It is sickening that Spanish courts continue to jail, and remove from political life, Catalan politicians who are the victors in democratic elections. That the European political class and media is almost entirely complicit and supportive in this truly vicious repression of the Catalan people, has shocked many of us to our core, and made us realise how thin is the veneer of democracy and how fragile are the rights we believed we held.
If the UK were any kind of a democracy, opposition parties would have held firm against the rush to conflict with Russia, until serious and thorough investigation of the Skripal case had yielded real results. At the very least, you would expect to see a select committee of the House of Commons call the head of Porton Down to give evidence and quiz him about the level of certainty they have of the identity and the Russian manufacture of the substance which poisoned the Skripals.
Instead, we have seen all the establishment parties fall over themselves to appear as belligerent and faux-Churchillian as May and her pipsqueaks, in order to placate the tabloids. This is ludicrous. You cannot out-jingo the Tories, and the rush to increase international tension benefits nobody except the armaments and security industries.
I am obliged to say I was disgusted by Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP leadership and their premature condemnations of Russia. By coincidence I spent much of last week at pro-Indy events and I have to say I found this disgust almost universal.
The odd voice was prepared to offer the usual Nicola excuse of “She is trying not to alienate the Unionists”. But what is the point of not alienating the Unionists by, to all intents and purposes, becoming a Britnat yourself? The continued failure – for years now – of the SNP to argue to the public the case for Independence, the attempt to dodge Indyref2, all of it leaves me to feel that the SNP leadership have got their feet under the table within the UK, as a form of controlled opposition.
The SNP leadership are far happier talking about which powers devolve to Holyrood from Brussels, and which stay at Westminster, than they are talking about Independence. I don’t give a damn about the precise contours of the devolution settlement; I want my country to be free of Westminster entirely, and soon.
We are not yet subject to the extreme state repression afflicting our counterparts in Catalonia, but you can be certain the Tories have noted the template, and that other Western political leaders will support them if they start putting people like me in the pokey for thirty years for sedition. Sadly it has become abundantly clear that there is no danger of the highly paid SNP elected representatives, their SPADs, and party bureaucrats, ever putting themselves in that position.
They would be with those handing down the sentences, as their attitude to Carla Ponsati shows.
Just as MEPs lined up one after another in the European Parliament to defend Francoist thugs batoning grandmothers trying to vote as the “rule of law”, and use the same excuse for lengthy sentences for political prisoners, so there was an echo of this distancing in Nicola Sturgeon’s response to the extradition of Catalan campaigner Carla Ponsati through the Scottish courts, potentially to spend the rest of her life in a Spanish jail just for peacefully campaigning for freedom for her country.
Nicola referred to “the fact our justice system is legally obliged to follow due process in the determination of extradition requests”. She too is hiding behind “the rule of law” and thus turning a blind eye to the Francoist attack on fundamental rights.
Very few voters of the SNP put Nicola Sturgeon into parliament in order to warm her toes at the Robert Adam fireplaces at Bute House, while Catalan leaders are dragged from Scotland to a terrible repression. The SNP leadership have become far too adept at speaking with British Establishment voices and thinking with British Establishment minds.
At some stage they have to accept that achieving Scottish Independence is in itself a revolutionary act, and that it will never be achieved without real constitutional conflict with the UK, the sort of political conflict which has attended the birth of every independent state. If you are afraid to do something “unconstitutional” under the present repressive system, you have no right to pretend to be a part of the Independence movement.
For Sturgeon to hide behind the Edinburgh High Tory Scottish legal establishment and wash her hands, Pontius Pilate like, over the extradition of Carla Ponsati is simply unacceptable.
Saving this brave woman is as noble a cause to launch a constitutional crisis as one might wish for. The Holyrood parliament must pass a Bill forbidding the extradition of Ponsati and the Scottish government must order Police Scotland to enforce it. We need finally to show we are serious about challenging the UK. If Sturgeon declines, then the Scottish people must physically defend Ponsati. And the Independence movement must fundamentally reconsider its leadership and strategy.
In a famous interview, you declared that at the beginning you thought that your biggest role would be in China and in some of the former Soviet states and North Africa. Quite the opposite, most of WikiLeaks’ biggest revelations concern the US military-industrial complex, its wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq and its serious human rights violations in the war on terror. These abuses have had a heavy impact in an open and democratic society like the United States and produced ‘dissidents’ like Chelsea Manning willing to expose them. Why aren’t human rights abuses producing the same effects in regimes like China or Russia, and what can be done to democratise information in those countries?
Are you OK Ben?
I’m peachy..
Theresa May opens up an 11pt lead on preferred Prime Minister, biggest lead since June 2017:
May: 38% (+2)
Corbyn: 27% (-2)
via @YouGov, 26 – 27 Mar
Chgs. w/ 05 – 06 Mar
https://mobile.twitter.com/britainelects?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwingsoverscotland.com%2Fthe-clanging-chimes-of-doom%2F
Via a Tory owned polling company.
Horseshit!
Just putting it out there Stu, so that people can give their opinions.
Yougov should always come with a disclaimer.
They put this lovely question out to see how far down the road to fascism the electorate are this week…
“The company, founded by Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi and former Conservative PPC Stephen Shakespeare, asked users to “please say whether you think each of the following groups should or should not be allowed to vote in General Elections in the UK.”
The list included non-British citizens living in the UK, British citizens currently serving jail terms, 16 and 17 year olds, and lastly, “those who receive more money from welfare benefits than they pay in taxes.”
https://evolvepolitics.com/tory-owned-yougov-under-fire-for-questioning-whether-benefit-claimants-should-be-allowed-to-vote/
Brexit polls still all over the map
https://whatukthinks.org/eu/questions/if-a-second-eu-referendum-were-held-today-how-would-you-vote/
Suckerberg/Putin data manipulation is ongoink..da? Nyet?
Ben the manipulation was done by Brits at SCL.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/brexitinc/adam-ramsay/cambridge-analytica-is-what-happens-when-you-privatise-military-propaganda
Stu, that’s a detailed explanation for semantics and our emerging Idiocracy wherein lower IQs abound, but I thought the powers did not want BREXIT and the polling I show above reflects Deep State continued incompetence toward specific goals.
It would appear the only skilled manipulators are Chaoticians.
From the article
“It’s about the fact that power comes from networks of people, and the wing of the British ruling class which was in and around the military is moving rapidly into the world of privatised war. And those people have a strong ideological and material interest in radical right politics”
Brexit vs Remain and Trump vs Clinton are struggles WITHIN the ruling class. Between the Right and Extreme Right.
“… Trump vs Clinton are struggles WITHIN the ruling class. Between the Right and Extreme Right.”
Well, that certainly is an opinion but I did not know I was a right-wringer.
I think you are too mixed up to be labelled.
But Clinton is certainly right wing. The thing to think about is that whether Clinton won, Trump won or Obama was allowed a third term someone from Goldman Sachs would be running the Treasury and the Defence budget would be massively increased.
“But Clinton is certainly right wing. ”
?
You would have to be completely fucking deranged to conclude Hillary Clinton is anything but a right wing hawk. Are you claiming she is not Ben?
How bizarre.
Unfortunately, we have all too many such deranged people here in the U.S.
“The bombings in Moscow, Buinaksk, and Volgodonsk terrified Russia. The Russian authorities said there was a “Chechen trail” and, on this basis, launched a new invasion of Chechnya. Putin, at the time the prime minister, was put in charge of the war and gained overnight popularity as “defender of the nation.” In March 2000, he was elected president.”
https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/02/russia-apartment-bombings-september-1999-vladimir-putin-fsb-cia/
Yes, those bombings helped put Vladimir Putin in power and were carried out by the FSB.
After 911, Tony Blair told Putin that he knew the Russian leader understood what it was like to lead a country hit by a terrorist attack the way the US had been on 911, because Russia had experienced the same kind of attack when hit by the apartment block bombings.
Putin gained popularity after destroying CIA funded terrorists causing havoc in Russia. What a shocking surprise…………
As Jula Skirpal’s condition improves the whole May affair falls apart
https://www.rt.com/uk/422700-yulia-skripal-salisbury-novichok/
Time To go Theresa – you have NO credibility left
Maybe she’ll have a miraculous recovery from the deadliest nerve agent known to man, “or something similar”, the same way Ernest Saunders of Guinness scandal fame and Augusto Pinochet miraculously recovered from Alzheimer’s disease?
I wish Yulia Skripal all the best. But what’s probably happened is that British eavesdroppers heard that the Russian consulate had been told to submit a habeas corpus application.
Poshboy spokesmen are saying Yulia Skripal has recovered consciousness.
Perhaps that’s true.
Perhaps they’ve made it up to avoid having to defend a habeas corpus application entered by her consulate or family.
talking of people unfamiliar with truth, honesty, integrity and compassion
https://evolvepolitics.com/tony-blair-blocked-coroners-inquiry-into-death-of-dr-david-kelly-within-minutes-of-body-being-found-explosive-new-book-claims/
chickens – home -roost
When Kelly’s body was found, Blair was on a trip to D.C.
The article states that he was contacted on the aircraft’s telephone.
The male prostitute/phony journalist Guckert/Gannon claimed to have “entertained” Tony Blair at the serendipitously named Blair House, the residence for visiting dignitaries across the street from the White House, the previous evening. Secret Service records showed that Guckert/Gannon was at the White House that day. If memory serves, the records didn’t show him leaving the White House, but that part of D.C. is full of secret tunnels. No doubt one such tunnel communicates between the White House and Blair House.
Would a transcript of the telephone call between Blair and Lord Falconer have been preserved?
Richard Dearlove of SIS was giving evidence to a select committee when Chemical Dave disappeard.
Everyone is saying that even if they recover, the long-term prognosis is not good,” Sergei who remains in Russia, Viktoria Skripal, told the BBC. “Out of 99 percent I have maybe 1 percent of hope. Whatever it was has given them a very small chance of survival. But they’re going to be invalids for the rest of their lives.”
Lots of things worse than death itself.
If it was really a nerve agent, perhaps the prognosis is bad. But was it really a nerve agent?
Viktoria Skripal doesn’t know anything about her cousin’s physical condition, though. She’s talking about how she feels.
The poshboys’ monarch today gave out some coins to elderly people, ensuring she kept the spotlight on herself by handing them to exactly 92 men and 92 women, in this, her own 92nd year.
I wonder whether she’ll send a man in tights to greet her Moscow ambassador back at Brize Norton when he arrives with a sore coccyx after being expelled?
Sir Walter Scott, although a Unionist, would have approved of this blog, but he would also I believe have said that you will never, ever achieve your independent Scotland until you have gotten rid of Weasel Sturgeon the Quisling and the entirety of her ilk.
Independence is an impossibility with the British establishment as it is. To gain independence under it would mean being run as a vassal state with a puppet regime, so like now but worse.
Our only hope is socialism. And for that to happen the British establishment must be dismantled.
I agree. An independent Scotland would still be subject to the rules of the Western alliance unless you change the system.
They’re looking a lot like Syriza aren’t they?
Are Wiltshire police really saying that the Skripals were poisoned with a nerve agent which was on their door handle, and then went into Salisbury for a meal, followed by a pint and were then found in a distressed state on a bench hours after leaving their home? And this is supposed to be an attack with one of the most lethal nerve agents in the world? I don’t know much about nerve agents. Are some of them slow acting?
Good to see the daughter is feeling a bit better. I wish them both well.
Anyone poisoned with a nerve-agent belonging to the Novichok group would not recover to tell the tale. If a government knew that such a nerve-agent had been used in Salisbury the city would have been quarantined. Whatever was used, if anything, almost certainly came from Porton Down as part of the operation codename ‘Beluga’.
As to the nerve-agent on the Skripals’ home door it is just another part of the fantasy pantomime. The one that made me smile the most there being so much of the nerve-agent on the table at which the Skripals sat the table had to be destroyed. Remember that? Well let me say that is destruction of evidence. I won’t mention the obvious parallel.
Yes, she is miraculously recovering after Russian officials pointed out some bits of international law to the UK. Unfortunately for the traitor, his fate is completely in the hands of HMG. I think you can still get odds on him passing away a day before the next round of Russian led Syrian peace talks in April or a week or two before the world cup………………right after he fingers Putin (no, not that fingers)
Even more miraculous Yulia was on VK (Russkie messaging and social network app) on 7 March three days after being in coma in the hospital.
Don’t forget the cops at the home in normal uniform All touching the door. It’s twaddle. It’s a case of food poisoning blown up to attack Corbyn. Putin was in on it. It was a good look for his election.
I saw the photos.
https://www.rferl.org/a/niece-says-poisoned-russian-ex-spy-skripal-has-slim-chance-of-surviving/29132121.html
In 1987 a Russian scientist was accidentally exposed to a Novichok. He regained consciousness after ten days of treatment but never fully recovered and died five years later.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novichok_agent
@ Kemp
Thousands died an early death from sheep dip poisoning also the Novichok agent could have been created anywhere.I have not seen any evidence it was 100% created in Russia or any argument that cannot be demolished.
I can’t find any reference to direct deaths caused by OP sheep dip, at least not in the UK. It’s reckoned that somewhere between 500 and 30,000 people did have their health affected to some degree or the other though.
The link was to show that it is possible to be exposed to a Novichok agent and not drop dead on the spot. Nothing more.
Sounds more like organophosphate pesticide poisoning. Did PD compare the sample to Paraquat, of a type first developed by Bayer in Germany?
Paraquat is a herbicide and not an organophosphate.
Quite right Kempe and thanks for pointing this out. I should have said malathion.
Apparently the English translation of the Russian is “Fairy Liquid”….
I was incorrect earlier in saying that the US had expelled diplomats today. The Russians have expelled 60 US diplomats and have closed the St Petersburg embassy. A very dangerous situation has developed.
We have had nearly four weeks of this Salisbury fiction. I for one am sick and tired of it.
At least the Sarajevo assassination happened. But if war results from this Salisbury event, it will not be the first time. The attack on the Gleiwitz radio station that was Hitler’s excuse for attacking Poland was a false flag.
War? No need for melodrama babe.
Yip…Same Here Sharp Ears…And the worse the Provoking goes –
This is where I live on the Clyde YIKES –
http://socialscreen.co.uk/films/benchmark-6/blog/post/an-inadvertent-yield
I was begining to wonder about the Timeline in all this .and so are The Russians –
…” “The further we go the more questions arise, including from me. What happened before – did the Salisbury incident precede the expulsion of Russian diplomats, or did the decision to expel Russian diplomats precede the Salisbury incident?” Nebenzia wondered ” –
US abusing its rights as host country by expelling Russian diplomats at UN – Russia’s UN envoy –
https://www.rt.com/usa/422412-us-abuse-expells-un-russia-diplomats/
The latest from Boris Johnson: “Russia will hit back against countries expelling diplomats. Foreign secretary warns of possible disruption to energy supplies or harassment of diplomatic missions in Moscow.”
Sure…and he can sell the security they need, right? That was my first thought. My second thought was “expect more false flags”. This story is not over yet, not by a long chalk. We’re not even at Passover or Easter yet.
Imagine Johnson telling, ooh, say Germany, that Russia may “disrupt” their energy supplies. Is that Etonian for “raise the gas price” or maybe “tell you to buy your f***ing gas elsewhere”?
The thing about people like Johnson is they expect us to lie down while they kick us in the teeth and if we utter any criticisms they call us the rudest names as if we were sinning against the nature of the universe.
Recently unearthed footage of the Bullingdon Club.
Note to Scottish independencists: try to win people like me over some time. Some of us English types detest the English ruling elite with such an extreme and absolutely un-buyoffable vigour that you may not appreciate.
The reason you lost last time was because you concentrated on mobilising rather than winning people over, ending up with three times the visibility of Better Together but fewer votes.
They didn’t win people over because they failed to address the currency issue. No sign that the the lesson has been learned.
The Nationalists weren’t much bothered which currency they used just so long as it was heavy enough to throw at a referee.
MJ, I don’t think there is an issue over currency, as this is a decision all new independent countries have to make. There are several short-term options, before settling on a longer term decision. The currency “issue” was created for the TV debates, making it easy to shout down any option mentioned. Therefore, Fred’s response below about it being heavy enough, is probably correct for the short term option! ?
The currency issue showed how they were selling sunshine, whipping up support for a “great idea” they were clueless about how to implement. The same applies to the question of the status of Scottish citizens in rump Britain and vice versa. Alec Salmond said whether or not Scots kept their British citizenship would be up to the British government. Sure, but the English are the largest national minority in Scotland, and there are around 750,000 people living in England who were born in Scotland, let alone those who may have been born in England and who live there but still consider themselves Scottish. Many Scots in Scotland have relatives living permanently or temporarily in England too – it’s very common. There would be many real issues for real people. “What passport should I use?” “What passport can I get?” “What’s my visa status?” “What’s my health service access?” Plus of course “Will I have to change currency?” But the YeSNP line was to shout “you’re just fear-mongering” – or occasionally to tell people not to worry because they’d still have the monarchy and the BBC. No clue about how to win people over who weren’t as thick as two short planks, the type of people who sign up to great “deals” offered by door-to-door salesmen.
Now if they could find a way to link up with English people who despise the English elite at least as much as they do and in many cases more…but then we are talking about ideas that aren’t nationalist.
N_, the questions you raise are all normal issues that need to be worked out when a country gains independence. There’s nothing unique in Scotland’s struggle. Also, England has a population 10 times greater than Scotland, so surely they are more than capable of overthrowing their oppressors by themselves. If Scotland did get independence, it may be a catalyst for more English people to come to their senses, as suggested by Billy Bragg here, back in 2014.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ps2gnY6mLU
It was never going to win though was it. There are so many pensioners. The establishment told them in no uncertain terms that they’d take the pensions away. If you’re old and it’s all you have you don’t have a choice. You need a young population if you want change that radical.
Nevertheless, the majority of Scots-born people voted yes.
Shatnersrug
That is the very Point..Thank you for saying What I have been Screaming about…. The Old ones Voted in HIgh Numbers… They Belived the bbC .. stv…and the Daily Delivered Lying Print… The BBC War Criminals.. Won it…
To think …Ah Forget Jakie Bird’s New Year Pretence.
Have you not considered the possibility people actually identify with being British?
You think you have such a Goddamned monopoly on the truth everyone who doesn’t agree with you must have been lied to or conned or is just plain stupid?
Nationalism and elitism are a very dangerous combination it’s about time some people had some respect for other peoples opinions and some respect for their elders. What chance has a country which teaches their young to hate their old?
You’re correct, Fred. For example, the DUP voters see themselves as “British” and nationalists too. We’ve similar people here in Scotland, unfortunately.
You think you have such a Goddamned monopoly on the truth everyone who doesn’t agree with you must have been lied to or conned or is just plain stupid?
Whether you support independence or union, you cannot reasonably deny that the MSM’s coverage was biased in favour of “No.” We were lied to. The BBC did con many people. Academic studies and simple observation confirm this.
On something so subjective you can make the MSM bias anything you want it to be. Scotland had a government with a decided nationalist bias which did more than their fair share of lying and I seem to recall the MSM being more than happy to repeat those lies.
On something so subjective you can make the MSM bias anything you want it to be.
Here’s an objective study :
https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/john-robertson/bbc-bias-and-scots-referendum-new-report
“The study found that, overall, there was a greater total number of ‘No statements’ compared to Yes; a tendency for expert advice against independence to be more common; a tendency for reports to begin and end with statements favouring the No campaign; and a very strong pattern of associating the Yes campaign arguments and evidence with the personal wishes of Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond. Taken together, the coverage was considered to be more favourable for the No campaign.”
There is a subjective study and Dr Robertson could make his study say anything he wanted to.
“It took us several days to review the research available to us within the report and when doing so we identified a number of inaccuracies within it. In addition we would also question the methodology as well as the fundamental validity of the conclusions it reached.
It is our view that the report consistently fails to support its contentions with factually accurate evidence; for example there are several substantive factual inaccuracies within the references it makes to Reporting Scotland news output.
We are also concerned, for example, with the inclusion of a number of non-referendum stories within the data outlined in the report.
We also believe that the report failed to define terminology used within it; for example ‘fairness’, ‘insulting language’ etc or whether any account was taken of what the BBC’s own editorial guidelines or the Ofcom broadcasting code have to say in this respect.”
https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/feb/23/bbc-scottish-independence
Well there’s a surprise – the BBC didn’t like having its bias exposed. They even sent round the heavies to visit Mr Robertson.
“Senior BBC figures reported me to senior staff at my university and colleagues of mine were even warned to ‘stay away’ from me. I see this as a clear form of bullying by a powerful corporation.”
http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2014/06/30/i-was-bullied-bbc-over-academic-report-indyref-bias-scottish-media-blackout-must
Remember that threatening our energy security can also mean that we are entitled to invade their gas fields.
where is Mary Barber and ‘Barbers army when you need them. Loyd george could make laws in two weeks flat postponing rent rises when people were out of work squeezed by arms making hustlers?
I think somebody should send St terroreza some sand paper to go with her sledging and dissing.
The OPCW is not supporting her aggressive theory and Brexit is upon us. One more year to go and then the UK will have to rely on ever more whiski, arms, oil/gas revenues from Scotland to keep their position of power.
It is the UK that is breaking world wide agreed self determination rights, by seeking their own independence from Europe, whilst denying it to others such as Catalunya, Scotland Wales and NI, parliaments that have been created to with autonomy light.
Maybe Mharie Black would do good to remember her, before she is entombed by the filth emanating from Westminster. Scottish Labour ghas a rich history of good people and activism, thing is, they can’t remember were they’d put it.
altogether now….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1REUYD01Nr0
Sorry Mary Barbour. this Kraut makes mistakes.
Thank You Nevermind..Lovely True wee song..I had not heard of The Talented, Alistair Hulett ..Cheers
Nevermind.
As far as I know, there are only four dedicated statutes to auspicious women in Glasgow. Far too few in my opinion.
Mary Barbour, the Red Clydeside rent strike heroine.
Isabelle Elder the wife of John Elder shipyard owner. Who gave a park to the people of the city, Elder Park.
Queen Victoria, who we all know, and,
Dolores Ibarruri, the Republican heroine of the Spanish Civil war. Her statute on the Clydeside is titled La Pasionaria.
Thanks Nevermind. Mary Barbour’s name was new to me. I have been looking at a few links.
An interview with Alistair Hulett (an Australian) by Nick Martin
‘NM: Alistair, your new album is called ‘Red Clydeside’. Could you give us a bit of background on why you chose the stories of the Red Clyde of 1915 as the theme for your album?
AH: It’s a history of Glasgow that many Glaswegians are even unaware of. And I think it’s a very important history to be told. ‘Red Clydeside’ erupted virtually with the declaration of war in 1914 and it was centred amongst the munitions workers and the shipbuilders. It began as a revolt against the level of wages and conditions and escalated, because of the influence of a number of socialists, into a revolt against the war in itself. There are a lot of very important lessons to learn from ‘Red Clydeside’; lessons of how it was built and lessons of why it failed. I think they’re all important and that’s what I tried to explore through this album.
NM: On listening to the album, one of the big themes that came out was the power of an active and unified workers movement. The work of striking match girls and rent striker Mrs. Barbour were all a reflection of workers coming together. How do you think this level of unity came about in Glasgow?
AH: Well, Red Clydeside didn’t appear out of a vacuum. There was a massive depression in 1908 that politicised workers all over Britain. By 1910 through until the declaration of war there was a period known as the ‘Great Unrest’ and the rulers of Britain were absolutely terrified by it. It was in the words of the leader of the ‘Red Clydeside’, John MacLean, he said that the workers of Britain were “entering the rapids of revolution”, Red Clydeside was really a continuation of the ‘Great Unrest’. Elsewhere because of the patriotism and the jingoism that was being promoted, the working class elsewhere succumbed to all that propaganda whereas in Glasgow it actually intensified the struggle. The reasons for that are too complex to go into here, but I think the most significant factors were the large numbers of Irish and highland refugees who were no friends of British imperialism for obvious reasons. But I think the most significant thing was the presence of so many militant socialists and trade unionists. That was really a happy coincidence that they happened to be there at the time. If it hadn’t been for people like John MacLean and Mrs. Barbour who lead the rent strike of 1915 then the anger would not have been as focused but by being there they were able to direct the anger and actually turn an industrial strike into a political strike. ‘
http://unionsong.com/reviews/hulett/
and https://www.gcu.ac.uk/media/gcalwebv2/library/content/Clydewomen.pdf
Where are the Mary Barbours of today?
Beg your pardons. Alistair was SCOTTISH but he lived in NZ and Australia for some time. I see he died young at the age 58. Hope that there was nothing unnatural about his death. Admitted to hospital with suspected food poisoning on 5th January and then dead 23 days later from cancer of the liver metastasized into his lungs and stomach. That rapid descent and the initial lack of a cancer diagnosis seems strange to me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistair_Hulett . A dissenter. A radical. RIP
I came across this reference to Mandelslime’s grandfather, Manny Shinwell, when reading –
‘The trade union leaders, who had organised the meeting, were arrested. Most were acquitted, although both Gallacher and Manny Shinwell were put in jail for their activities that day, Shinwell also being charged with an inflammatory speech the week before in James Watt Street in the city’s docks, in an episode that later erupted into a race riot.’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Clydeside
What would he think of what his grandson has become?
Too long to copy on here, but the list of his vast interests is on here.
https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-mandelson/500
Peter Mandelson gets £400,000 loan from own company to ease tax burden
Documents filed at Companies House show no repayments were made during year it was taken out, nor a term of loan set out
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jan/27/peter-mandelson-400000-pound-tax-free-loan
He has six directorships and by way of one of the companies, a connection to Sorrell’s WPP public relations outfit
https://companycheck.co.uk/director/915212667/PETER-BENJAMIN-MANDELSON/companies
Or Lord Shinwell as he became.
Mandelson’s grandfather was Herbert Morrison not Emanuel Shinwell.
You would think that there might be some apology to the memory of Manny Shinwell.
According to the Guardian, Britgov will argue in court that a “1968 consular agreement” between the USSR and Britain allowing consular access to Soviet citizens in Britain is “unenforceable”.
The impression the Guardian gives – although they don’t say so explicitly – is that it’s unenforceable because Russia is not the USSR. That argument would be total crap, since a few days before the end of 1991 it was internationally agreed that Russia would take on all the treaty rights and responsibilities of the USSR, including those that come with the permanent seat on the UN Security Council. I don’t know what consular agreement the Guardian is referring to. But I do know about the Consular Relations Act 1968 which implements the 1963 Vienna Convention. Most press articles nowadays that aren’t wholly cut-and-paste jobs from press releases seem to be whatever old shit the kid in the office found on Instagram, so it would hardly be surprising if some of the bods at the Guardian couldn’t differentiate between an “agreement” and an Act of Parliament, let alone a multilateral treaty. So they probably mean the 1968 Act.
Britain should never have appointed the Official Solicitor as Yulia Skripal’s representative without informing the Russian consulate first that she was in a position where she needed one, so that the consulate could contact her family. The recent judgment was fuller of holes than a sieve – an absolutely disgraceful, sloppy and dishonest piece of work by the judge, David Williams.
Two people remain in hospital and they seem both to be being denied their rights. That includes Sergei Skripal. If we assume he really is comatose, then he has the right to have his family contacted. Let’s hope the guy recovers and that the issue doesn’t soon arise of what to do with a dead body.
The British position has become so farcical you’d think it was an episode of Blackadder. Baldrick would have prepared a more logical charade……
From ‘a type developed by Russia’ (not the USSR) to a “1968 consular agreement” that Britain argues in ”unenforceable” because Russia is not the USSR. You start to appreciate why every aspect of the country is going down the drain under their stewardship when you witness this hilarious pantomime. ”More holes than swiss cheese” as a genocidal Israli recently proclaimed about nonsense.
But then again what do you expect from a country that allows crimes such as murder, kidnap, rape and torture of innocent men, women and children go unpunished. In fact, I would go as far as to say the British ruling class actively protects such criminality on a daily basis.
Perhaps the EU, and European Arrest Warrants, are not as ‘progressive’ as some people have been kidding themselves for years?
Need I remind you heathens of this forum that is is Easter and a time to celebrate the return from the dead of Jesus Christ.
Today we have another Resurrection to celebrate as Yulia Skripal has risen from her deathbed, truly there is a God HALLELUJAH and Praise the Merciful Lord and Britains NHS.
Yulia Skripal, has recovered from the Salisbury poisoning and is out of critical condition.
The Military grade Novichok deadly nerve gas seems to be nothing more than an excess of flatulence from the liars, Treeza May and Boris ‘Bloviator’Johnson.
Sure fooled the majority of cucks in the British and European Parliaments.
Some good citizens with highly tuned Bullshit detectors were not having it, This is a talent not taught at our highest Academic establishments.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has demanded proof that the British Security services have not poisoned their Citizen and demands her release under Habeas Corpus Law as established by Magna Carta.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/49101.htm
We have to wait for Easter Sunday for the resurrection.
Mr Murdoch’s operative. Rebecca Wade, explains.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2982332/good-friday-2018-date-when-bank-holiday-easter-meaning/
followed by an advertorial for Sainsbury’s and their opening hours!! A whole page. I clicked on a few and many are open 7am – 9pm. But hey, it’s business for the Qataris who own 21.99% of the outfit and BlackRock with 5.1%. The remainder is listed
Gideon Osborne has joined BlackRock, which is a giant US hedge fund outfit (Fink, Capito and Wagner) with over $6trillion in assets, for a reputed +£650k pa.
That’s how the boys do it.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/06/why-worlds-largest-fund-manager-paying-george-osborne-650000-pounds
@SalfordLad – You need a bit of religious instruction if you think Good Friday is a time to celebrate the resurrection! 🙂
Treeza did introduce a little sermon about Easter into PMQs the other day. I said that the Rev Hubert Brasier (her father) lives. She found a link to Iraq.. Clever old girl.
The Prime Minister
Easter is of course the most important time in the Christian calendar. It is a time of new life and hope. The message of the cross and the resurrection help to support Christians around the world. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right about the very real persecution faced by too many Christians around the world. I was pleased to meet recently Father Daniel from Nineveh and Idlib, who talked about the very real persecution suffered by his congregations. He presented me with a bible that had been burned after a church had been set on fire. It was rescued and is now in No. 10 Downing Street. We stand with those persecuted Christians. We will be looking to see what more the Government can do to support them.’
I reckon she had learnt that Masefield poem in her schooldays -,
‘Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory, And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine
.
Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds etc
That is ancient Nineveh, nr the modern day Mosul, Iraq where we bombed the people with mustard gas in WW1. Blair and Bush followed on 90 years or so later.
All that said, the timing of Yulia’s recovery certainly has a strange coincidence with Easter.
Clearly, “military grade nerve agents five to 10 times deadlier than VX” ain’t what they used to be…
Maybe they passed their use-by date. I’d ask for a refund.
And an operation, which ”in its scale and sophistication needed the support and logistics of a state”, also is not was it used to be (or perhaps never was).
why were brit scientists walking around in space suit protection clothes in salisbury within meters of totally unprotected UK citizens? ……questions, questions.
I noticed that. In one scene you could see firemen with no protection at all, chatting and even laughing with the ones in full hazmat suits.
Because it has to be a pantomime joke I know that from my experience when I trained in NBC during my time I served in the RN.
Our Hamish de B-G finds ‘it remarkable that she if off the critical list’. Quite so Hamish.
Perhaps we should adopt him as our mascot on here and he will give us eternal life and good health.
It’d be easier all round Ros if the media just told us who the few non-offensive Scottish Tory councillors are.
Rape Clause Ruth will cry out for diversity training again….sigh.
RoS, perhaps he was upset at what the public were saying about his masters..,
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ki2JM6XFZ1k
Hah, ha nice one JOML, a Noel Coward-esque send up of as he put it, of “The Gits.”
I doubt it. Most children could see it’s Blairites pushing a phony narrative to undermine Corbyn.
Come on now, the Maybot is “strong and stable” again and has put the Great back into Great Universal (now Littlewoods). She showed those damned Russkis just who is boss and has probably prevented a Tory wipe-out at the local elections.
Job done. A botched one with more gaping holes in it than a bear-shredded tent, but enough to kick-start an ‘Iron Lady’ narrative that the Corbyn-hating media will happily punt.
Is the Labour party deliberately taking the piss when after Corbyn’s capitulation speech they show a board saying “For the Many, Not the Few”?
Israel has deployed thousands of troops on the Gaza border, including 100 snipers, in preparation for the Palestinian “Great March of Return” – a six-week protest for a right of return of Palestinian refugees to what is now called Israel.
Hamas has called for peaceful protest. Expect false flag ‘Hamas attacks’ on Israel followed by a bloodbath. Israel might even try to escalate it into an excuse for military action against ‘Hamas-supporting’ Iran.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-gaza/israel-deploys-100-sharpshooters-on-gaza-border-for-palestinian-protests-israeli-army-chief-idUSKBN1H41PE
Eight Palestinians have been killed and dozen wounded. See Haaretz. Terrible. Like trophy hunting for the IDF.
The Guardian reports that “Palestinians die in clashes with Israeli forces”. Did they have heart attacks? Had they been feeling a bit poorly all day?
Land Day and Passover make an interesting combination.
Now it’s 13 dead.
It’s a cold-blooded slaughter. They’re shooting into a crowd of men, women and children who are legally protesting on their own side of the border.
What do these soldiers say to their families when they go home? …. “I had a great day at work, shot 2 kids, one dead, one maimed.”
Since they equate all Palestinians with terrorists, they’ll probably get medals for preventing a supposed future atrocity.
Talking of conflating an entire race with terrorists, this is pretty incredible:
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/black-lives-matter-israel-180329061234932.html
Only the far-right refused to agree that boycotts of South Africa was a good thing back in the apartheid days. But all this doesn’t get a mention from our great democratic leaders.
“Terrorists” are whoever they are targeting. They know full well that the I__eli state itself was established by terrorists. These are some of the slogans and images that IDF personnel like to wear on their t-shirts. (Warning: truly inhuman sick stuff. I wonder whether even the SS used to revel to this extent in what they did.)
It was on the BBC front page but now the toll has increased it’s disappeared.
At present the BBC has lost it. Corbyn smears were the third item on the lunchtime news.
Is anyone else not paying their licence?
You mean this one, which is actually on the front page of the BBC website?
Gaza-Israel border: Clashes ‘leave 12 Palestinians dead and hundreds injured’
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-43593594
You can bet if 15 Israelis had been shot it would be lead item. On Radio 4 news they didn’t even start the coverage of the clashes with mention of the dead… but they’re just Palestinians right…
Yes I don’t think we will renew ours when it comes up in July. I feel now that the bbc acts against our interests. I used to consider the bbc as one of the institutions we could genuinely be proud of, like the NHS. But something has changed and it seems to have become frighteningly narrow in It’s scope . It feels a bit Orwellian now.
That’s great, Jane – don’t renew your BBC licence. Leave it to Murdoch to provide the news for us all.
My licence is definitely not being renewed this year. The TV will be disconnected from the relevant cables. I’m not going to finance this third rate propaganda machine anymore. On the other channels, the constant interruption of the adverts with actual programs irritates me too.
Tony O of these pages made a point a day or two ago that sat prodding me for no particular reason:- as soon as Tony heard about the Salisbury drama unfolding he looked up Skripal on 192 and found his address.
I’ve just checked, 192 does reveal his address, I do not have any search credits so I only see “Salisbury” (first name in listing “Sergey”).
So the thought that was pestering me was if someone (not a world power or disgruntled State) wanted to cause bother for Russia, a British person or someone living in Britain hatched a plan to frame Russia for some dastardly deed, a good starting point would be identify a rogue Russian and then find his / her address. And then try and kill him / her in a way that Russia has targetted its enemies in the past.
The motives could be historical vengeance – something that happened to their grandparents, over sensitivity to the endless British anti Russian propaganda directed at Russia, a personal experience or something that struck a moral chord eg
https://www.outsports.com/2014/4/16/5621698/gay-straight-soccer-fans-team-up-to-demand-world-cup-be-stripped-from
(I’m not suggesting these guys were in anyway involved with the Skripal affair – it just exemplifies the determination that exists in some to isolate Russia – I am not making a judgement on the rights /wrongs of this particular case)
So someone with a grudge (ridiculous or justified, real or imaginary) plans to harm Russia / Anglo Relations (further)
They are bright, the Japanese Sarin poisonings and Wiki help with the groundwork and then only 3 things are required to pull of a master plan.
1) An incompetent government stuffed with fools
2) A Chemical Weapon Agency (Porton Down) who can’t tell a Novichok from something that might be one
And
3) A police force that are happier telling lies than informing the public on facts
And its Game On!
Charles. You have to pay 192.com to have full addresses. In the good old days, you could have them without subscribing. I can remember finding Liam Fox’s which was suspiciously near something that looked like a receiving station on a mast. That was in the time of Fox Werritty revelations on here.
If you are pursuing this line of thought, check out religious or occultist nutters with a fanatical belief in reincarnation, as Aum Shinrikyo had who attacked the Tokyo metro using sarin. (They killed 12, and it was very fortunate they didn’t kill a LOT more.) “Transition town” scenes usually connect (they are all about “preparing for after doomsday”), and Salisbury has got one. Then go here: “We are very grateful indeed for the vision and generosity of the following funders: A Foundation who wish to remain anonymous”.
Don’t get fooled by the nicy nicy, Comic Sans, children’s-drawings type of presentation.
They did not manage to lill more because their Sarin was at most 10=20% of real weapons grade Sarin. The refining of it was harder than they could have envisaged and making it, stage after stage, was very dangerous.
Some of them might not have been as eager to be resurrected as others, N_
The immaculate resurrection of Yulia Skripal, something we all have been eagerly looking forward to, will not doubt be kept under wraps. Once she has recuperated somewhat she can demand to be released, and then what.
Will the west be eager to let her speak out, freely, or will they do their best to keep her ‘under observation’ or say they must be ‘discussing a few discrepancies’, or ‘keeping her safe from further attacks’, whatever.
These steps will all be designed to keep her testimony from appearing and ripping the whole propaganda edifice to shreds.
I am not discounting the possibility of another attack or sorts and hence, she should be in charge of her life or handed to the Russian embassy for safe keeping, if she agrees, she is, after all, a Russian citizen.
I would have thought that like 99.9% of humanity the first thing she will want to do after finding out how her dad is is to contact a non-comatose member of her family, and the British authorities are breaking every rule in the book if they put obstacles in the way of her doing so. She is not under suspicion of any crime.
Perhaps for full symbolic effect she will walk out of the hospital door on Sunday? 🙂 So far she has not been rubbished in the media, but that may change.
On your point 3), Charles, the police won’t have had any say in what story to run with. It may seem like one of those free kicks in football where four players from the attacking side all run in different directions (doorhandle? car? restaurant?) but that’s deliberate.
Good luck with your researches. Aum Shinrikyo are a good point of reference here. (So is the assassination attempt against Khaled Meshaal and the ready availability of the antidote.) Scenes like AS are heavily infiltrated by intelligence and security agencies. Ditto Ananda Marga. Fanatical reincarnationism goes together with some disgusting views on why massacres, even genocidal massacres, happened in the past, and there’s not much of a bridge to cross to get to the idea of “helping the planet on its course”.
Totally agree the police have no say in which story to run but they do have to run it.
Sitting in their Gold, Silver and Bronze Command Suites belting out the orders they are told to belt.
But therein lies the problem.
The case of Dr David Kelly is rearing its ugly head again thanks to a new book out next week, there will be new allegations, new snippets of gossip all countered by old lies.
The police lost control of that cover up because the people running the cover up (the police chiefs) are not equipped to think on their feet. They get to where they are because they have always followed orders to the letter and never let their initiative get the better of them. And when they get high enough in the tree their orders come from government. Police chiefs are political pawns.
But their whole life training and police experiences (being told what do do) does not prepare them for crisis management.
So in the Dr Kelly case when it was discovered that the body had been placed in the wrong position (it was placed sat against a tree and should have been laid flat because that’s the position it was in at the time of death and livor mortis markings may have proved this), this is the moment a Chief Constable realises he hasn’t a clue what to do and he also realises he has surrounded himself by equally inept Assistants and Deputies that are good at relaying orders but are useless at problem solving under stress.
eg A beat or desk constable if challenged with the same problem would have jumped into a car, drove to the site, re-positioned the corpse and got out of there. Not Chief Constables!
They would call up for help from their men on the ground. But the men on the ground (actually floating on water) are out of radio contact because of a hill. So the Chief calls for a 45ft radio mast, but still no signal. So a 100 ft mast is called for and erected and still no signal. Then a runner is sent, but because of the wasted hours with the radio masts before the runner can get to the body to reposition it he bumps into the volunteer search team who announce they have already found the body. Too late! And the cover / cock up goes from bad to worse from there.
Exactly the same thing happened in Salisbury. A problem arose (Bailey) and the Chiefs had not got a clue how to handle it. They thought they were being clever (because they don’t know any better) and promulgated the Brave Detective First on the Scene Meme. And from there the cover / cock up didn’t stand a chance.
Suggest you hold off commenting until you have read ‘An Unnatural Death’ by Miles Goslett who followed the case from the beginning until the end when the appeal for a Judicial Review of the Attorney General’s refusal to hold an inquest, was refused in the High Court.
The book is published next week on 5th April.
Chapter and verse.
Mr Goslett’s book isn’t going to help with the mired cover up in Salisbury and it won’t help the police adequately explain why they announced a Detective Sergeant was first on the scene where the Skripals were discovered in a distressed state.
But that isn’t the reason I won’t be buying / reading his book or taking your advice. Be careful when you order yours, you may want to check the title again or you may remain disappointed with your lot when your copy arrives.
It’s All the Two’s ( in thousands ) on the Clara Pesoti crowd fund..But not for much longer – £222.700..Great respones
And Here Be a Wee Easter Treat For Y’all..
The brilliant Maria Zakharova, makes Sye News Journo Squirm in his seat, Love the way she waits Earnestly for a few seconds for him answere her question.. The fun starts At 8 Mins; 40 seconds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylaX9RaSJZw
Awkward for the squirming, embarrassed journalist (?). Well spotted, Brian.
I worked earlier this week with a couple of young blokes who had radio1 playing all day, the music was on a par with the news…. manufactured shite. `the Russians are guilty of……` preceded or followed by someone trying to better David Bowie with a very poor copy of `Heroes`. I`m an expat living in a very rural part of South West France who`s only contact with the greater world is through the internet, and I`m appalled at the level of disinterest amongst my fellow British colleagues. Thatcher did a grand job in getting folk to think only for themselves and to leave the big thinking for others. What a shit world I leave for my grandchildren, I didn`t try hard enough to change it, I`m as guilty as that twat Blair and co. Happy Easter
I’m an ex-pat contractor living in the Netherlands, mate, and I’m impressed with the interest and knowledge of Europeans of such matters generally. The British seem far more involved only with their own affairs as you mention, but no topic with these Dutch, French and so on seems to be a “hot button” issue, which really shouldn’t be talked about.
It made me highly despondent to find mates who were British supporting the Iraq war, and coming across quite angry at me – personally – as if I was supporting Saddam Hussein. Christ almighty, didn’t I know what a bastard he was? How dare I supposedly sympathise with him! And so forth. The Yanks I worked with were just as bad.
I wouldn’t blame yourself for failing to change all this. I’ve argued the case against war and so on to the best of my abilities, and I don’t think I changed a single person’s mind one way or the other. Either I was preaching to the converted, or talking to those sucked into state propaganda so I’d get some risible crap back about how we were on the side of the angels, and the “enemy” was evil and ready to cut all our throats if we didn’t bomb them to hell first.
I thought you were in Wales?
From Wales, but not living there right now. Was living there before changing the glenn_uk to glenn_nl.
I’m torn between, what a pile of sh#t people are in to, and, what’s the point because it won’t make any difference anyway – we’re all off to hell in a hand cart! ? We’re all pretty vacant…
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R6GDdKrQ8EI
The latest provocation of the Russians.
http://news.sky.com/story/russia-say-aeroflot-plane-searched-in-london-by-uk-authorities-11310461
The Met deny it if course.
Maria Zakharova is adamant that it was.
The last figure for the number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli IDF thugs was 18. Dozens have been wounded.
Slaughter and yet more Palestinian blood dries in the sand.
The BBC is saying 15 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured.
Gaza-Israel border: Clashes ‘leave 15 Palestinians dead and hundreds injured’ –
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-43593594
The photos remind me a lot of the Warsaw Ghetto. The comparison used to be to some degree deniable, perhaps. Now it isn’t.
Is Trump serious about pulling out of Syria? Man in that position is liable to get his hair all mussed up if he goes pulling a stunt like that. Mister Deep State ain’t gonna like it, not one itty bit.
Unless guys like John Bolton have found their way back to sanity. Then all will be well. But I wouldn’t bet any money on it.
So two people were sadly poisoned with one of the most lethal nerve gasses known. The ‘apparent’ substance was Novichok, which two years ago wasn’t believed to exist, but has since been confirmed to have been formulated in Iran (under OPCW supervision), and Porton Down (as admitted by Boris Johnson), but not Russia. A chemical agent which kills in seconds, along with anyone that comes into contact with it. Took under 2 hours for the UK to identify (with their known stock of Novichok), but will take weeks for the OPCW to identify. Yet before any evidence, everyone watching mainstream media is convinced of a state’s guilt. And the two that were poisoned went for a drive in their car, a meal, a drink, sat on a bench, and nobody else was contaminated! That doesn’t sound like a weaponised chemical nerve agent. This is pure propaganda, and anyone who believes the UK / US / EU government line needs to look at this critically.