Hillary Clinton only “won” Iowa because she won all six coin tosses in tied precincts. What are the odds against six successive coin toss wins? I calculate 1 in 64, or you have a 1.5% chance of pulling it off. If I am right, do we really believe it did happen? That question is posed without taking into account the indisputable bias for Clinton of the Democrat machine which was organising the vote, and other startling irregularities, including the falure of the organising committee to staff over sixty caucus meetings. It all stinks, frankly.
I have been trying to think up a word to describe the kind of society we have now, in which a tiny number of extremely wealthy people control the politicians and manipulate the public through the mass media. Then I realised we already have a perfectly adequate word for it – plutocracy.
It is a plutocracy where 85 people own the same wealth as the other 50% of the population of the entire world, and the wealth gap still grows at astonishing pace. A reaction from the people who actually create that wealth is inevitable. The extraordinary concentration of capital has only been possible because of the existence of state mechanisms designed to promote it, and a popular movement to end that state bias was bound to happen. It was also predictable that it would be dominated by the young. To see youth mobilise for Scottish independence, for Corbyn or for Sanders has been life-affirming for me.
I might wish the movement for change to be sometimes better directed. But there is now a generational shift, a desire of young people for fundamental change, resisted by their elders. This phenomenon has not been seen so strongly since the 60’s. In the battle between the growing and the dying, there is only one ultimate winner. A good time to be alive (again). Almost makes up for struggling on through Thatcher and Blair…
You have to scroll four comments down from Craig’s comment that I linked to… Mr Straw’s lifestyle doesn’t seem to have put a smile on his face, does it?
Full text of Assange UN Arbitrary Detention case opening submission: great reading
https://justice4assange.com/IMG/pdf/assange-wgad.pdf
Kind regards,
John
“Saudi Arabia has offered for the first time to send ground troops to Syria to fight Islamic State, its defence ministry said on Thursday.
….
Saudi sources told the Guardian that thousands of special forces could be deployed, probably in coordination with Turkey.”
Laugh or cry?
Aidworker1
“Habba 3.50pm
Of course I don’t count them. The West Bank is occupied territory and not part of the State of Israel and Gaza is not part of the State of Israel either. And Israeli settlers apart, the inhabitants of those areas are not Israeli citizens.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Isn’t this a sad post? It’s so detached from reality.
If you Wiki the population of the West Bank it’s nearly 3m people totally governed without any representation or rights.
If the population of Israel is 8m then almost 40% of the people can’t vote.”
________________________
Why do you find facts to be “sad”?
Are the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Israeli citizens? If not, why should they be entitled to vote in Israeli elections?
Does the Palestinian Authority not organise (or, at least, should they not organise) elections in the West Bank (in which elections Israeli settlers are not allowed to vote?
I shall never cease to be surprised how some people, presumably blinded by hatred of Israel, persist in claiming that Israel is not a democratic state whose govts are changed in accordance with the outcome of elections in which all adult Israeli citizens have the vote. Elections which, since the founding of the State, have resulted in many peaceful changes of government.
Unlike in most of Israel’s near and not-so-near Arab neighbours where there have been no free elections and where changes of govt have, as often as not, been the result of coups d’état.
In contrats
It is curious that there are apparently people who would equate possible US legal action against Mr Assange with the Iranian death fatwa against author Salmon Rushdie.
With respect, such an equation appears to make light of the Iranian fatwa.
An interesting interview of Vaughan Smith, friend of JA who also helped give him refuge in his ancestral family house in Norfolk. He certainly seems like a decent chap imho:
http://news.sky.com/story/1636046/assange-arbitrarily-detained-in-embassy
“Isn’t this a sad post? It’s so detached from reality.
If you Wiki the population of the West Bank it’s nearly 3m people totally governed without any representation or rights.
If the population of Israel is 8m then almost 40% of the people can’t vote.”
Yes Aidworker, it is sad piece of dullard propaganda. All the sadder if one adds in the millions of refugees and their descendants driven out of their homes by death squads and terrorists in uniform who have been waiting-often with their house keys- to return home, since 1948.
As to the states surrounding Palestine, there is not one of them which has not been- and is not still- subject to Israeli aggression.
Between 1972 and 1974 one of the strangest, most bizarre financial deals was struck between the USA and Saudi Arabia. It’s called the ‘petrodollar’, and it meant that Saudi Arabia, followed by the other OPEC states, would only sell oil for US dollars. It’s a tad complicated, so I’ll just say that over the forty years since then the ‘petrodollar’ has vastly over-inflated the worth of the US dollar and the US economy.
Of late, many countries are abandoning the petrodollar (countries such as Russia, China and India) and are selling oil in their own currencies. Uncle Sam is not pleased with these moves, and so it leads to bullshit like this…
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/04/saudi-arabia-ground-troops-syria-fight-isis
“It’s all about oil” is an often heard refrain. It’s not about oil per se (with fracking the US is now self-sufficient in oil), it’s about the currency that oil is sold in.
In 2002, Iraq, one of the world’s biggest oil producers, started selling its oil in Euros. Is it a coincidence that one year later Iraq was invaded by the USA? One of the first things the American occupiers and their puppet government did was to bring back the petrodollar.
It’s a similar story with Libya, and will also be with Iran, unless people in the West wake the fuck up.
“It is curious that there are apparently people who would equate possible US legal action against Mr Assange with the Iranian death fatwa against author Salmon Rushdie.
With respect, such an equation appears to make light of the Iranian fatwa.”
_______________
I have to agree with you on this occasion Habb old boy, the fatwa against Rushdie, is one of terminate with extreme religious prejudice.
Considering Mr Rushdie never revealed one state secret to my knowledge, the order by the Ayatollah Khomeini now dead was a neferious one.
So all that was wrong with the fatwa against Rushdie is that it called for his death? If it had called for his imprisonment, it would have been okay?
Habbabkuk, 8:45 pm
The comparison seems apt, actually.
Rushdie wrote and had published things that offended the Ayatollah, so the Ayatollah ordered his death.
Assange published things that offended the US government – though they were US government employees own words. The US government would therefore perform an essentially mock trial, and then put him in solitary confinement for the rest of his life.
Seems like both authorities would end the lives of those who embarrassed them, one as quickly as possible, the other as slowly as possible.
“So all that was wrong with the fatwa against Rushdie is that it called for his death? If it had called for his imprisonment, it would have been okay?”
________________
Lysais
Even if the fatwa had only called for his imprisonment it would’ve been wrong, in a similar fashion as to the calling for the imprisonment of Snowden and Assange is also wrong.
Which is exactly what I was saying, or at least thought that I was saying.
“Which is exactly what I was saying, or at least thought that I was saying.”
____________
Yes Lysais I think you did same something along those lines, however the fatwa did call for his murder, and if such an order had applied to whistle blowers who released state secrets, then the likes of Chelsea Manning would’ve been executed by now, if caught in Iran, instead of America.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Iran
Chelsea Manning was given a 35 years prison sentence, but could be paroled in as little as eight. Rushdie if caught by religious fanatics will have no such luck.
Once again I agree that none of the whistle blowers should’ve gone to prison, however Rushdie if caught will be killed.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Manning
There is certainly an awakening but the danger is that it is too late and the elites simply rig the results.
The outcome in Iowa was very suspicious, both on the Republican and Democratic sides, as was our general election in May. But without a functioning mainstream media, most people will either believe it was all legitimate or do nothing about their suspicions.
Clark; Any word from mary?
Syrian residents have thanked Assad, Iran and Hezbollah in celebratory scenes from the towns of Nubul and al-Zahraa according to a broadcast by Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV. The powerful Kurdish YPG militia, which controls wide areas of northern Syria, meanwhile added to the pressure on terrorists, capturing two villages near Nubul and al-Zahraa.
Residents and families of Nubbul and Zahraa towns in Aleppo northern countryside gave the Syrian army and its allies a heroes welcome today Thursday after they succeeded in breaking the siege imposed on the towns by terrorist groups for more than 40 months.
The families of the freed towns took the streets in jubilation and thanked the Syrian army and its allies for their efforts in freeing their towns and breaking the terrorists’ siege which plagued the towns with poverty and deprivation of their basic needs. Following are the scenes of jubilation and rejoice among the people of Nubbul and Zahraa towns:(slow connection)
http://media2.almanar.com.lb/videofiles/2016/February/news/reports/4-02-2016/Nobol_zahraa.mp4
“I would not be surprised if Sweden drops the matter now, and I wonder if there has been any quiet negotiation behind the scenes to achieve the least politically costly result.”
Very astute if I might say. Sweden, or at least many high-ranking Swedish people, have been looking for a face-saving way out ever since Reinfeldt lost power in 2014. I have done quite a lot of work on this case, though on this blog Arbed is probably the expert, and know that it was the ultra-right Karl Bildt, Fredrik Reinfeldt and the right-wing government lawyers, Ny, Massi-Fritz (a lawyer to the Reinfeldts) and Borgström who have continued pressing for extradition.
I covered this aspect here.
http://newsjunkiepost.com/2014/01/15/will-sweden-drop-the-charges-against-assange/ who
By the way, if you like the above article, please click the like button as it does not even have 700 likes, which is a bit mean. 😀
Thanks.
China’s answer to Bitcoin.
http://anonhq.com/47976-2/
Ben, 10:31 pm; sorry, nothing from Mary so far.
Hi peeps!
John Pilger on the latest news about Julian Assange.
Freeing Julian Assange: John Pilger On The Final Chapter:
https://newmatilda.com/2016/02/05/freeing-julian-assange-john-pilger-on-the-final-chapter/
“One of the epic miscarriages of justice of our time is unravelling…”
Bernie Clinton!? Bernie / she???
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2016-35499180
BBC bias or sloppy beyond belief?
@Mark Golding – Salman/jubeir want to enter Syria, will it be via the now impractical Turkey route or the more likely land route via Jordan? Effectively making the short Hashemite a collaborator as there are no ISIS in Southern Syria. Without air cover the sword dancers will be sitting ducks too, or are we going to witness an all out conflagration. Bibi has been making noises about a Syrian Druze Grand Mufti who also collaborated with Hitler, so stand by for a Golan eretz extension into the Druze area too.
John Goss
04/02/16 10:57pm
Thanks, John. You’re a gentleman. And it’s a good article.
Kind regards,
John
“Meet the Sniper, an app that will scan the net using a new algorithm, looking for anti-J…sh content. Individuals will be able to check the content and take action as needed.
“The World Zionist Organization (WZO) is expected to launch its Sniper app, which it says is a search engine for anti-S..itic content.
The Sniper’s first users will be members of the WZO’s global network for combating anti-S…tism, at the WZO’s communications center [sic]. Later, other users are expected to join in.
Their role will be to create a kind of “wall” on the site, on which they will write the personal details of anti-S…tic content publishers, as well as what they published (quotes, screen grabs, pictures, videos, and more).
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4760276,00.html
The above speaks for itself really. An attack on freedom of speech.
Watch out for Craigs blog to be “named and shamed.”
Thanks for your links LaGuerre and TonyB55, very helpful in reading between the lines.
I’m sure there are links between Taub and janner, it will come out, as will the cover uppers in Janners community who for decades looked at his behaviour and kept their own children away from him.
Another whale has beached himself on Hunstanton sands, this year is a bad year, it happened before, some 100 years or so ago, and it will happen again, what we can take from it is the knowledge, learning for the future. It highlights our valuable asset, our fish nursery, its shallow, home for herring, halibut and cod to breed and to raise their young ready for a life on our plates. And we can do nothing else but pollute the place with industrial outfalls, sewage and plastic detritus.
Thanks to Arbed for keeping us informed on Julians impending freedom, we miss your succinct comments here.
I just been on radio and ask visitors to the beach to take a bag and collect some rubbish on the way, respect the whale and educate your kids about the North Sea.
An all out conflagration is probable ‘Lurker’ as UK/US acknowledge impending defeat and dangerously and perilously deepen their commitment to creating ‘Sunnistan’, a new state comprised of eastern Syria and western Iraq controlled by UK/US-clients who will allow western oil giants to connect the pipeline grid from Qatar to Turkey in order to replace Russia as the EU’s primary supplier of natural gas. It’s all part of the imperial strategy to “pivot” to Asia by controlling vital resources and making sure they remain denominated in US dollars.
Myself, I believe this unbalanced ambitious plan for global dominion that is now being openly challenged by Russia, the emerging power that threatens to derail the destructive murderous UK/US prurience will SERIOUSLY DAMAGE the malign unipolar (UK/US/IS) world order.
To confirm the detail, ‘one leg John’ has firmly established Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city to the north, has been surrounded by loyalist forces, including a few UK ex SAS fighters, that, as you recognise, have cut off supply lines to Turkey leaving fighters from UK supported Salafi groups like Ahrar al Sham, Jabhat al Nusra, Jaish al Islam, ISIS and the other al Qaida-linked groups to either surrender or cower down while they await the agreed final desperate confrontation. The momentum has shifted in favor of Assad’s forces which now clearly have the upper hand. What the western media characterizes as a “quagmire” has all the makings of a stunning victory for the Russian-led coalition that is gradually reestablishing security across Syria while sending the invaders running for cover. This is from Reuters:
“Three months into his military intervention in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin has achieved his central goal of stabilizing the Assad government and, with the costs relatively low, could sustain military operations at this level for years, U.S. officials and military analysts say.
That assessment comes despite public assertions by President Barack Obama and top aides that Putin has embarked on an ill-conceived mission in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that it will struggle to afford and that will likely fail…
since its campaign began on Sept. 30, Russia has suffered minimal casualties and, despite domestic fiscal woes, is handily covering the operation’s cost, which analysts estimate at $1-2 billion a year. The war is being funded from Russia’s regular annual defense budget of about $54 billion, a U.S. intelligence official said…
So Mr Cameron, a moment to ease the futile, impotent pain of connived low ‘oil barrel’ damage… perchance?
Is this taken from Dickens or Hobbes?
http://www.activistpost.com/2016/02/new-law-in-london-would-fine-homeless-1000-for-sleeping-outside-or-loitering.html
Richard Silverstein repeats his reporting of the indiscretions of Israeli Ambassador Daniel Taub, including allowing minor boys to visit him in his London embassy. http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2016/02/05/taub-nomination-for-top-foreign-ministry-job-fails-for-now-after-accusations-of-pederasty/
Silverstein reports: “First, the accusations of sex with minors were made by the London Police.” Also: ” MI5 was aware of the sexual activity.”