…And the Whole World Goes Blind

There has been so much killing, caused as a punishment for other killing, there have been so many murders. that the cause of all these deaths is now hard to discern. We can know the immediate cause of the deaths of nearly 300 Russians who were blown up when returning from holiday in Egypt, or the immediate cause of the 126 people who were murdered in Paris, but not the root causes of these events which are shrouded in the thick fog of history and as such open to misinterpretation or complete misunderstanding.

A Calm Day in London

It is a calm day in London but elsewhere in the world there is much turbulence. In South Carolina,

“X” Marks the Spot

Traditionally “X” marked the spot where there is hidden treasure on an old treasure map. Old treasure maps have all been lost or faded into nothing but now “X” will mark different things on maps.

Patriots, Freedom and Paperwork

Mr Edward Snowden, now presently under asylum protection in the Federation of Russia, seems to have made his point. Certain provisions of the Patriot Act expired and were not renewed. Instead, The USA has passed what they call the Freedom Act (another name which sends a chill down my spine) enabling it to get telephone information by warrant issued by a court or metadata after submitting relevant keywords to the telephone companies.

Greek Debt and the Pipeline

While the European Commission are trying to reach agreement with Greece over the repayment of its debt and Greece is trying to resist European calls for more austerity measures which will inflict more hardship on the Greek people, it is interesting to note that the only positive news for Greece which will create jobs and help the nation towards prosperity comes in the form of a Greek deal with Russia over energy.

Russia in Cyprus

Cyprus has now agreed to allow the Russian Navy to use its ports and is in discussions with the Russian Federation to use Cypriot airports to provide a base for Russian aircraft that are involved in providing humanitarian relief. 

Free Trade Becomes Less Free

Free trade has been the mantra of all major economies for many years. Of course many economies protect their markets subtly, and free trade does not stop governments from adjusting things like environmental and tax laws in order to favour their own businesses, but nevertheless there is less protection of domestic industries now than there has ever been.