Archive for August, 2017

Hess Secrets Revealed

Thursday, August 24th, 2017

DOWNLOAD OR PAPERBACK FROM .99P   Product Details

Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy and right hand man, flew to Scotland on a mysterious peace mission in 1941, which has never been convincingly explained, to meet unidentified politicians who wanted to end the war. The truth has been covered up for generations because to reveal it would somehow undermine the honour and constitutional fabric of the United Kingdom. Who was plotting against Churchill? What were the peace terms on offer? What happened to Hess? Was he killed in the War? Was the prisoner in Spandau a double?
There are many questions to which in the modern day one man, Saul Benedict has all the answers, because his parents were players in the drama involving Churchill, Hitler, leading politicians and an important Royal. Saul is an author and declares his intention to write a book to reveal all, but he is shot dead, apparently accidentally by a poacher. But was it an accident? Rick Coleman an investigative journalist determines to find out and in doing so to uncover the mystery.
Taking place in the modern day but with flashback chapters which gradually unfold the hidden secrets, the novel is a fast moving and compelling read based on the family knowledge of the author whose parents had connections to both Hess and Hitler and to British Intelligence.  

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Migration Figures: The Role of the £

Thursday, August 24th, 2017

One of the drivers of the influx of workers from the EU, particularly the Eastern EU, has in the past been the high value of sterling in relation to the euro. In the eurozone a euro buys more or less what a pound buys in the UK. But if you are from the euro area and you work  here and send money home, there has been a handy bonus because the converted pounds produce more euros. With the decline of sterling since the Brexit vote and the increased strength of the euro economy, which is now growing faster than a UK mired in uncertainty about the Brexit deal, the bonus has dwindled to next to nothing. Many analysts expect parity when we reach the actual Brexit moment.

So the fact that the net migration numbers are falling has probably as much to do with the currency as it has to do with politics.

Brexit Reality

Wednesday, August 23rd, 2017

The latest papers coming from the government explaining its negotiating position, a revelation both for the UK and the EU, is proving beyond all doubt that the project is incapable of being delivered in the terms in which it was promised and that the mandate authorising it was based on a completely flawed understanding of what leaving the EU would actually entail and what it would really mean. That is a terrible indictment of the political class for which it will one day pay a very heavy price.

It also reinforces the increasing number of informed and sober opinions that in the end the outcome will either be very similar to being in the EU without the involvement in the political process of running it, or the whole project will collapse and be abandoned. Because the more the whole undertaking is exposed, the less are the apparent advantages of being out over in. The political reality of that is that few if any voted to be worse off. We need to remember we live in a democracy which, when cheated, will have its revenge.

Holiday Reads From .99p

Wednesday, August 23rd, 2017

Ideal holiday/travel reading. From departure lounge to beach, two compelling reads with a spooky touch. From .99p download and £4.99 paperback. ($1.29 and $.7.99)

Whilloe's First Case       Satan's Disciple  Click Images  U.K.

U.S.  Amazon.com                U.S. Amazon.com

 

Afghanistan: Trump’s U Turn

Wednesday, August 23rd, 2017

The fundamentals have not changed and the posture of this blog remains. It is this. The central government in Afghanistan is corrupt and does not command the support of the whole country. Left to its own devices it would be overthrown. US forces, now largely in an advisory and training role and supported by NATO contributions, prevent that happening. Even so, the Taliban now control almost half the country. So the mission, after sixteen years and between one and two trillion dollars spent and nearly 2500 American lives lost, is failing by any rational standard.

Without a central government capable of clean rule for all, which has majority support across the country and is accepted  or participated in by the Taliban, there can be no solution. All the military might of America cannot deliver this fundamental foundation to move forward. Trump’s instinct was to pull out.

He has changed his mind because there is a real risk that IS, in retreat all over the Middle East, will re-establish itself in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda hangs on there as well. To prevent this the US military want to beef up their operation to support the Afghan government forces and perhaps play a more proactive role, at least to stop further loss of territory to the Taliban and for sure to crush the IS threat. On the face of it that makes sense.

So does the desire to negotiate with the Taliban and to engage with Pakistan and India, not only to join in the process of finding a settlement, but also to resolve their own differences which contribute to instability in the region. Failure to do any of this could precipitate a Taliban take over on its own terms, triggering another mass migration with which Europe would be hard pressed to cope. Moreover there must be enough troops to deal with IS decisively and enough lateral thinking to understand that the Taliban is an ally in that aim. As are both Pakistan and India. The details are not yet clear but the clear impression from the Trump administration is that all branches understand this.

Nevertheless the core problem remains, even after this re-engagement gets under way. The central government in Kabul is fundamentally incompetent and corrupt, not as bad as the last one certainly, but still not good enough to prevail. Until that is put right there can be no solution. So the US and NATO will either have to abandon the project and let Afghanistan  go its own way like Viet Nam, where the corrupt government of South Vietnam torpedoed the entire US effort,  or stay at least to contain the terrorist threats within Afghanistan’s own borders. That could be a long haul. Think 100 years. Even then it may fail. It always has in the past.

Political Thriller from £2.08: Bargain Summer Read

Monday, August 21st, 2017

Downfall in Downing Street: Power, Corruption, Lies and Sex by [Blair-Robinson, Malcolm]

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CLICK HERE FOR U.S.and Amazon.com

Another Naval Collision

Monday, August 21st, 2017

It is surprising to learn of another collision between a U.S. warship and a cargo vessel in the Far East. Once again it involves significant loss of life among U.S. navy personnel. In the earlier incident serious disciplinary penalties have been applied to several crew members, starting with the captain. We do not know the cause of this latest collision, nor who will be found at fault in which vessel. Certainly we feel for the families of those injured and missing.

It may be that these similar incidents represent the pure coincidence of misfortune. or it may be that some kind of update is required to the rules of navigation of modern warships in crowded waters. Perhaps all navies should review their procedures, not just that of the U.S.

Gothic Crime from .99p

Sunday, August 20th, 2017

Ideal holiday/travel reading. From departure lounge to beach, two compelling reads with a spooky touch. From .99p download and £4.99 paperback. ($1.29 and $.7.99)

Whilloe's First Case       Satan's Disciple  Click Images  U.K.

          U.S.  Amazon.com                U.S. Amazon.com

 

Brexit Economics

Sunday, August 20th, 2017

A group of Brexit economists has proposed that a hard exit would actually boost the economy. Their proposition has been widely condemned by other economists. This is the problem with economics. As a science there is no such thing, but as a discipline it is almost infinitely variable. One move this way will trigger consequences that way; everything is cause and effect. It is a matter of opinion which is good and which is bad. It is often a matter of ideology too. It is very much a matter of where you are in the economic fabric. Your neighbour’s advantage can be your disaster.

This is why it is in the end politicians who have to take decisions, because it is their job to manipulate the levers of economic power in an order which advances the  well being of the whole of society, bringing improved prosperity to all parts of it. It must also create the environment for the development of new technologies to build new trading opportunities and career prospects. This generates the taxation revenue to pay for health, education and environmental needs which make the whole process function on an upward trajectory. When politicians do that well the nation prospers.

But when they fall short, as now, prosperity flat-lines or retreats. Whatever economists say.

Perfect Holiday Reads from Tor Raven

Friday, August 18th, 2017

      

Ideal holiday/travel reading. From departure lounge to beach, two compelling reads with a spooky touch. From .99p download and £4.99 paperback. ($1.29 and $.7.99)

Whilloe's First Case       Satan's Disciple  Click Images  U.K.

U.S.  Amazon.com                U.S. Amazon.com