A British man wanted in South Africa in connection with the murder of his Swedish wife, who was killed while the couple was on their honeymoon, has suffered a relapse in mental health problems, a court heard on Wednesday. … Read More
California to confiscate guns from 20,000 people who own them illegally
Governor signs law to allow agents to seize guns from 20,000 Californians who have been disqualified from owning them California plans to confiscate guns from 20,000 people who bought them legally but have since been disqualified because of criminal or psychiatric problems, boosting the…
Mediterranean diet found to reduce risk of dementia
A Mediterranean-style diet packed with fish, chicken and olive oil and low on fatty dairy products and meat may lower the risk of memory problems later in life, a large US study said on Monday. But the beneficial effects of eating a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids do not extend to people with…
Austerity policies make people suicidal
The number of suicide cases, those registering with depression and various infections has significantly grown over past few years, the Telegraph reports, citing political economist David Stuckler from Oxford University and professor of medicine Sanjay Basu from Stanford University. The couple have written a book on the influence of economic problems on people’s health, which is due to be published next week. According to the academics, the rate of the Aids-causing HIV virus increased by 200% in Greece as the health system was severely affected by the implemented financial cuts. Enormous figures of youth unemployment prompted drug abuse cases to increase, which only boosted the spread of the virus.In the UK 10,000 families have been pushed to the edge of poverty and homelessness by the austerity budget. And in the United States as many as five million people have been cut off from the healthcare system since the recession, because they simply can’t afford it. … Read More
Online education is mostly a fantasy
If you listen to the advocates of online learning, MOOCs and Internet-based courses will cure all of our education problems. Just hand out some Android tablets, stream some courses in Python, and sit back and watch as everyone magically becomes a highly productive… ;
‘Dinosaurs of financial services’: UK banks accused of irresponsible lending
“Banks risk becoming the dinosaurs of financial services, outstripped by new lenders who are quick to meet the demand for immediate credit,” Citizens Advice Chief Executive Gillian Guy has warned.She says in the past four years, the number of debt problems taken to the bureaux involving payday lenders has grown tenfold, as some of the UK’s poorest were left “at the mercy of predatory payday lenders.”Evidence gathered by Citizens Advice service has revealed a range of problems with the current payday loans industry, including excessive interest rates and charges, lack of clarity on how much the loan will actually cost, rolling over loans without permission, pressure to take out more loans as well as irresponsible lending of loans to people who can’t afford to pay them back.During 2010 and 2011, the charity – which helps resolve legal and financial difficulties – advised clients on some 2.2 million debt problems.Citizens Advice maintains that banks should take the responsibility for the growth of the payday loan market and come up with an alternative by offering a low-interest solution to those who need short-term credit.In March of this year, the 50 leading payday lenders, which account for 90 percent of the UK’s payday loans market, were given 12 weeks to change their business practices after the Office of Fair Trading uncovered evidence of“widespread irresponsible lending and failure to comply with the standards required.” The lenders failed to conduct adequate assessments of affordability before lending, to explain adequately how payments will be collected, used aggressive debt collection practices and were not allowing borrowers in financial difficulty to go into forbearance.The 50 leading lenders must now take rapid action to must demonstrate they are fully compliant, or risk losing their licenses to operate in the £2 billion industry.According to the OFT, irresponsible lending may have its roots in the nature of competition. Lenders were found to compete by emphasizing the speed and easy access to loans, rather than the price. When borrowers are granted loans they cannot afford to repay, payday lenders’ revenues become heavily reliant on those customers.Despite payday loans being described as one-off short term loans, costing an average of £25 per £100 for 30 days, up to half of payday lenders’ revenue comes from loans that last longer and cost more that are rolled over or refinanced, the OFT has found.“We have found fundamental problems with the way the payday market works and widespread breaches of the law and regulations, causing misery and hardship for many borrowers,” OFT Chief Executive Clive Maxwell said.One-third of UK residents only have enough money to pay rent one month at a time. A recent YouGov poll has found that up to 35 percent of poll respondents, 8.6 million Britons, would be unable to pay rent from savings. The study, which was published earlier this month, polled 2,000 UK residents. If these statistics are extrapolated to the entire UK population, 3.9 million British families could be just one paycheck away from losing their family home.Britain’s economy re-entered recession in 2012, its first double-dip recession since 1975, and has been much slower to recover from the global financial crisis than most large economies, such as the US, Canada and Germany. UK unemployment rose to 2.56 million in April, the Office for National Statistics said. Some 70,000 lost their jobs and ‘went on the dole’ between December and February 2013. … Read More
Still believe western media is objective?
Before starting the interview process with them I assumed there would be some lies or overuse of the word “Kremlin” (13 times in an article just over 2 pages long) but the editors have taken it over the line and flown head strong into mainstream media bizarro land, so I feel I should have the chance to defend myself. So let’s look at the seemingly conscious spin in action.In fact even the title is suspect, I was told through a Facebook message that the title of the article would be “Moscow Radio’s Tim Kirby Says the American Dream Is Better Found in Russia” which sounds a bit universalist (I personally found the American Dream here, not everyone will) but not too bad. However, later on appeared this rather “fair and unbiased” analysis of my positions. “The American Who Tells Russia How Bad Things Are in America”. Why not something like “The American who tells Russians that the media lies to them and America has many massive problems just like Russia does”? But I guess that’s too wordy.Moving on from there…“Mr. Kirby got his own talk show on the state-controlled Radio Mayak, a station founded by the Soviet Communist Party to counterbalance Western influence. For an hour on Sundays he invited guests to talk politics. Some of his guests were Russian ideologues who praise Stalin as an effective manager who forged Russia into a superpower.”This statement has more passive-aggressive hinting than a storm of teenage-girl rage over Facebook! Impressive! Going beyond the stupid tactic of associating me with the Soviet Communist Party I believe the reporter said this in reference to early guests on the program; author Nikolay Starikov and political activist Sergei Kurginyan. Neither of these people were invited to come on the show to discuss Stalin. In fact the ONLY episode regarding Stalin was a discussion of the Stalinobuses (Public transport that has Stalin’s face around Victory Day in Volgograd). This episode was a discussion of whether Stalin should appear on public buses it was not a pro-Stalin infomercial.My opinion then on the air and now is that you shouldn’t edit history, Stalin is a part of WWII end of story, deleting/editing things you dislike from history like the Trail of Tears or Slavery for Americans is unacceptable, I certainly don’t support Texas removing Thomas Jefferson from American history books. Now in general should Stalin be glorified on buses or should Volgograd become Stalingrad again (which has been thrown around as an idea, a recent compromise position renames the city to Stalingrad for one week per year) is a decision for the residents of the city.Although it is hard to remember, Mr. Starikov probably did mention Stalin’s economic policies as it relates to currency (during Stalin’s time there was actually slow but steady deflation and the government printed the money not like the private Central Bank of Russia does today) because he was invited to discuss his book “Nationalizing the Rouble”. Starikov does have a pro-Stalin stance but that is because in his book “Stalin: Remembering him together” he presents a lot of documentation and historical evidence that directly contradicts the standard cannon view of Stalin especially in the West.“Tim Kirby, an expatriate from the suburbs of Cleveland, who says he wants Russian citizenship and says Joseph Stalin was a better leader than he has been portrayed in history books.”This is another lovely half-truth. I said that I don’t have an official position on Stalin because there is so much contradictory evidence about him, the more I study him the more confused I get. I told the reporter that Stalin is someone who needs to be “reevaluated”, essentially he could use a retrial on which he could still be found “guilty” again by historical evidence or have his grave cleared by the “winds of history” as Stalin himself said as a now legendary piece of prophecy on the Russian Internet.Look at it this way, if you read the WSJ article about me you would be right to find me a whorish butt-kisser anti-American, but that is because you were presented false information. If you are thrown only false information about an individual then your conclusions about them will be false. This is why Mr. Starikov and millions in Russia support Stalin because they have a completely different view of him based on different evidence that they believe is the real truth i.e. they support a completely different “person”.They are not supporting the murderous paranoid ego-maniac version of Stalin, but a Just, Fair, Patriotic Leader who pulled the country from losing WWI and falling into total chaos and foreign influence during the revolution to a sovereign super-power in one generation.When given the chance to vote for the nationwide “Name of Russia” competition to select Russia’s greatest historical figures, guess who came in #3 after a popular vote? Were people so stupid as to vote for a murderous maniac? No, they voted for “someone else” who had the same moustache. Now is the evidence these people have true, that is something that is and must be debated.“On radio shows on Moscow’s state-controlled Radio Mayak and in frequent appearances on state television, Mr. Kirby is making a name for himself inside Russia as a kind of Kremlin-appointed Joe the Plumber who explains a broken America to Russian listeners.”Kremlin-appointed? What exactly does that mean? Did Putin in his evil layer create me with his devil magic? This implies that I was hired by some sort of evil propaganda bureau with assignments to spread evil about the USA ignoring the fact that I made Youtube videos (in my own time for free) for a long time with the same opinions. If this conspiracy theory were true then I would say that the Kremlin doesn’t pay very well, and I’d be better off being an “agent” on CNN damning Russia. At least then I’d have enough money to buy a house. This statement implies that the only thing I do is go on the air and have an “America Sucks Hour” which is completely untrue, Frankly because America doesn’t suck, the government, NATO, and the huge corporations that destroy America (and Russia) do.But I am getting side tracked Let’s look at the last few topics that I’ve discussed on air, all of them have to do with taking a brief look at their history/situation in America and comparing them to Russia… Musicals Biker Culture Farming Hip-Hop Learning Foreign Languages News from Small Towns in America Comparing how Americans and Russians think about Communism Pro-Wrestling So are they saying that when we discussed the History of Musicals (which is very much tied to the USA) with a Russian producer and actor that somehow I manipulated this into saying that American musicals are the cause of suffering in Russia? The editors of this hit piece against me would seem to be conspiracy theorists looking for some evil Kremlin plot where there aren’t any. In the old format of the show we talked about RUSSIAN politics and in the new format it is mostly entertainment information about America like the topics above, where is the anti-American rhetoric?The Wall Street Journal also neglected to mention that when I did a completely political show I did two episodes blasting Russia’s entrance into the WTO and agreement to have a NATO transit base in Ulyanovsk. Both of these government plans were given the blessing of ‘Tsar’ Putin. It is very strange that a Kremlin-mouthpiece would disagree with the Kremlin on national evil state radio, but then again if you have the mindset of someone who believes Queen Elizabeth is actually a “Reptilian” than it would make sense for me to consciously plan to have some opinions against Putin just in case the WSJ writes a hit piece about me one day in the future.Now to discuss my approval by the establishment, when I won the “Power #4” award for the radio show, one of the judges Valerii Fadeev said in an interview that I tell the Russian nation “Guys things aren’t so bad here” and that every country has its problems. Wow what an anti-American career I’ve got going for me!“He has a regular show on RT, the Kremlin’s lavishly funded international broadcast channel, whose boss calls it a weapon for “information war.” Last month the channel aired a report calling America one of the worst places to live, with quality-of-life indicators down there with Papua New Guinea. A state-run newspaper quoted a top Russian veterinary official saying American milk is laced with hormones that sprout whiskers on women.”Is the fact that the BBC is lavishly funded by the British Government evil? Or what about lavishly funded by corporate mega-billionaire Fox News? Are there actually any mainstream “mom-and-pop” news agencies or national radio stations with hundreds of employees that don’t get “lavish funding”?Hillary Clinton also mentioned something about “information war”. She said that “We’re losing the information war” but my question is who are her troops in this war? Seriously who are these troops who would in theory follow orders to fight in the information war against the evils of Russian, Chinese, and independent American media actually using their brains and having opinions?I told the reporter at least twice that I disagreed with the title of that special. Showing that realities on the ground in the USA do not match the media hype is one thing, however I do not support the angle of calling “America the worst country on earth”. Why didn’t the WSJ include my objection to this piece, well I guess it is impossible to believe that anyone in Russia couldn’t think without receiving a direct signal from Putin’s magic wand of power. And if we want to discuss the hack style headlines that grab attention “The American Who Tells Russia How Bad Things Are in America” fits the bill quite nicely.“As the Kremlin rallied support for its ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian orphans imposed late last year, Mr. Kirby, who is 31, appeared on prime-time talk shows to say that one quarter of American children take pills that affect their brains, and that they are endangered by religious sects whose members oppose medical care or dance around poisonous snakes. “Every 6 or 10 years a snake bites a child, the child dies and that’s the news of the day and the process repeats itself,” he told a national television audience in February.”I am sorry that I read wacko conspiracy websites like the Washington Post thatsays “Doping children with Ritalin is commonplace (in America)” and that “One in four insured children and nearly 30% of adolescents took at least one prescription medication for a chronic illness in 2009”. Tin-hat site Reuters also confirms that in 2009 around one-in-four American kids was on something.Now maybe you are asking yourself, why would I say that? The way the article is written I just go on TV say hateful things about the USA, get my paycheck and go home. Firstly, TV appearances aren’t paid and there is a good reason I said that; because media propaganda has convinced Russians that their country is an evil hell hole and that they as a people are primitive drunken animals. Even “educated” members of Russia’s so-called creative class think that the best thing that you could do for a child would be to send them out of Russia. There are enough self-hating Russians out there that thousands of them were willing to protest in favor of keeping the export of children the law of the land (amongst other issues).I have literally been told by Russian (Liberals) that I am insane for living here because in America there is “no crime”, “no racism” and “everyone is rich with a big house and car”. For the Americans who are reading this, millions of people in Russia really think that you live stress-free lives, have weeks and weeks of vacation and tons of benefits and that you are “just better” than Russians.Some Russians are taught to hate themselves from the moment of their birth. I was actually invited to speak at a university in Zlatoust Russia because one student during an English lesson heard the teacher tell the class that it is “pivotal that you learn English, so you can leave Russia forever”.It is hard to explain the “Religion of Self-Hatred” to someone from the US, (but I try in an article I wrote) but it is here and it is evil and most of all it is based on lies and false assumptions and when someone especially a foreign person from the place where the ubermenschen live tells (with facts and evidence) people “guys it’s not so bad” and that America and Russia have very similar problems and similar enemies (corrupt/corporate government and globalization) people take note of it, that is why I have a career here. Also making a couple good fart jokes for people driving in their cars listening to Thursday morning radio doesn’t hurt either.As I wrote this piece one listener/viewer named Anya wrote me a message in English over VKontakte (Russian Facebook) explaining why I have a career in Russia better than I or the hacks at the WSJ ever could…“At first I thought that you would criticize the Americans, and thus will praise the Russian. I would be flattered by it, but with your hand, it would be unethical in relation to your home.But now I think you’re trying to be fair, objective, and you are doing a very good job. You destroy the enmity and jealousy between the Russian people and the American people. I began to sympathize with the Americans now. I began to understand that ordinary Americans are as much victims of propaganda, as well as ordinary Russians. You are doing a very good job, God bless you!”Tim Kirby, RT … Read More
