You have here a desperate
man, whose name is Vladimir Putin!
The leading Russian
opposition politician was a constant threat to Putin’s policy of supreme leader
and directorate
For all that goes on in
Russia today, Putin and his KGB collaborators literally control everything
Anyone who is opposed to his
extreme and harsh measures of dictatorship will be removed
Either quietly or publically,
it makes no difference to him
The killing of a main
opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who had to be removed, because his political
views were in total contrast to Putin’s
Boris Nemtsov was shot a day
before an opposition rally was to be held
Boris Nemtsov was an economic
reformer, a kind and honest man, but a fierce critic of Putin’s handling of the
Ukraine situation
Boris Nemtsov feared Putin
would have him killed and that is exactly what has happened
All of Putin’s opponents have
met with their deaths
Putin cannot stand any
opposition to his dictatorial ways and the Russian people always live in fear
They are surrounded by the
spy network which encloses them
Nobody dare speak out in case
they are removed, either imprisoned or killed. Such is the state that Russians
have always lived in
This is where brother spies
on sisters, mothers on their children and next door neighbours, all live under
this fear daily
Such is the invisible grip
that the state has on its citizens, so nobody can fall out of line least they
be reported
It did not matter when Stalin
ruled over them in the time of Hitler or when we had the cold war
Even up to present day the
Russian people live in fear
They have to accept the
propaganda fed to them by the state controlled media
The people are naive of the
outside world and are forced to believe what the state tells them
They have no freedom to speak
out
They have never known
democracy, only the change over from one dictator to another
The Communist rule is an iron
tight one and all those who live under this regime must bow down to its
dictates – none are exempt
Russia will never change
while it continues to have dictators for their leaders
That is why so many of their
neighbouring countries wish to free themselves from this corrupt system and
remain that way
All of Russian’s neighbouring
countries, who have found independence, fear Russia will invade them again
They dread the thought of
them being placed under this iron fist regime
The West needs to wake up and
unite together in a stronger way and to see the enemy that they are being
confronted with
Russia will retaliate
Putin might be fearful of
reprisals, but he does have a pumped up ego that the West will not touch him
No matter how much
provocation he administers
Sanctions and a closing down
of economic measures will see this Russian bear screaming, but Putin will never
surrender
He is too arrogant for that
In time, when the squeeze
really bites hard, will he ask for certain negotiations to take place?
He knows his enemies and will
seek to strike once again when he becomes stronger
The lesson here is that one
cannot ever allow this to happen!
The callous disregard for
culture and heritage is par for the course with the Islamic State
Their blatant destruction of
statues in Iraq and other archaeological sites is outrageous
It shows they have no
appreciation of other cultures – only their own
They are nothing more than
culturally devoid barbarians and have no place in society and this world
As world outrage continues to
grow against IS, they will soon find they are more alienated then they were
before
New improved strategies are
now in place to bring an end to their rule
Covert activities of the
highest nature are already in operation even though IS appears to be winning
the war to overthrow Governments
This is proving to be false
More fighters are being
killed over and above those who are being recruited
The policies and the tide of
disapproval is now changing and where IS was gaining quite frantically, they
will find themselves boxed in
There are several corners of
conflict with no exit strategy in sight as their escape routes are now being
blocked
A whole arm or division of
their military has collapsed. Another replacement is on the way
This is to try to assist in
their build-up of much needed reserves, but they are being pushed back and
what’s more important – held!
This will undermine their confidence
and strategy and the long painful start to demolish their sect is being noticed
IS themselves have seen the
start of their decline as too many of their forces are scattered over too wide
an area
The world is now beating a
path to their door and they are gaining!
There are still those who are
decent in society and put others before themselves
A paratrooper showed complete
disregard for his own safety during a Taliban attack in Afghanistan & he
has been awarded the Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the
highest British military honour
L/Cpt Joshua Leakey, 27 of
the Parachute Regiment has been honoured for his valour in a 2013 attack
He was awarded the medal for
his bravery while under fire and where he went to the aid of a wounded US
Marine Corps Captain
He also helped forces regain
the initiative after they were pinned down by fire and were surrounded by
insurgents
This is a man dedicated to
his country and to his fellow man, to help save lives and put theirs before his
L/Cpt Leakey deserves the
highest award for gallantry for his efforts
We congratulate him and
salute him for his selfless acts of bravery
The Ebola virus claims
another victim
A Sierra Leonean, who worked
with children that were orphaned by Ebola, has himself died of the disease
Augustine Baker had been
admitted for treatment at the Ebola centre after becoming ill last week
He had worked tirelessly for
an orphanage run by the UK charity on the outskirts of Sierra Leone
Augustine Baker was the
unsung hero
At the height of the crisis
he would go into the high risk communities to help the children who had been
orphaned by the disease
He would search out and find
the children and take them to the safety of the orphanage
He was dedicated to his work
in saving these vulnerable children and helped them in whatever way was needed
His colleagues and the
children are grieving at this latest news
It has been stated that Mr
Baker was a dedicated colleague and never said “No” in search of Ebola orphans
Augustine Baker, the unsung
hero, will be sorely missed!
Amnesty International has
urged the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to give up their
power of veto…
…in cases where atrocities
are being committed
Their annual report shows the
global response to an array of catastrophes in 2014 had been shameful
It is the richer countries
who are guilty of taking an abhorrent stance by not sheltering more refugees
Amnesty International pointed
out that 2014 had been a catastrophic year for victims of conflict and violence
World leaders needed to act
immediately to confront the changing nature of armed conflict
Amnesty International stated
that the UN Security Council had “miserably failed” to protect civilians
The Security Council must
surrender their veto on issues relating to mass killing and genocide
Had this been in place, then
Russia would have been prevented from blocking UN action being put in place
against the violence in Syria
President Bashar al-Assad
would have been referred to the International Criminal Court
Then the process of getting
badly needed humanitarian aid to the thousands affected by the war would have
been distributed
The Security Council must now
act to stop mass atrocities and crimes against humanity otherwise give up their
position in the world
What is the point of having a
Security Council, who do nothing and allow atrocities like Syria and Palestine
to continue?
Their noncompliance in not
acting in the right and proper way makes their position untenable
Another organisation that has
credibility should be formed, who are prepared to have the teeth to do
something about these mass atrocities
Syria has four million
civilians displaced by the war and thousands of migrants are left to die in the
Mediterranean
2014 is one of the worst
years for refugee crises in history
The Security Council, through
not taking the right action, have blood on their hands
There is a total lack of
outrage about their performance
The war in Syria could have
saved many civilians had the right action been taken
They simply do not care and
so the continuing brutality of wars carries on
It is the people who continue
to die needlessly, because nobody will take the responsibly to act
They use instead their own
political interests over and above what is morally right
It is obvious the Security
Council do not have a conscience, as someone would have made a public statement
As nothing was forthcoming,
it shows how the Council has let humanity down
Something they should
consider!
Until a Security Council can
be free to act independently and not be controlled by other parties, nothing
will ever get sorted out
This organisation is a
disgrace to Mankind!
Outrage has occurred in India
over a Hindu leader’s comment that Mother Teresa’s charity work had one
objective
He says that it was to
convert the poor to Christianity
Opposition politicians have
criticised this remark and many Indians have taken to social media to express
their outrage
There has been a string of
attacks on churches in Delhi and PM Modi has vowed to promote religious freedom
Mother Teresa worked for
nearly 50 years to help the poorest of the poor in Calcutta
She founded the Missionaries
of Charity and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in 1979
India also recognised her contributions
by awarding her the Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India), the country’s highest
civilian honour
The main opposition Congress
party are demanding an apology from the ruling BJP and said they will raise
this issue in parliament
Mother Teresa should not be
insulted like this
As a young girl, Mother
Teresa saw a vision from God to help the poor, sick and dying in Calcutta and
this was to be her work
When she arrived in Calcutta
as a nun, she saw the dead and dying being left in the road abandoned – nobody
did anything to help
She obtained a wheelbarrow
and, with the help of fellow nuns, placed these forgotten souls into it and
took them back to the convent
There they spent their last
days and died with dignity and with love and care
They died with peace of mind
being given to them
Others who had died &
left to rot, were also picked up by her & her nuns and given a proper
burial in accordance to the laws at the time
Mother Teresa founded the
Missionaries of Charity and everything they needed was provided
This was in the way of beds,
bandages, medicines and food
Many people around the world
gave up their time and energy to assist her in her task, all were happy to do
so
One day a sister said, “Mother we have no food today for the
patients”
Mother Teresa bid all her
sisters to stop what they were doing and to pray to God to supply the food
From nowhere, eye witnesses
have reported that food was delivered from all directions
All the nuns ate the same
food as their patients
Mother Teresa’s philosophy
each day was “To do something beautiful
for God.”
She was interviewed by
journalists and a programme was made on her and her work
They hoped to find some kind
of dirt on her as she seemed too good to be true. They found nothing!
Mother Teresa did what other
religions did not want to do and where possible she saved many lives
She was a living saint and
God bless this woman for her divine calling and for the strength and vision to
carry it out!
The Grand Imam of Egypt’s top
Islamic Institution has called for a radical reform of their religious teaching
This is to tackle the spread
of Islamic extremism
Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb of
Cairo’s al-Azhar University said that the historical misreading of the Koran…
…has led to intolerant
interpretations of Islam
He was speaking at an
anti-terror conference. He called for unity among Muslims
Egypt’s President Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi has said that a pan-Arab military force is needed to combat
terrorism
The needs for a unified force
was “growing and becoming more pressing
every day”
It is high time and long
overdue that major Muslim clerics around the world come together as one voice
to speak out
There are flaws within its
own teachings of the Koran and the many misinterpretations continually go on
There are debates among
Muslims themselves, who have their own version of the Koran
They become misled and often
confused as to what to believe
Other faiths, such as
Catholicism, Buddhism and Hindu etc., are all taught the same versions of their
religion with one creed and one mass
It is high time top Muslim
Clerics came together to sort out their own Koran
They must stipulate one way,
not multi aspects, where misinterpretation leads to fanatical behaviour
The entire world is suffering
the backlash of these misinterpretations & the Muslim Clerics have been
silent in their attitude towards this
The world hears very loudly
the voices of radical Muslims, who summon up fellow Muslims to fight their
cause
The same cannot be said of
other clerics, who should be equally vocal against this form of extremism
It is as if they have almost
turned a blind eye to these events
King Abdullah of Jordan found
he was being invaded by Islamic extremists many years ago
He and his military forces
removed these extremists from his land to keep his citizens safe from their
destructive ways
These Islamic extremists have
been around for decades, yet nothing on a united front has been forthcoming
It has been the case of too
little too late
Until Muslim countries unite
together as a whole to combat extremists, then mass slaughter for all is the
result
It is high time the Muslim
world put their own teachings in order and sorted out those who take God’s name
in vain
The three girls missing from their homes
and are reported to have travelled to Turkey, will bring much distress to their
families
The girls have been
influenced, not necessarily radicalised by a Glasgow Muslim called Aqsa Mahmood
She is 20 and went to Syria
to become a jihadi bride
The girls aged 16 and 15
years old are naïve, but not necessarily innocent of their decisions to travel
to Syria to join IS
The pain and suffering now
being inflicted on their families is beyond belief
Young people have high
emotions
They see daily on the
television the atrocities that occur around the world and feel compelled to act
in some way
They have no idea of the
mental, emotional and physical scars they will encounter
These three girls have never
lived in a war torn country before, having enjoyed living in a stable country
as Great Britain
The culture shock from a safe
haven to a war torn country will see them out of their depth
None of them are
psychologically equipped to endure the horrors of what they will see
To sacrifice their lives for
a cause which is doomed, will not give them the salvation or the satisfaction
they seek
Their roles either as slaves
or jihadist brides will damage their delicate natures
Nothing but glory for the
cause is their only argument
They can do nothing to change
the course of IS’s strategy nor the violence that IS inflicts on others
These girls will have the
stains of blood of the victims on their hands and it will change them forever
Up to now they have not yet
entered into Syria, but they are on the verge, at the door of entering of which
there is no recovery
To be wilful against one’s
parents is one thing, to put oneself in mortal danger is quite another
Their fates are now in the
hands of a Higher Power of which their emotions will not be considered
IS militants are hard and
aggressive, they have no room for love or compassion in their hearts
That is a sign of weakness
and cannot be allowed according to their creed
IS’s ideology of a loving
state, which values life and all that is sacred according to God and its texts,
is not accepted in their ideology
God is love in bountiful ways
and compassion and forgiveness high on the lists of its teachings
Unless one adheres to these
principles none can say they are a follower of God!
Prince Charles and the
Duchess of Cornwall will be on a four day trip to the US from the 17th-20th
March
Their trip is to promote the
UK’s partnership with the United States and President Obama will host the royal
couple in the Oval Office
The trip marks the 800th
anniversary of the Magna Carta
They will view the Charters
of Freedom documents and the 1297 version of Magna Carta
This embodies the American
Bill of Rights and the Constitution
They will also visit Mount
Vernon home of America’s first president George Washington
While in the capital they
will visit the Armed Forces Retirement Home
There Abraham Lincoln wrote
his last draft of the Emancipation Proclamation
The Duchess of Cornwall, who
regularly raises awareness about rape victims, will carry out several solo
engagements
This will include visiting
the District of Columbia’s Sexual Assault Response Team
This is a coalition of 12
public and private agencies, which work to prevent sexual assault and help
victims of such crimes
Prince Charles and the
Duchess of Cornwall work tirelessly to promote many humanitarian and
conservational causes internationally
As a result of this Prince
Charles will receive an award
It is for exceptional
leadership in conservation from the International Conservation Caucus
Foundation
Prince Charles is a man who
is modest regarding his accomplishments and the Prince’s Trust is wholly
respected internationally and at home
So far the Prince’s Trust has
helped 58,000 young people alone this year
This youth charity supports
13-30 year olds, who are unemployed and are struggling at school and are at
risk of exclusion
Many young people helped by
the Trust are in or are leaving care
They face issues such as
homelessness or mental health problems or have been in trouble with the law
The Trust programme gives
vulnerable young people the practical and financial support needed to stabilise
their lives
It helps them to develop self-esteem
and skills for life’s work
At present three out of four
young people, who are supported by the Princes Trust, move into work, education
or training
Thus far the Prince’s Trust
has helped 750,000 young people since 1976 and supports 100 more every day
Prince Charles takes an
active role in overseeing this important work
It is his brain child and
gives the young, who feel lost, a real chance in life
For this and many other
charities that Prince Charles is involved in…
…is a real credit to his
sensitive compassion for humanity and the environment
We are truly blessed to have
him in our lives!
Britain & the EU have
been accused of a catastrophic misreading of the mood in the Kremlin in the
run-up to the crisis in Ukraine
The House of Lords’ European
Union Committee claimed Europe “sleepwalked” into the crisis
The EU had not realised the
depths of Russian hostility regarding the Ukraine
The Lords Committee’s report
said Britain had not been active or visible enough in dealing with the situation
For too long now EU’s
relationship with Moscow had been based on the “optimistic premise” that…
…Russia was on a trajectory
to becoming a democratic country
How naïve can Britain be and
for that matter the Foreign Office
You just have to look at Putin
to understand his character and how he operates in his own country and how he
deals with his people
Mr Putin is the ex-KGB chief.
They torture people who are against them
The Russian people do not
have rights. They have no freedom of speech
They are under the powerful
observation of the KGB and everything that the Russian people do is monitored
Russians cannot speak out
openly or against the state of Putin. They would automatically be imprisoned
Any subversion is strongly
opposed and dealt with harshly
Mr Putin has groups of youths
under his employ to upset situations that are not to his liking
It is very similar to the
Hitler Youth at the time of the rise of Adolf Hitler
These situations are normal
in Russia and the people have no choice as the regime is too powerful against
any form of criticism
Putin does not want
democracy, he wants to be the dictator and rule Russian with an iron fist
Another Stalin, he wants to
be greater than Stalin
He will do everything in his
power to achieve a greater Russia, not for the people but for him alone
With this kind of bullying
mind-set, how can the West then treat him with a softly, softly approach
They have to be out of their
minds
European trade has helped
Russia prosper from its oil and gas supplies
This has left the West
dependant on Russia and this has been their greatest mistake
Now they cannot afford to be
bullish against Putin for fear he could and would cut off their supplies
One must never underestimate
the enemy of old
It is Vladimir Putin, who has
played a canny game
The foolish West and Europe
have fallen into the trap and now he is showing his true colours and the EU
don’t like it
Putin’s background, as a
Soviet spy, means there can be little surprise…
…at the blatant resurgence of
an aggressive surveillance state in Russia
The collapse of the Soviet
Union had filled Putin with horror and rage
That is why when he came to
power in 2000 he transformed Russia into a giant spy state
In 2006 the GB hit squad
murdered the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium
210 in his tea
Now Whitehall are deeply
concerned about the number of Russian spies, formal and informal, who are based
in London
To say that the EU Committee
have been “sleepwalking” through the Ukrainian crisis is now extremely relevant
One must know one’s enemy and
one cannot afford to take one’s eye off this aggression
Ukraine is continually being
destabilised, because Putin does not want Kiev to become westernised
He will do everything in his
power to avoid this happening
Kayla Mueller was a generous
and adventurous spirit
She is described as the best
of humanity
She asked for advice on how
to work in the Middle East, not to make money or a career, but simply to help
She chose her blog name as
“Imbued with Hope”
This summed up her character
Kayla tried to help civilians
in Syria, whose lives had been destroyed in the war
She was deeply affected by
the horrors in Syria and wanted to help
Her sweet and gentle nature
together with her caring for others made her stand out from the rest
Kayla began volunteering with
every aid agency she could find
In a few short months her
enthusiasm & talent got her noticed by some of the most respected charities
including the Danish Refugee Council
She was working with a local
Turkish NGO to create a community centre in Kills, a town on the Syrian border
This is one of Turkey’s
biggest refugee camps
She was captured by IS in
Aleppo, while leaving a Spanish MSF (Doctors without Borders) hospital
She died while being held
hostage by the IS militants
The US state of Arizona has
held a candlelit vigil in honour to this remarkable aid worker, who was
selfless to the end
When asked what kept her
going in her mission, she said…
…“I find God in the suffering eyes reflected in mine, if this is how you
are revealed to me, this is how I will forever seek you”
Kayla Mueller, an exceptional
lady, whose life was always selfless and for humanity, she is an inspiration to
us all
Her legacy will continue
Israel’s financial watch dog
says Prime Minister Netanyahu has improperly used state funds for his family
These facts are followed on
by further complaints from the opposition
The State Controller has
found excessive sums had been spent by Mr Netanyahu and his wife on food,
furniture and gardening
All these additional costs
were for his state residence and private home
Evidence has now been passed
to the Attorney-General on this investigation
Mr Netanyahu has promised to
implement these recommendations to curb his spending
As his reputation worldwide
has already been stated, he is economical with the truth
It makes one doubt his
promises. They are purely hot air
The State Controller’s long
awaited report shows the taxpayer’s bill of maintaining the Prime Minister’s
office in Jerusalem and…
…his private home, which has
more than doubled between 2009 and 2011
Evidence has come to light
which shows expenditure is not consistent to what should be classed as sensible
normal housekeeping
All this should be in proportion
to the residences that are inhabited instead of what has come to light as
excessive spending
The report shows clothing
claims were two and a half times the allocated budget in 2011
Take away food deliveries of
$23,000 were charged for
This is in spite of the staff
having a permanent cook and cleaning bills were also excessive
Employees at the Prime
Minister’s office reported being forced to pay out of their own pockets for Mr
Netanyahu’s personal expenditure
They were not reimbursed
The report detailed bills for
calling out an electrical contractor on Yon Kippur
This is the most sacred day
in the Jewish calendar when all work ceases on that day
Also in the report on what
one might appear as petty, but shows the mentally of the Netanyahu family
Mrs. Sara Netanyahu kept
money on refunded deposits on recycled bottles, the report goes on!
As with so many who are in
power, greed steps in and they feel they are above the law of the land and in
some cases even God!
President Zuma is another case
in point
When Margaret Thatcher,
Britain’s first women Prime Minister, came into office…
…she had minimal expenditure
for her home at No 10 and at Chequers her stately home
The civil servants at the
time could not believe it
She was a frugal Prime Minister
and did not feel it was necessary to burden the tax payers
Other Prime Ministers around
the world, as we are now generally informed, are not so honest and really it is
no surprise
Their greedy, disruptive even
bullish mentality signifies it all the time
They are what they are and
are not fit to be in a position of power!
A prominent Afghan female
politician died on Sunday following a bomb attack
Angiza Shinwari was a
provincial councillor in Afghanistan
She was the voice of hundreds
of thousands of women, who are living with no voice heard and no opinions
stated
She was badly injured by the
bomb, which was attached to her car and then exploded. Her driver and four
others were all killed
She sustained severe injuries
when she lost both of her legs. The gross amounts of blood lost made it
impossible for her to survive
Angiza Shinwari campaigned
for women’s rights, human rights and justice
She spoke out against ‘opium
brides’, where impoverished poppy farmers sold off their female relatives to
settle their debts
Angiza Shinwari was also
active on social media and this is where friends and followers have been
posting their tributes
Female politicians,
professionals and activists are regularly targeted in Afghanistan
Until the culture of decrying
women their rights in Afghanistan starts to change, women will only be regarded
as chattels
They are no higher in status
then an animal
The men of Afghanistan are
afraid to lose their rights over women, who are their slaves
Everything that is possible
for women to have in the way of equality, rights and a voice is denied to them
They are nothing and they
must remain in their place by the decree of the culture under which they are
shackled
The culture refuses to bend
Even though we are in the
21st century we might as well be in the dark ages for Afghanistan refuses to
move on
How can the international
world allow for this to continue while so many suffer under the servitude of
man?
The brutal murders of 21
Egyptian Christians have again outraged people around the world
These beheadings show no sign
of abating & although air strikes do hold IS back for a while their system
of fighting re-emerges elsewhere
There needs to be a more
constructive and decisive plan of action
More countries that surround
the perimeters of IS need to bring in greater forces on the ground to combat
this military action
What is being done is not
enough to silence IS’s objective
That is to sweep great sways
of land to increase their might for their caliphate
Their ideology is wrong and
very base and narrow. All they care about is their strategy and their way of
thinking and working
Credible Muslim clerics need
to stand up and openly denounce IS’s ideology, which is wrong
Therefore in the eyes of God
cannot succeed or be a worthwhile cause
It is high time that high
ranking Muslim clerics, who are respected throughout the Muslim world, came
together
They must quash IS’s ideology
from its grass roots
These Muslim clerics need to
put their necks on the line to do their responsible bit for the entire Muslim
world
Until this happens in a
constructive way more innocent people will lose their lives
IS is not an easy pushover.
They are an organised and brutal force, so an equally organised force needs to
meet them head-on
Respected Muslim clerics can
no longer afford to sit on their hands and do nothing
The world needs to see they
are actively involved and openly vocal, that IS is no longer acceptable
IS has to answer to God, not
as martyrs to their state of ideology, but to stand before God as brutal
murders of Mankind
Ukraine’s ceasefire will not
hold as the objective by Vladimir Putin is to exert his authority on the area
He cares little for peace
talks only what is on his agenda
He wants to reach out and
control more opposition territory, to expand and procure his Russian borders
Ceasefires are there to allow
him to regroup and strategize his position from where he sits and sees
strategically his best next move
Further sanctions will hurt
his people, but not him, as he has already invested well enough to withstand
years of financial oppression
He still has the people
behind him and there are no comparable persons, who are able to overthrow his
regime and mandate
All his opposition are either
in jail or have been quietly removed
Such is his strength and
determination to be the supreme leader of all Russia
This madman is not going
anywhere. He feels superior to all other dictators
He is the only one he feels
who can be in a commanding position and rule the world
Increasing his domain is his
prime objective and no amount of talking will dissuade him from doing it
NATO and the West have their
work cut out for them. They cannot underestimate the sheer will and determination
of this man
He wishes to be better than
Stalin in every way
To be feared is his prime
objective then the West won’t be so flippant where he is concerned
At this time the rat is
playing with the mouse
President Zuma is still
determined to advance on his own personal spending regardless of his people’s
failing situations
South Africa’s parliament saw
clashes from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) against the ruling ANC
Mr Julius Malema demanded
answers from President Zuma over the spending scandal
President Zuma wants a
further state funded multi-million dollar upgrade to his private residence
The outbursts by Mr Malema
and his MP’s in parliament over President Zuma’s spending scandal…
…prompted the speaker to get
police in to remove them – something that should never have happened
As a result of the eviction,
the largest democratic party, the Democratic Alliance, walked out in support of
those MP’s
Mr Malema feels his outbursts
are about defending democracy
EEF MP’s accuse President
Zuma of benefitting unduly from taxpayers money for further upgrades on his
private residence
This is a disgrace and a
scandal
Last year an independent
inquiry found President Zuma had unduly benefitted from these expenses…
…to his swimming pool and
cattle enclosure to a cost of $23 million
All this was done despite
criticism of the upgrades and where South Africa’s economy is stagnant
Mr Malema has demanded
President Zuma pays back the money to the taxpayers
Until decency and moral
behaviour is set as an example and adhered to nothing in South Africa will get
better
The late Nelson Mandela did
not sacrifice his life away for some greedy callous and self-opinionated
person…
…should benefit over the
people of South Africa
Nelson Mandela wanted justice
and freedom from depravation and not for abuse on his people
It is up to the people of
South Africa to demonstrate their disgust at President Zuma blatant disregard
for them
The retrial of the two
Al-Jazeera journalists is about to begin
They were convicted last year
of spreading false news to help a terrorist group
Mohamed Fahmy and Baher
Mohamed were imprisoned together with their colleague Peter Greste, who has
just been released
It was the appeals court that
had ordered this retrial, because the original court’s verdict had no evidence
to justify imprisonment
Mr Greste was released last
week under a law allowing the deportation of foreign nationals to their home
countries
He was and still remains
innocent of the crime he was accused of
This makes their justice
system a mockery in the eyes of the Law and of International Law
The journalists were jailed
simply for reporting the news, all of which is out in the open
It can be verified that their
reporting remains unbiased. Egypt has nothing to fear but fear itself
The Court of Cassation has
now ruled on 1st January that the proper legal procedures were not followed in
this case
The Judge in the Court of
Cassation said prosecutors failed to present conclusive evidence that the
defendants helped the Brotherhood…
…or even promoted them
It’s time that Egyptian
courts started acting according to the Law & not continue to remain a
kangaroo court for the entire world to abhor
Mr Fahmy and Mr Mohamed
should be released from prison
Mr Fahmy should keep his
Egyptian nationality as a token of consideration for being wrongly imprisoned
for crimes he never committed
At the end of the day the
world stands behind the innocent!
The Prince of Wales has
raised the issue of the jailed blogger Raif Badawi during his first meeting
with Saudi Arabia’s new king
Human Rights organisations
have urged Prince Charles to discuss the case during this visit
Raif Badawi was sentenced to
10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam
Mr Badawi has already
received 50 lashes. The next two sessions were postponed on medical grounds as
his wounds had not healed
He faces 50 lashes every
Friday for the next 18 weeks
His official crime was to
insult Islam, but supporters say his real offence was to criticise the
country’s powerful Sunni clerics on his blog
Prince Charles has a way of
raising human rights issues that do not make the Saudis bristle
Prince Charles has already
met the new king at the funeral of King Abdullah, where he paid his respects
King Salman is the new king
and Prince Charles is known to the Saudi Royal family
Prince Charles is no stranger
to this kind of work
He has been sought out for
his diplomatic stance and his generous nature in seeing the point of view from
all sides
He will do his best and with
that continue to maintain good relations with the Saudis
One might not like their
politics or the way they handle people who they feel are a threat to their own
security and identity
Saudi Arabia has come under
huge international pressure after Mr Badawi’s plight was championed by human
rights campaigners
It is always necessary to
engage with these powerful nations and to find a common ground diplomatically
without fear of losing face
Prince Charles has learnt
much in his life and from his excellent teacher, his mother Queen Elizabeth,
who is respected throughout the world
The problems with the Euro
are that interest rates are not suitable for the whole of the Eurozone
A common monetary policy
involves a common interest rate for the whole Eurozone area
The interest rates are
inappropriate for regions which grow faster or those who go slower than the
Eurozone average
In 2011 the ECB increased
interest rates because of inflation fears from Germany
At the same time Portugal,
Greece and Italy were going through a recession due to their austerity packages
The higher interest rates set
by the ECB therefore crippled these countries
The Euro cannot be the
optimal currency
In the US, should New York go
into recession then the worker could move to New England and get a job there
In the Eurozone, it is far
more difficult as it involves moving country and possibly learning a new
language
Therefore there are more
barriers to movement of labour in the Eurozone
Therefore an unemployed Greek
can’t easily relocate to Germany
Since the start of the Euro,
several countries have experienced rising labour costs
Their exports become
uncompetitive. Usually they would devalue their currency to make their exports
more competitive again
The Euro makes this
impossible, so you are stuck with uncompetitive exports
When Greece joined the Euro
in 2001, it lied to gain admittance to the Eurozone hoping it could benefit
from financial backing
One of the EU’s requirements
of all euro members is that deficits should be below 3% of GDP
Greece has not met this
criterion since 1999
Therefore their increasing
debt has brought untold misery to these people and therefore to their own
downfall
They cannot sustain their own
austerity measures and now Greece could be facing an exit out of the Eurozone
For Greece to finally leave
would be the best thing, to regain the drachma and begin to find their own way
with their own export system
They will finally have to
learn to balance their own books and…
…to revive their economy
without the crippling interest rates from the ECB and the IMF
It would be hard but not
impossible
The Eurozone would not
collapse, but it will be a worrying time for those other countries that face
bankruptcy like Italy
It is time for the Euro to be
resorted out. It cannot hope to continue in this cavalier manner
Interest rates should apply
to the various circumstances that the countries find themselves in
Then the ECB becomes more
flexible to changing situations
The Euro has never been right
and until it gets its house in order it cannot lay judgement on others
The right way of working has
never been there and that is why the Euro remains flawed
Thanks to a whistle-blower,
who leaked the truth on HSBC’s practice to provide their clients with the means
to evade paying tax!
Millions of pounds have been
deposited in HSBC’s private bank in Switzerland and this was notified by the
whistle-blower in 2007
Panorama has seen thousands
of these accounts from this private bank
The bankers helped clients to
evade tax and helped tax dodgers stay ahead of the law
HSBC having been found out
says it is fundamentally changed
The bank now faces criminal
investigations in the US, France, Belgium and Argentina
It also says it is
co-operating with the relevant authorities
HSBC, which is based in the
UK where no action is being taken against it, raises cause for alarm
One wonders when there is
absolute proof that this has been going on for years
Then whose pockets is the
bank lining to avoid UK investigation?
The bank says it has put
compliance and tax transparency ahead of profits
Panorama has spoken to a
whistle-blower, who says there are still problems with tax dodging
That person stated that HSBC
did not keep its promise to change and this was pointed out to them
The result being that that
person lost their job. She has since won a tribunal hearing for unfair
dismissal
Verbally HSBC are doing all
the right things, but they are not putting them into practice, because it suits
them not to!
Documents stolen in 2007 by a
computer expert working for HSBC in Geneva contain details of more than 100,000
clients
All from around the world
were hiding their cash from tax authorities
The French authorities that
assessed the stolen data concluded in 2013 that 99.8% of its citizens on that
list were evading tax
HM Revenue and Customs were
given their leaked documents and have identified 1,100 people who had not paid
their tax
Some five years have gone by
and, although £135 million in tax has been recovered, there are still large
amounts outstanding
HMRC have certainly not been
tough enough in securing monies for the British taxpayer
Thousands of pages of this
data was obtained by the French newspaper Le Monde
Now, in a joint
investigation, the documents have been passed to the International Consortium
of Investigative Journalists
Also they were passed to the
Guardian newspaper, Panorama and more than 50 media outlets around the world
They will be the ones who
will be able to get to the truth and root out this crime of tax avoidance
It is banks like HSBC, who
continually break the law, that need to be closed down
Normal citizens, who bank
with HSBC, are not dealt with in the same way. They are often denied loans to
help them with their businesses
It is only the rich who evade
tax, while HSBC get their rich payoff
Double standards and greed is
the policy of these big banks
While they continue to get
away with it, because nobody stops them, they feel they can and do act with
impunity!
A woman with a rare disease
has been spontaneously cured in an event that doctors say is impossible
The woman who was in her 50’s
had been plagued by warts and infections as part of the WHIM syndrome
This is caused by a defective
immune system
US doctors say a fluke DNA
mutation reported in the cell, effectively cured her in her 30’s
The odds of this happening
are highly improbable
Those who suffer from WHIM
syndrome have a defect in a single section of their DNA
They are still able to make
cells to form their immune system, but they get stuck in their bone marrow
where they are produced
This leaves patients
incredibly vulnerable to infection, which then leads to warts and an increase
risk of cancer
The woman sought out a team
of researchers in the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
to get her daughters tested
This is because she had
passed down her condition to her two daughters
The doctor in charge could
not believe that she said her warts had disappeared 20 years ago
The research team tried to
find out the reason for this miracle
The cure was tracked back to
a mutation in a single cell in her bone marrow – an event called “chromosomal
shattering”
This is where a part of her
DNA was rearranged and it led to 163 genes being taken out together with the
mutated cell
Research continues into
finding out at what role the other 163 genes that were affected by the mutation
had
All this “chromosomal
shattering” took part in a stem cell that manufactures immune cells
The cell was able to take
over the bone marrow
It became the starting point
for a new immune system that was able to get into the blood stream
This could not have happened
in a muscle cell as it would not have made any difference to her
The fact it took place in the
stem cell made all the difference, because it manufactures the immune cells
The woman no longer has
warts, is no longer susceptible to infections and no longer has blood
abnormalities
This now gives excellent
insight into the syndrome
It goes to show that
miracles, no matter how small, can have life changing effects in a very big
way!
Women in the media face a
hard time. Many women journalists in the front line are often harassed by men,
who think they know better
They believe that by
undermining women by their constant level of bickering and abuse they can bring
these women journalist down
More safeguards are being put
into place to secure women journalists from these online threats, which they
face almost every day
A senior official from the
European security body, the OSCE, has warned that this is already happening
The messages are abusive,
violent and are often sexual
Online abuse against women
journalists is a global phenomenon and growing
The online bullying is done
by cowards, who are inept at facing people with their comments and should be
seen as pathetic human beings
They cannot face up to what
they consider is their right, but in fact is a blatant disregard for human
respect
Female journalists are
targeted mostly on their reporting of crime, politics and sensitive issues
The time has come for
harassment of this kind to be investigated
The perpetrators must be
exposed for who they are. This will be the first step into dealing with them
A name and shame scenario is
required
The law will start to bring
in a form of punishment to highlight this, because it will not be accepted in
today’s world
As the increase in fighting
continues in eastern Ukraine, NATO now needs to consider its position very
carefully
Resistance by the Pro-Russian
forces has put immense pressure on Ukraine’s army and military objective
In spite of Angela Merkel and
Francois Hollands’ visit to Moscow today to speak to Vladimir Putin, nothing
concrete will be established
We have an impasse here!
Vladimir Putin is in a sense
digging his heels in
He doesn’t want to lose
control of his objective, which is to increase the Russian State
This is his main priority, to
secure his boarders and where possible to expand on them to rebuild a new and
extensive Russia
“Russia the Great”, as he
sees it, with him as the greatest Russia President that ever lived
He wants history to remember
him, at whatever cost to his people is not his concern
His greatness is!
NATO will need to bring in a
much greater military presence
It won’t put pressure on
Moscow, as they are ready for the fight
NATO will arm the Ukraine’s
military and there has already been arms supplied covertly by the US and Poland
As Putin denies equipping
Pro-Russian rebels, so the US also denies sending in arms into Ukraine
NATO will also establish six
military bases in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria
All were under Russian
control in the cold war
All have become independent
of Russia and that is how they wish to remain
The case now is of the two
nuclear powers, that of the US and of Russia facing each other
One or both cannot and must
not take that chance to step over the line
It would mean world disaster
of which none of us would survive
How far down the road they
wish to go will be determined by the stronger of the two nations
Diplomatic channels are
already in full motion for this possibility
The White House is screaming
for blood, but common sense must prevail to allow tempers to calm down
Nobody is going anywhere and
solutions need to be found to alleviate pressure from both sides and to divert
a disaster
A Chinese woman accused of
stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients has been extradited from
Italy
This is the first time that a
fraud suspect has been extradited from a European country
The woman, surnamed Zhang,
had been living in Italy for 9 years
It was last year that China
launched an extradition programme to repatriate fraud suspects and corrupt
officials who had fled the country
The Chinese woman is accused
of stealing £147,000 from clients at a Chinese firm from 2000-2005
She then fled to go to Italy
in October 2005
It has been the Chinese
authorities who had requested from their Italian counterparts to capture her
This they did and handed her
back to China
China has been pressing other
countries for their help in the hunt to track down economic fugitives
Many of them are Communist
Party Officials, who are accused of stealing State funds
Up to now 680 accused
criminals have been handed back to China from 69 different places and still
there are more to be found
No matter what the crime, be
it large or small, nobody gets away with it indefinitely
Spiritual Law decrees that
everybody should do the right and honest thing and to admit to their own crimes
They must accept the
punishment set down by the Law for that crime
If a person refuses, hoping
to get away with it, then the punishment becomes far greater each time
In the case with Brazil’s oil
giant Petrobras, five senior executives had to resign in the wake of a huge
corruption scandal
There have been arrests and
testimonies of some three dozen executives at Petrobras and its many suppliers
The scandal involves price
fixing, bribes and kickbacks, which further implicates Brazil’s ruling party
Prosecutors have uncovered
around $800 million in bribes and other illegal funds
More than 200 businesses are
being investigated and more than 80 people and executives from Petrobras are
facing charges
Petrobras is one of the
largest oil businesses in the world with interests in Asia, Africa, and the
Middle East
The fact that Petrobras was
successful was not enough for this company
Corruption, greed and bribes
at the highest level continued
Their insatiable appetite for
greed and corruption has now brought about their own downfall
Brazil’s President Dilma
Rousseff should not feign ignorance, as she also is complicit in these affairs
Time will now tell!
A very good man has resigned.
He is John Baird, who was Canada’s top diplomat
Mr Baird has served in
multiple positions in Canada’s cabinet
He has been one of the finest
ministers that Canada has had
He was never afraid to take
on the more difficult jobs in Government and assumed daunting new
responsibilities with unsurpassed energy
His commitment in serving the
Canadian people was always total professionalism
Recently he has been heavily
involved in getting the journalist Mohamed Fahmy released from an Egyptian jail
Here gross injustice had been
done
Mr Fahmy’s release is
expected to be imminent
The Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper said that Mr Baird was one of the finest ministers that he had
the privilege of working with
The time has come for Mr
Baird to start a new chapter in his life
He will be greatly missed
With all the corruption
around in this world it is a joy to know that there are still some decent
politicians around
They serve the people and not
themselves!
The dilemma, which Mohamed
Fahmy now faces, is that he is one of the two remaining imprisoned journalists
for Al-Jazeera
The Egyptian authorities have
given this journalist the choice of dropping his Egyptian nationality for his
freedom
For Mohamed this is a
difficult and painful decision to make as he comes from a patriotic family of
high ranking military and policemen
His family have defended
Egypt and fought wars on their behalf
Mohamed has dual nationality
from Canada and Egypt and is now faced with denouncing his natural born country
His release would be
imminent, which proves a further mockery of Egypt’s judicial system
It then will leave his
colleague Baher Mohamed, who is Egyptian with nowhere to go but to remain
behind bars – a travesty of justice
Amnesty International has
stated that there are grossly unfair trials in Egypt
Egypt’s total disregard for
national and International Law makes a complete mockery of their systems
They should feel ashamed, but
blatant arrogance by the Government and the judiciary won’t allow them to do
what is decent and honest
It is hoped that South Sudan
is finally able to realise an end to its conflict that has devastated this
country
President Kiir and rebel
commander Riek Machar have signed a deal committed to finally end the conflict
that has devastated this country
The ceasefire agreement was
signed at talks in Ethiopia
Consultations will need to
continue to put into place policies for a future Government and power sharing
South Sudan’s conflict
erupted in December 2013 and had displaced 1.5 million people
Earlier ceasefire deals did
not last
The proposal is for Mr Kiir
to remain as President and Mr Machar will be appointed vice-president in the
new administration
It will take some time for
the people of South Sudan to begin to rebuild their lives
They have gone through a
horrendous ordeal
With support from
International communities trade can begin to flow
A rebuilding programme will
be started to help all those who have suffered greatly
The gun fiasco just keeps on
running in America
This time it is a three year
old American boy, who shot his father and his pregnant mother with the same
bullet
The bullet passed through his
father’s buttock and then went on to hit his mother’s arm
The toddler was reaching into
his mother’s bag to get the iPod and picked up the gun instead
The toddler’s two year old
sister, who was in the room at the time, was not hurt
While the parents were
treated in hospital for their injuries, the children were put into care so
their parents could recover
The District Attorney’s
office will decide whether the parents will face negligence charges
In December a woman in the
state of Idaho was killed by her two year old son who accidently shot his
mother with a gun found in her handbag
The shooting took place while
they were in a Wal-Mart store
What is the mentality of
these people, who take so little precautions with these dangerous weapons?
They really have no need to
have them in the first place
The stupidity and lack of
responsibility by these parents is beyond belief
How can the American law
continue to accept the freedom of gun laws by putting so many people at risk by
reckless people?
There are more guns than
common sense in America. God help the victims every one of them!
