Algeria: Beware that this could become another hot spot

I am not going to add much to this topic at this point in time. I will write up any information on my alternative blog but will mention anything here that might be of interest. 

In recent weeks Algeria was subjected to an attack by terrorists who are associated with Al Qaeda. My personal opinion here is that the attacks have nothing to do with Libya, but we shall see. The reason that I think this way is due to the fact that the attacks themselves are not new, but that they have been stepped up.

Algeria has been a supporter of Daffy Duck, and in fact I have been suspicious of some “news” items that were released that had been accusatory towards the Libyan Gadhafi opposition, which seemed to be propaganda of the Gadhafi regime. Early this week news came that members of the Gadhafi family had crossed the border and were in Algeria. Aisha Gadhafi has since that crossing given birth to a girl that she has named Safiyah. The members of the Gadhafi family who crossed into Algeria included: Safiyah, Aisha, Mohammed and Hannibal. If anything Hannibal and his wife need to be extradited to face charges of cruelty towards the nanny of their children (that is quite an horrific story), however, Mohammed was not directly involved in what has taken place. Algeria has since stated that the family are being placed under house arrest. We shall see whether it is true.

The reason I am highlighting Algeria is that already there are claims that Al Qaeda are stepping up activity in Algeria because that government has supported Gadhafi. Personally, I see this as an excuse to put down any revolt in Algeria, and to repeat what had taken place in Libya (that is the government repression of the population) and in Syria. Algeria has until now not had much in the way of problems from opponents, but that could be about to change. I am not saying that this is a possibility that is not true, but I am treating the allegation with caution.  Up until now the news sources that I have used have made no real mention of Al Qaeda showing any real support for the NTC and those who were fighting to get rid of Gadhafi. This is probably why the news item that is making this particular claim stands out like a sore thumb.  

From the beginning the NTC spokespeople have been keen to keep out foreigners that might raise the hackles of Al Qaeda, which is an organization that is not strictly present in Libya, but there are sympathises or at least those with similar views who are Libyans. If this element is to remain placated and kept in their place then a fine line needs to be walked. The NTC has been keen not to repeat the mistakes made in Iraq, which in translation means that they do not want to do anything that would encourage an Al Qaeda presence.  This is what makes the claims coming out of Algeria very jarring.

It should also be pointed out that Robert Mugabe has expelled the Libyan ambassador to that country because he expressed allegiance to he NTC. This should be seen in the light of Mugabe being an ally of Gadhafi, and one who has just had his funding (balls) cut off so that he has less funds available to conduct terror campaigns against his own people.

Also, some are voicing concern because Iran sent “aid” to Benghazi. I agree that there is cause to be concerned. It should be pointed out that Iran had been illegally sending weapons to Gadhafi, but they sent discreet humanitarian aid to Benghazi. In other words according to the NTC what they received was medicine and food for the people of Libya. I see this as a diplomatic move that is meant to put Iran in the good books with the NTC once they realized that Iran’s real ally was being deposed. It reminds me a bit of the attitude of China and Russia who had caused a fuss in the early part of this whole saga only to find themselves on the outer with the NTC. This is why I suspect the motivations of Iran is based soley upon ensuring some form of relationship with the NTC. Since most Libyans are either Sunni (explains why they tend towards Al Qaeda) or Sufi, I do not see that there will be a strong relationship with Iran in the near future, but one never knows how things will turn out.

The civil war is not quite over in Libya, and the propaganda war is still being waged on the international scene. This is why I offer a note of caution when it comes to Algerian propaganda with regard to the motivations of the Al Qaeda group that have recently attacked the military barracks. Look first to nationalist reasons for the attacks before applying motivations associated with giving refuge to members of the Gadhafi family, or giving support to Gadhafi. I am sure that eventually we will know the truth.

 

South Africa – ominous rumblings

If you have been following the Libyan situation then you would know that one of the outside foreign players is Jacob Zuma of South Africa. You would also know that the African Union is wedded to the money that Gadhafi has been showering upon each of their nations so that they too can put down their own people.  This explains to me why the African Union have been playing a rather stupid game. South Africa was also trying to hold up the release of money that can assist in the very real need for humanitarian aid to Libya. Do not get me wrong because I am still leery of the NTC in lots of respects (and I continue to monitor what they are saying).

I am not a fan of South Africa’s ANC and I never cheered when Nelson Mandela was released from prison. I have always noted the violence associated with the ANC and in particular the actions of Winnie Mandela who was very fond of a certain type of necklace made out of burning tires that was applied to ANC opponents.

I do not trust Jacob Zuma and it seems that Zuma is yet another communist, but there is someone who is on the rise in South Africa who is in fact worse than Zuma. His name is Julius Zalema and you can read about him here. This is one of two reports that have been run on Julius Zalema. This man is extremely dangerous. Think Zimbawe and the other African nations where white farmers had their farms stolen from them. Zalema is that dangerous, and if he should gain in power then South Africa will descend into yet another class war. This particular war is coming in the near future.

Talk about an overblown emergency declaration

Whilst I agree with the need to make sure that people are safe during a storm – think hurricane, cyclones and tornadoes – I am amazed at the overblown hype that we have just witnessed in relation to what turned out to be a category 1 hurricane, named Irene. Katrina was much worse than Irene!!

Earlier this year cyclone Yasi hit the north-east coast of Australia. Its effects were felt all the way down the coast, and yes even in Canberra we got a lot of rain!!  It was a category 5 cyclone.

My whinge here is about Østupid declaring that this was going to be an historic hurricane. What a load of mushroom fodder as far as I am concerned. Just like in any approaching wild storm people needed to exercise caution. That there were some deaths is totally regretable in my view. Perhaps the man who was out driving when the storm approached should have had the common sense to pull over into a sheltered area, or should have not traveled in the first place!!  Either way as far as New York was concerned it looks to have been an absolute non-starter with just a bit of wild weather.

Here in Australia we saw the same thing when Queensland Premier Anna Bligh tried to talk up the emergency situation as Yasi approached. Now, I am the first to agree that the people in the affected area needed to get their butts into gear!! However, did you know that one of the designated shelters was destroyed in the cyclone? Fortunately, the people who were supposed to have been there had moved somewhere else prior to Yasi hitting. The region itself had been hit by another very serious cyclone a few years previously and the damage wrought will take a long time to repair. It almost wiped out the banana industry in the region.

Coming from a country where floods are quite common, even though we have had the drought years, I guess I am hardened when it comes to hype like that.

When I was in the USA, I lived in Fairborn Ohio. A few years before we came to Fairborn a tornado had wiped out Xenia, which is a village close to Fairborn. As a result Fairborn had set up an early warning system, and we had lots of practice warnings!!  During the summer there were lots of thunderstorms, and yes they were very severe storms. One storm followed me home as I was bringing my sons home from T-ball practice at the Wright Patterson Air Force base.  I arrived just before the storm hit. That particular storm cloud kept on forming and it went on to be a tornado that touched down in the Tri-State corner where it hit the Amish community. It was very severe. What I am stating here is that the warnings were adequate at the time, without the overblown hype!!

A few years later, when we were posted to Townsville for a year, cyclone Aivu struck. We had plenty of warning to prepare for the storm, and since my husband was at the Air base we sheltered in a cyclone proof building on base. I remember walking out of the building in the eye of the storm. The cyclone touched down 50 miles away at Ayr where one man, who did not evacuate his caravan died. We had lots of rain for several days.

This past year we saw the breaking of the drought here in Australia. You heard about the floods in Queensland, and Brisbane in particular. Did you know that the council in Queensland had allowed the building of shopping centres in a flood plain? Did you know that in one town where the death toll was quite high, that the authorities believed that there would be no more floods so they built over the spot where two rivers intersect, without providing proper drains? Yes, that tsunami or wall of water that rushed down Grantham could have been avoided. The backed up water had nowhere to go.

My point in telling this part of the story is to show how the belief in globull warming has caused really disastrous mistakes. The building over the rivers as a beautification of the town was quite stupid, especially when the council failed to allow for adequate drains. The water backed up, the rivers swelled, and it was fatal. A similar mistake was made with regard to the operation of the Wivenhoe dam. This dam was built to ensure that Brisbane never flooded again, after the floods of 1994. The operators were of the belief that they should maintain as much water as possible because they believed that there would be more drought etc. etc. They failed to release adequate amounts of water prior to the flooding of the Brisbane river, and then when the Wivenhoe dam was overfilled they had to let go too much water that caused the flooding of the Brisbane river. In other words their belief in the crap known as Globull warming led to those disasters.

Where I live, the Molongolo river in Queanbeyan flooded. This river flows into the Murrimbidgee River. The flood took place in the December rains and floods, at the time that we were on a cruise. (Storms at sea are such good fun – NOT!!). There were many areas of Australia affected by floods last December – NSW, QLD and Vic in particular were affected by the floods. I certainly remember that Victoria was often flooded as I grew up, but I never really experienced the effects of floods until I lived in NSW.

The worst situation that I faced was in March 1978 when the rains brought about the flooding of the Hawkesbury-Nepean river. The Warragamba dam opened the flood gates, and since we were in the Windsor district at the time we ended up right in the middle of a flood. However, we were on high ground and remained unaffected, even though only a short distance away there were floods. To me, floods are a normal consequence of the summer rains. It is nothing new or amazing or even historic about it.

This is why I feel quite a bit of contempt about the hype and the overblown claims that Irene was going to be historic. As it has been proved – the claim of historic was just mushroom fodder.

If Østupid thought that he was going to gain in popularity with this form of hype then it would show people to be extremely fickle. Østupid did nothing of consequence, and considering that it was only at category 2 level, then downgraded to category 1, even the gathering of the navy vessels offshore was overblown hype. It was not necessary because it was just a tropical storm that was in its last throes.

Please click the link then watch the video

I just found this news article, and the video attached is well worth a listen. It is a very great summary of the Libyan situation. It is a wars and all summary of the situation and the outlook for Libya. It details some of the possible pitfalls as well as how these can be avoided.

It would be very wrong to believe that now that Daffy Duck is on the run that everything is rosy. It is not the case at all. There are many possible stumbling blocks due to the nature of Libyan tribalism.

From the beginning of the protests when the NTC was formed, the people in charge were always mindful of the tribalism, and the things that can divide. They now have the task of reaching out and becoming inclusive in order to avoid what took place in Iraq. From the beginning, prior to the NATO involvement and prior to the UN resolution, the NTC understood that it was important not to have foreign boots on the ground. As a result they have insisted that there was to be no boots on the ground, even though they asked for the imposing of the no-fly zone.

What took place in Libya should never have happened. From the beginning of the protests Daffy Duck and his regime backers (namely his sons Saif and Saadi), had determined to use force against those who opposed them. The planned in advance of the protests and they brought in the mercenaries from Chad and Mali. When the fort at Benghazi was stormed (after several protesters had been killed) it was discovered to be housing those mercenaries. At that stage the people in Benghazi were already at fever pitch. The man who killed himself when he took action to breech the wall was someone who was not an Islamist, had spurned the radical imams of the town, but got very angry when Daffy’s forces killed innocent people. This is a motivation that is hard for us to comprehend, that someone who would not get involved in a violent movement ended his life in an act of violence, for the sake of others.  The mood in Benghazi was such that it is likely that residents of the town did some harm to those soldiers, but the image given was that the soldiers who were captured were well-treated.

Throughout the months of conflict not one journalist was harmed by the opposition forces, but…. journalists who were with the oppositions forces and captured by Daffy goons, were mistreated, and ended up in prison until they were released. Several journalists were killed by Daffy goons.

Whilst the fighting had continued in towns near Benghazi a lot of attention was given to Misrata where Daffy goons tried to get the upper hand. The people in Misrata, like those in Benghazi were an interesting mix. Many of the men who were fighting were professionals such as engineers and teachers. They did what they had to do to protect their loved ones. There are many stories out of Misrata, but one that caught my attention was that of the people who chose to pick up the bodies of the dead loyalist soldiers and to bury them in a respectful way, and to keep records on the dead so that their relatives could claim them after the fighting was finished. It was in Misrata where Daffy Duck used missiles and landmines, some of the mines looked like toys which were meant to be picked up by children. The snipers in Misrata killed young children and injured many more. In one incident a mother and her children died in an attack upon her car. There were stories of how the Daffy goons had gathered up people from the surrounding villages and used them as shields or hostages in the town square. The Daffy goons regularly fired upon people moving in and out of the medical clinics. They fired upon those driving the ambulances and they often killed the doctors who had gone out to attend to the wounded in the field. On the other hand the medical staff treated both loyalists and oppostion without any form of discrimination.

These stories out of Misrata are the reason that I tended to reject the counter claims that it was the opposition that was doing a number of bad things. There were counter claims of looting etc. Yet, I have not seen verifiable evidence for those counter claims, not even mention of the villages. It is as if the counter-claims were nothing more than propaganda from the Daffy Duck regime that was meant to put the wind up the villagers so that they would resist joining the opposition. The jury is out with regard to those stories. I have not made up my mind as to whether or not they should be outright disregarded.

For months the situation was at a stalemate, but there was a breakthrough. That breakthrough was the assassination of General Younes. It sounds strange to say that, but I suspect that General Younes was a double agent. The people who were asked to escort him back to Benghazi from the front line were the people responsible for his assassination. They acted without authority to kill him. They acted as rogues. Whilst it looked like this one action was a sign of a fracturing of the opposition, it seems to have been more of a catalyst for the beginning of the end game.

A few of the other things that happened around the same time were: (1) victory in Misrata and almost an end to the shelling and bombing of a city that endured a most dreadful and deadly siege.  (2) the supply of weapons to Misrata from Qatar. (3) a weapons drop to opposition forces in the western mountains by the French. Each of these things gave a new impetus for the road ahead to Tripoli. The surge that came from the weapons drop was like a fire. It kept on spreading. At first it was like a trickle and then it got faster and faster and the opposition continued their approach to Tripoli. A very decisive victory in Zawiyah, which had been in opposition hands in the early days prior to Daffy once again getting the upper hand, led to the push towards Tripoli. By that stage the supply lines to Tripoli had been cut off. 

The action, over the weekend began as a co-ordinated attack from 3 directions. One group came by boat from Misrata, whilst another group, also from Misrata but via Zlitan continued their push into Tripoli after finally securing Zlitan, and the group that had captured Zawiyah pushed towards Tripoli. However, without the careful planning which involved the imams giving the signal none of this could have been successful. The moment had arrived for the uprising within Tripoli. The signal was the singing of the old national anthem. The uprising began as the outside opposition forces arrived.

Tripoli has fallen but Daffy Duck and his sons are still at large. As a result there are still pockets of resistance. On top of that there is the danger that Daffy could access those stockpiles of deadly weapons that he never gave up. A lot now depends upon negotiations with the tribal leaders within the town of Sirte. The Opposition forces are trying to negotiate a surrender. If this happens then it will help to pave the way for a final end of the Daffy Duck regime.

Once Daffy Duck is gone, it will be time to get on with the reconstruction of Libya. It will take time and it is within this period that it is important to ensure that Libya does not go the way of Iraq. Any new government needs to be inclusive and that means a place for the minority Islamists. It is more likely that there will be strife if they are left out. The Islamists have suffered at the hands of the Daffy Duck regime, just as other individuals who opposed Daffy Duck have suffered. It is also important that there is no revenge towards those who remained loyal to Daffy Duck. If Libya can achieve these things, then the end result will be better than expected. If, however, they exclude the Islamists, or they take revenge upon individuals then an Iraq situation will be the inevitable result.

There can be no illusions about what might happen in the future, but we can surely hope and pray that Libya will become a shining light for future democracy in the Middle East.

Never count your chickens

The BBC is reporting that both Saif Gadhafi and Mohammed Gadhafi have escaped from the opposition forces. There has been a turnaround in the fighting, but it is not over by a long shot. Celebrations in Green Square have been premature. With Saif claiming that the opposition has been lured into a trap, it means that the forces that are loyal to the scum are still intent upon killing all of the people who are opposed to the Gadhafi regime.

The scum regime continues to use scud missiles against their own people. They have continued to use snipers on the rooftops to kill anyone who steps out of their houses. It also gives the scum the opportunity to do other horrendous things and then blame it on the opposition forces. I have already heard some things that I consider to be untrue, until positive proof has been provided of the alleged wrongdoing.

We are all guilty of being premature. The end game has begun, but it is well and truly not over… perhaps until the fat lady sings….. I am hoping that the opposition forces will be able to capture both Saif and Mohammed, and this time lock them up in prison, where they belong.

UPDATE: there is still no sign of Moammar Gadhafi within the capital of Tripoli. This is probably because of the underground bunker system. He can move underground from one place to another. Gadhafi built his bunkers under schools, hospitals and childrens’ playgrounds with the intent of ensuring that NATO would not try to hit those targets. This means that he could be anywhere in Libya. Some people think that he is hiding in Sirte. This is possible.  Also, there has been no mention of the whereabouts of Khamis and General Sanussi. It is still possible that Khamis was killed during an air raid on Zlitan, which the regime denied, but what about Sanussi who is wanted by the ICC in conjunction with Daffy Duck and Saif.

According to the reports that I have seen during the day Saadi was captured, Mohammed escaped, and obviously Saif al-Islam Gadhafi also escaped from captivity. Something else that was reported concerns the Rixos Hotel, which is where the Journalists have been sequestered on the orders of the regime. The minders and the translators have disappeared. Very interesting. The journalists actually fear that they will be used as hostages by the regime. Perhaps that was the intention but the opposition has moved very fast.

The pockets of resistance have continued, and the tanks that were hidden in Gadhafi’s compound have emerged. The regime has been firing off scud missiles at the people of Libya. From what I understand there are few loyalists in Tripoli, but there are loyalists in Sirte and Sabha. The opposition has repulsed one group that had come from Sirte.

Also, when the Khamis Brigade base was secured by the opposition, they got hold of more weapons. This means that many within Tripoli will now be better equipped to face the regime. The number of deaths and wounded has most likely been exaggerated by the regime, divide whatever you hear by a factor of 10 for the time being. The regime has gone into overdrive with the rhetoric.

The story of the weekends events has been interesting. A very big role was played by the imams in their mosques. It is not like most people would think. It is very like what I saw in Iran in 2009 with many of the imams actually supporting those who were protesting. This time, the imams who were secretly co-operating with the NTC had a plan, a signal for the population to get ready to rise up in Tripoli. The signal was the singing of the old national anthem. 

This is what makes the Libyan situation so very interesting, it is the fact that one has to go back to the coup that led to Gadhafi gaining power to understand the working of the minds of these people. The people who formed the NTC actually want to do away with the introduced socialism. This is not surprising. In Benghazi there was a lot of resentment, especially amongst those who had their businesses and their goods stolen from them. These are people who have lived in the West at some point in their lives and they understand democracy. They want to introduce democracy (probably the Westminster model) to Libya. Will it work? Who knows… I do not know if it will work. A large number of Libyans are professional men and women. Many are engineers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, dentists etc. and most have got their schooling in the UK or the USA. Not everyone is democracy minded, and this is why there will be dangerous times ahead.

However, at this point in time, with everything happening so fast, we have to look to the future for Libya, and hope that democracy will come to that country. It is possible, but it will only happen if NATO troops are kept out of the country. The problem in Iraq is the fact that Iran has been trying to get control of Iran through Moqtada al Sadr, and Al Qaeda has also been active. In Afghanistan there is a similar problem (Australia lost another soldier yesterday meaning 29 have been killed since the Afghan war began), but with Iran backing the Taliban. Another problem in that region comes from both China and Russia who have been secretly backing the Taliban and have been trying to forge a relationship with Pakistan.

If Libya is neutralized with Gadhafi out of the way, then that can only be a good thing. We cannot expect that Libya will forge any kind of alliance with Israel, and this is because of the manner in which Islam teaches bad things about Jews. However, we shall just have to wait and see whether the newcomers remain hostile or whether they are neutral.

Kate Winslett is the heroine

Have just seen an article about the fire at Sir Richard Branson’s house in the Virgin Islands. The house was completely destroyed when it was struck by lightning. You can read about the story here. There were 20 people staying in the house, including Kate Winslett and her children, plus Richard Branson’s 90 year old mother.

The reason for writing about this event is that Kate Winslett deserves some praise for her actions during this dramatic turn of events in her life. Rather than just looking after herself, Kate Winslett assisted others inside the house, including Branson’s 90 year old mother.

Victory: Tripoli – at least I hope so!!

The most astounding news is coming out of Libya. Two of Moammar Ghadafi’s sons have been captured, the Palace guard have surrendered (as planned, I believe), and no one seems to know the whereabouts of the little tin pot murderous dictator. He most definitely has not been killed, and the photo that appeared on Twitter is a fake. The opposition forces have entered Tripoli, they have taken the base used by the regime’s elite troops, and they have planted the old flag at Green Square. This square has been renamed as Martyr’s square.

The situation with Libya is far more complex than that of Egypt, Tunisia and Syria. The people who formed the opposition came from a more diverse range of individuals. Yes, it is true that there are some individuals who are Islamists. However, it is not possible to totally align them with Al Qaeda. Now that the opposition is well on the way to taking Tripoli, we now enter a very delicate period where it is important to keep Al Qaeda out of Libya’s business. This will only happen if the NATO forces do not enter Libyan territory.

The thing that I have admired the most about those behind the NTC has been their determination to ensure that Libya does not become a second Iraq. To avoid this it is important that they embrace the security forces that had worked for the regime. It is also important that the U.N. avoids sending in any forces in an effort to secure the country.

Any talk of a “fears of a blood bath” is in my view quite premature. Whilst it is true that Libya is made up of various tribes, it is also true that they are homogenous in other ways – they are Libyans and they are majority Muslims, who are Sufi rather than either Shia or Sunni. The Islamists in Libya tend towards the Wahibbi school, and that in itself explains why some have indeed ended up in Iraq to fight. What is more important here is that their struggle has not been on religious grounds, but on political grounds, and there has been a nationalist fervour. 

Something that you might not have known about Libya is that Daffy Duck had changed the name of the nation to : “The Socialist Republic of Libya”, aligning the country with Russia, Cuba and Venezuela. However, for at least the people of Benghazi there is no desire to remain a socialist republic. They want a country that operates as a Democracy. These are people who have lived in the West, in countries such as the U.K., the USA and even Australia. They have tasted the democracy of these countries, and that is what they desire for Libya. If they can put together a constitution that enables such a democracy, then more power to them. However, there is no guarantees when it comes to a country that is based upon Islam (Turkey almost made it as a democracy but then Erdogan was elected).

The threats that have been made by Daffy Duck have been hollow. It is true that he placed snipers on the rooftops in Tripoli, and that the snipers were taking pot shots at the citizens. When you read about the more than 300 that were allegedly killed and the more than 1000 wounded in Tripoli, keep in mind that this was not the result of any NATO action, but of Daffy Duck loyalists firing upon their own people. The video footage that I have seen has not shown any shooting violence, instead there has been crowds cheering the opposition forces as they approached Tripoli. Also keep in mind that there was shooting inside the house of Mohammed Gadhafi.

At this point in time the media has not mentioned the whereabouts of Khamis Gadhafi – did he die in Zlitan? Neither has there been any mention of the whereabouts of Saadi Gadhafi, and the exact whereabouts of Daffy Duck is unknown. I think that it is best to ignore any reports that state that three of the Daffy Duck sons are being held, because so far I know of only 2 that have been captured.

Something else that is important here is the context of the people singing out “God is Greatest”. Although we identify this with jihad it is not always the case. During this conflict, there was one incident where a wounded doctor was being stood over by a regime goon (soldier) and the demand was that he acknowledge the greatness of Daffy Duck. The young doctor refused but instead he stated that God is greatest, meaning of course that he owed no such loyalty to Moammar Gadhafi. This is the same kind of context that has to be applied to those Iranians who were shouting from their rooftops as they condemned Khamenei and Ahmanutjob. The context for the Libyans in Tripoli is simply “I believe in God”, and their acknowledgement that God is above man. We know of course that in other circumstances that this context can be distorted. I hope and pray that in the case of the Libyans that they do not take up any jihad against the West.

It is also important to look to the historical context of the whole conflict. In doing so, one gets a hint of the religious background, and especially the loyalty to the former head of Libya, king Idris. This is tied to the Sanusi Army which Idris led during the second world war. The historical context here is that Idris made a deal with the British and the French during the second world war to help defeat the Italians under Mussolini, and in return the British and the French would help liberate them from being a colony of Italy. If you go back in time however, the grandfather of Idris was very much the Islamist, yet Idris was more of a pragmatist. The variant of Islam under the Idris back to his grandfather was the Sanusi school which is a variant of the Sufi Islam, but with a mixture of the Wahibbi school. This historical context helps to explain why those in Benghazi were keen to call upon NATO to help and why they were requesting the implementation of the no-fly zone, but were insisting on a policy of “no foreign boots on the ground” (at least not visible boots).  It has not been the USA who have had people within Libya, it has been the French and the British that have provided guidance to the opposition forces, and who helped to spear head this very tricky operation.

At this point in time I am not covering the assassination of General Younes. There are many questions to be asked about that incident, and still more questions to be asked about the loyalties of Younes – was he in fact a spy working for Daffy Duck? This will be a subject at some future date.

Turning it around

This is one story that I will be watching closely because it fits in with my own theory about economics :). The BBC news reports that government borrowings in the UK have dropped dramatically.

As you will be aware, I actually think that we are either approaching a period of stagflation, or that we are in fact in the middle of a period of stagflation. Since I graduated from university in the middle of the worst period of stagflation in the 1970s, and could not find employment, the issue has always had an impact. More than that, it was at university that I first heard the term stagflation, and it was the first time that any economics lecturers actually came out and hinted that Keynesian economics did not work. However, no one really followed up on the 1970s to discover why we had the stagflation.

As I have watched the world head towards a severe recession, and towards stagflation again, the one phrase that I keep repeating is “it is the 1970s redux”. There is some commonality between what is happening now and what happened in the 1960s and the 1970s. From what I understand, the middle to late 1960s in the USA was the period of the LBJ experiment. It was a big spending era. Richard Nixon had to reign in the spending whilst the Vietnam War was still raging. Please note: Keynes actually wrote that in times of war taxes should be higher but at other times taxes should be lowered. Please keep that in mind, and then research whether or not each successive Congress has stuck to that formula. The mid 1970s was of course the beginning of the Carter disaster. It is also the reason why, on the global level there is that feel of 1970s redux.

Here in Australia, there was a similar pattern to the one in the USA, although the big spending occurred after 1972, and it is my belief that the big spending by the Whitlam Government and the resultant deficit blowout was the cause of the prolongation of that stagflation. Please keep in mind that my belief is just theory, it has to be tested. We have noticed over here that when the ALP is in charge of the government there is a blow-out in spending and in the budget deficit. This time around, when John Howard lost, there was a budget surplus, which was frittered away in less than 12 months by KRUDD, and a massive deficit has occurred under Juliar Dullard (Julia-the Marxist – Gillard). The Gillard government has no legitimacy (watch this space for news on the convoy moving towards Canberra for a big protest next week).

This brings me to the UK where there had been a Labor government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The deficit was also very high when the minority Conservative government (with the help of the LDP) took over. The task of the minority government has been to introduce austerity measures that would bring the deficit under control. This is why the news that government borrowings have been significantly slashed is all important. What we need to watch in the UK is whether or not the slashing of the government borrowings impacts the community in one of two ways: (1) more investment dollars being available for the expansion of business or (2) a worsening of the situation in the UK.  I am actually expecting that there will be a rise in private sector borrowing because more money is available for private sector investment as a result of the reduction in government borrowings. I am expecting that any rise in private sector borrowings will lead to an increase in employment opportunities which will have a flow on effect throughout the economy.

 

Operation Gunwalker – what does the White House know?

Pajamas Media has a good report on the inquiry into Operation Gunwalker. It is hard to accept that the White House knew nothing. In fact there is mounting evidence of involvement at the highest level in the White House.

A new name just leaped out as I was reading this particular report: Janet Napolitano, or as you prefer and I concur, Janet Incompetano. The other name which is of interest is Dennis Burke. He is the one who refused the claim by the family of the dead agent, in order to protect himself. Burke covers for Incompetano… and if you get my drift it would seem that Janet Incompetano is up to her eyeballs in this whole mess.

If Janet Incompetano had anything to do with Operation Gunwalker then there is a good chance that Østupid knew about and approved the changes to the operation.

 

 

The Abominable snowman –

The Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta has ruled that the health mandate is unconstitutional but it claims that the balance of the most abominable act to have been passed by a Democrat Congress is constitutional (which is BS of course). You can read about the ruling here.

“The individual mandate exceeds Congress’s enumerated commerce power and is unconstitutional,” wrote Chief Judge Joel Dubina.

“This economic mandate represents a wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority: the ability to compel Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy, and to make them repurchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives.”

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world/court-deals-blow-to-obama-health-care-law/story-e6frfkyi-1226114174260#ixzz1Uz5v91c5