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One again illustrating that if Cast-iron-promise Cameron gives an assurance on anything at all you can be pretty certain that the exact opposite is the case: HoC 2010 ======== Tory Party Election Manifesto ========================= Just Yesterday ============= Today ===== The European Commission has decided to use the EFSM to provide at least the first slug of money to bail out Greece. As we remain part of it we're in for at least £850M. This, of course, is only a first payment! Where will the money for this latest "surprise" demand come from? Well.. I can only tell you where it won't come from: absolutely none of it will come from the international business and political elites who benefit massively from their seats on the EU gravy train. https://twitter.com/BBCChrisMorris/status/621261291110465536 I think what John Redwood really means is that you can't trust his party leader! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- I invite our Mr Lavery to contribute his views on this. I think he owes his electorate a full explanation of how he stands on matters EU. Silence would strongly indicate that he's being complicit with those in the Westminster bubble. Surely he doesn't want to be seen in the same camp as Duplicitous Dave?!

This one is beyond ordinary politics now. We're into the realms of traditional Teutonic hubris! Remember that they've already installed a puppet government in Italy, and this is clearly intended to set a vivid example to any Eurozone country that is even dreaming of stepping out of line. There's one way in the EU, and it's the German way! Now, let's suppose that the UK doesn't heed all the warnings from all the diverse groups that are urging us to vote NO in the referendum, often for quite different reasons. Let's suppose that Cameron - backed by the Brussels propaganda machine, and international capital - does a Harold Wilson and cons enough wet-behind-the-ears Brits into voting YES. Suppose another Gordon Brown type incompetent precipitates yet another Sterling crisis. Does anyone imagine for one second that we'd get any better treatment then than the Greeks are getting today? We'd be told that our only salvation was to capitulate to the almighty Eurozone, and history would be rewritten to portray our sticking with the pound as a massive strategic error. EU solidarity only works one way; as long as we are a massive contributor we'll continue to be exploited, but should our economy falter again the price of any EU assistance will be total! And, cast your mind just a tiny bit further into the future, to the time Herr Junker gets the EU military he's demanding. Do you suppose the Eurocrats, who now treat the Greek people with such "pure vindictiveness", will hesitate to use it to bring a vassal EU region into line? The referendum is probably the only chance we've got of getting off this slippery slope. Cameron will try to portray the status quo as the safe option. But, that will be another one of his fear and uncertainty plays - just like he exploited fear of the SNP to get elected. As this latest crisis proves, there simply is no status quo - it's Germany's way or no way!

That's electorally unacceptable for Merkel. Things like ability to pay don't enter into the dream world of the EU. No, far better to throw countless more billions away than reveal the huge scale of the current loss to voters.

Actually, you've already got the best and most pragmatic leader in Harriet Harman. To throw her out would be excessively dumb. The Tories are rooting for Corbyn, and electing him will make their day! Liz Kendal will be the biggest vote-getter for Labour, but that would help Ukip a lot too! Guess you are all set to do the wrong thing again: the inadequate, nonsense-talking, Burnham.

Well.. it appears he didn't listen. The result isn't going to be pretty, and ultimately far worse than a clean drop-out from the Euro. From current reports he seems to have done entirely the opposite of his referendum mandate. I suppose it was far too much to expect clarity of thought from a can-have-it-all-ways leftie! Will the deal hold together? Will the Greek people swallow it? Probably NO on both counts. The certainties: Tsipras is gone in no time as his coalition (and likely own party) self-destructs. Merkel will be gone with time too; that's if the deal holds up, and German voters get the chance to see what she has let them in for. The irony being that Greek civil unrest might rescue Merkel from her own cupidity.

Labour does have a real threat to Cameron (but not necessarily to his party)!

China is really amusing: here we have a "communist" government desperately trying to save a nation of budding little capitalists from the direct consequences of their own actions! Paradoxical? Not really; that's the way "the left" always operates. It's a total failure to appreciate that removing "moral imperative" may be good for a few votes, but it teaches people all the wrong lessons about markets, so ultimately impoverishes. We don't need to look very far from here - to the nation of "more free stuff" - to see the consequences of this panning out.

Excuse, but I didn't say we were only hearing one side of the story. What I said was that we are only - as always - hearing what the EU wants us to hear. These things are by no means equivalent. Firstly, there aren't two sides of the story; there are several sides. Secondly, virtually none of the principals is particularly forthcoming with what they truly believe. Most of it is smoke and mirrors, and the media is cheerfully regurgitating it through a EU filter. Just like the post-democratic EU delivers an illusion of being democratic, it also sets careful limits on the range of though. It's the same sort of group think that pops up in other aspects of modern life, and has an Orwellian aspect to it. The true outpouring of feelings is yet to come, and it won't be pretty. The EU myth of harmony, cooperation, "peace-in-our-time", etc. is going to degenerate into an almighty slanging match - one which will touch, and mould the opinions of, generations yet unborn. The simple fact is that the EU is destroying Europe! Any mature, historically-aware, rational person who believes in Europe and its peoples can not support the EU. There's no point still pretending that a bit of adjustment here or there is all that is needed. The core concept of the intimate political union of peoples differing so much in their approaches to life - sold to previous generations on a barefaced lie - is fundamentally rotten!

He has, of course, already decided to do this, and that it's the only way to save his country. But, doesn't want to be accused of precipitating Grexit when the Germans are lined up to do the job for him. Virtually all we are hearing on the media is what the EU propaganda machine wants us to hear, and total guff! Both sides want Greece out of the EZ - it's just a matter of who gets to shoulder the blame.

Nothing to say about the budget Tony? I'd offer that a discussion about who leads the Labour Party now is about as relevant as a White Star Line board meeting to decide on a replacement for Captain E.J. Smith!

Microsoft to cut 7,800 jobs, take $7.6B charge as phone woes drag on http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-reportedly-plans-another-major-round-of-job-cuts/ Bye bye Ballmer; bye bye Elop - you were both utter disasters, and totally undeserving of your obscene remunerations! There is hope for (real) Windows in the mobile phone space though, once Intel starts shipping 14nm Atoms with on chip LTE. Only then will Microsoft have the leverage to acquire real market share. The proposition of phones that run desktop code at decent speeds will be the game changer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/521441.stm Those must by my pix they used, and I don't ever remember cashing a royalty cheque! Foxy would have an answer to that problem though.

New(ish) Matrox Graphics cards. Read about them at Tom's Hardware.

The BBC get around that one by selective reporting. i.e. always inviting their Guardinista friends in for interview, whilst only paying lip service to (or in the case of "global warming" and the EU, totally excluding) contrary views and evidence. bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK has become bringing the UK to the EU and the EU to the UK! Merc, if what you say is correct then it's time to tear up the Charter and start again. Now seems to be just the time to do it, And, if the people like Smudge, who think the TV Tax is excellent value for money, don't want change, then the 75% of people who don't want to pay it (under threat of being criminalised) should be relieved of the threat. The minority will doubtless cheerfully shell out £600 right away, and progressively more as their numbers drop off.

A new article that pretty much sums up today's BBC: The BBC is in a fog of groupthink and can't see how biased it is If you can't be bothered to read the lot then at least skip forward to: 3. What the BBC never tells us about 'Europe'

If he ever had a motto:

Definite case for banning the burka in public places there!

Hi pilgrim! I'm not sure what you are saying here. You ask "would it really make all that difference if ALL debts in the Eurozone were wiped out and we started again??" And you go on to say it wouldn't. Then - somehow - that's an argument for a single currency! Greece is fine on a day to day basis. They can pay their way. It's the crippling interest and debt payment they can't afford. They are paying interest on interest on interest... and they are borrowing to pay interest from the very people they owe to. Go try that one on your bank manager. In fact go visit wonga.com (that ultra responsible lender! ) and what will you see on their homepage: You shouldn't use our loans to manage existing debt. Hey, great advice IMF and ECB; contract Wonga to vet your loan book, they sound a lot more responsible people than your astronomically-paid international bankers! Most of the other Southern Eurozone countries are in the same boat, and Italy's relatively giant economy is in an irrecoverable debt spiral, where they will certainly be in the same position as Greece in three or four years, unless they drop out of the Euro before then. Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi arrived at this conclusion in late 2011, and the Eurocrats immediately had him replaced with an unelected Brussels puppet! Does all this still sound like "a very good argument to justify the single currency" to you? It sounds like a total surrender of democracy, and subjugation to a foreign power to me. The Greeks aren't going there, and, whether they are nominally communists, or fascists, or Martians, they should have the support of every freedom-loving person on the planet!

Not with this government Malc Varofakis is a smart cookie, I've been reading all his stuff for a while now, and he's into "game theory". If the (b|w)ankers had read it they'd not be allowing themselves to be strung along whilst the ECB pours more billions out. On the other hand it's not "in the manual", which makes it impossible tor the Germans to come up with a counter. The only way for Greece is default. Even the IMF seems to be able to see that they are simply digging a deeper hole, but the Fourth Reich is back to Teutonic bunker mentality. It's easy to see how the whole EU political project will end: tears, hostility, and recriminations all around. Rather than unite Europe it's going to reinforce traditional suspicions and downright hatreds. Other trading areas around the world are doing far better, because they had the good sense to dispense with most of the political baggage. Centralist command driven economies don't work, and essentially that's what the EU is. It's simply not possible to "reform" it; we need to start again with a clean slate, or simply commit ourselves fully to the WTO!

Full article: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/europe-knows-greece-will-be-better-off-exiting-the-eurozone-2015-06-16/ One to recall when the EU propaganda machine goes into full swing for the referendum! And.. we all know it's true because the UK is consistently outperforming the EuroZone; this contrary to all those scare stories about what would happen to us if we didn't abandon the pound. Just think how much better we'd be off if we didn't have all the drag of the EU bureaucracy, and weren't consistently paying out huge sums to prop up the failing EuroZone!

Your ISP (or your own computer or router) is caching the old IP address. This changed a good while back now and most places worldwide will see the updated one. I'm PM'ing you a link, and will send you details on how to locate the camera the next time this happens for you. We now have a fixed IP for the camera, but it isn't currently being used..

How can a white girl spend her life trying to pass off as "African-American"?! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11670528/White-woman-posed-as-black-civil-rights-leader-in-years-long-deception.html Some might say that this is because Western society now awards more "brownie" points (oops! pun unintended) to "ethnic" people than natives, but personally I don't think that that's a major factor. What I do think is that this sort of thing - in a milder, less physical sort of way - is not at all uncommon on the extreme political left. Interesting to hear Syms views on this anyway.

A timely piece: http://www.ukip.org/bbc_must_disclose_its_22m_plus_interest_in_britain_s_continued_membership_of_the_eu