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Arthur Balfour to "King Arthur".

Bevan and the Zionists..... Arthur Balfour to "King Arthur".

What was awful about Aneurin Bevan's position with Zionism was how he found himself in the Conflict of what some saw as his anti-Israel Stance and how Zionism was used by some to induce American Jewry support for the Allies in WW1. Jewish Opinion in the Interwar Years wasn't assuaged by how the Idea seemed to have been abandoned in the Wake of Sykes-Picot and the end of the War in 1918 generally. There ought to have been an Israel Element in the S.P Equation. If this had happened there would have been no Stern or Irgun Groups in the 1940's, no bombing of the King David Hotel in 1946, and no Plot to assassinate him.

There might not have been a Holocaust either - at least nothing on the Scale that did happen, while Jew and Arab would have common cause in defending Israel/Palestine against the Axis in WW2. This would have had obvious implications for the Country. Ernie Bevan's Job as Britain's first Post-war foreign Secretary might have been relieved of the Task he did eventually have to deal with.

After the Holocaust that became impossible, politically and morally - and they obtained Israel in 1948.

Enacting Balfour when it was supposed to be would have resolved many things and makes strategic and political Sense. A unified Jewish-Arab Force fighting WW2 in the region is consistent with William Ormsby-Gore recruiting Jews from New York to fight the Turks in WW1. After that you have a People - a Country - formed in that Process on equal terms, Jewish and Arab, both of whom we could call Allies. While they did that British Troops garrisoned in Palestine and Trans-Jordan might have been deployed elsewhere - bolstering the War Effort in North Africa, the Mediterranean or even Somalialand. The post-War Zionists would have a friendlier disposition to Britain as a result, while their Conflict with the Arabs diminished.

The Moral here is don't make Promises you might not intend to keep. There were some who were sincere about the creation of Israel, but you shouldn't use it as some sort of Bribe which might not have any Substance. I sometimes think this was done 27 years ago with "talked about" jaunts to post-Velvet Revolution Prague. That that didn't happen didn't go un-noticed, while the Paradox behind it was all too apparent.

Arthur/Mr Owen has to give up his Room in the Bruckheimer Movie, Masaryck gives up the Sudeten!

It's also like having to forsake same in 'Camelot' isn't it - while all of it is like a bitter historical Paradox.

Those Knights in "King Arthur" are on the Cusp of Freedom. If 2004-15=1989, so were some of us. That doesn't happen because a Roman Bishop tells them it isn't and attaching that Caveat is rather like someone who has just been subjected to the umpteenth anti-Semitic Beating in the Pale of Settlement - after being told about the Balfour Declaration - also for the Umpteenth time, but nothing happens. Aneurin Bevan was caught in the growing unrest caused by its postponement and heightened expectation. The Jews were used as a Bribe to America - and that is how they started to feel when nothing happened.

Maybe some feel patronised and insulted, betrayed even - like some Zionists might have when Balfour was relegated in the "Things to do list" of the 1920's and 30's. That they felt expendable to Anglo-French Policy after the Armistice. Something I can relate to. Not helped by Insults from Cuckoos in the Nest.



Phew, have I just solved the Arab-Israeli Conflict????

No War Poster.....

Hillary is no Jackie Kennedy/Onassis.

There was this Hype, this Palava that told us Bill Clinton was the new JFK. They looked glamorous as the President and First Lady moved into the Whitehouse in 1993. They were dubbed as liberal as their 'Camelot' Comparison, but the similarity ended there. It most certainly ended there  if it ever existed at all when the Stories started to emerge about how Hillary treated Whitehouse Staff. How she fired People, hit them apparently, and demeaned them in front of everyone, even him.

What is intriguing about all this is how it says that sometimes looks can say what they mean, and also be deceptive. That while - on the Surface - Hillary Clinton seemed sassy (even Micheal Moore was seduced), Jackie Kennedy Onassis was both - as above so below. We never heard Stories about her assaults on Bodyguards, we never heard how she might have fired anyone - although she wanted to redecorate a drab and shabby Whitehouse when her and Jack moved in, and while she seemed demure .............. she was. She was even more popular than her Husband when they visited Paris. No-one ever called Marine One "The Broom".

To illustrate this see these.............



Jackie as First Lady

Despite losing her Son - Patrick, being widowed in November 1963, losing her Brother in Law in 1968, and widowed again in 1975, stylish as ever Jackie still outshines the incumbent First Lady - Nancy Reagan in 1985.

Hillary Clinton's official Portrait in 1992. Unfortunately it deteriorates after this, and while it is difficult to compare this with the Hillary of recent years (I won't post any of those), all of this suggests that in this instance the Camera didn't lie. It's like a Chronology of how things ended up - or even saw through the Facade. That while the above was as below with Jackie Kennedy Onassis, this saw the above deteriorate as it tried to hide the below.

I began to feel that the Clinton's were a Parody of the Kennedy's - this somehow proves it.

Donald Trump - an Age old Story........

That thing "Living Memory" is something People always refer to - because it happened in their - or someone else's Lifetime. This is why when People mention Scandals they always refer to Clinton, Kennedy - even John Profumo, but the Story that sets the Precedent for what Donald Trump is going to fight back against was that of Roscoe Arbuckle.

It was the 1920's and Hollywood was teeming with the famous, successful People everyone knows about, the many more unsuccessful who no-one does, and the infamous everyone wishes they didn't.

The Trial of Arbuckle wasn't only the first Scandal of the Media Age that became very well known, it was also the one that revealed everything else that was wrong with the Process of the time. Struggling Actresses in the Employ of Extortionist Bambina Maude Delmont, who would lure Producers into her Boudoir and obtain compromising Stories about them for Money - and probably to advance the Careers of her Proteges. Virginia Rappe - one of her 'Girls' who would do this for her, even Jurors like Helen Hubbard who would vote "Guilty until Hell freezes over". But what did all this really achieve for this Triumvirate and anything else since?

How about the Media? Randolph Hearst's Media Empire crucified Arbuckle so much so that even when found not guilty his Career was ruined. But how does that make anything else they wrote about look as People saw the News Stands in the Years after - regardless of what it might be? How did Hollywood look as they cowered away from Arbuckle, sending him to Coventry via his Friends and Associates in the Industry, banning future Work and destroying his Films?

All this even after the Jury delivered this Statement after he was acquitted.........

"Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him. We feel also that it was only our plain duty to give him this exoneration, under the evidence, for there was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime. He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story on the witness stand, which we all believed. The happening at the hotel was an unfortunate affair for which Arbuckle, so the evidence shows, was in no way responsible. We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and woman who have sat listening for thirty-one days to evidence, that Roscoe Arbuckle is entirely innocent and free from all blame."

All this was happening nearly 80 years ago, but in very recent Years - Months even - Presidential Candidate Donald Trump has found himself in something not as extreme as this - but potentially just as damaging. Except, it isn't, and he has vowed to exact revenge on all those who have lied in this Melee. That he doesn't give a Stuff about what the Media thinks or writes about him, while his Legal Actions against these People isn't between him and the Media - it's between him and them! Besides which, it makes those Cheque Book Journalists look like Pontious Pilate!

Many might whinge that he isn't their choice in the forthcoming Election, but how did those Women in the Arbuckle Trial make them look? What would an Industry Contemporary like Lois Weber have made of the scheming Shrewishness of those involved - or Helen Hubbard - who looked like a Harpie? How does the recent Stuff make Clinton Supporters look in that Context? Trump scares the bejezzus out of supposed Liberals and Socialists, Moral Ethicists and the like - but what if their Premise was built on the sort of Motives and Operandi employed by Delmont and Rappe - with the inevitable Response from Hubbard? If that is true than there is no Ethicism, no Righteousness in their Claims. Maybe they should remember what went on in the Civil Rights Struggle - and a similar Process of Non Justice, 'Heads they win, Tales we lose' Process. The Crossburner Club could say what they wanted about anyone and there was nothing those Anyones could do about it. Maybe they should also consider the Patronage of the Clinton Foundation - seen as "Corrupt" even by liberal Journalists like Bob Woodward.

This applies to all these things and it was about time someone like him made it very clear that this sort of thing won't be tolerated.

I could say that the same Industry, the same sort of People, the same shoddy and scuzzy Motives applied to something here for a very long time, and I'm not sure I particularly care what happens to those responsible, or anything they want you to think they represent!

Maybe Trump is Arbuckles Revenge!

More Memorabilia.........

This is a continuation of the Stuff on display in "Memorabilia........."

Hostage Release Vigil 1989 (we camped out at Bristol Harbourside and got People to sign a Petition) Meet the De Witt Bucketters.

This was also there.......... a beautiful Sailing Ship.

Not long after this there was the Press Conference mentioned in "Memorabilia". This was the Venue - and someone seems to have quite poignantly shot it in Sepia - which gives it a 1912 Period feel.

William Waldorf Astor's Hotel was built the same year as the Titanic (1908) so many of the Fixtures and Fittings were what might have been fashionable at the time. It's 1990 and a sense of exuberance and optimism prevails.............

You don't suppose People might have met here..............

You'd think these 2 were in a Film or something...........

The years including and after 1996-7, in other words how everything looks now!!!!

Vigil/Press Conference Photos/Drawings by yours truely!

Something that speaks volumes here about Generosity as opposed to Mean Spiritedness was how the Waldorf gave us free use of their Conference Facilities.

What happened after that is a question for any 'Stewards' (rather unflatteringly described in one Titanic Documentary), who might have blocked everything up - but it certainly felt like being Jack - where this is the one Day with the Posh People - and that was it.

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Silly stuff............

This is where you will find Life's Ironies. Things that are so daft they really do need mentioning here.

I was in the Post Office a few Weeks ago sending a Letter recorded Delivery. The Envelope hadn't sealed properly and I asked if the Teller had some Sellotape. They didn't, and the Post Office wouldn't issue them with any. This is a Post Office that is part of a larger Shop that sells Stationery. They didn't have a Stapler either - while what Paper Clips they had were from Items People had brought in. Let's just hope they still have Stamps etc huh!

Wetherspoons Staff are having to pay huge parking Fines for leaving their Vehicles in a Car Park while at work. This is a Car Park adjacent to another - huge one - and while they have to fork out for this no-one has negotiated/offered a Concession.

I was in a Petrol Station and asked them if they sold Fuel for my Zippo Lighter.......
They didn't!!!!

I've just read about Donald Trump being criticised for - quote - seeing Women as Sex Objects. Not sure this is entirely accurate as he commissioned a Female to design and build Trump Tower in New York. Also, in that Hiatus of American Liberalism John F Kennedy announced in Paris that he was happy to have been allowed to accompany Jackie - who was regarded as one of the most glamorous Women in the World.  I also remember the late 90's when New Labour featured People described as "Blair's Babes". The Irony here being that most of this Reportage appeared in a Paper written and published in a City synonymous with Glamour since Theda Bara played "The Vamp", while staunch Liberal Supporter Frank Sinatra was married to the stunning Ava Gardner!

SCAMS..............................

Here you will find stuff about Scams.



Scheming...................Crafty......................Aggressive...................Malicious

The Internet is brilliant, except, with the Benefits came the Crud, the Wheedlers, Con Artists and Criminals who use it to cheat People out of Millions every year.

I will use this Post to explain some of them, and some which - unfortunately - sometimes you aren't aware of until you (almost) get involved with them.

Here's one that I discovered literally in that last 24 Hours.........

The THW Scam...........

Here you are invited to join an ever growing Group of 'Researchers' to watch TV. You are asked - apparently, it says here, allegedly, so we're told -  to review said Programs and be paid 'up to $25' a time. Note it says "Up to" not $25, so no Guarantee of a 25 Buck/Quid Gig here then.

Here's what I wrote subscribing to a Scam Reviewers Site about it......

"I signed up to this (unfortunately sometimes you have to to find out anything about it), and it all looked a bit vague. No mention of current Opportunities to subscribe to made me skeptical. This is supposed to be better than YouTube - who have HD Content - while the poor quality Video of (fiverr.com probably) Actors and Actresses looked suspicious. They have a Newsfeed, but that isn't difficult, while there might be some Movies and TV Shows - but then, neither is that.

The Scam becomes apparent when you see the Certification stuff - quote; "The THWGlobal Online Sales Training and Certification Course cost $995, plus $39.95 monthly for continuing sales, motivational and technical training and education. However, for a very limited time the cost of the system is being discounted to $695, plus $39.95 monthly for our early movers. Once the promotion is over the price will go back to $995."

Shame you have to this, otherwise you get paid in Tokens - the usual Remuneration from many of these Market Research Companies if you just become an lV rather than a Certified lV.

They're trying to recruit 5,000,000 People. If all of them paid that amount they would make $5,875,000,000. You give them that amount of real Money - they might pay you in Tokens and a very ambiguous Work Rate. You're paying them to work for them! Not only that, but they get all that Data - AND your financial details if you decide to do it.

YouTube is free, and it's cheaper to buy a Cable or Satellite Package!"

So, they'd have to give you quite a few "$25" Gigs to repay the amount you give them, while Tokens won't assuage any Credit Card or Finance Company when they want their $1175/1445 back!

Then there was this one.................. based on the 419 Email Scam.

I got an Email from India from a "Widow" who claimed to be that of a wealthy Indian Businessman who wanted to give me - yep GIVE ME - $15,000,000. To achieve this I had to complete a Form and a Declaration stating that the Money was mine - and this was the "official" transfer. This was scanned, signed and sent back to the "Accountant" dealing with the "Widows" "Estate" etc. Then I get an Email from a "Solicitor" who wanted me to send a "Processing Fee" so the Money can be sent via Wire Transfer. This was for $200, which I didn't have - so I said they could deduct this from the "$15,000,000" - or I would even consent to them spending some of it to bring said Monies to the UK and we could go and celebrate our good Fortune! It was here that the Tone completely changed and they got a bit shirty. No less so when I suggested that he lent me the Money and I would repay him once I received this vast Sum.

Hmm, so a "Solicitor" with a few prestigious Clients couldn't find $200 against a guaranteed repayment? An "Accountant" who worked for an "Executive" of the "Reserve Bank of India" - except the Email was sent at about 4AM Indian Time (an "RBI Executive" working those hours?) and was written by what looked like a semi-literate 12 year old? Also, the RBI isn't in New Delhi - it's in Mumbai!

It was here that their Ruse fell apart - and after I Emailed them with some of this I never heard from them again. What suggested to me that they were part of a Network operating this and other 419 Scams  was how nothing appeared in my Inbox from any other "Widows" afterwards.

Also, How many of you have "won" an "Ipod/Ipad/Tablet/Macbook/Laptop/Smartphone" etc, and you fill and send the Form so you can "Claim your Prize"? I've done many of these - and if there are many others who have all I can say is there must be a huge Depot somewhere with "Ipod/Ipad/Tablet/Macbook/Laptop/Smartphones" piled to the Rafters that got lost in the Post! This, I think is just an Email grabbing exercise where the Addresses get sold on to "Widows" in "India" wanting to "give" you "$15,000,000!"

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Titanic - not just a Love Story!

James Cameron's Film might at first just look like a Love Story set against the most famous maritime Disaster in History, but there's a lot more to it than that.

Not only is it as Film about that famous Disaster, it also spans other things - from a Island off the eastern Coast of Canada to a Press Conference held in August 1990, and seems to have been prompted by an Image from 1993 and the Story that surrounds it.

It was 1990 and a Rock Music Album was compiled and released dealing with the Lebanese Hostage Crisis that had gone on through the second half of the 1980's. Anyone who was aware of things at the time would know Names like John McCarthy, Terry Waite, Brian Keenan etc and a few People in Bristol decided to do an Album Project to campaign for their release.

I was asked to write a Press Pack for it that would be sent to recording Artistes in the hope they would donate a Song for it. They did, and as Songs from the likes of Tina Turner to Dire Straits, Simple Minds to Peter Gabriel began arriving it started gaining a Momentum that would culminate in the Press Conference to launch it.

What was impressive was that it was held at the iconic Waldorf Hotel in London, which they donated the use of for free. Years later I began doing family Research and began wondering how, and did any of that have something to do with that Conference?

The Waldorf was built in 1908 by William Waldorf Astor - Cousin to the wealthiest Man on the stricken Ship - John Jacob "Jakie" Astor. The Astor's were close Friends of the Cecil's of Salisbury and Arthur Balfour who was related to them. So was Lord Harlech - David Ormsby Gore - whose Mother was one of the Gascoyne-Cecils. It turned out Harlech was also a Friend of my own Family who I was reunited with in 1996. It seems I had a connection with that Conference Venue that went beyond a 1990 Music Album launch.

The Hotel itself was actually used in the "SOS Titanic" Movie because it was contemporaneous with the Ship and had certain aesthetic similarities. There was also the Astor connection.

As for the Album Project .....

Dealing with Hostages the Balfour connection resonates with the most beloved Novel of Scotland - Robert Louis Stephenson's "Kidnapped". Balfour featured elsewhere in it all as the Project was invited to Prague in the newly democratised Czechoslovakia, a Country he helped create at the Treaty of St Germaine after the Austro Hungarian Empire was broken up in 1918.

I was supposed to go to Prague that time - but for reasons I didn't Questions should be asked of those responsible.

The Hand and the Rose ........

It was February 14th 1993 and someone opened an Envelope with a Card in it which had drawn Image of a Hand coming from a Lake holding a Rose. A Tor was shown in the Background and it was all evocative of the famous Arthurian Scene when Merlin receives Excalibur or when Sir Bedywr throws it into the Lake after Arthur is killed at the Battle of Camlann.

At the end of the "Titanic" Movie we see Rose throw a Diamond Necklace into the Sea - reminiscent of the latter and what would once have been called a Votive. This has it's modern equivalent with the Wishing Well, when you throw a Coin into it making a Wish.

The Necklace had a huge Jewel mounted into it and the Astor family Heirloom was the Sansi Diamond.

Could she have been returning it to its rightful owner - given that JJ Astor died on that Ship? In that context might he and Jack Dawson have been one and the same?

Or was it a metaphor for the Press Conference and how it might have happened - and how it seems to have launched rather a lot more than a Hostage Album Project? She goes on to become an Actress while a lot of creative Economics - from Fleet Street to independent Television - is attributable to those associated with it. More of some of that in a moment.

An earlier Voyage ......

We go back to 1621 when Welsh Sea Captain Edward Wynn, commissioned by George Calvert - aka Lord Baltimore - sailed to and established a Colony on Newfoundland called Avalon. It was named by Calvert after the Town in Somerset which he saw as the fount of Christianity in Britain. Obviously an adherent to the Story of Joseph of Arimathea.

This becomes poignant given that the "Titanic" Film was made by a Canadian and the Theme Song recorded by one of Canada's most famous Artistes - Celine Dion. 

It's also reminiscent of the Hand and the Rose - with it's Avalonian Imagery.

The Name Wynn is also evocative, being connected with the ancient noble Houses of Gwynedd and Deheubarth in Wales.

Here is an article elaborating who Edward Wynn was...

https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/NFLDS/article/view/12688/13593

George Calvert was sponsored by Robert Cecil of Burghley who acted as Guarantor to his rise through the Court and obtaining his Title..... becoming Lord to the Town of Baltimore, Ireland.

Calvert went on to establish the State of Maryland - Cecil helping him obtain it's Charter - and the City of Baltimore. As a tribute to his Sponsor Calvert named his Son Cecile.

This is why the City has Calvert Street as it's administrative District and I wonder how many Fans of the work of David Simon are aware of any of this?

Back to the Film and we see Jack and Fabrizio win Tickets for the Ship in a game of Poker and while they celebrate their good fortune we see People going aboard, so does everyone in Southampton, but one of those Passengers is a young Woman called Rose. "To everyone else it was the Ship of Dreams - to me it was a Slave Ship!" she says. Those on the Quayside just see the Glamour - they don't see what Rose is feeling.

The Name Wynne appears again - this time in the form of John Arthur Wynne who was involved in the process that would lead to the abolition of Slavery.

https://metrowynn.blogspot.com/2016/08/john-arthur-wynne-unsung-philanthropist.html?m=1

There are other things that allude to this ......

As the mighty Ship finally sinks the last thing we see is "Titanic - Liverpool" painted on the Stern. Mid 90's Britain was in the throes of a huge Beatles Revival, while the NME's Album of the year was their "Revolver" LP. Strange given it wasn't from 1996 at all, and was from 1966 - 30 years earlier, although it was that year I last saw my Family before the Reunion in 1996.

Unfortunately, Liverpool suffers from the Stigma along with Bristol, for being a Slave Traders Capital while James Penny whose Name was allegedly given to the Penny Lane the Song was about was one of its worst.

The Great Patriotic War ........

This is the eternal Flame - a Monument to the fallen at the Battle of Stalingrad, but it could be a Hand coming from a Lake holding a Sword - reminiscent of the Imagery from Arthurian Legend - or even holding a Rose like it did in 1993. In the Film we are shown Jack partially submerged in the Sea holding Rose's Hand as she floats on a Piece of Flotsam left by the Ship.

While James Horner did the Music for "Titanic" he also did it for "Enemy at the Gates", the Film about the Battle of Stalingrad and legendary Soviet Sniper Vasily Zaitsev. If you listen to the "Titanic" Soundtrack you will hear the Refrain he went on to use in the Stalingrad Movie.

Here's a Scene from the Film ......

Yours truly - 1996 - taken during the Reunion.....

Yet more creative Economics activity .......

Wonder how many People have met here .... A Scene from the Waldorf.......

Rather like this .......

...... After the Ship has sunk this was the Scene that was described as one of the most emotive in any Film ever ..... Rose on the Piece of Wood from the above Scene ..... just before Jack dies.

Here is a Montage done by someone showing what happened after ..... Rose is rescued by 5th Officer Harold Lowe - a Gwynedd Lad - played by Ioan Gruffudd who went on to appear as William Wilberforce.......

And what of that Image of the Hand and the Rose?

Here was another Montage someone did alluding to other Films that continued the Theme .......

Yep, from Jack Dawson to Jack Sparrow - and anyone who has seen those "Pirates of the Caribbean" Films will know that "The Curse of the Black Pearl" started with the young William Turner being found floating on a piece of Driftwood wearing a Pendant made from Aztec Gold. He becomes an Artificer and fine Sword Maker.

So it seems the Hand and the Rose went on to prompt those "Pirates of the Caribbean" Movies via "Titanic".

So you can see there was a lot more to "Titanic" than a Film about a love story set on the famous maritime Disaster.

And watch this space as we will go back to the roaring Twenties and why Leonardo Di Caprio might have been chosen to play Gatsby.

MEMORABILIA...................

HOW THE 90'S REALLY STARTED

In what sometimes feels like a Lifetime ago a Bunch of People in Bristol did something quite extraordinary. It was the Cusp of the 1980's and 90's and the World was in Flux. The Warsaw Pact was about to - and then did - collapse, a Moderate was about to rule Iran after the Ayatollah Khomeini died, the Injustice of Apartheid was ending in South Africa and even Margaret Thatcher resigned. But while all this was happening a few People scattered across the Globe fought to ensure another Injustice wasn't forgotten. Beirut had been a Black Hole where People had been killed or disappeared since the mid 1970's and some were still there. In Bristol People watched TV as one of them, John McCarthy, had a Girlfriend in Britain who had been keeping his Memory alive. It was seeing Jill Morrell pleading for someone to do something that prompted those People to create a Music Project called International Hostage Release.

There then followed some Campaign work, Sleep-outs, Vigils and an Album Project with some very famous Names on it. Yours truly wrote the Press Pack that got everyone from Tina Turner to Midge Ure, Dire Straits to Todd Rundgren, and the Group who dedicated "Belfast Child" to Brian Keenan to donate a Song to the Album.

We then had an awesome Press Conference at the Waldorf Hotel in London to launch it.

It turned out to be something of a Full Stop to the 1980's and the start of the 1990's.

(Cue; someone starts the Projector)

Many things have happened since this Scene was filmed

(Cue ethereal Sissel Vocal)
Rather like that Intro to a certain James Cameron Movie from 1997 - here's an (almost) Sepia tinged Article by yours truly............................

And then - from Article to Artefacts..............................

This is from the Press Conference the subsequent Project did - and while John Jacob Astor was the wealthiest Man on the Titanic, the Conference was at his Cousins Hotel - built the same year as the stricken Ship, 1908, by William Waldorf Astor. How little I knew then that an epic Film would be made about that "Night to remember" a few years later!

When I was at the Conference I met the Sisters of Belfast Hostage Brian Keenan whose resolute Determination was very inspirational. Their and our Work was finally vindicated when he was released a few Months afterwards - and he wore one of our T'Shirts.

Yes, it really did feel like a Movie!

There's more.......... Click here More Memorabilia......

I have been quite vociferous about how the 90's commenced within a few years of this, but in the early 2000's I connected up with a Bloke who was a Fan of Colin Woore whose "If you really want me" appeared on the Album. I contacted him, told him about the Campaign - sending him Stuff from it - and he put together a rather nice Web Page about it ......

http://www.theeuropeans.co.uk/IHR.htm

And as a sort of Certificate of Authenticity - here's the Email exchange I had with Mr Glasswell about sending him the stuff. We've had all sorts of shenanigans with this - but rather like someone from Slovakia who quipped about how People might have seen something on the Internet - some of us saw all this for real!

Contact us............

Visit us at facebook; https://www.facebook.com/Metro-wynn-presents-1764433923845226/

Email; metrowynn@gmail.com

The Day after Tomorrow..................

As the World seems to be lurching from War to yet more War for causes as anachronistic as the Fossil Fuels they seem to be about, here's to me doing my bit to slow down the process that is leading to the Day after Tomorrow. Whether you feel that the World is being devoured by all this and maybe it should stop - or you've had enough of feeding that voracious Monster called your Electricity Meter - even both - check this out................

Click Here! Yep, that's right - free Electricity!!!!

Copy and paste into your Browser and enjoy.............

If I find a DIY Fusion Technology System I'll let you know. I find it astonishing that even when confronted by the contnuing Calamity that the Thirst for Oil seems to cause there hasn't been any more investment or enthusiasm for what is probably one of the most sensible alternatives to Fossil and Nuclear Fuels and even some 'renewable' Enery. Solar Panels have a limited Life expectancy before they start to deteriorate - thus having to make more and add to the Carbon Footprint in their Manufacture. Wind Farms are an Eyesore - and merely replace Chimneys with Windmills, while causing Turbulence if there are too many - while Barrage technology (ie; utilising Tidal Flows to generate Hydroelectricity) disrupt Estuaries and Rivers - causing problems for Shipping and Marine Life.

Until then, this looks cool...........and means at

least we don't have a Landscape that looks like the Theme from "The Thomas Crown Affair", you have control of your Wind powered Energy,  your Solar Panels might last longer than some, and we don't end up with Shipping and Whale Jams at an Estuary near you................

Click Here!

In an Age when Probes have left the Solar System, we have seen the Apollo Space Missions and the squillions of other technological advances made in the last 60 years - it's very hard to believe that there isn't something you could drop into the Bonnet of an average Saloon Car that doesn't run on Petrol, Diesel or even Bio Fuel. The latter might sound attractive, but when do we reach that point where we have to ask whether we use the Land to grow Fuel.........or Food?

Meanwhile, President Obama's 'New Age' Government took a Step forward - then a large one back - when they decided to allow Food Manufacturers to not display GMFs on their Packaging. This not only means 'Frankensein Foods' by stealth, but also encourages non-sustainable Food production.

This is when Agribusiness cultivates Species that don't naturally pro-create. Thus, a Crop yield will only grow once. Then you have to buy in more Seed to produce next years Harvest. A purely Monetarist Attitude which does nothing to help Agricultural Communities in some of the poorest parts of the World. It's also madness - because it ultimately means all of it becomes dependent on those cultivated Species. So what happens if or when it all goes wrong?????

There are many 'Isms; associated with Social Consciousness, but whatever your Ism might be - none of it amounts to anything if we can't breath the Air, drink the Water - and can't feed ourselves!   

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Movie Quote and Scenes relevant to you..................

How many people have seen films or TV shows without realizing that many of them - as Tolkien said - have to have some semblance of reality to be believable? He said this of his own stories - how he created his Middle Earth using real life peoples and characters from our own history and culture. This applies no less to many other stories found in films and TV shows, and while many might be flattering portrayals of individuals or events some aren't, while all are attempts at showing what might be right or wrong so people can decide from what they have seen or heard. No-one wants to look bad - or at least most people don't, while everyone from James Cameron, Francis Coppola, Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter have in their own inimitable style shown who or what the good, the bad and the downright ugly can be. In this Blog I will attempt to explain to you what those metaphors, analogies and characterizations might mean in the context of our own realities and actions. The rest - as they say - is up to the reader!

Watch this space.............

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Binary Options - the new Frontier

I recommend some Binary Options People you can rely on. 24option the most trusted in the world - with full regulation, Here's what some professionals are saying about them.....

"Some Binary Options brokers are just a Scam, some just Suck. 24Option is a member of the exclusive list of brokers considered to be highly respected and truly inspiring. Thanks to CySec regulation we can revoke any suspicion of a scam by 24Option and an attractive easy-to-use trading platform with a good customer service makes 24Option a user friendly prime and trusted broker."

"The management team at 24option is committed to their customers’ success by providing industry-leading service, features, asset choices, payoff ratios, and a user-friendly trading platform that makes trading fun, enjoyable, and profitable. You will not find a broker that has received more awards and commendations than 24option. They have set the bar extremely high for their competitors and have achieved a large and loyal following for being fair and focused on the right elements in the binary options arena. You would be hard pressed to find a broker that surpasses this one at any level, and their reputation, established over years of achievement, speaks for itself."

BUT WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU CHOOSE SOME OTHER THINGS?

I'm not Gordon Gecko - but after a few forays into the world of Binary Options Trading I reached a few quite informed conclusions, not based on Mr Douglas's Characters knowledge of the Markets but on some common sense and a feeling that this has become the new Frontier - fraught with almost as many virtual hazards as any Pioneer might have in the 'olde days' where Maps said "Here be Dragons!'

How many People have been inundated with Email promising to make them a Millionaire in a few Minutes? That all you have to do is subscribe to their "Free" software and you will live the lifestyle of your Dreams? Seen those Videos of posh Cars, Ladies, even posher Houses, the inevitable cliched Photo's of some exotic place - probably copied from a Holiday Company Brochure. How many of you have thought that if anyone approached you in real life like they do in their Email you might ignore them - or even tell them to £%&^£ off!

That the "Free" ends when you get referred to a Broker who contacts you almost immediately asking for a £250 Deposit. This they do before they ask you for any Accreditation - ID Documents and the like - which is weird because no Bank would even let you open a Deposit Account without some proof of ID. Suffice to say that while they might get yer Money with a read of your Card Number, Sort Code and CVV Code - you can't re-access it quite so promptly while your Accreditation has to be 'approved'.

Then how about the Software that got you into all this to start with? One has a 'Demo' Account, which created the impression that everything is prompt, accurate and lucrative.Wow I thought, but after a while it prompted a few questions from me. The first was why as soon as it starts it does so at the same value on the same Currency Pair every time? How the same Names of 'Winners' always appeared telling you "so and so has just won.... etc". The fact is that this 'Demo' is rather like any artificial intelligence game - which might have some interactivity but all of it is pre-programmed. Sim City might let you create Trading Estates, Housing, Civic Infrastructure and everything else that makes a Metropolis work - but it isn't wired into City Hall. Unfortunately there is nothing to tell you that this 'Demo' isn't actually trading Monopoly Money in Wall Street, so the impression it gives is very misleading. Someone somewhere will 'go through go' but you might not necessarily collect £200!

How about the Pitch that got you to the Software - or at least that online Video you see where they ask for your Email and Phone Number? Actors ( and you half expect them to look like Robert Redford and Paul Newman), some glamour puss draped on their arm (probably from an Agency), that sleek Car - a rental - maybe even some Real Estate - which you could photograph or film using a reasonable quality Digital Camera - just stand outside House/Condo of choice, Testimonials - probably Friends and Colleagues, maybe even Photos lifted from Google Images/Facebook/Twitter etc - and those Screenshots of Bank Statements. Photoshop Guarantees and Money back pledges, drone, blah - it's almost become a parody of itself.

Then there is the Propaganda and Counter-Propaganda. Websites - decrying one and promoting the other - usually because one works for or knows, been payed by - those behind it, some even copy and paste the Blurb written by them and call it a "Review". One I wrote to - where my Name was changed - another asking for my Email Password, both of which seemed rather like the very sites they write about!

In the end, if whoever responsible for it is that confident that their Program works - and will make you anything like the Money they claim - when they do contact you ask them if you can borrow the paltry £250 to set it up. Mere Bagatelle to People who will make you "half a Millionaire in 30 days", and when you have made your first few 1000 - you could meet them, do all that stuff the Bloke in the Video does, or just celebrate your good fortune with a Meal and Night out. Not only do they get their Money back they also get to live up to their own Hype!

As People look for alternative incomes and solutions to minimal wages and unemployment these People are potentially very exploitative, while the actual premise of trading on the Internet is as sound as sending Email and all the other good things it offered.

HERE'S A REAL LIFE STORY THAT PROMPTED ME TO WRITE THIS..........

I read heaps of reviews about a certain Auto Trading Program, saw the Videos, those "Live Trades" etc, and after a few days decided to do it. Suddenly all those reviews are null and void because I got assigned this Broker - and the complaints seem almost as omnipresent as that Programs reviews.

Almost instantly, my back was up. Clicked on "Chat" for the Brokers Website and it doesn't work. Fine, so I'll contact the Support People at the Software Office. Ahh, can't be found - at least not until I make my Deposit. So much for their vaunted "Superb support" etc. Asking to get them to assign me a different Broker, y'know - like the one all those Reviewers use.

Because of this I have not made my Deposit because it all looks very flaky. I don't think it's right that these Software Companies can operate a System of Pot Luck when it comes to which Broker you use, while I think you should have the Option (no pun intended) to choose which one you want an Account with.

This will put People off - and I'm not surprised, while the stuff I'd read about a Broker affiliated to that Program looks like the sort of thing we've come to expect in the shadier areas of Binary Trading. I hope that the Software people sort this out and maybe they should reassign any Customers with the Broker their glowing reviewers use.

There were a few questions I had for the Software People...

The first and obvious one being the Broker Assignment - that they should tell you which Broker you will have BEFORE you sign up.......surely? That you don't open a Bank Account with HSBC - only to find you've got one with Nat West, or say that HSBC has "HSBC" in big letters on the Premises.

That the 'Reviews' are not only with a Broker I didn't get assigned to - they are based on 10 Minute Trades. My Broker doesn't offer those - so - how can the Software work?

That they might claim their Program makes a lot of Money - but that means diddly squat if you can't withdraw it.

That the Website the Broker uses looks suspiciously like some of the less than reputable Sites operating at the moment. A new word can be added to the lexicon of Hypespeak - "Viral" - which sums it all up - perhaps unintentionally!

Here are the main - and quite common - criticisms People have had about this particular Broker...

That they can't make a Withdrawal.

That the Broker does Trades for them - frittering away any Profits, Balances and Deposits. This isn't with any Autotrading Software, just individuals working for them.

Completely stonewalling any attempts at contact and communication.

All of this is why I'm reluctant to continue because regardless of what any Software Program might claim, it's rendered meaningless if the Broker is shonky. That it might make you Money - but that could easily disappear if they do Trades without your consent.

The crucial bit is when you transfer Funds to your Bank Account, until then your "Balance" is meaningless!

The things that put me off were.....

How I couldn't contact the Software providers UNTIL I made a Deposit

How the reviews were for 10 Minute Trades - not available with that Broker (thus; irrelevant). Do they really check their Brokers for compatibility?

How there wasn't even a "Withdrawal" facility on their Webpage.

That the Video wasn't working like any YouTube Vid might (ie; You couldn't replay it)

How the Brokers "Chat" Facility wasn't working.

Some of this suggests that their Website isn't up to the Job. After all, how could you do a manual Trade soon enough if you have to struggle with the HTML to get it to work at all?

Also, 'Trading' must be quite difficult if there isn't a 'Trading Platform'. (which any site usually shows - even if you have a nil Balance). If I could post a Screenshot of their Website - and one of the many serious Trading Sites - you will see the difference between what any namesake Trader might use - and what can be done with Wax Crayons and bits of coloured Paper. I'm not saying any Sites should be overly complicated, but there wasn't very much to work with at all.

So if you can't access any trading page how do you know what you are going to be using?

It was similar with some Autotrade Programs. That there wasn't any "Contact Us" on the Page at all, while when I googled them what that showed looked nothing like what I got sent to after clicking their Email and subsequent Application Form.

In the end, my Conclusion was this.......

That the (Software) Web-link I clicked on must be a Spoof. That if People could spoof Paypal like they did a few years ago they could do with this

The Giveaway was how it didn't have an SSL Certificate. This is the Padlock and HTTP you see in your Browser. If this isn't there then it could be someone spoofing the Site - using a temporary Domain to do so. It also means that there is no secure Connection with the Provider, thus anything you send or receive can be read by any third, fourth, fifth etc party who cares to.

In other words I was right not to continue with the Application -while equally right not to use Autotraders that look amateurish.

Watch this Space for more - as I continue with the next instalment of a Story that was at best frustrating at worse traumatic.

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Brexit

2 Months ago something quite extraordinary happened. An emotional Prime Minister announced his pending Resignation. The German President - Angela Merkel - seemed humbled, European Politicians shook their Heads in disbelief ...............

Britain voted the leave the European Union!

Admittedly it was a very small Margin - but a Vote is a Vote - and about 1.5% of those who did decided to vote Brexit. Suddenly, Politicians who had been ridiculed for years were vindicated. Nigel Farage - Leader of the UK Independence Party looked triumphant and announced June 23rd should be our Independence Day. Sir James Goldsmith - whose euro-sceptic Referendum Party ran in the 1997 Election - must have finally sighed "I hate to say I told you so - but I told you so" - and on it went.

Britains Poltical Establishment went into Meltdown. Jeremy Corbyn - whose Mettle was sorely tested during the Campaign - and whose efforts many Labour Supporters felt were left wanting - steadfastly refused to do what David Cameron did on June 24th. The Tories became a rudderless Ship as leading Frontbenchers announced their Leadership Bids. The rumbustious Boris Johnson looked set to become Cameron’s successor - until Micheal Gove plunged a Knife in his back, then - in turn - was also trounced in his hopes to become Prime Minister.

Then, the 'People' took to the Streets in what can only be described as a very skewed Statement of "People Power!" Pro-European Demonstrators called for a second Referendum and protested at who exactly? They missed the Point, and this wasn't a Decision made by Parliament - it was a Decision made by.............the People, so we were given the bizarre Spectacle of People trying to dissolve the People - and elect another! TV Journalists interviewed some - and while it was a Vote by Britain about - and for - Britain - those German, French etc Accents were furious at why 'they' should now leave the EU!

This seemed like the equivalent of a Warsaw Pact country leaving the Pact. That a complete destructing of the Eurocracy has to start concurrent with a re-structuring of the domestic Executive, Legislature and Sovereignty. That the career structure for cynics might try and recidivate - if they want to look like Generalisimo Franco in 1936 and his response to Spanish Democracy - Krushchev to Nagy in 1956, Brezhnev to Dubcek’s reforms in 1968 - or Yaneyev's Gang of Four in 1991 to Gorbachev’s.

Then, how about when Airbus threatened to close its UK Operation if Britain voted against the EU? That's like Brezhnev warning Dubcek that he'll shut down the Kalashnikov Rifle Factory in Czechoslovakia if Prague decides to cede from the Warsaw Pact in 1968. Not particularly democratic while also revealing the iniquities of the MIC - something Eisenhower warned about in 1960 - and how it could interfere with the civic Life of the US.

Others criticised the older Voters who voted Brexit. Millennials - 16 to 35 year olds - who weren't alive when those Voters did so in the 1975 Referendum, seemed oblivious to why that Vote went the way it did, and what it was for.

There were those that thought these Decisions should be left to the Political Elite. It was - when David Cameron had the Referendum in his 2010 Manifesto. That he threw it open to the Demos in Democracy scotches those who felt that this ought to have been left to Parliament. If he hadn't it'd be rather like a European Commission who wouldn't even forward Policy to the European Parliament to vote on. So even pro-Europeans must see that their process was applied in this instance (the Public being the equivalent of the Euro-Parliament). Their reaction to the Vote is like a Commission who decide that a "yes" or "no" Vote in the Parliament is somehow invalid. In that context even the EU has to accept our decision.

Euro-Sceptics were branded Racist, an insult to anyone who realises that People entering Britain because of their EU Passport means those who don't have one can't. How the EU merely expands the Borders of Racism because of this. That a Euro-Chauvinism developed - no less racist than any Alf Garnet Characters might have been in BBC Sitcoms. How the very Policies of the European Union have spawned reactionary Groups like the Front Nationale in France and Golden Dawn in Greece. How the EU seemed to benefit white, northern Europeans at the Expense of the Mediterranean Countries. To see how serious this is no-one ever envisaged Martin Webster ever becoming an MP like the Nationalists in France have now, while the BNP can only manage a few Councillors. It isn't any of those things. The EU ironically acted as a Catalyst to Racism.

Then there were others....

"The Environment would suffer" someone said, except Friends of the Earth were created in Britain - the Worlds most respected Eco-Lobbyist and Research Organisation - before we joined the EEC in 1973. Human Rights was another - but Amnesty International was started in Britain in 1961. It was these that prompted me to ask if we've become too dependent on the EU for everything, and that it almost implies that we've somehow forgotten how to do Environment and Human Rights completely. That a moral Bankruptcy meant we could always rely on Brussels and Strasbourg for these things. The positive thing here is; now we can rediscover how - and shrug off the Eurocomplacency that has developed in the last 43 years. It's that "They should do something about it" thing isn't it - except after June 23rd 2016 there is no "They" anymore, just you or us!

Also, the combination of the industrial Lobbyists and their influence on the Commission - and the Impotency of the European Parliament - a Pseudo-Legislature that in reality just legitimises Commission Directives - means that concessions to the Environment and Human Rights are just Crumbs that fall from the European Round Table. A very small Carrot offset by a very large Stick!

In the Debate before the Vote Frances O'Grady - the Leader of the TUC - lamented how Industries were "crushed by Bankers" in the 1980s. This isn't entirely true, and the huge Closures of Coal and Steel which made 100s of 1000s unemployed was done as much for ideological Reasons as economic. She should meet the Latvian who complained how - once in the EU - many Latvian Business's were closed - even viable ones - to align the Country with the European Union. That this is no less ideological than Thatchers Government doing same in Britain. Subsequently, about a 3rd of the Population has now left Latvia - severely depleting her Workforce. That something like 800,000 People leaving a Country of only 2.5 Million amounts to severe Depopulation. This is akin to the ideologically driven Collectivizations that caused the Soviet Famine of the 1930s and turned Ceaucescu's Romania into Absurdistan - where the Presidents Dogs ate more nutritious Food than a People living in South East Europe's Market Garden. 

This continued in Southern Europe - where Euro-policies have caused 50% youth unemployment. However you look at this - it is either chronic and brutal indifference - or that same Ideologically driven Policy making and application.

This brings me to this.........

That while a veritable army of Poles, Balts, Slovaks and other former Warsaw Pact Citizens arrived in more prosperous European Countries - what does this say about the failure of the EU to develop their Economies so they don't have to migrate? What does it also say about the unfortunate consequence of what is effectively Economic Migrancy? It also implies that a Centric attitude existed in the EU that meant any Benefits supposedly felt by those Countries never got that far.

Then Sinn Fein MP Martin McGuinness got involved. Seeing how the Referendum showed Ulster was a pro-Europe Area, and how the Vote might estrange the Province from the Republic he mooted an Irish Reunification Referendum. This was a bit opportunistic and while many Loyalists might have been pro-Europe they still aren't pro-united Ireland. Your Enemies Enemy isn't necessarily your Friend and all that!

Britain gets more Money from the EU than she puts in apparently, or at least so we were told. So, if we are the 2nd largest Contributor to the EU how can we be? Does this imply that Germany gives the EU so much that it supports us - not to mention Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and the former Warsaw Pact - all at once? The problem I have with Euro-Subsidies is how Money goes to the EU - then comes back. Why can't we keep it and decide what we do with it? Having read something someone wrote in support of the EU - and my being involved with an Anti-Poverty Campaign in Wales in 1999, I would say that a paltry £2.5 Billion from 2014 to 2020 isn't much of a return on our £10 Billion a year investment. I realise that that amount is sent by the UK as a whole - but while EU Subsidies are meant for the most needy of regions - Wales being one of them - where the other £58 Billion goes is a question for those responsible. Despite the Subsidy Economy in Wales - Cymru voted Brexit!

The French Prime Minister summed it up - although maybe unwittingly - when he said that the Referendum was a "Jolt" to the complacency and arrogance of the EU - prompting them to reconnect with the People. but why did the second largest contributor to it have to leave before he finally said it? People had been telling him this for years. His attitude isn't just at the highest echelon of the EU either. I could say that it applied at an every day level too. What this has finally also proved - and that is just how patronising the EU is (that, "let them calm down, be sensible, and have a second EU referendum" attitude, and how undemocratic. Anyone who voted against has to keep schtum in Company and Social Media for fear of recriminations.

But then, when you have an Organisation that employs 10,000 People - all paid more Money than he or she in Downing Street with the Nuclear Launch Codes, the desire to continue with it must be very tempting. Quite a lucrative Gravy Train if you can get on it. The Machinations to garner support in the daily lives of everyone as omnipresent as the Reactionists attitude proved.

One of the central Myths about the EU was how it prevented another War in Europe. To say this is to ignore why Germany is one of the most powerful economies in the world and that of the Continent. Marshall Aid gave them the biggest incentive of all not to wage War in Europe again, (ditto for Italy and others in receipt of the Program), while if the EU was meant to prevent another European Conflict then why wasn't it implemented in the late 1940's after WW2 instead of the end of the 1950s? Although it failed the League of Nations was within Wilson's Presidency straight after WW1. Also, the EU actually failed to prevent war in Europe when Yugoslavia descended into Conflict in the 90's, ominously a lot of it happening in Sarajevo. It didn’t stop the continuing Violence in Ireland either - despite both Britain and the republic joining in 1973. The Good Friday Agreement resolved this - and it was completely independent of the European Union.

Economic stability?

The recent Fortunes of Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland are in conflict with this, but it gets worse.

After the European Commission was disbanded in 2000 because some Commissioners were committing extreme Fraud a Group of Ombudsmen were appointed to monitor the EU - particularly its dealings with the industrial Lobbyists. These People were supposed to be independent - but when they were researched it turned out some had connections with the same Companies behind the Economic Slump of 2008. Considering how impotent the SEC were in the US at preventing what eventually led to 2008, I found it distressing that these same people could be involved in the political process of the EU. That it has been said that 2008 will happen again because that Bubble has been replaced by an even bigger one. When that one bursts the implications for any economy bound up with the EU are obvious, and will be far more disastrous than something that came from Wall Street.

This is why Brexit wasn't the economic disaster Scaremongers would have us believe and might even be a safeguard against what could happen in Europe. That to wrest our Economy from the toxic Morass of the EU couldn't have happened at a better time.

How about a potential collision with Russia?

The EU was very hostile towards any Russian involvement in Negotiations over the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Agreement in 2013. They refused any Input from a Country who has dealt with Ukraine for over a thousand years. This finally led to the ousting of President Yanukovych and Ukraine descending into civil War in its eastern Regions. It also led to the Annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014. This is all very worrying as it turns Ukraine into a battleground of East and West. It's like it's becoming the new East and West Germany, the fault line that divided the World until 1989, but far bigger than the Brandenburg Gate.

To be continued……………………….

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