HONG KONG and CHINESE TOTALITARIAN DEMOCRACY !

There are disturbances in Hong Kong at present because the totalitarian Republic of China seems to have forgotten the terms of the agreement signed in 1997.  That year Hong Kong gained its independence and became a special administrative region of China !

In that way Hong Kong became China's "trade window to the western world" !

Hong Kong is an independent city of 7 million inhabitants and the agreement of 1997 stated that it would retain political and economic autonomy for the next 50 years except for questions of Foreign Relations and Defence.

For the election of its new chief executive in 2017 China wants Hong Kong to vote for one of three vetted candidates proposed by the Communist Party in Beijing.  Is this real democracy ?

What the City wants as candidates are "independent Hong Kong residents" not totalitarian "trained" Communinist Party members.

The situation at present is delicate.  If China sends in its troops to "restore order" they will not use "feather dusters" and another Tiananmen Square massacre like in June 1989 could result !

If that happens, China's "trade window to the western world" will close !             


 

MOST MUSLIMS ARE NOT ISLAMIC EXTREMISTS !

Atrocities have been committed by Islamic Extremists in Syria and Irak.  Reports of the torture, rape, murder, beheadings and executions of non extremist Muslim citizens have been witnessed on television in many countries and revolted every viewer.

The object of these Islamic Extremists is to carve out and create a new Islamic State in the countries of Syria and Irak and then impose strict Sharia laws !  Would these extremists then be satisfied and live peacefully forever afterwards ?  Certainly not !  They would want to extend their domination using the same methods !

This is the reason why Western Countries and NATO Allies have started bombing key Islamic State installations and encampments with the help of the most modern weapons ever used in any war.

This has however, created suspicions about Muslims who live and worship happily and peacefully in many of the Western countries, which are now at war against the "Islamic State" !

As a result, Muslim leaders yesterday organised  peaceful marches to tell France and its citizens, that they too were horrified by the creation of the Islamic State and by what it is doing.  They want to continue practicing their religious beliefs quietly as before, in the same way as Christians and Jews practice their religions !

They quite rightly said "we too are French and France is our home"!   Why should they feel the scorn of others around them ?  France understand this plea ! 

One must remember that Muslims are not necessarily Arabs, just like one must also never forget,  that in the Second World War Arabs helped to liberate France !

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SARKOZY ELECTION SPEECH ROUSES FRANCE !

Sarkozy's official reappearance in the French political arena, after his unexpected defeat by François Hollande in the Presidential Election in May 2012, has been meticulously planned for some time. He announced his return last Sunday on French television.

For almost a week he has been seen at Prime Time on almost every TV channel, but he gave little away about his ideas and intentions, except to say that he would be a candidate for the post of President of his "political family".   He wanted to reorganise and rejuvenate the party after a turbulent but sterile period.

Some leading members of UMP were clearly worried by what this meant.  Last night they found out !  Sarkozy held his first meeting in Lambersart (in the Calais area) as a candidate for the Presidency of the party.

He spoke about changes which are now necessary in France after the disasterous two and a half years of the Presidency of François Hollande.

He wants to build a new team, a new party for the future.  He said that there would be a Primary Election to determine one sole official Party Candidate for the next Presidential Elections in 2017 !  To do otherwise would be suicide and could result in the National Front candidate being in the final run-off with a Socialist !

Long held principles of the Socialist Movement must be revised to make France competitive again.  Trade Unions must expect and accept changes in the Law ! 

The Schengen Treaty must be modified to help not only France but other countries as well and also to protect not only the EUROZONE but the EU as a whole !

Hollande has diverted public attention to the problems in the Middle East, but today Sarkozy made a forceful speech.  It was a real wake-up call which covered internal politics and the economic problems France is facing.  Changes must come !

There are just three little observations worth noting ! 
 
   -  He talked about a "new political union" but never mentioned the name of UMP.

    -  He talked about the "new team" he needed !  There will surely be more speculation about what this means !

    -  Finally, while the Candidate Sarkozy was delivering his speech, one was not quite sure whether it was the   future President of the Party, or of France, who was speaking !  In fact it was both !
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FIFA WORLD CUP FINALS IN DANGER ?

The world at this present time is preoccupied with two possible wars.  One situation concerns Russia and Ukraine, the other is centred on the Islamic State.  The latter is really a world wide problem !

FIFA must be prepared for such eventualities ! The 2018 World Cup Final games are sheduled to be held in Russia and those of 2022 in Qatar, an Islamic country with a hot climate.  If they have to be cancelled at a late date, for whatever reason, what would FIFA do ? 

The Security of international visitors cannot be ignored ! The consequent Financial Loss for Football and FIFA is another consideration !

Should FIFA therefore, not systematically order a second vote to select a Reserve Venue for the Finals on the same day as the Vote for the Host country ?  This second vote could select one of the losing bidding countries ? 

Would it not make sense to adopt such a vote for a "Reserve Host Country" as normal FIFA Policy ?   

Who knows what catastrophy could arise in future ?  It could be a war, a revolution, a health problem (ebola !) or even an earthquake !

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FIFA REPORT ON CORRUPTION WILL STAY SECRET ! WHY ?

To the astonishment of everyone Qatar was voted to Host the Finals of the 2022 World Cup.  Immediately other bidding countries wanted to know how this exremely hot and humid country with no real "football heritage" managed to be selected !  Losing bidders  were suspicious that something was very wrong, that there was perhaps even corruption !

The FIFA Ethics Committee ordered an Investigation into the Bidding Process and the Report of 350 pages by Michel Garcia became available early September 2014.  

Qatar has no real football stadiums of the required  quality and capacity to cater for large crowds of supporters.  They must all be built !

Theo Zwanziger, a member of the FIFA Executive Committee has said that the tournament will probably be moved away from Qatar because of the heat !    Hans-Joachim Eckert of the Ethics Committee has now bluntly said  the Report would not be made public ! 

Why ?  The suspicion was that there was corruption and now that FIFA refuses to make the report public ?  This convinces everyone that something is being hidden !

Why does President Blatter not impose his will to clean up FIFA as he promised he would before his last election ?  How is it that only now, suddenly, Qatar may be too hot to stage the 2022 World Cup Finals ?

Mr Blatter, FIFA will never be free of possible corruption until it changes its Statutes ! 

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PUTIN : HOW LONG CAN HE LAST ?

When Putin denied Ukraine, an Independent country with a Russian President, the right to start talks aimed at  joining the EU, he revealed his real intentions !  This in turn led to direct confrontations with the West. 

Putin had this secret, non-avowed dream, to recover the might of Russia which it lost in 1990 when the Berlin Wall was breached and which then led to the liberation of many communist satellite countries in 1991.

That was a bad mistake by Putin and it provoked the hatred of Ukrainians who had all dreamed of joining the EU !  To save face he grabbed Crimea before the West could move !  This way he recovered his personal reputation !

But Putin wanted still more !  He wanted all of Ukraine and there is now irrefutable evidence that he was and is helping the Russian Rebels with weapons and soldiers.  The West slammed him with sanctions and they are now beginning to bite !

The shops in Russia lack supplies of Western goods but  Russian citizens know what is going on.  They have contacts with people who live in Ukraine.  The next bubble to burst will probably be the "Rouble" which is fast losing its value.  Oligarch friends of Putin are moving their fortunes out of Russia and Sanctions mean that the Rouble can no longer find support on western Money Markets !

These are the serious issues which explain why suddenly there are Anti-Putin revolts in Moscow and other large Russian cities !   They will go on.  

How long can Putin last ?

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SCOTTISH "NO" VOTE IS THE RIGHT SOLUTION !

 Alex Salmond and the Nationalist "YES voters for Scottish Independence" are brokenhearted that the "NO" vote finally settled the issue.

However, not all is lost !  In its article "What do Scotland and the Scots really want ?" published in this Blog on Feb. 1, 2014, the question was clearly asked whether Scotland really wanted "INDEPENDENCE" or just "MORE LOCAL GOVERNMENT". 

Neither of these possible solutions was "comprehensively" presented by Alex Salmond or his supporters.  In the end voters were unsure what was being proposed !  They voted "NO" to avoid unexpected problems and costs ! 

The "political fight" by top heavy MPs on both sides did provoke a rethink,  of what should and should not be delegated to regional parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland !

Scotland wants more tax-raising powers.  Does this mean Scotland would assume completely a cost that is at present covered by UK taxation ?  Or does it mean just extra tax payable by Scots only ?

This is just the "tip of more complex problems" which the "NO" vote has discretely avoided, but which must be carefully studied before any future decision !

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