A Surreal Proposal Comes From the EU Commission.

The E.U. Commission has a real job to win hearts and minds of European citizens for this weeks launch of the European Citizen's Initiative programme.

This brand new tool for participatory democracy....... will strengthen the democratic foundations of the Union and bring Europe closer to its citizens.......I hope that EU citizens and especially young people will seize the opportunity and embrace this new right.....Maroš Šefčovič Vice-President of the European Commission

Yippee! we're all getting a say in the running of the European Union....but what about the elected parliament and the council of Europe, is policy not their job. Well actually the commission tables the policies and the parliament discuss their proposals.

OK game back on, so what do we do to.....easy, you propose an initiative. It gets approved by the commission. No time wasters, frauds, meanies or Euroskeptiks need apply.

Oops, didn't the entire Jacques Santer commission resign in March 1999 over fraud allegations or was that just an old fashioned power struggle with the Parliament which gave rise to the Euroskeptik movement.

Never mind we soon got a new commission with some of Santer's boys reinstated including Mario Monti who is now running Italy. But it was all because of that nasty French woman Edith Cresson

Great stuff. So what's the time frame for a citizen's initiative? It can take up to about 2 years of your life from start to finish. Ah but the opportunity to make a difference is worth it.......right......Well its not exactly that straight forward. You see even though the commission reserves the right to approve or not approve the initiative at the outset depending on your moral credibility, there is some small print...There always is.

Once you have done all the work and been transparent about your sources of support and funding ..hmmm...... the commission reserves the right under Article 10 to

(c) within three months, set out in a communication its legal and political conclusions on the citizens’ initiative, the action it intends to take, if any, and its reasons for taking or not taking that action.

It can seem surreal for the commission to promote a citizen's  initiative
 which includes possible penalties for those who participate.  2012 

In other words ignore the initiative.....Oh dear and while we are at it the commission can wash its hands of any fallout from the initiative it gives approval to.

Article 13 Liability

Organisers shall be liable for any damage they cause in the organisation of a citizens’ initiative in accordance with applicable national law.

And the never ending punishments that go with all EU legislation.

Article 14 Penalties

1. Member States shall ensure that organisers are subject to appropriate penalties for infringements of this Regulation and in particular for: (a) false declarations made by organisers; (b) the fraudulent use of data.

2. The penalties referred to in paragraph 1 shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive (discouraging)

Now that commissioner Cresson was punished over the fraud when vast sums of money went mission under her watch. No of course not she go off with it. Ah but don't they all these days.

At least the information about the citizens is safe as the initiative rules under Article 12/ No 3

The organisers shall ensure that personal data collected for a given citizen’s initiative are not used for any purpose other than their indicated support for that initiative, and shall destroy all statements of support received for that initiative and any copies thereof at the latest one month after submitting that initiative to the Commission.

But that clever old commission just further down the page in Article 12/ No 5 reserves the right to keep

Statements of support for a given citizens’ initiative and copies thereof may be retained beyond the time limits laid down in paragraphs 3 and 4 if necessary for the purpose of legal or administrative proceedings relating to a proposed citizen’s initiative.

Hmm.... why take a chance participating in democracy......just so much punishment about these days.

Austerity Needs a Workout: Occupy Arrives at Davos to Confront the Beast.

Eurozone crisis is in a phase of salami fed doses of bad news followed by more bad news were the bad news is, there is more bad news.

This anaesthetization process (austerity) entails degrading living standards for millions of Europeans. A rise in unemployment for young hopefuls. Forced retirement for those in middle age, who once cast aside from the workplace, will never see a job offer again. An enormous squeeze on pensions as Europe's golden age population increases and markets can't or won't pay out. An increase in authoritarian rule and erosion of right to protest.

Austerity medicine is being force fed across Europe with little signs it will cure the patients. Getting fit by correcting one's diet should be accompanied with an organised workout programme to trim excess. Going on hunger strike only results in weakness followed by death......

Champagne globalists rule the world in 2012

The financial markets are pulling the political donkey by its nose-ring. They are affecting everyone's lives. They control society with their credit ratings and bond interest rates. Their authority is measured in what governments don't do to suit their industry. The world belongs to the financial markets. They care little for the human suffering their actions inflict on those who seemingly have no means to match their great power.

Che Guevara looks out from
a Brussels window 2012

Identifying the financial market as an out of control menace to society is a definite vote catcher for nationalist and populist movements. But standing up to Wall street and the city of London can be attractive also to the silent majority. After all this crisis is the part result of de-regulation and the greed it fuelled. It is often referred to as irresponsible capitalism. Chaining the beast can and will bring it under pacification.

Occupy is heading to Davos in Switzerland where the bankers and investors gather each year to plan their annual agendas. It will be interesting to watch if force is used to contain their protests as has been the case in earlier stand-offs with authorities. Such actions will reinforce the common belief that democracy itself is the target of the so called 1%.

Europe's leaders should carefully respect the continents recent past. Bowing to the orders of the globalist champagne elites will provoke a ground swell for revolutionary action.    

E.U Crisis. The Merkozy Project: Seeking an Alternative Answer

Searching for answers. The famed Atomium
in Brussels was the centre of attraction for the
1958 World fair about the future. 2012  

Physicists are searching for answers to an evolving universe deep underground in the Swiss based CERN laboratory. They seek out the elusive Higgs Boson sometimes referred to as the God Particle. Why this reference to holy Deity. Maybe because, just like God, it does not exist and so today’s holy men of knowledge may have to search elsewhere to understand the origins of the universe. Of course getting Six Billion Euros to discover that something doesn’t exist does raise the question over the social value of the particle. It provokes a thought whether discovering if we are part of a super universal symmetry we have no control or influence over has any better social benefit than the old God theory. Either way it still all comes down to how do we humans successfully participate within this universal supersymmetry.

The Commission displays its vision for the future
over the front of their Brussels H.Q. 2012

     

Understanding the current financial crisis is not so elusive. It is a combination of consumer fed human greed in the public and financial sectors clashing with a natural periodic technological evolution. This clashing is confounding a disruption of symmetry within the economic system. The Eurozone crisis, now  at the centre of chaos caused by this disruption of symmetry is posing similar dilemmas to the search for Higgs. What if the answer Eurozone leaders seek in fiscal unity and control of the new power it wishes to  create, like the God particle,  just isn’t there. 

 Can they accept fact over theory and like the physicists in Switzerland prepare its vast funding to search in new directions.  A journey’s destination does not have to end with an unintended disruption. It may delay progress, but the situation often provides new knowledge and means to overcome the obstacle. Such is the power of human intellect. 

 Of course Higgs Boson may be present somewhere around 125GeV within the waves of matter and anti-matter and European leaders may be able to fuse a new particle from the ashes of the financial crisis over the coming year, but certain fusion is not guaranteed. It can be wise to prepare to seek elsewhere for an alternative answer.     

Chancellor Angela Merkel; Reluctant Fuhrer, A Necessary Leader for 2012

It is a portrait which has bewildered most  who deplore the endless and un-necessary references to the last war. Especially if the intention is to object to anything proposed by Germany which meets any degree of disapproval for whatever reasons small or large.

Die reluctant Fuhrerin, necessary leader
Chancellor Angela Merkel is Europe's politician
of the year 2011.

The Brits and the Allies just can’t seem to get over that war. In the end these posters become  ridiculous characterizations. It is just silly to match democratic post war leaders with such a period uniform as it is to compare a an aggressive war time British politician to a quiet and calm bulldog famed for its patience with children.

 Germany is charged with leading core Europe. Its mission is to assume command however reluctantly, in order to resolve today’s challenges facing Europe.  These challenges are modern and unique. They come in the face of a rapid communication revolution alongside an evolving social and political global order for the 21^st century. And all this happening in the whirlpool of a relentless  crisis manufactured in Wall Street by an unscrupulous financial Mafia.  

This harping back in time to the financial and political upheavals of the 1930’s is not the same as learning lessons from the past. Media and common references to this are often crude and vulgar. Usually it’s a backlash to issues and situations which require constructive and meaningful approaches as opposed to an outburst of unbecoming but understandable anger.

 “I do not see myself going off to sell to my fellow citizens a Europe that behaves in this way. To say 'it's Europe or democracy,' I do not agree. We are in the midst of creating a monster. Turning Europe into an angry father whipping his children is a fundamental error.” French EU lawmaker Sylvie Goulard.  

When a politician makes such a damming accusation policymakers need to listen. They have to ask if the situation described in the statement can be corrected. Society needs to debate if a correction is available for the solution or a if a complete fundamental rethink about the problem is the only option.

The poster does not portray any sensible stereotype association with the second war , but rather the common today view of the severe mismanaging of the European Union by those who inherited the project after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Perceptions from the electorate are valid and legitimate, regardless of the opinions of so called elites and illuminate types who brought us to this point in history.

In the view of my young English nephew, who knows nothing of war and hopefully Art of SuperState will keep this situation as a permanent fact, recently remarked on how the German army in war movies have the best and smartest uniforms. May the Saxon Queen reign long to see  European uniformity in the best traditions of peace in the upcoming challenge 2012.      

E.U. Crisis: Pick of the Best 2011: Out of Control

A reflective view about the financial crisis sweeping the western world throughout 2011.

Don’t blame us for the crisis say the Wall Street elites. We only follow fundamentals and the money.

But as much these modern highwaymen utilise rampant capitalism to their gain the more they shed light on their rise as a financial mafia style phenomenon.

The crisis is revealing the existence of a beast allowed to grow unchecked over past decades and which is producing a deep sense of despair in our society. This despair has been articulated by the lack of serious control over these financial markets and the fact that the well-being of entire countries and their citizens comes down to a betting system.          

How did it ever get to a situation where a small group of financial entrepreneurs acquired so much power and wealth. How did they gained influence over the lives of millions without ever winning a single vote.

For some time,  investment bankers have believed that they and not politicians, are better leaders for our society.   

At the infamous June 5, 1991, Bilderberger meeting in Baden Baden, Germany, David Rockefeller said in a speech:

‘We are grateful to The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine, and other great publications whose directors have attended our meetings and respected their promises of discretion for almost forty years. It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for the world if we had been subject to the lights of publicity during those years. ... The supranational sovereignty of an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferable to the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries.”

 Al Capone gives up his throne as the greatest of them all to a new breed of smart Banksters.

Back in the good old days if you can remember that far back, local banking was about growing locals to flourish financially and socially. Not anymore. The primary function of today’s financial markets is to provide the rich with ways to get richer.

A sinister fringe event is simultaneously diluting democracy to the political sidelines.  In fact some now see this market force as a direct challenge to existentialist freedom.

 Since establishing the Chicago futures market in 1972 Wall Street has under gone a series of evolutionary steps to secure its independence from regulators and the prying eyes of public servants charged with protecting the interests of society at large.

Using money and the usual favours, the financial Dons of Wall Street were able to manipulate those in Washington to either look the other way or pass bills giving advantage to themselves. The Market grew throughout the 1970’s and 80’s. The effects of the Big Bang deregulation in 1986 were dramatic. It decisively strengthened financial capitals to reach the point where they are today.   

Over this time period  financial supervision was virtually eliminated. Political failure to control it had unleashed  a destructive force on society. By 1999 the task for power was nearly complete. Under President Clinton a law dictating strict separation between commercial and investment banks was repealed. This major barrier once removed, enabled institutions to grow into financial giants. Many banks became so large and powerful that they became too big to fail. Vast sums of virtual money amounting up to $60 Trillion were being traded on the market. The rule became simple:

The markets demanded More. Those who do not meet their expectations are punished with declines in the price of their stock and higher borrowing costs. Bankers got paid immense bonuses during the good times while in crisis they got bailed out by the tax payer. Other companies are  forced to keep wages down and their workforces at a minimum.

In 2004 five Wall Street investment bankers  won a ruling which required them to keep less of their own capital in reserve to offset risks. It was a classic coup de grace. From that moment on they  were able to expand their businesses unchecked.  Banks and brokerage firms were swallowed up in the process as the biggest players set the tone.  Hedge funds and private equity firms became known as the Shadow Banks.

Large numbers of financial players went to Washington directly from this Wall Street club.  Former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson became treasury secretary under then President George W. Bush in 2006.  

When the crash came in 2008, Paulson oversaw the biggest bailout to his old cronies in the history of corporate America.  An  economist described the direct involvement of these financial players in the inner workings of  the American government as a "quiet coup."

Life grew to be grand for the City Boys Gang living in the lap of luxury while whole sections of society faced social unrest coupled alongside decades of financial austerity.  And they, (Banksters) can't believe that their luck that the industry is still getting away with a system which allows investors to bet on the bankruptcies of entire countries.

Their arrogance and disrespect for the poor and the protester was openly displayed by members of the industry when they flicked champagne over an Occupy Wall Street demonstration as it passed below their balconies.

"This type of crisis cannot be allowed to repeat itself in the foreseeable future," Merkel said, "otherwise it will be extremely difficult to guarantee political stability, and not only in Germany." This  is the real challenge. 

However it is known the industry is opposed to reform.

For the financial industry, new regulations are often little more than a sporting challenge to  circumvent rules. In their confrontation with politicians and regulatory agencies, banks and hedge funds have a clear advantage: They hire the brightest minds and pay them millions to find new tricks. The public-sector regulators can hardly compete which is why people who have been involved in the financial world for decades assumes they will strike again.......

... 21 Dec 2011 Guardian.... http://tinyurl.com/7fptwo4   By year end the mood in the UK was changing “Bankers don't speak for Britain and the coalition will not put their interests above the rest of the country...these markets are a source of systemic instability, unfettered greed and industrial-scale tax dodging. No sensible government and few bankers, believe that the freewheeling days of the past can continue."
We shall see.........

E.U. Crisis: Batten Down the Hatches. Der Sturm Est Arrivée

The Irish are as mad as hell and aren’t gonna take it any more. Or so it would seem watching a transmission from Dáil Éireann (House of Representatives) in Dublin Wednesday.

Most parties lambaste the handling of the Euro crisis which is about to wreak havoc. The Tempest has arrived. France is snarling across the channel while Angela Merkel is playing Nana to clam down the house. Meltdown is here. Madame Austerity will soon be knocking her boney knuckle on everyone’s door. . Politics I know and isn't it entertaining.

A garden in Cologne Germany 2011.
 Double vision or a split view

But two articles in the press are much more sober and enlightening. One by Frank Barry, a professor of international business and development at Trinity College Dublin http://tinyurl.com/c6ulkf8 and the other by the chief of staff the British armed forces General David Richards http://tinyurl.com/c2psqlu

Frank Barry sums up the Irish dilemma facing all those rowdy voices in Dáil Éireann. What comes into the country as a source of money to produce goods does so from the USA and what goes out of the country in production is mostly destined for Great Britain. He informs us the Irish economy is an Atlantic one and as such “ A fiscal policy harmonized within the Euro area will not synchronize the Irish business cycle with that of the French-German core. “ So the Irish have it, to stay in and risk destruction or opt out and ride the storm to happier times. What's a decade to the well-being of an entire country.

It is not usual for soldiers to speak in political circles but when they do it is most often worth listening to. General Richards is quite blunt in his assessment of the situation. “I am clear that the single biggest strategic risk facing the UK today is economic rather than military,” he says “Over time, a thriving economy must be the central ingredient in any UK Grand Strategy. This is why the eurozone crisis is of such huge importance not just to the City of London but rightly to the whole country and to military planners like me.”

So Chancellor Angela Merkel is right to praise Britain as an important partner because simply it is. Not only for the Irish but for the Eurocore Federal States. The newly established Confederate States of Europe may get new members sooner rather than later. However, the goal for SuperState remains intact. To form a functioning and safer German led Eurozone weaker countries can hope to join after this crisis is over. And, a partner Confederacy should the Franco-German experiment become too difficult for some weaker nations to join. Two options but still one Europe. Batten down the hatches Der Sturm est arrivée  

Merkozy summit outcomes: Der Wochenende Kater. Pass Not Judgement on a Prodigal Son.

The Landscape changes for the Euro and
Europe project. Frankfurt 2011

Reports out of London, this hangover weekend, suggest Cameron acted to support the unchained and rampant elements in the Financial City who gave us this crisis in the first place. Be this true, then he will face much criticism and possible defeat. However, regardless of this important parliamentary matter, U.K. citizens still need to manage their redefined relationship with fellow Europeans. There will be reckless and selfish calls for Britain to leave the E.U.
To leave the EU must be an individual act of conscience. An act decided through the democratic process of one person one vote. It must apply regionally within the United Kingdom. For if it is the wish of citizens living in Scotland and Northern Ireland to remain within the European Union then their wish should be respected.   

This would effectively mean the break-up of the United Kingdom.....A nice thought for some....But, should the Merkozy Federal States falter for any reason, deliberate or not, then the British Isles, without providing an alternative route, will betray our nations to a century of European political obscurity. The Confederate Nations of Europe can be Europe's safeguard against Eurozone failure. After all who will deny the return of a prodigal son or daughter to the house of prosperity.


There may be a lot of huffing and puffing over this "Long December Night in Brussels." But reality remains the same. Europeans need solutions not divisions. Europeans need a future, not only a past. Europeans need constructive discipline and democratic reassurances. This is not mission impossible for Berlin, London and Paris. 

Merkozy summit outcomes. Die Rechnung Beginnt. Then there was 26 plus 1

Federal States 17: Eurozone Euroins

Confederate Nations of Europe 1: United Kingdom

Don't Knows 9: Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia and the Czech Republic must consult their parliaments.

Friday 5am, Dec 2011 France's President Sarkozy marched out of negotiations declaring Britain had for the first time ever, vetoed a new treaty. Chancellor Angela Merkel followed saying "I really don't believe David Cameron was ever with us at the table." The 26, led by the Saxon Queen and her Parisian enforcer, will go it together and the U.K. will go it alone. “Dimension” Art of SuperState part 3 is born.

FiskalAnschlussWoche (fiscal union week) provided a gambit for France and Germany to chase the Grand Master Euroskeptic back home across the channel and to the unregulated City the Chancellor perceives as a root cause of the financial banking crisis.

“Bye Bye England” Europa macht ohne euch weiter! Cameron becomes the first to join into the Confederate Nations of Europe.

Fiscal Union Week.  Friday 9^thDecember 2011 is a defining day in the chapters of European Union history. A moment of clarity. A day when Europe's nations came closer to Jean Monnet's and Robert Schuman's vision of Federal political union.

And Schism; the the moment United Kingdom walked away and became, the first member of the Confederate Nations of Europe.

Two Options, Two Decisions , One Europe to Save.

Angela Merkel hailed the agreement as a "Breakthrough toward the stability union, a fiscal union which will be implemented, step by step, over the next few years. Like all the rest of us, Great Britain depends on a stable Eurozone. We're all in the same boat." 

But bitter winds from Northern Europe blow resentment through SuperState. “Bye Bye England” Europa macht ohne euch weiter! (Europe goes on without you) reads a German popular headline. Cameron returns to his Conservative party and a hero's welcome in the British tabloid press.

For chroniclers surveying our times, all is not well with the outcome in Brussels. Some observers point to past tragic history. "Europe has returned to the stereotypes of the postwar years. The ugly German is back …..writes Berlin's Der Spiegel.

Others declare the eurozone will split. They say the traditional Brussels elite is being challenged by a new breed of anti-EU populists and that the European commission is despised and ignored by Paris and Berlin.

Ministers and officials are equally pessimistic.... “We face 10 years of austerity with grim German schoolmasters rapping everyone else over the knuckles.......when all this austerity hits the real economy, it will be bleak with unemployment going up.........the recession we have now entered is the first 'made in Europe' recession since 1993...........the Euro crisis has already taken a significant toll on the European economy. If things continue to worsen the toll could be huge”.....ends....

........and that icy wind blowing from the North will cover the land as a hard Winter tells its tale.........

Merkozy Summit, Marseille, No Sunshine for Cameron

The "Devilish Merkozy Duo," as they have been dubbed in many capitals, “can do whatever the hell they like.”

The British position at the Merkozy summit in Brussels seems isolated. Leader Cameron says he will scupper any treaty which harms British interests. Meaning, the very people and practices which caused the crisis in the first place.

David Cameron may have bitten off more than he
 can chew. Europeans are doing it for themselves. 
Picture Dec 2011 

We have only a few weeks to save the Euro and, have the impression that some actors still haven't recognized the seriousness of the situation," said a senior German government official in Berlin , Wednesday.       

Sarkozy declared in Marseille Thursday, “Never has Europe been so necessary. Never has it been in so much danger, Never have so many countries wanted to join Europe. Never has the risk of a disintegration of Europe been so great. Europe is facing an extraordinarily dangerous situation. The diagnosis is that we have a few weeks to decide because time is working against us. If we aren't in agreement on this, I fear that we won't be able to agree on anything. That's the analysis."

Wow! Haven't some observers been saying this for quite some time now..................

The German chancellor said it was time to put aside national egos and national interest. but smaller nations have complained they're being forced to follow the agenda of Germany and France with very little room for discussion.

"The Führer has requested our presence," quipped an enraged diplomat recently. The rather rude comment followed attempts by Merkel's EU policy adviser to gain backing for Germany's position.

Throughout the crisis, many of the core Eurozone members have been greatly irritated by the British Conservative party's gloating satisfaction (Schadenfreude) with the UK's decision not to join the Euro.

German and French leaders are not optimistic of finding agreement among the 27 nations of the EU. “If negotiations break down then we will have a treaty for the 17 members of the eurozone. Coherence isn't everything,” said Sarkozy, “but in political life it counts. The situation is serious, the Euro could explode and Europe unravel. That would be a catastrophe not only for Europe and France, but for the world.”

“Should the eurozone go ahead with a separate treaty that leaves out the non-Euro countries,” . Cameron explained, “then clearly that is not a treaty that Britain would be signing or would be amending.” But France and Germany have already made it clear that they will go ahead with their plans for the Eurozone without regard to the interests of Britain.

Britain tonight Thursday looks to be in a poor position to defend its interests at the summit.

Meanwhile back home, there are mounting calls for Cameron to make good his promise to hold a referendum on any proposed European treaty changes. With much of Britain in the anti-Europe camp, the nein danke side would most certainly prevail. No one said it was going to be easy........ 

FiskalAnschlußWoche. The Financial Policing Vereinigung Kicks Off in Earnest.

Oh Lordy, hear my prayer and grant my wish for FiskalAnschlußWoche. The media is in such a flurry this week over the Friday summit. “Dimension” the Art of Superstate is in a panic. Or is it! Didn't anyone tell you there is no accident in politics, If there is you can bet it is planned that way............President Roosevelt

Stripped, punishments, exclusions, inclusions, drastic actions, exceptional powers, disintegrate, unprecedented intrusion, discipline, fundamental erosion, sinner states, reward,

scare tactic, commit, partial break-up, Europe’s misadventure. Words peppering the news this week.....

On a bed of nails she makes me wait.......And you give yourself away......... with or with out you I can live........

France & Germany call a summit to shape Europe's direction. It is the great and famous FiskalAnschlußWoche
Picture Frankfurt 2011

The Euro crisis that began in Greece almost two years ago, ensnaring Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy now threatening France and Germany, has mutated into a European moment of direction.

“Fiskalunion” is now a real option. A progress born of the latest turmoil. And, one managed to produce such a scenario. This week is the deadline for Euro ins to stake their claim to Federal direction. There is hardly anymore panic left in the system to exploit, Disaster will be averted at the last moment. Austerity and Union will be seen to be attainable. But not all citizens will play this game of family re-union.

Federal Europe is off to a shaky start. Damage has been done to confidence over the past two years. Brussels is clearly incapable of winning respect from all citizens with its intrusive laws, endless fines and punishments. Although power is shifting to central bankers, the Merkozy alliance and the Confederate Nations of Europe, it will still be a summit of historic proportions. Lets hope they remember the song.

You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, well you just might find you get what you need.........rolling stones.......

Easy Street Traffic Diverted to Austerity Avenue. Central Bankers Seize Crisis Management from Governments.

The news buzzing in downtown Europe this Thursday Dec 1 2011 is Easy Street traffic is being diverted to Austerity Avenue. The sign reads... repairs to sub structures to get started in earnest. These upgrades include moves to significantly reduce Western living standards. Many observers say these plans have been in place for quite some time. If Illuminate (banker elites) foot soldier defectors are to be believed ( a dodgy concept) the crash was orchestrated a decade ago. The next announcement according to the defectors is to reduce population numbers to steady living standards globally. Good reading if you like conspiracy.

Dutch citizens enjoy the easy life on the Hague's Scheveningen beach 2011,
not far from the prison where convicts of the International criminal court are housed.

But the fact is, global power has just made an inexorable and relentless shift from democracy towards the technocrat Masters of the Universe. Money power back in the driving seat. Central banks are controlling bond market moods while governments impotently watch from the wings; having forgotten their lines and suffering stage fright. The bankers are now an Ad hoc political committee, while politicians get new roles as office clerks. (G & T, that's a good chappie, shaken not stirred).

The United Kingdom this week entered another Winter of Discontent, last seen in 1978. A discontent which may turn to a decade of resentment. And a resentment, which will spawn the seeds for a democratic backlash. To manage the world through a financial steering committee using policies of mass instruction (where individuals matter none) for the well being of future individuals is contradictory.

This re-routing of society into Austerity Avenue is about saving the financial industry at all costs. An industry based on gambling and creating virtual money from debt and worthless insurance instruments. An industry which has failed to serve and protect society. Was it ever meant to. When democracy fights back and fight back it will. Power will shift again. But in what direction. Only time will tell.   

Book Review: To Live Outside the Law by Leaf Fielding; Operation Julie Acid Bust.

I began writing this review after a very long night of reading. During Summer past, I was asking myself about this book and what it could say to me as one of those who participated in the British 60's & 70's counter-culture. Sure, I had heard of Operation Julie. Big news at the time, but the details escaped me. I was busy then with a war in another part of the United Kingdom.

What made me read on and on was simply the story. Living outside the law is an exciting biography about Fielding's remarkable early life as a Hippy on the road and subsequent rise in Intertrans Acid supply company. But his story is more. It's also an account of the British Acid Movement's drug fuelled social revolution and how a whole section of society viewed their world at that time.

“What do you think about acid” he asked me straight out. “Mmm, difficult” I said ... Let's see...LSD is probably the best hope the human race has got of coming to grips with its problems.” (p 219).

That universal period of Hippy subculture is well documented in music and folklore. However, Fielding opens the door to the activities of a core British youth galvanised by heady events from Haight-Ashbury's Summer of Love in 1967 to the thrilling half a million strong Isle of Wight pop festival in 1970.

Leaf Fielding's Infidel Waltz 1979. He made the sketch while serving his
sentence in  Horfield  Prison with Alston "Smiles" Hughes and 13 other
 co-conspirators.  "Operation Julie" was the biggest ever L.S.D. bust.

This is a superb read for those who desire to understand the mind of a rebellious youth. A time of Hippy temptation and solidarity. Fielding fills the gaps and provides us with continuity. He describes the fate of those who led the British Acid Movement to Turn on, Tune in and Drop out after we all married and got sucked into the society we opposed.

Indeed I had spent some time with the legendary Alston “Smiles” Hughes, later to become a top player in the Acid ring. Meeting in London in 1970 when I was seventeen years old, we joined the party at the Isle of Wight after which we hitched together to north Wales and on to Birmingham. All the time discussing the merits of a bohemian sub-culture based around the use of a psychedelic drug people have used since religion was invented. And, a drug some informed people will continue to use as a source of spiritual and creative influence forever more.

The revealing detail around Operation Julie and the subsequent jail term is chilling. Fielding provides a rare insight into a tormented imprisonment for those who should not have been there. The fifteen strong Julie mob, as they are referred to in the book, bear more resemblance to a group of political prisoners. In many ways they were just that. Their collective motivations toward creating social change is captivated perfectly through Leaf's own personal stories. What a journey.

The book, for those who understand the effects of LSD, takes the the reader on its own gripping trip of discovery and ultimate realisations.

First there is the initial rush to reach the first plateau of awareness. Then it swiftly engages the delights of Fielding's mad crazy and unconventional behaviour often associated with the drug. The book then finally passes the doors of perception to reflect on its conclusive study while the inevitable bad comedown is reported from a prison cell. Clever Fielding, he knows his drugs.  

One Small Step for Angela Merkel; One Giant Leap for Europe.

November 27^thDispatches from the month that was. Two leaders, Two views. One Europe to save.

“Europe is in one of its toughest, perhaps the toughest hour since World War Two,” said Angela Merkel in the city of Leipzig. "The Euro is the symbol of unification. It is the symbol for half a century of freedom and peace....now we have to make sure that Europe will emerge strengthened from this crisis. If the Euro fails then Europe fails, and we want to prevent and we will prevent this, this is what we are working for.

“Irish problems are Slovak problems, Greek problems are Dutch problems and Spanish problems are our problem,” Merkel said. “Our responsibility does not end at our borders.”

A breakthrough in the crisis will be achieved not by less Europe, but more. The task of our generation now is to complete the economic and currency union in Europe and step by step, create a political union we never managed to build in the '90s. It's time for a breakthrough to a new Europe.”

Left: A time of crisis in West Belfast. A youth leaps away from a burnt out car. Fast forward and a visitor from the Basque Country sees a different view.   

“These are times of change. Assumptions are collapsing. Fears about Europe’s future are understandably intense.” Warned David Cameron at the Mayor's banquet in London. Think how the European Union looks to those watching. A source of alarm and crisis.

The Second World War gave birth to the European Union. But for me, 1989 is the key date, when Europe tore down the Iron Curtain and came together. Democratic nations working together across our continent.

How out of touch the EU has become. It’s the pointless interference, rules and regulations that stifles growth. There is a real sense that the EU is somehow an abstract end in itself, immune from developments in the real world.

It does not have to be like this. Out of crisis can come opportunity if Member States are ready to grasp it. Now is the chance to ask: what kind of Europe do we actually want. The answer is clear.

One with the flexibility of a network, (Confederate Nations of Europe) not the rigidity of a bloc (Federal Nations of Europe)......... whose institutions help by strengthening its members to thrive in a vibrant world, rather than holding them back.” …..dispatches ends......

Two Leaders. Two options. One solution. A two way Europe working in tandem. A choice and means to full fill destiny. The ultimate goal is unity but unity can come in different arrangements. A forced marriage is no marriage as we know too well.

It is time to ask the people in April 2012...what kind of Europe do you want. You have the choice to join either option according to your convictions. A Confederate Network or A Federal Union with a means to opt in and out in future elections. The step must come from Berlin with London's support if we all are to make a giant leap for Europe.