Saturday, June 26, 2010

Independence Disruption

War of independence erupts within ranks of SNP

So says The Scotsman.

The 'newspaper' always tries to frame the debate in a way that suits unionism and this latest piece of propaganda is no different. Tom Peterkin's key point though is moot: DevoNats are causing disharmony in the independence ranks.

Many nationalists are not just questioning the strategy of the leadership but are angry about it. Jim Sillars is quoted attacking the party leadership. It's true that Jim has lost a lot of respect for venting his prejudices in public over the years but no-one can doubt that he is the political animal that Salmond never was. His strategic sense is second only to his oratory brilliance. With the Tories in power, with the British state insolvent and with no Scottish PM around anymore the time to go for the jugular, as Sillars argues, has truly arrived.

Yet, Salmond is stepping back. Why? The leadership reckons that the agenda has moved away from it. That's because leaders seize the agenda. That's what real politians do. Not the SNP apparently.

What platform does the SNP have now? None. They have had to dump key manifesto pledges because the British economy has been willfully destroyed and so they couldn't afford them. Instead of that being shown to be a failure of Britain it has been easily portrayed as a failure of the SNP and Salmond. The party is being presented as having cheated the electorate. Why? The leadership has no stomach for visceral politics. It's that simple.

Well, the unionist machine is going to be all out against the SNP between now and the next Holyrood election so it's going to be bloody. The SNP must now replace the feather duster with the nuckle duster. The strategy of presenting the party simply as the natural party of Holyrood ain't gonnie cut it. Arguing for independence is about consolidating previous gains and building momentum. Instead people are having second thoughts.

Now, apologists for the leadership will bleat on about the need to remain positive and not get involved in negative campaigning. I'm sorry but that is complete nonsense. For a start pointing out that Britain has failed is telling people the truth. The Bank of England has been printing new money and that means Britain is bankrupt. At the same time Scotland has a surplus. These are truths which simply must be pointed out. Arguing for independence is also arguing against union and that is a fact of life - the birds and the bees. There's no need to be constantly negative but a balance must be established. Independence is a positive message and especially so when the manifest failures of union are highlighted. As the British economy moves into its death throws (and it is) a 'Bankrupt Britain - Surplus Scotland' campaign would resonate and develop into a platform for an independence referendum.

It is a crime that Labour has not been imprisoned for killing the British economy. This is the enemy that the SNP must defeat and destroying jobs is their legacy - one which is not being capitalised on by a leadership lacking political nous.

At the very time where the environment for changing ideas and using the 2007 Holyrood platform to move towards the core aim of the movement, it is instead badly injured and limping towards defeat at Holyrood. Instead of having supporters geared up for a final push we now see division and demotivation emerging.

Another annoying cliché that you hear from DevoNats is about whether independence is about economics or if it is cultural. The truth is that it is both and there's no need for such meandering blether disrupting business. The only difference is in campaigning strategy. Debating the cultural aspects of independence is about laying foundations but that debate can happen any time. Economics is about jobs, health and education and explains why we need the referendum as soon as possible. Both arguments together confer the logic and the urgency.

And the talk about realistic ambition? It was the threat of political independence that got us this far and without it there will be no 'concessions'.

The movement must force this debate because clearly the leadership is wrong. Over the years the party has been loyal to the leadership and in some ways unity is strength. On the other hand it causes weaknesses when said leadership indulges in its own comfort zone. It needs to be woken up from its Holyrood tea-room slumber and ordered to come out fighting. If not the movement will be set back a generation and it has suffered long enough. If the leadership doesn't make a move now there will be another Disruption.








The Disruption of 1843


On our previous path to independence Scotland sent out a message about her compromised leadership in the Declaration of Arbroath, to the world and future generations:

..we will immediately endeavour to expel him, as our enemy and as the subverter both of his own and our rights, and we will make another king, who will defend our liberties

History has given us a surplus of opportunities. What the movement needs is a leadership capable of taking them.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Money Wars & Scottish Independence

The Euro is fast losing prestige.

Only a couple of months ago it was starting to rival the dollar as a reserve currency. However Greece and now Spain have shown how difficult it is to have monetary union without political union. Is the whole experiment falling apart? According to the Telegraph things are getting desperado:

Germany and France examine 'two-tier' euro

You know those rating agencies? Fitch, S&P and Moody´s are the principle ones. These are the institutions which tell investors if investments are of good quality or not. They rate businesses, banks and countries and have recently downgraded Spain and some Spanish banks.

The problem with all this is that they haven't downgraded the US and the UK. The debt situation in both countries is as bad as Spain if not worse. So, why not?

The answer is that they are no longer independent rating agencies. These are the same agencies that put AAA ratings to sub-prime mortgages and other investments which has brought us to the point of drowning under fraud and debt.

Europe has no rating agencies of such callibre. These agencies, just like the president, then take their orders from the big US merchant banks: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley etc. These guys are desperately trying to hold up the value of the dollar so that they can print more of it. So much so that they need wars to steal resources so that they can pay interest on existing loans from China and the Saudis for example. If the ratings agencies downgraded the US the US would pay higher interest and would be immediately bankrupt causing a global financial meltdown.

So, the ratings agencies have a political master. Another way to encourage people to buy dollars is by attacking the Euro. The drip drip drip of bad news about European banks and nations from ratings agencies has seen investors move their Euros into Dollars.

No-one should be in any doubt that the big powers in the world are conducting currency wars. Indeed, you can now do a course in 'economic warfare' in Paris. The Euro has began to bounce back a little given that investors have taken comfort from the actions taken by the EU a ECB (European Central Bank). I don´t think that confidence will last long.

So, which currencies to hold? Well, the US can bomb and plunder as many countries as it wants but the dollar is a total basket case. Britain will soon find it difficult to stay in the G20. The truth is that in the short term some currencies will perform better than others. If a country has natural resources with which to pay debts then they will be less likely to print more money and devalue. Ultimately though there are no safe paper currencies. Countries are devaluing so they can export and the race is to the bottom. Who loses? The man and woman in the street.

So, when the currencies are going down, bonds are worthless, derivatives imploding like last time and countries going bankrupt and conducting economic (for now) warfare, how do you keep your wealth?

Well, as banks suck money out of the economy to pay themselves bonuses and the govenments take more in taxes to pay for the bail-outs to the banks the ordinary punter will be able to spend a lot less. So, for a while things will be cheaper. So spend it on things you can use over the next few years while things are cheap and before inflation hits.

That aside many are seeking refuge in gold and silver. It´s difficult to know how to buy it but I would recommend www.goldmoney.com

That aside if you want to invest then some commodities do well in times of geo-political tension like oil and sugar.

Most of all though, I would recommend Scottish independence. It´s that or rearranging the deck chairs on the Lusitania. Oil in Scottish water has bankrolled the British state for nearly 40 years. It can´t save Britain now but it can save Scotland.

Without the label of Britain, England would tone down her ambitions and live within her means. Scotland would become relatively rich which would be a nice change. It makes sense all round as Britain can no longer sustain her role of imperial poodle. That´s all the union means and all it ever did mean. It´s over. Britain is a goner. Remember cabinet government? Gone. Remember parliamentary parties and real political conferences? Gone. Britain has the same name but we are no longer citizens, merely bank-slaves and that is going to get a whole lot worse.

Independence or bank-serfdom. That´s the only real electoral choice you have.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Iran About To Be Bombed!

Latest from ZeroHedge

12 American Warships, Including One Aircraft Carrier, And One Israeli Corvette, Cross Suez Canal On Way To Red Sea And Beyond

So, Iran is to get it in the neck. All of the US´s own security and intelligence services will tell you that Iran poses no threat and is not trying to develop nuclear weapons and that even if it did it would take many, many years.

Yet here we are with the same old garbage about WMDs that got us into Iraq. That was a lie and so is this. So, Iran is to be bombed. A country which has attacked no-one in the last 300 years!

Does anyone think this is going to be simple? Clearly this is about Iran threatening to sell oil in Euros and about Israeli domination in the region.

I'm ashamed and disgusted. Yet the population will be brainwashed into backing it. What a murderous, poisonous and hypocritical ´civilisation´ we have morphed into.

Friday, June 18, 2010

A Golden Future

For anyone who wants to get to know how the financial system works instead of barking ideology at people here is a great place to start. A look at what gold is.

It may well be that all currencies will crash or be devalued and go back on to a gold standard. Gold has held its purchasing power for thousands of years while currencies have come and gone. Why is it a major topic for nations and banks in the world now? Why are governments and international banks suppressing its price?

What is Gold? -

Hinde Capital June 2010

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Protecting Wealth in Titanic Britain

If you're wondering what to do about the increasing geo-political tensions, tanking currencies, insolvent banks, economic downturn, government debt and so on below is a very good introduction to gold:



UBS Gold 6.15

Monday, June 14, 2010

Precious Few Heroes: The case for Scottish independence

Must watch video about Scottish independence: Precious Few Heroes: The case for Scottish independence.

Among all the propaganda that´s spread by unionist politicians and media outlets, it´s a refreshing incidence of honesty on the subject. I don´t agree with all of it but it represents the kind of honest debate Scotland should be having.

Unfortunately, that´s even more difficult now seeing as how the SNP don´t want to discuss their supposedly principle objective.

I hope more videos like this make it on to the web. Thanks to writers Jack Foster and Alan Hunter and courtesy of http://newsnetscotland.com

The truth is out there:

Part 1

Part 2


Part 3

SNP, Remember What You Stand For!

The consequence of not espousing independence means that the SNP are not protecting Scotland from this kind of perfidious event:

Moore: more tax powers for Holyrood by 2015

If you need to know how London is going to tell Scotland what the score is in regards to her intrinsic right to self-determination read this:

The next major step for Scottish devolution – greater tax powers for Holyrood – will not be a big-bang moment but will take years to implement, Michael Moore, the new Scottish Secretary, indicates today.

Oh yeh? The British government alters and ammends Britain´s constitution in backroom deals at G20 meetings and in Brussels at the drop of a hat but Scotland must wait an ELECTION cycle for a small increase in taxpowers which many don´t agree with anyway..

Who do these people think they are laying down the constitutional law to a sovereign nation like Scotland? Not to mention the constitutional absurdity of devolving power to an equal partner in union. Devolution really is the politics of the constitutionally illiterate.

These kind of patronising statements should be met with astonishment and outrage.

So, they´re kicking us into the long grass. How do they get away with this kind of obnoxious manouvre? Well, tea-and-biscuit nationalists really don´t want to upset anyone with straight-talking. The result? They´ve put themselves in a straight-jacket. The unionists decide what can and can´t be discussed and the SNP obey. Political castration.

Meanwhile the rest of us have to take these kind of insults to our nation and believe that the DevoNats, who still have not apologised for or even ackowledged the crushing defeat of their strategy at the election, have a cunning plan to win a majority, win a referendum and lead us to independence. Right now they´re ashamed of the word independence and they expect Scotland to vote for it in a referendum in the next year or so. Who´s kidding who?

The last Holyrood election told us that people were open to be persuaded about independence. By allowing the unionists to dumb down the debate the people naturally now see the SNP as a party just like the others. This has made them vulnerable to media marginalisation.

The SNP have useful leaders. What they need now is talk about their core policy. The Holyrood election is but a year away. You know what Labour are going to do. They are going to score on the economy even though they have bankrupted Britain. SNP failure of strategy. They got the electorate believing an SNP vote was a waste and people believed them. Failure of SNP strategy. So, come Holyrood they´ll punt the line that Holrood can´t deliver independence and they have to start building a platform to protect Scotland from the Tories. Will this be another failure of SNP strategy?

The SNP must change the logic of political debate. They can only do this if they talk independence. Independence not Labour will protect Scotland from Tory London governments and Labour ones that are even worse. That´s the message. Accepting the language and logic of devolution is allowing the unionists to define and then defeat the SNP.

The British economy is dead and there´s no Scottish PM. This is an opportunity that the SNP must not waste. They´ve indulged in a supposedly safe strategy of not upsetting anyone and trying to look like the natural party of government. They´ve been on the ropes and made it to the bell. Now they have to come out fighting because they´re losing on points.

The environment could not be better and is ripe for some visceral politics. Labour will fight dirty. We have to be ready for a bruising fight. The SNP must get their heads of of the Holyrood tea-room sand and take the initiative. Sturgeon is a battler and so is Alex Neil. Let them loose. Get the Bradford and Bingly nats to work the constituencies and get the bruisers on the TV.

The SNP needs to remember what it stands for, that´s all.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Union Propagandist Sorted Out

You gotta love this headline from this article in The Herald:

Scotland’s richest man rounds on CBI chief over tax powers

Yes, Iain McMillan of the Scottish CBI. No one is in doubt that he uses his position as chairman of that organisation for political ends. His unionist rants are drooled over by the unionist press and his partisan anti-SNP criticism is normally just short of hysterical.

How refreshing to see a real businessman like Jim McColl of Clyde Blowers showing him up for what he is: A propagandist! And a dangerous one at that. I mean he advocates privatising prisons. A policy which leads to people like McMillan to call for longer sentences so that his members can profit from secure 'bed nights'. And he argues that the SNP's policy of not going down the road of privatising prisons shows that the SNP are not pro-business..

Jim McColl reckons that McMillan has no remit to wade into the debate: “The CBI has fewer than 10% of business leaders in its membership. How can you make a statement like that? It is just ridiculously misleading,” ... “I am friendly with a number of Mr McMillan’s members and I know they share the same view as me.”

Indeed, McMillan had to be reeled in by his own members because of previous anti-Independence bombast before. It doesn't seem to stop McMillan's strident propaganda nor the unionist media from liaising and publishing it..

Being a real businessman Jim can actually talk from a business perspective and his views on fiscal autonomy are backed up by some of the most authorative economists on the subject. Not the fake ones The Scotsman likes to wheel out but economists with genuine global recognition like Professor Andrew Hughes Hallet.

At the launch of the new Scottish think tank Campaign for Fiscal Responsibility (CFFR) he said: “It is very easy to administer. The cost is insignificant compared with the advantages from a business-favourable tax regime."

These people are trying to introduce a reasonable debate on the economics of union and independence. Have Scots really not had enough of the nonsensical and specious propaganda regurgitated every election by unionists to stifle real debate? I for one would really like to see the back of propagandists like McMillan. In reality his true masters are political and everyone on both sides knows it.

At least there are brave souls like McColl around who are not afraid to think for themselves and speak out and demand a real debate on all our futures!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

What happens when oil runs out?

Ever wondered if all the crises we've been experiencing are connected? Oil may well be the answer -


Ask An Economic Hitman

If you ever wondered why we're in Iraq, ask an 'economic hitman' -