The barefaced lie about Gadaffi being killed in the crossfire bodes ill for the openness, transparency and good government we can expect to see now in Libya. But today I am worrying about the effect on our society of human death as entertainment. I have never been an apologist for Gadaffi, but if his regime tortured and murdered, the remedy is not to torture and murder him – even the Nazis were given due process.
This murder is becoming the norm. It was a NATO air strike which took out Gadaffi’s escaping convoy and first wounded him. Two days ago two teenage sons of Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical US/Yemeni cleric executed without trial last week, were executed by a US drone attack as they had dinner. They were aged 16 and 19. They had committed no crime I can find alleged against them. There has been no publicity.
All this killing brings triumphalist politicians smirking on our screens. We seem to have become as dehumanised as ancient Rome. Little human pity is expressed for the way Gadaffi was killed – indeed there is notably less media reflection of pity or revulsion than there was at the (at least judicial) hanging of Saddam Hussein. Is that a measure of the descent into bloodlust barbarism in our society? The complete lack of empathy towards the traveller families being torn from their homes at Dale Farm is part of the same brutalism towards “the other”. Why don’t we go the whole way and have them eaten by lions in the ring?
History shows that bloody appetite once aroused feeds upon itself. We have already had Defence Secretary Hammond on Sky News today positing NATO action now against Syria, while the current US proto-pretext for attacking Iran – the fantasy plot against the Saudi Ambassador – is as believable as Gadaffi’s death in the crossfire.
More death is on the way, to keep the circus going. Then the crowds may not notice there is no bread – no jobs, and their earnings and income eaten up by huge state enforced transfers to the bankers, whether by bailouts or “quantitive easing”.
Quantitive Easing is the best con of all for the ruling classes. In the UK, the £225 billion of printed money to date under quantitive easing has been – every single penny – given to the bankers. Good money for bad, used to buy up the junk bonds which the bankers bought in their terrible investment decision making, and for which fake assets they had awarded themselves many, many billions in personal bonuses. They are rescued from the consequences of their disastrous judgements by the Bank of England printing (in old parlance) new, good money to buy the rubbish they invested in. The result – more rounds of huge personal bonuses for celebrating bankers!! Hooray!!! For you and I, stagflation.
30 months ago, when I explained that Q.E. was another huge transfer to the bankers and predicted it would lead to stagflation, I was widely ridiculed across the web. Now we have the stagflation and everything I predicted has come to pass.
All of which you would normally expect to make people pretty unhappy at the biggest transfer of wealth from poor to rich in history.
Quick! More War! More Militarism! More Blood! More Executions! More Victory for Democracy! Keep the Peasants Happy!
Get a Move On There! Come On!! Come On!! More Blood!! More Blood, Quick, Damn You!!
UPDATE
You are not alone. On the average of the last three hours, 900 people per hour were reading this article and fifty others are at this moment reading this, invisibly alongside you. Those who understand what is happening are not given a mainstream media or political voice, but we are more than you may think. Don’t feel alone in your perception of the tricks of those who govern us, and leave a comment so we can start to feel each other’s support.
Hajj Dawud, “Four permanent faiths”. What makes you think they are permanent? What are these four faiths? Are you saying, eg. Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, paganism, etc. are transient? And what religion was there at the time of the dinosaurs?
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“All of the wars of history have been between or among or within those four” Hajj Dawud.
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What about the wars b/w the Egyptians and the Hittites, or the various Zulu wars which predated the entry of Europeans, the Mycenaean wars, those fought by the Varangians, or the wars waged by the pagan Julius Caesar (against the pagan Gauls and Celts)…? Or do you see all of these as mere prelude to the main attraction (of the circus)?
Anno wrote: There are now two parties in the world, the party of conscience including all people of integrity from all religions, and the party of controlling power, including all political malignant controllers from Islam, Zionism, Toryism, Socialism etc.
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People are being separated into two camps: A camp of faith wherein there is no hypocrisy, and a camp of hypocrisy wherein there is no faith. Before you attribute purity to yourself (as you have done with your “clean heart” claim), consider which of those two camps demonizes the other (as you have done with your broad-brush condemnation of “the party of controlling power, including” variously-labeled “malignant controllers” of partisan factions of much larger groups). That may assist you in determining which camp currently holds your allegiance.
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“Power corrupts” is a false statement. “Power attracts the corruptible,” and “power corrupts the corruptible,” are true statements. We are all powerful ~ every man, woman and child capable of volition is possessed of power. It’s in our genetic makeup, we’re the most powerful creature on the planet and everything is subject to the power of the human being, including people ~ perhaps especially including people, since to wield power one must also be subject to it.
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But “being powerful” is a catastrophic responsibility, and the greater the power with which one is invested, the greater the responsibility one has for mistakenly using it. The consequence of a misuse of power grows over time, and returns to the abuser ~ as Qaddafi’s abuses have returned to him ~ whether in this life or in the next.
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You wield power by inciting others to precipitate action without consideration of unintended consequences. You might want to consider that “opposition” to something is not a durable organizing principle ~ when the “something” has been removed, what preserves unity so as to prevent the actors from forming factions against each other? Another “something” to be removed? Are you sure you want to unleash that kind of a monster?
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We should all be wary of the power of an angry mob, moving in opposition to something. No good can come of it, unless you think that killing Qaddafi like he was a stray dog was a “good” thing.
Tony Opmoc. Do not understand. I think you have the wrong person because I have no religion.
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You might have been referring to an image I posted of Jesus casting out the money lenders which I thought apposite in connection with the list of names who control St. Paul’s which I also posted. Someone on Medialens has cottoned on too.
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http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1319364528.html
@Suhayl Saadi: Hajj Dawud, “Four permanent faiths.” What makes you think they are permanent? What are these four faiths?
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The answer to both questions: they’re named in the Qur’an.
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What about the wars between the Egyptians and the Hittites, or …
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“between” means “between” one and another of the four;
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“among” means “among” three or four;
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“within” means “within” one of the four.
I agree with every word, apart from the early allusion to the Nazis as the very zenith of evil. They were not; that is also part of the historical lie served up to us all. What happened in Russia under Bolshevism was far worse than any Nazi atrocity.
What is occurring now is by the same hand as that Bolshevism. When more understand that, we will make progress.
As to the summary execution of Gadaffi, as others have said, there was no way he or any of the others would be permitted judicial process.
We are moving into truly savage and dangerous times.
Videos from St Paul’s posted today. Note the police presence.
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http://occupylsx.org/?p=379
Circuses without Doughnuts? Look at this crap on BBC COM. Promotion of junk food. How much did the manufacturers achieve the placing of this advertisement?
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Sweet doughnuts conquer the world
By Helen Soteriou
London
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15309466
ST. Pauls are loosing 22.000/day, apparently. This has nothing to do with the unavailable independent health and safety report that is being cited as relevant reasoning to disperse the demonstrators.
I wonder what the H&S report says, or is it fictitious, and empty page? a long lost dead parrot scroll 🙂
Have our god fearing banks offered compensation to St. Pauls?, after all it is saving them a lot of embarrassment in front of their glass palaces.
ASnd then there is another opium to the masses.
Norwich 1 Liverpool 1, c’mon you canary’s.
Thanks Mark for the link to details of an advance in SamCam’s personal wealth. Continuing the theme of inquality within the system, here is another reminder of the corruption within HMRC.
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Compare the state’s treatment of the crowd named in this article to that meted out to those trying to live on reduced benefits.
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Revenue and Customs office faces MPs’ backlash after secret deals with bankers
Commons committee tells cabinet secretary to act over ‘out of control’ civil servant Dave Hartnett
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/oct/23/tax-avoidance-goldman-dave-hartnett?newsfeed=true
Videos from St Paul’s… Thanks Mary
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Everyone is so welcome to learn about ‘OccupyBritain’ and some using conversations are here:
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http://www.facebook.com/groups/OccupyBritain/
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and here:
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http://www.facebook.com/groups/UKCollapse/
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To jump straight into the protest, a live stream video and chat is here. You are very welcome:
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http://www.livestream.com/OccupyLSX
@suraci: What is occurring now is by the same hand …
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Yes, but it’s necessary to see that in a much longer context to gain a true perspective. You’re looking at the rider reaching for the brass ring ~ you should take a closer look at the horse and the merry-go-round.
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We are moving into truly savage and dangerous times.
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A long-running play ends with a short season.
How the Banks & Government are stealing from you… a children’s guide.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJVJ5_4qNSo
Occupy London live stream… variable discussions – good mix
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http://www.livestream.com/OccupyLSX
Suraci,
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Bolshevism as totalitarian and utopian system has ‘rightfully’ claimed millions of lives before, during and after the WW2. But you cannot compare it with Nazism at any point. Nazism and particularly its idea of German racial superiority was far more dangerous for the humanity than Bolshevism. Take it this way. Bolsheviks have managed to get hold of nuclear and even hydrogen bomb but they have not used it against other nations although there have been few cases where they could have. Now imagine if Nazis got hold of nuclear bomb sometimes during WW2. What do you think would have happened to humankind?
Uzbek in the UK
I suspect you are wasting your breath with Suraci – when he says “any Nazi atrocity” what he is really saying is that he/she/it believes that any such behaviour was justified in the pursuit of Bolshevism and hence there were no such attrocities. Human beings will recognise that wrong/evil can occur on both sides.
Could Mary, Mark and others please explain why when they repeatedly tell us that we live in a fascist regime worse than that of their hero Gadaffi that the demonstrators outside St Pauls are not being dealt with in the same manner that Gaddafi, Amedinjinabad or Assad would deal with such protestors?? Unfortunately, we don’t have YouTube links to all of the latter, although I’m happy to prepare a fascist dictators for children guide if that would help – but there are plenty of other sources should you care to look.
Gadaffi’s death was inevitable, the only uncertainty being which particular lie would be told to explain it. If he did not die at the hands of the NATO-sponsored insurgents then US or UK special forces would have ‘slotted him’, as their grim terminology goes. Quite apart from anything else, had he lived he would have spilled the beans on Lockerbie: he had nothing to do with it, and no need to lie now.
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It’s a pretty safe bet that Megrahi won’t see Christmas for pretty much the same reason, even though it’s a bit of a trick to get caught in a crossfire when you’re bedridden.
Stephen,
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Although quite often I am not sympathetic to Mary’s opinion there is certain true about fascism of present European governments. If you look at the roots of Italian word fascism which means something like brought together or put together. In the last years it is more and more obvious that governments in Europe are in tight collaboration with MNC and investment banks. Look at it this way. When banks and big businesses needed capital they have been given and are being given billions of public money. This on its own have increased national debt. Now when common people need financial help they are being told that government needs to reduce debt and cuts are being made to everything from education to health. When one is sacked from job and is not able to afford paying mortgage he is not given even a penny from the government to cover mortgage. Does this look to be fair to you? Is this not a sight of European governments working in close collaboration with big companies and not those who vote for them?
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Of course you cannot compare repressiveness of late Gaddafi, Assad, Karimov or any other dictatorship with western democracies but there is a certain true when western governments are being called fascist.
Uzbek in the UK
Just because you can see elements of corporatism in the behaviour of western states I’m afraid that does not make them fascist. To say so is not much beyond the level of argument of saying that those who opposed the Iraq war and/or the EU are supporters of the BNP because that is the position of that party.
The Tory Party in the UK has always behaved as the political wing of the City – but that doesn’t make them fascist, although they may have some individual members who are not a million miles away.
“When one is sacked from job and is not able to afford paying mortgage he is not given even a penny from the government to cover mortgage. Does this look to be fair to you?”
BTW – this isn’t generally true. Although I don’t doubt that there may be some who are not entitled to the benefit – nor that there are some in Govt who want to make things harder and/or don’t really care about those facing difficulties.
Roger, Wilko…
Ancient Rome indeed!
Where is this modern world we were told about as children, this progressive society gifted with technology and recorded history that will send the human race into a brighter future? – or where did it go?
Democracy is supposed to be by the people for the people, why are there never “people” in government? Sigh.
Still, I’m smiling today after reading Sarkozy’s comment to Cameron “you missed a good opurtunity to shut up…”
Good article CM keep it up.
For Stephen’s information, the police are filming the protesters outside St Paul’s just as they film us on marches and protest meetings for justice for Palestine. Hardly the actions of a benign state. Suggest he wakes up or if not, peddles his wares on Times Online or the like. I happened to read the printed version in a cafe this morning. Quite outrageous stuff there especially the leaders.
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Italy now. GB soon.
http://italycalling.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/occupy-rome-one-week-after/
Mary
I never claimed the UK state was benign – but that doesn’t make it fascist as you frequently claim. I’ll peddle my wares wherever I like – that is one of luxuries of living in a democracy which has been earned for me by my ancestors who actually knew what fascism was when they were fighting it. Another feature of democracies is that the newspapers can print outrageous leaders – not much of that in Libya/Syria/Iran/N Korea/China/Zimbabwe or whichever pet regime you favour at the moment.
Stephen,
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You are right to state that Tory were always seen as City boys. But recently we have witnessed that whichever government is in power City will benefit and commoners will lose (when it comes to crisis). Was not Labour government in power when the first portion of billions was given to the banks and TNC? Now does it not occur to you that there is no opposition to the idea that ‘banks are too big to fail’? Does it not occur to you that there is certain bounding between publicly elected members of the government and the City and is this not what Italian word Fascism means?
Now does it not occur to you that there is no opposition to the idea that ‘banks are too big to fail’?
No – becuase there is quite a lot of opposition to this idea both inside and outside government – look at what the Vickers Commission are proposing. That is not the same as saying that it would have been right to let the banks fail back in 2008 – because I don’t think it would have been given the even greater misery that it would have caused for many outside the banking sector.
Does it not occur to you that there is certain bounding between publicly elected members of the government and the City and is this not what Italian word Fascism means?
Publicly elected members of Parliament are bonded to all sorts of things – but that is not the same as fascism. You and others are able to argue and vote for different arrangements.
“Could Mary, Mark and others please explain why when they repeatedly tell us that we live in a fascist regime worse than that of their hero Gadaffi…”
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Your words ‘Stephen’ – are they an conjecture or disinformation.
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Read my earlier post on authoritarian nationalism that exists in America and Britain cloaked as a two/three? party system with no hope of others gaining control by enacting and using rules or by fraud, intimidation/assassination and propaganda that obfuscates the totalitarian single-party state that secretly existed and is now fully exposed and running scared.
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A shrewd British public attempted and achieved a coalition expecting deadlock. that is, attempting to ensure any political consensus that disregards public opinion would only result in a ‘move into check’ and failure, even before the vote. It failed.
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This quasi/pseudo-fascism that exists in British rule/governments has promoted violence and war and viewed as actions that create national regeneration, spirit and vitality (puke).
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It views conflict as a fact of life that is responsible for all human progress. Ad interim we have murdered thousands of children in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Palestine, displaced 4 million families and traumatised millions more. We (our rulers and followers) are disgusting, sickening, unyielding, foxy, inhumane and nefarious. They are drones, remote deceptive beguiling murderers grasping at resources and power while using so called ‘flat-mates’ to spin their webs of deceit in an attempt to appease their evil masters.
“Could Mary, Mark and others please explain why when they repeatedly tell us that we live in a fascist regime worse than that of their hero Gadaffi that the demonstrators outside St Pauls are not being dealt with in the same manner that Gaddafi, Amedinjinabad or Assad would deal with such protestors?? ”
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wait until they get beyond the current protection of st pauls .. watch them being removed .. except we’re a little more subtle in our fascism , unless they happen to come prepared like the libya/syria rebels guns in hand.
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what makes you believe that our govts would not act in the same manner against us as those elsewhere?
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now we have Nato/coalition arguing between themselves as to who should get the plaudits for gadaffis killing.
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whilst clinton in pakistan denies any hard evidence that links Pakistan to haqqani and the recent attacks in kabul.
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and the alleged perpetrator of that alleged iranian plot to murder saudi ambassador which no one believes is to plead not guilty to the charges.
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funny old world.
“A shrewd British public attempted and achieved a coalition expecting deadlock. that is, attempting to ensure any political consensus that disregards public opinion would only result in a ‘move into check’ and failure, even before the vote. It failed.”
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not so shrewd because they failed to recognise that each of the party leaders adhered to the neo con doctrine, supporters of zionist aggression. that any challengers to the ideology were disposed of by the media by an hysterical media .. in the same way the lie about the french veto during the pre iraq war campaign (all such events that lead to war or change of personalities at the top follow much the same script)
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anyone who wanted to could see through the media campaigns pre election (in some cases 2 years before) that ensured that no matter what the public voted the outcome would be the same.
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just as anyone who cared to actually listen to obama knew he was walking in the footsteps of tony blair .. ideologically and PR
“All of the wars of history have been between or among or within those four: every war is a religious war of one dimension or another.” Hajj Dawud
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Hajj (or should I call you, ‘Dave’?), that is what you wrote – “all of the wars of history” – but thanks for the clarification.
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On the other point, so, you regard Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the religion of the Sabeans as the four permanent faiths and all the rest as transient? This, in spite of the fact that some of the others – paganism, Hinduism (in one or other form) and some of the ‘Eastern’ religions have been around for longer than any of those four.
“Don’t feel alone in your perception of the tricks of those who govern us”. It seems that the ‘tricks’ are appearing at warp speed. To quote a no-mark scum bag politician “never let a good crysis go to waste”.
As for Gadaffi, I do not really believe that he was half as bad as our nedia painted him. Really just the same senario as Iraq, WMD’s and Saddam.