Malcolm Blair-Robinson's Blog, page 193
December 22, 2014
Hats Off To America
The President was rather blowing the trumpet at his recent press conference and rightly so. The twin deficits, so long a major issue since the dawn of the Bush era are now falling, the country has once again become the worlds biggest energy producer and this has reduced energy costs and boosted the economy which is growing strongly. America has put on more new jobs than the whole of Europe put together. There is a lot more to do, especially in the area of rising inequality between rich and poor. But it is a developing story of confronting crisis, knuckling down and can do.
The divided politics of the current government set up will inhibit major new federal driven programmes for infrastructure renewal and social relief, but the Republicans have to be careful not to be seen as blockers and spoilers because if they do their twin majorities on Capitol Hill will be the engine of defeat in 2016, not the springboard to victory. The announcement the that the youngest Bush is thinking about running is interesting. Emotionally this blog is strong on States’ Rights and small federal government. But it is economically savvy and it knows that economics is the ultra weak link in the Bush political dynasty. And in today’s world economics is everything.
December 19, 2014
Hess Secrets : Buy Now
The new Tor Raven novel HESS ENIGMA is now available worldwide in paperback and on Kindle.
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. 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?
Taking place in the modern day but with flashback chapters which gradually unfold the hidden secrets, this tense thriller will draw you into a compelling read.
BUY NOW!
Political Advisers: Get Rid Of Them
The structure of our parliamentary system is that politicians make policy and take responsibility and civil servants provide the expertise and do the heavy lifting. In more recent times a new breed of political adviser has been developed. These young people, usually wet behind the ears, advise ministers how to gain political advantage from whatever they are doing and how to get out of trouble when they fall into it. They also give ministers advice about all sorts of things about which ministers know little, which is just about everything. These advisers go on to become candidates and MPs and then, if their party is in power, ministers themselves.
It is not a coincidence that the rise of the political adviser has been marked by a fall in the quality of ministers. Indeed ministers are less trusted than they ever have been and politics is now in disrepute. These advisers are costing over £8 million per year. There are more than a hundred of them. Cameron has twenty. This blog believes they should all be removed and the practice halted.
The civil service is capable of providing ministers with whatever on tap advice they need and expert opinion can be obtained from experts in whatever field it is required. People whose ignorance and uncertainty is on such a scale that this is just not enough to enable them to shine, should not be in politics at all. They should quit and go out into the real world and only return when they have learned something useful. As for the £8 million; enough to say that cuts are needed anyway and this is a painless and worthy saving.
December 18, 2014
Christmas Books
There is nothing better for stocking fillers and e-gifts than good Christmas sale book bargains. Paperbacks from £4.99 or currency equivalent and Kindle downloads less than a £ or $.
From TOR RAVEN
Download all four fast reading thrillers now! Or buy paperbacks. Orders over £10 postage free.
From MALCOLM BLAIR-ROBINSON
These two mega thrillers are a must for those who love historical drama and political intrigue.
Hacking A Movie
The biggest lesson to learn from the North Korean cyber hack of Sony is the extraordinary power of modern hacking technology and the weakness of quite sophisticated platforms to withstand it. Clearly Sony’s security was not of sufficient standard but something must have been in place. This will come a another shock to America which has traditionally imagined itself immune from outside attack. This was why the response to 9/11 was so traumatic. Unlike Europe and Asia, America had never been bombed.
Yet now a quizzical world looks on as the figure of fun portrayed in the film gets it canned and all showings withdrawn, distributes across the internet most of Sony’s film archive for free and releases the script of the latest James bond movie. After that he finishes with lots of embarrassing emails sent by Sony executives. A wake up call certainly but to what it is difficult to tell. The rest of the world should take note too.
Rudolf Hess: Secrets Revealed
The new Tor Raven novel HESS ENIGMA is now available worldwide in paperback and on Kindle.
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. 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?
Taking place in the modern day but with flashback chapters which gradually unfold the hidden secrets, this tense thriller will draw you into a compelling read.
BUY NOW!
Obama’s Courage: Cuba Unlocked
Nothing has perplexed America’s allies and the rest of the world more than the childish embargoes on trade or contact with Cuba spanning half a century. At last an American President has had the guts to defy his country’s looney right and start a process of normalisation. This will not only benefit America and help repair its tarnished world image, but it will bring great benefits to ordinary Cubans. Indeed re-joining the rest of the real world will do more than anything to put Cuba on a more open path.
Next ?
Guantanamo Bay.
December 17, 2014
Hess Enigma: Buy Now
The new Tor Raven novel HESS ENIGMA is now available worldwide in paperback and on Kindle.
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?
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.
BUY NOW!
Books For Christmas
There is nothing better for stocking fillers and e-gifts than good reads! Lyndon Books offer via Amazon big Christmas sale bargains. Paperbacks from £4.99 or currency equivalent and Kindle downloads less than a £ or $.
From TOR RAVEN
Download all four fast reading thrillers now! Or buy paperbacks. Orders over £10 postage free.
From MALCOLM BLAIR-ROBINSON
These two mega thrillers are a must for those who love historical drama and political intrigue.
Russia Crisis: Not Good For EU.
In international relations you have to be very careful what you wish for; something which modern politicians find difficult. Let nobody suppose that a Russian financial crisis or instability among the Kremlin personalities would be good. It would be bad for Russia certainly, but bad for everybody also and especially bad for the EU. This blog has been consistently critical about sanctions and the West’s posture over Ukraine. Russia is now in trouble primarily because of the fall in all prices rather than sanctions, but sanctions reduce the room for Russia’s economic manoeuvre. Its economy is too oil dependent and opportunities in recent years to re-industrialise in depth have been allowed to slip by.
Russia’s predicament would in normal times have created great opportunities for EU firms to participate in putting Russia back on its economic and industrial feet, but sanctions prevent that. Indeed sanctions are the main reason why the EU is flatlining. The EU will not start to grow again until it reaches an accommodation with Putin and the nervousness now evidenced in the global markets will continue until it is clear that the prospects for Moscow look better.
This requires each side to see the red line of the other. The West sees the Ukraine crisis as evidence that Putin is trying to re-establish the old Soviet sphere of influence in Europe’s east. What the West cannot see is how it looks from the Kremlin. There they see NATO and the EU moving ever east. NATO they are relaxed about because if it became necessary Russia could contain it. But the EU is different. It is different because it is now dominated and driven by its richest and most populous country, Germany. Any expansion east of the EU means German leadership moves ever closer. That is the Russian red line. It is drawn with the blood of tens of millions of Russian dead in two world wars. Wars about containing German ambition. Merkel needs to think about that. That is why ethnic Russians in Eastern Ukraine have taken up arms.
