In the UK the final preparations for the forthcoming London 2012 Olympics got underway this week. However it has been far from plain sailing with one fiasco after another. G4S who had been awarded the contract to supply the bulk of security personnel were taken to task over their ineptitude. A grilling of the G4S bosses by MPS made for entertaining viewing but was not really constructive.
Military personnel and police will plug the gaps in Olympic security. Both services are currently experiencing job cuts at the hands of this same government. The shambles has made the UK look foolish on the world stage and will inevitably be costly.
As the Olympics continues to dominate UK news the government could have a problem with Border Agency staff who plan to strike the day before the Olympics begin. Instead of addressing their issues it looks like the Coalition will change Union laws to restrict the right to strike even further.
Discontent in the UK is high right now and says something when even farmers and disabled workers feel the need to strike. The disabled worker's strike has been instigated by government plans to close various Remploy Centres where some disabled people work.
Syria and the EU crisis continue to rumble on. In Syria a suicide bomber broke into the inner sanctum of President Assad killing at least four of his senior officials. Fighting on the streets of Damascus means the wolves are at the door of the President but he remains as entrenched as ever. When, as it surely must, the regime falls who will seize power? The rebels are an unknown quantity interspersed with foreign nationals who may not represent the Syrian people at all.
Spain is the latest European country to suffer at the hands of the EU and banking crisis. The people of Spain have taken to the streets this week to protest and things have turned nasty on more than one occasion. Police fired rubber bullets and the protests are far from over.
Most right minded people wonder just how much longer the fiasco that is the EU can continue.
As the week drew to a close Aurora, Denver, Colorado went on the World map. Its claim to fame was the mass shooting at a cinema by a lone gunman. As yet just why James Holmes went on a killing spree is not known. He killed at least 12 people and left 59 more injured. The tragedy becomes the worst in US history.
The madness has left many in the US reaffirming their right to bear arms. In fact many maintain that had others in the cinema been armed Holmes would have been stopped before he killed so many. It is hard to debate with blinkered hard line gun supporters. That does not mean they are right. It simply means that they are using excuses to justify the foolish laws which allowed a 24-year-old man to purchase 6,000 rounds of ammunition, two handguns, a shotgun and a semi-automatic rifle. All were legally purchased with the required checks taking place.
Now what in the world would a young man want with such an amount of ammunition and weaponry? How come no alarm bells sounded?
In the US the people will grieve for the dead, pontificate but change nothing. They see countries such as the UK, with relatively tight gun laws, as insane. We look across the Pond and view the US in much the same way. Different strokes for different folks.
There is no escaping the fact though that as long as citizens can buy huge amounts of ammunition and weapons as easily as buying an ice cream, tragedies such as Aurora will continue to happen.
Tags: Aurora, US gun laws, US politics, that was the week that was, UK Olympics, James Holmes
Military personnel and police will plug the gaps in Olympic security. Both services are currently experiencing job cuts at the hands of this same government. The shambles has made the UK look foolish on the world stage and will inevitably be costly.
As the Olympics continues to dominate UK news the government could have a problem with Border Agency staff who plan to strike the day before the Olympics begin. Instead of addressing their issues it looks like the Coalition will change Union laws to restrict the right to strike even further.
Discontent in the UK is high right now and says something when even farmers and disabled workers feel the need to strike. The disabled worker's strike has been instigated by government plans to close various Remploy Centres where some disabled people work.
Syria and the EU crisis continue to rumble on. In Syria a suicide bomber broke into the inner sanctum of President Assad killing at least four of his senior officials. Fighting on the streets of Damascus means the wolves are at the door of the President but he remains as entrenched as ever. When, as it surely must, the regime falls who will seize power? The rebels are an unknown quantity interspersed with foreign nationals who may not represent the Syrian people at all.
Spain is the latest European country to suffer at the hands of the EU and banking crisis. The people of Spain have taken to the streets this week to protest and things have turned nasty on more than one occasion. Police fired rubber bullets and the protests are far from over.
Most right minded people wonder just how much longer the fiasco that is the EU can continue.
As the week drew to a close Aurora, Denver, Colorado went on the World map. Its claim to fame was the mass shooting at a cinema by a lone gunman. As yet just why James Holmes went on a killing spree is not known. He killed at least 12 people and left 59 more injured. The tragedy becomes the worst in US history.
The madness has left many in the US reaffirming their right to bear arms. In fact many maintain that had others in the cinema been armed Holmes would have been stopped before he killed so many. It is hard to debate with blinkered hard line gun supporters. That does not mean they are right. It simply means that they are using excuses to justify the foolish laws which allowed a 24-year-old man to purchase 6,000 rounds of ammunition, two handguns, a shotgun and a semi-automatic rifle. All were legally purchased with the required checks taking place.
Now what in the world would a young man want with such an amount of ammunition and weaponry? How come no alarm bells sounded?
In the US the people will grieve for the dead, pontificate but change nothing. They see countries such as the UK, with relatively tight gun laws, as insane. We look across the Pond and view the US in much the same way. Different strokes for different folks.
There is no escaping the fact though that as long as citizens can buy huge amounts of ammunition and weapons as easily as buying an ice cream, tragedies such as Aurora will continue to happen.
Tags: Aurora, US gun laws, US politics, that was the week that was, UK Olympics, James Holmes
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