I have a guilty political secret. I do not detest Gordon Brown. That is such an unfashionable opinion that I don’t really expect any comments at all to agree with it. And yes, I do realise that he went along with the Iraq War and all the other horrors of the Blair era. Interestingly, I don’t remember the question of what Gordon Brown really thought about Iraq ever being discussed; he deserves condemnation for having not tried to stop it, and perhaps he was indeed an enthusiast. And I am well aware that the Private Finance Initiative is a terrible disaster, and that he oversaw creeping privatisation in the health services, and – worst of all – the introduction of tuition fees.
And yet I cannot dislike him. Probably because I just know too many people who have known him through decades, who are themselves good people, and who like him. Around Edinburgh and Fife you will find it hard to find people who actually know him who share the hatred and contempt he seems to arouse among the political and media classes of London.
As a general rule I do not like or dislike people according to their politics, but rather according to the sincerity of their political beliefs and the goodwill with which they hold them. I am sure Anders Breivik is sincere in his political beliefs, but those are lacking in goodwill. Sincerity is not enough – humanity and inclusiveness are also important.
There are one nation Tories who seem to me perfectly decent people, genuinely trying to do good. I don’t hate them because their political conclusions on the best way to do good are different to mine. Gordon Brown I put rather in the same category – I feel he was trying to do good for ordinary people, he just got it wrong.
Blair is in a whole different category again – insincere, absolutely focused on attaining personal power, and with a Messianic belief that what is good for him must be good for the World. The Guardian is publishing some emails around the Blair Brown rivalry this week. I don’t care and won’t read them. But while I see Blair as quite properly damned for eternity to the seventh pit of hell, I don’t think Brown deserves anything worse than North Queensferry.
I have been in Ghana the last 20 days living in a house with no internet connection and working (extremely hard) in an office with virtually no internet connection – not enough to load WordPress. I hope to get more chance to blog shortly.
Reid is the chair of the executive.
ISRS staff
Rt Hon Lord Reid of Cardowan PhD ISRS Chair
Dr J P MacIntosh ISRS Director
Jas Mahrra ISRS Senior Researcher
Mandeep Bhandal ISRS Research Manager
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/isrs/about/who
To think that a highly important and internationally famous seat of learning is home to this stuff!
BBC can even describe this in the headline as diplomats CLASHING with israeli troops. unbelievable. not to mention the weasly comments by the british consulate!
BBC: Diplomats protest over West Bank clash with Israel troops
Diplomats from a number of European countries and the UN have reacted angrily after Israeli soldiers intervened to prevent them delivering aid to Bedouins in the West Bank.
One French diplomat said she was forced to the ground from her vehicle…
An Israeli spokesman said it was reviewing whether the diplomats had abused their privileges…
The diplomats said that as soon as they arrived, around a dozen Israeli army jeeps converged on them and ordered them not to unload their truck.
French diplomat Marion Fesneau-Castaing told Reuters news agency: “They dragged me out of the truck and forced me to the ground with no regard for my diplomatic immunity.
“This is how international law is being respected here.”
One European official described the Israeli actions as “shocking and outrageous”.
A spokesman for the British Consulate General in Jerusalem said it was “concerned at reports that the Israeli military authorities have prevented the affected community from receiving humanitarian assistance”…
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Paul Hirschson told Agence France-Presse that Israel might lodge a complaint over Ms Fesneau-Castaing…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24184105
Yes Nevermind that floating garbage patch as you call it is alarming. It is half across the Pacific and that is 2012 before it was announced that the water-coolers started overflowing. The planet is well and truly poisoned. Fukushima is going to make Chernobyl look like a minor incident.
Remember me posting a O/T link to BBC radio presenter Michael Souter’s trial here in Norwich?
That same link has now disappeared from the list of stories about this vile life form, leaving an malodorous smell hanging in the air.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/former_bbc_radio_norfolk_presenter_michael_souter_arrested_over_allegations_of_sex_abuse_in_1993_court_hears_1_2761684
Re: Reid, aaargirfan has a comprehensive list of samples from John Reid’s life.
http://aangirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2006/05/john-reid-uk-home-secretary-mp-for.html
I mean, 85pence worth, what a cheapskate….;)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1517111/Reids-surprise-as-police-find-cannabis-at-his-home.html
The National Security Agency sent out a letter to all of its employees and affiliates, including contractors, that could be printed and shared with family, friends and colleagues. It was intended to reassure them that the NSA is not really the abusive and unchecked spying agency engaged in illegal activity that someone reading former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s disclosures might think it happens to be.
lol, beam me up…
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/09/19/nsa-sends-letter-to-its-extended-family-to-reassure-them-that-they-will-weather-this-storm/#comments
“The bill would also force food stamp recipients without children to work, train or volunteer for at least 20 hours per week to continue receiving assistance. This would make food stamp recipients the equivalent of indentured servants, forced to work for free in order to eat.”
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/09/21/food-s21.html
“Do Not Support Newly Disabled Claimants Hit By Benefit Cap To Stay In Their Homes Recommends DWP”
http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2013/09/21/do-not-support-newly-disabled-tostay-in-their-homes-says-dwp/#comments
Merkel will most likely be re-elected, depending on the coalition she will engage in. The FDP could easily loose out and might not get the 5% hurdle required.
The new German UKIP equivalent, ‘die Alternative’ might get strong support, presenting her with a new right wing choice.
The Pirate party stunt last week, were a drone crash landed at Ms. Merkel’s feet, to make her aware of what it feels like to be under Drone control, but she also has some serious questions to answer.
If Israels security really is an intrinsic part of Germany’s realm, as Ms. Merkel claims it to be, why was Germany selling tons of duel purpose chemicals, precursors for sarin, to Syria?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/german-chemicals-sent-to-syria-could-have-had-military-use-a-923237.html
nevermind 21 Sep, 2013 – 2:46 pm
“I mean, 85pence worth, what a cheapskate….;)”
Bloody right. I am told that 85p’s worth of decent resin @ £160/oz equates to 0.15 gm, a barely visible quantity. It must have been soap bar.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=soapbar
What’s that saying about ‘power corrupts….’?
What a rotten bunch. Brown features in this too.
Select Committee on Standards and Privileges Second Report
Annex 1
Letter to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards from Mr Dean Nelson, Scotland Editor, The Observer
Further to our telephone conversation earlier this week, I`m writing to make a formal complaint against John Reid MP and John Maxton MP.
The essence of my complaint is that the two men misled the Fees Office and abused public money by using Westminster allowances to pay salaries to full time campaigners in Labour`s Scottish Parliament election campaign. I believe both men falsely passed off these campaigners as Westminster researchers in order to help fund Labour`s campaign.
The campaigners in question are Mr Reid`s son Kevin Reid, Suzanne Hilliard and Chris Winslow, who is now a special advisor to Donald Dewar. Kevin Reid was given a part-time contract by the Labour Party in May 1998, but in fact worked full time. He was also paid part-time by his father as a researcher. Mr Reid had suggested his son could help the campaign following a meeting of Labour`s Scottish Strategy Group at Keir Hardie House, Glasgow in April 1998. I believe the meeting was attended by Donald Dewar, Gordon Brown, Brian Wilson, John Reid, then Scottish party General Secretary Alex Rowley and Head of Communications Paul McKinney. McKinney and Rowley had criticised the politicians present for talking a great deal, but doing little, starving the campaign of the resources they needed to tackle their opponents.
I`m reliably informed that Reid then offered to transfer his son Kevin to the campaign to help out. Kevin was not doing much, he said. He could help the campaign and Reid “would find a way of paying him.” Although the offer was made to McKinney, the details of the arrangement were worked out between Alex Rowley and John Reid. Kevin Reid began work as a media monitor, with Paul McKinney as his line manager.
/..
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmstnprv/89/8919.htm
20 Jan 2000
nevermind 21 Sep, 2013 – 3:15 pm
She’s made sure that the media will be on her side ….
http://english.pravda.ru/world/europe/18-09-2013/125689-angela_merkel_germany_israel-0/
@Craig: “I do not detest Gordon Brown”
September 19, 2013 7:44 pm
Also @ Craig: “Gordon Brown Is a Murderous Two Faced Cunt”
January 4, 2009 3:24 pm
I wonder what has happened to bring about the change. 🙂
Gordon Brown ‘enthusiastic monarchist'(D.Mcbride). Member of Labour Friends of Israel. Writer of cheques which funded the neocon wars. Rejected suitor of Rupert Murdoch. Fuck off.
Brian; Where are the UN inspectors? This CW site needs global attention even more than SYria.
“Fukushima’s owner, Tokyo Electric (Tepco), says that within as few as 60 days it may begin trying to remove more than 1300 spent fuel rods from a badly damaged pool perched 100 feet in the air. The pool rests on a badly damaged building that is tilting, sinking and could easily come down in the next earthquake, if not on its own.”
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/09/20-1
Is “Zimbabwe” being lined up to be the next target for freedom ?
http://nehandaradio.com/2013/09/19/zimbabwe-in-arms-for-uranium-pact-with-north-korea/
“Colombia farmers’ uprising puts the spotlight on seeds”
http://www.grain.org/article/entries/4779-colombia-farmers-uprising-puts-the-spotlight-on-seeds
Move along. Nothing to see here….
Fukushima: PM Shinzo Abe visits plant amid leak concerns
‘Earlier this month, the government pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to build a wall of frozen earth around the reactors in order to contain some leaks.
Speaking at the time, government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the government “felt it was essential to become involved to the greatest extent possible”.
During Japan’s successful 2020 Olympic bid process, Mr Abe assured the International Olympic Committee that the situation at Fukushima was “under control”.’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24156005
Mary; It would be highly irresponsible for any governmental representative to admit they’ve lost control. Saving face is a big one in Japan because of the tradition of seppuku. 🙂
=======================
Aurora, CO, Newtown, MA and now the Naval Yard. Keeping us all scared is a full-time job.
This article is from 2008. Don’t talk to me about MKUltra.
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2008/02/report-nonletha/
If we ever get anything like a decent administration in place, are we going to shoot everyone who ever did anything wrong whilst criminal activity and lies were the only way to success? If so, there won’t be many people left. I think it’s important to make a distinction between people who appear to be in politics specifically to fleece everyone and protect their own interests, those who are just plain insane and those who have character and good intentions but are led astray by an era that encourages violence and defensiveness. I think Craig is right to point out Gordon Brown as one who wasn’t deliberately, malevolently destructive.
I may be prejudiced in Brown’s favour because it’s instinctive to support anyone who the press decides to cut down but I think there is something more. I once discussed Gordon Brown with a musician friend of mine during those last election debates and speeches and we compared the look on his face when he watched the real criminals give their speeches to the feeling a genuine musician gets listening to Simon Cowell pretending to give expert advice about music.
It translates as “I know this is sickening crap and I know they don’t know what they’re talking about but there doesn’t seem to be an opening for straight talking in this room.”
Also what we got in place of Gordon Brown’s government very quickly demonstrated that he was a long way from being the worst option.
This is a SoCal thing, but it raised my eyebrows a little when I saw this on the news.
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2013/09/sarwat_yasmine_syed_ali_syed.php?page=2
The court seemed to have enough evidence for a trial, so why was it dismissed by the judge?
This was her son……http://www.heavy.com/news/2013/02/ali-syed-california-freeway-shooting-shooter/
Another unexplained rampage–violent video games and the other usual ingredients. Makes you scratch your head, doesn’t it?
Slightly O/T.
Stephen Zunes in this excellent expose of US foreign policy own goals, explains how arm twisting and firing of bale negotiators are an essential part of US political frauds at the UN.
“One of the most effective instruments for international arms control in recent years has been the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which enforces the Chemical Weapons Convention by inspecting laboratories, factories, and arsenals, and oversees the destruction of chemical weapons. The organization’s most successful director general, first elected in 1997, was the Brazilian diplomat Jose Bustani, praised by the Guardian newspaper as a “workaholic” who has “done more in the past five years to promote world peace than anyone.” Under his strong leadership, the number of signatories of the treaty grew from 87 to 145 nations, the fastest growth rate of any international organization in recent decades, and – during this same period – his inspectors oversaw the destruction of 2 million chemical weapons and two-thirds of the world’s chemical weapons facilities. Bustani was re-elected unanimously in May 2000 for a five-year term and was complimented by Secretary of State Colin Powell for his “very impressive” work.”
http://fpif.org/the_us_and_chemical_weapons_no_leg_to_stand_on/
But when he was just about to sign up Saddam, he was ousted by US spite. He would have been still working today and most likely, going by his record, would have signed up Israel and Egypt as well, two out of five nations left who stoically refuse to sign the OPCW.
So now we know who to thank for the current situation in the middle east.
“Catherine Austin Fitts was interviewed on The Power Hour on August 29, 2013. She asserted that we are in transition between the Old Economy and the New Economy, which are parallel worlds so to speak. The New Economy will seize the assets of the Old Economy while casting off all its liabilities. Examples of this are cities that are declaring bankruptcy where billions of dollars in the pensions of the retired public employees are being eliminated, freeing the Elite to take over the unburdened assets of the municipalities by starting anew.
SomeoneFitts believes this is a planned agenda by the Elite that has been in effect since 2001. The Elite in any major financial crisis will come out on top and not suffer serious consequences such as what happened in the meltdown of the economy in 2008, which was a goal of the Elite’s agenda.
It would appear from her argument that the primary goal of the Elite is to bring about The Great Default, probably sooner than later. This way they can engineer the elimination of all liabilities from the Old Economy, such as social security, and begin anew with the New Economy that will be under their total control and to their exclusive benefit.
So The Great Default in inevitable if for no other reason than the Elite see it as a way to achieve their agenda.”
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?s=aa8d242dc7bb733c4e72e04f24d32874&showtopic=20431&hl=
@Someone, 21 Sep, 2013 – 4:18 pm
“Colombia farmers’ uprising puts the spotlight on seeds”
http://www.grain.org/article/entries/4779-colombia-farmers-uprising-puts-the-spotlight-on-seeds
Here’s a lovely film, in which Indian farmers go back to natural ways to undo the damage caused by the so-called ‘Green Revolution’ of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and Monsanto and Syngenta seeds.
How to save the world (One Man, One Cow, One Planet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uhVUbABCpI
Boy, Fitts thought up a fancy name for looting. That’s what third-world basket cases do. Her new economy is really just the 1960s economy of Kenya or Nigeria. More pigs at the trough, http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/09/senator-diane-feinsteins-husband-selling-post-offices-to-cronies-on-the-cheap.html
Oh come on FFS. Cut the BS. Brown was responsible for the massacre of many many lives overseas and the ruination of many at home.
Don’t give me this shite about separating the man from his politics. A mans politics are measure of the man. Brown was a political flop and a killer like fucking Blair was, no matter what totals you add up.
I’m waiting for the day when Craig posts about how he’s always secretly loved torture and all you morons will also start bleating the same. It’s simply unreal.
and I sincerely apologize for being on topic on page 2
@ nevermind 21 Sep, 2013 – 1:50 pm
“Maybe its TEPCO’s policy to slowly submerge Daichi into a newly created highly radioactive swamp. Japan is planning, after their many successes on the site NOT, to manually pull 1400 fuel rods out of the 4th. floor cooling tank in an already destroyed reactor building.”
Posted this some weeks back:
Re: Fukushima. A reasonable (to me) and easy-to-understand piece. Contains a proposal, which was advanced in the weeks after the disaster but not implemented for political reasons, for blasting around the reactors and submerging the entire area in seawater, then fishing out the radioactive bits. The writer contends this may be the only solution available.
http://rt.com/op-edge/tepco-fukushima-sea-water-reactor-194/
@ A Node 21 Sep, 2013 – 3:31 pm
“German Chancellor Angela Merkel said… that “Israel is still the only true democracy in the Middle East,” and vowed to protect the country from the Iranian threat.”
Super-Hawk US Senator Graham is pushing mightily for Congress to vote a pre-approved carte blanche for Obama to strike Iran whenever Iran crosses whatever red line Israel set. He urged people to call Congress and demand this, “To protect our friend Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East”.
What has being a democracy or not got to do with it? Whether it is a democracy or a despot doing bad things or good things makes no difference. It is the deeds themselves that are subject to judgment.
This is why Corps need to be regulated. Unchecked, they operate like sociopaths, and that’s the extent of their human connection.
They will always defer to the most profitable short-term tactics.
http://rt.com/news/fukushima-ignored-radioactive-water-warnings-057/
July 2013
When Kenya sent troops to Somalia in October 2011 to fight al-Qaeda-inspired al-Shabaab militants, it vowed to pull them out by Christmas. More than 20 months on, there’s no sign they’ll leave soon.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-22/kenya-finds-no-end-to-fighting-against-somali-militants.html
Today
Americans among injured in deadly Kenya mall attack
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/21/witness-kenya-mall-attackers-target-non-muslims/2846319/
Channel 4 are reporting 100 killed.
http://www.channel4.com/news/kenya-nairobi-mall-shooting-gunmen-killed-shopping
Dreadful.
September 20-22, 2013
Time for a Global Takeover
The Crisis at Fukushima 4
by HARVEY WASSERMAN
We are now within two months of what may be humankind’s most dangerous moment since the Cuban Missile Crisis.
There is no excuse for not acting. All the resources our species can muster must be focussed on the fuel pool at Fukushima Unit 4.
[..]
Chernobyl’s first 1986 fallout reached California within ten days. Fukushima’s in 2011 arrived in less than a week. A new fuel fire at Unit 4 would pour out a continuous stream of lethal radioactive poisons for centuries.
Former Ambassador Mitsuhei Murata says full-scale releases from Fukushima “would destroy the world environment and our civilization. This is not rocket science, nor does it connect to the pugilistic debate over nuclear power plants. This is an issue of human survival.”
Neither Tokyo Electric nor the government of Japan can go this alone. There is no excuse for deploying anything less than a coordinated team of the planet’s best scientists and engineers.
We have two months or less to act.
For now, we are petitioning the United Nations and President Obama to mobilize the global scientific and engineering community to take charge at Fukushima and the job of moving these fuel rods to safety.
You can sign the petition at: http://www.nukefree.org/crisis-fukushima-4-petition-un-us-global-response
If you have a better idea, please follow it. But do something and do it now.
The clock is ticking. The hand of global nuclear disaster is painfully close to midnight.
Harvey Wasserman edits http://www.nukefree.org
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/09/20/the-crisis-at-fukushima-4/