I learn the interesting news that David Aaronovitch tweeted to Joan Smith and Jenny Jones that I am:
“an angry and dangerous man who could as easily be on the far right as the far left”.
I had no idea I was on the far left, though I suppose it is a matter of perspective, and from where Mr Aaronovitch stands I, and a great many others, look awfully far away to the left. I don’t believe you should bomb people for their own good, I don’t believe the people of Palestine should be crushed, I don’t believe the profit motive should dominate the NHS, I think utilities and railways were better in public ownership, I think education should be free. I guess that makes me Joseph Stalin.
But actually I am very flattered. Apparently I am not just angry – since the invasion of Iraq and the banker bailouts everybody should be angry – but “dangerous”. If I can be a danger to the interests represented by a Rupert Murdoch employee like Aaronovitch, I must have done something right in my life. I fear he sadly overrates me; but it does make me feel a little bit warmer, and hold my head that little bit higher.
Bert:
The victories of Morales, Correa and Chavez are triumphs against the pro-US criollo power-structures which have dominated so much of Latin America for so long.
Morales’ presidency represents the awakening of the political consciousness of the indigenous people whose apathy was for so long taken for granted by the privileged classes.
That is why, for instance, the US was so keen to encourage the secessionists based in Santa Cruz where most of the gas deposits lie. You’ve got to hand it to the US, they’re in it for the long-haul.
A comment was made about JA might end up rotting in Ecuador for the rest of his life. I doubt that. There are a number of countries in the region who would treat him as a hero for poking the eye of the US. But first we have to get him to Ecuador…..
@Nuid:
Sorry, I thought you might have meant my comment was ludicrous!
Don’t know whether anyone has seen this yet off ITV News, cops instructions to arrest “under all circumstances” :- http://www.itv.com/news/story/2012-06-19/assange-seeks-political-asylum/
Just a reminder that Sweden not only gave diplomatic asylum and safe passage documents to tens of thousands of Jews in Budapest in WW2, but also did the same for some of the people trying to flee Pinochet’s terror in Chile in 1973.
Whereas Allende was in with Swedish and West German banks, Pinochet was in with US banks.
Swedish government and big business circles, centred on the Wallenberg family, have for several generations been very imperialist in their outlook – towards the rest of Scandinavia, the Baltic area, and also, when they’ve had the chance, in other places. In particular they export a lot of weapons (Bofors).
Very interesting that the Belarusian government recently PNGed some Swedish diplomats.
What is Barankov’s role in stuff? Be grateful if someone could fill me on that.
@VivaEcuador
Yes, sorry, I realised that possibility after I’d posted it. 🙂
Komodo begged:
“I demand a topless shot of Ms Ar**n.”
Here you go my reptilian friend:
http://www.scc.org.uk/content/crayfish%20party.jpg
The doc on the policeman’s clipboard said:
“Assange to be arrested under all circumstances.
He comes out with dip. immun., as dip bag, in dip bag (risk to life) in dip. vehicle. – ARRESTED.
Seems to me those police officers haven’t been given very clear instructions. No way are they going to pull someone out of a diplomatic vehicle, which is just as extraterritorial as an embassy. Not that Assange would be allowed to get to the vehicle in the first place. Also he can’t become a foreign diplomat in London without British say-so.
What he can become is an ad hoc diplomatic courier, on his way to Quito. Then his person would be inviolable. More noise should be being made about this option.
OAS meeting on Assange and Ecuador has begun. Comienza la reunión de cancilleres de la OEA sobre Assange.
Glenn Greenwald has new Guardian piece up on line now: The New Statesman must correct its error over Assange and extradition: The claim that Swedish courts, not government, have final say on extradition is a crucial mistake that distorts the Assange case.
Craig,
Of course you are dangerous. You are not just waking up the sheep, you are now doing it live on TV…and they are asking “Who is this nice polite man who is talking sense? Why is he being shouted down?”…
Whilst the agenda changes to Prince Harry “‘protecting’ that naked girl”
Nearly everyone else has given up.
Keep it up like Harry.
At least he is good for a laugh. Just don’t mention his helicopter and what he is rumoured to do with it.
Tony
More informative AFP piece on the OAS meeting: Cancilleres de OEA debaten apoyo a Ecuador en confrontación con Londres.
One of the problems of the conflict in Syria is that left and right as represented by Russia and US have equally horrible genocidal tendencies. Maybe political Islam would like them to encourage them weaken eachother in the Muslim abbattoir.
That view of the police clipboard was shown accidentally on purpose just like the notes of Asst Commmissioner Bob Quick which were photographed as he entered No 10.
Police chief Bob Quick steps down over terror blunder
Britain’s most senior counterterrorism officer resigns over security leak that resulted in anti-terror operation being brought forward
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/09/bob-quick-terror-raids-leak
‘Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow’ as Victor Sylvester used to say on Come Dancing. You are all too young to remember him!
La Mensch would support NewsCorp’s Sun for publishing those stupid photographs wouldn’t she? After all she supports Murdoch to the hilt.
‘For a solid eight hours yesterday – and a few besides this morning – Louise Mensch went around every television studio that would have her, grasped every microphone on every lawn around Whitehall and voiced her support for Rupert Murdoch. She expressed sadness that, in her view, the Culture Media and Sports Select Committee’s report had been hijacked by highly partisan considerations. She ensured this was the case by airing her own highly partisan considerations and shoving them down our throat like aspirin – every hour on the hour.’
http://sturdyblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/louise-mensch-a-foam-pie-in-the-face-of-criticism/
I bet there is a job waiting for her in the US. That Torygraph piece uses the present tense for her membership of the DCMS committee. As she has resigned surely she is off it.
@Lysias
“Glenn Greenwald has new Guardian piece up on line now: The New Statesman must correct its error over Assange and extradition: The claim that Swedish courts, not government, have final say on extradition is a crucial mistake that distorts the Assange case.
Glenn Greenwald means well, and it’s great that he’s making this point, but someone should teach him how to edit his articles and not make the same point 10 times over.
Mary,
Believe it or not, I was slightly “shocked” when I got home this afternoon from camping with my wife and son – and saw the second of Harry’s photos…and I really was not expecting to be.
You see, although we have been to lots of parties, we only take all our clothes off when we are outside and it is incredibly hot – and it has never been a sexual thing – just a freedom thing. To go all naked in a hotel with 30 people seems a bit pervy to me. But maybe I am a bit of prude.
About 30 years ago, my wife and I were at Studland Beach in Dorset – and everyone was naked – so we too went naked to conform…We then got invited to Studland Summer Camp, which to my amazement is still going (cos we saw a sign to it yesterday)
Whilst I was putting the tent up – she said what are you doing??? And pulled my pants down… You can’t erect a tent here with your clothes on… But it was all incredibly innocent stuff – just people who wanted to be naked together…
No one was doing poses like Prince Harry.
But it doesn’t really matter. I just wish more people would actually do some research – like many on here do to find out the truth – and say it live on TV.
Tony
Craig,
They said this about you:-
” I learn the interesting news that David Aaronovitch tweeted to Joan Smith and Jenny Jones that I am:
“an angry and dangerous man who could as easily be on the far right as the far left”.
I am now very fearful – because sometimes in court cases Judge’s really do piss me off – I get angry. But – I never get dangerous. Have to watch out for you “dangerous man”.
CB
Could this be the David Aaronovitch who’s Dad Sam Aaronovitch was a leading Marxist in the 60’s? I hesitate to use the word communist, because communist is not necessarily synonymous with Marxist…………
@Mary
“That view of the police clipboard was shown accidentally on purpose just like the notes of Asst Commmissioner Bob Quick which were photographed as he entered No 10.”
I think so too. But what do you reckon they are playing at?
Could it be another move of the same kind as the ‘leak’ to Craig that ‘we really are going to storm the embassy’, aptly described by @Fedup here as “We don’t need no stinking badges”? That came several hours before the announcement of the grant of asylum, and perhaps after MI6 had gained reason to think that the grant of asylum would soon be granted.
If so, maybe we can expect good news from one of the international meetings in the Americas.
Maybe Ecuador will go to an international body and seek a clear statement by judges that if Assange is appointed an ad hoc diplomatic courier, then Britain must allow him to leave the country, for example directly to Quito. That would be a wiser move than risk a tussle with the police on the pavement or in the corridor. Slowly does it.
@VivaEcuador “A comment was made about JA might end up rotting in Ecuador for the rest of his life. I doubt that. There are a number of countries in the region who would treat him as a hero for poking the eye of the US. But first we have to get him to Ecuador”
Agreed. But “rotting in Ecuador” is a nasty thing for someone to say. Public policy has been going in a good direction in Ecuador for 5 or so years; in Britain (and for that matter the US) it’s been going in the wrong direction for more than 30 years. I would prefer to live in Ecuador.
Anyone reckon that Prince Harry’s getting his knob out was a deliberate bit of distraction? What was the date on the photos?
“What Happened To The Debt?”
http://theautomaticearth.com/Finance/what-happened-to-the-debt.html
Report from OAS meeting. Nicaragua, Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay y Bolivia respaldan en OEA a Ecuador.
That headline only lists some of the countries that supported Ecuador’s motion. Virtually all, including Mexico and pro-U.S. Colombia, did so as well. Only the U.S., Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, and Panama dissented.
Harriet,
I agree with your statement, “We don’t want support from the US government, which has more people in prison than Russia, carries out illegal wars in which millions get killed, and promotes big business interests”.
‘Unity’ in a sea of immorality is key and squabbling needlessly among ourselves over irrelevant differences clearly undermines a commonality of purpose that strives to educate and mould opinion. A single person, David Kelly comes to mind, can represent a ‘danger’ to corporate or national interests, yet we must magnify this single influence to the many, then, we can all raise our heads that little bit higher.
Synthesis enables us to concentrate on wider more troubling issues, it can influence and embolden others especially new generations to form a larger bloc essential to advance human dignity and respect, thus a commonality with the strength to oppose those barriers organised to control us using fear, deception and the secrecy engaged in by intelligence agencies to pin-point an adversaries weaknesses, organise proxy wars, torture and exterminate.
Clearly then we can transform our collective ‘anger’ into methods that pressure change and encourage harmony and agreement.This means developing a strategy to prevent us paying with our lives and our children’s lives for failing to stop our national leaders from undertaking aggression. No country should be in fear of national extinction and it is America and Israel that is creating that nightmare.
OAS meeting (where missions from both the UK and Sweden are present) live stream here:
http://www.livestream.com/OASEnglish
Declaration approved, with US footnote and Canadian reservation
More on link from Lysias re the OAS meeting:
“Estados Unidos, que ha dicho que el papel de la OEA debe limitarse a llamar al diálogo a Quito y Londres….”
The US says that the role of the OAS should be limited to calling for dialogue between Quito and London.
This is the typical meely-mouthed approach that the US takes whenever there is a UN resolution put forward to condemn Israel for its aggression – a meaningless call for dialogue. But in this case, as we have seen from other links, it is Ecuador’s pleas for dialogue that are falling on deaf ears.
If David Aaronovitch is attacking you, you’re likely doing something right. He wrote article on the Iraq war for the Observer in which he talked about meeting a crying Iraqi waiter and concluded that “Iraqis need our help”, ommitting to mention that
a) many Iraqis wanted foreign troops out of their country
b) that the “help” Coalition forces offered included attacking entire towns and cities in offensives with tanks, artillery, and helicopter and jet air strikes, along with targeting civilians with snipers (all the things now being condemned as war crimes in Syria) – and even the BBC reported on this (e.g in Fallujah)
c) that the war also included the ‘Salvador Option’ police commando and other death squads, who still torture and kill using the same methods as Saddam’s forces, were Coalition trained – and still kidnap people for torture to extort money from their families
On Syria he wrote an equally ridiculous article for the Times condemning Galloway for having said Assad junior might turn out to be a reformer (the actual quote being from a time when his heroine Hillary Clinton and most of the rest of the world was saying the same). He also made a piss poor attempt at impersonating Jonathan Swift in a supposedly “ironic” piece on all the reasons why the Good Samaritan shouldn’t have intervened to help the injured traveller (attempting to mock those who are opposed to “military intervention” in Syria).
In it he completely ignores the serious human rights abuses by some of the armed rebels (including against civilians – including torture and murder and “collateral damage” from car bombings), ignores the fact Al Qa’ida are among the rebels and have been let into Syria to cause mayhem by a civil war encouraged by the US and it’s allies – ignores all the Syrian opposition people who say they don’t want an armed rebellion as it will lead to civil war and more sectarian killings – and ignores the fact that the US and its allies have killed and tortured plenty of civilians and imposed plenty of dictatorship themselves, so can hardly be either motivated by saving civilians, nor trusted to use methods that will save them – any more than in Iraq.
His articles and arguments are lacking in any logic and miss out as many facts as any Sun headline.
or maybe Aaronovitch meant it as praise, since he’s a communist who became a neo-conservative himself?
Thank you Lysias, N_ and Viva Ecuador for interpreting for us. Good news. Billy Boy would be tearing his hair out if he had any to tear that is.
N_ I have no idea what the police and the powers-that-be are playing at ref the clipboard notes. They probably don’t know either.
Report in black and white that confirms the OAS adopted Ecuador’s motion: La OEA respalda a Ecuador en el ‘caso Assange’: La organización interamericana defiende la inviolabilidad de las embajadas:
If I understand that lead paragraph correctly, the OAS, in adopting Ecuador’s motion of solidarity and support accepted the characterization of the UK’s note to Ecuador as threatening.
“The Organization of American States (OAS) adopted a resolution of “solidarity and support” to Ecuador to what the government described as “threats” from the United Kingdom to enter their embassy in London where he has sought asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.”
(That’s Google Translate, not me)
Correa accuses UK of having double standards, in an interview with the Spanish service of the BBC World Service. Grã-Bretanha tem ‘dois pesos e duas medidas’ no caso Assange, diz Correa: Presidente condenou ameaça à Embaixada Equatoriana em Londres e lembrou da invasão à Embaixada Britânica em Teerã, que levou a posicionamento do Conselho de Segurança [Correa says UK has double standards: President condemns threat against Ecuadorian embassy in London and contrasts invasion of British Embassy in Tehran, which led to a Security Council resolution]: