Sid had a valid point to make about British MPs being kept in the dark over TTIP, even more so when you consider that David Cameron would take the UK out of the EU over the principle of pooling sovereignty with Brussels that was confirmed in the 1975 referendum yet would allow the TTIP trade courts to go ahead with barely a murmur. These trade courts would represent a loss not only of national sovereignty but also of EU sovereignty. David Cameron as the UK Government’s representative on the EU Council of Ministers should be making this all explicitly clear not only to UK MPs in the Westminster Parliament but should be explaining this fully to the UK electorate. He has failed to do so and thereby leaves himself open to accusations of double standards. How can he present himself with credibility to the UK public as being critical of the Brussels decision making process on the one hand yet allow these trade courts to go ahead on the other?
A bit patronising to give Sid a suggested reading list.
As for ‘…..the Russian propaganda machine, a relic of failure.’
What?
If you want to see real propaganda in action, just go to the BBC. There’s a real relic of failure that the law requires us to support through the licence fee if we wish to avoid having a criminal record.
Everytime the BBC refers to the war in the two former eastern Ukrainian provinces of Lugansk and Donetz, it is always with the propaganda tag of ‘pro-Russian rebels’. The BBC never refers to the fact that the majority of the population in the two provinces voted to separate themselves from the rest of Ukraine following the western sponsored coup d’etat and that they are seeking their own self-determination.
Everytime the BBC refers to Crimea, it is always with the propaganda tag that Russia annexed Crimea and never with reference to the fact that the majority of the population voted to ask to join the Russian Federation.
And as for suggesting that the Guardian is a quality media channel, that is a matter of opinion. Just to give one example of poor quality unbalanced coverage there, the current article about refinancing Greece’s loans fails to mention (as most media channels fail to mention) that Germany is making a substantive profit out of the money that it borrowed on the international money markets to lend to Greece by charging Greece a much higher rate of interest than it is paying itself for the money. And who but an idiot would think that if Greece defaulted on its debts and left the Euro that in 12 months everything would be fine and that Greece would be booming again? If you default on your debts, people will not lend to you again. Greece would not be able to borrow on the international money markets again and it would be in deep trouble 12 months out from now.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...y-out-eurozone
RT / Russia Today has a niche role in raising issues which mainstream western media ignore. You can take it at face value or discount the Russian perspective, whichever you choose, but for people who like to make up their own minds it does at least prompt them to ask the right questions.