Hello Sweden, Russia, China, and the USofA, and welcome all to the blog...and whilst I don't particularly care myself, good luck to all competing at the Sochi Winter Olympics...may it all go blissfully boringly, sans the repeatedly threatened violence...the conflicts across the Caucuses Region are terrible and ongoing, and I wouldn't be in a position to offer a definitive description of the causes and/or motivations.
As I understand it, there are several groups demanding an Islamic and/or Independent state or states and they are in direct military conflict with Russian forces and local police, etc...as to the greater history of the region, it is nearly a perpetual state of affairs for various groups to be pushing for autonomy or complete independence, but I don't know whether these demands have been fueled by pure Nationalism or Sectarianism, or a combination of both.
We occasionally see these things on mainstream media when the violence manifests itself within Russia in the form of 'terrorist' attacks, usually on civilian targets...I use ' and ' because some would argue that there's no such thing as civilians any more, particularly with the development of global war, and that it's all war whether it's official Russian ordinance in Chechnya or suicide bombers in a Russian train station....again, I can't agree with any of it, it's all wrong.
Similarly, I don't know how to define exactly what's happening in Ukraine or Thailand as political factions clash in the streets of those respective countries...exposure of private USofA diplomatic phone calls seem to support claims that much of what is happening in Ukraine, eg, violent street protests, occupation of government buildings, etc, is being heavily supported even instigated by Western interests keen to get 'their man' on the podium.
Recently the Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych signed 'agreements' that officially align Ukraine with Russia and this sparked protests that quickly became riots that then escalated to opposition supporters storming and occupying government buildings, Mr Yanukovych appointing opposition leaders to positions at the head of government...but this was considered unacceptable by protesters and the government has effectively collapsed.
In Thailand half the population couldn't even get to polling booths as protesters boycotted last weeks proposed election and blocked access to voting sites...this following weeks of demonstrations and clashes between pro and anti-government forces that have led to several deaths...and all of this on the back of concerns that the government is being run by former President Thaksin Shinawatra, currently in exile to avoid various charges/allegations of corruption, via his sister the current President Yingluck Shinawatra.
And across Egypt the 'Arab Spring' has crippled the countries finances and cost hundreds of lives and ended up apparently where it started...Tourism, the cornerstone of the Egyptian economy, has all but ceased and parts of the country, eg, the Sinai, are effectively lawless and 'closed' even to Egyptians let alone tourists...and an Army General is running the show after the democratically elected 'Muslim Brotherhood' have been officially ousted and are now all but banned...
I don't know where the noble ideals of Democracy come into any of this, if at all...
Schappelle Corby:...(who?-Ed)...I've noticed that several of the commercial networks have been giving far more air-time to a convicted drug smuggler's release from a Balinese prison, than they have to the fires across Victoria and South Australia...and part of it is surely her alleged 'attractiveness'...(not a fan?-Ed)...not particularly, but that is part of it, and it's not the first time...sorry, can't remember her name but there was the bikini model who was busted with a couple of Ecstasy tablets, converted to Islam, and was very quickly pardoned.
But I don't think it's solely about looks...I believe the 'plausible deniability' of the manner in which Schappelle was caught really opens up the entire case to highly emotive debate about her guilt or lack of...and with that various conspiracy theories about her bag being used by an airport based drug ring to smuggle marijuana with out her knowledge, or that her family was doing the smuggling, or even that it was a deliberate set-up to get massive publicity that just went horribly wrong with her ending up in jail for 9 years...(sorry, what?-Ed)...
Not my story, but I've heard several versions of the same 'allegation', namely that the family set it up, with or without Schappelle's knowledge, thinking that there would be a minimal sentence but maximum publicity and involvement from politicians and the Australian press, etc...(sounds a bit much-Ed)...it does, but the family have reportedly received a small fortune for media stuff...(yeah, her sister did a bikini shoot thing, and there's been a movie already, and heaps of interviews, etc-Ed)...yeah, still not convinced...I reckon that if there's any 'family' conspiracy it is about smuggling grass into Bali, but apart from that I'd have no idea.
I note the difference with the 'Bali 9', who were caught with heroin taped to their bodies...there is no sexy protagonist, no wriggle room for outlandish conspiracy theories, it's just plain ugly truth...there are 9 young Australians involved in that case and not one ninth of the coverage that Schapelle gets...it's the most salacious and commercially attractive option that gets the column space...and news just now that she's been whisked away to a luxury hotel where multi-million dollar media offers await.
(So you're suggesting that if there were hot blonde twins caught up in the 'Bali 9' case that they would be in the news a lot more-Ed)...particularly if there were some great Facebook bikini shots or modelling portfolio stuff that the Morning shows could repeatedly trot out...and several commentators are suggesting that the media attention, particularly the airing of her families views and/or behaviours, has been to her detriment, possibly keeping her several years longer in gaol than she might otherwise have served...
Even this evening with the Toyota closure announcement and the Flinders Ranges/Bangor fire burning out of control, on commercial media it's Schappelle ahead of all others, a Current Affair is racing around Bali behind her, etc, etc,...at least the ABC 7.30 showed some sense of propriety running the Schappelle stuff last...(even we're talking about her-Ed)...not now we're not...
Oh What A Failing: as the news is just breaking that Toyota has officially declared that it will cease manufacturing cars in Australia (Victoria) and this is the inevitable culmination of recent closure announcements by Ford and Holden...welcome to the brave new age of no manufacturing in Australia...we are a Third World Economy and it's our elected officials rabid obsession with 'Free Trade' that has scuppered us as a nation...and Labor as bad if not worse than the Liberals.
This is devastating news for manufacturing and will have far reaching effects in allied industries, the supply chain, etc...what have we become when we, Australia, cannot make our own cars...I don't really care about cars as such, but I do care about this.
And Tony Abbott and his cronies have the bare-faced audacity to blame everybody else, including basic wage earners...(and even when proven wrong, eg, his SPC Ardmona claims, he just kept right on saying it-Ed)...sounds like a lie to me then...if you know what you're saying is wrong and you don't apologise, correct and re-address, if you just keep right on going, then that is a lie...a mistake made in ignorance is a mistake, a mistake made knowingly is a lie...I don't write these bloody rules, that's just the way it is.
Rather than go into an angry rant about the betrayal of the Australian people, the sacrifice of Australia to the great god of Free Trade...rather than do that today, I'm going to do it,
Tomorrow: Australia - The White Africa
I use the term 'White' in it's broadest context, namely, for the purposes of this argument, if you're not an Aboriginal person you're sort of getting lumped into that group...no offence intended, nor to Africa...effectively Australia is a white society and we are supposedly a First World nation but we have a basically Third World economy...and have had for some time...tomorrow...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
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