After such an extended break from blogging, you will be deeply disappointed that I restart with something as mundane and trivial as Jeremy Clarkson. I have defended the man in the past, because I much enjoy Top Gear and consider that much of what he has been criticised for in the past had been an amusing winding-up of the po-faced of the kind I employ myself. But nasty, indeed vicious bullying of a subordinate should always be a sacking offence.
That did not ought to be the question, though. He hit someone and they had to go to hospital. Where are the police? They are incredibly fond of sweeping up scores of teenagers for thought crime, but here we have an actual violent assault that spills blood, and it seems completely out of the question the perpetrator is brought to account. Why is that? I had a personal experience a couple of years ago when I was very mildly hurt – less than young Oisin – in an assault, and the police insisted on arresting the perpetrator despite my repeated requests to them not to do so. They told me rather firmly that the idea that it is the victim who has a say in pressing charges, is a myth. Why was Clarkson not arrested?
I cannot in my mind dissociate this from the non-arrest of Jimmy Savile for his crimes, despite their being well-known and reported at the time. That seems to link in to the wider paedophilia scandal, and the question of why no action was taken even in the most blatant of cases when there was compelling evidence, such as that of the extremely nasty Greville Janner MP.
But then I think still more widely as to why, for example, Jack Straw has not been charged with the crime of misfeasance in public office after boasting of using his position to obtain “under the radar” changes in regulations to benefit commercial clients, in exchange for cash. I wonder why a large number of people did not go to jail for the HSBC tax avoidance schemes or the LIBOR rigging scandal, which involved long term dishonest manipulation by hundreds of very highly paid bankers.
At the top of the tree is of course the question of why Blair has not been charged for the crime of waging illegal war. The Chilcot Inquiry heard evidence that every single one of the FCO’s elite team of Legal Advisers believed that the invasion of Iraq was an illegal war of aggression. Yet now the media disparage as nutters those who say Blair should be charged.
Then I think of all the poor and desperate people who get jailed for stealing comparatively miniscule amounts in benefit fraud, or the boy who was jailed for stealing a bottle of water in the London riots.
The conclusion is that we do not have a system of justice in this country at all. We have a system where the wealthy and governing classes and those associated with them enjoy almost absolute impunity, broken in only the rarest of cases. At the same time those at the bottom of the pile are kicked hard to keep them there. There is no more chance of justice against those in power in the UK than there is of the killers of Nemtsov being brought to book in Russia.
But what has really scared me is this thought. This situation has been like this my entire life: and I have reached the age of 56 before I realised it. A very great many people have still not realised it at all.
What does not scare me is this. I realise that if the system of justice is completely corrupted, then there is no obligation on me to follow the laws of the state. In fact it would be wrong of me to do so. I must seek my ethical compass elsewhere than in the corrupt power structure which weighs so hard upon the people.
Tip-toeing around the arguments between Russia and Ukraine must lead away and confound the fact that people and lives are being exploited as Clark quite rightly recognises here.
Heavy pressure to escalate the conflict in Ukraine and further vilify Russia by talking up the ‘Russian threat’ lately by the UK’s defence/foreign secretaries i.e. “Russia is the greatest threat to Britain on a par to Islamic State, this clear example of apathy and contempt for he safety of human life.
I point my finger at these Western hawks and direct them to Craig’s clear and eloquent speech in Sheffield that exposes their iniquity.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/media/2006/10/354666.mp3
@Fred: you are missing the point… which is the effect of BBC fame. It made Saville (even more) of a pervert, and made Clarkson (even more) of a witty arrogant non PC bully. Many others e.g. Stuart Hall, Rolf Harris. Doesn’t seem to happen quite so much to ITV personalities, although Hughie Green apparently had his moments…
That’s why I think he’d be better off without them. It would take away the urge to exaggerate that side of his personality.
Do you see what I’m getting at? This argument isn’t mine… it was presented in the Guardian several days ago – with the same knee-jerk reaction.
Not sure how Goss can have read that second link (nnf.com) without falling about shouting with laughter. If I cited any Western outlet showing that amount of partiality to the West, I could be certain that Goss would be the first to ridicule me, and rightly. The first task in reading propagandist sources is to separate opinion from fact. In this piece they are inseparable. The conclusion is based on the opinions:
Ukraine has become the proxy state for America’s war against Russia.
This could equally truly* have read:
Ukraine has become the proxy state for Russia’s war against America.
and I could back that up with my own authoritative opinion alone, if I chose, disregarding any contradictory facts, ignoring the context, and presenting my opinion as absolute incontestable fact.
However, Putin is still a c**t. The facts support that fully.
🙂
*No more, no less.
@Ba’al. Yes but… Russia isn’t at war with America. It is America that is relentlessly pushing its sphere of influence Eastwards. Annexing Crimea, incidentally in response to Crimean demands, was purely defensive.
This isn’t propaganda it is fact… based on many operations and manoeuvres since the downfall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
John, this is the theory that I think might be the explanation for the mega cyclones.
We find ourselves at a point in history ..at an intersection of two opposing trends. As the world becomes more technological, mass production is a one manifestation of this pollution another, more and more of the natural world discloses itself to us as a standing reserve.. merely a store of natural capital and as this trend continues the capacity for the natural world to draw attention to itself wanes (economic growth, legless emission control protocols). The virtue of attention is best practiced in the presence of nature and of art whereas mass produced things mitigate against attention. As nature more and more discloses itself to us as a sink (as shown by policies of payment for ecosystem services, fracking, carbon accounting and so on) our attention wanes. We have arrived at a technological tipping point but not only metaphorically …
@Peacewisher
Jeremy Clarkson is just a prat, Jimmy Savile was a psychopath who prayed on young children and abused them, there is no comparison and your attempts to exaggerate the one to my mind belittles the other.
@Fred: I used to watch Top Gear for many years until he acted “Hitler-like” in his comment on striking public sector workers, at the end of 2011. In the early days the still had that sexist, right-wing twang to his humour, but it was fairly harmless and didn’t insult the masses. That all changed as, encouraged by BBC worldwide branding, he was projected into greater fame.
@Ba’al. Yes but… Russia isn’t at war with America. It is America that is relentlessly pushing its sphere of influence Eastwards. Annexing Crimea, incidentally in response to Crimean demands, was purely defensive.
My version of the same story is this: Russia (or Putin, which currently comes to the same thing) is craftily re-establishing it’s influence over the entire FSU, and taking options on economic dominance – at least – of some or all of the Balkans and probably Syria. (He’s lost Egypt for the moment at least). This for nationalistic/patriotic reasons. If the UK were doing this in the FBE, you’d call it imperialism.
Crimea would not be strategically necessary if this were not the case. The Black Sea Fleet, which shared Sevastopol by agreement with Ukraine, was a declining asset, and a genuinely defensive force could have been based elsewhere in the Black Sea.
Putin’s approach is very calculated: let’s see what we can get away with, and escalate when each successive objective is attained. If we can get away with rescuing the oppressed (no, really) Russian-speakers in Ukraine, grab their industrial capacity and the coast road to Crimea, we can probably get away with the same approach to enhancing our presence in the Baltic. Also, it takes the peasants’ minds off the continuing economic performance problems at home. Yes, the Russians do conflict for exactly the same reasons as us. To project power, control markets their/our oligarchs find attractive, create jobs and keep The Sunski’s readers happy.
Think about it, please.
…its influence. Unauthorised use of grocer’s apostrophe, sorry.
@Fred: This comparison (NOT in deeds, but in covert encouragement of naughtiness) was first stated several days ago and has been debated almost ad nausem in the press. Here’s the article that started it off:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11473066/BBC-boss-likens-Jeremy-Clarkson-to-Jimmy-Savile-after-establishment-support.html
@Peacewisher
He’s just an oaf. Made a lot of money from being an oaf.
Jimmy Savile was evil.
@Fred: we are all capable of being evil. I’m talking about how that evil can be (covertly, or even unconsciously) nurtured.
The lowering, of corporation tax, was billed as a disaster for Scotland,during the Scottish referendum. Gideon Osborne,called it a race to the bottom, here we are six months later,and the lowering of the tax,is seen as a good thing for business.
In reality yesterdays budget,did nothing for the poor and disabled, Osborne’s triumphant rhetoric, was lauded by the usual Westminster sycophants.
The chancer of the exchequer,even had the audacity to suggest that the UK would overtake Germany,as Europes largest economy,he,is, fooling no one but himself.
Gideon,buoyed by the applause from his acolytes proclaimed his aim to make the UK, the most prosperous,of the big industrial economies.
The question must be prosperous for whom?
So Ba’al seems to be displaying the condition of evaluating the world through the Neo-Con mindset prism; trouble is, it’s so shallow as be a sham;
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141769/john-j-mearsheimer/why-the-ukraine-crisis-is-the-wests-fault
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gwCXwhcEwbY/U2UOiLysETI/AAAAAAAAM2E/-KYAY3nfRMI/s1600/russia-wants-war-us-bases-sarcastic-map.jpg
Ba’al would be on safer ground if he considered that destabilizing Ukraine may be part payback for Russia’s blocking of the attack on Syria, which really angered the pro-Zionist Neo-Cons.
It looks like Netanyahu,will get the chance to form a goverment in Israel after his party,obtained the most seats in the Knesset.
The Israeli people have spoken,and they appear content with keeping a PM in power who,slaughters Palestinians,then steals their lands.
Netanyahu,is on course to become Israels longest serving PM,which speaks volumes for its citizens.
People simply aren’t feeling the economic growth,the UK is shrouded by insecurity, and low wages for millions of families.
If you’re a hedge fund wealthy retiree,or a business,shy of providing fairly paid secure employment, Osborne’s Britain is the place for you.
If however,you’re looking,for a decent job,a home to raise your kids,and a safe NHS,then,Britain isn’t the place for you.
Len McCluskey.
General Secretary of UNITE.
Clark; “And it misrepresents a bit. That five billion dollars was spent over the course of some time, wasn’t it? From the mid ’90s until late 2013 when that boast was made, if I remember rightly. It doesn’t look so much considered like that.”
On the contrary, it shows the opposite; that the US has been investing, time, money & planning, basically in sedition, for such a very long time; a cold calculated determination of a long term plan to cause trouble for Russia. What right has the US to be meddling in other countries via CIA directed NGO’s ?
Macky, was it Nuland who proclaimed the five billion? Whoever. Could you quote the actual statement please?
Macky, chill out! You don’t need to fight all the time. Fighting’s the problem. Ba’al asked you (please) to think about it; I second that – please think; “is this battle really necessary”? If the Neocons did that there’d be a whole lot less fighting and they wouldn’t have given the Russian powers the excuse they needed to do what they (and the other side) are doing in Ukraine.
John Goss, you too. I’m not your enemy. Until you stop fighting it’s impossible to find out whether RD is your enemy or not either.
The ticking timebomb,that accompanies Osborne’s fantasy budget,is the stark refusal,to take into account what’s happening in the rest of the world.
The latest OBR report,published alongside the budget,warns that global trade is about to slacken.
The chancer of the exchequer trumpeted,an increase in the OBR forecast,for UK growth this year. However Gideon, passed over a revision downward,in 2017 and 2018.
Add to this strong US Growth,with suggested data that the US Fed,may raise its interest rates as early as June. With non-American companies owing up to $7 trillion dollars in loans,currency devaluation and tactical fighting for trade,could undermine, Gideons meagre budget.
Grief it’s like blindfold kick-boxing!
I think the idea that there might be neocons on both sides may be too much for some intellects here, Clark.
Resident Dissident; “There has been quite a lot of evidence recently that Putin may have been behind the shootings at Maidan – you can of course believe who you want, but lets just say that the KGB don’t have clean hands when it comes to manufacturing evidence do they?”
To think that you have the audacity to mock others for wacky conspiracy theories ! You seriously think that Putin would seek to cause the certain ousting Yanukovych, and to cause the certain murderous chaos & instability, that would inevitably have drastic harmful impact for the Russian speaking Ukrainians ? !
I know that certain people here are so very reluctant to consider articles that they know counters their povs, but if you read the article I posted before, you will learn of leaked phone calls that suggest that the snipers were acting for the “new coalition”, and you only have to consider that the investigation by Kiev into the sniper shooting, was found to be seriously flawed, and that even the BBC reported an interview with a pro-Maidan demonstrator who admitted to being a sniper, with matches the findings of the German documentary team, who concluded that the shooting was done “by the U.S.-backed Svoboda Party and the protesters themselves”.
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11730
http://rt.com/news/195004-ukraine-maidan-sniper-investigation/
OK, to make it utterly explicit:
I’m very pleased with that statement, Clark. It restores Russia to the status of superpower, meaning the world is back in balance 🙂
Clark; “Macky, was it Nuland who proclaimed the five billion? Whoever. Could you quote the actual statement please?”
Are you turning into another Habby ? Can you only use google when it suits you ? If you can’t be bothered to learn about the issues, perhaps best not advertise the fact of your lack of knowledge, or even worse, your lack of motivation to clue yourself up; two really essential things that one should do, if you wish to make worthwhile comments on any subject.
Clark; “Macky, chill out! You don’t need to fight all the time. Fighting’s the problem”
I’m perfectly chilled, and I’m not “fighting”, but making rebuttals to points I disagree with, in a barely rational adult debate at times.
The fight is in the interests of various of the elite, and the elite have influence that straddles borders.
Macky, yes, the reports about the sniping that I’ve seen indicate that the supporters of the Kiev “new coalition” did it, but were encouraged and prompted to do so by a shadowy high-ranking (ex?) secret-service or military Russian. Sorry, I can’t remember the details; it was personal testimony of a sniper in the BBC article you linked, the one that altered my opinion.
Macky, do you really think that Putin cares about Russian-speaking Ukrainians? Or anyone else but his friends and family? Caring about abstract population groups and people in general is not generally the way that people become powerful. Quite the opposite.
“Ukraine has become the proxy state for America’s war against Russia.
This could equally truly* have read:
Ukraine has become the proxy state for Russia’s war against America.”
No it could not. It is the US that has been declaring war all over the world. And you know it.
As to my using RT as a source, it is true I believe it to be more reliable than western news outlets, but I checked through the last blogpost regarding comments I made regarding Ukraine and only 10% are directly linked to RT. If I could have found a western source for the indefinite detentions and fast-track deportations of asylum-seekers I would have done so. Perhaps Ba’al can find a few.
Craig had real power; he was an ambassador. He put care towards ordinary people above power and Bang! No longer an ambassador.
Think about what power really is.
Finally after nearly 45 years of draining North sea resources, for vanity projects in London and dirty little wars around the globe,Westminster has cut taxes on oil and gas industry.
Consecutive Westminster governments have relied heavily on the North sea,yet not one PM had the foresight to set up an oil fund,for a rainy day.
Add to this the continual rise in tax on the industry,which we all felt at the petrol pumps,it all adds up to decades of sheer incompetents, by the Westminster so called elite.
Westminster must surely be the prodigal son, of the goverments of the world.
Peacewisher, I’d rather that powers (super or otherwise) were subjugated under law.