An Ugly Mood 469


In Heywood and Middleton, a classic Labour northern English seat, UKIP and the Tories combined got 51% of the vote. In Clacton – a deprived coastal area – the Conservatives and UKIP got 83% of the vote.

It is not that Labour and the Lib Dems offer an alternative that is in any significant way less devoted to corporate interests and serving the economic needs of the super-rich. The large majority of voters, and especially those who do not bother to vote, have by now worked out that the difference in their lives is negligible if they have a different member of the political class with his or her nose in the trough at their expense.

But everybody who has seen an actual UKIP campaign knows that their grassroots appeal is simply racist – they promote the idea that it is not the billionaires and ultra-wealthy who are sucking the resources from society, but rather the poor of a different colour. The Conservatives are striving, particularly through rampant Islamophobia, to compete for the atavistic vote.

UKIP is an antibody produced by the political establishment and their paymasters, to counter public disillusion with a dreadful and worsening unequal society. UKIP’s task is to divert public anger away from their exploiters towards specific groups of the poor. It does so very effectively. UKIP’s success yesterday will lead to a race among the mainstream parties to scapegoat vulnerable social groups – immigrants, benefit claimants, unemployed – and to compete in external xenophobia. The next government of the United Kingdom will be right wing to a degree which would have seemed unthinkable for the majority of my life.


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469 thoughts on “An Ugly Mood

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  • mark golding

    REVOLUTION is ugly but hey c’mon we are in an ugly mood…

    UKIP is an antibody produced by the political establishment and their paymasters, to counter public disillusion with a dreadful and worsening unequal society.

    Key of course is to find that now invisible people power before we are left groping with our proshesis, shut in behind obstructions and starving to feed the baby from wheat grains ground by our own teeth.

    What does it take?

    http://rt.com/news/195184-baldwin-brand-corporate-world/

  • Squonk

    http://us.cnn.com/2014/10/12/health/ebola/index.html

    Breaking: News: 2nd U.S. patient tests positive for Ebola

    Texas health care worker had cared for Duncan

    A health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has tested positive for Ebola after a preliminary test, the hospital said in a statement.

    At the press conference just held they stated that the health care worker was in full protective clothing when they interacted with the first patient (Duncan).

  • nevermind, there's a future, still

    “Tidal? That works well. the tide stops flowing every six hours or so and building anything that operates underwater, let alone sea water makes decommissioning a Nuclear power station a walk in the park”

    Gosh, were have you been the last thirty years, alpha centauri? Tidal power generators work both ways outflow and inflow, further, the establishement of lagunes which hold water to facilitate power during the half hour the tide changes means that you get power from tidal 24/7.

    To maintain underwater sea current generators, usually held between two uprights to move them up and down in comparisson with month-long nuclear maintenance and resulting long term risks, is far easier sustainable, repairable without endangering those who carry it out.

    To choose nuclear and leave the legacies to our bairns to carry and deal with is the most laziest, expensive option we can come up with.

    For example, a wash barrier would cost 2-3 billion and would generate as much as two nuclear power stations, costing 18 billion plus, so whatever were you on about.

    To the moment, anybody seen any coverage of the hope over fear rally yet?, cause I don’t think the MSM and BIBIC will be inclined to bother/told not to.
    Craig is not mentioned here as a speaker
    http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/u/hope-over-fear-rally-thousands-of-pro-independence-supporters-gathering-in-george-square-toda.1413111398

  • nevermind, there's a future, still

    Now what would our beloved BIBIC promote when times are tough, will it be the average £9000,-/year student debts created in a drive to keep them quiet with financial dependencies….

    or would it be some hairbrained scheme only carried out by some young new students at UEA Norwich, i.e ‘having your first pee of the day whilst having a shower’…. thpugh saving loads of water and, most importantly for UEA, money.

    This is the usual item designed to make you smile at the end of the news. next suggestion to take out all the topilets and rather and use pay as you need to go toilets.

    Once again, Thank you Lib Dems for selling your principles for power, for being subsumed by the nasty party.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-29552557

  • Ben E. Geserit Muad'Dib Further Confounding Gender Speculators

    “No fly’ secret list is going transparent. Thank you Snowden (you too ACLU)

    “The government, citing national security, long maintained it could not tell anyone whether they were on the list or provide a reason for their inclusion. But U.S. District Judge Anna Brown of Portland ruled that people placed on the list have a constitutionally protected interest in traveling by air, and the right to due process when it’s denied.

    Brown ordered the government to notify the plaintiffs of their no-fly status by Friday. In the coming months, those who remain on the list will be told why and be given a chance to challenge those reasons.”

    http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/10/11/governments-secretive-no-fly-list-regime-crumbling-says-aclu

  • Iain Orr

    @ Habbabkuk at 6.02 pm and 7.20 pm on 11 October. The letter to Theresa May on the Moazzam Begg case was sent on 9 October, signed by five people, two of whom (besides me) are regular contributors here. (I will leave it to them to decide whether to identify themselves here.) I will post here the text of any reply we get from her together with planned follow-up action, including what to do if we get no reply.

    The issue will not go away. Those posting on this website are welcome to use every possible means to get the government and its agencies to realise their error in treating Moazzam Begg and others as terrorists or terrorist sympathizers. In fact MB and Cage are clear-sighted peacemongers who can point the one-eyed security state towards a route out of its blindly delusional “war on terrorism”.

    Two documents to add to the anti-war on terrorism dossier. First, a thoughtful article by Ruth Michaelson in the US journal “Foreign Policy” on 9 October:
    http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/10/09/the_curious_case_of_moazzam_begg .
    Second, Moazzam Begg on YouTube 11 October 2014:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzQgtNC6sa0

  • Ba'al Zevul

    “US aid to rebuild Gaza (2014): $212 Million

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29586636

    Direct US aid to Israel (2013): $3.24 Billion

    http://www.wrmea.org/2013-october-november/congress-watch-a-conservative-estimate-of-total-u.s.-direct-aid-to-israel-more-than-$130-billion.html

    Aid to Gaza from Israel: Zero”

    (Donny Darko)

    While the current meeting is making all the right noises (excepting, probably, the Quartet representative, whose penchant for bombing civilians and utter subservience to Israel are well-known), there remains the problem of how to get all this wonderful aid into Gaza, construction materials and all.

    My crystal ball tells me that if Palestine continues its attempt to be recognised and treated as a sovereign state, nothing whatever will happen: Israel will keep the borders closed and continue to flout the terms of the last ceasefire, end every preceding one, until Palestinian fury once again overcomes reason, and the cyclic tragedy begins again. If, OTOH, Palestine submits to the facts on the ground, illegally assembled over decades, Gaza will be attached to -or relocated in- Sinai (a desert) while the West Bank Palestinians and Arabs are further fragmented beyond even the distant hope of being an independent entity. There may be some ethnic cleansing here, too, for demographic reasons.

    No significant pressure will be exerted on Israel in any event. So much so that Israel can realistically plan on this basis. And remain a festering sore on the Middle Eastern arse and a perpetual source of resentment around which jihadis will continue gleefully to gather.

  • Mochyn69

    I also note sweet FA on the Glasgow rally so far in the MSM including the traitorous BBC. But BBC mobile news is leading on a rally of a mere 1,000 in a place called Ferguson in the US.

    And Gordon is a moron is spewing more bollocks over on the Guardian.

    Bless the BBC, bless the Guardian, bless you Gordon..

    Bless ’em all!!!!

  • Ben E. Geserit Muad'Dib Further Confounding Gender Speculators

    Capitalism is at critical mass, Mark. Time to pull the trigger. But a revolution bringing what in it’s place?

  • Iain Orr

    In the interests of objectivity – see my earlier posting – there are of course other views about Moazzam Begg. The perspective of those who do not wholly admire his track-record comes across clearly (although also, in my view, tendentiously) in this article in “Dissent” by Meredith Tax on 27 June 2012
    http://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/gitagate-two-years-after .
    I do not agree with how this article interprets crucial episodes in MB’s life. He comes across to me as a devout Muslim whose faith has given him the strength to survive and take positive lessons from being wrongly targeted as a terrorist by the US and UK governments.

  • DoNNyDarKo

    Think you’ll find it was Doug that posted that Ba’al.

    I agree with you. Israel will play their endless game of taking the piss.
    They should be made to pay for all the damage.
    And the US 200 million isn’t even what was spent on US bombs destroying Gaza in the first place.Crocodile tears from the land of Nod.

  • Mary

    12 October 2014 Last updated at 15:24 T
    housands attend Glasgow pro-independence rallyGeorge Square rally
    The rally was told this is “the end of the beginning” of the campaign
    Continue reading the main story
    Related Stories
    PM ‘unstatesmanlike’, says Brown

    Police have said 6,000 people attended a pro-independence rally in Glasgow’s George Square.

    The Hope over Fear event was organised by the socialist campaign for an independent Scotland.

    It was one of the biggest of its kind since the referendum on Scottish independence was held on 18 September.

    Tommy Sheridan, co-convener of Solidarity Scotland, told the rally they were at “the end of the beginning” of the campaign for independence.

    Mr Sheridan said: “Some of you who are old enough will remember the last titanic battle with the British establishment that was taken to the brink – the 1984/5 miners’ strike.

    “I remember the South Wales miners’ marching back to work in March of 1985 with a banner that is applicable to us here today. That banner read: this is the end. The end of the beginning.

    “This is the end of the beginning.”

    Actor Martin Compston told the rally: “We were promised substantial change, and we demand that substantial change, because 45% wanted complete change and the vast majority of the 55 (percentage who voted No) want something substantial.

    “Firstly we are here to achieve that, and secondly, this movement is going nowhere.”

    More on This Story
    Related StoriesPM ‘unstatesmanlike’, says Brown 12 OCTOBER 2014, SCOTLAND POLITICS
    From other news sites
    Carluke Gazette
    Thousands rally for independence
    21 mins ago
    Huffington Post UK
    These Pictures Show Scottish Independence Supporters Are Going Nowhere
    23 mins ago
    STV.tv
    Thousands attend Scottish independence rally in Glasgow city centre
    35 mins ago
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    Hope Over Fear Rally: Thousands gather in George Square today
    42 mins ago
    Herald Scotland
    Rally: 6000 attend pro-independence event in George Square
    59 mins ago

    PS Always double BBC crowd figures.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-29587357

  • Republicofscotland

    cont) by which I mean, it’s the sloppiness in the way the US Army Biowarfare division carries out its export procedures, as revealed in that Wikileaks cable, that’s the worry when dealing with pathogens like Ebola.
    ____________________________

    Arbed

    The US has probably held the patent on Ebola since the 1970’s when it broke out in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was that event man made your guess is as good as mine, this one however in my opinion is a US manufactured event.

    http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/26207106/ebola-survivor-minn-missionary-contracted-virus-in-1972

  • Mary

    I was looking at Newmark again. He is seeking psychiatric help. The usual when they are rumbled. He is blaming media intrusion now.

    What was he doing in Saudi Arabia last year? The sub was +£5,000.

    Overseas visits

    Name of donor: Majlis As Shura, Shura Council of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
    Address of donor: c/o Embassy of Saudi Arabia, 30 Charles Street, London W1J 5DZ
    Amount of donation (or estimate of the probable value): flights, food, transport and accommodation; total value £5,749.19
    Destination of visit: Saudi Arabia
    Date of visit: 10-14 March 2013
    Purpose of visit: visit organized by Conservative Middle East Council to meet with representatives of the Government in Saudi Arabia and British representatives

    Second. His financial interests –

    Registrable shareholdings

    (a) The Allele Fund; invests primarily in healthcare startups. Limited partner. (Registered 18 February 2014)
    (a) Recyclabook Ltd; a Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme which resells textbooks. (Registered 18 February 2014)
    (a) The Allele Fund; invests primarily in healthcare startups. Limited Partner. (Registered 18 February 2014)
    (a) (a) Recyclabook Ltd; a Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme which resells textbooks. (Registered 18 February 2014)

    11. Miscellaneous

    I have shareholdings in the following collective investment schemes which therefore do not require registration under Category 9 above: AP Alternative Assets LP; Apollo European Credit Fund LP, a closed end debt fund; and Bridges Community Development Venture Fund II LP, which primarily invests in start ups in areas of deprivation. (Registered 18 February 2014)

    If you look at Allele, the co-founder is Cherie Blair!
    http://www.allelefund.com/about/

    Cherie’s £75m private health empire based in a tax haven… which she’s setting up with a Right-wing friend of Sarah Palin

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2189982/Cherie-s-75m-private-health-empire-based-tax-haven–s-setting-Right-wing-friend-Sarah-Palin.html

    The website lists the opening of MEE health centres within Sainsbury stores.
    http://www.allelefund.com/news-media/

    ~~

    The 1% are doing nicely.

  • Roderick Russell

    Left or Right – the rhetoric is different, but their actions in government are the same. Politicians know that they have to follow the rules; those who don’t have this basic understanding, quickly get marginalized. It doesn’t matter whom one votes for. The country is ruled by an oligarchy – a coalition of moneyed and aristocratic/monarchical interests – who do pretty much what they want.

    Most people are just fed up, and for good reason. They see their standard of living in decline (despite the statistics), they worry for the future, they object to power elites who get special privileges and large bailouts whenever they need it – while not paying their fair share of taxes. They are looking for(but not finding) leadership and fair play; so it’s not surprising that in desperation their votes move around from one party to another.

    We need to stop banding around words like ‘racist” since most people aren’t. Accusing the ordinary people plays into the hands of the power elites who must be amazed at how easily the British people are controlled by the maxim – divide and rule. The left is as bankrupt of new ideas as the right is. There should be only one fight in the country and that should be for democracy – Yes, real democracy.

  • Ben E. Geserit Muad'Dib Further Confounding Gender Speculators

    ” Yes, real democracy.”

    Athenian democracy? We can’t even get consensus on niggling at the edges. It’s too difficult to even stop the revolving doors between private and public jobs. Putting make-up on the pig is out of reach. How far do you think direct democracy will get?

  • Republicofscotland

    We warned a week ago of the various possibilities surrounding an Ebola outbreak in America, and today we get some degree of confirmation of a medical-based martial-law coming to the US. Governor Dan Malloy has declared a Public Health Emergency in Connecticut, authorizing the “isolation of any individual reasonably believed to have been exposed to the Ebola virus.”

    Simply put, as we noted previously, the State of Public Health Emergency allows bureaucrats to detain and force-vaccinate people without due process – despite not one single case being found in CT. If there is a major Ebola pandemic in America, all of the liberties and the freedoms that you currently enjoy would be gone.
    __________________________________

    And so it begins in the US with probable forced vaccinations, of what? I might add.

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-10/public-health-emergency-declared-connecticut-over-ebola-civil-rights-suspended-indef

  • Republicofscotland

    At the headquarters of every police force in Britain is a small office called the ‘Telecoms Intelligence Unit’ (TIU).
    There, police officers can log in directly to the mainframe computers of three of four big mobile phone companies – Vodafone, Three and EE – as well as BT and internet service providers.

    EE comprises the former networks Orange and T-Mobile, whose police interface was called Plod – an acronym for Police Liaison On-screen Database.
    Armed with the required usernames and passwords, in a few keystrokes the officers can retrieve confidential data from anyone’s telephone or computer use within minutes.
    ______________________________________

    Privacy a thing of the past.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2789638/how-plod-spy-phone-just-three-clicks-officers-access-mobile-phone-internet-firms-mainframes.html

  • Republicofscotland

    A charity set up by Tony Blair has been the victim of a theft of more than £50,000.

    The Tony Blair Faith Foundation revealed the ‘misappropriation’ in its latest accounts, which were published yesterday.

    The money came out of Faith Acts, the charity’s programme to support malaria prevention in Sierra Leone over the past two years, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
    ____________________________

    Money missing from a Blair Charity…….Never!

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2789589/50-000-goes-missing-tony-blair-s-charity.html

  • Republicofscotland

    U.S. ally Saudi Arabia is methodically harassing, detaining, and abusing human rights campaigners, going to “extreme lengths to hound critics into silent submission,” according to a report released Thursday by Amnesty International.

    “The Saudi Arabian authorities have consolidated their iron grip on power through a systematic and ruthless campaign of persecution against peaceful activists in a bid to suppress any criticism of the state in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab uprisings,” said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program.
    __________________________________________

    A country allowed to do despicable acts against humanity, as long as it obeys its US master.

    http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/10/10/saudi-arabia-unleashing-systematic-and-ruthless-repression-against-dissenters-report

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    Republicofscotland

    “The US has probably held the patent on Ebola since the 1970′s when it broke out in Zaire,”
    _______________________

    Leaving aside the word “probably” for the moment, what exactly do you mean by saying that the US “holds the patent” on Ebola?

    Your comment seems to indicate that you agree that Ebola is a natural as opposed to a man-made disease, since you use the expression “broke out”. Do you therefore mean that the US has the patent on the cure for Ebola?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    “this one however in my opinion is a US manufactured event.”

    What do you mean by “this one”? One what?

    Are you claiming that the US has samples of Ebola (as well as the cure) and has released it in Guinée-Conakry/Sierra Leone/Liberia?

    If you are claiming that, what is your explanation for why the US should have done so?

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    Republicofscotland

    Let’s see if you are capable of providing something solid to back up your assertions.

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    Republicofscotland

    More back-up required from you, I’m afraid (if you can, of course)!

    You quote the Daily Mail as saying:

    “Armed with the required usernames and passwords, in a few keystrokes the officers can retrieve confidential data from anyone’s telephone or computer use within minutes.”
    _______________________

    I’ve read the link to the Daily Mail you provided, but unfortunately the Daily Mail article is short on detail and adds little to your post.

    Please therefore share with us the supplementary information at your disposal, starting with the following (feel free to add more detail if you wish):

    1/. from where do the police obtain the usernames and passwords?
    2/. are the usernames and passwords sufficient for the police to identify the real people concerned?
    3/. what is meant by confidential data? Does it mean the contents of messages or merely the log of people contacted?

    Thank you very much.

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !

    Mary

    “Mr Sheridan said: “Some of you who are old enough will remember the last titanic battle with the British establishment that was taken to the brink – the 1984/5 miners’ strike.

    “I remember the South Wales miners’ marching back to work in March of 1985 with a banner that is applicable to us here today. That banner read: this is the end. The end of the beginning.

    “This is the end of the beginning.””
    _____________________

    It is good to know that Mr Sheridan still has some admirers.

    But I do hope you’re not an admirer of Mr Sheridan for his powers of prophecy.

    Rather than the “end of the beginning”, I’d have said that the subsequent history of the UK coal-mining industry demonstrated rather clearly that it was in fact the beginning of the end.

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

    PS – did you put your head above the parapet and co-sign Iain Orr’s letter to the Home Secretary on the Moazzam Begg case?

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