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Wednesday 31 December 2014


End of The Year 2014....and just in case you missed it.....

Libyan Politician Says He Will Open Peace Talks With Israel
Subheading: [One Can Short Of A Six Pack]

I recently read about a wannabe Libyan politician saying that if he gets into power he will open peace talks with Israel.
From my experience of dealing with Libyans (at least the ones I encountered) many were one can short of a six pack (Hell!, even their Arab 'brotherly' neighbors would agree with this statement!);so to dismiss such declarations as wishful thinking would be, sort of like me being kind to idiots or, as we might otherwise say, to motley fools.
I don't know whether it's the climate or the country or it's somewhere near a Mediterranean Bermuda Triangle but a few screws just are not wired properly within the psyche of some major proportion of  individuals in the population of this particular region.
Perhaps it's a fatal epidemic of sunstroke which just takes hold across the entire region? That would explain all the problems of the Middle East in a nutshell (!)
Any Israelis thinking of re-settling or investing or even promoting investment in Libya should first learn about the enforced exodus and reign of terror against all Jews after the State of Israel was created across North Africa, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.
You don't know about this? You'd better put your thinking hat on before you too fall victim to the viral regional sunstroke affecting your North Africa Arab neighbors (!)

The CIA and Torture
My only comment is that I would have preferred that they had used the 'Old School' methods of wine, women and song (or something similar!)  They (such methods that is to say) appear to have yielded remarkably effective results for the greatest Spymaster of the 20th Century (and some say one of the greatest in human history) – Markus Wolf – during the days of the Cold War.   Oh yes, I forgot, the politically correct cretins and many of their entourage overseeing today's intelligence communities in the Western democratic world have never heard of Wolf (!)

Rendition and The CIA
I have never approved of torture but, from what I could gather, those in the intelligence communities and armed forces were rabidly drooling and foaming saliva at the mouth and all wanted to get those f*****g a****les of b******s responsible for 9/11, by hook or by crook.  And, by the way, when you get these *****ng *r**s, roast them like Thanksgiving turkeys, no pardons, were the instructions.  At that time, from what I now read, 'use all means necessary' was the buzz word coming down from the politicians.  Of course politics is politics and business is business and what they (the politicians) are now playing is, well, a slightly different tune from 'the word on the street' in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.

The ISIL 'Caliphate' and It's Propaganda Machine
No doubt ISIL's beheading of U.S. citizens will have influenced the nature of the war against this so-called-Caliphate. I have always seen ISIL as a fanatical sect rather than a genuine political or spiritual movement. I am 100% confident that the ISIL, as a Caliphate, will be totally dismantled within the next five years. It's defeat was a foregone conclusion when both Shia and Sunni politicians equally saw the dangers this fanatical sect posed to the security of the region and to the Gulf kingdoms.
Those citizens, Christian and Muslim Arab, who who have been butchered, tortured, maimed or committed suicide rather than face rape or enslavement by their ISIL captors, are out of sight – but not forgotten.  The reach of the hand of justice is long.   It might take some time to bring the main perpetrators to justice but some have already been identified and, assuming, when apprehended, Dianne Feinstein and the rest of the politicians do not give them day  or weekend and holiday release passes from jail, the rest will follow.


Refugees

This is always a sensitive political issue for discussion.

The number of political and economic refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Far East continues to be a major headache for countries in Christendom on the front line - Greece, Italy and Malta.
It's always difficult for me when dealing with this issue as I have sympathies with anyone, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity or sexuality being forced through military, religious, ethnic and tribal conflict or other persecutions  to be fleeing for their lives with what little possessions they can carry. Whom amongst us cannot be genuinely moved with the image of a child clutching the one personal possession – a precious toy – it is able in weight to carry not knowing what is happening or why everything around it is so unfamiliar - or in ruins or indeed where it's friends or even parents are (all having been perhaps murdered.)  What's even worse is that our military campaigns in Muslim lands have, in some instances, created these very instabilities for which we now refuse to take responsibilities – turn our backs on and turn back these terrified victims to an almost certain death at the hands of their 'brother' (co-religionist) Muslim butchers.
The issue for Christendom appears to be that many Muslims have not integrated into any aspect of life in their adopted home countries – other than their own Mosques and social settings.   [I am not talking about the business communities but the average Joe Smith - or Jo Mohammed as the case may be.]
I am very familiar with the history of refugees almost since mediaeval times and the roles which the Netherlands, Britain and the United States have all historically played in welcoming those fleeing persecution and seeking a new beginning in, what at first, must seem, very strange and alien lands.
I don't have an issue with Little Havana (West Village, N.Y.), or Little Jerusalem (Brooklyn) or Little Italy (Manhattan) nor Little Dominican Republic (North of 155th Street.)
Indeed it's only natural for immigrant communities to want to live together in a new and very strange land where the 'culture shock' can be quite awesome or overwhelming.   It often takes decades (even generations) to adjust.
But none of these new immigrants nor their families have entered the U.S. intending to change it from a Christian nation to one reflecting the tyrannies of pogroms, no economic opportunities, widespread religious, ethnic and racial discrimination and no economic future, back into the  a mirror-image of the lands  from whence they once fled.
Some Muslim immigrants have taken a different attitude – more in Europe than in the United States.  Few have attempted to build any bridges (other than for public relations purposes) with Christian communities.  Social integration with Christians (or 'kafirs' with souls of darkness, as their Salafist and Wahhabist Imams declare) is haram (sinful or forbidden) or declared evil by their Imams.   Beyond this childish and mediaeval name-calling by ignorant Muslim religious leaders however are more serious issues.  Many want (or are being encouraged by Salafist and Wahhabist Imams, imported from Saudi Arabia) to change the fundamental nature of Christendom as a liberal, open, racially, religiously and sexually tolerant (gay, lesbian, transgender) society into the very repressive intolerant regimes from whence they once fled.   Some also are virulently anti-Semitic – bringing this as 'baggage' into their adopted Christian societies.  To go further, into our society such refugees wish to introduce dress codes (abolish short skirts and dresses in favor of pants for women and girls, total covering of the female body) as is existing practice in Muslim lands, a ban on the consumption of alcohol and alcohol-free 'coffee shop' zones throughout Europe and even calling for a ban on the display of Christian symbols – such as the wearing of Christian crosses and the Cross of St. George.) 
Muslim extremists and their Imams have even called openly and publicly for the murder of gay, lesbian and transgender members of our communities in Christendom.
In Christian lands as diverse as Africa, the Caribbean and South East Asia I have seen communities proudly witnessing their majority Christian faith with such icons and relics without fear – and most are equally accepting of their minority Muslim community brethren likewise dressing according as to how they wish. You do not, however, find Muslim gangs roaming the streets of such societies and calling for the adoption of Shariah Law, the closure of pubs and ban on alcohol, entertainment and other social venues in order to subjugate their Christian host societies and communities in these countries.  
You would equally be hard pressed to find a Muslim country in the Middle East, Turkey and North Africa where a female tourist can wear a skirt or short pants without being spat upon or heckled because of her perceived 'immodest' dress.  The point I am making here is that dress codes are strictly enforced in  Muslim Arab lands as opposed to Christendom where women enjoy the freedom, without fear, protected by the law, to dress as it pleases them.
It's an unacceptable situation and part of the response can be seen in a hardening of attitudes towards refugees in exodus from Muslim lands. Indeed sadly (in my opinion) a hardening of attitudes towards all refugees and immigrants is taking place across Christendom.   I believe that this is misguided.  [From a purely economic viewpoint, it makes no sense to be excluding refugees between the ages of 16-30.  Those countries in Europe and Asia - such as Bulgaria and Japan – which have the lowest immigration populations also have the lowest growth rates.  Japan has an ageing population but because it was always an ethnocentric country, finds it impossible to welcome immigrants nor migrants in numbers preferring instead to rely on advanced technology to maintain it's 'purity' of culture. You can also see unintended consequences of such policies: Other than under subjugation, who in their right mind (except for reasons of doing business) would want to adopt the Japanese language, culture, music, art, customs, traditions, or any of their ways of life except perhaps an occasional Sushi?;likewise which countries in their right minds would ever wish to join the Russian Federation - other than under enforced military subservience or imperial subjugation?]
Whether this is the right solution or whether we give the wrong invitation or confusing messages – that our societies are 'Godless' and yearning for spiritual awakening (sic. by Allah) or we have just not put up a bold enough sign for our prospective Muslim citizens fleeing to Christendom which reads 'Welcome To Christendom – And We Insist You Keep It Christian (!)'
There are no easy solutions but in this particular instance I believe that more needs to be done by the Muslim communities to accept fundamental core values within their adopted Christian lands rather than attempt to change them to become mirror-images of the intolerant brutal and racist-ethnic cleansing-tyrannies from whence they once fled in terror into Christendom – some with little more than the clothes they and their children were wearing on their backs or indeed (more so) as economic migrants.


The Vatican:Speaking Out
The Pontiff, Pope Francis, unlike his predecessor, has finally spoken out against persecution of Christians worldwide and asked that (those who are religious of course) we pray especially for persecuted and suffering Christians in Muslim lands.  He has also urged his Muslim Leadership counterparts and Muslims in general worldwide to speak up to defend their Christian neighbors, where Christians are minorities in Muslim lands. Sadly his words of peace and reconciliation and encouragement to speak up all appear to have fallen on deaf ears in the Muslim world of North Africa and The Middle East.   The exception here being the country of Syria where President Assad, from the inception of the civil war in his country, ordered his forces to protect Christians and Christian property as best they were able given the terrible conditions and chaos.  My contacts suggest that Syrian government forces went out of their way, sometimes at great personal risk, to protect Christian lives and property from the Syrian Opposition/ISIL and Al Qaeda forces, a fact not reported (or to be more precise, ignored) in the Western media.


Project SETI

I want to end on an out-of-this world note:
In about 50 years time Project SETI, the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence in this galaxy and in the universe, may be wound up if the search of the skies continues to prove negative.
By another 50 years it's listening telescopes and antennas in California (and Associates worldwide) will have scanned every inch of the visible night skies for sounds or echoes of intelligent life. To date there is no sign that anything other than ourselves exist in this galaxy – The Milky Way.  If we are the only (and highest) example of intelligent life in this galaxy, then it will all be very saddening.   Even worse, if this is all a whole universe can produce, as the highest fountain of creation and wisdom, other universes must equally be truly and verily f****d up.
What an epitaph for the concept of intelligent creationism (!)

[addendum:yes I have heard of the 'Wow' signal but believe it to be a 'false flag' in the night sky]

© Patrick Emek, 2014















even RT agrees with me on this issue (!)









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Monday 29 December 2014

What The Media Is Not Discussing About Missing Indonesia Air Asia Flight QZ8501

Sincere condolences to the airline, the captain, the co-pilot, the crew and all the passengers on board that ill-fated flight.
I am not going to make it routine to comment or blog about missing or crashed airlines but  I am taking up one final issue, omitted in earlier articles, and am using this loss to again highlight the matter.

What I want to look at in this blog are questions which the media are not touching upon because their paymasters (usually large global multinationals) would prefer that they get ignored, on grounds of 'political sensitivity' or 'correctness' .


I almost despair at the lack of discussion about new technologies available for the past 15 years, which give instant pinpointing for all civilian aircraft worldwide.
The late 1970s saw an explosion in military research in the area of over the horizon defense technology systems which were the cornerstone of the genesis for stealth aircraft and star wars research programs.
It was evident that such technologies for pinpoint (real time) accuracy not only existed but aspects were available for military search and rescue.
Indeed directional beacon systems have been in use since even before satellite technology to ensure that, say, in the (remote) event of the crash of a plane carrying a nuclear, chemical, radiological or biological payload, that search and rescue can be quickly triangulated to the cordon-off sectors of the sea until the appropriate extraction vessels arrive at the scene of the incident.   From resources available in the 1970s, I have discussed with twelfth graders how such triangulation can work even in the event of one directional (triangulation) beacon failing using basic trig formulations universally known to students.  I am talking here about technologies available in the 1970s.  Leaps and bounds have been made since that time making satellite pinpoint real-time (accuracy) location of any aircraft worldwide very easy such that, with the availability of GPS (and, where possible, the 'cooperation' of military systems) even if there are some locational problems when and where the disasters occur, usage of techniques – such as inverse parabolic determinants (including hyperbolic paraboloids) – can easily (and quickly) resolve challenging matters.
The purpose of this article, however, is not to promote one or other competing technologies but to highlight their availability to the civilian airline industry, which to date, is simply refusing to incorporate any, on the grounds of costs.
Why then are such technologies not mandatory for all aircraft?
The simple reason is that it pushes up operating costs to the airline industry every time one of its planes takes off  and these costs are currently non-recoverable in the low price of the economy consumer ticket.  If every airline operator was mandatorily obliged to install, then this issue, and Pole position in a race to the bottom cent  (for the low budget operators) for the price of the civilian airline ticket, becomes the same for all carriers.
In all honesty, when I travel by air, should the plane crash and I be killed, this is already factored onto the balance sheet of my carrier.  In actual fact, I have already been 'discounted' as an 'acceptable' loss within certain (defined) parameters.  It was always so from the moment of the maiden flight of my carrier.
There are 'acceptable' ratio levels of 'losses' (insurance fatalities) which are built-in to all carriers.
These are not issues which are 'politically acceptable' to be making known to the general public since there is a natural revulsion at the thought that there are an acceptable (economic or financial) threshold of fatalities for all civilian airlines. It just sounds 'too morbid' for discussion.
In other words, as long as 3 or 4 planes from the same airline do not crash in succession, the likelihood is that the airline will not incur such losses as to make it's continuation, commercially, unviable.   The statistical probability of 2 successive crashes (one after the other, within a relatively short time frame) with the loss of all on board for the same airliner is highly remote and to incur 3 such successive crashes, under such parameters, is, statistically, almost impossible.

[Many decades ago a good friend (now deceased) who was a senior insurance executive revealed to me a number of facts I would never be able to forget.  He had built up a very large portfolio of clients over almost 40 years of diligent employment with one of the largest insurance companies in the world.  The particular company had provided him with an income, an opportunity to progress based on hard work and the ability to provide financially for his large family at a level some people would envy.  Out of respect, I have waited until years after his expiry before committing anything about our chat to the public domain.
I was amazed at my naïvety when, one afternoon at his home, he revealed to me 'the Holy Grail' of his profession - the statistical likelihood of death for each individual profession or work type his company insured for and how each policy was scientifically and mathematically assessed prior to issue for the probability of maturation.  In other words it was estimated that, based on your profession, most people would die - and the diseases or illness from which they were going to expire could also be statistically projected - before the insurance policy matured and the company have to pay out any cash or lump sum.]
 
For such reasons airline operators, their shareholders and the insurance world can confidently (and quietly of course) discount 'losses' within a permitted margin so that neither operating costs nor the airline's future are in any serious jeopardy.
We live in an even more 'politically correct' (hypocritically effeminized) world than 30 or 40 years ago to the extent that it's just not 'socially unacceptable' to be calculating the likelihood of 'losses' and 'adjustments' of human bodies (or indeed, in reality, as the case will be, body parts) based on the balance sheet.
This is what the international media find so difficult to discuss openly and honestly with the general public.  It is this fear of mass revulsion at such 'heartless' thinking (and indeed the remote possibility that the general public, through their representatives, would press for even more costly safeguards to protect Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma and the kids when next traveling) which determine the parameters for the public debate about air safety.

There are remarkably simple devices which would not too heavily increase operating costs but which carriers are simply refusing to install as there is a (satellite) tracking cost into to which they are not prepared to subscribe.
This facility has been available for civilian airliners for at least the past 25 years.
The FAA appears comfortable with the current arrangements and is not motivated to enforce compliance with anything other than the existing (in my opinion arcane and outdated) cost cutter basic safety procedures for all but the most advanced modern civilian aircraft – and only then because of insistence by the insurance underwriters that, in the event of the (foreseeable) future crash (and there will, of course, be fatal crashes) of such sky monsters carrying close to 1000 passengers, the loss assessors and adjusters (and their investors) will damn well want to know why they have had to fork out such a huge loss (losses) for, what was branded as 'state of the art' air transportation.  You will note here that there is no 'concern' about the victims who have (will at some future point in time) perished, but the arguments are all about blame (including pilot error) corporate litigation costs and insurance claims against shareholders, the airline and it's manufacturer.



© Patrick Emek, 2014





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Tuesday 23 December 2014

Across 
110th Street

Legislation In Northern Ireland To Ban Prostitution by Criminalizing Clients

On the surface of it, Northern Ireland is attempting to deal with an emerging social problem about which it knows very little or, to be more precise, has never honestly confronted.
In much the same way as paedophilia was hidden in the backstreets so too prostitution was denied – and prostitutes condemned to a life in the twilight – with little to no justice just certain exploitation by either those in authority or by organized crime.

The politicians will argue that they are 'responding' to 'social concerns' about a serious problem.

I studied Greek and Roman philosophy (the bedrock of our inherited Christian civilization) in Western Europe and I was under the impression it is the duty of politicians to lead with wisdom, commons sense, foresight and example and not to 'follow the lynch mob'.

Legislating for a part of human nature which cannot be denied and confining men and women to the sanctimonial marriage bed, long after the relationship has disintegrated, or, as an alternative suggesting that the individual should find a 'respectable' alternative, is like King Canute4 trying to arrest the inevitable waters for assault and battery.

[ Indeed it might even be argued that it was the lack of access to alternative sexual options, which in part (and in some cases) contributed to Ireland's historical problems of child sex abuse involving clergy by being forced to exist in social vacuums where sexual abstinence was mandatory and enforced thus creating psycho-sexual and unresolved conflicting paradigms in confined environments with little to no possibility of normal sexual behavior; a direct result of a clerical 'lifestyle' promoted in Catholicism since the Council of Nicea3 ]


I recall President Nixon in one of the infamous Watergate Tapes declaring that it was 'homosexuality' or 'homos' which destroyed Greek civilization.
Little did he realize at the time he was recording (for personal posterity and autobiographical purposes) that his own empire, built on hypocrisy and lies, was about to crumble into dust. Yes he had his brilliant moments – as did other leaders in their own day – one of which was the historical rapprochement with China – but so too does everyone have their individual weaknesses.
In much the same way as his assertion that the Greek Empire collapsed because of one aspect of it's social fabric was nonsense so too it would likewise be nonsense to assert that it was one single incident alone and in isolation (and it's handling) which destroyed his Presidency.

Likewise it is both nonsensical, unreal, immature and unwise to assert that one of the oldest professions (Prostitution) be consigned to back alleyways and the underground – rife for exploitation (and double-exploitation of the clients, victims or sex workers by both organized crime and those with authority) and a future repeat of historical abuse revelations in any country going down such a fallacious, dangerous, primitive and backward path.

If I was to be kind (or condescending, others might infer) I would say that the new legislation is misguided, not so kind, that the law itself is an ass.


© Patrick Emek, 2014



The main title of this article is taken from the song 'Across 110th Street' by Bobby Womack.
The reason for the choice is because, in my opinion, there is more common sense in this 3 minute 45 seconds song about how to tackle the problem of organised crime and racketeering than most of the legislation (and resources expended) which the U.S. and other countries have introduced to combat vice over the past 150 years.

typographical error corrected on 29th December, 2014



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Thursday 18 December 2014

Rouble Crashes Out:
50% Below and Still Falling...................
Economic Crises In Russia: Who Is To Blame?

In less than one hour, President Putin will address the Russian people on what is probably the
worst crisis he has ever had to face in Office.

The 'Evil' Foreigners (Same Old Pogrom, Different Time Zone)
The President, no doubt, will emphasize that it is foreign speculators who, in consort with a lunatic fringe in Congress and in the Ukraine, is attempting to destroy the Russian economy and responsible for the fall in the value of the Rouble.
Europe, he will also say, is going to pay a heavy price if it continues to support such foolish policies.
He will emphasize that the fundamentals of the Russian economy are strong and that Russians must show patriotism at this time in history.  But is this the full picture?
Russian Roulette (European Union style)
Russia, through it's own reckless policies in the Ukraine has literally split the country in two – a potentially (in the future) economically prosperous Eastern Region and the rest, an economic abyss- which is a leftover for the European Union and The United States to finance.
Again, who is to blame for this?  President Putin will no doubt blame the United States - but in fact it was the United States which stressed that the Ukraine should remain as a single entity – with no breakaway regions whilst the European Union was adamant in creating chaos by encouraging the Nationalists to reject talks which would have left the former regime at the helm, brought in the New Democrats, and, through a process of graduated reform over, say, two decades, brought peaceful change to the whole united Ukraine, as one single country.
The European Union in it's arrogance and high-handed bureaucratic handling of the matter – no strangers with the velvet glove-iron fist the EU has become famous for – decided at a time of historical crisis in Ukrainian politics, to play a 'heavy'  (and losing) hand.  It raised the stakes to all or nothing.
Is There Any Intelligent Life In the Western Media?
Journalists are no more intelligent in Western Europe as they are controlled and under the thumb of the State in the FSU. For this reason they will all most likely miss the fact that Victoria Nuland was adamant in her expletive deleted criticism of the European Union because she and her advisers knew the chaos such European Union stupidity would create in the Ukraine, and potentially create crises with the former Soviet Union. History has already vindicated Ms Nuland – who received blistering criticism as the Bête Noire. Through 'the bullhorn of President Putin' (Russia Today) her name became synonymous with the 'Anti-Christ' nevermore to be mentioned on Russia Today, except in this context or mocking reference. But Nuland was entirely correct in her assessment of the best way forward for both the Ukraine and it's superpower neighbors.  It was the EU which torpedoed all hopes of a peaceful transition.
(See my earlier blogs about the Ukraine.)
Uncontrollable Rollercoaster Ride
The present economic crises in Russia is as much outside the control of the United States as it is a direct result of falling oil, gas and commodity prices worldwide – a direct result of economic recession.
Commodity prices were underpinning the stability of the Rouble as Russia does not manufacture anything the Third World wants to buy.   It's fledgling industries are so hi-tech they are only appealing to a limited sector of the developed world.  It's businessmen are totally out of their depth when attempting to communicate with brown and Black-skinned individuals in much of the Third world.  Even the presence of Russian tourists is often something of an embarrassment as they cannot adjust to environments where they are ordered to behave themselves – in Third World holiday resorts throughout Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.
So overall Russia has a very limited footprint outside it's 'comfort zone' (the FSU client States) and this, at a time of economic crises means they have few (if any friends) to 'bail them out'.

The Value of Commonwealth Friendship and Trust Transcend Differences
The British economy, for example, was at one time 'saved' by a Third world (African) country when the British Pound (Sterling) was tethering on the brink of collapse.
At other times, friends have assisted financially to ward off potential crises both in the United States and in the United Kingdom.
I cannot see anybody rushing in or falling over backwards to save the Russian economy from collapse in the same way – even if the fundamentals are as sound as The President will no doubt say they are. Perhaps China will offer moral and financial support – and indeed this could be significant in terms of China's global footprint – but beyond that, it's the Russian economy itself which will need to evolve from being raw materials-dependant to an export-driven manufacturing goods and services exporting country to (mainly) it's own 'client' federated States.
Indeed former President Medvedev, in an Annual Presidential address, said that his wish was to move Russia away from being a raw materials-based 'slave' economy – 'like some Third World country'. Until this happens, the Russian Bear will continue to be at the mercy of world commodity price fluctuations and no amount of temporary propping up will change that.
When you now add in factors such as The Ukraine, EU and US sanctions because of differences in policy over The Ukraine and the annexation of The Crimea, the cancellation of the Bulgarian oil pipeline transit deal, an already faltering economy caused by over-consumption of foreign imports (lacking in Russia and demanded by supply-demand free market consumer factors) you have a truer picture than the one which President Putin is about to paint, in less than one hour, to the Russian people.
No doubt 'the Bullhorn' will carry it live (!)   So grab your popcorn folks and get ready for the show of the year.

Addendum:both in the United States and in the United Kingdom.

 

    And what did President Putin  actually say on on these major issues?

    The President's Annual Address:


  • President Putin did not blame foreign speculators (by name) for the fall in the Rouble - but 'external' conditions or factors for the economic crises

  • President Putin did blame Europe and the U.S. for scuppering the Minsk talks on the future of a united Ukraine

  • President Putin blamed the West (and NATO) for creating new 'Berlin' Walls to encircle Russia and cut it out from European markets



  • President Putin said that the fundamentals of the Russian economy are strong


  • President Putin said the Russian people regarded the 'return' of Crimea to Russia, through a democratic choice, as a right which corrected a 'wrong' of the past

  • President Putin praised the ordinary 'worker' as the cornerstone of Russia over the centuries

  • President Putin lambasted Russian businessmen who created offshore funds and failed to repatriate them to the country

  • President Putin said that he expected the current economic crises to continue for the next 2 years
Much of the rest of the Annual address was concerned with internal domestic politics within Russia and within the Russian Federation

 You can view the President's Annual Address in it's entirety at 'Russia Today' website:

http://rt.com/news/215471-putin-press-conference-updates/




© Patrick Emek, December 18th, 2014
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Thursday 4 December 2014

The ANN Interview:
The Backstory

If you have reached this blog site having already seen the interview, it means you were interested in what I had to say.    Thank you for coming - and welcome!
As you can see by the date on this blog it is written after but before the interview was broadcast throughout The Gulf, The Levant and North Africa.
For more detailed information of my analysis on the different regions, if you are interested and have time, please could you visit the relevant blogs at this website.

When It's Time To Go......It's Time To Go
Not too long ago I was cooking myself breakfast - 3 eggs and a small portion of baked beans - in my pyjamas - when the phone rang.   It was an old colleague.
'Drop everything Patrick and get over to ANN' were the instructions.  I immediately had a flashback to an earlier time when, believe it or not, something eerily similar had occurred – twice.   One time involved me, at very short notice, jumping into a Chinook (parked outside for our convenience) at a base where a member of a Royal family was training for active service, and the second, which I am going into in detail about, was when I was driving in Chelsea and my phone rang.   It was again an old colleague (a different one) from the Atlantic Council  (in the days of the Cold War, called 'Peace Through NATO', of which I was an active member) who greeted me politely asked if I was available (in the next few minutes) to actively support our War effort in the Balkans.  This was at the time of the conflict in former Yugoslavia and I was being asked to represent NATO in the University debating circuit and justify the political decision taken, on behalf of the democratic world, that it should be ordered to intervene, to prevent the massacre of Muslim civilians in the (then) Serbian province of Kosovo.   The latter was one of the most difficult calls I had ever to take in my life.  I was torn between my loyalty to friends (Serb friends) and what I knew to be 'the right thing to do'.   I have never been very religious but at that moment was anguishing like never before and drew upon what little spiritual strength I had to decide what to do within the space of that telephone call.
As a civilian, I was being asked to do my duty at a time when my assistance was required.   I had no doubt that in Serbia, media individuals, with misgivings, were also being likewise called upon, to do similar.
I never debated or hesitated the issue with the caller (AW) just said 'yes' because I knew it was the right thing to do morally, ethically and I knew could never find the inner peace I sought if I did not, at that moment, stand up to be counted.  This was one of my (many) moments in life of truth – the calling to a higher value and ideals far beyond my capabilities as a spiritually failing human being nor of my understanding – but I knew I was doing the right thing, come what may.
Hearts and Minds
At a very prominent University College, I won the debate – no contest - against a very formidable and nationally recognized media individual – who should have 'wiped' the floor with me and won - hands down – as I could tell that the student audience was, initially, highly sceptical and anti-NATO intervention in Kosovo.  That was, until I explained clearly what the issues at stake were.   Then the tide turned.                It happened that the NATO intervention in Kosovo was short-lived so my tasks were concluded successfully in a very short time period and I could return to an anonymous life, but not without regret for the fallen, on all sides.   The lives of the fallen, Christians and Muslims, all wasted by their respective politicians, in the wake of a failure of diplomacy to resolve disputes and squabbles.   And of course many of those fallen, on all sides, represented the youngest, whose future was once the brightest.   There you have it.

'No No-Go Areas!'
So too it was when this colleague called me, whilst in my pyjamas.  It was not difficult to say 'yes' because when he explained to me 'you will be asked your views about ISIS, Afghanistan, the Levant, North Africa, The Gulf, U.S. policy – and you can say it exactly as you see it – no holes barred – no sacred cows -  don't take any prisoners - and don't hesitate to let them know exactly what you think.  You can draw on or mention your personal contacts  and anyone else you want to mention.'  Under many circumstances, on highly controversial topics of an international dimension, you are expected to 'toe the line'.   I do not do many TV nor radio interviews for that simple reason and the fact that I don't want to be leaving the 'politically correct'  station as an 'embarrassment' after the interview concludes.   In addition, there are many networks I will decline for political reasons - because they are indirectly controlled or funded by the governments of countries whose policies or the treatment of women and minorities (Christians) I find odious.   So I am not readily 'available' nor 'easy to get hold of' for interviews these days.
I knew that ANN is one of the reputable of the modern Arab TV networks promoting democratic values, Womens rights, equal opportunities for all, and broadcasting throughout the Levant, The Gulf and North Africa.   It is a modest network with a 'progressive' audience  and not a media network 'bankrolled' by countries I would find a 'problem' to work with - such as Iran or Saudi Arabia.

Within a few minutes of our conversation the phone rang again.  It was someone unfamiliar - but I had been told to expect that call.    'Hello, I am …... can you just drop everything and get down to the studio for an interview?   Come as you are!   When I explained that I was just about to start eating my beans and fried eggs and was, to say the least, rather scantily dressed and might not appear appropriate for a viewing audience in the Muslim Levant, The Gulf and North Africa, should I turn up in my slippers and dressing gown, I could almost hear howls of laughter from the other end of the line.  'Ok! Ok!  Look, could you please get here as soon as you can?'
As soon as I put the phone down I put my breakfast in the oven, got washed and dressed and high-tailed it over to the studio.    It took more time to find an empty taxi (about 8 minutes) and battle our way through traffic to the studio (about 16 minutes) than it did to get washed and dressed and out the door for the interview (about 6 minutes.)
Because we are talking about sensitive political and military environments, I needed to be assured that there were no 'off-limit' areas for discussion.   'No, just say it as you see it Patrick.'   'They really are interested in what you think and how you see things moving forward – or backward - as the case may be.'
Should I mention my interviews with, whom I now believe, with hindsight, were Al Qaeda operatives in the Southern Philippines before 9-11 whilst researching my book there?
Should I alert the Gulf States and Turkey, if I get the chance, to the folly and imminent dangers to their very own stability, emanating from their active or passive support for ISIS and why such is the case?    Should I mention Jack Devine's prophetic article* about Afghanistan, if I get the opportunity?  (See my earlier blog about Afghanistan*, Its Bleak Future, unless action is taken on several issues.)
I made a number of calls during that 16-minute journey to check facts and issues.    Remember I had just got up, had done no homework whatsoever, and was expected, out of the blue, to recall information and details I had not visited recently.   For example, could I mention AK?, a devout Muslim and charismatic Afghan tribal leader in the Loya Jirga (Supreme Tribal Council) whom I met personally at the residence of a colleague and whose integrity and vision for the future of Afghanistan impressed me so much that I drew a comparison to that 'rainbow nation' vision which Nelson Mandela had for all of the people of South Africa - regardless of race, religion, color, tribe, ethnicity or (in the case of Afghanistan) gender. 
'No holes barred Patrick, just say it as you found it' were the words echoing in my thoughts.
That was sufficient.

The taxi arrived at the studio.   The rest you have seen in the ANN interview.


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