >> Gives a Master Class in Exploiting Terrorism Fears to Seize New Powers http://interc.pt/1r1sgC0  >> #auspol >> #FreeAssangeNow Glenn Greenwald is so funny: greater chance of being killed by following causes than you do by terrorist attack: slipping in bathtub ...LOL #auspol "It’s our acceptance that ppl can live & worship in the way they choose that bothers them, not our foreign policy” - [ABBOTT] LOL > “a sweeping suppression order will prevent reporting of ..preventative detention orders.." / No Press = No democracy #auspol -----------------------------------------  COMMENT The Greenwald article was informative and made its point; but it was also very funny.  Well, to me, it was.   The need to broaden existing powers of authorities is questionable, when they have extensive powers already. And, yes, I would have to agree that those in power use the fear-factor and 'matters of national security' to pronounce whatever laws they want. Mind you, governments tend to rush through whatever they want once they're in power, so this is probably just the extreme version of what goes on -- the extreme version that involves widening powers to ridiculous degrees (eg 'preventative detention') AND, worse yet, muzzling the press who are prohibited from reporting what's going on.   That right there is a recipe for abuse of power by the state. The state can basically do whatever it wants to do with you and there's nobody out there that can even report on it! Is this Stalinist Australia?

USA - Bombing of Syria

SYRIA #Syria bombing - US partners = Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan & Bahrain (+ x1 more??) -- al Arabiya (said x5) US-Libya Business Association, org funded primarily by US oil companies—including Chevron, Exxon Mobil & Marathon - #Libya's abundant supply > lawyer David Goldwyn, H/Clinton's envoy / lobbied Congress 4 pro-Libyan policies + battled [against] leg'n re Lockerbie suit of Libya govt >source http://goo.gl/EvS4An  - WikiLeaks H/Clinton cables: shale gas / re potential for fracking in their host countries [this off-topic article refers to US_Libya Business Assoc & parties relevant to Libya] >> I'm gonna take a guess: everyone's out to get al-Assad because of something to do with oil? #Syria "strikes focused on Isil positions in Raqa, a stronghold for the Sunni extremists, + targets along the Iraq-Syria border" /gulfnews >"Last wk US Congress endorsed Obama’s plan 2 train & arm moderate Syrian rebels 2 battle Isil group" - http://goo.gl/ob2cFE NOTE:  THERE HAVE BEEN DENIALS THAT SYRIA WAS ADVISED IN ADVANCE RT (AP) "Damascus says Washington informed Syria's UN envoy before striking Islamic State in #Syria." >> Doesn't qualify as CONSENT NBC >> "U.S. strikes will help Syria rebels defeat Assad, opposition says" ... er, why are they quoting the OPPOSITION of a govt ? COMMENT The big story of the day is the bombing of Syria.   Claims were made that the US notified Syria in advance.  Other stories indicate Syria wasn't advised.  Either way, notification doesn't amount to having obtained consent. It occurred to me that the weekend talks with Iran in NY may have been to obtain Iran's approval to go ahead with violating Syrian sovereignty. Bear in mind, I'm new to watching this stuff and this is just a guess on my part (which could be completely wrong). Others thought that the big US drive to draw allies into IS dispute was because of the Iran bogeyman.  It didn't occur to me that Iran would challenge the US, so I don't know if this is likely or not. By the time I got a hold of a couple of good articles on the subject, I was well over digesting information that involved reading pages on a subject:  all I wanted was the simple facts. Was quite shocked that the US went ahead and bombed when Syria was adamant that its consent would be required.  It struck me as immoral. Was also shocked to see photos (later in the day) of what looks like an urban region that's been bombed, as I imagined they'd be bombing somewhere in the desert and not civilians (some of whom were killed and injured). From what I've read, Congress consent was a mere formality -- it wasn't a requirement.  That's pretty shocking as well.  It shouldn't be (now that I've come across instances where congress as been left out of the loop etc), but it is nonetheless.  What happened to the democratic process -- or isn't there one? Was shocked to read that the IS group had issued an audio urging adherents to kill members of the public of countries that are involved in the alliance.  Also quite indignant about that, as members of the public are hardly to blame for things the public has no say in. Addendum:  The material relating to Goldwyn is COMPLETELY off-topic and, today, I'm wondering why I've linked it to Syria!!  Rookie error, I guess.  For some dumb reason, I keep confusing Libya and Syria.   Retract!  Retract! In an article that I was reading in relation to shale and fracking, there was indication that all was amicable between the US and Syria at one time -- but, obviously, something's soured and the West appears intent on unseating the al-Assad regime. It would have to have something to do with resources in the region, I'm guessing.  [Sticking with that conclusion] Very odd that the US media is reporting what the 'opposition' have to say on a matter concerning the government of a country.  Actually, it's also odd that those seeking to take down the government by military means would be referred to as the 'opposition', as if they were merely the opposing political party.

VIDEO -- CALLE 13 - MULTI VIRAL

Source Calle13VEVO -YouTube #FreeAssangeNow

UNITED NATIONS - Women's Empowerment Script

UNITED NATIONS #UN Campaign “HeForShe” - no, not X-dressing - Emma Watson spokesmouth for "achieve equality between the sexes" .. [src Independent] >> Anyone else sick of this preachy, establishment-endorsed 'gender equality' crap? >> Last week Watson travelled to Uruguay to deliver petition urging 4 more women to be employed in politics >>US wants it? >>> "Uruguay ... regarded as one of the most liberal nations in the world" ... [wikipedia] >> Has a TIFA with US. TIFA - desiring, recognising, seeking, taking ... more desiring, acknowledging ... http://www.ustr.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/agreements/tifa/asset_upload_file566_15163.pdf … >> #Uruguay / see protocols too RT >> "Men - Emma Watson has some important words for you" [Independent] ... The corporate agenda propaganda never stops streaming ---------------------------------------- #UN's Ki-moon meets & commends #Finland PM Sauli Niinistö/help re disposal #Syria chem/weapons /Ukraine crisis /UN wants Ebola help increase Now Ki'moon is hitting up Chile re 'women's empowerment' ... among other things ... LOL ... It's a UN script! UN & co are hypocrites ... UN has a beheadings regime on the UN Council & they're 'worried' Uruguay women's numbers in politics? ---------------------------------------- COMMENT The UN interference in other nations' internal culture, choices, customs etc is suspect. It's not their business how many women are in politics anywhere.  Why are they seeking to exert influence beyond US borders? The UN may as well be the US.  It serves US purposes, in my view.  Too tired right now to expand on this. I've messed up my body clock with my internet addiction and I'm not feeling too good. Been busy blog 'housekeeping' and posting to the blog.  I've not seen what's going on, and it's irritating me because I'm  hanging to get check things out online. PS - Yes, it's an 'international' organisation.  But who does it really serve?