Cool Heads Required In Ukraine

Ominous signs coming from Crimea in Ukraine as Russians are handing out Russian passports to Crimean's and it's ominous because that is exactly what happened in 2008 in the Georgian province of South Ossetia.
In the summer of 2008, Georgian villages in the territory of South Ossetia declared their independence from Georgia and Georgian troops were sent to the territory to restore order and bring the province back under its control.
Moscow, keen to bring Osettia under its own control, handed out thousands of passports to the people of South Ossetia and the day after Georgian troops arrived in the region, the Russian Armed Forces invaded Georgia, destroying its military, transportation, and economic infrastructure within and outside of the South Ossetian territory citing the necessity of defending Russian citizens living in South Ossetia from the Georgian military.
There are reports today of Russian envoys distributing Russian passports in the Crimean peninsula and fears are that Russia will once again use the 'protecting our citizens' as a pretext for an invasion and there are already reports that armed men have seized control of Simferopol airport in the Crimean capital.
As we saw in Georgia, this is the Russian play-book and it seems to be following the preliminaries to the Russian assault on Georgia.
Cool heads are required as the obvious splits in the east and west of the Ukraine means a civil war could easily become the outcome with an angry Russia in the mix.
 

First To Squeeze Into Peru As Sea Rises

As we now know, when the sea levels rises due to climate change, we will all end up balancing on a hillside in Peru which will make for a very boring Olympics and World Cup as Peru will win everything.
Over the next century, countries will be swallowed up by the raging tides so we will all have to budge up a bit to fit us all in but whose inhabitants should be packing a suitcase sooner rather than later and heading for Lima to bag the best spots?
According to the World Bank, the people of Bangladesh should be the first to get to the airport before it disappears beneath the waves and then the Vietmanese should follow them as their country is the next in line to become the ocean floor.
Egypt, Tunisia, Indonesia amd Mauritania are to follow and then Peru really begins to get busy as the Chinese arrive, all 1344 million of them.
Mexico, Myanmar and Senegal make up the rest of the ten countries to become the first victims of the rising sea and who should be eyeing the best places to pitch a tent in Peru.

What The Privatised Royal Mail Did Next

The Royal Mail made a profit of £403 million last year, money that went into the public coffers but then in their wisdom, the Conservatives decided to sell off the Royal Mail and privatised it so instead of the public getting the money to pay for services, the money to go directly into someones bank account instead.
As we have found out time and time again, privatisation is only good for the new owners and shareholders as a small number of people make more money from the privatisation and the customers get a more expensive service.
Five months after the privatisation, the Royal Mail has announced price rises in the cost of stamps because a profit of £403 million isn't enough.
And there you go, that's privatisation for you. Crap 'innit.

Back To Aled In The Morning

For the past few weeks i have woken up to find someone careering down a snowy hill on my television but the party is over, the snowboards have been packed away and the Winter Olympics are over for another four years.
So it's back to Aled Jones, Lorraine Kelly and Laura the weather girl first thing in the morning but what a treat the last couple of weeks have been in Sochi.
Because of the time difference, i did miss most of the live action and watched most of it on catch-up but i did see Great Britain bring home our equal best medal haul, 4.
Russia topped the league followed by Norway and then Canada, all places that have plenty of snow to practise on.
The Australians once again spent another Olympics looking below the GBR name in the medals table as it limped in 24th while the Great British Team came home 19th, one place behind Finland and three ahead of Italy who have an Alps to practise on so they have no excuse.
Key highlights were Shaun White giving an interview and arrogantly muttering about not losing and winning anything other than gold not being an option before duly coming in 4th. Then there were the three skiers who fell at the end of the Ski Cross with the silver medal awarded to the skier who fell facing forward as his hands went across first as the other two slithered backwards.
The Brazilian bobsleigh team who crashed on almost the first corner and careered down the rest of the course on its side, the four Olympic rings in the opening ceremony as the fifth failed to open, Vanessa Mae participating for Thailand and the US bobsledder who got stuck in the toilet by a dodgy lock on the door but still went through it anyway by smashing a massive hole in it. 
Elise Christie getting disqualified in her first race, missing the finishing line in her second race and then taken out by a South Korean skater in the third race and Jenny Jones taking bronze in the snowboard was a great moment.
My highlight though has to be the curling. It is a strange looking sport, can't think of many others when your sport kit contains a broom but it was all very exciting.
It may take a while to regain my morning regime without watching men in tight fitting lycra bodysuits filling my screen while i eat my cornflakes. Unless of course Aled and the other guy who does the entertainment news on Daybreak want to ditch the suits and give it a go.
Not you though Laura, you just concentrate on the isobars.

Piers Sacked But Staying There

Piers Morgan's talk show has been cancelled by CNN and he blames the controversy over his stance on gun control.
A spokesperson announced: 'CNN confirms that Piers Morgan Live is ending. The date of the final program is still to be determined'.
'Look, I am a British guy debating American cultural issues, including guns, which has been very polarising' he explained referring to his call for tighter gun control measures in the wake of the December 14 massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
I have always found Piers to be a massive moron but the American gun laws even more moronic so as far as i was concerned it was an idiot trying to tell cretins that their boneheaded guns fetish was wrong which was never going to play well in a place where the solution to 20 kids and 6 staff getting shot in school was to try and introduce more guns to the equation.  
My biggest worry though was that the smug faced gimp would come back here but before i could email CNN begging them to give him another go, they said they were discussing a new role for him at the channel.
Phew, that was close.

Solution To Coffee Shortage

Thanks to the likes of Starbucks and Costa, there are a lot more coffee drinkers around today than there used to be. 
I have been drinking coffee for as long as i can remember, very rare that i take tea over a latte or a mocha and i initially welcome all the Johnny and Jenny come latelies to the coffee drinking fraternity even if it meant that i had to queue up longer in the coffee shops. 
It is a little known fact that the vast majority of the coffee we drink comes from Brazil in the shape of the Arabica bean but i heard an alarming story that due to the long lasting drought in Brazil which has devastated the coffee bean belt, the Arabica bean crop has been decimated.
As with most things when there is a shortage, the price rises and bean prices have gone up by over 50% so far this year.
All this means that once the current supply is used up, our lattes and cappuccinoes are heading for a big price spike which leaves us with a problem.
As more people are now drinking coffee, demand is being stretched so the only solution i can see is for all the Johnny and Jenny come latelies that were originally welcomed, should now go back to drinking tea or hot chocolate or whatever it was that you sipped before coming over to our coffee side of the fence and ruining it.
Thanks, much appreciated.

A Weekend Of Protests

I don't know what was so special about this weekend but it seems this was the time protesters around the World decided they were not going to take it anymore.
In Brazil the police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse demonstrations that turned violent as thousands took to the streets to protest against the billions of dollars being spent to host this year's World Cup while the nation's public services remain in a woeful state.
Meanwhile in Nantes, France, 25,000 protesters clashed with police in defiance of a project to build a new airport in the city. Police responded with water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades.
There were riots in Turkey after the government passed a new law that increases their control over the internet leading to the police wielding tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets to subdue the protesters.
Thousands of anti-government protesters clashed with tear gas firing riot police in Venezuela and in Spain thousands of protesters demonstrated against changes to the country's abortion laws which would ban abortion in all cases except in the case of rape or if the pregnancy poses a health risk to the mother.
Protests in Thailand turned violent and police fired stun grenades which killed at least two children at anti-Government demonstrations.
Add the on-going turmoil in Ukraine to the list and that is a lot of people unhappy with what their Governments are doing and who felt moved enough to take to the streets this weekend.
Sadly it was a cracking weekend for the stun grenades and tear gas manufacturers though.

What Are The Ukrainians Protesting About?

Truly sickening scenes coming out of the Ukraine but the whole thing has a feel of a proxy war between the EU, Russia and the USA with Ukrainians stuck in the middle of the conflict.
Reports are of 77 killed so far and the EU have imposed sanctions while the USA are said to be 'actively considering a range of options on how to respond to violence in Ukraine'.
Although it is being painted as a case of the pro-Europeans Ukrainian people fighting to overthrow an anti-EU Government, you would be forgiven for not realising that it is not quite as black and white as is being portrayed.
Like most countries, the Ukraine is in debt and has a £16.5 billion loan from the IMF to pay off and the European Union made an offer of £1bn and closer ties to the European Union although this came with the strings attached of enforcing austerity measures and cutting public spending although the carrot of possible future EU membership was dangled tantalisingly before them.    
Russia then made a counter offer of £15bn and closer ties to the Russian market, joint enterprises in heavy industries with lower gas prices thrown in. The Ukrainian Government left the EU offer on the table and agreed to the Russian deal.
Protests began and here is where the Worlds media looked that way, as the situation deteriorated as the Ukrainian police launch a raid on protesters, arresting 35 who had occupied the City Hall.
Anti-protest laws are passed, the unrest turns deadly as Government offices are overrun by protesters and international pressure is applied. 
All this brings us to today as the Ukraine's parliament votes to oust President Viktor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko is expected to pick up the reins which is looking likely to lead to the West besting the East and the Ukraine dusting off the original EU offer and leaving a very irked Vladimir Putin on its Eastern flank. 
I hope i am wrong and it all turns out wonderful but i do fear that the protests on the streets of Ukraine will resurface as this may yet turn out to be a case of being careful what you wish for because what the protesters may have got is the hard slog of IMF austerity foisted upon them and you only need to look at the Greeks to see how that can turn out.
With the Standard and Poors' reducing the Ukraine’s rating to CCC- on the strength that the Russian money will not now be forthcoming, it is already looking like the Ukraine's problems may not be over.

You Want More Religion In Power?

It seems almost every week someone from the Church is ranting about the UK Government and this week 27 Anglican bishops and 16 other clergy accused the Government of creating hardship and hunger and saying that the Prime Minister has a moral duty to act on the growing number going cold and hungry.
The temptation could be to conclude, as someone did today, that the Conservative Government are so awful and as the Church are continually on the side of the downtrodden masses, that the Church should play a larger role in Government or even replace the politicians altogether.
Bad idea i say but as an atheist of course i would say that but a look at history shows what happens when the religious get their sweaty paws on Government.
We end up with the Middle East today where religion is the dominant force in matters, or religious zealots like George W Bush, Saddam Hussein and the Iranian Ayatollah making decisions, or Saudi Arabia or Hitler's holocausts or Al Queada or the Inquisition or the 30 year war or burning women for owning cats or the Crusades or suicide bombers or instructing people to risk aids rather than wear a condom.  
By all means speak up but more religion in the seats of power? We have been there, done that and seen what an absolute bloody disaster it was.

Why Scotland's Not Going Anywhere

The rhetoric for the case for and against Scottish independence is increasing as we draw closer to the vote on 18 September but it all seems academic to me as anything other than a vote  to stay in the Union will come as a surprise.
The overriding reason why i think we will be waking up on 19 September and finding the blue stripes still in the Union Flag is economic, leaving the UK will cost the Scots.
The Treasury has already stated that each Scot will face a £1000 tax rise if they vote for independence because at present, Scotland gets more out of the UK treasury then it puts in.
The basic facts are that Scotland adds 8.3% (£42bn) to the UK bank account but receives 9.2% (£59bn) of UK public spending.
To put a pound sign on it, Scottish Executive figures show that spending per capita in Scotland was £11,370 per head of population versus £10,320 for the rest of the UK, hence the £1000 shortfall that will have to be made up by the newly independent Scottish population to maintain the current level of spending.
On a personal level, i don't much care which way Scotland jumps but if they do go there own separate way, England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be £17bn a year better off but i strongly expect the thought of a huge rise in tax and a sharp cut in public services will be a strong incentive to the Scottish population to stay with the UK for the foreseeable future.