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Part One – News Review and Investigative ReportsLiz Truss will freeze the fuel cap at £2,500, at a cost “to the taxpayer” of £180bn, when we could buy BP outright for £90bn bringing a recurrent benefit to the taxpayer of £13bn per annum (based on 2021 BP profits). So why won’t she bring BP into public ownership? says Esther Giles, suspended Labour Party activist , who joins Tony and Martin. Liz Truss’s energy price guarantee replacing the green levies and energy price cap – deal speech – on the same day the Queen died. Kier Starmer’s reply – energy companies not made to pay. Privatisation since Thatcher. How and what to renationalise. Gas storage facilities. 12 problems in the small print of Liz Truss’s plan to cap your energy bills this winterThe new Prime Minister unveiled plans to limit energy bills from rising above £2,500 a year for most Brits. But there are plenty of nasty details hidden in the small print Poor people on pre-paid meters will still be rinsed for cash People on pre-paid meters will have their bills capped too but still pay more than someone paying by direct debit. Paying by direct debit is already cheaper for households as it costs less for firms to bill users for their energy. Essentially, it’s more effort for suppliers to charge people using a pay as you go system, who tend to be poorer than direct debit customers. The Government is changing the fixed unit price for energy for everyone under the new plans, so you are billed per unit of gas or electricity you use. The North loses over the South Government officials believe your bills will work out at £3,300 a year for the average detached house. That falls to £2,650 for semi-detached, £2,450 for end-of-terraces, £2,350 for mid-terraces, £2,450 for bungalows. For converted flats the average is expected to be £1,950 and for purpose-built flats it’s set to be £1,750. A £500,000 home in London is generally a flat whereas a £500,000 home in the north east can be detached and have several bedrooms. This means generally poorer people in larger, northern, colder homes will pay more than those in flats in the south. The north of England is also, of course, colder. The energy crisis has been hitting household billsEnergy giants get to keep their massive profits Liz Truss has refused to impose a new windfall tax on energy producers – called for by Labour. That means they will be able to sail on with excess profits of up to £170bn over two years. Tory allies of Ms Truss argue that higher profits mean more corporation tax, by cash. But Ms Truss is cancelling a big planned rise in corporation tax next year. And all the while, the costs of subsidising huge wholesale prices will be added to the national debt. Dr George Dibb of the IPPR think tank said: “It is morally indefensible that these profits are underwritten by the state whilst households carry the burden and continue to struggle with high prices.” David Robinson of Wildcat Law said: “Make no mistake, the biggest beneficiaries of this will be the energy companies and their shareholders.” UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The companies raking in billions from soaring energy costs should pay their share.”
https://twitter.com/VoteEsther/status/1567832720318816258
So it’s official, then. On Wednesday, on her first full day in office just before the death of the Queen froze all public-facing political activity for at least a week and a half Liz Truss addressed the UK’s devastating energy bill crisis, which threatens to hurl two-thirds of the country into fuel poverty, and to bankrupt all small- to medium-sized businesses, as well as public sector organisations like the NHS, schools, universities and charities, by capping domestic energy bills at £2,500 a year until 2024, stemming the rise to £3,549 that was to take place on October 1, and which was forecast to rise to an almost unimaginable £5,400 a year in January. – This will still be a nightmare for poorer families who, lest we forget, make up at least half the population because last winter average bills were £1,277 a year, and even now people are struggling with the cap set at £1,971 a year, but what makes the announcement so poisonous, whilst appearing to be the act of a saviour, is that it will be funded not through a windfall tax on the estimated £176 billion in obscene and completely unearned profits of the oil and gas companies who have benefitted from the eleven-fold increase in gas prices since 2019, but by transferring the cost onto taxpayers. Do you see how disgusting and disgraceful this policy is? Truss is refusing to tax the grotesque profits of the oil and gas companies, and is instead proposing to borrow at least £100 billion and maybe more to compensate them for their losses through the cap that is necessary to prevent the total collapse of the British economy, and then making us pay it back in increased bills over the next ten to 20 years, in other words, increased bills every month into the 2030s or even the 2040s simply to preserve the energy companies’ monstrous windfall profits. The shameful unfairness of this ought to spark an instant revolution, but my fear is that the British public, punch-drunk after decades of being told that any criticism of corporate profiteering is morally wrong, will put up with it, grateful that unthinkable disaster has been avoided.
Food costs are also coming down every month and Vladimir Putin’s people are partying as if there is no war. After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Boris Johnson vowed that Western sanctions would “hobble the Russian economy”. In March, Liz Truss as Foreign Secretary announced 65 sanctions and fiercely declared: “Putin should be under no illusions. We are united with our allies and will keep tightening the screw on the Russian economy to help ensure he fails in Ukraine. There will be no let-up.” But six months on, while we are paying the price for the invasion with a crippling cost-of-living crisis, locals in Moscow are upbeat. It is not surprising. Despite claims they would face a severe food shortage, shoppers in Pyaterochka, Russia’s answer to Tesco, load their trolleys high with groceries half the price of ours. In August the price of food in the UK rose at its fastest rate since the economic crash in 2008, jumping to 10.5 per cent compared to the year before. In July, food inflation had accelerated to 9.3 per cent as the war in Ukraine and consequent rise in the price of animal feed, fertiliser, wheat and vegetable oils placed mounting pressure on prices. But it is a very different picture in Moscow where, since the start of the year, the price of food has dropped 11.3 per cent. CASH-RICH COUNTRY Explaining how Russia had managed to buck the trend, strategy specialist Professor Michael Clarke said: “Their government has the cash right now to subsidise food, and as long as they have oil and energy money, they can keep subsiding. “But what the price of energy will be next year is anybody’s guess. It will get a lot harder for them from next year onwards. “At some point I believe their economy will be in very bad shape, either next year or the year after. “But that depends on the price of energy. “The rouble is doing OK because they are making people only buy and sell using the rouble. That will keep the currency strong for a while.” Russian shoppers are barely feeling the impact of financial sanctions imposed on the countryCredit: East2West But the visiting professor at the University of Exeter warned of pain to come, adding: “Sanctions were always a long-term policy. “Russia is a cash-rich country because of energy prices and that will be the case probably until this time next year.
FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron is facing a staggering bill of £8.2billion in order to nationalise EDF, with reports warning that even bigger problems lie ahead. The French Government has agreed to buy the state-backed energy company EDF at about 12€ (£10.2) per share, as the country is set to buy out the remaining 16 percent of EDF that’s not already state-owned. For Mr Macron, this has put the total cost of nationalisation of the debt-ridden energy firm at €9.7billion (£8.2billion). According to the French finance ministry, this deal would represent a premium of 53 percent to the closing price of July 5, before the government announced the planned nationalisation, adding that the overall value of the buyout offer totalled 9.7 billion euros (£8.2billion). The French government is set to buy out major shareholders including Blackrock, Thornburg Investment Management and Vanguard, and purchase €2.4billion of convertible bonds. Earlier this month, France’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced that Paris would increase its ownership of the company from 84 percent to 100 would give allow them to restructure the debt-laden energy company, while dealing with a major energy crisis. EDF, which owns nuclear power plants in both France and the UK, is one of Europe’s biggest utilities and is a critical aspect of Mr Macron’s energy strategy, as France relies on nuclear power for 70 percent of its electricity. However, in recent years the company has been burdened with immense debt, nuclear reactor flaws and cost overruns on nuclear plants in France and Britain that reach in the billions of euros. For months, analysts have speculated that Mr Macron would be forced to announce plans to nationalise EDF amidst the various crises the company is facing. Rating agency Fitch hailed the move, calling it a positive development for the company that it will simplify decision-making. This plan could also help Mr Macron roll out ambitious measures to slash consumer energy bills with the fear of backlash from investors. Now that Mr Macron has complete ownership of EDF, he will have to tackle a more significant issue to solving France’s energy crisis, as over half of EDF’s ageing nuclear reactors have gone offline in the past few months. Experts have previously warned Mr Macron of significant corrosion safety problems in EDF nuclear power plants in France as cracks were detected in some nuclear reactors. Speaking to Express.co.uk, Dr Bernard Laponche, the co-author of a recent study on EDF’s reactors warned that cracks in the cooling systems of many of these reactors could result in horrifying disasters that are only comparable to events like “Three Mile Island or Fukushima”. As a result of these corrosion problems, four 1500 MW, seven 1300 MW and one 900 MW reactors are shut down. As a result of these reactor shut downs, EDF has been forced to lower its power output this year, amidst fears of a disastrous winter where fears grow Vladimir Putin could cut Europe off its gas supply. According to Dr Dorfman, it will cost France 100billion euros (£85billion) to repair France’s ageing reactors. Dr Laponche also warned that more reactor shutdowns could happen in the future, as EDF power stations are currently under investigation for similar reactor flaws. EDF is currently responsible for building the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset. The station was previously set to come online in 2026 but has since been delayed due to Covid-19. Following the delay, EDF announced that the new nuclear power station will operate a year later than planned and cost an additional £3billion.
www.andyworthington.co.uk My Reflections on Guantánamo and the 21st Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks –The Associated Press recently reported on the failure to successfully prosecute the men accused of involvement in the 9/11 attacks, quoting David Kelley, “a former US attorney in New York who co-chaired the Justice Department’s nationwide investigation into the attacks,” who “called the delays and failure to prosecute ‘an awful tragedy for the families of the victims,’” noting that the decision to try to prosecute the men in a military commission, rather than a US court, was “a tremendous failure” that was “as offensive to our Constitution as to our rule of law,” and was “a tremendous blemish on the country’s history.” Sadly, however, in discussing the torture to which those allegedly responsible for the 9/11 attacks Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other men were subjected, the AP slipped into the kinds of euphemistic descriptions of torture that have, throughout the whole sorry saga of the “war on terror,” blighted a true understanding of how horrendous the US’s response to 9/11 was. As the AP described it, “CIA operatives subjected them to enhanced interrogation techniques that were tantamount to torture, human rights groups say,” adding that “Mohammed was waterboarded made to feel that he was drowning 183 times.” Just to confirm what actually happened, the techniques used were torture, not “tantamount to torture,” and it is not just human rights groups who assert that unarguable fact, and waterboarding is a form of drowning, which can lead to death, not an exercise in which those subjected to it are “made to feel that [they are] drowning.” Perhaps there will eventually be something that resembles justice when it comes to these men. The AP article quoted James Connell, one of the attorneys for Ammar al-Baluchi, one of the five, who “confirmed reports both sides are still ‘attempting to reach a pretrial agreement’ that could … avoid a trial and result in lesser but still lengthy sentences.” This is as reassuring as any news regarding these men can be, because plea deals are the only viable way out of the mire of the torture-tainted military commissions.
In this Friday, Dec. 10, 2010 file photo, Pakistani tribal villagers hold a rally to condemn U. S. drone attacks on their villages in border areas along the Afghanistan border, in Islamabad, Pakistan. President Barack Obama’s decision announced Thursday, May 23, 2013, to impose more restrictive rules governing U.S. drone strikes and his prediction that they will be used less could pave the way for better relations with key ally Pakistan as a new government takes power. Obama fell short of Pakistani demands to announce an end to the attacks altogether in a landmark speech, but his comments were seen as addressing some of the country’s main concerns over the CIA program. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash, File) Farooq Siddique explains what Imran Khan achieved as President of Pakistan in a few years, how he was ousted by a no confidence vote after his Ukraine policies weren’t approved of, and how he has now become very popular. Faruk also explains how the floods in Pakistan have been seen as an act of God for the bad treatment of Khan – and how appalling the present government’s response to floods has been. Pakistan: Imran Khan supporters prevent police from arresting him Imran Khan addressed a rally at the weekend at which he criticised the police’s detention of an aide. Supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan gathered around his home on Monday to prevent police from arresting their leader, who has been charged under anti-terror laws. Hundreds of supporters of the cricketer-turned-politician assembled outside his hilltop mansion in the capital city of Islamabad on Monday, vowing to “take over” if he was arrested. – – – – –
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan accused the government of temporarily blocking YouTube in the country on Sunday evening to prevent people from listening live to a speech he gave at a political rally. The accusation came after Pakistan’s electronic media regulator late on Saturday announced a ban on the live airing of Khan’s speeches because of what it called his “hate speech” against state institutions. “Imported govt blocked YouTube midway through my speech,” Khan said on Twitter. A spokesman for the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, which regulates the internet in the country, did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment. Khan has been pushing for new elections in Pakistan after being ousted from power in April through a parliamentary vote. He has been delivering fiery speeches at gatherings across the country. ‘Provocative statements’ “Mr. Imran Khan… in his speeches/statements is continuously … leveling baseless allegations and spreading hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions,” the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said in its statement on Saturday. PEMRA said it was, with immediate effect, prohibiting news channels from broadcasting his speeches live, but said recorded speeches could be aired. Khan’s speeches were “prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order and likely to disturb public peace and tranquility”, PEMRA added. Khan has targeted a number of state institutions, including the government, the police and the country’s powerful army. Khan’s party had said shortly after Saturday’s television ban it would go live on “500+ YouTube and Facebook channels.” Pakistan’s Imran Khan calls for early elections after thumping However, many social media users around Pakistan reported problems in accessing YouTube when Khan was about to address a gathering on Sunday evening in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Khan said in his speech on Sunday that he was being censored for not accepting the current coalition government which had voted him out of power. The television ban came a day after Khan hurled threats against Islamabad’s police chief and a female judge for what he claimed was the arrest and alleged torture of his close aide who is facing sedition charges. His aide had called on lower and middle ranks of the military to defy orders from the top brass. On Sunday Islamabad police booked Khan for threatening police officials and a judicial magistrate under sections of the anti-terrorism act.
ISLAMABAD – Following weeks of high drama and controversy that have racked the nation, Imran Khan has been removed from office. The Pakistani prime minister suffered a vote of no confidence and a loss in the supreme court, ending his rule after less than four years. Coalition partners abandoned him, leaving his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in the minority. The cricket-star-turned-political-leader had been warning for some weeks that a foreign power – assumed to be the United States – was seeking to overthrow him because of his independent foreign policy, which saw Pakistan grow closer to Russia and China. Then, in a long public address on April 8, he directly named Washington as a prime instigator in the regime-change conspiracy, accusing the U.S. of bribing his political allies with tens of millions of dollars to desert his coalition. He described the practice as “open horse trading” and the “selling of lawmakers like goats and sheep.” Khan singled out Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu as the mastermind of the operation. “It was an official meeting between Donald Lu and our ambassador, with notetakers,” he said, sharing a diplomatic cable from Pakistani Ambassador to the United States Asad Majeed, in which he claimed Lu had essentially threatened his country with a coup if it did not immediately change course. In contrast, if Khan were deposed, “all will be forgiven” and Pakistan could return to its status as a favored U.S. ally. Khan then invited several journalists, members of his cabinet, and security agents to view the document. However, the Islamabad High Court immediately blocked the public dissemination of the cable on the grounds that Khan would be breaking his secrecy oath.
Killing of Bin Laden in Abbotabad – Polio vaccines given as a cover to collect DNA.
Putin’s speech at the Eastern Economic Forum. CIA interfering in the world. Maidan Square massacre, Ukraine – court case thrown out.
Part Two – Ukraine/Sudden Death of Queen Elizabeth II Reports is mercenary training support to foreign governments, but unlike security assistance, FID may include U.S. military operations as well as other forms of non-military aid. FID “involves application of the instruments of U.S. national power in support of a foreign nation confronted by threats,” according to a new U.S. Army manual that explores the issue in depth. See Foreign Internal Defense, Army Techniques Publication (ATP) 3-05.2, August 19, 2015. “FID may include financial, intelligence, and law enforcement assistance” as well as military support in some cases. “The fundamental goal is to prevent a downward spiral of instability by forestalling and defeating threats and by working to correct conditions that may prompt violence.”
“I’d have to categorize the people in the International Legion by ethnic groups,” he said. “The Polish people who come, they see this as an extension of the defense of their own country. They see Ukraine as their backyard. And probably 3000-something Euros a month is a good salary for them. So, you add those factors up, and you have a lot of Polish people. “The other Europeans, in general, are a mixed bag. You have some people who miss military service. You have a lot of people who are just lost, they fucked up a lot in their lives, and they see joining the International Legion as a way to redeem themselves. “And then there are the people from Latin America. They’re motivated by money. From a Colombian’s perspective…they’re pretty well-known for being mercenaries abroad. They’re making way more money fighting for Ukraine than they could dream of making in their own country.”
This is not the description of a judo hold, but a plan against Russia elaborated by the Rand Corporation, the most influential think tank in the USA. With a staff of thousands of experts, Rand presents itself as the world’s most reliable source for Intelligence and political analysis for the leaders of the United States and their allies. The Rand Corp prides itself on having contributed to the elaboration of the long-term strategy which enabled the United States to win the Cold War, by forcing the Soviet Union to consume its own economic resources in the strategic confrontation. It is this model which was the inspiration for the new plan, Overextending and Unbalancing Russia, published by Rand [1]. According to their analysts, Russia remains a powerful adversary for the United States in certain fundamental sectors. To handle this opposition, the USA and their allies will have to pursue a joint long-term strategy which exploits Russia’s vulnerabilities. So Rand analyses the various means with which to unbalance Russia, indicating for each the probabilities of success, the benefits, the cost, and the risks for the USA. Rand analysts estimate that Russia’s greatest vulnerability is that of its economy, due to its heavy dependency on oil and gas exports. The income from these exports can be reduced by strengthening sanctions and increasing the energy exports of the United States. The goal is to oblige Europe to diminish its importation of Russian natural gas, and replace it by liquefied natural gas transported by sea from other countries. Another way of destabilising the Russian economy in the long run is to encourage the emigration of qualified personnel, particularly young Russians with a high level of education. In the ideological and information sectors, it would be necessary to encourage internal contestation and at the same time, to undermine Russia’s image on the exterior, by excluding it from international forums and boycotting the international sporting events that it organises. In the geopolitical sector, arming Ukraine would enable the USA to exploit the central point of Russia’s exterior vulnerability, but this would have to be carefully calculated in order to hold Russia under pressure without slipping into a major conflict, which it would win. In the military sector, the USA could enjoy high benefits, with low costs and risks, by increasing the number of land-based troops from the NATO countries working in an anti-Russian function. The USA can enjoy high probabilities of success and high benefits, with moderate risks, especially by investing mainly in strategic bombers and long-range attack missiles directed against Russia.
Addressing the event on Friday in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded the increasing influence of countries outside the West. “Our integration is of a non-bloc nature, and we offer assistance in solving energy and food problems that emerge in the world, arising from a number of systemic mistakes in leading global economies in the area of finance and energy,” TASS quoted him as saying. “Hopefully, other participants in economic cooperation will build their policy on the same principles as well, and stop using the tools of protectionism, illegal sanctions and economic egoism opportunistically,” the Russian president added. “The growing role of new centers of power who cooperate with each other… is becoming more and more clear,” Putin added. The summit marked the first face-to-face meeting between Putin and Xi since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, and also the Chinese leader’s first trip abroad since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Raeisi calls on SCO to confront US unilateralism through new apPresident Xi also urged regional countries to reshape the international system and “abandon zero-sum games and bloc politics.” He noted that leaders should “work together to promote the development of the international order in a more just and rational direction.” The SCO – made up of China, India, Pakistan, Russia, and the ex-Soviet Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – was set up in 2001 as a political, economic and security organization to rival Western institutions. SCO declaration and Iran’s accession At the end of the summit, member states released a declaration saying a memorandum of Iran’s commitments was signed for the purpose of the country’s accession to the SCO as a full-fledged member-state. Iran and the organization started a formal process for Tehran’s accession to the bloc in March. Iran’s membership in the body was later approved by the Iranian administration. At its 21st summit in Tajikistan’s capital city of Dushanbe in September 2021, the SCO approved documents for Iran’s full membership in the Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance. In a tweet on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian announced that he had signed a memorandum of commitment to join the organization.
In a press conference on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia “reserves the right to defend its territory.” “If Washington decides to supply longer-range missiles to Kiev, then it will be crossing a red line, and will become a direct party to the conflict,” she warned. Russia began its “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, with a declared aim of “demilitarizing” Donbas, which is made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk self-proclaimed republics. Back in 2014, the two republics, which are predominantly Russian-speaking, broke away from Ukraine, prompting Kiev to launch a bloody war against both regions. The years-long conflict has killed more than 14,000 people, mostly in the Donbas. Since the onset of the ongoing conflict between the two countries, the United States and its European allies have unleashed an array of unprecedented sanctions against Russia and poured numerous batches of advanced weapons in Ukraine to help its military fend off the Russian troops, despite repeated warnings by the Kremlin that such measures will only prolong the war. The US has already provided Kiev with advanced rockets capable of hitting targets up to 80 kilometers away, while so far refusing to publicly announce it would send rockets with more than double that range. Since the beginning of the war, the US has been providing Kiev with military aid, including at least 16 HIMARS systems, four of which arrived in August. HIMARS is a light multiple-rocket launcher that can hit targets with precision. It is capable of launching all rockets specified in the Multiple Launch Rocket System Family of Munitions (MFOM).Its manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, says the system has a “recognized and proven range” of up to 300 kilometers. While Kiev implores for more Western weapons, Moscow says it sent troops to prevent Ukraine being used as a platform for Western aggression and to defend Russian speakers in Donbas. Russian President Vladimir Putin has time and again said the US is prolonging the war in Ukraine as part of what he called Washington’s efforts to maintain its global hegemony.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed the discovery of the burial site containing some 440 bodies in his address to the country on Thursday night. A regional police official said earlier that some of those killed had died in shelling or air raids. “The necessary procedures have already begun there. More information – clear, verifiable information – should be available tomorrow,” said Zelenskyy, who had visited Izyum on Wednesday. Journalists who travelled to the site described hundreds of graves marked with simple wooden crosses among the trees. A larger grave bore a marker saying it contained the bodies of 17 Ukrainian soldiers, according to the Associated Press news agency. Investigators were using metal detectors to look for any hidden explosives. “I can say it is one of the largest burial sites in a big town in liberated [areas] … 440 bodies were buried in one place,” Serhiy Bolvinov, the chief police investigator for the Kharkiv region, told the United Kingdom’s Sky News. “Some died because of artillery fire … some died because of air strikes.”
Death of the Queen – King Charles III’s first speech. ‘I believe In Angels’. She did, but does he? Many viewers were deeply moved by the new king’s powerful words, but some were left wondering what the meaning was behind his final line. “And to my darling Mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late Papa, I want simply to say this: thank you,” he stated. Thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years. “May ‘flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest’.” So what exactly does that mean? King Charles was actually quoting from William Shakespeare’s epic play Hamlet. In the final scene of the tragedy, almost every character lies dead on the stage and the titular character is dying in his friend Horatio’s arms. When Hamlet passes, Horatio is left alone with bodies all around and looks down to his friend to say an iconic line. “Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,” says Horatio, before adding: “And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” The famous line is frequently used by people to express their respect when someone dies . In the rest of his address, the King made William and Kate the Prince and Princess of Wales, much earlier than was expected. His Majesty referred to the new roles and titles now given to members of the family, confirming Camilla would serve has his Queen Consort. On William and Kate, he said: “As my Heir, William now assumes the Scottish titles which have meant so much to me. “He succeeds me as Duke of Cornwall and takes on the responsibilities for the Duchy of Cornwall which I have undertaken for more than five decades. Today, I am proud to create him Prince of Wales, Tywysog Cymru, the country whose title I have been so greatly privileged to bear during so much of my life and duty.”
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People lay flowers in tribute to late queen at Buckingham Palace and other royal sites across United Kingdom. Thousands of people have gathered across the United Kingdom to pay tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II, as her son Charles ascends to the throne amid a wave of global mourning. People flocked to Buckingham Palace in London and other royal sites on Friday as the royal family was preparing funeral services for the United Kingdom’s longest-serving monarch. Queen Elizabeth died “peacefully” on Thursday at age 96 after reigning as sovereign for more than 70 years, Buckingham Palace said. Despite her advanced age, some expressed shock at the death of the head of state. “I think there really was that whole sense of, ‘Oh, we’ll have her forever.’ And unfortunately, that’s not been the case,” a mourner told Al Jazeera outside of Buckingham Palace. “And I think we’ll really miss her, wish she could have carried on longer.”
A period of mourning is for grief or quiet contemplation, but that hasn’t quite been the way of it. Instead, beneath the dignity and pomp, a kind of panic clutches a very large part of society. What’s the right thing to do in these 12 long days? The mourning police are watching you. I doubt any of this is willed by the royal family, or would have been by the late Queen, who made her own funeral plans. But it exposes the nature of Britain’s bullying culture as its intimidators hunt out any victim they can find. Fear of the Daily Mail, the Sun, the Telegraph, GBNews or TalkTV shockjocks and their social media followers has frightened common sense out of a great swathe of organisations. Center Parcs decided to evict all its guests on funeral day, until sanity prevailed. The Premier League bent over, but golf and cricket, perhaps more class-confident, carried on. Politicians are the most frightened of uttering a single word out of place, so they fall silent in the depths of a cost of living crisis, despite a chancellor reportedly planning to end the cap on bankers’ bonuses and Liz Truss offering an energy bills support package that will barely touch the sides of many people’s spiral into poverty. Even so, political presenter Adam Boulton tweeted that it was worth asking the question: “Why are MPs and their hangers on boozing away on the terrace as our sovereign lies in Westminster Hall?” One moment of unalloyed joy came from the much-mocked video of GBNews’s Dan Wootton performatively laying flowers at Buckingham Palace. Strikers and Extinction Rebellion dared not continue their protests. Hospital appointments and funerals were cancelled as a “mark of respect”. I hear of even internal meetings nonsensically stopped across public and private sectors lest some sneak report them to the self-appointed inquisition. Charities have sought panicky advice: any misstep is particularly dangerous to their reputation.
www.richieallen.co.uk Leaky pen irks King Charles during signing ceremonyBritain’s King Charles vented his frustration at a leaky pen on Tuesday during a signing ceremony in Northern Ireland, the second time in recent days he has shown visible irritation during such proceedings. Charles, visiting Northern Ireland as part of a tour of the United Kingdom to lead mourning for his mother Queen Elizabeth, was greeted by cheering crowds and welcoming speeches, before delivering his own pledge to the region. Shortly after, when signing a visitors’ book in front of cameras at Hillsborough Castle near Belfast, Charles reacted in frustration when a pen he was using leaked on his hand. “Oh god I hate this (pen)!” Charles said, standing up and handing the pen to his wife and Queen Consort Camilla. “Oh look, it’s going everywhere,” Camilla said as Charles wiped his fingers. “I can’t bear this bloody thing… every stinking time,” Charles said as he walked away. Speaking before he was made king, one former aide told Reuters Charles could be fun, but was also short-tempered and demanding. On Saturday when signing documents in London, an irritated Charles gestured for aides to help when a pen holder on the table got in his way. When completing the documents on Tuesday he also used the wrong date, before checking with an aide who told him it was Sept 13, not Sept. 12.
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June 2022: Discomfort during celebrations On June 3, a day after thrilling crowds on the first day of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Queen pulled out of a celebration at St Paul’s Cathedral. This was due to suffering ‘discomfort’ during the previous day’s celebrations The decision was considered regrettable, it is understood, but sensible due to the length of the journey, the time involved and the physical demands of the event. She went on to miss many other Platinum Jubilee events, making only two public appearances.
BBC TV news video of a Balmoral policeman making a Masonic ‘Eye of Horus’ salute as King Charles’ car enters the estate – The all-seeing eye is a powerful esoteric symbol which is widely misunderstood and misused today, being known as a symbol that’s associated with the “illuminati” and dark sinister forces. Humanity is losing its precious symbology… It was originally symbolic of a higher spiritual power, a watchful caretaker of humanity or an awakened spiritual part within. In ancient Egypt, the all-seeing eye was known as the Eye of Horus. This was a symbol of protection, healing and restoration. The symbol was frequently used in jewelry made of gold, silver, lapis, wood, porcelain, and carnelian, to ensure the safety and health of the bearer and provide wisdom and prosperity. As for the pyramid, it’s symbolic of the shape of the human chakra. The missing capstone represents the unfinished work on the soul and the all-seeing eye represents the gnosis and all-knowing when one reaches godhead. The Eye of Horus seems to have a connection to the human brain and pineal gland, which is oftentimes referred to as “the seat of the soul,” and will remain dormant until the human soul reaches a certain spiritual level. Once this is attained, the gland is activated by the light of the higher self, signaling the divine energies from the kundalini to rise, hence activating the human chakra system. In ancient Egypt the Eye of Horus was broken into six basic components, each representing a different sense: smell, touch, taste, hearing, sight and thought. The thalamus is the part of the human brain which translates all incoming signals from our senses. The average person only uses 5-10% of their mind power, because of Christianity and its related programs that teach spiritual power and knowledge is “evil.”
Recorded in Simferapol, Crimea Friday 07 March 2014 – I declare to those who will watch this information, Mr. Turchynov, Mr. Yatsenyuk, Mr. Tyahnybok, and others like them, I declare it openly and I know it for a fact. That they’re sponsored agents of the Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] of the USA. Moreover Mr Yatsenyuk is the forst deputy head of a Masonic lodge in Ukraine. And the Master of the Masonic lodge, if somebody doesn’t know, is Mr. [Viktor] Pinchuk, a brother-in-arms of Mr Kuchma. And all these lies that took place and all the commands. Mr Yanukovich is just a puppet in the hands of Mr. Pinchuk, Kuchma, and Kravchuk. They’re the ones who sold him. They were the ones who gave him commands not to, whether to put forth Berkut [riot police], whether not to put forth Berkut, whether to let them storm, whether not to let them storm, And when in the end people were allowed to take up arms. They were despicably betrayed. Primarily this is the work of Mr Kravchuk and Mr Kuchma. This is their work. Because, unknown to most, that Mr Kuchma, after the so-called victory of the [2004/5] Orange Revolution, wasn’t touched, thank to Mr Pinchuk. The Americans returned him the money. That is they withdrew the arrest of his accounts and now he lives his peaceful life. And the fact that after they sold Mr Yanukovich..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTWpOADZPGk
The Queen’s grandfather, King George V, passed away when he was 70 years old, following his falling ill in 1936 at Sandringham House, Norfolk. The year before, the King – who had five sons and a daughter – had celebrated his silver jubilee. Prior to his death, the King was receiving treatment from his doctor, Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn and physician to the Royal Family. During a Channel 5 documentary called George V: The Tyrant King – first aired in 2020 – Lord Dawson’s notes were examined. In his diary, it reveals he assisted in the King’s death at 11pm on Janurary 20, 1936. Lord Dawson wrote: “At about 11 o’clock it was evident that the last stage might endure for many hours, unknown to the Patient but little comporting with that dignity and serenity which he so richly merited and which demanded a brief final scene. “Hours of waiting just for the mechanical end when all that is really life has departed only exhausts the onlookers [and] keeps them so strained that they cannot avail themselves of the solace of thought, communion or prayer. “I, therefore, decided to determine the end and injected (myself) morphia gr.3/4 and shortly afterwards cocaine gr.1 into the distended jugular vein… In about 1/4 an hour – breathing quieter – appearance more placid – physical struggle gone.” It is rumoured the King’s final words were “bugger Bognor” as he was told that he would recuperate in West Sussex’s seaside town of Bognor Regis. However, according to Lord Dawson’s diary, the last words the reigning monarch during World War One uttered was “God damn you”. The fact that the King was euthanised at 11pm was deliberate. Royal expert and biographer, Angela Levin, told the documentary that his death was timed so as to make the morning papers, specifically The Times. Ms Levin said: “He also manipulated it so that he would die just before midnight so that his death would make the front page of The Times, which was the King’s favourite paper.” Lord Dawson had, according to his notes, phoned the King’s wife, Queen Mary, in London so that she could tell The Times to “hold back publication”. The headline of The Times article read: “A Peaceful Ending at Midnight”. Historical journalist, Dana Schwartz, has also claimed on the Noble Blood podcast that it had been decided that the news should be broken in the morning papers which were considered more appropriate than the evening ones. Ms Schwartz said on the podcast released on August 23 this year: “He was famously administered euthanasia so that his death could be reported in the dignified morning papers, rather than the more salacious evening ones.”
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Andrew Varna World Underworld, Page 58 Museum Press London, 1957 ‘A Web of Favoritism and Corruption’ Brother, foot to foot teaches you that you should, whenever asked, go on a brother’s errand, if within the length of your cable-tow, even if you should have to go barefoot and bareheaded. Knee to knee, that you should always remember a Master Mason in your devotions to Almighty God. Breast to breast, that you should keep the Master Mason’s secrets, when given to you in charge as such, as secure and inviolable in your breast as they were in his own before communicated to you. Hand to back, that you should support a Master Mason behind his back as before his face. Mouth to ear, that you should support his good name as well behind his back as before his face. ‘The Five Points of Fellowship’ Master Master Initiation Ritual You must conceal all crimes of your brother Masons…and should you be summoned as a witness against a brother Mason be always sure to shield him…It may be perjury to do this, it is true, but you’re keeping your obligations. Ronayne Handbook of Masonry, page 183 The committee feels that the link between Cosa Nostra and institutions is mostly through the “Massoneria” (freemasonry): The fundamental terrain on which the link between Cosa Nostra with public officials and private professions was created and reinforced is the Massoneria. The Massoneria bond serves to keep the relationship continuous and organic. The admission of members of Cosa Nostra, even at high levels, in Massoneria is not an occassional or episodical one, but a strategic choice. The oath of allegence to Cosa Nostra remains the pivot point around which “uomini d’onore” (men of honor) are prominently held. But the Massoneria associations offer the mafia a formidible instrument to extend their own power, to obtain favors and privileges in every field: both for the conclusion of big business and “fixing trials”, as many collaborators with justice have revealed.
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Do we need a register of freemasons or are freemasons being unfairly singled out?Secret Society with secret ceremonies, protect and promote fellow members.Guilds disappeared but the secret symbols. Quarrying areas are densely masonic. On Portland there are 6 masonic lodges and 500 members. Nationally about 1 in 70 men are freemasons, in Portland it is 1 in 8
“NO” TO CENTER PARCS BUILDING ON OLDHOUSE WARREN “YES” TO A PEOPLE’S FOREST, LIKE EPPING FOREST OR THE NEW FOREST Right next to Crawley is the biggest forest woodland in Sussex. Worth Forest, with Oldhouse Warren at its heart, wraps around the south eastern edge of Crawley, just as Epping Forest wraps round the north eastern edge of London. Oldhouse Warren and Worth Forest’s stretching wildness beautifully complement the happy crowdedness of lovely Tilgate Park. Yet Oldhouse Warren and most of Worth Forest are fiercely private, and nature there has been badly damaged by the past management of their owners. And now Center Parcs and the landowners plan to make big money out of it – building a holiday town of 900 lodges and big visitor attractions utterly unsuited to wild countryside & ancient woodland. This forest should be open and free to us all & a haven for nature, like Epping Forest and the New Forest. Countryside which should be ours to enjoy for free will be lost, whilst much visitors’ cash will flow into the owners’ coffers. SAY “NO” TO NATURE’S EXTINCTION Oldhouse Warren is a place of peace and delight, and home to rare and beautiful wildlife. Ravens and owls, Goshawks, Hobby falcons and even rarer raptors, need its wildness and spreading size for their hunting. Tiny birds like Firecrest and the endangered Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, dainty Redstart, Willow Warbler, Marsh Tit, Hawfinch and Spotted Flycatchers need its varied and ancient habitats to survive. Its ground nesting birds, like Woodcock & Nightjar, have some of their last Sussex refuges here in these forests. They need places where we will leave them in peace. Oldhouse Warren has one of the largest clusters of ancient trees in Worth & St Leonard’s Forests, and those forests have more than anywhere else in Sussex.
Tony’s new paperback Traitors Of Arnhem , Siege Of Heaven ; Siege Of Heaven Reader – all available for donation, or to buy, via www.bilderberg.org BCfm’s weekly Politics Show presented by Tony Gosling with Irish Republican Labour activist Martin Summers was forced off FM, now online only. We were ‘rested due to the pandemic’ on 24 March 2020 by BCfm charity ‘CEO’ Patrick Hart who is a longtime personal friend of Bristol’s all-powerful right-wing ‘Labour’ mayor Marvin Rees. This Internet only NOT The BCfm Politics Show is now available 17:00-c. 21:00 live on Fridays. Pat Hart replaced us with an inane student show repeating MSM stories called The Bristol Agenda . If you’d like to share your views on his deliberate dumbing-down mismanagement you can contact UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom or BCfm board chair and the ‘Don’ here .
February 2019 Ofcom complaint result : UKLFI exposed as creation of Israeli foreign ministry – Bristol Post article: BCfm cleared after being reported to Ofcom for anti-semitic conspiracy theories
…(from c. 23:00) – Links to this week’s full interviews, bottom of page
NATO’S NORDSTREAM SABOTAGE Ron Mandell, with a background in history and politics academia, joins Tony and Martin. The war in Ukraine. Nord Stream pipeline sabotaged – Russia blamed. UNZ Review – declaration of war. Cuban missile crisis. Peace talks. Pepe Escobar …no holds barred Germany and EU Have Been Handed Over a Declaration of War Pepe Escobar • September 28, 2022 It gets curiouser and curiouser when we know that simultaneously to the sabotage the Baltic Pipe from Norway to Poland was partially opened, a “new gas supply corridor” servicing “the Danish and Polish markets”: actually a minor affair, considering months ago their sponsors were in trouble finding gas, and now it will be even harder, with much higher costs. NS2 had already been attacked – in the open – all along its construction. Back in February, Polish ships actively tried to prevent the Fortuna pipe-laying vessel from finishing NS2. The pipes were being laid south of – you guessed it – Bornholm. NATO for its part has been very active on the underwater drones department. The Americans have access to long distance Norwegian underwater drones which can be modified with other designs. Alternatively, professional navy clearance divers could have been employed in the sabotage – even as tidal currents around Bornholm are a serious matter. The Big Picture reveals the collective West in absolute panic, with Atlanticist “elites” willing to resort to anything – outrageous lies, assassinations, terrorism, sabotage, all out financial war, support to neo-Nazis – to prevent their descent into a geopolitical and geoeconomic abyss. Disabling NS and NS2 represents the definitive closure of any possibility of a German-Russia deal on gas supplies, with the added benefit of relegating Germany to the lowly status of absolute US vassal. So that brings us to the key question of which Western intel apparatus designed the sabotage. Prime candidates are of course CIA and MI6 – with Poland set up as the fall guy and Denmark playing a very dodgy part: it’s impossible that Copenhagen was not at least “briefed” on the intel. Prescient as ever, as early as in April 2021 Russians were asking questions about the military security of Nord Stream. The crucial vector is that we may be facing the case of a EU/NATO member involved in an act of sabotage against the number one EU/NATO economy. That’s a casus belli. Outside of the appalling mediocrity and cowardice of the current administration in Berlin, it’s clear that the BND – German intel – as well as the German Navy and informed industrialists sooner or later will do the math. This was far from an isolated attack. On September 22 there was an attempt against Turkish Stream by Kiev saboteurs. The day before, naval drones with English language IDs were found in Crimea, suspected of being part of the plot. Add to it US helicopters overflying the future sabotage nodes weeks ago; a UK “research” vessel loitering in Danish waters since mid-September; and NATO tweeting about the testing of “new unmanned systems at sea” on the same day of the sabotage. Show me the (gas) money The Danish Minister of Defense met urgently with NATO’s Secretary General this Wednesday. After all the explosions happened very close to Denmark’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). That may be qualified as crude kabuki at best; exactly on the same day, the European Commission (EC), NATO’s de facto political office, advanced its trademark obsession: more sanctions against Russia, including the certified-to-fail cap on oil prices. Insurance on pipelines affected. 
Liz Truss being interviewed by Bristol BBC radio reporter – sticking to the mini-budget. Liz Truss interviewed by BBC Lancashire BBC Bristol and BBC Stoke radio – fracking. NHS problems. BBC Radio Nottingham: Liz Truss told budget is like a ‘reverse Robin Hood’ – audio When it was announced that Liz Truss would break her silence on the collapse of the pound by appearing on local radio stations, there was mockery from some London-based journalists who felt she should have given an interview to a national news outlet. Instead, it was BBC Leeds’s breakfast show that helped shift the price of UK government debt, as traders tuned in and realised the prime minister was sticking to her economic plan. As presenter Rima Ahmed put it to the prime minister: “Where’ve you been?” Radio Kent put it in more stark terms, with one listener asking Truss: “Are you ashamed of what you have done?” The prime minister’s rapid-fire set of eight short interviews with BBC radio stations in an hour produced more news than often emerges from a single slot on Radio 4’s Today programme. One benefit that local radio journalists have over reporters who deal with Downing Street on a daily basis is that they have no incentive to hold back. They are unlikely to have the prime minister on their programme as a regular guest and there is no need to have the complicated ongoing relationships with Downing Street communications staff. Instead they have the chance to ask a handful of questions and try to make their name – and represent the views of their listeners. Thursday’s interviews were coordinated by the BBC’s Central News Service, which provides national news coverage to the BBC’s 40 local outlets across England the Channel Islands – often by booking a guest who can be interviewed across multiple outlets on the same topic. In this case, radio stations covering Leeds, Norfolk, Kent, Lancashire, Nottingham, Teesside, Bristol, and Stoke-on-Trent were each given about five minutes’ airtime with Truss.
BBC Points West – Marvin gets water thrown over him when he turns up five days after fire in Twinnel House council flats, where an Afghan man dies. Tower block residents throw water and accost mayor on visit after fatal fire tragedy A council employee blocked the resident from chucking water at the mayor A woman attempts to throw water over the Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, as he approaches Twinnell House in Easton for a meeting about a fatal fire on Sunday, The mayor of Bristol was accosted by angry residents of the tower block hit by last weekend’s fire tragedy, with one throwing water towards him and accosting him as he approached the building for a meeting. The police were called to Twinnell House in Easton after the confrontation, which happened as Marvin Rees and his entourage visited the tower block for the first time since Sunday morning’s fire, in which 30-year-old Abdul Jabar Oryakhel was killed. One woman approached the mayor and a council employee managed to block her attempt to throw water over him from a distance, before the resident berated him in the street. Other residents, who have long complained about conditions in the tower block off Stapleton Road, said his visit, made five days after the fatal fire, had come too late. The meeting with local residents lasted around an hour, and was held in the tower block’s ground-floor community room, which had been closed and locked up by the city council for years. Residents said it was the first time many had ever been in there.
Mini-budget – Bank of England had to intervene as pension funds were about to go bust. Financial crash. Landscapes of Freedom mass trespass in Crawley to stop a tourist development. British walkers demand wider right to roam Some of the trespassers looked like militant eco-warriors, well used to a bit of lawbreaking, but some did not, like retired company director Richard Payne. Didn’t it bother him to break civil law? “Not really, because I’m not breaking and entering somebody’s house,” he laughed. “I’m not squatting. I’m not going to go in here and put up a tent and live here. So, in a sense, we’re not strictly trespassing.” Retired deputy head teacher Peppy Erskine also felt she was doing nothing wrong. “I just feel it’s so important that we preserve the natural world for our mental health. So I feel justified in trespassing,” she said. And the Rev. Peter Owen-Jones, an Anglican minister, added: “If human beings had never challenged the rules, we’d still be living in the Dark Ages.” Britain’s landowners, on the other hand, have condemned the outbreak of mass trespassing and criticized the call for unrestricted access to the countryside. Victoria Vyvyan of the Country Land and Business Association speaks for the owners of some 10 million acres of managed land in England and Wales. “We believe passionately that access to open spaces and to green spaces contributes to people’s physical and mental well-being,” she said. “But the best access for the greatest number comes from a properly mapped and managed footpath system and open access that already exists.” England and Wales, she pointed out, have 144,000 miles of public pathways. England has 10 national parks covering 10% of the country. She’s worried that unrestricted roaming would clash with farming and forestry activity and possibly put the roamers in hazardous situations. Sensitive conservation sites could also be adversely affected. “We’re suffering from a catastrophic decline in biodiversity in this country. And I’m afraid nature and people don’t go terribly well together,” Vyvyan said. Nature certainly doesn’t go well with developers, say the Right to Roam campaigners. They accept that there must always be some exclusion zones, where delicate ecologies, vulnerable livestock or physically dangerous activity are involved. But they believe that one of the best guarantees of the mental and physical health of the nation and of its biodiversity is a much wider right to roam. 
Two Serious Errors on Death Certificate of Queen .. new King Charles III reign. Colonialism and wealth taken from countries. Dr. David Halpin on irregularities with the Queen’s death certificate. Black BBC screen shot at 2pm – an hour before she was pronounced dead. The Queen’s death certificate says she died of ‘old age’. which cannot be used on a death certificate. [CORRECTION: Dr Glass IS on the GMC database contrary to what we said on the show] But what does ‘old age’ really mean? Eventually, “old age” became a last resort phrase to describe an unknown cause of death. Or it became useful where a person may have died from a number of complications, but where it was not practical or ethical to order an autopsy to find the precise underlying cause of death. There’s no closure The other reason why “old age” has been seldom used as the cause of death in the 20th and 21st centuries was that it doesn’t provide any closure to families of the deceased. Research shows families want information about how their loved one died, not only because it can be useful for managing their own health concerns, but also because it provids a resolution to their loved one’s death. An unknown cause of death can exacerbate grief and trauma, particularly if the death was sudden or unexpected. Researchers have long argued families form continuing relationships with their loved one after they die. Ascertaining how they died is one part of how the family members left behind manage their grief and memorialise the deceased.
Queen’s funeral – at St. George’s chapel – Senior Freemason forgot to say God Save the King – Fluffed his lines? Senior Herald FORGOT to say ‘God Save the King’ while reading out proclamations at Queen’s committal Garter King of Arms David Vines White read proclamations at Queen’s Committal Forgot to say “God Save the King” despite words being on the order of service Source in the Royal Household said they are ‘very annoyed’ at him for mistake Reading out the proclamations in the final stages of the Queen’s Committal was a career-defining moment for the Garter King of Arms – yet all did not go as smoothly as hoped. The most senior Herald, David Vines White, forgot to say the crucial words ‘God Save the King’ at the end of the ceremony at St George’s Chapel in Windsor last week. And in an unfortunate twist, the words were written out on the order of service, which was distributed throughout the chapel and published online. Thankfully King Charles, though always keen on details, did not make a fuss. A source in the Royal Household said: ‘Right at the end he was meant to shout “God Save the King”, and all those in the congregation would have done it too. It’s not particularly hard to read from a script. They’re very annoyed at him.’ But historian Hugo Vickers leapt to his defence, saying: ‘I imagine the poor man was frazzled. It’s a bit like the poor King with his pen. Cut him a bit of slack, I think.’
Oracle Films ‘Safe and Effective’ documentary – Dr. Aseem Malhotra on GB News before release of film and a clip of the film. Dr. Stanley Laham, immunologist – we shouldn’t have health for profit. Michael Moore ‘Sicko’ documentary Punch cartoon Oracle Films: ‘Safe and Effective: A Second Opinion’ Safe and Effective: A Second Opinion shines a light on Covid-19 vaccine injuries and bereavements, but also to takes an encompassing look at the systemic failings that appear to have enabled them. We look at leading analysis of pharmaceutical trials, the role of the MHRA in regulating these products, the role of the SAGE behavioural scientists in influencing policy and the role of the media and Big Tech companies in suppressing free and open debate on the subject. If this video goes down, continue watching on: https://www.oraclefilms.com/safeandeffective
Transhumanism agenda or capitalist accumulation. Covid as a bio-weapon. Benefits not to raise with inflation. Failure to raise benefits would be ‘hostile and harmful’, Truss is warned PM reneging on Conservative promise to increase benefits in line with inflation ‘morally indefensible’, say experts Liz Truss will deliver the biggest permanent real-terms cut to the basic rate of benefits ever made if she fails to raise them in line with inflation, one of the UK’s leading poverty charities has said. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) urged the government not to renege on its promise, made earlier this year, to raise universal credit and other working age benefits in line with inflation. It said such a move would be a “harmful act of historic proportions” – and deliver a devastating blow to millions of families on low incomes. The JRF’s intervention follows widespread outrage at suggestions that the Treasury will seek to strip billions of pounds from the welfare budget to help repair shattered government finances after its disastrous mini-budget last week, which announced generous tax breaks for the rich but caused a near financial crisis. On Friday night, Truss said: “The biggest part of the package that we announced [last week] was the support for families on energy as well as making sure that we reversed the national insurance rise. “In terms of benefits uprating, that is something the work and pensions secretary is looking at and she will make an announcement in due course as is the normal practice, for the autumn.” There is speculation that rather than raising benefits for millions of people next April by about 10%, in line with the convention that the uprating should follow the previous September’s CPI inflation rate, the government will instead raise them by about 5.4%, in line with September earnings.
Bristol Clean Air Zone report edited by Tony but authored by Michael Bond – The Bristol CAZ appears to have been drawn in an entirely arbitrary manner as a city centre toll, as evidenced by the Portway extension and the inclusion of potential routes around the zone placed inside the zone, ensuring the maximum traffic chaos, rat-running. Deliberate confusion is built into the proposed Bristol CAZ by not providing clear routes around the zone as best practice elsewhere in the UK and Europe. Project Management appears to have failed in this Bristol CAZ proposal as success/failure justification criteria appear to have been entirely ignored. Covid will definitely have had an impact on the data during 2020-21 with NO2 site samples being lower than expected but Covid has also caused a monumentous shift in working patterns of Bristolians, with a heavy shift to WFH, away from office working in the centre. The scale of the CAZ, paticularly its extension West, cannot be legally justified. Data presented here is showing a distinct downward trend anyway, and there is no clause in the CAZ, which there surely has to be if its about air quality, that switches it off once a trigger value is hit. The CAZ will likely take credit for any natural improvements and Bristolians will be stuck with a toll area introduced under the guise of health which the most wealthy, new vehicle owners, do not pay. As in London, Bristol has seen a general positive trend in air quality over the last decade, and whilst one can argue, as Friends of the Eartth and others did in 2018 that more measures were needed, as evidenced here, that is clearly no longer the case. Having happily set an upward trend in air quality no further measures are required as legal limits have now arguably been fully met. Any presently marginal air sample data, bearing in mind the legal requirement is averaged over a year, the overall downward trend will soon prove conclusive. This CAZ is neither required under the Clean Air Act (2010) nor legally justifiable.
Ukraine wants to become part of NATO. Ukraine formally applies for fast-track NATO membership Ukraine has formally applied for NATO membership under an accelerated procedure, President Volodymyr Zelensky said after Russia added four Ukrainian regions to its soil. “Today, Ukraine is submitting an application to do this de jure… We are taking our decisive step by signing Ukraine’s application for accelerated membership in NATO,” the Ukrainian leader said via Telegram. The development came soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree for the formal accession of four regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to Russia, after people in these regions voted in favor of joining the Russian Federation in a referendum. However, Zelensky said the votes breached international law and called the referendums “worthless.” “Donbas is and will be Ukrainian. This is our land, our people. We will never give ours to the occupiers,” he said. “De facto, we have already made our way to NATO. De facto, we have already proven our compatibility with the alliance’s standards. They are real for Ukraine – real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our cooperation,” Zelensky wrote.
Dr. John Gideon Hartnett on entropy…. From the following list, based on the biblical genealogies contained mostly in Genesis chapters 5 and 11, we can calculate the age of the Earth. Thus the Earth is only of the order of 6000 years old, not 4.6 billion years old as long-age-of-the-Earth deep-time evolution believers would have you also believe. Genealogies The date of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt is the key to getting this connected to our modern-day calendar. It is like an anchor point. However there are many conflicting theories on that date,1 but Scripture tells us that Solomon started to build his temple to God in the fourth year of his reign. “And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.” (I Kings 6:1) This is the key that unlocks a door. The verse also tells us that this was 480 years after the Exodus from Egypt. The dates for Solomon’s reign are generally assigned to 971-931 BC. From the date of Solomon’s fourth year of his reign (966 BC), one can add 480 years to 966 BC and get 1446 BC (the year of the Exodus). You see, really this is all about the authority of Scripture. So, the age of the Earth does matter. The date for Creation then by my reckoning is 4174 BC, giving us a total of 6188 years for the age of the Earth and the whole Universe, measured by Earth clocks. WHY IS A 6000-YEAR-OLD UNIVERSE SO HARD TO BELIEVE? (I recommend a detailed analysis of the date of Creation from the Old Testament by Dr Floyd Nolen Jones. He lists a range of Creation dates that others get and offers his reasoning for his own determination.2)
