Print Alert

Inspired by this article (and a spate of follow-ups) concerning the terror alert on the eve of elections in America. It could mean the end of printer cartridges, as we know them.

I close my eyes in disbelief
And open them again
But nothing’s changed upon the page
A world that’s gone insane

Explosive printer cartridges
From Yemen and by plane
Through gaps in tight security
A world that’s gone insane

Bold accusations left and right
Truth seekers search in vain
Denials so often heard before
A world that’s gone insane

Elections in America
Something to ease the pain
Of rulers now unpopular
A world that’s gone insane

The people tired of threats and fear
Their freedom to restrain
While others plot to dominate
A world that’s gone insane

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Priorities

During an election discussion on TV yesterday evening, someone suggested that employers should allow their employees time off to enjoy the 2010 World Cup football matches involving the Dutch team. This received a round of applause from those who were no doubt football-loving employees, but when an employer stood up and commented, ‘Unpaid, of course’ the applause gave way to boos. The politicians sat smiling, obviously enjoying a respite from heated discussions of more important issues.

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Roundabout

Feeling pre-election blues
Once again, it’s time to choose
People gather; children stare
Politicians everywhere
Spouting, hoping votes to reap,
Promises few trust they’ll keep
Flaunting colours red to blue
Shades of coalition brew.

Kissing hands
Shaking babies
Swaying ads
Killing ‘maybes’
Well, just look at what I said
More confusion in my head.

Words to lull us to their side
Smiles that thoughts must surely hide
Strivings at all costs to win
Opposition is a sin
Hear the voice of things to come
“Tighten belts”, “Things looking glum”
“Better days around the bend”
Just more of the same old blend.

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Deeper in debt

I realized today that the Dutch Government’s financial deficit of about €30-billion is almost the same amount it gave to the banks during the financial bailout last year. It is now proposing that the people pay for this deficit through increased taxation and reduced social services. I wonder why the same banks aren’t being required to invest more in the local economy to stimulate economic growth. I admit I’m no financial expert but I note that many of those who are advocate the same thing.

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Rise to power

As I’ve mentioned before there is to be a national election in the Netherlands in June this year. Strangely, many leading politicians including a number of ex ministers have recently resigned from politics saying that they need more time for their private life. While I can understand the human aspects of such a decision it is somewhat curious that so many are all at once involved.

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European tremors

The European Union (EU) is having problems that were foreseen but not openly discussed until now. Simply put, there are member states that are better at bookkeeping and combating corruption than others.

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Stumbling on

Yet another Dutch government fell yesterday
over the will to fight in a land far away
where the people are tired of those hired for the kill
and those whose sole desire is to plunder at will.
Coalitions are all we know here in this place
left and right giving ground but without losing face.
All important decisions the future await
while the people are treated like sheep which most hate
only good for the giving, no room to protest,
while the wolves roam around seeking those to digest.
Cleverness and bold cunning: the traits to pursue.
Enemies lie in waiting to pop up on cue.
Solutions, solutions, all that man has tried
has failed through corruption that peace to provide.
Again there’s a list of those smiling our way
promising better times, a long worn-out cliché.

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Saturday report

I’m sure our local morning paper is mostly a source of cold amusement or boredom to those of a more skeptical turn of mind, like me – those not easily fooled by shoddy propaganda. Its sudoku is also too easy, damn it! Why don’t I take another? Well I did switch to a national paper of a definite higher quality for a while (with harder sudoku), but it had the irritating habit of arriving after eight o’clock on weekdays and as late as one o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday, if it arrived at all – inexcusable, of course. The one redeeming feature of our present publication is the local gossip.
The government here has a problem: it’s always made up of at least three political parties and presently we have a mixture of centre Christian Democrats, rightwing Christians Fundamentalists and leftwing Socialists – a motley crew.
Due to the inevitability of compromise they’ve all joined forces somewhere in the middle, producing a rather tasteless, thin political soup. The opposition comprises about three hundred parties (slight exaggeration) all constantly fighting each other and as such not really forming any effective opposition to the ruling coalition. As in many western nations, the more rightwing parties have gained in popularity the last few years, largely due to bungled immigration policies and their repercussions.
The upshot is that our leaders (well, let’s be kind) like to push important decisions as far into the future as possible and let the less important ones sink into the quagmire of seemingly endless official and public debate, where they lie dormant until some irritating journalist inevitably resurrects the underlying issue, hopefully at a much later date.
The largely disillusioned public doesn’t really care, anyway. Elections are a mere distraction and unlike many special days on the calendar one is not even given time off. Well it’s true, as I’ve said, that many do have an obsession with immigrants who can’t fit in and generally seem to lounge around, some descending into criminality, and there’s the persistent sore of different cultures and religions not getting on too well. Oh, and politicians who propose legislation that obviously steals from salaries don’t last long.
The latest important decision has been to introduce a kilometer levy on vehicles from 2018. Yes, you read it correctly – 2018. No more purchase and running taxes but a distance-travelled tax (sorry levy) instead, and (how could it be otherwise) there will be a reduction for vehicles producing less CO2 than their guzzling counterparts. The people I referred to in the first sentence think that, at an estimated guess based on experience, the sending out of nine million bills per month might stretch the capabilities of even a most industrious future administration to breaking point, and that the whole system will ultimately prove to be too expensive anyway, as so often has happened in the past.
Perhaps in 2018 we’re all driving clean vehicles with only their drivers producing CO2, so it would seem a safer bet to just heavily tax breathing and be done with it. Perhaps in 2018 little green men will have taken over the Earth and turned us all into slaves – without vehicles. It’s all possible.
After years of research and debate involving the unions, the government has decided to raise the pensionable age from 65 to 67 with effect from 2017, yes 2017. Most unions are steadfastly against the move, as they see it as their members having to contribute longer for less. Anyway, there’s plenty of time left to iron out the details. Of course, many of those higher up can even now go on as long as they are capable if they wish.
On a lighter note, according to the media in general the western economies are easing out of economic depression (or is it recession?), crawling it’s true and likely to slide backwards at any time, but momentarily making slow upward progress. All except Britain it seems, which is making Prime Minister Brown’s severe headache even worse. Well, he can perhaps still manage a thin smile thinking about the coming utopia of the New World Order (perhaps as late as 2018), in which he imagines his personal problems will be over. How naive can one be?
Oh, and the NASA has found water on the Moon, several bucketfuls I’m told. So the future seems a little brighter for those of us who will have to survive on our sister body while raping it of its natural resources or when the planet becomes inhabitable for humans or both – hopefully after 2018.
I’m sure there are those who, in their craziness, see man’s situation in 2018 clearly, but let’s all agree to do our best to ensure that their dreams don’t become our nightmare reality.

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Social behavior

Doesn’t it almost bring tears to one’s eyes when one reads that important legislation is passed by the American Congress and the Senate without the majority of its members having time to (fully) read it? The lame excuse forwarded is that having to read and adequately study the contents would cause unacceptable delays to its passage. Well, those in power do seem to have a rather long list of unpleasant laws to pass this year, it’s true, but why must so many politicians succumb to this type of ridiculous nonsense?

Anyway, if I understand correctly, the secret to getting potentially unpopular legislation passed seems to be to convince a minority of its importance, coerce as many elected representatives as possible to vote yes anyway, make it as long and incomprehensible as possible to bamboozle the rest and set an impossible time limit for its effective study to cover all unforeseen eventualities.
The minority rules; how unconstitutional.

The same thing sort of thing happened with the proposed European Constitution in 2001 and its reincarnation The Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. Most European leaders now acknowledge that the treaty preserves the main substance of the constitution. The treaty defines the limits of jurisdiction of the ruling bodies of the European Union and its member states.

According to Article 6 of the treaty, "this Treaty shall enter into force on 1 January 2009, provided that all the instruments of ratification have been deposited, or, failing that, on the first day of the month following the deposit of the instrument of ratification by the last signatory State to take this step. Currently, 26 Member States have already approved the Treaty and 23 have deposited their ratification instruments in Rome.

Though it was known that its formulation would be largely incomprehensible to most, including politicians, it was decided important enough to allow the European people a voice in its ratification if desired by local government. Unfortunately for some, a majority of people in three countries that held referenda voted against the legislation which even now is still awaiting ratification.

The Czech Republic, Germany and Poland have yet to ratify and a second referendum must take place in Ireland later this year because the people there were so uncooperative in saying No to the treaty the first time. Some concessions have now been made to the Irish voters to bring them into the fold. The fact that the Dutch and the French people also said No in earlier referenda but were later overruled by their governments we officially hear no more about.

For a governing body, unpopular or oppressive legislature is easier to pass if those who may vote on it are left with no choice. To achieve this, politicians must be coerced by whatever means into voting “the right way” and the people must be similarly persuaded using sophisticated propaganda techniques to accept and hopefully welcome any policies as being for their own good. The rest can scream all they like but will inevitably be branded by the majority as radical extremists and so effectively silenced.

At least that’s the theory. The flaw to the latter’s effectiveness lies in an intrinsic uncertainty concerning complex growth patterns of disruption. Oppression is proportional to dissent and as more and more people start waving a fist, whether due to poorer living standards, loss of liberties or a general instinct for survival, many may eventually turn outside the ruling system for help. In this way a minority of dissenters can rapidly grow and become harder and harder to contain within the ruling framework. Society can eventually break down catastrophically as history shows again and again.

Unfortunately, the human race as it has developed over the last few thousand years doesn’t seem able to develop a lasting stable society. There are just fragmented social cycles of destruction and resurrection with varying intervals of relative stability and progress.

Must it always be so?

References:

Lisbon Treaty

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6901353.stm

European Union

http://europa.eu/index_nl.htm

American Constitution

http://www.senate.gov/civics/constitution_item/constitution.htm

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Fight for freedom

Updated

The truth is out there friends. Your freedom is on the line.
Mounting accusations of high level corruption in government and business, which has lead to the financial and social chaos in the world, are not even being formerly investigated, let alone adequately denied or defended and, with few exceptions, the guilty are going unpunished. The controlled media is preventing open debate. Everyone should be aware of what’s going on. It’s time to take a stand.
See the videos here , for example, and this article

All right, here are a number of considerations:

Say no to the destruction of national sovereignty, at least in the present circumstances.
Say no to identity cards.
Say no to the European Union and the North American Union. Yes, there are advanced plans to unite the USA, Mexico and Canada into one country.
Say no to the Treaty of Lisbon, as many already have but have been ignored.
Say no to global financial control.
Say no to total digital finance – long live money! Don’t give the banks absolute control over your finances.
Say no to private central banks printing money. This should be the task of government.

Say no to the dissolution of the family unit.
Say no to saying yes.

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Ominous Trends

Does it feel
Like you’re getting
Smaller, smaller every day?
More oppression, more surveillance
All you do is pay and pay

Politics
Is taking over
Governments are staking claims
More control their only answer
As they carry out the aims

Of the rich
Who thirst more power
Absolute, to rule us all
We as workers here to serve them
To their will must bend and crawl

Money they
Will ban forever
Digital your wealth is theirs
They are rubbing hands and watching
Regulating your affairs

Beware of
Globalization
Save your culture and protect
Freedom that should be one’s birthright
Live in mutual respect

Synergy
The only answer
Borders there should never be
But then all must live as equals
Not commanded by decree.

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Together apart

Libertas, oh Libertas,
will you too make from me an ass,
while voting with my heart afire
for one whose words do so inspire?

Not one, but many, joined to fight
for freedom and a person’s right,
to say whatever comes to mind
and suffer that returned in kind.

The powerful hunger but for power
to bring more pleasure to their hour,
while those on whom their eyes descend
must to their every wish attend.

Though nothing’s certain in this life
of cycles both of joy and strife,
let peace and understanding rule
so each may find his hidden jewel.

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Big Brother 2009

So, it’s Bilderderg time again, this time in Greece. It’s time that these secret meetings of influential members of business and media with ELECTED world leaders were stopped. There is enough evidence that they are not solely of an informative nature. It is obvious that decisions are being made and implemented on world and national issues of which the electorate have no knowledge.

References:

http://www.prisonplanet.com/leaked-agenda-bilderberg-group-plans-economic-depression.html

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=97135

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Misuse of power

The background of the present financial crisis and the measures being taken to seek remedies are really puzzling if you look purely at the facts and try to avoid all the propaganda being royally distributed via the media  read between the lines so to speak. “Global Warming” and “CO2 Emissions” might almost be burnt out issues if there weren’t a few dedicated individuals still raking the cooling coals.
According to many reputable experts (and there are more joining the ranks every day) all these bail-outs are only going to make things worse, for you and me at least. More borrowing and the printing of more paper money is only going to enhance inflation and deflate currencies, which means that our lives are probably going to dive down to some depth where no philosophical submersible has ever been before.
The financial debacle is now a global phenomenon, as we’ve seen during the last six months, with all countries being affected. Money is flowing extravagantly into the organizations that have had a large hand in arranging the present crisis in the first place. Nothing is being done directly to improve the spending power of the consumer who is the only one who can get us out of this mess. Government spending only depletes the productive capacity of the society.
Of course the quantum uncertainty of economic variables might allow the present measures to be accidentally affective for as yet unknown reasons, at least in the short term, but in the end someone will have to pay the astronomical bill.
But why are the ones who are in a position to do something apparently heading so willfully in the wrong direction?
Well, as Sherlock said, ‘If one has ruled out all other possibilities, then those that remain, no matter how unbelievable or fantastic, must hold the truth.’ I’m not quoting him precisely but for my purposes what he did say comes down to the same thing. Let them sue me.
It seems to me that are two possible answers:

1.    Those in power don’t know what they are doing, and are listening to others who think they know what they are doing but don’t, while stupidly ignoring the rest.
2.    Those in power know exactly what they’re doing and are doing it for a reason.

Note that I am not saying who those in power are. The politicians are always the ones in the firing line while those who advise or coerce them always manage to keep a low profile or are only seen in accidentally or clandestinely publicized photos taken at luxurious gatherings.
One can easily consider nuances of the above two possibilities, but as far as I can see these wouldn’t add anything relevant. If you don’t agree then please say so and we’ll start a discussion.
The first possibility doesn’t seem to need any qualification. Our future is in the balance and there are no weights to measure anything and tip the scales, which will eventually fall one way or the other following quantum economic laws. The result would probably be a long term economic recession due to fact that economies might collapse and have to be built up from scratch.
The second possibility raises more questions to which answers are not obviously forthcoming. We enter the realm of speculation here because, although entirely plausible, the one’s asking the right questions just don’t get any answers worth a nickel (soon a dollar). They are laughingly accused by the powerful of concocting so called ‘conspiracy theories’ and all attempts at investigation are brutally denied or frustrated. Incriminating evidence is never available or only made so after any guilty parties are long gone but hopefully serving a sentence in some other realm.
If the second possibility contains any truth then one can draw certain tentative conclusions:

1.    Those in power desire the collapse of national financial systems.
2.    Wealth and power in the future will not be tied to money. There remain energy resources in all varieties e.g. food, oil.
3.    Those who have, have been promised that they will still have, when the rest have nothing or so little that they are entirely dependent on those who have.
4.    Democracy will collapse and be replaced by an authoritarian form of world government that will make ruling everybody much easier  as Mr. Bush has already indicated in one of his prized rantings (perhaps a Freudian slip?).
5.    Millions (at least) will die from starvation or unrest due to poverty and deprivation (as is already happening now) and this can only get worse in an authoritarian (or totalitarian) society, where no one gets anything without paying the price and life is cheap.

Of course the first possibility might naturally evolve into the second.
Anyway as Congressman Ron Paul said recently on TV, the American government is in any case playing into the hands of Osama by doing what they are doing. The bankruptcy of western nations stands high on his list of objectives.
Please prove me wrong in my assumptions and show me that I’m being paranoid for no reason. I really would be so grateful.

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Are we being mislead

If anyone has doubts about the objectivity of media information on ‘Global Warming’ then here is something interesting.

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Brave New World

Brave words I’ve heard, words honed to move the heart,
But then I ask in name of all who wonder
Are they but an echo of past hopes,
Or do they nurture the seed from which innovation will grow?
Does he stand tall, too tall for the deep dark pockets of the mighty
Is he unlike so many who have gone before:
Those who gave up the struggle for change,
The realization of promised hope and liberty,
For security, long life and favor?
Is his armor forged to cast off the arrows of compromise?
Is his sword cast to withstand the blows of hatred and abuse;
To parry the thrusts of those who would make him their slave,
Who would dishonor him to make us cower and waver?
Can he alone stir the nations to turn their backs on bigotry and prejudice,
On ignorance and conceit, and show them new horizons
That will not fade at sunset never to return.
Will he release the force that even now is waking
Within the souls of those for whom tomorrow is too late?

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Prevailing wind

I was listening today to a video from Senator Ron Paul on his Campaign for Liberty site (see my Blogroll). He’s one of the few intelligent, outspoken critics of US policy in congress. Everyone who cares should listen to what he has to say.
What’s happening and has been happening in the US and elsewhere is of course to any reasonably intelligent person a farce. Policy is being determined by those who are guided only by selfish and undemocratic motives. The fact that other western governments effectively condone and duplicate US policy only makes the farce greater.
As he indicates:
The answer to unfavorable (empire building) foreign policy is to continue to expand and build upon it.
The answer to inflation is more inflation.
The answer to too much borrowing is more borrowing.
The answer to the cash shortage is to print more money.
Increased government influence (meddling) is decreasing civil liberties.
The new US administration has not shown any desire, so far, to introduce any changes to present policy, although this was promised in the election campaign. As influential foreign governments also show no desire to reverse present trends, it looks as though when change does come, as it eventually must, it will inevitably arrive in an uncontrolled form and therefore with unforeseeable consequences.

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Days to come

Who’s going to follow Mr Bush
And sort out all the mess
The chaos he has left behind
The hurt and sad distress?

Is it too much to hope at last
The smoke and dust will clear
And one will rise who dares to act
And strive to persevere?

A leader for all men this time
Who’ll bring a halt to fear
And work for betterment of all
Be open and sincere

Then all will stand beside him
To turn the tide again
The constitution to revive
And thwart the ones in(s)ane.

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