Class war

As the government continues to prop up banks and the elite, but cuts education funding, libraries, local council spending, and even disabled peoples' basic needs, why should the average person give a toss about these multinational, corporate games? Tory governments systematically begin to destroy society as soon as they gain power. Unemployment is reaching unprecedented heights, banks will not lend to people or small businesses.From the middle classes down to the bread line, this country is suffering, but they are expected to clap happily as the govt spends $9bn on sports day. This is war, and there are no boundaries.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17200835
London 2012: Unite's Olympics strike threat condemned
Comments (1243)

David Cameron: "Labour needs to condemn this utterly"
Continue reading the main story
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Suggestions from the leader of the UK's biggest union that workers could strike during the London Olympics have been condemned by political leaders.

Len McCluskey, of Unite, told the Guardian that civil disobedience could be timed to disrupt the 2012 Games.

A spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron called the idea "unacceptable and unpatriotic". Labour has also criticised Mr McCluskey's comments.

However, union sources told the BBC there were no specific strike plans.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told the BBC: "People will just be gobsmacked, appalled, at Mr McCluskey's remarks.

"At a time when we can showcase to the world that we are positively and optimistically putting on this fantastic event, he wants to bring people out on the streets."

The Liberal Democrat leader said to "mess up the Olympics to prove a point" would be bad for the country and called on Labour leader Ed Miliband to "rein in" Mr McCluskey, whose union is Labour's largest donor.

And Mr Cameron also told MPs that Labour "need to condemn this utterly and start turning back the money" from Unite.

Conservative co-chairman Baroness Warsi agreed, calling the comments "an appalling display of naked self-interest".

"It is disgraceful for a trade union boss to be calling for mass disruption when the eyes of the world will be on Britain," she told the BBC.....cont


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17200835

100 years of freedom

China celebrates 100 years, this February since the last emperor abdicated. Was the revolution successful? China's first president, Dr Sun Yat Sen, was certainly an idealist, and motivated by his humanity, and outrage at the injustices in his country. This has so often been the case, where a truly great leader has emerged to free the common people from the ravages of poverty and oppression. At least that is how revolutions are begun. Think of Castro in power for 50 years, another idealist, but most people would say his revolution was more successful.  Compare the Chinese revolution to the French and Russian revolutions. Especially during those first 70 years or so. The Chinese and Russian revolutions were hijacked by corrupt and evil men, and of course the two world wars didn't help much either. I personally think that Dr Sun Yat Sen would have been appalled by the successive governments of China. After Japan's self-imposed 200 year isolation, Japan very quickly became powerful, why did't China after its liberation from feudalism? It is only today that we can truly say that China can now hold its head high on the world stage, this should have happened 70 years ago, but sadly under the guise of nationalism and false communism, its own leaders destroyed and massively oppressed their own people. Nationalism still rears its head frequently in China, as it does in Europe and elsewhere, but nobody takes communism seriously anymore, Richard Dawkins becoming Pope is just as logical.Communism does not exist in China, and hasn't for 30 years.
Chinese people, 100 years after electing (although by just a small committee) their first leader, still do not have universal suffrage, pretty damned sure that Dr Sun at that time looked at the example of the USA and hoped his own people could choose their own leader one day.
The future? China is a huge part of humanities future, and so our problems are very similar. A fairer distribution of wealth, human rights, justice, are universal concerns, pollution, resources and universal suffrage are particularly crucial for China's continued success.
It wasn't only China that wasted valuable time in the last century, but China must look honestly at its recent past and admit and remember the very hard lessons that were learnt.

A step backwards for Hong Kong internet users.

Time to vote with your feet. The majority of mobile companies will stop offering unlimited data plans, This is a step backwards. CSL apparently will continue.
Also seems like there is less and less choice these days with telecom companies in Hong Kong, and prices now seem relatively high in comparison to other countries. PCCW, Smartone 3HK, CSL, China Mobile(no fixed internet), seem to have control of the market, and their prices all seem very similar or identical. Not quite at the level of price similarity of Wellcome and Park n Shop yet, but certainly strangely similar.
From RTHK
CSL to continue unlimited data plans

13-02-2012
Mobile network operator, CSL, says it will continue to offer unlimited data plans to its smartphone users, but says those who use a high volume of data will be given lower priority to access the network.

CSL says it plans to move to volume-based pricing before the end of this year, but believes customers need more time to work out their data use.

Another operator, SmarTone, has announced it will cap its data plans at two gigabytes to comply with the new guidelines that have come into effect from the Office of the Telcommunications Authority.

The guidelines state that 'unlimited' plans must be offered free of restrictions.

Can't live with them,can't....

Life is very short, and there's no time
For fussing and fighting, my friend.
I have always thought that it's a crime,
So I will ask you once again.

Try to see it my way,
Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong.
While you see it your way
There's a chance that we might fall apart before too long.

Gather ye rose-buds'

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
    Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day,
To-morrow will be dying.
( Robert Herrick)

Nobody is falling for your crap Argentina.

 Falkland Islands: Argentina Takes Dispute To United Nations

 HMS Dauntless

 Good luck with that, the UK still has a veto at the UN security council. Britain have sent a warship because Argentina have disrupted shipping. How can a whole nation be so stupid? The people of the Falklands want to be part of Britain. Argentina have never occupied The Falklands.Article 1 of the UN charter gives nations/people the right of self determination. The tiny nation/island of the Falklands have freely chosen their flag. Why don't those of European descent in Argentina return power to the Native Indians? By Argentina's logic, Hawaii is not American nor is Guam. Fuck off Argentina!

 

From The Huffington Post

 http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/08/falkland-islands-argentin_n_1261751.html

Argentina is to make a formal complaint to the United Nations Security Council after accusing Britain of "militarising" their long dispute over the Falkland Islands.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said the UK's decision to send one of its most modern navy warships to the South Atlantic and to post the Duke of Cambridge on military duty in the region posed a risk to "international security".
Her announcement comes amid simmering tensions between London and Buenos Aires in the run-up to the 30th anniversary of the 1982 Falklands war, which saw Argentinian forces invade the archipelago in a row over its sovereignty.
Speaking to an audience including Falkland war veterans and other politicians at Argentina's presidential residence yesterday, Ms Kirchner said: "I have instructed our chancellor to present formally to the Security Council of the United Nations and before the General Assembly of the United Nations this militarisation of the South Atlantic which implies a great risk for international security."
Following the speech, the UK government insisted that it would not enter into negotiations over the sovereignty of the disputed islands.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The people of the Falkland Islands are British out of choice. They are free to determine their own future and there will be no negotiations with Argentina over sovereignty unless the islanders wish it."
Relations between the UK and Argentina have been frosty in recent months.
In December, Prime Minister David Cameron accused the Buenos Aires administration of "colonialism" after the Mercosur grouping of countries, which includes Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay, announced that it would ban ships sailing under the Falkland Islands flag from docking at their ports.
Last week Prince William began a six-week posting in the Falklands region in his role as an RAF search and rescue pilot, while the Government has also revealed it is to send one of its newest destroyers, HMS Dauntless, to the South Atlantic.
The Type 45 destroyer is due to set sail for the region on her maiden mission in the coming months to replace frigate HMS Montrose.
In her speech, Ms Kirchner said it was difficult to see how "the sending of an immense and modern destroyer accompanied by the Royal heir who we would have liked to see in civilian clothes and not in military uniform" was not a show of purposeful military strength by the UK.
She said Argentina would be opposing "this militarisation of the South Atlantic" because it was a region where "peace reigns".
Ms Kirchner added: "We are people who have suffered too much violence in our country. We are not attracted to armed games, or wars, on the contrary.
"No land, no place can be a spoil of war. We do not believe in the spoils of war."
She also made clear her view that the British are occupying the Falklands, saying: "It is an anachronism that in the 21st Century that there are still colonies: there are only 16 cases (of colonisation) in the whole world, 10 of them are English."
Towards the end of her speech she made a direct plea to Mr Cameron, saying: "I want to simply ask the English (sic) Prime Minister that he gives peace a chance, that some time he gives peace a chance."
British Falklands veteran Simon Weston, who was badly injured during the conflict, described the Argentinian president as "a troubled woman".
He told the BBC: "I don't know what she thinks she is going to gain by annoying everyone with these continuing arguments.
"Ultimately what are the UN going to do? Are they going to sign a sanction against Britain? I doubt it very much."
William Hague has described the deployments of HMS Dauntless and Prince William as "entirely routine" and said that commemorations would go ahead to mark the 30-year anniversary of the conflict in April.
He also accused Argentina of attempting to "raise the diplomatic temperature" on the Falklands issue.
It has also been reported that The Royal Navy is sending a nuclear submarine to the region to protect the islands from possible Argentinian military action. This has not been confirmed by the Ministry of Defence.
Britain has held the Falkland Islands, known as Las Malvinas in Argentina, since 1833.

The following video was requested

Is Europe really poor, relatively?

The former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia has called Europe poor, is he right? No.
He has called for Europe to 'act poor' Alternatively, Europe could just write off all of its debt in an instant, and carry on regardless. 
Wealth is also determined by infrastructure and education, and on that scale Europe remains very very rich. This kind of statement from Asian leaders shows a staggering amount of ignorance of simple economics. If Western European economies remain frozen for the next 50 years, it would still take that time for Asian countries to catch up.Anyone who has seen the poorer areas of in this case Malaysia, would understand that clearly, never mind the devastating poverty seen throughout China and India.

From the BBC

For decades the West has lectured the East on how to manage its economies. Not any more.

Now the emerging economies of Asia look like models of steady, consistent policy and sustained growth while Europe, America and Japan are mired in debt and are growing achingly slowly, if at all.
So what can the West learn from the East?
According to former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the message is simple but devastating: Europe must face up to the new economic reality.
"Europe... has lost a lot of money and therefore you must be poor now relative to the past," he reasons in an interview with BBC World Service's Business Daily.
"And in Asia we live within our means. So when we are poor, we live as poor people. I think that is a lesson that Europe can learn from Asia."....cont

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16918000

Travelling on the underground in London.

Racism rears its ugly head yet again in England. I post this to show what happens when we become blase about racism. On the positive side this woman was arrested today, and remains in custody.

A child's right.

Adverisement in Hong Kong newpaper describes Mainland Chinese as locusts.

This will not help cross border relations.

Life on The Wirral.

TRIBUTES were paid today to Wirral dad-of-four Marc Clarke who was stabbed to death on the school run.
Marc Clarke, 42, was attacked outside a row of shops in Teehey Lane, Bebington, Wirral, at around 3pm on Friday.
Yesterday, floral tributes and football shirts were left outside the parade of shops where Mr Clarke was stabbed.
Friends described him as a “top, top fella” and “a true gentleman”.
One tribute read: “R.I.P. Marc. You were a big man with even a bigger heart. Your family adored you. Sweet dreams. X”
One mourner left a Chester City FC top and scarf at the scene saying: “To my best mate Marc. So many happy memories.”
There was also a tribute from a heartbroken family member which read: “To my special uncle Marc. I can’t believe you have been taken from us. You will never be forgotten.”
One note simply said: “It should never have happened.”
Tranmere Rovers fan Mr Clarke only recently moved back to Wirral from Wales with his tattoo artist wife, Louise, and their four young children.
He was stabbed in the street after his Mercedes was allegedly rammed from behind by another car.
Witnesses said he was on his way to collect his daughter from primary school
 http://bit.ly/w1Qup0

Good article about that idiot from Peking University: Taiwan newspaper attacks prof. Kong Qingdong

Source United Daily News
http://t.co/6wjTT94c
Click above link for original article.

Know-nothing Chinese professor 2012/01/30 17:40:49

A Chinese professor who claims to be a descendant of Confucius has gathered notoriety by calling Hong Kong people "dogs" and ridiculing Taiwan for having "fake democracy." He should have known better. Kong Qingdong, a Beijing University professor, voiced a bizarre comment about Taiwanese politics when he said President Ma Ying-jeou got re-elected "with a number of votes less than half the population of Beijing." Kong's muddle-headed diatribes against Hong Kong and Taiwan originate from a minor incident in which a Chinese girl was told to stop eating noodles in a Hong Kong subway station, where it is very clearly stated that food consumption is prohibited. Chinese tourists to Hong Kong, like tourists anywhere in the world, are generally expected to conform to the local rule of law. However, Hong Kong residents would do well to treat mainland Chinese visitors more politely and considerately. Kong blasted Hong Kong people as being "running dogs" of British capitalism and he did not hide his distaste for the rule of law, coming up with an outlandish theory of his own that a society that needs laws to maintain order is one whose members are of "low quality." Kong's words and deeds tell us three things: First, the caliber of teachers at China's top university is indeed varied; second, even a descendant of Confucius is not necessarily a man of reason; and third, freedom of expression in China isn't as repressive as is generally considered to be. Otherwise, he would not have spouted off in such an obstreperous manner without any legal or moral consequences. Fanned up by Kong's outlandish statements, Chinese tourists made plans to "eat noodles en masse" in Hong Kong subway stations in protest, while Hong Kong residents responded by calling the Chinese "locusts" and saying they were ready to take photos of whoever breaks the rules on their subway trains. Meanwhile, when Kong jeered at Taiwan's democracy by saying a mere 6 million-plus votes should not be enough to elect a president, he was betraying his own ignorance about the meaning of democracy, which values the equal rights of each citizen rather than the number of participants. Kong's illogical comments do not help improve mutual understanding. Rather, they serve only to do a disservice to better relations among Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. We understand that while China is rising, its people will encounter situations where their "sense of dignity" gets hurt. When one feels frustrated, one can strike back or protest, but one can also sit back and reflect on oneself. Kong need not get himself so worked up about things. We would like to advise Kong to watch a few mini-series of what he despises as Taiwan's "democracy opera." We believe he will learn from each episode some precious experience of how an ethnic Chinese society can grow into a democracy. At the minimum, in Taiwan, it would be unlikely that a mouth like Kong's would have hurt the feelings of the people of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. (Editorial abstract -- Jan. 30, 2012) (By S.C. Chang)

Happy 12th Anniversary!

Got married for the 'first' time 12 years ago today, which I will never regret. The 2 boys we had together are the most wonderful sons in the world. Wife has inexplicably not spoken or written a word to me for almost a year, probably time to take the hint.Still, 12 years ago today was a great day, and the happiest day of my life, only the birth of my sons comparing. Maybe I should start using commemorate the anniversary rather than celebrate.

Boycott 7-11 and Wellcome in Hong Kong

Time to boycott 7-11? And Wellcome? 7-Eleven attacked for 23pc price rise.Both stores owned by same company! Time to fight price fixing and monopoly!!
Convenience store chain put up prices by much more than inflation, says Labour Party, which questions price gap with Wellcome sister stores.
They claim to offer unrivalled convenience: but the inconvenient truth is that prices at your local 7-Eleven have crept up by almost a quarter in just three months, according to a new study.

Prices have been bumped on everything from noodles to napkins and chocolates to condoms at the ubiquitous store chain, according to research by the Labour Party.

The party says prices at 7-Eleven's 964 outlets went up by an average of 22.8 per cent between October and December, while the year-on-year inflation rate for food was 11.5 per cent in December, according to the Census and Statistics Department.

Daily essentials also cost more. A bottle of Vitasoy milk cost HK$3.50 in October and HK$7 in December, a doubling of the price in two months, the survey found.

The Labour Party's vice-chairman, Dr Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, said a far more worrying trend was the vast price difference between 7-Eleven stores and Wellcome supermarkets, both of which are owned by Dairy Farm International.

Shoppers could buy four bowls of noodles at Wellcome's 264 supermarkets for HK$21.90, but would only get one bowl for that price at 7-Eleven. Cheung accused Dairy Farm of making the most profit from people with limited mobility living in areas where supermarkets were scarce, such as Tung Chung.


"Dairy Farm controls pricing and limits residents' right to choose by way of its supermarkets and franchising rights and conditions," Cheung said, "so both residents and small shops are the victims under such conglomerate hegemony."

Cheung said two thirds of 7-Eleven stores were run by franchisees, who had to follow the suggested retail prices put forward by Dairy Farm.
Cheung urged the Legislative Council not to consider supermarkets and convenience stores as separate industries when it passes the long-awaited competition law.
http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.2af62ecb329d3d7733492d9253a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=fbc45a911bf05310VgnVCM100000360a0a0aRCRD&ss=hong%20kong&s=news

Happy Chinese New Year of the dragon

Silence

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.”
― Charles de Gaulle
“I heard silence, silence infinite as the bottom of the ocean, a silence that sealed.”― Anne Spollen, The Shape of Water

Silence can hurt more than any word.
Words can squeeze your heart but silence can tear you apart.



Silence speaks
Silence screams
Silence talks louder then any word
that cuts true the heart like a sword.

Silence speaks
Silence screams
Silence echoes in my ears
to my eyes it brings tears

Silence speaks
Silence screams
Silence drives me around the bend
what's the problem i don't understand

Silence speaks
Silence screams
Silence is a weapon of your choice
To cut trough my heart
Like a sword
with out saying a single ward


Milica Franchi De Luri


Silence holds more voice than any shouting or screaming,
Silence can be heard for miles,
Silence is the key to everything and the doorway to nothing.
Silently you choose to be and silence is your eternity
You cannot hold silence in your arms and nourish it,
But silence in your heart can take away with it every beat, and from your body, each breath and from your soul the ability to fly.
Beware of silence as it might creep up on you and take you by surprise.


Karla Bell

Silence Part II
The silence continues
And so does this game
What's worst is I know
That I'm the only one to blame
It's all my fault
It's because of what I did and didn't do
And it hurts so much
Because i'm so in love with you
I can hear in the silence
What I've heard for some time
You don't say anything
But I know what's on your mind
You leave behind silence
In the dark abyss that is my heart
And what's worst is
I, myself, tore it apart
When I realized what I was doing
It was already too late
Just another
Twist of my terrible fate
And silence took over
A silence caused by me
A silence that's eternal
A silence that won't leave


M.A. Ces

Walking Alone

Walking Alone
Written By: Praveen

Neither sin nor holy deed,
Can unchain me from my need,
To hear your voice,
To feel your touch,
I never would have thought,
I’d miss you this much.

From the moment we parted,
I began wandering the uncharted,
To have truly loved,
And truly lost,
I stole a piece of heaven,
And must now pay the cost.

The world seems so void,
And I am terribly annoyed,
That no matter what I say,
No matter what I do,
No matter what the time,
I still think of you.

The hardest thing is not to call,
To sit and do nothing at all,
To agonize in solitude,
Over my terrible fate,
To walk into the future,
Without my perfect mate.

Shocking. Racist Chinese Professor calls Hong Kong people thieves and dogs.

Should a professor in university be able to publicly be so racist? In most universities, he would be dismissed instantly, but not Professor Kong Qingdong, from Peking University's Chinese department.

New Link as Youtube have removed the one above.


Some quotes from The South China
"You [Hongkongers] are Chinese, right? But as I know, many Hongkongers don't think they are Chinese. They claim that we are Hongkongers, you are Chinese. They are bastards," Kong said.

"Those kinds of people used to be running dogs for the British colonialists. And until now, you [Hongkongers] are still dogs. You aren't human."

The fiery professor came under the spotlight last year after claiming he had told a reporter for Southern People Weekly magazine, to "f*** off" three times in a row because the reporter represented a "traitorous" media organisation, the Nanfang Media Group.
http://topics.scmp.com/news/china-news-watch/article/HK-people--labelled-as--dogs-by--mainlander


And the original incident as reported on HK tv

Civilised justice v barbaric justice

Hong Kong family prefer justice and truth to vengence and money. This truly shows the difference between a civilised view of justice and a barbaric one. I hope this case is highlighted throughout China, and the mainland government applies pressure on Saudi Arabia. Show Saudi Arabia that Chinese lives can't be bought.

From The Standard.


Family say no to 'blood money' over Saudi killing

Alice So

Friday, January 20, 2012


The family of a Hong Kong engineer brutally murdered in the Middle East 10 months ago say they find it hard to believe reports that he was killed by a man nearly half his size and have appealed to authorities here to help them uncover the truth.

Francis Leung Kar-keung had been working in Saudi Arabia since 2009 but on March 10 last year his family was told his body - with multiple stab wounds to his neck and shoulders - was found stuffed under a kitchen sink.

They were later told a security guard, weighing only about 45.5 kilograms, had been arrested and charged with the brutal killing.

However, Leung's younger sister is unable to accept this as her brother weighed more than 82 kilos. Even if the guard was involved, the family believes he could not be the mastermind - indicating that Leung may have been killed by more than one person.

According to Legislative Council member James To Kun-sun, who is helping the family, a lawyer on the list recommended by the Chinese Consulate-General in Jeddah is trying to persuade the family to accept "blood money."

Under the law there, once the family accepts blood money offered by the culprit or his legal advisers, it means they have forgiven the murderer and he will be spared the death sentence. Worse still, the case will be closed. ......cont

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=119046&sid=35126941&con_type=3