΄σΟσ΄«Γ½

What I liked most was what you added on at the website :

You said you wanted to carry the protestors messages to the world:
Do that myte, that’s why the ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ gets respect , cause you get the word out :
Now this is what I have to say !
Just thought I'd Comment on what is happening in Bahrain.

I think , the world has hit the crossroads, the undercurrents that forced the fall of the berlin wall
20 years ago, have now developed into tidal swells around the world. β€œI guess the end of the world as we know it is on the cards –in 2012”,

To say that we as Royals are jittery is wrong , We were destined to protect our
People and give them a better life – and we do believe that – Today we stand at
These cross roads because those very objectives have been fulfilled as rulers. Our people though still need to be protected.
We will weigh the response to their quest for a demise of the police state ! Today the
Entire world has adopted procedures which would liken them to a police State and yet
Their societies freely accept it as a necessary evil !

U'd like to share a different perspective on the revolts occurring in the Middle East and Northern Africa.
Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke launched a second round of Quantitative Easing (QE2) in October, 2010. I thought Q2 would do nothing as an economic stimulus. It would not create inflation; it would not reduce unemployment. It would do NOTHING.
I was wrong.
QE2 - The US Federal Reserve injected $600B US dollars into the financial system by repurchasing an equivalent amount of US Government bonds. The money is paid to the former bondholder; the former bondholder than deposits the cash in banks.
Banks take deposit dollars and leverage them by up to 10 times, creating $3.6 to $6 TRILLION IN CREDIT. The GDP of the US economy is only about $14 trillion annually; so how on earth is it, was it possible to purchase about 40% of the entire American economy.
Reality: The money filters into the stock and commodity markets. The theory is that the financial assets will rise on the huge inflows of QE cash. Investors feel wealthier and go tripping to the malls.
Here's the problem: QE2 money quickly escalated commodity food prices and it did so around the world. This price rise is barely noticeable to Americans because Americans spend @ 10% of their personal income on food for three meals a day. The impact of commodoity (food) inflation has devastated that part of the world that spends approximately 50% of personal income on food for one or two meals a day.
QE2 reduced the amount of food poor people can purchase by almost 1/3.
The revolutionary activity in Tunisia, Yemen, Egypt, etc. are about grassroots economic hardship.
What do believe Americans would do IF they were forced to cut back - not just on spending - but on eating from 3 meals/day to 1 meal/day? Might they riot?
People thus threatened hoard, steal food. This exacerbates food shortages. It drives prices even higher and makes people not care as much about the dangers of revolution because they are starving anyway.
Back to the United States, unemployment was slowly declining and inflation was flat BEFORE the Fed’s new stimulus. These trends remain in place as QE2 has not reduced unemployment, has not created fulltime jobs, has in fact done nothing except raise commodity prices worldwide. The only success of QE2 in US is a 20% increase in the stock market the last six months, and how do you suppose that happened?
QE2 over-leveraging of worldwide commodity food prices has sent the Middle East and Northern Africa into desperation. With the price of a barrel of oil hitting $100 dollars and food prices accelerating, what country will be next?
Might Wisconsin's trouble bode that the rooster is coming home to roost?

The role of the media is under particular scrutiny across the Middle East - wary of "independent" reporting. Something is happening across the Middle East; yet, in the absence of verification (up close and personal) the Media can tell us just about anything.
What is happening would seem to be a People Power Movement, following years of corruption, or maybe that's just what I think is happening. Probably, like always, the truth lies somewhere in the fine print. e.g. the Libyan story, alleged massacre of protesters in Benghazi, but where is news about the massive rally in Al-Jufra IN FAVOR OF Colonel Muamar Al-Gaddafi?
The unrest has much to do with the media from a different perspective. When people have access to information, comparison is possible. People can compare their living standard against the western living standard. When the comparison doesn't measure up, whose fault is it - despots, dictators, bad government?
The foreign policy of Israel, its treatment of Palestinians is repulsive, but this is not a central topic of the rage on the Arab streets. The keywords are jobs, poverty, housing, food, and corruption.
Conclusions that maybe can be drawn:
1. Mass communication systems have kept people informed - someway, somehow...
2. The wealth by the ruling elites, the corruption and the selfish governance are unjustifiable.
3. The heavy-handed way in which the security forces have been used demonstrates a terrible distancing from common humanity.
4. We are dealing with diverse social and political cultures; these countries, these peoples are not particularly alike.
e.g. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's social and welfare programmes in Libya are far greater than those implemented in neighbouring countries.
5. Also re Libya, modern infrastructures have sprung up in recent years which aim to attract investment and bring added wealth and sustainable development to the citizens of Libya; Gaddafi's literacy programme has seen universal education become reality. Since he took power in 1969, the life expectancy of Libyan citizens has risen by twenty years while infant mortality has decreased sharply.
Gaddafi represents the control of Libya's resources by Libyans and for Libyans; literacy reaches 90%. Women, today, have rights and can go to school and get a job. The standard of living is around 100 times greater than it was under the rule of King Idris I.
Whether that is enough for the Libyan people, I don't know, but Gaddafi seems misplaced among tyrants like Mubarak. What is the real level of unrest in Benghazi, and for what reasons? Who are the protesters? What motivates them? One thing is certain: We are being sold a bill of goods where Libya is concerned. The media has never liked Gaddafi, and when you examine the prpgress of Libya, you have to wonder why.

Important as the events in the Middle East are with the planned changes and cuts in the WS - both programmes and broadcast frequencies - it's going to become increasingly difficult, if not neigh on impossible, for us, the listeners, to be informed and keep up with what's happening there and anywhere else in the future.

This week Jim Egan, the ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Director of Strategy and Distribution, explained why broadcasting over the ether (SW, MW, etc) is no longer relevant, this despite numerous listeners expressing the opposite. What do you do if the internet is blocked or you have no access? You can't listen online when you're out and about, in the car or going from room to room, all of which you can do with a portable. Listen on your mobile he says. Fine, except does everyone have a smart phone? No. And what about the charges? You have to pay for using your mobile. I've just come back from Berlin which would have meant global roaming costs.

What he didn't mention was DRM. The WS do use it, albeit fairly limited. Maybe this could provide an alternative to ether broadcasts? If the WS is moving to primarily broadcasting online what is the point of having regional schedules? Online is one, global, schedule and even when WS is retransmitted by another broadcaster it doesn't mean the regional schedule is used - here in Amsterdam it's the global schedule on the cable.

No explanation either on the axing of programmes such as Politics UK, Europe Today and World of Music. It can't really be cost saving can it? Production costs of these programmes is surely pretty low or are there plans to make the presenters and staff redundant? But then again if we can't listen to the WS what does it matter. No doubt someone will point to further falls in listening figures and propose further cuts. It's Catch22. It's not going to be so easy to win listeners back if plans are reversed. And will 648MW still be available or will have been taken over by another broadcaster?

I am sad at the cutting of World of music. This programme has been going on for 30 years and the decision to cut it does not make sense. The value of the programme far exceeds the cost of producing the show itself.

I have learnt so much from the programme and all its presenters (Mark coles, the late Charlie Gillett, Andy Kearshaw, and others)

It is a very regrettable decision and it is dad that good quality programmes and cultural content is being slashed over the altar of cost cutting.

It is sad for listeners around the world. I do hope that the future may hold better prospects.