AIRSTRIP ONE

 Update for July 2000

EXTRA HEAVY ISSUE

FURTHER DOWN...
MAKE IT SO | APPLAUSE FOR THE EURO | REDEFINING CIVIL DISORDER
OBSESSION | FREEDOM R.I.P.

JUNE NEWS SURF:


Hi, I'm Jim...
Know me as Gemineye Jim or Jim Gemineye. Anything, as long as it's not Jim Gemineye chéri !

On the other hand, Eric is a nice name..


BLAIR'S MILLENNIUM

Eric Blair wrote the book 1984 using the pen name GEORGE ORWELL. Like all good science fiction 1984 dealt not so much with fanciful illusions about the future, but about his own perceptions of his time (1948). Writers sometimes have to use outlandish contexts in order to break the barriers of preconceptions that readers put up. However, in creating this new context, he explored several ideas that we could apply to other eras and also see come to fruition in this new millennium.

  • Telescreen - we thought this was his view of the new medium of TV being used to brainwash the masses. That was before digital TV came along. Digital TV will evolve - it will be on all the time, it will be two way - the TV in the bedroom will have to go.
  • Newspeak - Didn't quiet get this right. The idea was destroy the ability to express unorthodox ideas by destroying the language required to communicate them. This was done by simplification. Well, if anything, language has become even more complex. But some might argue that corruption of words like cool and wicked accomplish the same thing as Newspeak. On the other hand with the creation of a ‘drug culture' do you need Newspeak? If you're on the right drugs you can drivel on for hours without saying anything meaningful - let alone radical.
  • Chocolate rations - Not quite sure why chocolate rations figured so much in Orwell's vision. It was used as a kind of reward or punishment. If news was bad, chocolate rations were reduced - if news was good, chocolate rations were increased. It was as if the people were held to blame for events in Airstrip One, We don't have chocolate rations now - but we do have interest rates.

Airstrip One was the new name for England or Britain under the regime of Big Brother.

Welcome to Gemineye's Airstrip One.

Welcome to a different kind of spin... it's less gassy and leaves no bitter after-taste.

Welcome to the
NEW MILLENNIUM.


APPLAUSE FOR
THE EURO

For those that still think that the BBC is un-biassed in matters of European Federalisation, they should listen to Radio 4's Any Questions at 8pm Fridays - repeated Saturday at 1.15pm.

On Saturday 24th I heard this gem from Rachel Holmes (managing editor Amazon.co.uk):

"Whilst we are all arguing about it I think we should get on with it and join because ‘wait and see' (applause)... I belong to a generation that has blown-up... has grown-up global, I mean I'm working in an industry, umh, in an e-commerce industry in a European contest. Also I think that on such an important issue to say that to be ‘pro the Euro' is to be anti-British is to profoundly miss the point and really to ‘wait and see' is never the best strategy. We need in we need to be making the running. How can we possibly plan for the future for our businesses for our industry if we don't know what the Pound is going to be worth in a few years time. We need to get in there and make the decisions now. (applause)."

Ali G couldn't have said it better. And it seems even Ali G could praise the Euro on this program and get a standing ovation. This is only a small part of the constant stream of propaganda for the Euro that is thrown at us almost daily by the BBC.

I wouldn't mind if it was quality propaganda, but it verges on gibberish - you would expect a better quality propaganda from the BBC wouldn't you - Not this crap - What are we paying licence fees for?

Write to your MP - DEMAND higher quality propaganda NOW!

Oh, I almost forgot, does anyone know what the value of the Euro is going to be in a few years time?

... any advances on five cents?

No, I shouldn't joke about it. Someone at the BBC might start lobbying for the USA to join the EU on the basis of the strength of the dollar against the Euro!



FREEDOM
R.I.P.

Never before in our history has it been possible to monitor the thoughts and actions of our people so minutely as it is about to become.

I refer to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill - known affectionately as RIP.

It will allow MI5 to install a 'black box' at every UK ISP. This will be used to monitor internet and e-mail traffic. A mammoth task and to be practical will more likely mean that specific e-mail addresses and web-sites will be monitored to see who contacts them.

Apparently there is to be a climb down - Government is to only allow agencies to read e-mails by obtaining a warrant, but there are many exceptions.

Encryption does not provide any protection - Government agencies will have the power send an agent to any firm and demand the encryption codes which are being used by anyone in the company to send encoded documents. Failure to comply can result in a two year jail sentence.

Since no one will know what these black boxes are doing, unscrupulous agents could trawl for intelligence, applying for a warrant only when evidence is required for a court hearing.

Who say's politicians don't have a sense of humour?


If you have any comments to make on Gemineye's content email: jim@gemineye.free-online.co.uk


You are listening to
Brazil Samba

Brazil Samba was the theme music used in the film Brazil by Terry Gilliam - an up-date of the Orwellian 1984 plot.


Is it wise to welcome change without any doubts?
NOTHING TO FEAR?
I ask questions like that when it's one of those jittery months.

'The Democracy Movement Website
FREE TRADE or SLAVE TRADE?World Trade Organization FAQ
ANTIWAR.COM
Airstrip One Archive

NOW THATS WHAT I CALL TERRORISM

Featuring:

Gerry Adams -
Can't Stop This Thing
We Started*

June 1st around 4am, a bomb goes off under Hammersmith Bridge. It was no amateurs prank, but a sophisticated high explosive device - semtex, we are told. But the police are mystified - who could have done it? Pa-leez.

A little later in the week there are rumours that the IRA may be involved. Or perhaps I should say IRA II, Real IRA, CAMIRA or whatever - anything as long as it's not the same IRA who have pledged to make their armaments unavailable for use.

If nothing else, this is a timely reminder for the British Government as to just what most people would define terrorism as.
That is,
it's not pulling up plants.

But I gotta ask - What are the IRA doing this for?

The Federalisation of Europe surely has made the concept of a united Ireland irrelevant. A united Ireland is about as meaningful as a united Dakota. Unless Ireland has sovereignty a united Ireland is simply a coming together of two municipalities within the EU - it means nothing. Southern Ireland has already sealed its fate and the UK is about to do the same - its just a matter of waiting until the time is right.

So the IRA are an anachronism. The Federalists have pulled the rug from under their feet and the IRA have nowhere to go but flat on their arse.

Europhiles will no doubt exclaim that riding us of the evils of nationalism is what federalism is all about - while failing to see any harm in the nationalism exploited by large federations like the USA and CIS.

So, where does that leave us? Whistling another Gerry Adams tune - "Don't drop that bomb on me" *.

Goldstein also has some interesting things to say on the June bombing.

* With apologies to Bryan Adams

REDEFINING CIVIL DISORDER

"Tonight with Trevor McDonald" highlighted the new Anti-Terrorism bill early last month in his dumbed up/down version of NEWS AT TEN! As you might guess, the implications of the bill were glossed over in favour of showing yet more video clips of hooligans wrecking McDonalds. But Trevor didn't take it personally - even he thought this tame and introduced some snatches of the Poll Tax riots to spice things up a bit.

Strangely absent - clips of violent scenes from the miners strike. Possibly this might have set people thinking.

In a free democracy, the state should only be permitted to use force to protect its citizens.

These new 'European powers' are likely to include people trying to defend themselves from actions of the state - and not just those trying to threaten citizens to gain leverage against elected government. After all we don't view violent clashes between pro-democracy protesters and Serbian police as acts of terrorism do we? Well this bill changes that - at least it does for those of us now subject to the law and justice of European Harmonisation.

This bill is not a Government response to increased use of terror in Britain, but a requirement of a Federal Europe that must plan for a future that may not be as bright for it's citizens as we have been led to believe - The EU clearly expects a rise in civil disorder.

This June member states met to talk about creating a Euro Police Force to deal with civil disorder in the EU, or "civilian crisis management" as they prefer to call it. It could be something like the USA's National Guard. The European Council stated "...political and military structures of the ESDP at the EU council will be set in place 'as soon as possible' after the Nice Summit."

I guess the bottom line is that it wouldn't do for any EU activities to be illegal in this country, would it?

So, do we have a choice about implementing these laws? No! That's loss of sovereignty for you - that's why we have a Government contriving all sorts of reasons why we must have all these draconian laws. They can't turn around and just say ‘we have no choice' can they? They cant take away laws of the land that have been judged by many to be the fairest in the world - but they can erode them by widening the scope of laws intended only for use in exceptional situations - that is make them more open ended - and do so in the name of European Human Rights. They do love irony, don't they?

Bleachard

MAKE IT SO

So the spin has stopped.
Funny, I thought. Why are we still being told that we need the stability of the Euro to survive?

They seem to think that saying this "makes it so". It does not, but the spin continues to focus attention on currency rather than political intent... Oh what the hell, let's play along with it for a moment...

If you pop along to MoneyWorld you can get a list of best or worst performing currencies against any currency you choose over a chosen period of time. It's very interesting - honest.

Against the Euro over a period of 16 months, of the 44 currencies listed, only 9 fell against the Euro. The top performing currency was the South Korean Won - it rose over 24% against the Euro. But strength isn't everything - what about stability? The highs and lows of the Korean Won fluctuated by about 42% over that period - not very stable eh! - I hear the Europhiles cry.

Against the Dollar, the Korean Won rose only 5% over the same period. Interestingly, it only fluctuated by about 12%.

Are any alarm bells ringing yet? Stable against the Dollar, unstable against the Euro... Mmm.

That Ken 'globalist' Livingstone announced on Radio 4's Question Time (17th June) that Britain had only two choices - either join the Euro or join the Dollar. With the strength and stability of the South Korean Won in mind, I would suggest that, at the very least, there is a third: Become part of South Korea!

If strength and stability of currency is the reason we are going to enter into unions with other nations then we should at least be rational about it and adopt a successful currency. I'm sure we would soon get used to calling South Korea "the mainland" - the Hawaiians don't seem to have any trouble calling the USA 'the mainland' - an appropriate comparison as Europhiles seem to think that Britain out of the Euro would result in a similar status to that of a small island in the Pacific - they wish!

On the other hand, we all know anything can be proven with statistics. Look long enough at currencies, relationships and perspectives - and such a thing as a stable currency begins to look like a myth. But then Europhiles do have a fondness for myths.

OBSESSION

I just gotta ask - what is this obsession with inflation? It seems we are all spending too much - excessive growth is overheating the economy.

Just where is this growth coming from?

The bus fares went up by upto 40% this January. That's not to say demand for public transport rose, it might even have gone down. But there isn't much scope for a fall. Fares rise 40% - what do you do - work just four days a week instead of five and save a couple of quid? Mmm.

The same can be said for diesel and petrol, the price of which is pushed up every year - not by consumer demand but by taxation.

Then there's that old favourite, mortgage interest rate payments. I can't quite get my head around this one, people who have already committed themselves to a mortgage actually want to pay more! Such is their insatiable demand for higher and higher mortgage repayments, that they have become the principle culprits in pushing up interest rates.

If I were a cynic I might think that these manufactured inflation figures were designed to justify an interest rate required for some other purpose.

Even the growth in retail prices of everyday items like food are subject to manipulation. This fad for loyalty points for example. We all know we're not getting anything any cheaper, we are simply getting a refund credited to our cards for paying too much in the first place.

But the inflation calculations for food and other retail goods which give loyalty card discounts don't include loyalty points! This distorts the calculations, indicating that prices are higher or lower than they really are.

So if demand led inflation is not the principle reason for higher interest rates then what is? Well, I was hoping you would know.

Perhaps the OECD knows. They seem quite interested in the UK having higher interest rates. The OECD is another one of those global trade organisations, so I'm sure they have our best interests at heart. They recently announced that the UK is more in step with the European economy than some countries that have joined the Euro.

How about that. With almost every major industry taken away from us and those that survive struggling with excessive interest rates and a high pound - we have the satisfaction of knowing that our economy is getting into step with Europe - what a stroke of luck - they couldn't have planned it better could they?

Ahh... the smell of it!