Monthly Archives: September 2017

Government, North Korea, Politics, Society, United Nations, United States

UN General Assembly – Trump: I’ll destroy North Korea and its Rocket Man

UNITED NATIONS

President Donald Trump delivers tough-talking at the UN General Assembly. Mr Trump gave warnings on North Korea, the Iran nuclear deal, Venezuela and on Socialism.

IN a blistering address to the UN General Assembly in New York earlier this week, Donald Trump vowed to “totally destroy” North Korea if it targets the United States or its allies with nuclear weapons. The US President labelled North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un a “Rocket Man on a suicide mission”.

Mr Trump accused the “depraved” regime in Pyongyang of starving millions of its own people to fund its nuclear programme, and of torturing and killing “countless others” in its efforts to retain power.

Kim has shocked the world with a series of nuclear and ballistic missile tests in recent months and has vowed he will not rest until he has a nuclear arsenal to rival America’s.

Mr Trump vowed merciless reprisals if North Korea acts on its threats.

“No nation on Earth has an interest in seeing this band of criminals arm itself with nuclear weapons and missiles,” he said. “The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”

The uncompromising language at the world’s leading diplomatic forum will dismay those hoping to avoid war on the Korean peninsula.

Downing Street has said the Government remains committed to finding a “peaceful resolution” to the crisis.

A spokesperson for Number 10 described Pyongyang’s recent actions as “provocative and destabilising”, but added: “No-one wants to see military action, but as we progress with efforts to secure a peaceful diplomatic resolution it would be wrong to rule anything out.”

In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Trump also took aim at a string of other countries on collision course with the US, including Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.

And he issued a veiled warning to China and Russia over their expansionist ambitions and their willingness to trade with North Korea.

The President savaged the Iran nuclear deal signed by his predecessor Barack Obama – and suggested the US could pull out of it.

The deal lifts sanctions against the Tehran regime in return for assurances it will drop its dream of building a nuclear bomb.

Mr Trump described the Iranian regime as a “corrupt dictatorship… which has turned a wealthy country, with a rich history and culture, into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed and chaos”.

He added: “The Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into. Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it. Believe me.”

Israel welcomed the intervention, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying he had “never heard a bolder or more courageous speech” at the UN. But veteran Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein said: “The goals of the United Nations are to foster peace and promote global co-operation.

“Today, the President used it as a stage to threaten war.”

“He aims to unify the world through tactics of intimidation, but in reality he only further isolates the United States.”

In an ominous warning, Mr Trump also warned the US “cannot stand by and watch” while the socialist regime in Venezuela “destroys a prosperous regime”.

Rounding on dictator Nicolas Maduro, he said: “The situation is completely unacceptable.”

He added: “The problem in Venezuela is not that socialism has been poorly implemented, but that socialism has been faithfully implemented. From the Soviet Union to Cuba to Venezuela, wherever true socialism or communism has been adopted, it has delivered anguish and devastation and failure.

“Those who preach the tenets of these discredited ideologies only contribute to the continued suffering of the people who live under these cruel systems.”

Mr Trump also issued a warning to world leaders on the need to tighten borders to stem the flow of migrants around the world. He said mass migration was “deeply unfair to both the sending and the receiving countries”.

And he warned that “substantial costs of uncontrolled migration” were “borne overwhelmingly by low-income citizens whose concerns are often ignored by both media and government”.

Mr Trump said he would not back away from his “America First” agenda – and urged other nations to follow suit.

“As President of the United States, I will always put America first,” he said. “Just like you, as the leaders of your countries, will always and should always put your countries first.”

Mr Trump also served notice on the UN that, like NATO, it could not expect the US to continue to pay an “unfair burden” towards its running costs.

The packed General Assembly hall greeted Mr Trump’s tough rhetoric with periods of silence punctuated by polite applause during his 42-minute speech.

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Britain, Government, Legal, Politics, Society

Trolls could be stripped of the right to vote

ELECTION LAW

SOCIAL media trolls who abuse MPs could be stripped of their right to vote.

The Electoral Commission, the elections watchdog, said existing legislation on elections, which in part dates back to the 1800s, should be reviewed to bring laws up to date.

It suggested punishments for existing electoral offences, such as losing elected office or being disqualified from being registered as an elector, could also be used for those who abused MPs and candidates online.

“It may be that similar special electoral consequences could act as a deterrent,” the commission said.

A reform of electoral legislation would help in “clarifying and strengthening” existing offences and identifying any gaps in the law, the commission said in evidence to the Committee on Standards in Public Life, which is investigating the intimidation faced by parliamentary candidates.

The commission also recommended updating electoral law to take proper account of social media posts, so people could see who is responsible for material placed online.

Tom Hawthorn, head of policy at the Electoral Commission, said: “Our strong tradition of free elections are an essential part of a healthy democracy, and people should be able to stand for election and campaign without fear or abuse or intimidation.

“However, many offences in electoral law have not been reviewed or updated since they were first created in the 19th century.”

A Downing Street spokesman said Theresa May viewed the abuse and intimidation of candidates during the election as “unacceptable”, adding: “I think what she should say is that there is a clear difference between legitimate scrutiny and conduct that is fuelled by hate and personal abuse.”

COMMENT 

This is a good step forward by the Government in dealing with internet trolls who are clearly a menace to society. In addition, this writer would like to see additional measures to be considered by the UK Government in dealing with many of these social outcasts who appear to have nothing better to do all day. Other measures to be considered should include the sanctioning of benefits against those internet trolls who encroach or border on the criminality. Internet Service Providers (ISPs), too, should be made liable in banning such individuals from the internet. These measures, and those already announced by the Government, would go some way in removing this unwanted scourge from society.

Vile, rancid and spleen-venting abuse has no part to play in any society that wishes to preserve its freedoms, not jarred by thuggish morons intent on causing misery for others. We need legislation to reflect not only the protection of MPs and parliamentary candidates – who, it has to be said, have suffered the most appalling of abuses – but all citizens of this country wishing to make their voice heard.

In an opposing view:

“There are already perfectly adequate laws. It is an offence to incite violence, to act in a way that puts anyone in a state of fear and alarm, to make a breach of the peace or to indulge in racist, sexist and homophobic abuse.

“It may also be rather more difficult to draft effective new legislation than you might think. Words such as ‘trolling’ and ‘online abuse’ are dangerously nebulous, especially in the context of our long British tradition of cheerfully pillorying those in power. And there is no such thing as a right, in law, not to be offended.” [John MacLeod, Scottish journalist – September 21, 2017]

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Government, Health, Medical, Society

Antibiotic crisis is now a global emergency

WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION

THE world is running out of effective antibiotics, health leaders have warned.

The problem is now a global emergency, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

The growing resistance to drugs that fight infections could “seriously jeopardise” progress made in modern medicine, the WHO said. The remarks come after a WHO report found a serious lack of drugs in development that can overcome antibiotic resistance.

Health experts have already warned that resistance to antimicrobial drugs could cause a bigger threat to mankind than cancer. In recent years, there has been a UK drive to raise global awareness of the threat.

If antibiotics lose their effectiveness, then key medical procedures – including gut surgery, caesarean sections, joint replacements and chemotherapy – could become too dangerous to perform because of the increased infection risk.

Around 700,000 people around the world die each year because of drug-resistant infections including strains of tuberculosis, HIV and malaria. If no action is taken, it has been estimated that drug-resistant infections will kill 10million people a year by 2050.

 

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