Tag: independence

Spain a new link in AFRICOM

The US’ decision to beef up its military presence in southern Spain indicates that a new strategy towards Africa is well underway says Andrew Korybko.

Washington just clinched a deal with Madrid that will see it boosting its military footprint in the south of the country. According to the agreement, up to 2,200 Marines and possibly 40 military aircraft will be deployed within striking distance of all of West Africa, and this massive amount of firepower proves that the US is preparing its forces for engagement all across the continent in the years to come.

Its deployment along the African periphery in Spain complements the existing presence it has in Italy and Djibouti, to say nothing of its mobile naval capabilities, and this arrangement may actually be the most ‘efficient’ of AFRICOM’s speculated formations.

In the short term, it’s predicted that the US’ latest moves are in anticipation of an inevitable leadership transition that may soon take place in Algeria, while the constant, long-term interest is in controlling the transit of significant non-Russian gas supplies to the EU.

Spain’s leaders want US support against the Catalonian independence movement too. They fear that the independence of Catalonia could lead to a chain reaction of similar movements in Spain’s other regions.

AFRICOM is technically only a command and control center for US military operations in Africa, and due to advances in communication and transport technology, it doesn’t even have to be based in the continent itself. It’s currently headquartered in Germany.

US forces are predicted to operate as the storm troopers of unipolarity in Africa, but for prolonged occupation, the French are expected to shoulder the burden, which they’re already doing via their ground deployments in 10 African countries already (nearly a fifth of the continent’s total).

The US’ latest moves in Spain are likely aimed at ‘managing’ a forthcoming leadership transition in Algeria.

Aging President Abdelaziz Bouteflika suffered a stroke two years ago, and it’s not known who will succeed him if he dies in office. Bouteflika’s 15-year-long presidency has been a stabilizing factor in rebuilding Algeria since the decade-long Islamist-inspired civil war ended in 2002, and his death might make the country vulnerable to a Color Revolution, a jihadist uprising, and/or a destabilizing struggle between state security forces.

The chaos in Libya showed signs of seeping through to Algeria in January 2013 during the In Amenas hostage crisis. Terrorists took over a gas processing facility and killed 39 foreign hostages before being defeated by decisive government action.

Most important for the US is Algeria’s contribution to the EU’s gas supply, being the third-largest supplier to the bloc after Russia and Norway.

There’s also discussion of creating a Trans-Saharan Pipeline from gas-rich and under-processed Nigeria through Niger and Algeria to Europe, which would make the North African state the geo-energy ‘Ukraine’ of the Western EU. Because of this, the US must make sure that Algeria stays under Western influence and the pipeline routes are secured, hence the upcoming deployment of 2,200 Marines and 40 military aircraft within striking distance to ensure this.

Scotland warns Britain over Trident

Alex Salmond has given warning that it would be a “fatal mistake” for the UK government to proceed with its plan to renew Britain’s nuclear deterrent, refusing to rule out calling a second independence referendum if it does so.

“This government would be making a fatal mistake if they believed that for the sake of this costly trumpery that this useless, expensive, unlawful and inherently dangerous military plaything is going to be tolerated by these benches, this party or this country any longer,” said Mr Salmond.

Asked by reporters after the debate whether he saw the renewal of Trident as a possible trigger for a second independence referendum, he said: “You would have to ask Nicola Sturgeon [the first minister] whether this counts as a change in material circumstances.”

Referring to the SNP’s landslide election victory in Scotland, which gave his party 56 out of 59 seats, he added: “The government will have to take notice that they cannot go forward with the position that they used to.”

Mr Salmond was speaking during a debate about a military investigation into allegations made by William McNeilly, who worked on the Faslane base.

Mr McNeilly, a submariner, made a series of claims about the Trident weapons programme in a long online report.

He said it was harder to get into most nightclubs than into the area housing the submarines carrying Trident nuclear missiles at the Faslane naval base. He said there were significant technical defects on the boats themselves, catalogued potential fire risks and leaks, and added that safety checks were rarely carried out on contractors working on the boats.

He called the system as a whole a “disaster waiting to happen”.

Source: FT

Kicking Scotland in the teeth

Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday ruled out giving Scotland another independence referendum despite spectacular gains by Scottish nationalists in a UK-wide election, saying Scots had “emphatically” rejected a breakaway only last year.

Cameron, who was re-elected with a surprise outright majority last week, said he would ensure that further powers would be granted to Scotland according to an existing plan. But he dismissed the idea that Scots might get another independence referendum anytime soon.

“We had a referendum. Scotland voted emphatically to stay in the United Kingdom,” Cameron told Channel 4 News.

“There isn’t going to be another referendum,” he said, saying the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), which won 56 of 59 parliamentary seats in Scotland last week, had made clear that election was not about securing another vote.

Scots rejected independence in September 2014 by 55-45 percent after a lengthy and divisive campaign. Some nationalists said afterwards that the question had been decided for “a generation.”

The startling success of the SNP, which all but wiped out the Labour Party in Scotland last week, has renewed speculation it might push for another referendum, perhaps in the run-up to a Scottish parliamentary election next year.

Source: Reuters

English-speaker wants an Afrikaner volkstaat too

Dear Dan Roodt,

I am a Canadian who married a Boere Meisie. I have three Afrikaans-speaking children. I read your Volkstaat article from 2010: “Volkstaat is inevitable (sorry to the naysayers)”.

The gap that the White South Africans live in where they can still live a decent life and get employment and enjoy their culture and walk safely down the road is narrowing every year. I was working at a company that employed nearly 1000 staff and I was in HR department when we received a notification of the new increased BEE quotas. The new quota meant we would have to lay off a couple of hundred white workers. A great way to go out of business – get rid of your loyal and experienced staff members (and yes – we went out of business a year later). I did a stint at Eskom and that was BEE+++++. You felt like an alien working there if you are White. They were not allowed to give me a full-time job due to the colour of my skin even though my managers endorsed me highly! So where do all these laid-off whites go?

Then the government tries to step by step erode the Afrikaans culture. I will never forget Thabo Mbeki’s speech a few years ago where he said the Afrikaner White is no different to an English White. As if a culture of 350 years had no significance. Increasingly there is more pressure for Afrikaans schools to move to English.

Place names change, statues removed, disarming decent citizens, increasingly racist politicians and openly racist Black citizens, massive crime, etc. I am a foreigner who had nothing to do with Apartheid and yet when I shop, or eat at my canteen I see Black workers being friendly to Black customers and then they serve a White and then become unfriendly. At my work canteen I often get given a small serving and see all the Blacks in the same line getting large servings. I get treated poorly by most Black service industry workers. My municipality charged me R120,000 for one month’s electricity and I was told by the meter reader that my municipality will never fix a White man’s account.

When the gap gets too narrow then the Whites will have to form a Volkstaat. The sad thing is that this may end up happening amid total chaos and civil war. Five million persecuted people can do a lot of damage. I remember the World War II footage where they noted how the Europeans pulled together in times of extreme hardship. We don’t just die or jump into the ocean as seems to be the expectation.

It was interesting to see the amount of support that Steve Hofmeyr received recently. Couple of hundred thousand supporters. Its not 5 million supporters yet for White figureheads. But the 200 thousand will grow as things get worse. Obviously it’s easy to pretend there isn’t a problem while you have your decent house, drive down your safe highway to your reasonable job. Its easy to criticise people like Steve and yourself while people still live in the gap. In the last 2 years, I have had two attempted car jackings, my brother-in-law and his wife and toddler were tied up and were lucky not to be shot by military-weapon=toting criminals (got interrupted when about to shoot), my wife was robbed at an ATM, our Church Pastor’s son was stabbed, etc.

Slow erosion of culture is a clever tactic. Let the old school ex-army/police die of old age. Change things slowly so the change creeps up on people. But I am seeing new Black political and union forces getting impatient. Afrikaner culture just won’t die quick enough for them. It must really upset them to see the growth of the Afrikaans music culture and the persistence of the White-dominated Springbok rugby team and the support structures amongst families and friends that prevent Whites from sinking into poverty when BEE’ed out of the employment market and the large number of Whites returning from overseas now that the global economy is in trouble, etc. Malema’s call for taking all White-owned farms just won’t go away. They seem to be more and more in a rush to grab their share regardless of the cost to the economy.

I can’t wait to see the change in the Whites’ attitude when one of these big changes hits them hard and fast. When the gap gets too narrow too quick.

I agree with you that a Volkstaat should be centered on an Afrikaner culture. I would gladly shift to your language. I have travelled the world and have a love for the Afrikaner culture since for me it stood out as being vibrant and strong and non-Americanised.

See you at the border of the Volkstaat.

Regards,

Tim Edmundson

Hawaiian independence attracts Chinese interest

China has suggested arming Hawaii’s independence activists in retaliation for U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and recently threatened to challenge American sovereignty by making legal claims to the Pacific islands as its territory.

Chinese threats to back several groups of Hawaiian independence activists who want to restore the islands’ constitutional monarchy, ousted in a U.S.-backed coup over a century ago, has raised concerns that military facilities on the strategic central Pacific archipelago are threatened at a time when the Obama administration is engaged in a major shift toward Asia as part of its military and diplomatic rebalance.

Michael Pillsbury, a Pentagon consultant and author of the recent book 100 Year Marathon, said Chinese military hawks, known as “ying pai,” told him they are ready to provide arms to Hawaiian independence activists in retaliation for U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

“Beijing’s extraordinary sensitivity to American arms sales to Taiwan—even one bullet or a spare tire for a jeep—often provokes angry words,” said Pillsbury who has held talks with 35 Chinese generals in recent years.

“A favorite comparison the ying pai has made to me is ‘How would the Pentagon like it if we provide arms to our friends in Hawaiian independence movement?’” he said. “I was incredulous because I had never heard of such a movement in Hawaii, but, after checking I met a few of them.”

Pillsbury said Chinese backing for the independence movement would be a concern. Some U.S. archival material shows U.S. authorities acted on their own in the 1898 annexation, he said, something Congress later investigated.

Pillsbury’s book, published last week, reveals that Chinese hawks in the military and Communist Party are a key part of a 100-year strategy to vanquish and eventually overtake the United States as the world’s leading power in the coming decades.

Another indicator of Chinese interest in fomenting unrest in Hawaii surfaced in 2012, when then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton revealed Beijing had threatened to assert legal, territorial claims over Hawaii.

Clinton said U.S. ownership of Hawaii came up during talks with the Chinese after she pushed back against Beijing’s destabilizing territorial activities in the South China Sea.

“At one point in one of my long discussions about this, one of my Chinese interlocutors said, ‘Well, we could claim Hawaii,’” she said. “I said, ‘Well, go ahead, and we’ll go to arbitration and prove we own it. That’s what we want you to do.’”

The Hawaii sovereignty movement is made up at least 10 groups that are seeking some form of independence from the United States and the re-establishment of the monarchy ousted in 1893, with the support of the U.S. government and a company of U.S. Marines.

The movement is non-violent and its protests in recent years have been limited to temporary takeovers of government facilities.

Source: freebeacon.com

Spain dispatches Civil Guard ahead of Catalan vote

The Spanish government has not specified what legal consequences Catalan leaders, poll workers or voters might face Sunday, when they go to vote. But Madrid has reportedly readied thousands of Civil Guard officers to travel to Catalonia this weekend.

Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia vowed Tuesday to defy both the central government and the country’s highest court and proceed with a much-disputed weekend vote on whether to secede from Spain.

Hours earlier, Spain’s Constitutional Court ordered Catalonia to freeze its plans for an independence vote, scheduled for Sunday. It was the second time the court issued an order siding with Madrid, which considers any Catalan independence vote illegal.

But Catalan leaders said they would not back down.

“Everything is all set for Nov. 9,” Francesc Homs, a spokesman for the Catalan regional government, said at a news conference. “We are maintaining our participatory process. We couldn’t say this any clearer — and we’re doing so regardless of the consequences.

The presence of military convoys on the roads in Catalonia has been steady throughout the day.

Military convoys on the roads to Lleida and Zaragoza and also Panadella and Low Llobreta and Diagonal were noted, with several military helicopters flying sorties over certain Catalan regions.

 

Majority of Scots would now vote ‘yes’ to independence

Just six weeks after the referendum in which Scots rejected independence by 55 to 45 percent, a new YouGov poll for the Times has found that 52 percent now back a split from the union, as Labour sees its support in Scotland gradually diminish, RT reported.

The YouGov poll put support for the union at 48 percent. The figures will give more momentum to the pro-independence Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), which wants to see another referendum as soon as possible.

Another vote on whether Scotland should remain in the 300-year-old union with England may be triggered in 2017 if the UK votes to leave the EU. The Scottish are much more pro-European than the English, and want to stay in the European Union.

While Scots believe the results of the last referendum have left the country divided, a separate poll for STV found that two-thirds of Scots want another referendum within a decade.

The United Kingdom consists of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. England is home to about 85 percent of the population, but Scotland – with a small population of just under five million – is richer in natural resources and has about one-third of the UK’s land mass.

Catalonia calls off independence vote

The leader of Spain’s wealthy Catalonia region on Tuesday called off an independence vote but said an unofficial poll will take place next month to gauge secessionist sentiment.

Artur Mas was forced to cancel the Nov. 9 referendum and replace it with a symbolic one on the same day after Spain’s government challenged the referendum in the country’s Constitutional Court, which suspended the vote while it deliberates.

Separatists in northeastern Catalonia, which has 7.5 million people, have been trying for several years to hold a breakaway vote from Spain to carve out a new Mediterranean nation.

Secessionist sentiment surged during Spain’s economic stagnation and amid discontent at Spain’s refusal to give the region more autonomy and fiscal powers.

Polls show most Catalans support holding an independence referendum and around half favor ending centuries-old ties with Spain.
Mas insisted his regional government is not backtracking and still plans an official vote later, saying the symbolic vote will serve as a “preliminary” ballot.

“It means there will be polling stations open, with ballot boxes and ballots,” Mas said. “It will depend on the people for a strong enough participation to show that people here want to vote.”

The vote questions will be the same, asking residents if they think Catalonia should be a state, and, if so, whether it should be independent.

Madrid’s central government has said an independence vote would violate clauses in Spain’s constitution specifying that only the national government can call referendums on sovereignty and that all Spaniards must be allowed to vote.

Unlike last month’s independence referendum in Scotland, which ended with voters deciding to remain part of the United Kingdom, the vote that Catalonia separatists wanted to hold would have been nonbinding.

Source: Breitbart

Ron Paul joins secessionists

Secessionists across the world were inspired by Scotland’s energetic attempt at independence from the United Kingdom earlier this month. Ron Paul, as it turns out, joined them.

In an essay on his eponymous institution’s website Sunday, the former U.S. congressman from Texas wrote that any supporters of freedom should cheer secessionism because it allows for smaller government—a constant mantra for the libertarian and perennial presidential candidate, who didn’t previously realize there were more than a handful of secessionist groups in the United States.

“I was real pleased with that, and a bit surprised,” Paul told National Journal. “But then, on second thought, you think, ‘Why not? Why not more?’ ”

Fringe groups calling for states and regions to secede from the U.S., such as the Second Vermont Republic and the Alaskan Independence Party, gained more publicity in the weeks leading up to the Scottish referendum. As the outsized federal government continues to encroach on individual rights, Paul said, he thinks there will be a groundswell of these movements.

“It’s something that I think is going to grow, because the failure of the federal government is going to get much worse,” he said. “When the bankruptcy evolves, and maybe some of these pension funds are confiscated, and the wars never end, and bankruptcy comes forth, people [will say], ‘Hey, we’re getting a bad deal from this. Why don’t we leave?’ ”

He added: “I think it’s inevitable people wanting to leave will be there, and the numbers will grow.”

Realistically, though, Paul said he doesn’t think any of these groups could actually succeed. Despite the founders’ own deep belief in secession—they gained America’s independence from Europe, after all—he said the Civil War set the precedent that secession would carry “very, very bad” results.

“By our history, the heavy hand of the federal government would come down,” Paul told National Journal. “They’d probably shoot ’em.”

In typical fashion, Paul argued that the principle of secession was more important than what could actually happen in reality. It’s the threat, he said, that’s important to keep the federal government in check.

“I think what is most important is we have a concrete right to secede,” Paul said. “Even if we never had any secession, or any state declare independence, we would be so much better off, because there would always be this threat. Once the threat of a state leaving was removed, it was just open-door policy for the federal government to expand itself and run roughshod out over the states because the states couldn’t do much.”

Given that his son, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., will likely run for president in 2016 with a much better chance of winning than his father ever had, the elder Paul’s willingness to share his reasonably radical views seem imprudent, if not unexpected. In an election cycle that has often equated the politics of Ron and Rand, this latest remark is sure to annoy the potential 2016-er’s supporters.

For Rand’s sake, it’s fortunate that Ron didn’t express his support for the Texas Nationalist Movement or any other secessionist groups in the U.S. Before he’d back Texan independence, he joked, “I better check out and see who’s running Austin before we decide about that.”

Source: nationaljournal.com

Spain moves to block Catalonia independence

Spain’s Constitutional Court on Monday suspended an independence referendum called by Catalonia for November 9, although leaders of the rich northeastern region vowed to press ahead anyway with preparations for the vote.

The unanimous and expected decision by the court’s 12 judges came just hours after Spain’s central government asked it to declare the independence referendum illegal on the grounds that it breaches the country’s constitution.

The court said in a statement that it had accepted the appeal and had suspended the referendum while it considers the central government’s arguments. The court had up to five months to give its ruling although it can request an extension.

The head of the regional government of Catalonia, Artur Mas, signed a decree on Saturday calling for the referendum.

Since then a luminous clock on Barcelona’s historic Sant Jaume square has been ticking down the seconds to November 9 and television and radio stations in the region have aired ads informing the public of the vote.

Conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he “deeply” regretted Mas’s move, saying it “divides Catalans, alienates them from Europe and the rest of Spain and seriously harms their welfare”.

Buoyed by mass street demonstrations, Mas has pushed ahead for a vote in defiance of Rajoy’s warnings.

“You cannot use the law to prevent people indefinitely from stating their opinion,” Mas said in a television interview on Sunday in anticipation of Monday’s appeal.

“Voting on November is the best thing for everyone because it will allow us and also the Spanish government to know what the Catalan people’s opinion is.”

The main opposition Socialist Party is calling for a constitutional reform instead of a vote to answer Catalan demands for greater autonomy.

The Socialists’ leader Pedro Sanchez on Monday said the referendum plan “deeply damages Spanish democracy”.

Fitch Ratings has chimed in also by placing the Autonomous Community of Catalonia’s (Catalonia) and Institut Catala de Finances’ (ICF) Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) of ‘BBB-‘ on Rating Watch Negative (RWN).

Their Short-term foreign currency IDRs of ‘F3’ have also been placed on RWN. Catalonia’s EMTN programme and bond issues, rated ‘BBB-‘, were also placed on RWN.

The last scheduled review date for Fitch’s ratings of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia was on 25 July 2014 and the next review date for 2015 has not yet been set.

Massive oil reserves off Scotland’s west coast to be examined

Massive oil reserves off of the west coast of Scotland are to be examined after the Scottish Government announced it is to set up a review along with top academics and experts.

The area which includes the north and west coast of Shetland down to through the Hebrides and into the Firth of Clyde will be the subject of a review in order to determine the true scale of the oil and gas reserves.

According to the Sunday Post, the Scottish Government will, this Autumn, co-host a workshop with Heriot-Watt University’s Institute of Petroleum Engineering to examine the potential for conventional oil and gas resources in the waters off the west coast.

The announcement follows increasing speculation that a massive field to the west of Shetland has been discovered.

The field, located in the Greater Clair area around the islands, has already witnessed a huge investment from BP with the company set to employ advanced techniques in order to maximise production output. A promotional video for the Clair field has explained how the company plans a “major transformation” to the field which BP itself describes as a “truly giant field”.

The company estimates that the field will begin production in 2016, and be able to produce over 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

Commenting last month, BP chief executive Bob Dudley said: “We remain very enthusiastic about Clair Ridge – appraisal wells are looking good. It is helping us to define the structure out there.

“[Clair Ridge] will be a project once we get it on in the next few years that has the potential to produce until 2050.”

Rumours that a massive new oil boom might be imminent grew when UK Prime Minister David Cameron made an unannounced visit to Shetland three weeks ago.

Islanders were surprised when the PM stepped off of a plane on one of the islands airfields.

The 1600 mile round trip from London had been kept secret from journalists. Downing Street refused to be drawn on why the visit had not been publicised beforehand.

Speculation that there is massive oil reserves around Shetland follow revelations that there may be huge untapped reserves under the Firth of Clyde.

It recently emerged that surveys carried out in the seventies found evidence of significant reserves of oil, but further drilling was blocked by the Ministry of Defence because the waters were crucial to the movement of nuclear submarines.

There are also claims that fields to the West of Lewis are not being developed due to objections from the MoD as the area is used for war games involving nuclear subs as well as for the test firing of missiles from the Uist range.

At a recent energy meeting in Stornaway, local people spoke of exploratory work conducted over several decades to the West of the Western Isles. Those who had been involved in the surveys were reporting back locally the there was a massive oil field there which “comes right up to the shore”.

Speaking to the Sunday Post, John Howell, Professor of Petroleum Geology at the University of Aberdeen, said: “The offshore area to the west of Scotland includes several major basins with hydrocarbon potential.

“While over 3,000 exploration wells have been drilled in the North Sea and West of Shetland, only around 20 have been drilled to the west of the Scottish mainland.

“This provides significant future potential which can only be appraised with detailed scientific study.”

Energy minister Fergus Ewing said: “Stimulating oil and gas activity to the west of Scotland could create employment and further increase the longevity of the industry in the country.

“Any activity will be supported by Scotland’s world-class indigenous supply chain with 40 years of experience in the North Sea.”

Source: http://newsnetscotland.com/

Battlelines drawn for independence

Leaders of the Flemish nationalists in Belgium, the Catalans in Spain and Italy’s Venetians said they still have momentum on their side, despite the ‘No’ vote in Scotland.

“Whether it was a ‘no’ or a ’yes’ vote, the main thing is that the process has started,” Gerolf Annemans, leader of the Vlaams Belang, or Flemish Interest party, said in an a phone interview. “You can’t say this is a clear vote for unity. The process of autonomy and national identity can’t be stopped.”

Separatists across Europe that had been energized by the Scottish nationalists’ push for independence were drawing breath today after voters opted to remain with the U.K. by about 10 percentage points. That leaves the Catalans as the most likely candidate to test EU leaders’ insistence that newly independent states will have to reapply for membership and face a period in the wilderness before reclaiming its full rights.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier all welcomed the vote, which shores up the constitutional status quo in the 28-member bloc.

“I think this is a good decision for Scotland, Great Britain and Europe,” Steinmeier said in a statement.

Roger Albinyana, head of the foreign affairs department of the Catalan regional government, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today that his movement is still determined to hold a referendum, despite the opposition of the national government in Madrid.

“There is a strong determination from the Catalan people,” Albinyana said. “We’ll do our best to hold that vote.”

Rajoy — who today said Scotland had avoided “grave social, economic, institutional, political consequences” of a split — has pledged to prevent Catalans voting on independence from Spain in a ballot Regional President Artur Mas has penciled in for November. The Catalan Parliament is set to approve the legal framework for the referendum today and Mas’s allies are urging him to defy the legal threats from the central government.

Mas today told reporters in Barcelona that Catalonia will push on with its independence referendum, and that a vote is the only way to resolve conflicts between Catalonia and the rest of Spain.

Gianluca Busato, who organized an unofficial referendum in March that called for independence of the Veneto region in northeast Italy, said economic arguments appeared to have won out in Scotland, the exact same reason why he said his region will eventually choose independence.

What the Catalans do regarding independence will likely have an impact on Spain’s Basques, who already have some autonomy.

The Basque region on the border between Spain and France has long sought independence. Around 150,000 Basques formed a 123km-long human chain on June 8 in a “Right to Decide” event.

The organizers of the Veneto vote said 2.36 million people voted in March, with 89 percent approving independence. Busato said Scotland’s experience shows the need for a more professionally prepared referendum next time.

“The oppressive fiscal transfers from Veneto to the rest of Italy are apparent for all to see,” Busato said in a phone interview. “For the Scottish, independence may have appeared more of a gamble.’

Source: Bloomberg

Scotland rejects independence

Scotland has rejected independence in Friday’s referendum count, with declared local authority areas so far choosing by to stay within the U.K. by around 55%. The 307-year-strong union seems to have survived, although increased powers will be devolved to the territory.

A total of 32 local authority are being tallied up, and although the key constituency of Glasgow voted for independence, it was not by a particularly large margin, in a near-fatal blow to the Yes camp.

A final outcome is announced early Friday morning local time, but with Edinburgh voting No by a huge margin, there is little doubting victory for the Better Together campaign.

Pubs across the country were staying open throughout the night with customers both anxious and excited to see whether the 307-year-strong union would be consigned to the history books.

Greg Waddell, a doctor working in Glasgow, tells TIME that he voted Yes “because disempowerment breeds dependency; because the current extent of social inequality in Scotland demeans every one of its people.”

Source: Time

Spain is militarizing against citizens

By Martin Armstrong.

The Spanish government is militarizing gearing up for violent protests against the EU that are expected to turn up before a hot autumn. Spain is now equipping the police for about one billion euros with new combat equipment. Violent protests in Spain since the crisis began almost a daily occurrence. Movements such as 25 de Mayo or the Indignados call Spaniards of all strata of the population to protest against the government on the streets. The police will always respond violently. They cover up their brutal responses by banning any video of police beatings making it a crime in itself. This is certainly illustrating the loss of freedom and any democratic process within Europe. The police scandals have only charged the atmosphere within the population and we may see this erupt into civil war as we move forward.

Goya’s painting of the brutal treatment of citizens during the Spanish Civil War is a reminder of what we could face in the aftermath of the militarization of Spain against its own citizens. Since June, the Spanish Interior Ministry has signed four contracts for the purchase of protective vests, shields and other riot gear. These weapon purchases are causing many to relive very bad memories in Spain. Spain has also bought water canons, a weapon that by the end of the Franco dictatorship was in continuous use. Opposition leader Antonio Trevin called the purchase therefore “a return to the times we would rather forget.” The Interior Ministry has responded merely justifying their rearming as necessary “because of the current social dynamics”, necessary, reports the Guardian.

The protests are mainly directed against the always new austerity measures, tax increases, the extremely high youth unemployment, homelessness following the bursting of the housing bubble, and also against a restrictive policy such as the recent bill to ban abortions. Then there is the movement to establish a referenda for the abolition of the monarchy. Then throw in the separatist movement as we see in Scotland where the Catalans are moving for their independence. There were protests against the recent visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel that had to be violently dispersed by the government.

Spain is moving toward civil war. Even the human rights organization Amnesty International has expressed concern over the arming of the police. The police are there to protect the government – not the people. That is a dangerous position that sets the stage for civil war.

Source: armstrongeconomics.com