We were privileged to enjoy a week's vacation on the beautiful Balearic Island of Menorca. It provided welcome sunshine and more. We arrived back in the UK Friday May 18. It was cold, grey and miserable.The World however had been busy as ever with mainly negative issues. Of course positives rarely make headlines.
Austerity and economic crisis are key words currently but World leaders keep meeting to debate issues and waste money with each new conference. The week ended with the 38th G8 Summit held in Camp David, USA. The original venue was to be Chicago so why the change? A few ideas spring to mind such as to out fox protesters, protect those involved, give a more relaxed feel or appear to save money. Conferences such as the G8 summits though inevitably have a high cost both financially and as far as the environment goes.
Suffice to say whatever they decide will not help the ordinary man, woman and child but may offer a boost to corporations. High on the agenda was the Eurozone crisis which is proving difficult to resolve. A commitment was made to keep Greece within the Eurozone as long as that country sticks to its agreements. We recently reported on the Greek Island of Zante and the abuse of welfare payments by many. However this does not mean that such abuse is rife. It does however show that in common with most countries Greece must clean up its act. Greece staying in the Eurozone may be the right course of action for the other G8 countries but that does not mean it is the best move for Greece.
As the G8 summit drew to close President Obama said that all leaders had agreed jobs and growth was key to the future of Europe. Austerity does not encourage growth though. Cameron for the UK appears to have decided that the way forward for the UK is more austerity and sacrificing of worker's rights. His barely hidden agenda has at least been held back in part by the Liberal Democrat part of the UK Coalition government.
Other issues discussed were Iran, Afghanistan and global energy. As usual it will be token statements as far as environmental issues go. After all these G8 leaders carbon footprints leave a lot to be desired. The NATO alliance leaders are due to meet later today in Chicago to discuss Afghanistan further.
Proving that the American Dream still exists in some people's minds and reality Facebook floated on the stock market and made Mark Zuckerberg a very rich man. Whether Facebook will stand the test to time is hard to assess. MySpace was once hugely popular but its value nosedived. On the Internet there will always be the next big thing.
Francois Hollande, the new President of France, announced this week that French Forces will leave Afghanistan two years earlier than expected. Again it looks like UK Forces could be the last ones standing. According to Reuters "As we've said previously, British forces will not remain in a combat role in Afghanistan beyond 2014," the official said before the start of a NATO summit in Chicago on Sunday that will be dominated by Afghanistan.
Hollande paid a visit to Angela Merkel earlier this week which in light of this weekend's G8 summit seems pointless. However Merkel would want a private meeting and after all right now she pulls the strings.
In the UK the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations began although the official celebrations are two weeks away. Whilst we hate to harp on about money it has to be said. Austerity? We are all in this together? Give me a break!
Till next week, TTFN and congratulations to Chelsea, the new UEFA Champions.
Austerity and economic crisis are key words currently but World leaders keep meeting to debate issues and waste money with each new conference. The week ended with the 38th G8 Summit held in Camp David, USA. The original venue was to be Chicago so why the change? A few ideas spring to mind such as to out fox protesters, protect those involved, give a more relaxed feel or appear to save money. Conferences such as the G8 summits though inevitably have a high cost both financially and as far as the environment goes.
Suffice to say whatever they decide will not help the ordinary man, woman and child but may offer a boost to corporations. High on the agenda was the Eurozone crisis which is proving difficult to resolve. A commitment was made to keep Greece within the Eurozone as long as that country sticks to its agreements. We recently reported on the Greek Island of Zante and the abuse of welfare payments by many. However this does not mean that such abuse is rife. It does however show that in common with most countries Greece must clean up its act. Greece staying in the Eurozone may be the right course of action for the other G8 countries but that does not mean it is the best move for Greece.
As the G8 summit drew to close President Obama said that all leaders had agreed jobs and growth was key to the future of Europe. Austerity does not encourage growth though. Cameron for the UK appears to have decided that the way forward for the UK is more austerity and sacrificing of worker's rights. His barely hidden agenda has at least been held back in part by the Liberal Democrat part of the UK Coalition government.
Other issues discussed were Iran, Afghanistan and global energy. As usual it will be token statements as far as environmental issues go. After all these G8 leaders carbon footprints leave a lot to be desired. The NATO alliance leaders are due to meet later today in Chicago to discuss Afghanistan further.
Proving that the American Dream still exists in some people's minds and reality Facebook floated on the stock market and made Mark Zuckerberg a very rich man. Whether Facebook will stand the test to time is hard to assess. MySpace was once hugely popular but its value nosedived. On the Internet there will always be the next big thing.
Francois Hollande, the new President of France, announced this week that French Forces will leave Afghanistan two years earlier than expected. Again it looks like UK Forces could be the last ones standing. According to Reuters "As we've said previously, British forces will not remain in a combat role in Afghanistan beyond 2014," the official said before the start of a NATO summit in Chicago on Sunday that will be dominated by Afghanistan.
Hollande paid a visit to Angela Merkel earlier this week which in light of this weekend's G8 summit seems pointless. However Merkel would want a private meeting and after all right now she pulls the strings.
In the UK the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations began although the official celebrations are two weeks away. Whilst we hate to harp on about money it has to be said. Austerity? We are all in this together? Give me a break!
Till next week, TTFN and congratulations to Chelsea, the new UEFA Champions.
RSS Feed
