End the cycle of EU corruption – support this initiative!

From: “Avaaz.org” <avaaz@avaaz.org>
Date: Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:10:20 -0400
Subject: EU: corporate corruption controls

Dear friends,

Top European Commission politicians are taking lucrative corporate lobbyist jobs and helping big business to control Brussels! Let’s persuade the Commission to respond to a European Parliament demand for a tough new code of conduct — sign the petition for new rules to stop these abuses of power:

It’s outrageous — over half of top European Union politicians move straight from their posts into lucrative corporate lobbying jobs — turning the EU into a “lobbyocracy” run by big business, not the people.

The European Parliament is up in arms and has just threatened to withhold EU budget money until a new code of conduct is introduced to block officials rushing to become lobbyists. In a few days parliamentarians will meet to hear the Commission’s proposals, but they need support to force a decisive change.

This is a chance to clean up Brussels, but it will take a massive public outcry. The grip of big business on EU decisions subverts our democratic priorities, from agriculture to climate to energy. Click to sign the petition — which will be delivered to top decision-makers at a meeting in the Parliament — and forward this email to friends:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_lobby_rules/?vl

The “revolving door” between the European Commission and the lobbyists fuels corruption, as officials compete for the fattest pay cheque when they leave office and then put their relationships and influence to work for the highest bidder.

The recently resigned EU Industry Commissioner has already joined the boards of 4 large firms — and set up his own EU lobbying company! And, months before she left office, another European Commissioner accepted a position with a giant insurance company which had a direct interest in decisions she was taking.

Such new jobs are supposed to be vetted by the Commission. But the secret ‘ethics committee’ responsible for that is failing to stand up for the public interest. It had never blocked a single appointment until September, when – following outrage in the media – it prevented former financial services commissioner Charlie McCreevy going to work with a British bank.

If we join together now, public and parliamentary pressure can break through Brussels complacency, block the industry commissioner’s appointments and force Commission president Barroso to fulfil his long-promised – but never implemented – promise for a tough new code of conduct to prevent abuse. Sign the petition and circulate widely:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_lobby_rules/?vl

In the world we all want, public servants will serve only the public, not personal or corporate agendas. Our governments are among our most powerful tools to create change, but they must be ours. Let’s take back Brussels for the people of Europe.

With hope,

Alex, Benjamin, Ricken, Alice, Luis, Ben and all of the Avaaz team

P.S. Former European Commissioners continue to get paid 50% of their salary for three years, precisely to prevent them rushing to cash in with corporate jobs. Sticks are clearly needed alongside these carrots.

MORE INFORMATION:

EU Commission pressed on tougher rules for ex-Commissioners:
http://www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/eu-commission-pressed-to-introduce-tougher-rules-on-ex-commissioners/

European Commission revolving door scandal:
http://www.corporateeurope.org/lobbycracy/news/2010/09/27/revolving-door-scandal-alter-eu-call

Ethics committee blocks former Commissioner’s bank appointment:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1007/breaking36.html

Should former Commissioners be allowed to cash in?
http://www.neurope.eu/articles/102969.php

MEPs hold Commission budget to ransom
http://euobserver.com/18/31101

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National Liberal Party welcomes upcycling

THE National Liberal Party welcomes any new opportunity to provide both jobs and a living wage to ordinary British folks. This is especially so when the end product is ethically produced and in accordance with sound ecological principles.

The NLP therefore welcomes the fairly recent trend towards upcycling. Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.

Some examples of upcycling include creating wallets from tires, creating chairs from campaign signs and designing children’s clothing from reclaimed knits.

Many upcycling projects involve just a few individuals. However, we can envisage a time when they grow substantially and move towards workers co-operatives. We wholeheartedly support workers co-operatives as they represent an area of economic activity where ‘workers own and owners work.’

With this in mind, NLP National Secretary Mr. David Durant has called upon the government to encourage and support upcycling enterprises.

He said:

“In my view Cameron and Clegg should quit bailing out the banks, speculators, corrupt politicians and supporting the US war machine at great cost.

Instead they should be pumping that money into getting people – and especially our youth – off the dole and into work. They should do their utmost to support upcycling initiatives.”

Early 2007 just before an election, a question was always on my mind. Why don’t we defend our rights as independent citizens of our nation? A Nation is the product of the contribution of citizens; it is the identity of the citizens. The survival of a healthy and wealthy nation and the protection of individual rights within it are therefore in the hands of independent citizens. Thus an independent citizen must struggle to be part of that healthy and wealthy society within an independent nation.

I defend not only liberal values but national values too and thus become the defender of national liberal values. Furthermore I pledge to fight for those national liberal values until the end of my life.

In Turkey, the first time political people adhered to national liberal values was at the time the Turkish Republic was established at 1920’s and later the 1980’s. In the 1920’s the Government party was republican and populist and the first constitutional charter was created in the spirit of national liberal ideas and in its implementation was the establishment of a liberal party, although it was unsuccessful, was one of the successes of the founders of Turkish republic. In the 1980’s whilst the Government party had national and conservative goals they embraced a wider constituency following the end of the Military Coup) but at the time nobody was able to name some of the brave liberalization implementations as national liberal politics but nevertheless these were the first steps of national liberalism.

After that Turkey was not offered the choice of National Liberal values. Coalition governments were not helpful to their citizens’ individual rights or the creation of a democratic and wealthy nation. In the last 8 years the Government has been in the hands of a conservative and religious (Islamic) party (AKP). In summary this has led to slow destruction of the nation’s economic, social and cultural values. National companies, despite being highly profitable, are being sold as are precious natural resources. All the money spent is to fill the Government’s pockets. They proudly promote these actions as liberalization but they are worse than those liberal democrats who would destroy national values as by selling off national productive companies they are betraying the nation’s citizens. By naming these actions a product of liberalism is a lie used by liberal democrats to serve imperialists and totalitarians. The only liberalism that protects the liberties of individuals and the nation is national liberalism. During the last 8 years in Turkey you can easily observe that many people have been put into jail although their ‘crimes’ have not been tried in the courts and they languish in jail waiting for months and years before coming before a Court. The rights of independent individuals are being severely handicapped.

All these handicaps are created by the State. The state is sheltering all those groups which are willing to rule over other citizens for their own benefit such as political, religious, economic and culturally constituted groups. This corruption of the state should be replaced by the honesty of the nation. The State should be transformed into a Nation to govern the government with the power of independent individuals.

In year 2011 there will be an election for parliament members and as a direction of the constitutional law there will be a payment (for the preparation for the election) made to political parties but not all the participating parties will be paid only the top 3 because of their previous vote percentage. So the richest three parties will be assisted but all the others although small with little money to emphasis their ideas, will be paid zero monies to make propaganda for the election. Those larger parties are no different than business companies, for they not only collect money from their members but also rely upon the state to fund their election campaign. There is a need for justice in the electoral system and the state’s payment to a select group of parties.

During the 2007 parliamentary elections I entered into an alliance with the Liberal Democrats because of some of their specific ideas of liberalism. The list of the Adana city, the city where I live, should have a total 14 names on it for the each political party who are eligible candidates to enter electoral competition. The candidate list of the Liberal Democratic Party was rejected by judges because of some bureaucracy that they themselves created! So the liberals were not represented in 2007 election in Adana city.

I stayed loyal to the alliance with the liberal democrats and at the local elections in 2009 I stood for the Mayor of Adana city as a representative of the Liberal Democratic Party. During the campaign period none of the liberal democrat body politic helped me, neither financially nor in terms of man power, I was alone as a national liberal to defend liberalism with my own limited budget and my talents to organize TV programs and news papers speeches and visits to group of peoples, advertisements and flyers etc; all those were not only to support me but also for the liberal democrats and their President. I invited liberal democrats hundred of times to Adana city to introduce liberalism to the people of Adana but it was a kind of ‘favour’ to me to be there! Once again I see that I am right to specifically mention that we national liberals should never be compared to liberal democrats.

We are close to humanity and we have a heart to heart relation to the people and we believe that the survival of each individual in a healthy society with peace depends on the survival of the nation. Yet on the contrary, liberal democrats are selfish as they think only of themselves and no other body. Liberal democrats are ready to allow the destruction of personal values of human beings and for them the nation’s destruction is no problem. Their main aim is to leave the individual to him/her self without any values which is a liberalism that does not exists in any corner of the world i.e. individuals are left alone to protect their liberties which in reality will mean living under the slavery of unknown actors or unknown nations or totalitarians rather than a nation to which they belong. Only a nation of independent citizens can collectively protect their liberties.

Finally, I have a dream that the expectations of individuals will one day be answered and the identity of the individuals will be given. All these expectations in terms of liberties, independence, property rights, health and wealth, preservation of nature and justice and to have a national identity are national liberal values which are living inside the nature of all human beings. I am happy to announce that all the national liberals of the world should come together because the future of the world will arise in your hands.

As a last sentence of my writing I want to give place to the founder of Turkish Republic, Ataturk. The meaning of his name is “ancestor of Turks “. He pronounced that “peace at home, peace at world”. A fitting goal.

Ozgur Karakok
October, 2010

Biography of Ozgur Karakok:

Born in 1971, after his father’s job meant he lived in many cities he eventually settled in Adana City. A University graduate in English whilst at Bilking University in Ankara plus an MBA degree from the Social Science Institute of Istanbul Bilgi University in Istanbul he continues his higher education in economics and public administration.

Although running a family business for a number of years he presently works in production control and public relations for a Civil Engineering company. I have strong, powerful personality and I myself skillful and full of knowledge in many areas for example reporting several countries economical activities and strategies and constituting bilateral relations and friendship relations with other nation’s representatives and businessmen .

Politically he launched a ‘National Liberal Project’ in 2007 to discuss and promote national liberal ideas at his web site www.ozgurkarakok.biz . He says he decided to come to ‘aboveground from underground’ given all the negative conditions of his nation believing it to be the right time on the clock for defending his nation state (with national liberal values) which he says is under attack from internal and external enemies on all levels politically, socially, economically and culturally.

Later in 2009, he stood in the Mayoral elections (as an LDP candidate) in Adana City. He says he is still fighting politically (and now exclusively) for national liberal ideals.

Orla Lehmann (1810-1870)

Orla Lehmann (1810-1870) was a Danish politician and a leading member of the Danish National Liberal Party (one of the earliest in Europe, around 1830+, and possibly the first to use the name. They were also known as the intellectuals’ party as many belonged to the educated middle class).

His involvement with the party began at an early stage writing for liberal newspaper (Copenhagen Post) before becoming an editor of the National Liberal supporting magazine ‘The Fatherland’. Whilst his initial passion was in liberalising the Danish political system by replacing absolute monarchy with a democratic constitution he later added on a patriotic desire to unite with fellow countrymen in Schleswig (“Denmark to the Eider!” was an NLP slogan).

Orla Lehmann formulated the Ejder program in 1842 . The Eider program (the River Eider being the desired southern border) aimed to absorb the Schleswig province into Denmark whilst, unlike Conservatives, releasing the German Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg (presently under the Danish Monarchy). Denmark Thus many Liberals, heavily influenced by national romantic/cultural ideals, became National Liberals.

In 1848 Europe erupted in Liberal, Nationalist and National Liberal revolutions. In Denmark the desire for change was driven by the latter. In March mass rallies, one of which Lehmann addressed, called upon the King to accept a new democratic and national system of government. Under this pressure and the fear of revolution the King appointed a Constitutional Ministry composed of National Liberals and Conservatives.

Ultimately, whilst the first Schleswig war (1848-51) with Germany helped unite the country the second (1864) led to the loss of the province (and 200,000 citizens) and the slow demise of the party.

Although Lehmann was later eclipsed by younger NL leaders e.g. Christian Hall who implemented many of their original democratic demands in the late 1850’s he was held in high esteem by his countrymen as an inspirational figurehead who had broken the power of monarchy. For us he will be remembered as someone who could combine a passion for both his country and people and where democracy and patriotism are two sides of a coin.

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