Is it fear of Saudi Arabia which stops Obama from calling it “Islamic” terror?

June 12, 2016

The Orlando mass murderer called 911 to claim allegiance to ISIS before the massacre.

IS have come out with a statement claiming responsibility. They declared 3 days ago that they would target Florida.

The shooter, Omar Saddiqui Mateen, was an Afghani American and a Muslim. His father reckons religion had nothing to do with the massacre. Just a coincidence no doubt – again. He was also a Florida registered Democrat. He was also being watched by the FBI. Not many Muslims are terrorists but a remarkably large number of terrorists  (currently) are Shia Muslims. And that is not entirely coincidence.

And still Barack Obama cannot bring himself to call it “Islamic” terror.

Politico:

President Barack Obama on Sunday declared the worst mass shooting in U.S. history “an act of terror and an act of hate.”

“Today, as Americans, we grieve the brutal murder, a horrific massacre, of dozens of innocent people,” Obama said Sunday. “We pray for their families, who are grasping for answers with broken hearts. We stand with the people of Orlando, who have endured a terrible attack on their city.”

“Although it’s still early in the investigation, we know enough to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate, and as Americans we are united in grief, in outrage and in resolve to defend our people,” he continued. 

A man armed with a handgun and an assault rifle rampaged through a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, early Sunday, killing at least 50 people and leaving more than 50 hospitalized.

The shooter was identified as Omar Saddiqui Mateen, who died in a gunfight with SWAT officers after initially firing shots into the club and eventually taking hostages.

The death toll is now upto 53. still 50 but some of the injured are in an acute condition.

I note that Saudi Arabia blackmailed the UN and Ban Ki-Moon into removing the Saudi-led coalition from the blacklist of organisations committing atrocities against children in Yemen. I note that the CIA now states – under Saudi pressure – that confidential documents will absolve Saudi Arabia of any involvement with 9/11. That may technically be correct as far as the government of Saudi Arabia is concerned, but it was Saudi money and Saudi nationals led by a Saudi fanatic who were involved.

Is it fear of Saudi Arabia (and the undoubted Saudi based support for ISIS and other Shia fanatics) which stops Obama from calling Islamic terror Islamic? Even when it is? Or is it his fear of being considered an Islamophobe?

 

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The EU cannot change geography , but they can change their rules

June 11, 2016

The geographical reality of the UK being part of the continent of Europe will not change with Brexit. Europe will not disappear even if the EU does.

The European Union is a somewhat artificial, and now also very sick, association. The EU as it is today “is a misassembled, headless monster, owing less to Charlemagne than to Frankenstein.” Economically the EU has become the sick man of the global economy. It is a club which needs to revise its reason for being. It has to move away from grandiose dreams of creating a new Holy European Empire and its rules need urgently to change. The European Parliament is a useless appendage and needs to be abolished. It is the most wasteful and non-democratic parliament ever. The European Court of Human Rights has done more than most institutions to demonstrate that the EU (not human rights) is an ass. The European Commission is a self-righteous, self-serving, profligate bureaucracy which dwarfs Roman bureaucracy. It may have been intended to be a disseminator of best practices, but has become instead the propogator of scams designed to milk EU subsidies. The Euro is a failed experiment.

With less than two weeks to go for the UK referendum, it is worth remembering that the vote itself is just the start of a long 2-3 year process. It can be stopped by the UK parliament at any time (though at the cost of a government and a few politicians). A NO vote would galvanise similar sentiments in Holland and Denmark and even some of the newer members. I am convinced that it is the shock necessary for the EU to confront its existential problem and tone down its political aims and focus on its trdaing and economic aims. The free movement of genuine labour has to be tempered to exclude the free movement of the scavengers. The European Commission has to be decimated and drawn back from its intrusion into what are local, national matters.

My desired scenario is that a NO vote in the referendum will give the EU the biggest shock it has had since its inception. Minds will then be sufficiently concentrated to really think about reforms and to be more than the cosmetic sops so far offered to David Cameron. The rush to reform (led by Germany, France and Italy) will be real and announced well before any ratification vote (probably in about 6 -12 months) in the UK parliament. And then the UK parliament can overrule the BREXIT referendum and have that ratified by a General Election.

Just wishful thinking on my part. But I see a glorious future possible for Europe. But not for the Europe of the European Union.

Frank Jacobs wrote in his piece “Where is Europe” in the NYT:

…… This “Europe” is a misassembled, headless monster, owing less to Charlemagne than to Frankenstein. It stalks the bureaucratic labyrinth of Brussels, beying for tribute from the peoples of Europe. But this modern minotaur is also a petty, powerless bureaucrat, issuing directives on the correct curvature of cucumbers, but unable to save the euro from collapsing. …

…… most of Europe’s borders are self-evident. They are the waters that border it on three sides: the Arctic Sea to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Mediterranean and Black Seas to the south. Ah, but then the ultimate problem becomes painfully clear: Where to draw Europe’s eastern border? And does it even have one?

Let’s return to our earlier definition: A continent is a large, contiguous land mass. And not half of one. Many geographers see what we call the European continent as a mere peninsula of a gigantic continent of Eurasia, spanning halfway across the world, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Bering Strait. There is no good reason to divide that continent in two. No good geographic reason. …..

Europe as she should be

Europe as she should be

Europe is not a continental mass in itself. It is just the western end of the Eurasian continental plate. The Eurovision song (?) contest may – in its inanity – include Israel and Turkey and Azerbaijan and Australia but whatever definition of Europe finally evolves it should not include Turkey and cannot include Ukraine or Belarus. That the definition must encompass Switzerland and Iceland – and the UK – is self-evident.

 

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Posted in Europe, European Union, Politics, UK | 1 Comment »

Clinton versus Trump is the Bad versus the Ugly …

June 10, 2016

The Good is nowhere to be seen.

Of course, there may be some good among the bad and what is ugly is not necessarily all bad, but it must be immensely frustrating for US voters that the choice available is as impoverished as it is.

How Presidential candidates appear during the election is not a very good indicator of their performance. Ronald Reagan reduced expectations to those of a bad B-movie script, but ended up changing, and charging up, the mood in the country. Barack Obama raised expectations for all that he said he could but his Presidency has become a litany of all that he could not (did not).

So it is not impossible for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump to be great Presidents, but the signs are less than promising.

Still, it should be a fascinating contest with real entertainment value. I hardly watch and am no expert on how Big Brother functions, but my perception is that it is not “niceness” that wins. In fact, my perception is that ugliness is prized. Maybe Trump has shifted the battle to be an ugliness contest and has an advantage. But shrewishness also wins and wins big.

The Ugly Beast versus the Bad Shrew.

The Good is noticeable by its absence.

 

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A new market for Apple?

June 6, 2016

Caters news agency via Daily Mail

This macaque was in a mischievous mood at the Jigokudani park in Japan and made off with an iPhone

 

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Midsommar approaches — light blogging forecast

June 5, 2016

Time to take a few days off.

shades of green

shades of green

 

summer pink

summer pink

 

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Italian cheese and obesity

June 5, 2016

My attempts at losing weight are primarily undermined by my liking for cheese. Not that beer and rice and potatoes don’t contribute, but the connection with cheese is – for me – pronounced and immediate.

So I looked at some data on cheese consumption and obesity data for the US which is readily available. A similarity of shape between growth of obesity prevalence and cheese consumption is apparent. But the similarity is much more pronounced with the consumption of Italian rather than the total amount of cheese or just American cheese ……..

Cheese and obesity

But avoiding Italian cheese as a sop to my cheese addiction is not going to help me…

 

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Posted in Trivia | 4 Comments »

Seine peaks at under 1982 level (and less than in 1955, 1945, 1924 and 1910)

June 4, 2016

The politically correct – but imbecilic – view has been that the Paris flood levels are due to climate change.

The Seine peaked last night having reached a height of 6,1 m.

It reached 5.2 m in 2000, 6.13 m in 1982, 7.12 m in 1955, 6.85 m in 1945, 7.32 m in 1924 and 8.62 m in 1910.  In 1658 it reached 8.96m.

Clearly reaching a level of over 6 m is not that unusual and happens regularly and with a frequency of roughly 3 – 4 times a century.

The Zouave statue at the Pont de Alma is often used to illustrate the river level. Note that the statue has been raised and in 1974 was 60 cm higher than in 1856.

But 6.1 m in 2016 is well above the “alert” level but it is almost 3 m less than has been seen before.

Paris Seine flood levels at the zouave statue Pont de alma image femmepaysage.wordpress.com

Paris Seine flood levels at the Zouave statue at Pont de Alma :image femmepaysage.wordpress.com

Even for a fanatic climate change believer, it seems particularly unintelligent to claim that global warming caused the 2016 Paris flooding.

 

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Posted in Alarmism, Climate | 1 Comment »

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. – RIP

June 4, 2016

Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., aka Muhammad Ali passed away last night at the age of 74.

I first saw him win the Light Heavyweight Gold medal – on film – at the Rome Olympics in 1960. We had no TV then. He has floated like a butterfly in my view of the world for over 50 years.

RIP.

“Marcellus vanquished Carthage,

Cassius laid Julius Caesar low.

And Clay will flatten Douglas Jones

with a mighty measured blow!”

1960 Olympic gold medallist

1960 Olympic gold medallist

 

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Obama, Clinton, media slam Trump, and Trump support will probably rise

June 2, 2016

This week has seen a concerted, seemingly coordinated, attack by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the establishment press on Trump and Trump University. If my theory, that Trump is riding an anti-establishment wave which feeds on attacks from the establishment, is correct, this will lead to an increase in Trump’s numbers. This will show up in next week’s polls.

The anti-establishment wave could, if fed enough energy by the media attacks on Trump, turn into an anti-establishment tsunami. I find it amazing that the NYT, WaPo, LA Times, HuffPo …. have not picked up on the reality that it is their “over the top” attacks on Trump which are energising and feeding his support. The content of their attacks has become irrelevant. It is their contempt which is creating a magnified reaction. The more the establishment seem to be “ganging up” on him, the greater the reaction. I see an analogy with the vibrational collapse of a bridge when troops march across in step and cause a resonance failure. As media attacks on Trump seem more coordinated, the anti-establishment reaction could reach resonance and become an uncontrollable tsunami.

Obama’s stuttering attack was particularly unconvincing and gives some backing to the suggestion that “Barack Obama as your enemy is equivalent to having a thousand friends”. 

(ISIS might agree. I note that the Iraqi (with US air support) assault on Fallujah has stalled. Massive advance publicity was released about the assault but it has been somewhat less effective than when Syria (with Russian air support) has taken back ISIS strongholds.)

In the meantime Clinton does not seem able to finally kill off Sanders. In line-ups against Trump, Sanders consistently does much better than Clinton. I take this as being consistent with the angry, anti-establishment wave which transcends “left” or “right”.

 

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Arrogant EU warning to Poland provides BREXIT with a proof

June 1, 2016

That the European Union does take away national sovereignty is obvious even if David Cameron may argue (now) that it doesn’t. Even though I think that we must eventually evolve away from nation states, the EU is not a development in that direction. It involves surrendering autonomy – away from the “nation” to the faceless, supercilious, self-righteous, European Commission and the European parliament. Poland may be pursuing policies that its EU members disapprove of, but surely that is Poland’s prerogative.

BREXIT supporters have a clear example of how the EU fancies itself a super-state and one which thinks it has the right – if not necessarily the power – to dictate to its members how to think. Like it or not, the Justice Party was elected “democratically” in Poland. The European Commission is far from being any kind of democratic institution. It is an executive body. There is something deeply disturbing about EU bureaucrats telling an elected government what it may or may not do. The self-righteous arrogance of the European Commission is often offensive.

The Guardian: 

The EU executive has given Poland an official warning that changes to its constitutional court endanger the rule of law in the country.

Frans Timmermans, vice president of the European commission, said he had written to the Polish government warning that recent alterations to the workings of Poland’s highest court posed “a systemic risk to the rule of law”.

The publication of a formal opinion ratchets up pressure on Poland and marks the first time that the EU executive has criticised a member state under its rule-of-law procedure.

After Poland’s Law and Justice (Pis) party came to power, the Polish parliament passed a law allowing the government to appoint the judges of its choosing to the highest court and not recognise those chosen by its predecessor, the liberal Civic Platform party.

Legal experts advising the Council of Europe have concluded that the changes breach the rule of law, democracy and human rights.

If Poland refuses to back down, it could face the ultimate sanction of being stripped of EU voting rights, although Brussels is keen to avoid that scenario.

I am not sure if BREXIT is good or bad for the UK, but there should be little doubt that staying within the EU does mean giving up a large measure of sovereignty. It is surely better for the EU that the UK remain a member. But the best for both the UK and the EU, I think, is for reform of the EU. I remain convinced that a vote in favour of BREXIT vote will only cause the EU to finally make real concessions rather than the cosmetic changes offered to Cameron. A BREXIT vote is – after all – only the start of a long negotiation. But the negotiation could be real and not just a PR exercise. Of course the UK would need a real negotiator – and that isn’t either Cameron or Corbyn.

 

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