In a nutshell Craig. Absolutely essential we get fair and unbiased coverage from our so called state broadcaster. One only has to look at the Savile affair, to witness how they close ranks when exposed.

Much as I am opposed to independence, I completely agree with the thrust of yr piece. The ethos of a nation’s elections is not restricted to the mechanics of voting and counting, but takes in the wider media context as well. It would be a source of considerable joy to see the over-preponderantly rightwing media held to account.

Terrific stuff, but bits like this:

“television guests invited to discuss it in the course of the day were unionist to nationalist in the ratio of 17 to 3″

cry out for citations. You’ve clearly gone to the trouble of counting them, so why not give us the list of names?

Thanks to the Internet and the esoterics, the spell of the eye in the triangle spin devils is now broken. People are able to see through spin in REAL TIME now. In fact the spin of those toilet compromised devils hired at BBC Scotland may cause more people to vote YES, if only as a protest against their nauseating spin. Next time, when we have an Obama solemnly pledging before a worldwide audience to “save the 800k Muslims of Benghazi” (when it was in fact a CIA Al-Qaeda gang that attacked gaddafy right from the onset!) with a no fly zone as a guise to cluster bomb 50,000 gaddafy forces, we might just have a brave reporter point a finger (or throw a shoe) and start guffawing at the spin. Similarly a diplomat (might just have ended up with a Nobel Peace Prize for averting WW3) should have stood up with an incessant “ha haha hahaha hahah hhahahahaha,hahahahaha, hahahahhhhhhha,hahahahahhhahhhhha” guffaw at 911 Netanyahu with his cartoon spin on the UN Podium.

A good piece Craig, I am getting fed up with the one sided bias from BBC, something needs to done before it to late, I thought we lived in a democracy not in a manipulated media state. Fair and unbiased reporting should be the norm it is time the BBC was brought to book.

I’m glad you have written this article; I will forward to as many people as possible.
Many of my friends are completely unaware of the FACTS as they rely on the BBC as
their information source.

The BBC (and MSM) must be held to account for this appalling abuse of
their power. Unless that happens we will not have a free and fair referendum.

Complaints by members to the BBC get shirked off so some larger force
needs to come into play.

Thank you for helping enlighten people.

A minor and irrelevant point but

Hugh Fraser may have been a bastard in your or your dad’s ayes but it should go on the record that at a time when the financial survival of the SNP was a question, he saved the Party with a loan which bought the North Charlotte Street HQ.

Oh and the first Director of the Allendar was an SNP supporter and candidate!

Went onto the BBC website to complain about BBC Scotland coverage of GERS v distractions. Online form offers a number of options for the TV service you’d like to complain about.

These include the main terrestrial channels BBC 1-4, CBeebies, BBC Parliament / America / Canada / Knowledge / Lifestyle etc. BBC Alba even has an option. The one option which is missing is BBC Scotland!

It’s all too easy to become paranoid……

I agree that Alex Salmond should take this step. It is vital that we have a fair and honest referendum and it is equally clear that the Unionists have control of the BBC and the media in general and are determined to prevent a fair and open debate taking place.

We must take every step to secure a fair debate, because the alternative is submission to bullies or violence.

As democrats we have a responsibility to ensure that this referendum is conducted properly. The SNP have done a great job to secure the referendum Alex Salmond must act now to protect it.

It is not surprising that there were comments on the previous thread from people who fear reprisals if they vote YES in the referendum. The established political parties have been using the national broadcaster for their own propaganda for years now and it is well known that dishonest people and unlawful people are generally one and the same.

A very good article Craig. Another example of the blatant bias was when David Cameron gave his speech on the EU referendum. The Scottish edition of Newsnight decided to ignore the obvious implications of this for the No campaign, and instead questioned the SNP on the EU! There was no interview with Alastair Darling or anybody from the No side at all! As far as I am aware no Scottish journalist has asked Darling any questions on the EU after Cameron’s speech. I agree with you on requesting international observers (I don’t know anything about the group you mentioned).

I think what is also required is a cited article or essay about the long-term links between the Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish media, both print and broadcast. The story about Kirsty Wark and Jack McConnell is well known. BBC figures are on record as describing Salmond as a “dictator” (Douglas Fraser), and about loathing him (Jackie Bird). As far as I can tell there is extensive links between the Scottish Labour Party and the media in Scotland. This needs to brought to the attention of as much people as possible in Scotland and elsewhere. I believe what we are witnessing at present is Pravada-like behaviour from the media in Scotland (there are a number of honourable exceptions, such as Iain McWhirter, Lesley Riddoch, Ian Bell, Derek Bateman, Isobel Fraser, Bernard Ponsonby etc). However, generally they simply will not put the No campaign under any scrutiny at all. Both campaigns need to be scrutinised in the same manner because otherwise democracy in Scotland will have been subverted.

Yesterday’s Toady programme had Evan Davis rug munching Yvette Cooper over their immigration mae culpa – truly pathetic.

It is in the long-term best interest of both countries for the referendum and the campaigns to be seen to be fair. I actually think that failing to have “devoMax” on the ballot restricts options.

If the result is perceived in Scotland to have been “gerrymandered” it is simply going to leave a backlog of resentment and anger on both sides of the border, which is not conducive to a good relationship between England and Scotland, whatever the future brings. I never cease to be amazed by how short-termist, cack-handed and inept our ruling classes are. The BBC has always been on the side of reaction – it got its charter for propaganda during the 1926 General Strike, but I feel it has got worse since the Gilligan Affair.

Does this have to come from a government? What about those of us who are not in positions of power but want to ensure a fair referendum? Can’t the people petition for oversight?

Thank you for putting your gravitas behind calls for international observers. I think this should have been arranged to coordinate with the signing of the ‘Edinburgh Agreement’, but hey ho. The state broadcaster is certainly presenting a very one-sided picture, as befits the organisation’s origins disseminating Foreign Office propaganda. Thankfully though, grass-roots movements are very difficult to stop, as the roots tend to spread everywhere.

Thank you Craig, your support is appreciated – and your advice, which I hope will be heeded.

A little mini-campaign to have you linked from WingsOverScotland (WoS – a site scrutinising the media) has succeeded. I know that you and your readership, while broadly sympathetic to celtic dreaming, may not want to read or write about it all the time. A reciprocal link to WoS would be useful to those who might want to check in occasionally to see how the war is going. Today, Scotland. Tomorrow, Ramsgate?

How good is broadband Internet availability in Scotland? Lack of adequate broadband coverage would increase reliance upon broadcast media, thus denying many people access to independent perspectives.

Broadband over the ‘phone lines tends to be poorer in areas more distant from telephone exchange equipment. When I visited the Doune the Rabbit Hole festival I spoke to a few of the local residents, some of whom complained that broadband was completely unavailable at their location. Others complained that it was slow, and tended to suffer outages on a daily or weekly basis. I experienced this myself when trying to install an operating system at the Carronbridge Hotel, only five miles from a town; the connection failed twice, forcing me to repeat the initial update. Less than two miles further away, broadband had not been installed at all. Most modern websites are effectively unusable over dial-up connections, and mobile broadband signals do not penetrate into the valleys. I suspect that the people of rural Scotland suffer very restricted access to independent news on the Internet.

Craig,

this is a brilliant analysis of the current situation with the BBC and MSM in Scotland. Even the English based media; particularly the Telegraph and Guardian are constantly attacking the SNPO government and the Yes campaign whilst spinning in favour of the Unionist parties and the Bitter Together campaign.

Well done you have made us Scots proud.

Mark this in your notebook, an article in the Scottish MSM highlighting the absurdity of Better Together’s spurious claims;

http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/opinion/comment/george-kerevan-an-argument-that-simply-runs-out-of-currency-1-2825295

@Clark

“How good is broadband Internet availability in Scotland? ”

What a perceptive question. The answer is, not good, but on two quite different counts. There is of course the technical: we have wilderness expanses far from fast physical connections – there are no optical fibres laid through the mountains. The bigger problem is social: the demographic most likely to vote for independence (because they are most likely to benefit from it) can’t afford internet access even if the optical fibres run beneath their feet. They’re stuck with the BBC, and the BBC knows it. Que faire? Suggestions welcome.

There’s a epetition for balanced coverage, which could itself do with a few more signatures

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/43631

Good idea! I am not in favour of Scottish independence myself, but I am even more against biased reporting by a privileged organisation like the BBC; they should think of their reputation, and therefore strive for as much accuracy and fairness as possible (not the same thing as agreeing with CM’s positions). But New Labour is partly responsible for the situation.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Fully support that move. I can though, however unprecedented it might be, still easily countenance a move to block it by Westminster, such is their hubris and innate expectation of entitlement.

But, even in that worse case scenario, their doing so would, I suspect, be unlikely to go unnoticed by the electorate. Which would, of course, result in many people questioning their motives.

Craig, you have been brought to my attention after I saw your interview for “Real News”. You have my respect and admiration for speaking out as you did and speaks volumes about your wonderful moral compass. I will order your book now as I wish to read more of what you say.

The BBC in Scotland are kicking into overdrive. The 21st century propaganda tactics they use must have been thought out for a long time. Gone are the days of Lord Haw-Haw, you knew what you were listening to then.

Your sensible suggestion is one that I will try to pass upward to the SNP, Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. All we want is a level playing field. We don’t want an advantage here. The consequences of voting no carry the same weight as voting yes and the people of Scotland deserve to see and hear factual and balanced information to help them form an opinion – not have it formed for them. I believe that Scottish independence will help everyone north and south of the border and that the facts in this debate will speak for themselves.

Kindest regards,

David Milligan – a very Sovereign Scot

Comment left 7th of March at 13:15 hrs

LOL

John Reith, the BBC’s general manager, then bent to the microphone and announced that 5SC, the Glasgow station of the British Broadcasting Company, was calling.

As a Scotsman, it was a proud moment for Reith, whose legacy of public service broadcasting remains with the BBC to this day.

They are celebrating 90 years’ worth of their propaganda.

90 years since BBC went on air in Scotland
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-21684289

What was it again? Nation shall speak peace unto Nation.

How black gold was hijacked: North sea oil and the betrayal of Scotland

In 1975, the Government faced a dilemma: how to exploit the potential of its new oil fields without fuelling demands for Scottish independence. So it buried the evidence

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/how-black-gold-was-hijacked-north-sea-oil-and-the-betrayal-of-scotland-518697.html

17 to 3, unionist to nationalist? OK, 14 to 6 would be closer to the polls.

Anyone who knows Scotland knows it’s absolutely inevitable that the nationalists, when they lose the referendum, will BLAME THE ENGLISH, or the ‘London media’, or ‘Westminster’, or use some other terms that no-one else uses but which all basically mean ‘Sassenachs’, for the fact that they weren’t allowed to get their message across…and whinge whinge whinge…my goodness will they fucking whinge whinge whinge…oh dear, is that the chips on the shoulders that are showing?

Holding the silly referendum 700 years after Bannockburn, and getting even bluenoses to dress up in white roses, won’t make any difference to the BASIC FACT that the VAST MAJORITY of people in Scotland want to remain in Britain, British citizens, in a Scotland that is part of Britain, in other words inside the Union. And yes, that is a bloody fact.

That isn’t because we’ve all been hoodwinked by some now-defunct Labour brand from years ago called ‘New Labour’.

Get out some more, and get yourself a proper issue.

@Mary – ‘i’m pretty sure it was ‘nation shall speak shite unto nation’. Hmm..Some years ago I wrote to Mark Thompson, then Director General of the BBC, bumping along on a meagre public sector salary of one million pounds a year, he was, bless. The burden of my complaint was that for the BBC’s grunting, hunchback transexual, Mr Kirsty Wark, to be sharing holidays with and simultaneously reporting on the possible election of her family friend, the risisbly incompetent Mr, now Lord, Jack McConnell, was actually taking the piss, just a bit. Now, anyone who has ever listened to the BBC complaints show – Feedback, with Roger Bolton – will know that even the lowliest BBC producer considers his or her efforts to be stratospherically above the heads of the great unwashed, the idea that their show might be even slightly flawed merely another illustration of how stupid are those who didn’t go to Oxbridge; compaints unleash a painstaking and blistering tirade; viewers and listeners have no right to quibble, we, at the BBC are all phenomenally clever, funny, insightful and balanced, so Mr Wotsisname in Birmingham should just shut the fuck up and be grateful for the greatest broadcasting service in the world.

John TK – Thank you for your your interest in this matter. Troll-ly insightful.

According to the SNP website:

“…on independence day, we’ll no longer have a Tory government, but the Queen will be our Head of State, the pound will be our currency and you will still be watching your favourite programmes on the BBC”

Mouth-watering stuff. Aren’t you the lucky ones?

Wee Duggie’s brother-in-law speaking here.

Professor Brian Ashcroft, University of Strathclyde (Business School, The Fraser of Allander Institute for Research on the Scottish Economy) outlines possible consequences of an independent Scotland on the economy.
http://www.euronews.com/2012/02/16/bonus-interview-professor-brian-ashcroft/

His background. Good finder of niches.
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/brian-ashcroft/31/280/7a3

Forgot link:

http://www.snp.org/vision/better-scotland/independence

Mary.
If you have the time and don’t mind reading all 6 episodes, check out ‘Diomhair’ (Secret). It’s a revelation.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBE6CC6A00C889B73

Clark, re rural boadband speeds.

I have close connections with the Isle of Eigg. In 1997 they bought out the last in a succession of autocratic landords and took charge of their own destiny. They have since then been a model for what is possible when development is directed for communal benefit rather than cash.

Their solution to the rural broadband problem is a case in point. They created their own wireless network – broadcast from the mainland and redistributed over the island from routers at high points on the island. At the moment they’re restricted to 8Mbps but they’re geared up for 50Mbps when BT gets its act together.

http://www.hebnet.co.uk/index.html

Jings, John TK, your chimpanzee is showing! Is the panic setting in?

Mary it was that burying of evidence that lead to the winter of discontent, Labour under Callaghan/Jenkins were denying miserly wage increases to the lowest paid, many of them publc service workers, in the face of real cost-of-living inflation, whilst the government was awash with money, which was pouring in, they couldn’t admit it so hid both the surplus and the staggering near-term alteration in the national fortunes predicted. They even immediately returned the money they had just borrowed from the IMF, as they didn’t need it at all but kept the austerity and liberalisation/privatisation diktat of the IMF conditions, which saw that wealth ultimately frittered away de-industrialisation and retrenchment, ransacking of succesful state enterprises and building a chimerical ‘financial sector’ to launder and plunder the proceeds.

On the previous topic, I made a point that is perhaps relevant here too, the Southern parts of the Borders don’t even get Scottish/STV television to weakly counter New Labour’s captive BBC Scotland, if STV had a mind to; to add to the insult of paying for the BBC Scotland dross and propaganda, their ITV ‘local’ news covers a vast swath of Northern England, an irrelevant babble of Durham and Isle of Man affairs of little interest to them.

The key is refuse the BBC license fee en-masse, to do that requires communicating with the people who see no hope and who spend their time fretting themselves into an early grave over indebtedness by default and consequent public shaming through repulsive abuse of the law in enforcing what is in effect a voluntary subscription over which they CAN exercise choice. If the BBC is unwilling to prevent non-subscribers from viewing their content, it not those non-subscribers’ problem that they can inadvertently still receive it.

Are there sufficient objectors to the appalling record of the BBC in Scotland to organise a massive campaign of viewers prepared to withhold the licence fee and persuade others who are technologically savvy to switch to on-line viewing?. If 40K viewers cancelled their payments that would deliver a drop of £5.7m, which would inflict considerable pain on their London masters.

John Tk – ignoring your anti-independence bile (and it’s nothing we’ve not heard a million times before), the fact remains that when people vote in the referendum, they will be voting between two options. Therefore, the coverage should reflect this by giving both sides equal representation. Political parties are only ever represented by one member when appearing on TV debates – you don’t see the biggest party having five speakers and the smallest given just one – so what you’re suggesting is quite ridiculous and completely at odds with the idea of fair and unbiased debate.

Besides, if Scots are so overwhelmingly in favour of remaining in the glorious union, then what is there to lose by allowing equal representation for both sides in our “silly referendum”?

The anti Scottish Independence bias and anti SNP bias is not just ingrained at the BBC, STV news coverage is equally poisonious in my view.

I recall not so long ago watching the STV Norths news output where they accused SNP govt of killing people on the roads though the police reported that the particular accident was down to reckless driving by one or more car drivers. That is just one instance amongst the daily and I do mean daily oupourings and bare faced lies of that particular we love Donald Trump channel.

The rabid nature of the Brit Nationalist Press and Media collectively is disturbing if not frightening. It is a daily anti Scottish tirade of the Scots are too wee, too poor, too thick, too craven, too sick, too lazy, too filthy, too incompetent to be Independent.

It is not just the bias and lies that worries me, it is the daily painting of Scots and the residents of Scotland by the Brit Pres and Media as subhuman that should concern us all.

Bannockburn,24th June 1314.

Referendum autumn 2014 , not the anniversary of any battle merely the beginning of a battle to make Scotland a better place for all her peoples – even the oafish and ignorant,

Thanks for the petition link, Herbie. I’ve signed, and facebooked it.

Interesting discussion going on at Medialens about how Westminster ran down the city of Glasgow:

http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/thread/1362722877.html

Excellent. The emergence of the secret document on the very day the GERS figures were published certainly raises a few questions. The fact that the BBC then continued to portray the figures as a Scottish deficit (spelled defecit on BBC TV, which being closer to “defecate” was pretty apt) was grossly biased, designed to confound the gullible and to keep then ignorant.
The use of the word “bluenoses” above by an anti-indy poster is disturbing. The last thing we want to see in Scotland is the open manipulation of sectarianism to defeat independence. This must be openly deprecated by leaders of both sides of the argument.

If it will put a stop to the BBC beginning every weather forecast with the Outer Hebrides then I’m all for Independence. That and the excessive number of Scots in every sphere of public life going home. Oh, and not to forget the massive loss to Labour’s client vote, the only reason the BBC is pro-Union. Not sure why Craig is for an independent Scotland anyway as it will surely lurch to the right.

I should like to ask our host Craig a question :

You have urged Alec Salmond to act now and ask for OSCE monitors to be sent to Scotland as a matter or urgency.

What conclusions would you draw personally were Alec Salmond to fail to call for OSCE monitoring?

I agree with ‘Cryptonym’ ‘..the key is refuse the BBC license fee en-masse’

On the BBC’s Question Time Iain Duncan Smith flew into a rage when Owen Jones challenged him about what happened to Mr McArdle, “57 years old, paralysed down one side, blind in one eye; he couldn’t speak. He died one day after being found ‘fit for work’ by Atos.”

The BBC has refused to report this application to the International Criminal Court despite 6,030 signatures:

http://blacktrianglecampaign.org/2012/09/23/united-kingdom-government-denounced-for-crimes-against-disabled-people-to-international-criminal-court-in-the-hague/

I will email all these petitioners advocating ‘Cryptonym’s’ key advice which will I’m sure raise the profile of this mistreatment above the parapet that forms the barrier filter for BBC reporting.

Craig, sorry if it’s overlong!

To see the extent of Labour insiders at the BBC State Broadcaster check out:-

http://gaiusmarcellus.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/unacceptable-links-between-labour-and.html

Common Purpose raises its ugly head again – ‘…Necrotizing fasciitis just about sums Common Purpose up.

“The Left do not wish to improve our society – but to destroy it” – excellent article.’

Here’s the outdated but indicative list of the ‘likely suspects’ :-

John Birt

BBC Director General 1992 – 2000

At the time of his appointment he was a paid up member of the Labour party.

Greg Dyke

BBC Director General 2000-2004

He had been a Labour donor and lifelong Labour activist.

In 1977 he stood as a Labour candidate for the Greater London Council.

In the run up to the 1997 election he reportedly donated over £50,000 to the Labour party.

Gavin Davies

BBC Chairman 2001 – 2004

He had been a lifelong Labour party member and financial supporter.

From 1974 to 1979 he worked as an adviser to two Labour governments.

From 1992 to 1997 he was an adviser to the Chancellor Gordon Brown. Gavin Davies is a close personal friend of Brown and his wife, Sue Nye, is Brown’s private secretary.

Sir Michael Lyons

Current BBC Chairman

Sir Michael Lyons was chosen in 2007 by the Labour Government to be chairman of the new BBC Trust – supposedly set up to represent the interests of licence fee payers.

Before that he had been paid around £500,000 by the Government to carry out three studies for Chancellor Gordon Brown.

Prior to that he was a Labour local politician, sitting as a Labour councillor in several authorities and as Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council.

Ben Bradshaw

Labour MP

Former Environment minister

Is a former BBC Radio 4 reporter.

Chris Bryant

Labour MP for Rhondda.

He first joined the Labour Party in 1966 and became a Party Agent in 1991.

From 1993 to 1998 he served as a Labour councillor in Hackney.

In 1997 he stood unsuccessfully as a Labour candidate for Wycombe and then joined the BBC in 1998 as Head of European Affairs.

Celia Barlow

Labour MP for Hove and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Climate Change.

Celia joined the Labour Party and her first trade union when she was 16.

Between 1983 and 1995 she was a BBC Westminster reporter and finally BBC Home News Editor.

Phil Woolas

Labour MP for Oldham and Saddleworth

Minister for the Environment.

He first joined the Labour Party at the age of 16 and was active in student politics, becoming President of the National Union of Students.

From 1988 – 1990 he was a producer on the BBC Newsnight Programme.

James Purnell

Labour MP Was Work and Pensions Minister.

He was BBC Head of Corporate Planning before he became a Downing Street adviser in 1997.

Prior to that he worked for the the Institute of Public Policy Research, the left wing think tank.

While still a student, prior to the 1992 election, he worked as a researcher for Tony Blair.

Denis MacShane

Worked for the BBC from 1969 to 1977, including as a newsreader and reporter.

Has been Labour Member of Parliament for Rotherham since 1994. Labour Minister of State for Europe from 2002 to 2005.

Ed Richards

Ex BBC Controller of Corporate Strategy

Ed Richards was Controller of Corporate Strategy at the BBC until 1999. Before that he was an adviser to Gordon Brown.

He left the BBC in 1999 to become Tony Blair’s senior policy adviser on media, telecoms, internet and e-government.

As a policy researcher at No 10 ahead of the 2002 general election, he was responsible for drawing up a key political strategy outlining a “vision of what Britain should be like at the end of a second Labour term”.

In 2006 he became chief executive of OFCOM, at a salary reported to be some £392,056 (including benefits and pension entitlement). OFCOM is responsible for adjudicating complaints against the BBC. Ed Richards has dismissed accusations of New Labour cronyism as “tittle tattle”

Tom Kelly

Ex BBC NI Head of News

Tom Kelly spent 16 years at the BBC in London and Northern Ireland.

He was a political editor and later head of news at BBC Northern Ireland before crossing the divide between those who report the news and those who help to shape the government’s message, becoming director of communications at the Northern Ireland Office shortly after New Labour came to power.

In 2001 he became one of Tony Blair’s official spokesmen.

Bill Bush

Ex BBC Head of Political Research and Analysis

Bill Bush was “Red” Ken Livingston’s Chief of Staff and right hand man at the old “loony left” GLC.

In 1990 he became Head of Political Research and Analysis at the BBC.

He then became “Head of Research” for Tony Blair, and later took a position as Special Adviser to New Labour culture minister Tessa Jowell.

As Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Jowell and Bush were responsible for Government policy towards the BBC including renegotiating the licence fee.

The Guardian said:- “Bill Bush, the head of the BBC’s political research department, left to join the research unit at Number 10. This was a man who had access to the most sensitive information the BBC has on MPs, their parties and the government. His value to the Labour party can hardly be over-estimated”

Catherine Rimmer

Ex BBC Political Research

Catherine Rimmer was Bill Bush’s assistant at BBC Political Research.

A former Bush colleague, who has also travelled the short distance from the BBC’s Millbank offices, which coordinates all political coverage, to Downing Street.

The Spectator is reported to have said :-… (Bush) is also taking with him the deputy head of the BBC’s political research unit, one Catherine Rimmer. In fact, you could say that the BBC’s political research unit has turned out to be an invisible branch of the Labour party”.

Geoff Mulgan

BBC Reporter

According to John Harris in the Guardian

“When someone finally gets round to making the definitive New Labour movie – and you can imagine it: Our Friends In The North meets Primary Colors, with the inevitable Britpop soundtrack – they will have to base at least one character on Geoff Mulgan. The PR at his publisher emails his CV to me the day before we meet, and it is so packed with the stuff of recent history that you wonder how he has found time to fit it all in. From the top, then: “Between 1997 and 2004, Geoff had various roles in government including director of the government’s strategy unit and head of policy in the Prime Minister’s Office . . . Before that, he was founder and director of Demos, described by the Economist as the UK’s most influential thinktank . . . chief adviser to Gordon Brown . . . [and] a reporter for the BBC.”

Catriona Renton

Reporter for the BBC Politics Show and BBC Presenter.

Catriona Renton is a former Glasgow Labour Councillor, who represented Kelvindale before losing her seat to the LibDems in 2003. She was “Glasgow’s Youth Tsar”.

She was apparently recruited by BBC Scotland’s parliamentary unit in 2006, where John Boothman, husband of Labour MSP and ex-Health Minister Susan Deacon, was a senior producer.

Her personal facebook has listed the following as friends:

Jackie Baille Labour MSP, Yousuf Hamid Labour Activist, Tom Harris Labour MP, Mike Dailly Labour Activist, David Martin Labour MEP, Frank McAvetty Labour MSP, John Robertson Labour MP, John Park Labour MSP, Steven Purcell Labour Glasgow Leader, Dave Watson Vice-chair of the Scottish Labour Party

She was apparently the centre of a bias storm after an item broadcast on Sunday 18 October 2009 attributed views to senior SNP MSP Alex Neil that he had not expressed. When filming at the SNP conference in Inverness, Catriona Renton had claimed on BBC Scotland’s Politics Show that Alex Neil had confirmed the SNP’s desire to see David Cameron become the Prime Minister at the next general election. The recorded interview with Mr Neil that followed Ms Renton’s claim contained no such confirmation. The BBC were forced to issue a personal apology to Alex Neil.

Lance Price

BBC Journalist 1981 – 1998

Lance Price joined the BBC as a trainee journalist and worked there for 17 years.

He left in 1998 to work as Alistair Campbell’s assistant in Downing Street.

In 2000 he became the Labour Party’s Director of Communications.

Now he is a freelance journalist writing mainly for the Guardian and broadcasting for the BBC – again

Tim Luckhurst

Scottish News Editor

Previously a Labour spin doctor

Sue Nye

Wife of Gavyn Davies, and has acted as Gordon Brown’s political secretary.

Sarah Hunter

Held the broadcasting brief at No 10. She formerly worked in the BBC Policy Directorate and is also a veteran of the Channel 4 Policy Department. God-daughter of former Lord Chancellor Derry Irvine.

Katie Kay

Lord Birt’s former diary secretary, worked for Mr Blair.

Charlie Whelan

Was for years a key Labour activist and news manager and spinner for Gordon Brown. He acted as a commentator and political journalist for Radio Five, and reported on the Conservative Spring Conference 2003 for Radio Five Live.

Andrew Marr

Has his own politics show on BBC TV and radio programme.

Is a former editor and chief political commentator of the Independent. His wife is Jackie Ashley, the Guardian political columnist, former BBC employee and cheerleader for Gordon Brown.

Student Labour organiser.

Michael Crick

Newsnight Political Editor

Labour activist and Labour prospective parliamentary candidate.

Martin Sixsmith

BBC Foreign Correspondent 1980 – 1997

Martin Sixsmith joined the BBC in 1980 and worked as a a foreign correspondent in Brussels, Geneva, Moscow and Washington.

Following the 1997 election he left the BBC to work for the Labour government as Director of Communications.

He described his enthusiasm for his new job, when he later told the Independent :- “It was May 1997, it was a new start after 18 years of Tory misrule…..”. He was later Press Secretary to Labour Ministers Harriet Harman and Alistair Darling.

After a brief period in the private sector, he returned to the government in 2001 as Director of Communications for the Department of Transport

Joy Johnson

BBC Political News Editor 1992 – 1995

Joy Johnson was a BBC political journalist and became Political News Editor in 1992 at the Millbank centre.

In 1995 she was recruited by Gordon Brown to join New Labour as Campaigns Director, responsible for winning Labour’s 80 target seats.

Sam Jaffa

BBC North America Correspondent.

Husband of Celia Barlow MP, He stood as Labour candidate for Eastleigh in 2001.

Don Brind

Political reporter for the BBC in the south-east of England

According to the Guardian became a Labour party press officer.

Peter Hyman

BBC producer

Strategic Communications Unit.Former Labour Party press officer, BBC producer and Sky News journalist. He became the Policy Directorate’s media analyst. He worked as a researcher for Donald Dewar and John Smith.

Sarah Hunter

BBC Policy Directorate

Part of the team that travelled with Tony Blair on his 2001 election campaign bus, and worked for the Labour Party in Opposition. In the past she has worked for Peter Mandelson.

John Boothman
BBC Scotland – Head of Political Broadcasting

Husband of Labour MSP and ex-Health Minister Susan Deacon

I don’t recall such outrage from Craig when Ireland was manipulated into saying YES to the Lisbon Treaty, having got the answer wrong the first time round.

Nor do I hear Craig demanding a referendum on membership of the EU, which would surely be in the democratic interests of this country.

Can anyone pls translate the nutshell of what is being talked about in this article? Thank you.
http://www.bilan.ch/economie-les-plus-de-la-redaction/gulnara-karimova-des-adversaires-ont-associe-mon-nom-cette-affaire

It’s ok, i got it, google did it for me.

Barontorc – can you look me up on facebook please. http://www.facebook.com/indyscot

Kindest regards,

David Milligan – a very Sovereign Scot

Hi, this is jenny. Please check out my how to get a girlfriend

This is quite a good essay on the subject, from a unionist.

“Even to a unionist like me, an Alex Salmond-led government is preferable to one that rewards greed and corruption”

“we conveniently overlook the fact that London has already broken away from the United Kingdom and now exists as a world super-state governed by the greed of unhindered capitalism and recognisable as British only by its taxis and bad service. As the world’s most newly minted oligarchs continue to colonise the independent state of London, it becomes almost impossible for families on less than £250k to live decently there. Poor London families made homeless by the coalition benefit cuts are being evacuated as far north as Middlesbrough.”

“With each passing week, it becomes more difficult to support a union that doesn’t really exist anyway. Morally, it may soon become indefensible to remain in a state that rewards corruption and promotes inequality when you have an opportunity to leave it behind.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/20/scottish-independence-becoming-only-option

The BBC have hit back and have even provided a Link text

Bugger. That didn’t work.

The BBC have hit back and have even provided a complaint form.

Nothing surprises me anymore about the BBC.

I stopped paying my TV Licence two years ago and barely a day goes by when I don’t feel very content at the decision.

I just bought a piece of furniture for my little rented flat that cost £150 and I thought that this is about the same as the annual cost of the licence fee I should be paying.

So I would just like to thank anybody from the BBC who’s reading for allowing me to spend the money on furnishing my flat rather than paying for your cr@ppy propaganda, inflated celebrity salaries, taxi fares and your guaranteed pensions that nobody in the private sector has.

@DtP 8 Mar, 2013 – 1:39 pm

What if she/he were transexual (which I very much doubt)? Or for that matter (again doubtful) disabled? What of it? What relevance would such factors have in discussing her partiality and unsuitabilty to be inflicting her personal political agenda on BBC viewers.

So, the monitoring of th forthcoming referendum is now essential it seems, and craig is right. In a banana republic, there would be a howl of rage if they refused to allow OECD monitoring. But scotland?……oh, that’s different. Why do I suspect that salmond will run and hide under his desk rather than ask for independent monitoring. Sadly, Salmond is not Chavez. As first minister, he is legally empowered to do so. he will not. have you formally and publicly written to him and asked him Craig?….very important to get it on the record about what is happening. Please do so, on behalf of all of us.Thanks

There’s a useful resource here monitoring daily coverage of the referendum, which you can have delivered by email.

I think it may be pay for, but you can get a trial.

http://www.pressdata.co.uk/referendum.html

They have a twitter feed too.

https://twitter.com/PD_IndyRef/

Certainly may be useful too for assessing the balance issue too.

It seems that Dr James Wilkie of the Scottish Democratic Alliance, has already approached the OSCE concerned about earlier dirty tricks by Westminster.

“Last Saturday the BBC’s chief political advisor in London, Ric Bailey, cited “heightened tensions” over the “nature of the political debate around Scotland’s future” as his reason for banning Alex Salmond from appearing on a light-hearted sports show ahead of the Scotland versus England Calcutta Cup rugby match. Of the ban Salmond said: “It’s a totally unsustainable position which raises all sorts of questions about their impartiality and their role as a national broadcaster and basically if they can be trusted to conduct themselves as an impartial broadcaster in the run-up to the referendum campaign.”

The BBC censoring the First Minister in this way, two and a half years before the likely date of the vote, indicates an extraordinary sensitivity over the issue in London and gives weight to the SDA’s argument that Scotland’s referendum will be subjected to interference by “external vested interests”.”

http://www.scottishtimes.com/europe_asked_to_monitor_independence_referendum

“That BBC bias is displayed in the selection of which news stories to present related to independence, in the selection of guests on programmes, in the selection of which facts to highlight within the selected stories, in the comment provided by BBC journalists, and in the treatment afforded to guests, the way guests are presented, the respect they are or are not given and the opportunity they have to present their arguments.”

I concur entirely with the above but this is surely true of all BBC news and current affairs coverage.

O/T but I was so pleased to hear this news about Alfie Meadows, the student whose skull was broken by a police baton in the student riots. It is wrong though that it has taken two years for justice to be given to him and his mother. The last we heard of him was when he was admitted to hospital for treatment having been turned away by another hospital.

‘The last of the trials of students involved in the 2010 violent protests has ended with the acquittal of Alifie Meadows, whose skull was fractured by a police baton during the demonstration.

A jury at woolwich Crown Court took just a couple of hours to clear both him and another, Zac King, of violent disorder following a three week trial. Alfie’s mother Susan Meadows told Channel 4 News it’s a huge relief, “Two years of agony are finally over. It’s just fantastic”.’

/…
http://www.channel4.com/news/student-protest-hero-meadows-acquited

“Not sure why Craig is for an independent Scotland anyway as it will surely lurch to the right”

You are aware Giles, that their are currently more Giant Pandas in Scotland than Tory MP’s.

In fact the Scottish Electorate, much like our Nordic cousins, seem to have a predilection for centrist and social democratic parties.

That dear brave young man Harry Fear has finished his world speaking tour and is returning to Gaza. You will remember his live reporting during the last Israeli onslaught. He has been in the UK.

Harry Fear‏@harryfear Feb 27
The world tour is over! Thanks to all the organisers throughout the world! Time to recover health and mind before heading back to #Gaza!

He remembered Hugo Chavez.

Harry Fear‏@harryfear Mar 6
RIP Hugo #Chavez

https://twitter.com/harryfear

Perhaps then, if Scotland were to “move to the Right” after independence (though why, exactly, it would do that is not clear), Giles might wish to immigrate here? Scotland needs immigrants.

Here is a book, ‘Unstated: Writers on Scottish Independence’, recently published by the excellent Edinburgh-based radical bookshop, Word Power Books, a collection of essays on the theme of Scottish independence:

http://www.word-power.co.uk/books/unstated-I9780956628398/

Craig recently said that he thought his Al Hilli post and comments thread was one of his most successful and one of which he was most proud.

This is a report on the progress? of the Surrey and French police investigations from the local paper.

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2130485_alhilli_probe_hits_online_information_obstacles

Hope that Surrey Police are doing better in the case than they do in answering their phones. Most of the county’s police stations have been closed and flogged off yet calls to the 101 non-emergency number are being unanswered in thousands. What should the people do?

Non-urgent police calls ‘go unanswered’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21708014

Surrey are third in the list for ‘dropped’ calls, over 12% of the total.

PS Council tax has just been raised by 1.99% (the maximum before a referendum is triggered) to pay for the increased cost of policing.
http://www.thisissurreytoday.co.uk/Council-tax-Surrey-pay-police-service/story-18144263-detail/story.html#axzz2MzWxgYun

http://www.weourselves.com/how-to-counter-bbc-propaganda-its-the-bbc-stupid-part-2/

Just the cost of a pukka environmental decommission of all the redundant wells is enough to keep Aberdeen busy for the next twenty years ! Normally wells only give up 50% of their largesse, with newer 3D seismic tech, horizontal drilling and even fracking possibilities (no ground water enviromental issues),it may be wiser to leave well heads platforms in place, not only to serve as artificial reefs (to generate fishing stocks), but also for the day when renowned Scottish genius for invention comes up with a way to unlock the trillion pounds of known oil/gas still untapped, for the only 5m population.

Mixing music comes really trouble-free intended for me because I went to educate to learn the techniques and basically qualified myself the additional want to know basics of setting up and about, via and owning a home recording studio. Inexperienced buyers have to live in fact careful when shopping whether online before in-stores for some utensils because the fact that you might acquire the most posh utensils doesn’t always indicate that it’s really the finest in class or sound. ?I was duped last time purchasing speakers from the eBay website and again in the Best Buy amass because I was really a large amount concerned regarding the price and forgetful of the quality flat while these are things that I have been qualified to obtain notice of. Beats Studio by Dr. Dre-Hi Def. Noise-Cancelling-Over-Ear Headphones by Monster are highly recommended and every smart producer is obtaining them. I would positively give somebody the use of you mines therefore you could distinguish intended for yourself, of course only if you lived next entrance beginning me before down the block. They vend out consequently speedily except you’re usually clever to catch them by a deal online before by Best Buy.

Craig, do you pay your TV licence? I hope you don’t and I encourage you to write a post about your reasons for not doing so. Here is a chance for commentators to put their words into real action. If you can all get a million people to refuse to pay their licence fee over the next 12 months, then that will be a £150M slap in the face to the BBC. How many people would actually be prosecuted? Are the courts so efficient that they can handle thousands of cases every day? Start the fire Craig, the moment is NOW.

Primer -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licensing_in_the_United_Kingdom

Angry person who doesn’t own a TV (excellent site – must read) -
http://www.lime-marmalade.net/

Sample link from above site -
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/58878/Beeb-in-panic-over-Dump-the-fee-bid/

Another sample, TV licensing system dumped in NZ -
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0011/S00040.htm

My only connection with Scotland is 3 great-great grandparents who left for the antipodes in the 19th century, and some wonderful holidays in Scotland, but I really, really hope that Scotland says ‘yes’ to independence.

The Australian ABC is as biased as the BBC, and we have a Labor goverment which has largely sold out to corporations and vested interests.

If only we had a blog of the calibre of Craig’s.

Alex Salmond compares BBC boss with Nazi official
Alex Salmond has been accused of indulging in an “embarrassing” and offensive tantrum after comparing a BBC chief who prevented him appearing on a sports programme to a Nazi bureaucrat http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9062404/Alex-Salmond-compares-BBC-boss-with-Nazi-official.html

btw you can see the slant against Salmond in the above piece by the Torygraph’s Scottish editor.

The same individual that Salmond complained about has just been interviewed by Samira Ahmed on Newswatch who asked him why the BBC gave so much coverage of UKIP in the Eastleigh by-election and so little to serious parties like the National Health Action Party and the Greens. As a viewer of BBC South Today, I can vouch for the partisan UKIP coverage.

They even had the failed! UKIP candidate on QT the other night. She was dire. An empty vessel. All that motivates her is immigration to the UK from Bulgaria and Romania and our membership of the EU.

08/03/2013
 Watch now 12 months left.
Duration: 15 minutes

Viewers’ opinions on the coverage of events by BBC News, addressed by the editors and decision makers in charge. This week, did UKIP get too much airtime before and after last week’s by-election, and how much detail was really needed about the Queen’s illness?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r32fn

As you can see there were also questions raised about the excessive coverage of the queen’s gastric condition.

Fellowships
Ric Bailey

•POSITION: Chief Political Adviser, BBC
•DATE OF FELLOWSHIP: Michaelmas Term
•SPONSOR: BBC

BIOGRAPHY:

I’ve been a political journalist with the BBC for most of my career – as a network lobby correspondent and presenter in Mrs Thatcher’s time, then later as the political news editor of the BBC’s Westminster unit. For six years, from 2000, I was Executive Editor of the flagship BBC One political debate programme “Question Time”, including editions in China, Russia, the US and the Middle East, also setting up a long-running citizenship scheme for young people – “Schools Question Time,” now in its eighth year.

Currently, I advise throughout the corporation on political impartiality and independence, oversee policy on polling and other aspects of editorial policy and organise for the industry the UK’s system of Party Political Broadcasts.

In the run-up to the 2010 UK General Election, I represented the BBC on the team which negotiated the first ever television election debates between the Prime Ministerial candidates.

My degree was in Modern History and Politics from Southampton University, followed by a post graduate diploma in broadcast journalism at the City University in London.

RESEARCH PROJECT:

“The Prime Ministerial Debates – an improvement in democratic accountability or merely political X factor ?”

A study, from a first hand perspective, of the three televised debates during the 2010 UK General Election, looking at their role in engaging the electorate in the campaign, the level of policy scrutiny and comparisons with debates internationally.

Internet Picks

BBC Democracy Live – what a good citizen needs to hold politicians to account – all on the same site.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/default.stm

New and improved – the BBC’s revamped book of editorial wisdom, published October 2010:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/

…plus Britain’s best cinema – and my local
http://www.therexberkhamsted.com/index.asp

https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fellowships/journalist-fellows/prev-journalist/2010-11/ric-bailey.html

BBC biog of Bailey http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/controllers/ric_bailey.shtml

O/T What is May cooking up this time?

Abu Qatada arrest over ‘bail breach’
Radical cleric Abu Qatada is arrested for allegedly breaching bail conditions, days ahead of the government’s latest attempt to deport him.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21723726

@ Mary.
Question Time.
http://politicalscrapbook.net/2013/03/question-time-audience-member-slams-ukip-on-immigration-stats/

Wouldn’t it be great to be a pleasant nation.
Sadly we do not stritve for it, and our moral and ethical impulses are becoming further derisory.

Please apply some common sense.
Why are our oppurtunities limited?

Vronsky, 8 Mar, 1:04 pm; grief, I didn’t know it was that bad, that many Scots are denied Internet access through poverty. I tend to regard Broadband access as very cheap, as it usually only adds £5 to £10 per month to the standing charge for a landline. But people’s circumstances differ, of course. I’ve known people to cancel their landline because they have youngsters in the family who’ve run up a huge bill, for instance.

Telecom companies pricing policies are a huge con. You have to pick a tariff in advance based upon your projection of your communication patterns, and either under or over estimation leads to excess cost. It would be easy for the telecom companies to charge customers according the cheapest tariff depending upon the past month’s usage, but they prefer to offer these “guesswork lotteries”.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha

From the BBC Editorial Guidelines

“10.4.1

The UK has diverse political cultures in the different Nations and representation at Westminster is not the only basis for assessing relative political strength in a devolved structure. Achieving due political impartiality, especially for network output, involves giving appropriate coverage to all the main political parties in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as those which stand for election across the whole UK.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/page/guidelines-politics-practices-reporting/

Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha

“O/T What is May cooking up this time?”

Perhaps nothing’s being cooked up; it might just be that Abu Qatada has actually broken his bail conditions – in which case the normal procedure is arrest.

Willing of course to listen to any evidence to the contrary.

V good A Node.

You made me think of this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI1nPd7hezM

re various commenters announcing proudly that they’re not paying their TV licence :

one must assume of course – although they haven’t specified it so far – that these commenters are taking the logical position of not watching television either.

Musn’t one?

**********

La vita è bella, life is good (some say better without TV)

Jay, thank you for bringing a calm and wise tone on this subject.

Habbabkuk, our resident Inquisitor-General, ironically himself an immigrant, was the first one on this blog to raise his hand and get worked up about the ‘Roms’ and Bulgarian peoples landing on our shores. Words like ‘pleasant’ and ‘common sense’ are alien to him. Please comment more often so that some pleasantness may rub off.

Happy days (even with all the immigrants)!

PS this song still makes my hair stand on end. Incidentally ecorded in Hollywood at A&M Records on a former Charlie Chaplin Studio shooting stage. Chaplin himself, if i recollect correctly had some Roma blood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2H6mpUnsLI

What elevating energy this anthem has, to begin the day with. And then there will be Habbabkuk who has brought upon himself more aliases than anyone has been accorded in the history of this blog…

And finally here’s one for Scotland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF7OJmJHjPg

From:

The US Holocaust Memorial Museum

Lessons In Propaganda

“In contrast to the ideal of an educator, who aims to foster independent judgment and thinking, the practitioner of propaganda does not aim to encourage deliberation by presenting a variety of viewpoints and leaving it up to the audience to determine which perspective is correct. The propagandist transmits only information geared to strengthen his or her case, and consciously omits detrimental information.”

Exactly what has happened this week, more than any other

Don’t know which was funnier, the laughing policeman or the Indian bagpipes.

Sorry about this being off-topic but it is Anna Ardin breaking in a pair of shoes.

http://johngossip.blogspot.co.uk/

Mrs May, instead of persecuting Muslims, would have been better employed in attending to this terrible neglect by the police service on her watch. Her friend Mr *unt, too, instead of running down and destabilizing OUR NHS, should attend to the neglect of mental health services and provision.

Freed to kill by police blunders: Mental patient who murdered stranger begged to be sectioned – one check would have shown she’d killed before
Nicola Edgington killed Sally Hodkin in Bexleyheath, Kent

She also attacked 22-year-old Sally Clark who managed to fight her off
She had made four 999 calls asking to be arrested earlier that day
But she walked out of a mental health clinic and killed Mrs Hodkin

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287883/Nicola-Edgington-Woman-jailed-37-years-stabbing-mother-freed-kill-agan.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Listen to John Cooper QC, Edgington’s barrister, on Radio 4 Today, in a discussion with Prof Craig Jackson, a psychologist, on the matter.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/b01r4xw1
1 hr 32 mins in

LOL @ your LOL, Mary.

I ‘chimed’ with you there Villager. If only.

We are the world.
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/michaeljackson/weretheworldusaforafrica.html

The poignancy and pathos here breaks me up too.

Smile/Charlie Chaplin 1936
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps6ck1ejoAw

John Goss, 11.20am

A Thousand Words…

Very revealing of character, that photo, isn’t it? As I said on the other thread it really angers me that this woman is painted, or paints herself, as a ‘victim’ who is ‘being denied justice’ by the Swedish government/Ecuadorian embassy stand-off (though true enough in a way – I believe faking evidence carries a two-year sentence in Sweden), when it’s Assange who has been bankrupted and driven to refugee status by this woman’s behaviour. Genuine rape victims don’t hand false evidence in to the police. (They’re unlikely to indulge in the kind of retail therapy coping strategies Ardin clearly enjoys either.)

The latest news out of Sweden is that the Ecuadorian offer to interrogate Assange in the London embassy that was hand-delivered by the Ecuadorian ambassador in Stockholm on 25 July 2012 was not only passed by the Swedish FO to their “America section” but also to the official within the Swedish Justice Department responsible for Mutual Legal Assistance.

This link says there was some kind of marginal mark “For further action”. They did nothing, of course. It’s also debatable whether either the FO or the Justice Department even bothered to pass this offer to the Chief Investigator of the case, Marianne Ny.

http://twitlonger.com/show/l8anr8

And they say the case has nothing to do with the Swedish government, it’s “purely a judicial matter”. Pull the other one.

Arbed, I couldn’t agree more. I just commented on the Anna Ardin liar thread about how I believe if well-publicised this picture could do the whole prosecution case a great deal of harm. It shows her character to a tee. “What a heel” as one person who commented has put it. I ought to give the full link rather than a general link to my blog or it will disappear in time. Well done for discovering this.

http://johngossip.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/stamping-on-pricks.html

Character assassination has always been a crude tactic of defence lawyers in rape cases. One reason the conviction rate is so low.

Even if she is a “heel” she still has the right to say no.

Leading political strategists at the University of Glasgow

Issued: Mon, 05 Nov 2012 13:01:00 GMT

Senior figures from both UK and US politics will be taking part in two major events at the University of Glasgow, offering students from the College of Social Sciences an insight into how politics works and providing advice to those interested in pursuing political careers.

On Wednesday 7 November a round table discussion on the Political Impact of the UK Leaders’ TV debates will involve contributions from David Muir, former Director of Political Strategy for Gordon Brown; Ric Bailey, Chief Political Advisor for the BBC; Michael Jeremy, Director of News for ITV; and Michael Salter, Head of Broadcasting for the Conservative Party. The event will be chaired by Professor Anne Anderson, Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow.

http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_245494_en.html

This Ric Bailey individual has too much control and say. He likes to get ‘em young too.

‘Ric Bailey also developed and led a major citizenship project across secondary schools – the Schools Question Time Challenge – which resulted in the first appearance of a member of the public on a Question Time panel in July 2006.’

BBC policy – Citizenship project – self fulfilling prophesies. Keep the evil merry go round going round. Purpose – A real democracy – just like we installed in Libya and are about to install in Syria.

Kempe,

“Even if she is a “heel” she still has the right to say no.”

That’s our whole point, she didn’t say “No” – not once, not ever! Go read her witness statement properly.

Thanks Mary, that Smile was ever so sweet.

The decline in this world is real. It looks like we have still to hit rock-bottom before people wake up. On the other hand, I do meet a good number of young people who seem to be innately in tune with their Wisdom, their inner selves. That is greatly encouraging. Then we see the pettiness of the ‘intellectual firepower’ (LOL) of the little Habba. Well, one just has to laugh off the court jester. Thank God he’s in a minority of one.

I was looking up the MJ anthem in wiki:

In all, more than 45 of America’s top musicians participated in the recording, and another 50 had to be turned away.[11][14] Upon entering the recording studio, the musicians were greeted by a sign pinned to the door which read, “Please check your egos at the door.”[15] They were also greeted by Stevie Wonder, who proclaimed that if the recording was not completed in one take, he and Ray Charles, two blind men, would drive everybody home.[16]

LOL, again!

As for “Please check your egos at the door.”, Craig should hang this sign up on his blog.

But back to our conversation, we are changing human consciousness as we speak. And all it takes is for each of us to do 3 things:
AWARENESS
AWARENESS, &
AWARENESS.

Can we do it?

If we can, we can raise the level of our lot leading to a super-consciousness, very, very, very messy in the present moment. Lets take heart not only from that song but those who created it. Thats one good thing that still comes out of the U.S of A.–music. Thanks go to them for holding the fort!

Btw, thanks for that link on the Rex–have some great friends in the area….perhaps we can take-in a movie sometime–more ha ha ha. Or a coffee if you’re up in London. Habba wanna join up? Perhaps you’re not as ‘bad’ in person–convince us!

Kempe,

PS. Anna Ardin posted this picture herself. Put it out there on her own Twitter account. Then deleted it once she realised how bad it made her look. Same as she did with those inconvenient Twitter posts dated 15 August 2010 boasting what a fine time she was having at a party she threw for Assange two day after the alleged ‘assault’ (but five days before going to the police station with another of Assange’s lovers). In most countries it’s a criminal offence to delete exculpatory evidence of that nature while a police investigation is ongoing.

No one else is assassinating her character – she’s doing a very fine job of that by herself.

Well said, Arbed.

Btw, any chance the pic is photoshopped? What is the source?

Quite a discovery, disgusting as it is. I try, but it is very difficult to show any compassion for this ‘victim’.

Thanks to you John.

Arbed, i see you answered my question…thank you and great day!

“That BBC bias is displayed in the selection of which news stories to present related to…..”

No surprise there, the BBC’s pro Israel ‘news’ was exposed in 2004 and yet in true Machiavellian fashion the Zionists continually shout that the opposite is true.

“In a remarkable and scientific study of the manner in which the main UK terrestrial news broadcasters (BBC and ITV) cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Professor Greg Philo and Dr Mike Berry of the Glasgow University Media Group have detailed how that news coverage tends to promote the Israeli perspective while ensuring that viewers remain ignorant of the actual causes that lie behind that long-running tragedy.

http://electronicintifada.net/content/endemic-pro-israel-bias-uk-tv-coverage-new-book-finds/10110

Mary says, at 11h22 :

“Mrs May, instead of persecuting Muslims, would have been better employed..etc”

On the assumption that Abu Qatada has been arrested for breaking his bail conditions, how is he being persecuted?

Is being arrested for breaking the law “persecution” in Mary’s book? A, interesting take on the rule of law, if I may say so.

@ Villager (Yokels of the World, Unite!) – 11h00 :

“And then there will be Habbabkuk who has brought upon himself (sic. Do you mean “used”?) more aliases than anyone has been accorded in the history of this blog…”

Which ones would they be, Villager? (Don’t strain yourself, three or four would do)

Not the picture I was talking about but the comments made about the subject.

She might not have said no but she doesn’t appear to have said yes either.

OT.

“Victor Kravchenko”
http://spartacus-educational.blogspot.de/2013/03/victor-kravchenko.html

Habbacock,

“@ Villager (Yokels of the World, Unite!)”

To be frank, when i am speaking with you and to Your Pettiness, i feel rather more like a Village Elder, even though I bet you 10 Pund Scots for every year i’m younger to you.

As for your aliases, i wasn’t referring to your sock-puppeting…that’s your guilt complex; but to the numerous variations awarded to Your Pettiness, no doubt affectionately.

Big search ongoing at Abu Qatada’s house. Wonder what they are planting?

@ Villager (Yokels of the World, Unite!) at 14h27 :

“To be frank, when i am speaking with you and to Your Pettiness, i feel rather more like a Village Elder….”

Well, you certainly write as if you were one – those interminable screeds of yours on Krishnamurti…!

**********

La vita è bella, life is good! (keep comments short)

Mary informs at 14h34 :

“Big search ongoing at Abu Qatada’s house. Wonder what they are planting?”

You are omniscient and all-seeing, Mary, why don’t you tell us?

*************

Around 110 comments so far on this thread, of which 14 from Mary (over a tenth): I on-topic, 4 on topic in part or to seome extent, 9 completely off-topic.

Thanks once again, Mary!

Mary – Ry Vita Is The Best Buy. Leave The Vita A Bella Packet On The Shelf
9 Mar, 2013 – 2:34 pm

ha ha ha, that was one vital laugh. And agree with your prescription.

I see Ms Wyatt has been freighted down to Las Malvinas to cover the ridiculous referendum. Her report ended with a film of a RAF Typhoon writing a figure of eight in the sky above to show the islanders that they are not forgotten. What crap and what a waste of precious fossil fuel.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21724160

The Habbadabadoo keystrokes are getting faster as the keyboard itself goes into self-destruct mode and flies into a thousand pieces.

Oh dear! I had better go and do the ironing.

And on the previous thread, also about Scotland :

Out of around 239 comments, 23 from Mary (around 10% again) : 22 entirely off topic, only 1 more or less on-topic.

Off topics comments range from a breathless “Vicky Pryce found guilty!” to the usually anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist obsessions.

Thank you, Mary!

********

La vita è bella, life is good! (imitation is the best form of flattery)

Mary at 15h03 :

“I see Ms Wyatt has been freighted down to Las Malvinas to cover the ridiculous referendum.”

Referendum for Scottish independence : good

Referendum for future of Falklands : ridiculous.

You should stick to the ironing and leave public affairs to the sane.

************

La vita è bella, life is good! (inconsistency is no virtue)

Kempe,

“She might not have said no but she doesn’t appear to have said yes either.”

Good grief, she was in bed with the man! When he asked her straight out why she was behaving so weirdly (silently weirdly) – “what are you doing?” – she then said she wanted him to use a condom. After which she got up, went and fetched one, returned to the bed, he put it on, and she continued having sex with him.

Kempe, you’re right, ‘yes’ simply doesn’t come into it…

I repeat: go read her statement properly.

If any so-called supporters of Assange think they are doing any justice to his cause by drawing public attention to a photo of Anna Ardin posing with a dildo-heeled shoe, you are not. The photo is completely irrelevant to the dubious case against Assange and attacking her on this basis will only serve to provide propaganda to the other side.

Very disappointed.

Arbed, I don’t know why you take on the trolls and sock-puppets. They are not on this blog to debate but disrupt. They come here with an agenda, sometimes even a mission. You can waste your precious time on them, but it will never achieve anything. Let them talk to themselves, or even among themselves, but the important thing is to concentrate on weakening the case of those who would like to see a good man’s character brought down by liars, especially since Anna has come out more clearly in her true colours. You’re doing a great job. Save your energy.

The Authoritarians must control the population. Information control has always been a linchpin toward that end. The Media, have either been dupes or co-conspirators toward that end. Pre-crime, or thought-crime, if you will, is the necessary construct for keeping control during the Information Revolution.

“By claiming falsely that reviewing materials, for example, about creationism, makes one necessarily a creationist, or reviewing materials about jihad makes one a jihadist, or that reviewing materials about anarchism makes one necessarily an anarchist, and, further, that reviewing anything or even claiming these titles is the same as actually committing any crime, the surveillance state is effectively abolishing your right to be a critical thinker.”

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/14839-the-premise-of-digital-surveillance-precludes-scholarship#i

Jemand,

Ok, I hear you – that’s why I only linked to Ardin’s twitter post of her photo on the Why I’m Convinced thread.

Of course the actual allegations are not really relevant to the extradition case against Assange – it’s abundantly clear they are merely the pretext for the attempted kidnap (‘judicial’ version) of a political foe. But none of that would be possible without Ardin’s false allegations. And there is solid forensic evidence that they are false.

What can we do? When the establishment media simply colludes with the Swedish and UK governments’ abuse of the judicial system by remaining silent that such evidence the allegations are false even exists – even though it’s been in the public domain for more than a year. What else can we do?

Get rid of English period ! Get rid of there rules rule in house from Scotland for Scotland ! Tell them too go get there own oil ! Through out history they’ve been nothing more than a thorn in anyone’s backside near and a far !

Arbed, you have been the most diligent and tireless supporter I have witnessed. You are sharp. All I ask is that you stay sharp like a razor. There are people who pose as supporters who want the conversation to turn bad and discredit the cause. I suspect someone here of doing just that. I personally do not know Julian Assange and have never met him, but I can confidently say that he has not encouraged or supported any comments against the two ‘official’ complainants that do not address the pertinent legal issues that concern him.

Keep well

H-LVEB above

Referendum for Scottish independence : good ie Because it is a real vote with an an unknown result

Referendum for future of Falklands : ridiculous. ie Because it is a sham propaganda exercise with a known result

If anyone wants to get a BBC Falklands report, do NOT go the World/Latin America page. Go to the UK page and they are under Features/Analysis. LOL

btw The Stasi were good at counting like H-LVEB, keeping copious notes on dissenters and notating everything. Ever see The Lives of Others?

Boycott the license fee until you get free unbiased coverage.

Yes, Krishnamurti is an utter riddle for the pea-brained Ineffectual Firepower, His Pettiness!

Jemand, 4.32pm

Thanks, appreciated.

Do you think there’s anything that can be done with the other new development I posted about earlier?

The latest news out of Sweden is that the Ecuadorian offer to interrogate Assange in the London embassy that was hand-delivered by the Ecuadorian ambassador in Stockholm on 25 July 2012 was not only passed by the Swedish FO to their “America section” but also to the official within the Swedish Justice Department responsible for Mutual Legal Assistance.

This link says there was some kind of marginal mark “For further action”. They did nothing, of course. It’s also debatable whether either the FO or the Justice Department even bothered to pass this offer to the Chief Investigator of the case, Marianne Ny.

http://twitlonger.com/show/l8anr8

And they say the case has nothing to do with the Swedish government, it’s “purely a judicial matter”. Pull the other one.

This shows two things:

1) contrary to Carl Bildt’s statement last year that to question Assange in London would be ‘unconstitutional’ for Sweden (he said this in person to Jennifer Robinson but was quickly shot down about it by Swedish legal experts), the Swedish Justice Ministry does have a section dealing with the use of Mutual Legal Assistance to questions suspects abroad; and

2) the case is being controlled over there by the Justice Ministry, not the case prosecutor. Interestingly, one of the points raised in the UK Supreme Court hearing over whether a prosecutor was an appropriate ‘judicial authority’ for the purposes of an EAW was that a Minister of Justice, being part of the executive, was certainly not. It should be in the transcript of the hearing somewhere. I’ll try to dig it out.

“. . . I can confidently say that he has not encouraged or supported any comments against the two ‘official’ complainants that do not address the pertinent legal issues that concern him.”

I agree with this statement. Julian Assange has behaved with great dignity in the face of a huge media campaign to link his name and ‘rape’ in the same sentence, had his whole life disrupted and had to seek asylum because of statements made against him by two women and used by governments to try and engineer his extradition to the US. Anna Ardin, on the other hand, has written vengeful blogs about how to make men suffer who end a relationship with them. She has worked for the Swedish embassy in Buenos Aires and Washington DC. She has told lies about her relationship with the Wikileaks founder (either her statement or the Crayfish party tweets is a lie). It amazes me how he has managed to stay so calm. I have posted the latest CIA-issue footwear photograph of Anna Ardin because Julian Assange could benefit from the focus of attention being elsewhere. And because I think she is a person of very dubious character.

Habbabkukri comments need to be slashed with a kukri and a resounding “ayo gurkhali” cry, leaving behind only his tattered yarmulke !

John Goss; I didn’t detect malevolence in your intention. But, I do think the character of the ‘victim’ sometimes is germane, and the misandry present in some of Sweden’s laws makes the spike heel an issue. Don’t wish to create another ‘dust-up’ after the matter seems settled. The pic was ill-advised, not because it’s been viewed, but because it reveals something of a mindset.

Mrs May is magic.
How does one ‘redetain’ somebody?

Is it ‘I arrest you’ ‘I release you’ ‘I arrest you’.

~~~~~

>The Third Reich. >They Thought They Were Free Milton Mayer.

“What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could not understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it.

“This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.

/..
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/511928.html

They do it via the phone now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Note the grim sounding names
Belmarsh – That name alone strikes terror into the heart
UK Border Agency
Judicial Office
Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac)

9 March 2013 Last updated at 17:27

Abu Qatada redetained over alleged bail breach
Abu Qatada has been fighting deportation to Jordan for more than a decade
Radical cleric Abu Qatada is to remain in custody following an alleged breach of his bail conditions.

Mr Justice Irwin has ruled he must return to Belmarsh prison following his arrest by UK Border Agency officials on Friday, the Judicial Office said.

The decision was made during an urgent Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) meeting by phone on Saturday.

The move comes days before a government bid to have Abu Qatada deported to Jordan to face terror allegations.

On Monday, the government will go to the Court of Appeal in a bid to overturn a judge’s decision to allow Abu Qatada to stay in the UK.

He was arrested on Friday following a day of raids in London by counter-terrorism police.

/..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21727209

Ben Franklin, thanks for the support. The picture has precipitated a few puns of which Shakespeare might have been proud. As to Sweden’s laws (we used to call them progressive) they have created an imbalance in sexual equality which favours misandry over parity. I have met a few Swedes, some gay, some not, but there is a mindset as you say which has turned the country into a place where straight men seem to be extremely vulnerable. How they ever copulate and procreate is beyond my comprehension. In Assange’s case the sexual impropriety allegations were investigated and dismissed, quite properly. My guess is Karl Rove went over there with an offer the Swedish government and the Yank-loving Claes Borgström and Thomas Bodström could not refuse.

The implication in this BBC report is that Scotland can only export if they remain in the UK. Tosh from Moore.

UK ‘offers best of both worlds’ for Scots businesses
The UK government is hosting an energy event in Rio de Janiero this week, which will be attended by members of the Brazilian government and oil sector

Scotland’s Future
Clash over Scots constitution plan
Scots pension plans to be published
Blair: History on side of the union
Scottish debt ‘lower than UK level’

Scotland has “big opportunities” to do business in countries like Brazil as part of the UK, Michael Moore has said.

Ahead of a visit to the South American country, the Scottish Secretary said Scots’ energy expertise was much sought after in Brazil’s emerging oil sector.
/..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-21725573

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Moore_(British_politician)

Arbed, many of these details seem to hint at, but not necessarily prove a particular scenario, however plausible. Both of us know what is going on. We all do. But these creeps rely on plausible deniability and it’s up to us to find enough evidence that supports either legal action or a political backdown.

Do I think anything can be done (at this stage) about the developments you posted about? 

The Ecuadorean offer to facilitate an interview and the ‘American Section’ advisement of this seems to support the long standing claims that the US maintains an ongoing interest in Assange’s legal affairs through the Swedish foreign office. All that can be done is to add this fact to the list of compelling evidence that needs to be kept current in public discussion. You are doing more than anyone in this regard. Stay on message, my friend.

Every time I see that man Carl Bild’s name mentioned, it reminds me of Carl Schmitt.

Schmitt was a very committed Nazi, but more importantly he’s probably the most influential political theorist today.

Put simply, his work argues for dictatorship over democracy, and for continual war of we against them, as the main way of maintaining power.

His work was popularised amongst elites in the US by Leo Strauss, and can be seen most obviously in the wars and practices of Bush and Obama and particularly in how they twist law to stifle dissent.

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

Mary answers my question as follows:

“Referendum for Scottish independence : good ie Because it is a real vote with an an unknown result

Referendum for future of Falklands : ridiculous. ie Because it is a sham propaganda exercise with a known result”

Are not both of these exercises in letting the people concerned state publicly, through the ballot box, what they want?

Are you pissed off about the Falklands referendum because you’d rather the islands were handed over to Argentina without further delay? Are you following your usual line of ‘everyone who opposes Britan and its government in any way and foe whatever reason must be right and must be supported’?

Shame on you, you sham democrat.

************

La vita è bella, life is good! (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery)

@ Mary (17h55), who writes as follows about Abu Qatada’s arrest:

“The decision was made during an urgent Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) meeting by phone on Saturday.”

It may have excaped your notice, Mary, but today is Saturday.

Courts, tribunals and other legal and administrative bodies do not usually work at weekends.

The members of SIAC were probably not all in the same place.

So what do you expect the court to do?

Have you ever heard, for example, of a video-conference? Or of conference calls?

Had the court not met till MOnday, you’d probably be bitching on about hos callous and inefficient is was.

You’re a silly old thing aren’t you.

*************

La vita è bella, life is good! (Mary should take sabbatical leave, she’s tired)

Great idea putting the OSCE to work (I speak as a regular OSCE election monitor).
But what about a mass boycott of the BBC licence fee? It is a ridiculous tax on televisions completely unfit for the 21st century. That would be a sure-fire way to get a huge amount of global media attention on the issue!

Have just come in from a super concert given by very talented children who belong to the SW Surrey Concert Band, (brass, woodwind and percussion) to find more depressing litter has been scattered on this blog. The band’s leader and conductor is an ex military band musician who has a marvellous relationship with the children, encourages them and spurs them on to play their hearts out.

The perpetrator could listen to a repeat of Claire Balding on Radio 4 Ramblings this morning. She went out with an American guy who collects roadside litter by the sackful. Most heartening to listen to about what should be unnecessary work.

David Sedaris
Ramblings, Series 23 Episode 5 of 6

Duration: 23 minutes
First broadcast:Thursday 07 March 2013
David Sedaris, the American author and comedian, takes Clare Balding on a litter-picking walk in West Sussex.

When David Sedaris was a child he would clear up around the house, and keep his own bedroom perfectly tidy. This obsession has, in recent years, been transferred to the outdoors and Sedaris is now a devoted daily litter-picker, cleaning the roadside verges of Pulborough and the surrounding area.

Clare imagined that this edition of Ramblings might take her across the South Downs, occasionally reaching for a stray bottle or piece of paper. In reality it involved walking less than two miles, and filling six bin bags full to bursting with all manner of filthy rubbish. All while wearing a fetching hi-viz jacket. A very unusual edition of Ramblings!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r11wc

I could do without the ageist remarks and the ad hominems. Very unpleasant and took the edge off my feeling of well being but only temporarily.

Sabbakuk is a catholic in the Savile sense of the word, smarmy, abusive, deceitful and dangerous. La vita e bella = Jesus will take care of everything bad I do. I will never forget the description of Savile’s enourmous cross clunking the boy in the back while he raped him. I detect in Sabby’s use of the word Eminences a cynical dislike of those who criticise the powers that be. i.e. a warning threat of Judge not, lest ye be judged.

We are all very unperfect Sabba, but people aspire to better than the lowest common denominator of human degradation. You mock that aspiration to higher ideals with your sarcasm and insultry. Things like Cameron selling off the NHS for rich companies to make profits, or the persecution of the Palestinian people, are immoral acts of historical significance which ought to be highlighted and criticised.

Your mockery/trollery/incestuous picking on Mary is becoming increasingly un-Savvy.

That’s weird. I heard on Sky that CoE bishops have written a letter to the government warning them that their welfare cuts are too severe and then googled ‘UK bishops warning to government’. The following came up.

Archbishop of Canterbury attacks Government welfare reforms
Telegraph.co.uk-2 hours ago

Among the bishops to sign the letter to this newspaper are 14 of the 26 … with a long-standing convention within the Church of England.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9919844/Archbishop-of-Canterbury-attacks-Government-welfare-reforms.html

Archbishop condemns benefit changes
Belfast Telegraph-11 minutes ago
all 5 news sources »

and this next

Here be trolls: Hunting down internet haters
Stuff.co.nz-18 minutes ago

WARNING NOTICE: Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater says trolls’ are … on the internet for the purposes of entertainment,” says Jonathan Bishop, … “In the UK, we have had the cases of Suzanne Moore and Julie … Topically, issues on government, politics, race, and sexuality garner the most troll activity

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/8405629/Beware-the-trolls-Hunting-down-internet-haters

Latter has some interesting and relevant content.

John Goss, 4:03 pm;

“Arbed, I don’t know why you take on the trolls and sock-puppets.”

John, replying to “contributors” like Kempe serves the purpose of correcting dishonesty. Kempe wrote (of Anna Ardin)

“Even if she is a “heel” she still has the right to say no.”

Anna Ardin didn’t say “no”, according to her statement. Kempe dishonestly gave the impression that she did. Kempe effectively lied by implication; it’s a clever technique, and I think that it is right to correct the impression it may leave upon those who haven’t read the statement.

Many people read the comments other than us, the contributors. That’s why people like Kempe come here and post comments such as that one, which they know are dishonest, but which give the impression that they are endeavouring to establish in people’s minds.

Obviously, no one is going to convince Kempe, who must know the facts about the actions against Assange very well in order to formulate effective presuppositions such as that one.

CE, note what Kempe did there. I’ve seen so many instances of this from Kempe to become convinced that s/he is a professional shill, someone paid to influence public opinion against Julian Assange. Ask yourself why such agents are being employed. If you’ve read “Extraditing Assange”, you will be aware of David Allen Green’s dishonesty and misrepresentations against Assange. It’s just more of the same, just pushing the establishment agenda.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9918785/US-and-Europe-in-major-airlift-of-arms-to-Syrian-rebels-through-Zagreb.html

“… claimed 3,000 tons of weapons dating back to the former Yugoslavia have been sent in 75 planeloads from Zagreb airport to the rebels [in Syria], largely via Jordan since November [...]

The shipments were allegedly paid for by Saudi Arabia at the bidding of the United States, with assistance on supplying the weapons organised through Turkey and Jordan, Syria’s neighbours. But the report added that as well as from Croatia, weapons came “from several other European countries including Britain” [...]“

A modern Zen Koan for the likes of Habbakyke & Kempe – “Rwanda or Auschwitz, in which camp was the Almighty MORE silent than the Pope of Rome?” Hint – the S Korean national flag. After a couple of years rumination they might just break through the dialectic, and spare us all of this “chosen” hubris – after realising their consciousness has been no more than that of goats and chickens !!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34226.htm

“Syria’s borders with Jordan and Turkey have been long-ago identified by the US Army’s own West Point Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) as hotbeds of sectarian extremist/Al Qaeda activity – hotbeds that the West is purposefully funneling thousands of tons of weaponry through, while disingenuously claiming it is attempting to prevent such weapons from falling into the hands of extremists.” [My emphasis]

Clark, at 22h56, said :

“Many people read the comments other than us, the contributors.”

Not according to Craig, they don’t. According to Craig, very, very few people who visit this blog read the comments (as opposed to Craig’s own posts). And, given the posionous, obsessional rubbish spouted so often by most of the commenters, I’d say they were very sensible.

*************

Lq vita è bella, life is good!

Hi Clark! hope you are well.

You may be right about Kempe, but to me he just seems like what we like to call a WUM(wind up merchant), who would argue black is white. But then again, I am probably too trusting!

Only in Scotland could the news an independent Scotland would be the 3rd richest nation in Europe be spun into bad news.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/politics/referendum-news/warning-over-scots-eu-costs.20449228

Habbabkuk, I think that Craig either misinterpreted the monitoring tools, or was maybe feeling pessimistic when he wrote that. The accumulated results from the available tools are tricky to interpret. But when I had access to the software, I’d look at the real-time page activity. There are far more readers than contributors, so many that the latest page scrolls faster than you can follow it.

CE, I’m OK thanks; I hope you’re well, too.

Mary, best wishes to you.

I’m off to bed. Goodnight CE, and everyone.

Clark Craig was setting up a joke when he said that, the punchline was “nobody reads my articles either” )

” given the posionous, obsessional rubbish spouted so often by most of the commenters, I’d say they were very sensible.”

Clark;

Given the disproportional level of antipathy, I suggest many refrain from spending more time, and commenting, due to the overly overt, and disproportional antithetic diatribes of the hasbara tribalists.

No one wants to be subjected to subjective animus, for no other purpose than subjugating the good auspices of cogent commentary.

As sad as I am to take some of the debate away from Scottish Independence, the usual nonsense about JA begs correction.

“My guess is Karl Rove went over there with an offer the Swedish government and the Yank-loving Claes Borgström and Thomas Bodström could not refuse.” – John Goss

Yes of course he did John.

Clark, you talk about misinformation about the Assange case, the comments on this blog are full them! Let’s just take one paragraph from resident ‘expert’ Arbed;

“Of course the (1)actual allegations are not really relevant to the extradition case against Assange – it’s (2)abundantly clear they are merely the pretext for the (3)attempted kidnap (‘judicial’ version) of a political foe. But (4)none of that would be possible without Ardin’s false allegations. And there is (5)solid forensic evidence that they are false.”

1)The actual allegations on a EAW are irrelevant to the EAW?
2)’abundantly clear’ to yourself maybe, but certainly not to everyone.
3)’attempted kidnap’- Really? Evidence of this ‘Kidnap’? Your penchant for over egging the pudding is most unhelpful.
4)Totally and utterly false. SW’s allegations (sex without consent, however you like to dress it up) alone are sufficient for charges to be brought in most civilised nations.
5)Personally I prefer a court of law to an internet blog for discerning the strength and validity of evidence.

Some of JA’s supporters like to talk about ‘red herrings’, the biggest RH of all is the continual promotion of this nonsensical idea that the Swedish prosecutors should be jumping through hoops for a bail-skipping alleged sex offender.

And for the umpteenth time, people who do otherwise commendable work are capable of rape and other crimes. If presented with rape allegations, they must face them like anybody else, however otherwise worthy their past contributions. I know Western governments want Wikileaks crushed, and that JA’s fears of extradition to the the US are not unfounded, but none of this should give JA immunity from serious charges that have emerged from Sweden.

Ben, I’m sure what you have to say is interesting and relevant but would you mind posting in English so that we can read you? Thanks.

*********

La vita è bella, life is good! (post clearly or not at all)

Habbakuk complains about:

“the posionous, obsessional rubbish”

But surely such a complaint may be more correctly addressed to yourself.

You’d agree that you’re obsessional. That’s just a fact.

And you couldn’t reasonably disagree that your contributions are designed only to poison the well of rational discourse.

CE – I prefer you on JA than on Scottish independence!

You write :

“people who do otherwise commendable work are capable of rape and other crimes…”

Exactly right. And in that connection, I recommend that the Eminences and assorted others should go and read George Orwell’s esssay “Benefit of clergy”.

Over but not out.

Habba,

I thought you might!:-)

Goodnight all.

Herbie wrote about me :

“your contributions are designed only to poison the well of rational discourse.”

Herbie, are you talking about this blog? If you are, the “well” you mention must be as difficult to find as an oasis in the Gobi.

*************

La vita è bella, life is good! (is the wel but a mirage?)

Speaking of the Far Left and Rape;

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/09/socialist-workers-party-rape-kangaroo-court

Sickening.

a wee reminder of how these murky cretins operate, now there wouldn’t be any evidence of this confession being vindicated buy any cretin on Craig’s blog

if it’s amusing and entertainment to some, that kinda dose not ring right on this blog. what happens when Mary or any other valued soul cries “enough” to me it is also unfair to assume that wont happen.

“Focus on the popular posters,” my trainer told me. “These are the influential ones. Each of these is worth 50 to 100 of the lesser known names.” Each popular poster was classified as “hostile,” “friendly,” or “indifferent” to my goal. We were supposed to cultivate friendship with the friendly posters as well as the mods (basically, by brown nosing and sucking up), and there were even notes on strategies for dealing with specific hostile posters. The info was pretty detailed, but not perfect in every case. “If you can convert one of the hostile posters from the enemy side to our side, you get a nice bonus. But this doesn’t happen too often, sadly. So mostly you’ll be attacking them and trying to smear them.”

Habbabkuk is like an unperturbed parody of that sort of thing.

CE:

1) The original allegations were ruled to be irrelevant to the European Arrest warrant by the High Court. For Offence 1, see paragraph 71:

“In our view, it is not apposite to take into account the material in the prosecution file. [...]“

For offences 2, 3 and 4, paragraphs 92, 98, and 119 all read:

“For the reasons we have given at paragraphs 68 and 71 as applied to this offence, it is not necessary to consider this. [...]

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2011/2849.html

2) It becomes “abundantly clear” if you read the material carefully, as Arbed has.

3) “Evidence of this ‘Kidnap’?”: I’d call attempting to raid the Ecuadorian embassy an “attempted kidnap”. Plenty of evidence follows. Comments arriving at this blog as it occurred:

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2012/07/circuses-but-less-bread/comment-page-8/#comment-350746

Craig’s testimony from his FCO contacts:

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2012/08/americas-vassal-acts-decisively-and-illegally/

Coverage linked by Arbed:

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/01/amelia-hill-is-a-dirty-liar/comment-page-5/#comment-393289

4) CE, do you know that SW wants charges pressed against Assange? I’ve asked you this repeatedly. What if she doesn’t? And if she doesn’t (as she stated to “Witness I” and others), wouldn’t unwanted police action itself constitute a violation of SW?

Yes, police pursue matters of domestic violence regardless of the wishes of allegedly injured parties, but that is to prevent witness intimidation. SW and AA have both stated publicly that they do not feel intimidated by Assange.

5) Yes, I’d prefer a court of law, and I expect that Assange would like the chance to clear his name. But the allegations against Assange were made public by the Swedish police. Given that such repeated breaches of due process have extended to intimidation of the Ecuadorian embassy, I have serious doubts about the neutrality of the authorities in this case, which means that the risk to Julian Assange from the USA now seems to be the overriding matter.

———

CE, you asked me in private e-mail communication to assure other readers that you are not acting as a shill for the establishment. I am not in a position to make such an assurance, but you do seem genuine to me. I have one question to ask you which I would really like an answer to: Have you read the document Extraditing Assange?:

http://justice4assange.com/extraditing-assange.html

It is extensively referenced to the most authoritative sources.

I refer you to an excerpt from Mary’s comment above:

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/03/oh-dear-new-labours-control-of-bbc-scotland-must-be-curbed/#comment-398253

>The Third Reich. >They Thought They Were Free Milton Mayer.

“This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.”

CE, the following is from my head, but it is also truly heartfelt. I have read Extraditing Assange. I have looked closely into the way Assange has been treated by the authorities and the media. I am scared, because it is unjust and unfair; this is not supposed to happen in countries like Sweden and the UK.

Please, CE. You have been so aggressive towards Arbed despite her personal testimony as a rape complainant. I have reviewed each criticism that you have made of her comments, and every time, I find her contributions closer to the truth than yours. Please understand that for people such as Arbed and myself, and many others who comment here, this is about far more than the accusations against Julian Assange. It is about abuse of due process for ulterior motives by the authorities. In a supposedly free society, that is something that every citizen should be concerned about. If we do not defend our freedom, we shall lose it.

Now, CE, please answer my question above, and then show me and everyone else that you are not a shill.

La vita e bella is supposed to be about the small-minded ignorance of village anti-semitism. i.e. a role-reversal theme of the small-minded ignorance of small-country Israeli apartheid. Sabbakuk uses the title of this film as a cry of anti-semitism. In the context of 15 years of the neo=con War on Terror it is perfectly reasonable to ask the question ‘cui bono’ for whose benefit has all this massacre and state inflicted terror been done and how has it happened against the wishes of the citizens of this country? How has it become necessary for political advancement in Westminster to be a Friend of Israel? How has Israel come to dictate UK foreign policy?

Habbabkuk uses this phrase La vita e bella in order to slander those who criticise this Zionist agenda with the slur of anti-semiticism. A classic troll of the Larry from St Louis kind.

I was once staying on a hospital ward where a single patient started constantly whistling like an owner to his dog every few seconds. This enfuriated the nurses who shut him in a private room because of his attention-seeking behaviour, whistling to them as if they were dogs to call their attention. I find Habbakuk’s repetitive style equally offensive and unacceptable.
This disruptive behaviour is not just bullying and distressing to Mary. Like the dog-whistler, it is designed to test the patience of all readers, challenging them to divert their attention from the subject of the blog to his abusive behaviour.
It is not his language that is abusive Even Craig’s language is sometimes “abusive’ and that is a recognised flavour of Scottish culture in the Flyting poetic form. It isn’t part of Scottish culture to be personally insulting though, rather the opposite, ultra-politeness.

The dog-whistler understood that it isn’t necessary to use language at all in order to be abusive. I’m not sure why this abusive behaviour of Habbabkuk’s has been allowed by Craig and the mods to carry on for so long.

CE, please try to think where your reasoning could lead. Some local authorities are installing audio surveillance on public transport now:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57558706-71/is-your-bus-bugged-for-sound/

So, the authorities don’t like your activism on, say, Scottish independence (that oil is worth billions). So they gather in any audio they can find of your sexual partner. While she’s on her mobile phone to a woman friend of hers in a public place, a microphone overhears some complaint (just a girls’ joke, really) about your recent sexual performance. Or maybe a radio scanner or a network tap intercepts her phone call:

http://news.cnet.com/FBI-taps-cell-phone-mic-as-eavesdropping-tool/2100-1029_3-6140191.html

A little later, a female plain clothes officer arrives at your home while you are at work, and, maybe under the pretext of doing a survey, asks your partner some fairly intimate questions, and gets into a conversation…

Pretty soon, you’re called in to the police station. Charges of sexual harassment are made against you. Your partner objects to the charges, but (in the words of Claes Borgström) “she is not a lawyer” so she can’t get the charges dropped, and you’re both dragged through the courts. After all, she did say those things, and as you’ve said, in “civilised” countries, the decision of the authorities must override the wishes of the individual.

Is this really the sort of society you want to live in? Far fetched?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/deceived-lovers-speak-of-mental-torture-from-undercover-detectives-8515915.html

Of course, if your bid for Scottish independence is successful, you needn’t worry about what happens here in the south. You’ll have a government you can control, because you have a much better electoral system.

Just when you thought that all hope for a just society had been lost, you see this cheering news. This Australian human rights lawyer, and a member of Julian’s legal team, has been named joint winner of Australian National University’s young alumnus of the year with Sebastian Robertson, founder of Batyr, a non-profit organisation addressing mental health challenges among young people.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/anu-honour-for-assange-lawyer-20130309-2fsuo.html#ixzz2N7jMB4eU

Ms Robinson said she remained a member of his legal team because free-speech principles were at stake.

‘I happen to like him – he is incredibly intelligent and brave – and I enjoy working with him. But whether you like him or not, it is the principles involved and the importance of WikiLeaks’ work that merit support. I also feel strongly that, as an Australian, he deserves support from Australians – support that certainly has not come from our government.’

She literally shines.

These bishops have had the courage to voice their concern. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have added their support.

Archbishop of Canterbury attacks Government welfare reforms
The Archbishop of Canterbury is supporting a campaign to derail a key part of the Government’s welfare reforms.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9919844/Archbishop-of-Canterbury-attacks-Government-welfare-reforms.html

The letter from 43 bishops to The Sunday Telegraph reads:

SIR – Next week, members of the House of Lords will debate the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill.

The Bill will mean that for each of the next three years, most financial support for families will increase by no more than 1 per cent, regardless of how much prices rise.

This is a change that will have a deeply disproportionate impact on families with children, pushing 200,000 children into poverty. A third of all households will be affected by the Bill, but nearly nine out of 10 families with children will be hit.

These are children and families from all walks of life. The Children’s Society calculates that a single parent with two children, working on an average wage as a nurse would lose £424 a year by 2015. A couple with three children and one earner, on an average wage as a corporal in the British Army, would lose £552 a year by 2015.

However, the change will hit the poorest the hardest. About 60 per cent of the savings from the uprating cap will come from the poorest third of households. Only 3 per cent will come from the wealthiest third.

If prices rise faster than expected, children and families will no longer have any protection against this. This transfers the risk of high inflation rates from the Treasury to children and families, which is unacceptable.

Children and families are already being hit hard by cuts to support, including those to tax credits, maternity benefits, and help with housing costs. They cannot afford this further hardship penalty. We are calling on the House of Lords to take action to protect children from the impact of this Bill.

The list of names and their sees follow.

Came across this “think-tank” today

The centre for social justice… started by Ian Duncan Smith!

Also the board of directors – all ex bankers or lawyers – the most compassionate of people…

http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/about-us/board-of-directors

Clark at 10.56 a.m. yesterday. Thanks for that comment. Thankfully those who know who the trolls are can choose not to read them. There are only 24 hours in a day.

After listening to advice on this blog and reflecting on it I have taken down the picture of Anna Ardin linked earlier and replaced it with an old boot.

On topic (just about). While Scotland seeks independence from imperialist Westminster and its media-control some 1700 English-speaking Falkland Islanders choose to screw the British taxpayer for yet £100,000 per Falkland Island family, ad infinitum, in a referendum that is a foregone conclusion. This is my take on it.

http://newsjunkiepost.com/2013/01/05/las-malvinas-or-the-falkland-islands-the-ugly-face-of-british-imperialism-and-its-startling-cost/

Guano, at 05h43, says the following about the use of “La vita è bella, life is good!” :

“Sabbakuk uses the title of this film as a cry of anti-semitism”

and

“Habbabkuk uses this phrase La vita e bella in order to slander those who criticise this Zionist agenda with the slur of anti-semiticism”.

Now, I hadn’t realised that it was blog etiquette for commenters to have to explain or justify their handles – any more than it was necessary for them to explain or justify their avatars. But as a favour to Guano and others, I’m happy to do so.

“La vita è bella, life is good” are all words which pre-exist, and do happen to have an existence and meaning outside of, the eponymous film. They are meant as a standing reminder to the Eminences and others of that persuasion that there is more to life than the unending catalogue of woe, death and destruction, intrigue and turpitude and conspiracy which at least some of them appear to specialise in bringing to our attention. If you like, the words constitute a standing reproach and summary answer to those whose vision of life, as represented by their comments on this blog, appears to be unremittingly negative.

Did that help?

Probably not.

(As an after-thought, I do think that Guano should get his act together with the other Eminences : the one seems to think I’m anti-semitic, whereas others opine indignantly that I’m an agent in the pay of Jerusalem. Do make up your minds!

************

La vita è bella, life is good! (just look around)

Argentina casualties and losses

649 killed
1,657 wounded
11,313 taken prisoner

1 cruiser
1 submarine
4 cargo vessels
2 patrol boats
1 spy trawler

25 helicopters
35 fighters
2 bombers
4 transports
25 COIN aircraft
9 armed trainers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great Britain casualties and losses

258 killed
775 wounded
115 taken prisoner

2 destroyers
2 frigates
1 LSL landing ship
1 LCU amphibious craft
1 container ship

24 helicopters
10 fighters

~~~~~

The stupidity of Thatcher and Galtieri is well illustrated by the above statistics and by the memorials to the dead of both nationalities on the islands and on the mainlands of both countries.

The cost of the referendum is stated to be £70,000 but I bet HMG is forking out much more. There are even international monitors and planes visiting outlying remote islands to collect the votes. http://www.falklands.gov.fk/assets/ExCo-205-12P.pdf

The predicted result will be used by the boy wonder in the House in his squabble with Kirchner. Grow up Mr Hague.

Q Will dissenters be sent to live with the penguins in Bluff Cove?

PS We all know it is really about mineral resources.

@Arbed

“Genuine rape victims don’t hand false evidence in to the police. (They’re unlikely to indulge in the kind of retail therapy coping strategies Ardin clearly enjoys either.)”

And where is you evidence for this generalisation – I think you will actually find that many rape victims suffer stress disorders that make them behave in all sorts of different, unusual and erratic ways – it is also one very good reason why rape trials and investigations are best conducted in private rather than over the internet.

I’m afraid that the rest of your post says rather more about you than Anna Ardin.

ary says (correctly as far as Galtieri is concerned) :

“The stupidity of Thatcher and Galtieri is well illustrated by the above statistics and by the memorials to the dead of both nationalities on the islands and on the mainlands of both countries.”

Could I ask Mary to tell us how she thinks Mrs Thatcher and the UK govt. should have reacted to the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands?

***************

La vita è bella, life is good!

@ Mary :

re the Falkland referendum, you say that there will ne interbational monitors, and you appear to emphasise your surprise by using the word “even”.

Presumably you should be in favour of international monitoring? After all, you back Craig’s idea for OSCE monitoring for the Scottish referendum.

Could we have an asnwer for once to yet another legitimate question politely phrased?

Thank you.

resident dissident, 9:33 am

“…one very good reason why rape trials and investigations are best conducted in private rather than over the internet”

Well it would have helped if the Swedish police hadn’t reported everything to Expressen then, wouldn’t it? But that wouldn’t have been useful, for the purpose of smearing Assange.

AA isn’t a “rape victim” or even an “alleged rape victim”. Check your facts.

Habba

I wouldn’t waste your breath trying to explain the difference between anti-semitism and anti zionism to Guano – quite why he is allowed a platform here given what Craig has previously said about ant-semitism is beyond on me. I also notice that the campaigner for truth and justice still hasn’t come forward with an explanation as to why it is considered acceptable to use Jewish religous ceromonies as a basis for an attack on zionists. The campaigner for justice also seems to spend rather a lot of time arguing for certain people and causes to be beyond justice. Orwellian doublespeak at its finest I’m afraid.

Exexpat, makes you sick to your stomach, doesn’t it? Thanks for highlighting.

“Get rid of English period ! Get rid of there rules rule in house from Scotland for Scotland ! Tell them too go get there own oil ! Through out history they’ve been nothing more than a thorn in anyone’s backside near and a far !” Shawn McCalla Graham, 4:17pm, 9.3.13.

Was this some strange uro-gynaecological exhortation, a play on Mediaeval nightingale melodramas, or was it irony? Or just xenophobia? Did you know that one in five Scots is deemed to be functionally illiterate, in the English language? England’s not much better. Anyway…

It is not – it cannot be – about “English”. Many of us living in Scotland could be deemed, by one or other definition, English. It is about economic and social – domestic and international – imperialism, control of resources and self-determination for all those who live in Scotland. The same discourse applies to all those who live in England, Wales and (all of) Ireland and indeed everywhere else. Paraguay, for example.

Clark

I don’t know what Anna Ardin is – that is what the Swedish legal process is trying to find out, and in my view should be allowed to do. Unlike you I have not prejudged the issue – and I don’t think this is the place for the case to be conducted. I have no intention of appearing as prosecuting council in what amounts to a knagaroo court – and I would advise others not to try to do so either.

I think you will find that it is the prosecution rather than the police that is accused of leaking eveidence (or at least that is what Arbed said previously while conveniently ignoring the point that the defence has not been above a spot of leaking either). Undesirable though leaking of evidence is, especially in rape cases, I don’t think that is a very sound argument for avoiding trials in general – think about it.

I was actually asking a question about what was Arbed’s evidence for her rather broad brush generalisation that genuine rape victims do not present false evidence.

resident dissident, the High Court proceedings are a matter of public record. Open justice is one of the pillars of a free society. You should not be arguing that looking at public documents is some way prejudicial. One of the sites I linked to was bailii.org, “British and Irish Legal Information Institute – Access to Freely Available British and Irish Public Legal Information”.

Or would you prefer a police state and closed courts?

I really can’t believe some of you people. All the things that we hold dear, all our legal protections, the things that have moved us in the direction of a free society – you seem as though you’d trash them all. And for what? You say that haven’t read the statements, but you can look in the Swedish media to see that there was NO allegation of violence.

Maybe you think that you’re helping to protect women. You’re not. You’re arguing for everyone, men and women, to be put at risk from the state.

Clark

I have no problemn whatsoever about nearly all court proceedings being open and being a matter of public record – not all are btw – there are for example protections for minors, rape victims etc. That is not the same as saying that all evidence should be available to the public before the case so that they can prejudge (the source of the word prejudice btw) a case by a partial selection of evidence which has not beem subject to challenge and cross examination – and for which there is no documented judgement. A lot of brave people fought for many years in this country for there to be fair and balanced legal processes in this country – I don’t believe that they should be thrown away and undermined so easily.

With Independence at least the Scots will not have Lithuanian imposters forced upon them out of Edinburgh Pentlands sitting in the Cabinet deigning to represent them on the world stage. In the long run, invariably another McCluskey will arise and be found out to be yet another Mucluski with a penthouse on Haifa Beach!

resident dissident, do your public duty and look at the publicly available facts, not the leaked material, but what was leaked and by whom, and the documents such as court records that are quite rightly publicly disclosed. You will see that this case should be dropped, as proceedings have been hugely prejudicial against Assange.

You didn’t like the old USSR, did you? I’m warning you; we are moving in that direction. The further it gets the harder it will be to stop. Do not complacently assume that “it can’t happen here”. Authoritarianism will encroach wherever people permit it to.

We have secret police, secret courts, abuse of process, restriction on public demonstration, most of these are referenced and documented on this very thread. Come on. Please. It’s time to act.

Habbabkuk

Thanks for explaining your abusive behaviour in your own words: viz they have two meanings, one innocent and cheerful, the other malicious and politically offensive.

Craig :

I asked you a question the other day. Well, it would be presumptuous of me to demand an answer and I realise that you have other, certainly more pressing calls on your time (I say this without irony, believe me). But still, I should like to repeat it, slightly rephrased:

If Alec Salmond were not to call for OSCE monitoring of the referendum process and vote, as you urge him to do, what personal conclusions would you draw about him?

Resident dissident, think about it. In 2003, against the pressure of the biggest public demonstrations that have ever taken place, the US and the UK began an illegal war upon Iraq, based on deliberately fabricated lies. Hundreds of thousands died and millions were displaced. Torture became commonplace.

In the US, the UK, and all over the formerly free world, civil liberties began to be dismantled. The right to protest was curtailed. Throughout, these governments supported and armed dictators, and in particular they permitted their policies to be influenced by Israel, as it moved inexorably to the Right.

NATO governments arm, support and collude with terrorist gangs in Syria as they did in Libya. The case for war against Iran is constantly pushed, to legitimise attack on spurious grounds. Due process is abused to persecute the figurehead of the Wikileaks organisation which revealed the horrors of such wars.

Secret police were infiltrated into pressure groups. Total surveillance of the population was embarked upon, and a legal frameworks constructed to support it in many countries.

The people reacted. In an attempt to regain control of their government, six million people voted to change the electoral system, despite media smears and deception. A third of the population of Scotland currently wish to escape the rule of Westminster.

And all through this, the rich have been made richer and the poor, poorer, by the action of government. Corruption is endemic.

Resident dissident, what will it take before you’ll act?

@ Suhayl Saadi 10 Mar, 2013 – 9:57 am You quote Shawn McCalla Graham saying (at 4:17pm, 9.3.13. ):

“Get rid of English period ! Get rid of there rules rule in house from Scotland for Scotland ! Tell them too go get there own oil ! Through out history they’ve been nothing more than a thorn in anyone’s backside near and a far !”

“

When I read that post, I judged it to be a ‘false flag’ comment, designed to associate the independence movement with ignorant belligerence. It is just too perfect a study in illiteracy. Feel free to contradict me ‘Shawn’.

Yes, because no ignorant, illiterate person would ever write a comment in support of Scottish independence. It must be a “false-flag”! Just as when the Scots give the wrong answer, it will be the result of manipulation, propaganda and indoctrination. They simply can’t think for themselves, these Scots!

And, of course, the false-flag “association” of support for Scottish independence with ignorance and illiteracy, hundreds of comments down a Craig Murray blog post, will surely sway the ignorant, gullible masses of Scotland to vote the wrong way! We must be ever alert, comrades!

Hi clark,

Apologies posting on the run, Mothers Day and all that!

I am totally at a loss at the faith you place in J4A, their use of misinformation and obfuscation can be just as bad as the MSM. You also fail to correct Arbed’s misinformation that, “none of that would be possible without Ardin’s false allegations”. Again, not true, SW’s allegations alone indicate a serious crime.

The ‘extraditing assange’ document you refer to is mostly just a rehash of defeated legal arguments, such as the popular and irresponsible notion that the charges on the EAW bear no relation to the ‘real allegations’. This was argued in court by JA and his legal team and defeated at every turn!

Further more J4A go even further and repeat the lie , that SW gave consent for the act of unprotected sex. This is not true and pretty close to smearing an alleged rape victim. In fact our High Court ruled ruled that: “It is clear that the allegation is that he had sexual intercourse with her when she was not in a position to consent and so he could not have had any reasonable belief that she did.” In fact it would seem that he a reasonable belief that she would not consent.

I agree with you about fearing due process has been thrown out the window in this case, but disagree about the cause. I feel Owen Jones sums it up best, “Assange should go to Sweden to face the allegations. That doesn’t mean abandoning the struggle to hold Western governments to account, and to force them to be open about how they act in our name. But this is a struggle that has become tragically compromised by Assange.”

Sorry if fail to reply, have an enjoyable day.

@ Mary

Whenever you’re back from Sunday worship and have a spare moment, do please take tome to answer two questions I put to you following on comments of yours.

They were

1/. How you think Mrs Thatcher and the then govt. should have reacted following the Argentianian invasion of the Falkland Islands

2/. Since you are in favour of international monitoring of the Scottish referendum process (as suggested by Craig), are you also in favour of international monitoring of the referendum in the Falkland Islands?

Thank you.

***********

La vita è bella, life is good! (calling to account time)

Guano wrote :

“Habbabkuk

Thanks for explaining your abusive behaviour in your own words”

To which I reply, politely as always :

Guano

And thank you for NOT explaining how and why “La vita è bella, life is good!” is abusive.

************

You’re in the wrong league, sonny; find an easier adversary!

Clark I admire you greatly for your rational reasoned arguments with these people here but you are wasting your time with them. Best wishes.

To all my admirers :

No more from me until this evening, I’m afraid!

Must go out for a spot of lunch and then getting ready for a thé dansant at the Duchesse de Guermantes’.

@ Giles 10 Mar, 2013 – 12:02 pm

As long as there are people like you visiting this blog, I will remain suspicious of people’s motives for posting comments.

CE, I linked here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/deceived-lovers-speak-of-mental-torture-from-undercover-detectives-8515915.html

Do you think that what these police did was worse, or not as bad, as what Assange is accused of?

Clark, 5.09am

Thank you.

Resident Dissident, 9.33am

@Arbed

“Genuine rape victims don’t hand false evidence in to the police. (They’re unlikely to indulge in the kind of retail therapy coping strategies Ardin clearly enjoys either.)”

And where is you evidence for this generalisation?

If you read Clark’s post at 5.09am carefully you will see I don’t need to generalise. My comments are based on personal experience. This includes a great deal of involvement with Victims Support, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, women’s groups, and (later in life) in-depth specialist academic research.

Resident Dissident, same post (9.33am)

I’m afraid that the rest of your post says rather more about you than Anna Ardin.

The rest of my post (9 Mar, 12.11pm, if you’d like to go back and check) is exclusively about what happened when the Ecuadorian ambassador formally passed an offer to facilitate Assange’s questioning in London to the Swedish Foreign Office.

So – touche! – I’m afraid most of your post says more about you than about me.

Habbakuk asks Mary:

1/. How you think Mrs Thatcher and the then govt. should have reacted following the Argentianian invasion of the Falkland Islands

Well, perhaps, given that they knew in advance that it was likely to happen, were current discussions broken off, they oughtn’t to have further encouraged it by breaking off those talks, at the insistance of Thatcher’s team, and against the advice of Carrington.

War always leads to death, mutilation and depravities of an unspeakable nature. Not where you want to go if you can avoid it, you’d have thought.

Carrington was close to resolving The Falklands issue, through discussion, international law etc., but primarily divvying up the oil and following the procedures of the international cold war consensus. Thatcher’s team wanted more than consenus could ever allow.

That Thatcher’s team broke the post war liberal consensus is now uncontroversial,

That they did it on the back of an unnecessary war, is perhaps less well known. The war was not necessary, but contrived. Thatcher’s popularity soared on the back of the media-created extravaganza ( Murdoch media primarily ) of renewed nationalism ensuing from the unity of us against them. Previously, her ratings were dire and she was headed to defeat at the next election.

Given this new popularity she then pursued a relentless campaign of us against them within, which has continued to this day.

I wonder how many who cheered for her then, are victims of her now.

One-nation Conservatives and Labour died during this time, replaced by neo-con authoritarians throughout.

It’s a good trick, and has been shown to work time and time, and time again.

Resident Dissident, 10.29am

I was actually asking a question about what was Arbed’s evidence for her rather broad brush generalisation that genuine rape victims do not present false evidence.

See Clark’s 5.09am and my 3.03pm posts.

So there you have it – my evidence for believing genuine rape victims do not present false evidence to police: I am one.

Ok Superbug Starbuks, you didn’t underswtwand.

La vita bella is a film about ignorance in a small community where a rather nice Jewish man decides to live a life of tranquillity in a rural community, selling books and coffee and have a nice time.

La vita bella is a satirical title about the nasty side of small enclosed communities which appear so idyllic from the outside.
In film you can do that, make good look bad by wafting romantic music and countryside over a tale of stereotypes and dreams.
We live in an age of illusion in which people fantasise about magic and murder and end up stabbing an innocent girl going to school on a bus. In which Israelis can exist in Zionist fantasy next to the rightful owners of the land and think nothing of shooting their children and imprisoning them without trial.

It’s just one fantasy against another fantasy in their warped minds. La vita e bella is a fantasy about anti-semitism, and Israel is a fantasy about Zionism, both equally valid and equally separate from reality. The anti-semitism in the film La vita e bella is a counter-balance to Islamophobia and global violence against Palestine.

Tighten up your blinkers you old donkey in case you see reality creeping up behind.

CE, 12.48pm

In fact our High Court ruled ruled that: “It is clear that the allegation is that he had sexual intercourse with her when she was not in a position to consent and so he could not have had any reasonable belief that she did.”

You appear not to understand that here they are talking about Marianne Ny, the prosecutor’s allegation – in the exact wording as it is written on the EAW – and not SW’s. SW’s witness statement confirms that she did in fact consent. And her witness friend (Witness A, from memory) confirmed to police that SW had told her she was only “half-asleep”. It is also clear from Witness A’s statement that the Swedish police have in their possession SMS text messages written by SW that she did indeed confirm that she was not asleep at the time of Marianne Ny’s alleged offence.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/world/middleeast/anwar-al-awlaki-a-us-citizen-in-americas-cross-hairs.html?pagewanted=all

Although the controversy is about Awlaki and his status as citizen, I should like to know more of Morten Storm, the Danish double-agent for CIA. I would like to FOIA his relationship to Danish government. Are they slave-sensors like the Swedes, who seem to jerk and weave with a puppet’s consistency?

Would the statute auger well for the non-US citizen, Assange?