Debauchery in the Court of a Psychopath 311


The National newspaper has used that snappy headline over an excerpt from Sikunder Burnes they publish today. It is from the Chapter “Peshawar Perverted” and here is a brief extract of the extract.

These unpublishable moral delinquencies included paedophilia. Several British officers noted the children around Avitabile. Lieutenant William Barr was entertained to a nautch in 1839: “Amongst the number were a few children, varying from seven to ten years of age, who … are gradually being initiated into the mysteries of a craft most derogatory in its nature, as carried on in the East … Behind the governor stood two of his servants, a pair of diminutive Afghan boys … one of whom … would have made a remarkably pretty girl; he, however, looked quite out of place in attendance upon a masculine individual like Avitabile, and would have been better suited for the occupation of a lady’s page.”

SURGEON-GENERAL Atkinson noted of Avitabile the same year: “He lives in good style, and is distinguished for his hospitality, which has been amply experienced and acknowledged by the British officers… On every occasion, his table has been crowded with guests, and, according to oriental custom, the sumptuous entertainments always concluded with a grand nautch, his figurante-company of Cashmeer women consisting of about thirty, singers and dancers from the age of twelve to twenty-five.”

By 1840, Avitabile was entertaining so many British officers that he obtained a monthly allowance of Rs1000 towards the expense. Here we have one of those rare glimpses behind the curtain that reveals the truth about the “nautches” which were such a frequent feature of the lives of British officials: “At the same time the Government of India, who had heard of the disgraceful orgies which attended some of the entertainments, directed that none but the most senior officers were to be entertained by him, and gave the political officer an allowance of 500Rs a month, on behalf of the younger ones.”

So the senior officers got the disgraceful orgies, and the junior officers got dinner with Mackeson.

The National reproduce a large version of the most common sketch of “Alexander Burnes” to illustrate the book extract, despite the fact the book goes to some lengths to show it is not actually a sketch of Alexander Burnes. But you can’t expect picture editors to read books, I suppose. The print edition of the National also contains a sub-heading below this picture in what looks like Latin but isn’t. I have no idea why.

For a broader perspective on the book, there is an excellent account here of some of the themes I highlighted at a talk on Saturday.

As far as I can gather Sikunder Burnes has currently sold out absolutely everywhere except for a few copies left at Amazon, which bought up most of the stock. There were 19 other suppliers available through Amazon alone, but every single one has sold out. It is being urgently reprinted – for the second time – and the publisher assures me will be back in the shops before Christmas. Reminds me of Cabbage Patch Dolls!

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Signed First Editions of Sikunder Burnes are now available direct from this blog! You can leave a message naming the dedication you want. Sold at cover price of £25 including p&p for UK delivery or £29 for overseas delivery. Ideal Christmas presents!!

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311 thoughts on “Debauchery in the Court of a Psychopath

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  • Sharp Ears

    Probably O/T but I have just heard Gove, yes Gove, strongly defending Blair against criticism in the debate on Chilcot called by the SNP. Gove also included some warmongering against Syria and President Assad.

    Opposition Day Debate
    (Scottish National Party) (i) Chilcot inquiry and parliamentary accountability
    http://www.parliament.uk/business/

    The relics of NuLabour, resident on the green benches, have barracked both Caroline Lucas, Green, and the SNP speakers especially the lively Tasmina Ahmed Sheikh. They wisely refused to give way to those barracking.

    The record of the proceedings will appear here later.
    https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2016-11-30

    • Macky

      “The SNP were the heroes in parliament this afternoon and Labour an absolute abject debased disgrace”

      Verdict of George Galloway.

        • Loony

          Ah Habbabkuk. I seem to recall that in the past you have suggested Dr. Paul Craig Roberts to be person whose opinions should not be relied upon. Perhaps because you provide no rational evidence to support your contention many have trouble following your argument.

          However the good news is that intuition can be just as useful as reason. Dr Roberts (not to be confused with Dr. Robert) has outed himself as a Russian agent. He has gone so far as to write to President Putin requesting urgent assistance as payment for his past services to the Russian state.

          http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2016/11/28/dear-president-putin/

          Who’d a thunk it?

        • Macky

          Well he does have an impressive record in being right about most political things, I’m sure you don’t need me to remind you ! 😀

    • Macky

      MPs have rejected a call for an investigation, by 439 to 70; that’s a lot of war criminal supporters & apologists; and throughtout the debate an utter lack of humanity iro the devastation visited on Iraqi people.

      Makes you proud to be British ?

      • Sharp Ears

        The report of the debate
        https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-11-30/debates/AUTO-630cef4e-07b2-48cc-a366-30a88cd748d0/ChilcotInquiryAndParliamentaryAccountability

        and the 70 good souls who voted Aye

        Ahmed-Sheikh, Ms Tasmina
        Amess, Sir David
        Arkless, Richard
        Bardell, Hannah
        Black, Mhairi
        Blackford, Ian
        Blackman, Bob
        Blackman, Kirsty
        Boswell, Philip
        Brock, Deidre
        Brown, Alan
        Campbell, Mr Ronnie
        Chapman, Douglas
        Cherry, Joanna
        Cowan, Ronnie
        Crawley, Angela
        Davies, Philip
        Docherty-Hughes, Martin
        Donaldson, Stuart Blair
        Durkan, Mark
        Edwards, Jonathan
        Elliott, Tom
        Ferrier, Margaret
        Flynn, Paul
        Gale, Sir Roger
        Gethins, Stephen
        Gibson, Patricia
        Grady, Patrick
        Grant, Peter
        Gray, Neil
        Hendry, Drew
        Hepburn, Mr Stephen
        Hollobone, Mr Philip
        Hopkins, Kelvin
        Hosie, Stewart
        Kerevan, George
        Kerr, Calum
        Law, Chris
        Lucas, Caroline
        MacNeil, Mr Angus Brendan
        McCaig, Callum
        McDonald, Stewart Malcolm
        McDonald, Stuart C.
        McGarry, Natalie
        McLaughlin, Anne
        McPartland, Stephen
        Monaghan, Carol
        Monaghan, Dr Paul
        Mulholland, Greg
        Mullin, Roger
        Newlands, Gavin
        O’Hara, Brendan
        Oswald, Kirsten
        Paterson, Steven
        Ritchie, Ms Margaret
        Robertson, rh Angus
        Salmond, rh Alex
        Saville Roberts, Liz
        Sheppard, Tommy
        Skinner, Mr Dennis
        Stephens, Chris
        Thewliss, Alison
        Thomson, Michelle
        Weir, Mike
        Whiteford, Dr Eilidh
        Whitford, Dr Philippa
        Williams, Hywel
        Williams, Mr Mark
        Wilson, Corri
        Wishart, Pete

        • nevermind

          Thanks for that list of names, it will come handy at the next local Labour party meeting, I can already see a leaflet with these names on every chair in the room.

    • Macky

      Get your free digs when you can, I’m quite generous with typos; it’s the only time you’ll ever catch me out on something ! 😀

      • Anon1

        A typo is when you hit the wrong key by accident.

        That you write “Chogassians” shows that you don’t have a clue what it is you are supposed to be exercised by. The only thing that interests you is the opportunity to paint Britain in the worst possible light.

        The problem you have, and the reason your far-left politics never gain any ground, is that most people can see through your transparent hatred of Britain. Even those who would agree that the Chagossians have suffered an injustice don’t want to be associated with you.

        • michael norton

          America and Europe are leaving the Communists in the gutter and hurtling towards the extreme ring wing nutter land.

        • Loony

          A “transparent hatred of Britain” basically implies a hatred of geography – perhaps someone could classify this as a hate crime possibly under the banner of geogophobia.

          There are clearly people around that hate British civil society – the people that have hollowed out the economy and foisted un-repayable levels of debt on the population, the people that have decided it would be a good idea to replace the existing population with an entirely new population are examples.

          People who do not hate British civil society should recognize their own enabling role in its ongoing destruction. Why, for example, have they allowed all manner of wars to be launched in their name and done nothing to stop the carnage. Why do they venerate war criminals and not demand that the law hold these people to account?

          Given that no meaningful attempts are made to stop any of these things then I guess the British must be a self hating people, or at least completely disinterested in whether or not Britain is destroyed as a recognizable entity.

        • Macky

          Right, making a spelling mistake in an on the fly typed blog comment = not having a clue ! 😀

          ” far-left politics never gain any ground,”

          Bring on that General Election ! Make Great Britain Great Again ! 😀

          “transparent hatred of Britain”

          Here I’ll make it correct for, as it does actually concern you; “transparent hatred of British Bigots”

    • Sharp Ears

      The FCO stooge is obviously well in with Theresa. Gave him his job and spoke at his conference.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alok_Sharma

      He was probably very good at his previous job. Should go far in the Tory partei.
      ‘Alok advised corporates and private equity firms on cross border mergers and acquisitions, listings and restructurings.’

      Some nice donations received from 2010 to date including one in 2013.
      https://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=24902

      • Anon1

        She and her party will be a spent force soon enough. You can only do so much strutting before people begin to ask what you have actually achieved.

        Until then it speaks volumes about the Scots that they didn’t see this rabbiting munchkin for what she is.

  • Habbabkuk

    This thread – as every other – is full of moans, complaints, criticism and condemnation of virtually every aspect of UK, USA and Western policy, both national and international.

    To dwell for a moment just on the United Kingdom : why are those moans, complaints, criticisms and condemnations never accompanied by any constructive, realisable proposals for how things could be changed for what the “commenters” in question consider the better?

    I do not mean facile generalisations along the lines of “the govt should spend more on x” or “the govt should spend less on y” or “the govt should do more to combat z”; I mean thoughtful, reasoned avenues for possible solutions and improvements.

    I very much hope that the reason for this curious phenomenon is not that “commenters” are lazy or stupid and/or they are just on here to let others feel their pain.

    Comments welcome 🙂

    • Kief

      You’re going to have to break that down for some commenters. Too many words they don’t understand but are too lazy to look up, and anyway they don’t want to understand another point of view, so there’s that.

    • Loony

      Not all problems have solutions – just ask RBS.

      The post war economic model is over and it cannot be put back together again. The insane behaviors observed by state actors are best understood as a last ditch effort to prop up the illusion of an economic system and keep it notionally functional for another day/week/month/year.

      But they are running out of road – real people are suffering real economic pain. Just because the captured media does not report it, does not mean that it does not exist. This is why people voted for Brexit and why people voted for Trump. This is why Renzi will lose the Italian referendum and why Norbert Hofer will win the Austrian Presidential election.

      Asking what the government can do is pointless – all they can do is administer a system. But the system is broken and the government is worse than useless when it comes to innovative solutions. This is why all kinds of governments are being replaced, and will continue to be replaced. Fortunately at the moment this is a relatively peaceful process but if history is any guide it is unlikely to remain so.,

        • Sharp Ears

          @ 22.05

          Or one like Villager. I see your earlier weird bilge was deleted. You really are pathetic.

          My name is Sharp Ears as I keep telling you.

      • RobG

        Loony, I would venture that the government are not only “worse than useless”, they are also totally corrupt and are riddled with the kind of creatures that one finds under a stone.

        Habba wants us to be all happy-clappy about living in a police state, whilst Habba and his ilk constantly defend those who rape and murder children.

        It’s all so sick it’s almost beyond belief; but this is all really happening.

        I will repeat this link again…

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4OP–ZXOjc

        … because it gives a very good summary of what is known so far; and it’s why Hillary Clinton quite unexpectedly lost the election; and it’s why the vermin in power have recently gone all out to take down Assange and Wikileaks.

        The Presstitutes do not report any of this, of course, even though we’re looking at established facts here, because the Presstitutes are also total vermin.

        • michael norton

          France is lurching to the extreme right.
          Pension age to go up.
          Pensions to be slashed.
          Dole money to be slashed.
          Sick money to be slashed.
          Immigrant numbers to be slashed.
          1/” civil servants to be slashed.
          The New Dawn is just over the horizon.

          • michael norton

            Italy has had ENOUGH: Italians’ desire to LEAVE eurozone is at four-year high
            ITALY’S chances of leaving the eurozone is at its highest in four years as voters look likely to vote against the status quo in Sunday’s referendum.

            they should go for it.

            Why be shackled to a drowning corpse?

          • RobG

            I doubt if it will happen, Michael, because worker’s rights are very much a part of the French psyche (1789, and all that).

            And as to the lurch to the right, I also don’t see much evidence of that (with the caveat that I live in a very rural part of France).

            Last year I was driving on a little country lane, and stopped to have a pee in the bushes. As I was standing there urinating on the side of the road (which remains a very French thing to do), I noticed a headstone. It was a memorial to three Resistance fighters who had been executed by the Nazis at that spot in 1943. There are loads of such memorials around here. South west France was the main area of the Resistance. In the wake of the D-Day landings in 1944 the French Resistance went fully into battle with the Nazis, and it was a bloody battle indeed. No quarter was spared on either side.

            My point, of course, is that Britain was never invaded and occupied by fascist lunatics, as France was.

            As a result of this I would say that there is a very different political mindset between the Brits and the French.

            Others may disagree with me.

      • Habbabkuk

        Loony

        Let us assume for a moment that the UK govt is powerless. What, then, is the point of “commenters” endlessly criticising its actions or non-actions? Why do our fierce critics of the UK govt hope to achieve with their criticisms other than inviting readers to share their pain?

        Let it be noted in passing that an answer of “the system must be changed” is also a facile generalisation, is it not, never accompanied by practical and realisable solutions?

        • Loony

          You is doin it oh so wrong.

          People are complaining because they are confused, was it not Bernays himself who referred to “the bewildered herd” and Dylan who opined that “something is happening here, but you don’t know what it is, do you Mr. Jones?” Setting out thoughts and engaging in dialogue is a possible route to resolving confusion.

          The statement that “the system must be changed” is indeed facile, but possibly not for the reasons that you suppose. The system is broken and it cannot be repaired and therefore it must change. It matters nothing whether this appeals to you or not. A person may not relish the prospect of death – but it is coming whether you like it or not.

          We are beyond the point of developing “practical and realizable solutions. Take global warming – the solution is to cease burning fossil fuels, but this is not regarded as practical or realizable and so it does not happen. Presumably people consider species extinction to be more practical. This is the magnitude of the problem.

    • Macky

      “This thread – as every other – is full of moans, complaints, criticism and condemnation of virtually every aspect of UK, USA and Western policy, both national and international.”

      Ahem ! Have you being wasting all that time here under a misapprehension ?! This is the blog of a, and I quote, Human Rights Activist; did you stumble here by accident looking for company after getting banned from your Local for boring people to death ? 😀

      • Kief

        “Human Rights Activist”

        Self-described, but hobbled by narcissism and pride forcing his hand toward authoritarian methods.

        Of course ‘forcing’ seems a bit harsh when it’s his pleasure.

        • Macky

          Holy Cow (is that Yanky enough for you ?) !

          You took the words right of my keyboard, most have been while you were imitating me ! 😀

          • Kief

            So you are capable of understanding the English language, but conveniently when you happen to agree. So that’s the secret of CM? I digress.

          • Macky

            Your transatlantic visits here are paying off, as you are being to appear comprehensible, keep it up & you’ll be speaking the Queen’s English like a proper Trooper ! 😀

            Yes, a vain & glorious man !

          • Kief

            I’m afraid at my age the writing style is cuneiform (set in stone) so I have no way to adapt to the local form. But many thanks for agreeing with me.

          • Resident Dissident

            No chance of Macky ever having an inconsistent stance on human rights abuses – if the politics of the abuser are consistent with her line then any abuse can be ignored or excused. The ends justify the means.

      • Macky

        “May I ask you what practical form your own”

        No.

        “What do you mean by an “activist””

        Ask Craig, it’s how it he describes himself; afaik people who comment here don’t have to sign-up for active “activist” duty ! 😀

    • nevermind

      For once I shall endulge you, Habby. What you can’t get is that this lack of trust in our democratic ways, politicians and elites is a storm that is raging all over the globalised world.
      For decades globalised companies have had the cut and thrust to develop their system and impose it on us, companies with financial clout bigger than some countries are now imposing ever more stringent constraint on nation states.
      Add to that the filthy habits now exposed by informers like Wikileaks, the control that sexual deviants exert on this and other Governments, the circumnavigation of global treaties by ignorance and greed. here is an exert from der WSpiegel why democracy has eroded in Germany and the old parameters of politics find themselves at wits end.

      “How could Trump have been elected? The search for the roots of his success isn’t just being undertaken in the United States. In Germany, too, the discussion over the AfD and its followers will change. If half the electorate throws their support behind the populists, merely ostracizing them is no longer helpful.

      If Germany would like to protect its democracy, politicians must find other paths. They must be more critical in their identification and analysis of problems. They must recognize that democracy isn’t perfect. And they must be more courageous and creative in further developing democracy.

      Unfortunately, there is no canned solution for how to breathe new life into democracy. But there are approaches for how democracy can be augmented. The most radical of them is one proposed by Belgian historian David Van Reybrouck. He argues that representatives should be chosen at random and not through general elections. Those picked would then be tasked with working together to come up with proposals for the government. The advantage is that angry voters would no longer be able to let off steam anonymously in the voting booths — by voting in favor of Brexit, for example. They would be forced to participate. Choosing representatives by chance, Van Reybrouck says, would create a new form of public beyond the mass media and social networks.

      French historian Pierre Rosanvallon, who has written several books about the crisis facing democracy, suggests a similar approach. He proposes complementing government and parliament with citizens’ conferences that would correct and exert oversight over the politicians. Like Van Reybrouck, he is eager to find a forum to increase citizen involvement in politics, beyond just voting every few years and venting on Facebook. He also believes that elections are not enough to secure democracy.

      The thinking of German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, meanwhile, goes beyond the nation-state. With globalization having robbed national parliaments and governments of their power, it is time, he believes, for a democratically legitimate cooperation beyond nation-state borders. If capitalism cannot be controlled within the framework of a nation-state, he argues, it’s time to develop global instruments. That, though, is likely a project for the longer term.”

      http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-democracy-eroding-amid-populist-rise-a-1122271-2.html

      I hope that you realise that what you bemoan is a global movement of dissatisfaction and alienation form politicians and elites, so calm down dear.

      • Habbabkuk

        Oh OK, Nevermind, now I understand.

        You and your fellow commenters are the representatives, on this blog, of the “global movement of dissatisfaction and alienation..etc”

        Well, you lot are certainly alienated but you hqven’t really answered my point/question, have you. Which was: why do you lot just moan all the time but never come up with any thought-out,concrete and realisable suggestions for how to better things?

      • Loony

        Based on the information contained in your linked article then no grounds exist for making any determination as to the race of the attacker. He could be English, but then again he could be Polish or German or Dutch or Danish, or Canadian or…. This raises the question as to how you can have a racist attack when both the victim and the perpetrator are racially indistinguishable

        It is widely known that certain discrete cultures practice honor killing and female genital mutilation no-one looks too closely at these practices as they are considered culturally sensitive. How do you know that Polish culture does not involve Polish men beating up Polish women.

        Why are you prepared to believe that Polish culture is the same as your culture, and why do you implicitly believe your culture to be superior to a culture that sanctions the beating of women, when you are not allowed to believe that your culture is superior to a culture that sanctions the murder of women.

        Are you a racist?

  • Sharp Ears

    Don’t you have anything between your ears Villager?

    In reply to Macky, that was the list (thanks for repeating it btw) of the ‘good souls’ who oppose Blair’s war on Iraq and the deception he used in 2003. The other 439 who voted ‘No’ support war and killing.

    Read the Hansard link https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-11-30/debates/AUTO-e451e56a-68ad-41a1-b4cf-b0de43529291/ChilcotInquiryAndParliamentaryAccountability if you are able and work it out. Try Gove for instance – one of the Noes – who defended BLiar and would obviously like to see more killing in the ME.

     3.29 pm
    Michael Gove (Surrey Heath) (Con)
    I must apologise to the House for being absent during part of this debate. I was called to participate in a delegated legislation Committee upstairs.
    It is a great privilege to speak in the same debate as my hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Robert Courts), who gave an outstanding maiden speech and paid appropriate tribute to his predecessor. I also pay tribute to the hon. Member for Sedgefield (Phil Wilson) for the generous words he said about his predecessor.
    Talking of distinguished party leaders, the debate was opened in fine style by the right hon. Member for Gordon (Alex Salmond), a former First Minister of Scotland. He laid out his case, as he does always, with passion and verve and commitment. Unfortunately, skilled as an advocate though he is, as he was laying out the prosecution case against the former Member for Sedgefield, he did not have the evidence to sustain his case. The truth is that the Chilcot report makes it clear that at no stage was there a deliberate attempt by Tony Blair to mislead the House. More than that, the Chilcot report makes it clear that there was a proper legal basis—a Security Council resolution—for the decision to go to war.’
    [..]
    It is clear from what was published in the report that a decision was taken by Sir John Chilcot—I will not have any criticism made of him or any of those responsible for the report—that there was no deliberate misleading of this House. It is quite wrong to suggest otherwise. More than that, the right hon. Member for Gordon sought to suggest that the note passed from the former Prime Minister to President Bush saying that he would “be with you, whatever” was the equivalent of a political blank cheque. It was no such thing. When Mr Blair wrote that note he made it clear that there needed to be progress in three key areas: the middle east peace process; securing UN authority for action; and shifting public opinion in the UK, Europe and the Arab world. He also pointed out that there would be a need to commit to Iraq for the long term.’

    You get the drift. He made two more interventions – on the link if you are able.

    PS My name is Sharp Ears as I keep telling you. Have you a comprehension problem?

    In judging Mr Blair—I think history will judge him less harshly than some in this House—we need to recognise that his decision to join George W Bush at that time was finely balanced. In reflecting on when this House decides to send young men and women into harm’s way, we also need to reflect not just on the consequences of acting but the consequences of not acting—the consequences of non-intervention.

    Alex Salmond

    • Kief

      There are rumors that Assange will be forgiven as Trump’s first act as POTUS followed by Sweden swooning for attention and that a cabinet post (unknown…maybe a new top Hacker position) will be proffered.

      • RobG

        It’s highly likely that Assange has been black bagged or assassinated, and we will be presented with a ‘different’ version of Wikileaks, much like what happened with the Guardian newspaper after the Snowden revelations.

        And if you think Donald Trump is going to change anything, I would most definitely say that you are on another planet.

        But keep on doing the happy-clappy stuff.

        It seems to be the latest propaganda bullshit being pumped out by the total vermin at GCHQ and the NSA.

        Do not pass GO. You are going straight to Jail.

        The Monopoly is coming to an end.

        • michael norton

          Will he, won’t he? Hapless Hollande’s silence over primaries leaves Socialist Party in disarray?
          http://www.france24.com/en/20161130-france-hollande-silence-left-wing-presidential-primaries-socialist-party-disarray
          While he is widely expected to seek re-election, his continued silence has caused confusion among members of the Socialist Party, who have expressed their growing unease.

          “People on the left are in despair at the situation,” Alexis Bachelay, a Socialist member of parliament, told French daily newspaper Le Parisien in an article published on Wednesday.

          Earlier this week, one of Hollande’s closest friends, lawyer Jean-Pierre Mignard, thrust the party into further chaos after raising the possibility the president could forsake the left-wing primaries altogether and run as an outside candidate.

          Outside of what?

          The actual world we live in?

        • Kief

          “And if you think Donald Trump is going to change anything, I would most definitely say that you are on another planet.”

          See? This largely proves it is unnecessary to post opinions here because few, if any actually read before responding. THIS is the new zeitgeist. Trump is a genius to recognize this dyslexic propensity and capitalize on the vacuum of thought and fact reliance. Welcome to Idiocracy.

          Trump actually trumps rational thought worldwide, apparently.

          • Ba'al Zevul

            I think the realisation that Trump is a fraud is beginning to sink in, at last. I seem to remember predicting that Trump’s first action as POTUS would be to call Goldman Sachs,despite the noises he’d been making about corporate elites in Washington.

            http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-treasury-pick-mnuchin-vows-tax-cuts-regulatory-roll-back-article-1.2892910

            Bingo. 17 years at GS, and a complete shark into the bargain. Note the plan to deregulate banks. As they did so well when they were playing by their own rules in 2007.

            By the end of the Presidential term, China’s going to look like a much more attractive place.

          • Kief

            Ba’al; I was somewhat inent on allowing Trump the room to hang himself, but it is getting very dark in here and the big picture is looming with less-than good scenarios.

            I’m not yet ready to refer to him as ‘Chancellor’, but it seems inevitable.

          • Kief

            Addendum Ba’al;

            What is this zeitgeist of post-fact Trumpophilia?

            Is it mass hypnosis or what? Truly flummoxed.

        • Loony

          If you fry an egg then you cannot un-fry it. Donald Trump is like a fried egg – it changes everything and there is no going back.

          Either Trump will do (most of) what he says or he wont. If he doesn’t do much then the people will merely elect someone who will do what they say they will do.

          Ordinarily such a process results in ever more extreme people rising to positions of power – so everyone had better hope that Trump is the real deal and get right behind him. Otherwise a more ruthless less appealing figure will likely take his place. One way or another what needs to be done will be done.

  • RobG

    Say something nice, Habba, like you care about children and want to protect them.

    Like you care about human rights.

    Like you understand that the really important things in life have nothing to do with money.

    Or are you too busy spirit cooking?

  • michael norton

    What is black bagged

    does it mean being wrapped in a bin-liner – party prank
    or does it mean shot and wrapped in a body-bag
    or is it a sex thing- bag over the head while done from behind?

    • RobG

      It just basically means being kidnapped.

      There are posters on this board who no doubt can give good descriptions of how the ‘security services’ actually go about it.

      But Michael, you’ve got to be happy-clappy, just like Habba orders…

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZD6OQ4BUcc

      (It makes a change from the Zimbabwe Gospel Choir)

  • Macky

    I was inspired by Loony into composing an Ode for you, but the system seems to have swallowed it twice; maybe you’ll get it tomorrow, you lucky lucky person ! 😀

    • RobG

      I probably overuse the term ‘vermin’, so instead I’ll label them as complete, total and utter scum.

      But you let them run your world, folks.

    • Sharp Ears

      And nobody cares. I say ‘no child shall be harmed’ but this country is contaminated with paedophilia. Perhaps La Rantzen can sort it all out like she did in Savile’s case, not.

          • Habbabkuk

            That’s a silly answer, isn’t it.

            Or, rather, it’s not an answer at all.

            If, as you say, “the country is contamlnated with paedophilia”, then I was hoping to hear some concrete suggestions from you on how you think it could be decontaminated.

            Given the wide and carious aspects of this scourge, I was expecting something more thought-out and intelligent than a picture of prison bars.

            It is about as helpful as saying the way to eliminate juvenile delinquency is to give juvenile delinquents a good caning.

            Your silly answer amply demonstrates my point that commenters on here are big on the moan and criticism but singularly lacking in the ability (or wish) to propose solutions.

  • michael norton

    ‘The EU is a DISASTER and Le Pen WILL WIN presidency’ Chomsky blasts Brussels bloc
    THE EU is on the brink of collapse due to its failed neoliberal policies and the rise of anti-establishment movements worldwide, respected scholar Noam Chomsky has claimed.
    Daily Express

    I think I agree with noam

    • michael norton

      The 87-year-old said failed “neoliberal policies of the past generation”
      had spurred the rise of populism and right-wing movements around the world.

      He added: “These programs were designed in such a way so that they would lead to stagnation and even decline for a large part,
      actually, majority of the population. They also severely undermined democracy, which is even more true in Europe than in the US.

      So why would the Elite have designed policies to make the majority poor,
      I can see they wished to remove Democracy, so the Elite can be invincible.
      That is what the European Empire has been about.
      Keeping an impenetrable barrier between the unaccountable Elite and ordinary people – the voters.
      It looks like the Euro -Elite are finally being tumbled.

      • michael norton

        The United Kingdom has voted to BREXIT.
        Austria could have an extreme right wing nutter in charge by Monday.
        Italy is about to go under the knife.
        France will go under the knife, next Spring.
        How can the Eurozone continue, they will be short of a huge amount of money once HARD BREXIT bites, remember, the E.U. will give no quarter, they want to punish the British voters for their disloyalty to “The Project”
        The E.U. is going to cut off its nose to spite its face.
        If the U.K., Italy, France, Austria and The Netherlands all vote to leave it will just be Germania and the tiddlers.

    • Habbabkuk

      Chomsky is only a “scholar” in the field of linguistics, Norton – not in politics, where he is no better qualified than (for instance) I am.

      • James Dickenson

        “Chomsky is only a “scholar” in the field of linguistics, Norton – not in politics, where he is no better qualified than (for instance) I am.”

        You? L.O.L.

      • michael norton

        Chomsky may only be a scholar, Francois Hollande is only a politician, Marine le Pen is only a politician, Geert Wilders is only a politician.
        They are falling like flies – across the Western World, the scales are falling away from the eyes of the lower orders.

        Italy, Austria, The Netherlands, The Crimea, The U.S.A., The United Kingdom, Hungary
        and now
        FRANCE

  • Republicofscotland

    It would appear that the heart of the London Labour party is as black as its branch in Scotland, by voting to protect Tony Blair’s actions in Iraq.

    Even Jeremy Corbyn, abstained on the vote hold Blair to account, which now leaves the door wide open to any British prime minister, who wishes to follow in Blair’s fateful footsteps.

    Westminster is rotten to the core, the closing of ranks by the Establishment is there for all to see.

    http://www.thenational.scot/news/14938356.It___s_a_stitch_up__claims_Alex_Salmond_as_Commons_motion_to_probe_Tony_Blair_fails/?ref=mr&lp=1

    • giyane

      I suggest you close your car ventilation and windows whenever the unmistakable waft of paraquat hits the nose.

      • Republicofscotland

        Yes Giyane, it seems the Establishment, doesn’t want to hinder a future incumbent, by holding he, or she to account, after the invasion and destruction of whatever country, the dis-United Kingdom is told to attack by the Great Satan (consecutive US governments).

        That’s why the Chilcot report (which took seven long years) was not set up on a legal basis, regarding the destruction of Iraq, no judge in his or her right mind would’ve found Blair unaccountable, well no unbiased judge that is.

        Remember the phrase, ” I’ll be with you, whatever.”

        439 Westminster MP’s, decided to do just exactly that.

        Scotland must unshackle itself completely from Westminster, if it’s to move forward.

  • Republicofscotland

    Meanwhile

    Angela Merkel’s party has told the German Chancellor ,to take a tough line with Britain during the negotiations to leave the EU.

    It came as Number 10 furiously denied a Tory aide’s scribbled memo, unwittingly caught by photographers, suggesting the UK’s negotiating stance was to try to “have our cake and eat it”, and that the EU’s negotiators were “difficult”.

    According to a poll by the Körber Foundation, 58 per cent of Germans think Berlin should not compromise with Britain.

    EU nations wll not make it easy for May, why should they?

    • MJ

      “EU nations wll not make it easy for May, why should they?”

      So they can continue to sell us their stuff at normal prices and won’t have to pay through the nose for fish.

      • Republicofscotland

        So in your opinion, the other 27 EU nations will go easy on the dis-United Kingdom, because they want access to its fish stocks? Well, I do recall a waffling inept Tory politican claim, that things will be fine after Brexit, because the dis-United Kingdom, sells lots of jam to France.

        I feel more secure already.

        • Loony

          I think you will find that the EU has little need for British fish as they are happy stealing the fish from places such as Senegal and Somalia.

          Is it not strange how migrants to Europe are handed benefits and the populace is urged to show kindness and tolerance but the same people in their homelands have fish ripped from their hands in order to sate the appetites of Europeans.

          Perhaps that should be a question on the next Scottish independence referendum “How many Africans do you wish to deprive of fish in order to demonstrate your liberal credentials?”

          • Republicofscotland

            “Perhaps that should be a question on the next Scottish independence referendum “How many Africans do you wish to deprive of fish in order to demonstrate your liberal credentials?”

            _________

            Looney.

            A couple of points, first, it’s not a given that the British government will devolve all matters to do with fishing to Holyrood, oh they say they will but, only a loony (no pun intended) would trust the British government.

            Secondly, Scottish fisherman cannot be trusted to manage the precious resources of the fishing industry.

            It was the EU who saved Scottish fish stocks, from a total collapse, as Scottish fishing boat skippers became greedier and greedier, boats operated 24/7, in order payments for the ever increasingly larger boats had to be met. Eventually the EU had to impose quotas on the fishermen, it gave stocks time to recover.

    • philw

      RoS “It came as Number 10 furiously denied a Tory aide’s scribbled memo, unwittingly caught by photographers,”

      Agree the photographers may have been unwitting, but presumably you realise that this is the method of choice these days for the government to make public statements which are also totally deniable? Do you think it would keep happening if it was unintentional?

      • Republicofscotland

        Philw.

        Good point, it may have been deliberately leaked, in a around about way of letting the public know, it’s a hard Brexit, but we’re secretly hoping to have our cake and eat it as well, talk about delusions of grandeur.

        Meanwhile Phil Hammond, was in Edinburgh today to reinforce the mantra that, Scotland or any other Home nation (London aside it seems) won’t receive a special deal with the EU.

    • nevermind

      nein means nein and translated it means NO
      Brexit doesn’t mean anything whatsoever, time to use a different term.

  • Sharp Ears

    From Reprieve by e-mail

    ‘Save lives and deliver justice in 2017
     
    Here are just a few examples of what our donations have helped Reprieve achieve this year:

    81-year-old BBC journalist Shafik Rehman was released in Bangladesh after Reprieve took on his case and thousands of us joined the campaign to free him.

    2016 saw “the end of the open market for lethal injection drugs”, after Pfizer became the final FDA-approved manufacturer to block their sale to death rows. Lack of access to drugs for lethal injection resulted in the lowest number of US executions since 1991, while public support for the death penalty in the US fell below 50% for the first time in 40 years. 

    We secured the acquittal of British nationals who both faced death sentences in the United Arab Emirates – an incredible result in a region where such wins are few and far between.

    3 more of Reprieve clients were released from Guantánamo Bay, bringing the total number of men we’ve helped to free to 77 – that’s more than any other organisation.

    We twice helped to temporarily stay the execution of schizophrenic Pakistani prisoner Imdad Ali when he was hours away from the noose.  The fight goes on to get his sentence commuted for good.

    This coming January, we will remember that a year ago 47 people were executed in one day by the Saudi authorities. It’s a staggering illustration of what we’re up against.  
     
    But we will also remember that 50 people were supposed to be hanged on that day. Three were saved – Reprieve’s clients Ali, Dawood and Abdullah. All were sentenced to death as children after pro-democracy protests swept the country, and all are still at risk.
     
    We know that there are challenges ahead in 2017. But we also know that we can make a difference even in the most difficult circumstances. ‘

    ———-

    A worthwhile organisation to support.

    http://www.reprieve.org.uk

    • Loony

      Good to see your running with the Trump is Hitler meme – always good to see someone being attacked via insinuation. Meanwhile in the real world of facts did you know:

      In Mexico the constitution prevents the Mexican government from enacting any policy whose effect would be to materially alter the demographic make up of the Mexican nation. For example it would be illegal for the Mexican government to initiate a large scale migration program similar to those seen in Europe and the US.

      Surely this must prove that Mexico is a racist state and that the real danger of Hitler like policies comes not from Trump but from Mexico. With a fully racist state (by your definitions) on its southern border it is little wonder that Trump wants to build a wall. In case you were wondering it is the same wall that Clinton wanted to build.

    • giyane

      But at least we will be alive to talk about it, instead of being blackened naked sticks on Hillary’s bunker screen.

  • Republicofscotland

    As Scotland, Wales and NI, are told “Brexit means Brexit” by Theresa May and her band of bickering Brexiteers, and that no “special” deals will be done. Unless of course you’re a Japanese car manufacturer, then you have a cast iron guarantee.

    As for London it looks like once again it will gain access to the EU, whilst the other Home nations are shunned.

    The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has made promises to business leaders of London, that they’ll (London commerce) will be allowed to make “their own deal with the EU” after Brexit.

    Khan has said, that David Davis, isn’t listening to his pleas, and that plans are afoot by the City of London Corporation, and the London Chamber of Commerce, to make a sound case for access to the EU.

    • Republicofscotland

      The Ministry of Truth aka the BBC, are attempting to turn despised politicians into likeable national characters again, to sway public opinion.

      One such case is that of Ed Balls, who has now appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, and shown his frailties on the dance floor, that inturn is seen as “he’s only human” so god bless his cotton little socks.

      Balls played his part in cutting in-work benefits, he aided and abetted the Tories in introducing the Bedroom tax. His time as shadow chancellor under Ed (stone) Miliband was a bit of a disaster to boot.

      But now he’s reborn on the dance floor and will be part of the Strictly Come Dancing touring roadshow.

      Who next will the Ministry of Truth exonerate from their political crimes against humanity? A one Tony Blair’s name springs to mind. Would the public forgive Blair, once his frailties on the dance floor are laid bare for all to see? Would the odd crocodile tear in the eye of Blair, on finding out he didn’t make the final, qualify as sackcloth and ashes in the eyes of the public of the dis-United Kingdom?

      Only time will tell, the BBC could do a one off Strictly special, featuring the likes of Blair, Mugabe, King Salman, and Obama and his charge Netanyahu.

    • giyane

      The City of London, which currently calls its activities ‘products’, will be able to claim that they aren’t products, just lies, which are exempt from cross-border controls so far as I can see.

      • jake

        They are not refered to as “lies” in the City…they’re called “truth derivatives”.

  • Sharp Ears

    Last week someone put up the details of tonight’s QT.

    Tonight – from Wakefield 22.45

    David Dimbleby presents topical debate from Wakefield.

    Conservative leader in Scotland Ruth Davidson MSP
    Labour’s former home secretary Alan Johnson MP
    Daily Telegraph columnist Tim Stanley
    New Statesman contributing editor Laurie Penny
    Co-founder of Leave.EU Richard Tice

    I will give it a miss.

    Complaint from Labour that there is a BBC agenga.

    ‘Shadow international trade minister Barry Gardiner criticised the BBC. He told the London Evening Standard:
    “I’m always happy that colleagues from all wings of the Party should have their say in the media, but this week will make it five weeks in a row that the Official Opposition has not been represented by an official spokesperson from the Shadow Cabinet. Many people are asking why programmes like Question Time continue to bring out the same old faces from the Labour Party who did not support Jeremy instead of the new faces who do.”’
    http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bbc-question-time-snub-jeremy-corbyn_uk_583f1425e4b0bd623ad99b55

    • Loony

      I understand that the owner of this site has eschewed advertising. However you appear to make a number of posts whose principal function is to advertise the BBC.

      Does the BBC pay you to make these posts, or do you do this out of a sense of devotion to an organization devoted to the spreading of false and misleading information?

      • Sharp Ears

        What are you on about Loony? There are 8 posts from me on this page. One is a BBC link. OK?

      • nevermind

        No he has not eshewed advertising.
        This chap has travelled through Syria and Iraq when they were not in pieces and has written two books about it called Travels with my hat.
        The whole story is told from the perspective of an inanimate object becoming life and speaking about it.
        Interesting read for any hippy who at one time or other travelled east. Here’s a taster.

        http://alunbuffry.blogspot.co.uk/

    • Republicofscotland

      I’m surprised “Eddie Hitler of the sitcom Bottom” Paul Nuttall, isn’t making an appearance tonight, UKIP often receive over exposure on the Ministry of Truth.

      Here’s a quick look at Eddie’s oops, I mean Paul’s idea’s for the dis-United Kingdom, after he’s thrown Nicola Sturgeon under a horse, he sounds a lovely man.

      No doubt Strictly will have him on soon.

      http://wingsoverscotland.com/hitler-elected-again/

  • Anon1

    The latest figures reveal greater numbers of immigrants being admitted to this country than ever before. Than ever before in this country’s history.

    So how is Craig (“all concern about immigration is racist”) Murray going to fit this into his anti-immigrant Tory government narrative? Will it ever dawn upon him that he is right on-side with the Tories, doing their bidding by attacking opponents of mass-immigtation as racist and thereby facilitating the replacement of British labour with cheap foreign imports?

    • Loony

      You aint seen nothing yet with regard to immigration. After all records are made to be broken.

      • Anon1

        The Tories started by breaking New Labour records and then proceeded to break all their own.

    • giyane

      Cheap foreign imports?

      I’m told it costs about £9,500.00 per head just to cross the channel. That’d buy you a nice brand new, little diesel family car.

      If USUKIS left their countries alone for one second, I’m sure they’d all be happier living in their own country.

      Is it even remotely conceivable that a superpower that pissed off billions of people on its way up the ladder of global hegemony, could avoid a few repercussions on its way down to being a small country with no Empire, like we?

  • bevin

    “I think the realisation that Trump is a fraud is beginning to sink in, at last. ..”
    Not here. There has never been much doubt that he is a fraud.
    Opinions have differed, curiously enough, about his opponent, who, in the opinion of several commenters is not at all fraudulent.
    Most of us agree with the plain people of America on that one: not only is Clinton a total fraud with far more authentic links to the forces that brought us Hitler than Trump has ever had, but one who was openly promising more war, a No Fly zone in Syria and renewed NeoCon adventurism in Ukraine while running a laughably retro ‘Blame Russia’ propaganda offensive designed to show that Trump was the Kremlin’s candidate.
    From a woman who had, in a few short years brought down the governments of Haiti, Honduras, Ukraine, Paraguay and Libya, as well as sacrificing a couple of hundred thousand Syrians in an attempt at regime change in Damascus, cavils at foreign influence were bad enough. Add to that, though, the vast amounts of money extorted from governments around the world, including Germany and Italy, to the Clinton Pension Fund and the woman’s gall become almost inexplicable.
    Not that that would put an end to the lamentations over her political demise from the dregs of the tribal Democrat tendency.
    Here is another take on the matter from that well known Putin Puppet Black Agenda Report:
    http://www.blackagendareport.com/fascism_with_democratic_face
    A lovely graphic there of the old John Birch Society dame in classic red baiting mode.

    • Anon1

      Ba’al doesn’t really get it. He triumphantly tells us that Trump called Goldman Sachs, that Trump won’t build that wall, that Trump is a fraud. In the same way that our clueless media obsess over the £350 million Brexit saving that obviously won’t be spent on the NHS, Ba’al hasn’t a clue about the seismic shift that took place this last year. He doesn’t understand what has been set in motion. Like the media he hasn’t really caught up with events yet.

      The present system took 30+ years to build up and it will be undone in time.

      • Kief

        I can’t really speak directly to Ba’al’s points but I believe he just said..wisely…that he is a fraud without specifics. It would be well if many here could get behind that. It seems they are frequently wrong because they gave specifics and now that they are outed ‘WAR WITH RUSSIA AVOIDED TEMPORARILY’ is their clarion call for every other stupid remarks they might make so they have been judged.

        But the point about Brexit and fiscal insanity seems on point.

        • giyane

          A fraud without specifics. As opposed to a fraud with specifics the whore of Babylon, Hillary Clinton

          • Kief

            Now you’re referencing Revelations? Is that book part of your study group?

            Are you presently on the Isle of Patmos?

          • Ba'al Zevul

            I think we need to understand that Hillary is now political history, in any meaningful sense. Therefore attempting to project Trump as desirable by comparison is a redundant exercise, while we also need to appreciate that many, many lies have been told on both sides in an escalating PR battle: we are now confronted with the truth, in the shape of what actually happens next.

            Trump is a fraud. He obtained the support of the dispossessed by dangling the vision of an elite-free government designed to empower them. He will do no such thing, and his post-election actions trend clearly towards establishing a replacement elite sympathetic to his views. Which include taking the brakes off the market-rigging and financial chicanery which caused the 2007 meltdown, returning to a healthcare system which bankrupts anyone with the temerity to get ill, reneging on the US’s hardwon agreements on climate change, probably assaulting Iran, and playing footsie with a Putin whose main business is subverting and destabilising western democracies – imperfect as they are.

            Anon feels this heralds the end of the current political system. Perhaps it does, but not in a good way. And its intention is certainly not to benefit the Trump (and Farage) voters who were given to believe their lot would improve. Though as the dust dies down, it’s just as likely that we will see more clearly that nothing substantive has changed, apart from the new contingent of crackers and rednecks in the White House: that the same interests prevail, and, ultimately, the likes of Anon become very discontented again.

            Actually, there’s an eerie parallel with Blair: promising a bright new dawn on the basis of social justice, then ceding control to the people who have always had the whip hand – will Trump, too, have the smarts to clear out just before the roof falls in and leave the VP struggling in the ruins?

  • Republicofscotland

    EU citizens feel offended at the amount of paperwork they’ve to fill out, issued by the Home Office, even though they’ve lived and worked here for decades.

    Some who’ve made lives here and contributed to the economy, have just found out that their not even eligible for permanent residency documents.

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/01/eu-citizens-in-britain-post-brexit-vote-feel-betrayed-not-at-home-sad

    Don’t be surprised if EU nations decide to treat Brits who live abroad in the same fashion, they’d be entitled to do so.

    The inane British government are doing their best to leave the EU, in a unamiable manner.

    Roll on indyref 2.

    • Anon1

      Could you tell me what good it will do Scotland to attach itself to the dying corpse of the EU?

      While you’re at it, could you tell me how Scotland could even be independent in the EU?

      And have you seen the polls? Support for independence is rock-bottom.

      Game over.

      • michael norton

        When will game over be for the dying corpse of the European Union,
        three years or four years?

      • giyane

        Game over for the EU.

        Excuse me, what jobs do EU politicians actually do? Are they there just for sexually satisfying their EU parliamentary colleagues or are they there to negotiate a way forward democratically.
        The EU needs to learn how to drop its Federal bone, so that its master can throw it again.
        I’ve no idea what sex an EU would be.

  • bevin

    There is also William Blum’s view-always worth considering-
    https://williamblum.org/aer/read/147

    “That he may not be “qualified” is unimportant.

    “That he’s never held a government or elected position is unimportant.

    “That on a personal level he may be a shmuck is unimportant.

    “What counts to me mainly at this early stage is that he – as opposed to dear Hillary – is unlikely to start a war against Russia. His questioning of the absolute sacredness of NATO, calling it “obsolete”, and his meeting with Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, an outspoken critic of US regime-change policy, specifically Syria, are encouraging signs………”

    • giyane

      A case of selective moderation.
      Kief thinks critics of Hillary Clinton’s plan to face down Putin for bombing USUKIS’ Al Qaida are idiots who need to smell their own toilet bowl of vomit.
      Moderators, it’s your job to clean up. Please clean up the vomit in a non-partisan fashion.

        • giyane

          I’m a proto-Nazi for not wanting an Al Qaida medieval Pope-Hitler-Pol Pot shoe-horning my penis into my wife for me – or you?

        • Kief

          It’s your methods that are called into question. If you are the one-issue constituent you display in comments, yes; you are a proto-nazi.

    • RobG

      Bevin, I suppose it’s all a matter of degrees: both Hillary and Donald are both a part of the same corrupt cabal; it’s just that Hillary is a tad more bloodthirsty/insane. Anyone who thinks that things will change for the better under a Donald Trump presidency is living on another planet. The geek show that The Donald is lining-up for his cabinet is evidence enough of this.

      The American empire is rapidly collapsing into a cloud of stinking corruption and debauchery. The vassal states are all jumping ship as rapidly as possible, most recently the Philippines and Egypt…

      http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-anger-egypt-votes-russia-un-vote-1258726322

      The western European governments, who have been absolutely decimated by US foreign policy (not least by sanctions imposed on Russia by Washington, which the EU poodles tamely went along with, and by the Biblical wave of refugees that resulted from the US bombing of Syria), continue to bend over to Washington and are total traitors to the people of Europe.

      Who knows where this is all going to end..? One can only hope that as with the collapse of the USSR, the collapse of the USA will also be relatively peaceful.

      But don’t hold your breath on that, because unlike the old USSR, the USA is run by neo-con psychos.

      Two of them have just stood for the presidency.

      Next January the 20th is going to be interesting.

          • Kief

            BTW; I keep referring to you as Neville (Chamberlain) without any confusion on your part.

            I guess you understand but don’t wish to.

            Do you understand his significance in History?

        • Loony

          Yeah, It has been considered and the people have decided to get off their knees and resist.. Next up are the Italians and Austrians – they will not disappoint. Come 2017 and the French and the Dutch will assume center stage.

          It is in the air, it is coming from everywhere, and it cannot be stopped. The people are not constrained by false paradigms and they will fight you and your ilk with a strategy of constant self contradiction and you have no defenses with which to resist.

          • Ba'al Zevul

            Enjoy your new unfettered oligarchy, chaps. A sold to you by the people who brought you Marlboro ™.

      • Ba'al Zevul

        Point of order – these are not neocon psychos. They are the Provisional wing of the palaeo-cons. There is a difference. This lot didn’t start their careers as Trotskyites and convert to hegemonic capitalism. The Trump/ Tea Party crew were never exposed to the left’s notions of equality, and their game is oligarchy, whether or not hegemonic. Hence the sympathy between Putin and Trump. – almost inconceivable to a neocon.

  • RobG

    I would say that Wikileaks has almost certainly been compromised. Look at the language used in one of their most recent tweets…

    https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/804404323304099840

    Also in a recent tweet they misspelled the word ‘algorithm’.

    https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/789640438256992258

    It all smells of the bozos/vermin in the security services.

    Up until yesterday I was saying that the main Wikileaks domain was still secure, but I’m now starting to doubt that. Those familiar with the look and feel of the Wikileaks web site might have noticed some subtle differences since JA went missing…

    https://www.wikileaks.org/index.en.html

    And perhaps not coincidentally, all this started to happen in the final weeks of the US presidential election, just as the Wikileaks releases of the Podesta e-maIls started to point towards paedophilia and satanism, in which President Obama was implicated (this ‘fake news’ lost Queen Hillary the Presidency).

    I’ve given links earlier in this thread that give definitive proof of what I’m saying; but I’m aware that I’m up against a wall of cognitive dissonance.

    So carry on watching Britain’s Got Talent, folks, and worry about all those poor footballers who have been sexually abused (which has to be the biggest diversion tactic I’ve ever seen from the UK Presstitutes).

  • Trowbridge H. Ford

    Afraid Trump’s appointment of General James’ Mad Dog’ Mattis to be SoD makes nonsense out of all this talk about him being better than Hillary.

    Mattis will get everyone behind the Mediterranean Dialogue, siciking all the Sunnis to go after the Shia Iranians.

    Mattis is a bigger problem that Ash Carter because all the aggressive Americans love this no nonsense Marine.

    • Kief

      Don’t confuse them with facts. They are set into anti-hillarisms that pander to their prejudice and idiocy.

      War with Russia is their obsession. Temporary avoidance of that make them even more giddy than usual.

    • giyane

      Looks like you’re right, Old Timer. But the Sunnis bin doing that on and off for 40 years and got nowhere.
      I’d say Trump will fuck off the Saudis, Al Qaida, Erdogan and the Shi’a as part of draining the neo-con swamp and then start to build the trans-continental highway previously known as the Silk Road from Paris to China. ( The Chinese and Turkish ends are complete ).
      When Trump says he wants a register of Muslims he means a register of nihilistic neo-cons who hate peace. Breaking things is so much less profitable than making things, except for the elites.

      • Kief

        I’ve noticed your tactics. Don’t respond directly to comments, but create an old subject on an ot comment thread. Nice work proto-nazi.

    • Loony

      The story about “Mad Dog” Mattis came from the Washington Post – a well known purveyor of fake news.

  • fwl

    Craig Murray as an historian and author of Sikunder Burnes is more fox than hedgehog. That’s good as its what I would want in an historian, but just a little more panglossic hedgehogery wouldn’t go amiss.

  • giyane

    Whoops.

    M.Hollande’s ratings fell to 4%. If the situation was reversed and he was a Middle Eastern despotic lunatic dictator like Erdogan, bin Salman or Barzani, the 4% would beautifully meet USUKIS’s job specification.
    But in France it doesn’t go down so well, this chop off all journalists’ heads despotism.

    • michael norton

      I think Mr. Putin has a 70 -80 percent approval in Mother Russia and slightly more in The Crimea.

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