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mlansbury@despora.de
Mark Lansbury

End Private Healthcare Deaths: Invest in the NHS

BBC Panorama has revealed NHS patients have died following operations at private hospitals.

Over the past few years, the government has sent NHS patients to get operations in private hospitals, funded by taxpayers. Labour backs this policy.

The vast majority of private hospitals do not have intensive care units, meaning that if patients develop complications there, their lives are in danger.

Dear Wes Streeting and Victoria Atkins, stop putting NHS patients at risk. Instead of outsourcing operations to private hospitals, invest in the NHS so that it can treat all patients.

https://weownit.org.uk/act-now/end-private-healthcare-deaths-invest-nhs

#SaveOurNHS #Labour #Cronyism #LabourCronyism #OurNHS #deaths #privatisation #corruption #hospitals #ICU

End Private Healthcare Deaths: Invest in the NHS

BBC Panorama has revealed NHS patients have died following operations at private hospitals.

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mlansbury@despora.de
Mark Lansbury

Mass protests in Hungary over child sex abuse scandal

Tens of thousands of people protested in #Budapest on Feb. 16 over a #ChildSexAbuse scandal that has rocked the government of #Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor #Orban and caused a series of resignations.

The wave of discontent arose after it was revealed that President Katalin Novak, who resigned on Feb. 10, pardoned a man convicted of covering up widespread sex abuse at a government-run children's home.

As the backlash has grown, the scandal has expanded beyond the controversial pardon into direct criticism of Orban's government and associated cronyism and corruption.

https://kyivindependent.com/mass-protests-in-hungary-over-child-sex-abuse-scandal/

#Hungary #ChildAbuse #cronyism #corruption #protests

Mass protests in Hungary over child sex abuse scandal

The wave of discontent arose after it was revealed that President Katalin Novak, who resigned on Feb. 10, pardoned a man convicted of covering up widespread sex abuse at a government-run children's home.

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mlansbury@despora.de
Mark Lansbury

Pressure on Orban grows amid child sex abuse scandal

Hungarian opposition leaders gathered in front of the prime minister's office on Feb. 15, denouncing Orban's silence on the issue and saying it indicated deeper structural problems within Fidesz.

"Orban's regime has fallen into a moral and political crisis," said Andras Fekete-Gyor of the opposition Momentum party.

As the backlash has grown, the scandal has expanded beyond the controversial pardon into direct criticism of Orban's government and associated #cronyism and corruption.

Former Orban ally and Varga's ex-husband, Peter Magyar, released a widely viewed video on Facebook on Feb. 11 denouncing corruption in #Fidesz and across Hungary.

"It must be said now that this cannot go on," Magyar said, rhetorically questioning whether Hungarians think it is "normal" that "a few families own half the country."

https://kyivindependent.com/pressure-on-orban-grows-amid-child-sex-abuse-scandal/

#Hungary #Orban #ChildAbuse #scandal #ChildSexAbuse

Pressure on Orban grows amid child sex abuse scandal

The BBC and other outlets have characterized the ongoing scandal as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's "biggest challenge in 14 years of uninterrupted Fidesz rule."

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tpq1980@iviv.hu
T Q

Monopoly capitalism isn't free market capitalism, it's a failure of government to umpire free markets to prevent monopoly formation.

Free markets are the best system of resource management we have, but their major flaw is progressive consolidation of capital to the extent of monopolies, duopolies, triopolies etc.

Government corruption such as cronyism has led to the failure of government to umpire free markets which has led to the monopoly capitalism of today.

#capitalism #cronyism #monopolies #corruption #economics #capital #uk #government #freemarketcapitalism #freemarkets #corporatism #usa #eu #corporatocracy #wef #builderberg #davos #ygls #younggloballeaders #progressivecapialconsolidation #un #globalism #neoliberalism #elitism #usurpation #disenfranchisement

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tpq1980@iviv.hu
T Q

The big #problem with #British #politics is that it doesn't exist. #Read some #political #history and #philosophy and you'll soon realise there is a de facto one party state in the #UK.

#Conservatives = neoliberal-globalists.
#Labour = neoliberal-globalists.
#LibDems = neoliberal-globalists.
#Green = neoliberal-globalists.
#ScotsNats = neoliberal-globalists.

The only real choice is the #colour.

The Conservatives #conserve nothing, grow #government, permit mass #immigration, support #speech crime, support thought #crime, increase #regulations, support "#multiculturalism", support "LGBTQIA+", hate #autochthonous British people, borrow #money at interest, print #currency, support #globalism, support foreign #wars, support net zero, support offshoring #industry, take part in #cronyism, don't support free market #capitalism, want to give illegal #migrants #amnesty, support the #corrupt #Ukraine puppet government, supported illegal #lockdowns, supported illegal #medical #mandates, supported #unscientific mask wearing, support illegal on-the-spot #fines, support #biometricID, support ignoring #paedophilia, support ignoring crime #statistics regarding #race, support the World Economic Forum, support #agenda2030, support "the great reset", support low #birthrates, support #miscegenation and support #depopulation.

Labour support everything the so-called Conservatives do and they don't support the #working classes and in-fact appear to hate the autochthonous British working classes and consider them, in the words of Jack Staw, a people "not worth saving."

Lib Dems are neither #Liberal, in the classical sense, or #Democratic. They wanted to overturn the #EU #referendum and reject the Democratic #vote on membership and they're #neoliberals, which is a philosophy that includes attacks on classical Liberal concepts like free speech, free thought and free inquiry. They also support everything the so-called Conservatives and Labour party do.

#Greens support the the reduction of #CO2 from the current 400ppm to zero, which will kill all life on #Earth as it will prevent #photosynthesis occurring, therefore preventing #plants growing and eliminating them as a food for #humans, #insects and #animals, destroying the food chain and the Earth's #biosphere. They don't understand how the #climate or biosphere works and are ostensibly useful idiots for plutocratic #elites and big #corporations. They also support everything the so-called Conservatives, Labour party and Lib Dems do.

The #SNP wants to take #Scotland out of the UK union and give the Scots "#independence" by signing them up to EU union. Essentially all this does is transfer dependency from #London to #Brussels and exchanges the #English for the Franco-Germans. Scotland will be no more independent and in some ways even more dependant. The SNP also support everything the other neoliberal-globalist parties do too.

In short, there is no political #choice beyond colour because there is no meaningful differentiation between political philosophies, or outcomes of voting. Whatever party you vote for, you get the same policies, the same lies, the same #corruption, the same #cronyism, the same #sophistry, the same national trajectory, the same everything, only with some minor and ostensibly superficial differences in packaging and delivery.

British politics is a total #farce that doesn't even engage in any recognisable political #debate because other than faux ad hominems, jeering and lip-service to non-existent political #principles there's nothing to debate, because they all agree...

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tpq1980@iviv.hu
T Q

Paul Pelosi is yet another example of the two-tier American justice system.

Whilst his wife ensures the January 6th trespassers remain in jail and are denied their USC Article 1, Section 9, Clause 2 and USBoR Article 8 rights, Paul Pelosi, a man worth in excess of $130 million as a result of his wife's insider trading, walks away from jail for a serious crime with $5,000 bail.

#paulpelosi #nancypelosi #pelosi #insidertrading #dui #drunkdriver #drunkdriving #drunkdrivingkills #twotieredjustice #twotierjustice #departmentofjustice #doj #USA #crime #crimeandpunishment #impartiality #impartialjustice #justicesystem #january6th #j6 #washingtondc #dcswamp #memes #corruption #cronyism #power #abuseofpower #privilege #meme

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tpq1980@iviv.hu
T Q

Do Americans know there's a department in the #Federal #government called the "Office of Financial Institutions" and part of its role is to "...formulate policy on financial institutions and government-sponsored enterprises..."

Do Americans know their Federal government spends their #taxes on "government-sponsored enterprises"? What #enterprises does the Federal government sponsor and how much of American's taxes are spent on this?

https://home.treasury.gov/about/offices/domestic-finance/financial-institutions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Financial_Institutions

#federalgovernment #socialism #usa #usgovernment #treasurydepartment #treasury #cronyism #tax #collusion #fascism #biggovernment #biggov #redistribution #nationaldebt #debt #usfederalgovernment

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mlansbury@despora.de
Mark Lansbury

New, dangerous virus discovered

https://twitter.com/theonlypeterkay/status/1403290266421895170

#Cronyism #ToryCronyism #CORRUPTION #ToryQuietCoup #BorisTheLiar #BorisTheButcher #satire #humour #ToryCorruption #CorruptToriesOut

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goodlawproject@despora.de
Good Law Project

https://twitter.com/GoodLawProject/status/1400385628127252488?s=20

Cronyism & Awarding of PPE & Covid-19 Contracts Worth Hundreds of Millions of £

#Cronyism #ToryCronyism #PPE #Lobbying #profits #pandemic #BorisJohnson

goodlawproject@despora.de
Good Law Project

PPE Scandal: Next Week’s Hearing in the United Kingdom

On Tuesday, our legal challenge to the PPE procurement scandal will be heard in the High Court. It’s the first day of a mammoth five day hearing. 

It is the culmination of months of work building our case and we have had to fight Government at every stage to get to this point:

  • When they estimated an eye-watering costs bill that could have prevented us taking the case forward, we went to court and successfully secured a cap on costs.
  • When they refused to disclose information that could prove crucial to the case, we again went before a Judge to argue the evidence should be provided. The Judge agreed.

Going up against the significant resources of Government to expose this scandal has only been possible thanks to ordinary people chipping in to our legal challenge. If you are in a position to do so, you can donate using this link.

Good Law Project first started looking into Government procurement all the way back in May last year when we spotted a small news report that a pest control company had been handed an enormous PPE contract. As we started to pull at the thread of this unusual contract award, the whole scandal began to unravel. 

Over the last year through the course of this litigation, we have uncovered an opaque ‘VIP Lane’, where politically-connected companies were fast-tracked for lucrative deals and revealed that millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money were spent on PPE that couldn’t be used for its intended purposes.
 
There will no doubt be more shocking revelations in court next week about how Government went about awarding hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers money. We will update you as soon as we can.

Thank you,

Jo Maugham 

Director of Good Law Project
https://GoodLawProject.org

Only with your support can we continue to hold the Government to account. If you are in a position to do so, you can make a donation here.

#VIPlane #BorisJohnson #UK #pandemic #HighCourt #UnitedKingdom #cronyism #Tories #PPE #scandal #FastTrack #Profiteers #Tory #litigation #transparency #Covid19 #profits #GovernmentContracts #Conservatives

Why was £108m of public money paid to Crisp Websites Limited?

EveryDoctor works for a future where every patient and every doctor is safe. Good Law Project is a not for profit that uses strategic litigation for a better world.

goodlawproject@despora.de
Good Law Project

It never stops.

Good Law Project has uncovered remarkable evidence that a Tory Minister brought a former Chair of the Tory Party, a man who now runs a lobbying firm, into the heart of Government to work on the massive multi-billion PPE procurement process. Having got his feet under the table that former Chair lobbied to win PPE contracts for at least one, and possibly a number, of clients of his lobbying firm.

The Tory Minister is Lord Bethell. The former Tory Party Chair is Lord Feldman - once described as David Cameron’s oldest and best friend - and he worked for Bethell from 23 March to 15 May 2020. And his huge lobbying firm is Tulchan, whose client list includes Bunzl Healthcare. 

Bunzl was given a £22.6m PPE contract by the Department for Health without any competition in April 2020, smack bang in the middle of the period Feldman was working with Bethell. And we have also learned, from Government’s own documents, that: 

  • Feldman was involved in the award of this contract.
    • Bunzl had been removed from the Department for Health’s ‘approved suppliers list’ - and Feldman got them back on.
    • An email from Feldman to Bunzl on 22 March 2020 states that he was acting as “an unpaid advisor to Matthew Hancock at the department of health...but that there have been some historic issues which mean that you have been removed from the approved suppliers list. I would like to remedy that as soon as possible”.
       
  • On the same day, he emailed Bunzl, copying in Andrew Wood whom he describes as “the person leading the accelerated procurement process in Cabinet Office” and said “I have spoken to him [Andy Wood] about Bunzl and the opportunity for you to supply the UK Government with equipment. He will be in touch”.
     
  • And then, several days later, when Bunzl thought the deal was not progressing quickly enough, it asked Feldman to intervene - which he did. On 25 March Feldman wrote directly to the line manager of the official dealing with Bunzl, encouraging him to expedite the contract award process: “We need to move quickly”. 

We fear these revelations just scratch the surface. We have seen Lord Feldman’s ‘Declarations of interest form’ and it contains a list of his other conflicts of interest. But Government has concealed these other names:

> “some of our clients [Tulchan Communication LLP], as well as many other companies are offering assistance to the government during the covid-19 crisis. This includes [REDACTED], Bunzl, [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED]”.

Despite requests from our lawyers Government is refusing to confirm which other companies linked to Cameron’s oldest friend and his lobbying firm Tulchan Communications were introduced to Government and/or won public contracts. 

We have now launched formal Judicial Review proceedings. If you would like to help us challenge this extraordinary abuse of power - you can do so here. 

We are publishing the Judicial Review Bundle we’ve submitted to the Court. Our amended Statement of Facts and Grounds and my Witness Statement are well worth a read.

Thank you, 

Jo Maugham QC

Director of Good Law Project
https://goodlawproject.org

Good Law Project is able to carry out its work thanks to donations from thousands of people. If you are in a position to do so, you can make a donation here.

#Tulchan #BorisJohnson #AndrewWood #contracts #UK #ToryMinister #UnitedKingdom #PPE #Covid19UK #ToryPartyChair #lobbying #corporations #pandemic #LordBethell #BunzlHealthcare #Bethell #JudicialReview #LordFeldman #cronyism #Benzl

mr_a@diasp.org
mr_Anderson

Calvin and Hobbes: Lemonade Stand Economics

http://pecuniarities.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/calvineconomics.jpg

How would Calvin's lemonade stand fare differently in a theoretical free capitalist society versus the government-dominated capitalist society we have today? Before we begin, it's important to keep in mind that Calvin's motivations and justifications for his actions are his own and ultimately irrelevant for us. We may view his expectations for personal gain and employee compensation as absurd, but what actually matters is the product and price presented to the consumer. It is the consumer's action or inability to act, as well as Calvin's success in limiting competition, that are the primary differences between the two systems.

In a free society, Calvin would suffer operating loss and, without restructuring, eventually choose or be forced to liquidate (such as when the owner's capital runs out or losses become intolerable). His productive "assets" (pitcher, cups, lemons, other supplies) and "real estate" (the box and location for the box) would be sold off to be employed in other production lines or to new or existing lemonade firms. Calvin's more successful competitors would have both better anticipated customer desires and arranged the means of production in way that better satisfies that actual demand. Thus, they use cleaner water, juice squeezed from the lemon, and potentially added sugar. They would also seek a reduction in human capital expense compared to Calvin's enterprise and charge a lower final price to their customers. In a free society, consumers have the ultimate power: They can both choose not to purchase from firms whose products they find unsatisfactory and not be taxed to support these same businesses indirectly.

In today's society, by contrast, Calvin could employ various political means to delay bankruptcy and harm competition. He could seek "lemonade licensing" for every stand in his area--say a $25 training course and $50 licensing fee--as a way to increase entry costs for potential competitors (or bar them entirely if the licenses are limited in quantity). If he is able to influence the language of the licensing he could require some attribute that his business already possesses but others would find difficult to acquire. If there is bureaucratic delay in the processing of new license applications then that will also benefit Calvin by increasing the time needed for launching a new stand (potentially causing them to miss out on the summer season or other time-sensitive factor).

Besides licensing, Calvin could encourage (or not oppose) the creation of employee workplace and benefit regulations that would also increase the barriers to entry for new competitors and, if structured correctly to appeal to his specific business, potentially increase compliance costs for existing competitors.

Another form of political interference we see today is protectionism. If Calvin sold bottled lemonade, he could seek to ban or apply tariffs to imports of lemonade from outside an arbitrarily defined geographical region. If some of his competitors were using lemons grown outside this region but his was sourced more locally, he could seek similar restrictions on lemon importation for the same effect. Calvin could also lobby for a local or state government subsidy--such as a tax break--for his own business, possibly by threatening to relocate to another area. He could seek subsidies or favorable regulation for his own lemon growers versus "foreign" lemon growers for a similar effect.

Finally, though not exhaustively, Calvin could seek a direct bailout (possibly disguised as a "temporary loan") from a government (or his mom in this case). This is essentially a reallocation of scarce capital from private owners (through taxation) to a failing business merely due to political connection. Calvin's customers have already spoken--they don't want his product at those prices, but they'll be forced to pay him anyway, indirectly, through taxation. Not only are their resources taken to prop up a failing business (that may only delay final bankruptcy) but the capital Calvin is already employing (such as the pitcher and the box) will continue to be tied up in this failing enterprise and not released for purchase and use by other entrepreneurs in the production of some other goods that consumers actually want! Two ways, then, is the individual harmed by every bailout and subsidy, unless they have a self-interest in the particular firms being supported.

For more on these issues see the short video, Is Capitalism "Pro-Business?", by the LearnLiberty project.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjh7mXPfMKs

#economics #greed #comics #money #liberty #cronyism #capitalism #calvinandhobbes #bailouts