The neo-con Blair and Cameron regimes are very comfortable with each other. War criminal Alistair Campbell’s “evidence” to the Leveson inquiry is risible.
“Only a few people in number 10 knew Cherie was pregnant, so it must have been phone hacking that led the Mirror to it” is a statement that would not stand ten seconds thought, if it were not ramped by being given the status of a leak.
Campbell’s statement ignores the range of explanations as to how the Mirror could have learned from the “small number of people in No. 10” that Cherie was pregnant. These include:
a) gossip
b) No 10’s motive to get the news out to boost Tony’s popularity
c) the hospital
d) phone hacking
Phone hacking is the least possible explanation. My money is on b)
No, this is a rather pathetic attempt by the Blair camp to divert attention from Murdoch onto Piers Morgan, who the war criminals have never forgiven for his opposition to the War in Iraq. It is so blatant a ploy that it needs an extra boost to the story as a daring “leak” by the Tory neo-con PR man Paul Staines, to be a succesful diversionary tactic.
Blairites and Tories get together to manufacture an incident to take the heat off Murdoch at Leveson Inquiry. That is the real story.
The object of David Aaronovitch’s admiration, Tony Bliar, was on Radio 4 Today yesterday telling countries not to become dependent on aid.
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http://www.tonyblairoffice.org/news/entry/countries-can-end-their-dependence-on-aid-tony-blair-tells-bbcs-today/
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The massive aid given to Israel by the US was not referred to.
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This morning I heard that Aaronovitch is chairing the Moral Maze tonight on the theme of welfare dependency. I see a common theme from the pair of them.
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Culture of Entitlement
Today, 20:00 on BBC Radio 4
Synopsis
Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by David Aaronovitch with Claire Fox, Clifford Longley, Anne McElvoy and Matthew Taylor.
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At least Mad Mel is not on. Stephen might be interested in a previous programme in the series now on iPlayer, The Morality of the F Word. as he had such a precious response to my use of the abbreviation.
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‘Don’t take offence, but this week the Moral Maze is talking about the f-word. A 20 year old man has had his conviction for repeatedly swearing at police officers quashed. A High Court judge decided that use of the f- word is now so commonplace that, in the rather quaint legal definition, it could not cause “harassment, alarm or distress” to those who heard it. Is he right? Should we all be a bit more thick skinned about this? How many of us still reach for the smelling salts when we overhear bad language on the street or in the media? The sight of an 89 year old Baroness caught, on the floor of the House of Lords, flashing a V-sign at a fellow peer of the realm, may have raised eyebrows but there’s a serious issue here. Are we allowing a coarsening of society and a debasing of the standards that underpin a civil society? Have we become too tolerant of this kind of thing, or just more censorious? How should we define what language or behaviour is offensive and should it always be in the eye of the beholder? FIFA president Sepp Blatter may have been naïve about the problem of racism in football, but how many of us, in the heat of the moment, haven’t said something we regret and which would be best dealt with immediately with a face to face apology rather than in the court? Much of what passed for humour in the 1970’s would now probably be regarded as “hate speech” and end up with a criminal charge of racism. Has this made us a more tolerant society or a society that is less willing to tolerate?’
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Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Claire Fox, Melanie Phillips, Michael Portillo and Matthew Taylor.
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Witnesses:
Dr Stuart Waiton – Lecturer in Criminology at Abertay University in Dundee, and co-founder of the group Take a Liberty (Scotland)
Jack Gardener – Founder Room 7 cards
Vivien Patterson – Mediawatch-uk
Mary Ann Sieghart – Journalist and patron of the National Campaign for Courtesy.
{http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017chqg}
Anyway, _Opmoc’s link ( http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/11/comfortably-numb.html )was a must-read. Bookmarked it.
Some figures to take into account on this day when 2m workers will be striking against proposed cuts to their pensions.
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‘ Unite recently set its pensions experts loose on the projected retirement incomes of a bunch of coalition cabinet members, and came up with the following figures: assuming they all had paid in at the top rate, the union reckons veteran cabinet office minister Francis Maude, who will have completed 27 years as an MP and eight as a minister by the time he reaches the end of this current term of office in 2015, would at that point receive an annual pension of £43,835.
Deputy PM Nick Clegg could count on £26,403 at retirement age if he leaves parliament at the next election, as could fresh-faced chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander. Chancellor George Osborne would be on £32,977; business secretary Vince Cable on £39,551; and health secretary Andrew Lansley on £39,825. In other words, says Unite, a typical public-sector worker “would have to work three working lifetimes to earn Francis Maude’s pension, and two to earn young Danny Alexander’s”.
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Nice work if you can get it.’
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/nov/29/ministerial-public-sector-pensions
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“FFS look at how he takes off late at night before you criticise me for discouraging his drunken rambling BS!”
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You weren’t “discouraging”, you were flinging abuse at someone who had given no indication that he was “drunken rambling” last night. I’ve been around here for at least five years, Mr Dec, and I’m well familiar with Tony. And I agree with him about Clinton.
You would do well to remember that whether sober, or having had one too many, Tony’s heart is in the right place, and he doesn’t abuse people here.
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Nuid aka dreoilin
The rollercoaster. ‘Wall Street titans in credit downgrade’. Here we go. Hold on tight.
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30 November 2011
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S&P downgrades credit rating of major banks S&P’s move hit the share prices of US banks
Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded the long-term credit grades of a string of major financial firms.
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Wall Street titans Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, along with Barclays, HSBC, and some firms in Germany and France were affected.
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Downgrades can increase banks’ borrowing costs and put further pressure on their shaky finances.
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However, it upgraded ratings on two Chinese banks, Bank of China Ltd. and China Construction Bank Corp.
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S&P said its move reflects new criteria for banks, based on changes in market trends and government support.
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Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup had long-term ratings downgraded to A- from A.
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Morgan Stanley, Barclays, HSBC, Commerzbank, and UBS also had ratings cut by one notch, according to S&P’s statement.
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/..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15955173
You must remember, Mary, that to attract the very best available Ministers, we need to pay them top wages and perks. That is why this country is such a contented, prosperous and smoothly-running concern delivering big dividends to
the bankseverybody who matters..
Were we to fail to reward these heroes of politics, they would doubtless find better-paid employment with overseas megacorporations who recognise their true worth.
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Just a minute…. that’s what they do, anyway, isn’t it?
“Combative, provocative and engaging debate chaired by Michael Buerk with Claire Fox, Melanie Phillips, Michael Portillo and Matthew Taylor.”
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I heard part of that before switching off. As usual, Meshuggenah Mel got her Jewishness into the conversation early on: “If someone called me a Jewish bitch…”
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I liked the use of the conditional, there.
Their personal fortunes are not included in the calculations either. This is from the Wikipedia entry for Francis Maude.
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e.g. Maude is father of five: Julia, Cecily, Harry, Alastair and Lydia. His personal net wealth is estimated at £3m. Despite this, during a discussion on Newsnight on 22 October 2010 he argued that a 5% cut to his £65,738 salary was equal to the ‘pain’ suffered by Britain’s poor.[11][12] Although a proponent of David Cameron’s “Big Society”, a July 2010 interview revealed Maude does little or no work for the voluntary sector, believing that his work as an MP was contribution enough.[13]
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Maude
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There’s a large white gap on the Expenses section. Wonder who deleted what?
I do like your strike throughs Komodo.
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What made you decide on your particular avatar image from the hundreds available?
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http://tinyurl.com/dxbl9fb (google images)
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It showed my cuddly side, Mary. If not most of my very handsome tongue.
http://cmec.org.uk/blog/new-funding-laws-in-israel-an-attack-on-democracy/
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The IDF is the biggest recipient of foreign funding….lol
Introducing Syria (from The Lonely Planet)
“Travel warning: Since March 2011, protests against the government have escalated in scope and violence with human rights groups estimating hundreds of people have been killed. Foreign governments are advising their citizens against all travel to the country. Check news and travel advisories for the latest.”
I have read elsewhere detailed reports of foreign infiltration, and a breakdown of who’m some of the people are in the “human rights groups”. Objective analysis leads me to believe, that what we are reading and seeing about Syria cannot be trusted, and is a close repeat of the initial propaganda about Libya, which even most Liberals believed although it was fabricated.
“Here’s a newsflash: contrary to what the US State Department may wish the world to think, Syria is not populated by terrorists, zealots and other bogeymen. In fact, Syrians are among the most friendly and hospitable people in the world, and most visitors to their country end up developing a lifelong infatuation with its gentle charms. Since Bashar al-Assad took over the reins from his father in 2001, modernisation has been on the national agenda. This is no Levantine backwater – Syria is a modern, efficient and very proud nation with an administration that is becoming more liberal and outward looking by the day. It needs and deserves travellers to bear witness to this fact.
Fortunately, all this modernisation doesn’t mean that Syria has lost sight of its past. The country has more than its fair share of significant historical sites, all of which are respectfully maintained by the authorities. The ancient cities of Damascus, Aleppo and Bosra are all listed on Unesco’s World Heritage list, as is the sensationally beautiful ruined city of Palmyra. Mighty Crusader castles, labyrinthine medieval souqs, jewel-like Damascene houses and sacred Umayyad mosques are only some of the treats on offer; there are plenty more for those who are keen to search them out. Best of all is the fact that these monuments are often woven into the fabric of daily life – the locals worship in the mosques, shop in the souqs, drink tea in the houses and picnic in the ruins. And they’re happy for travellers to join them.
Talking about picnics brings us to the pièce de résistance when it comes to a Syrian so- journ – the food. The national cuisine is simply superb, so come with a big appetite. You’re bound to be replete in so many ways when you finally tear yourself away.”
I’ve had no alcohol since Saturday by the way.
Tony
Ok, I’m sorry if I have offended you all. My special apology to Mark Golding who was very patient with my digs at him.
What set me off was the intimidation of Syria being ignored and the main flow of the blog carrying on regardless of this news.
Dr Kelly was a government chesspiece and I find it difficult to see him as a martyr because he was part of the organisation that supplied chemicals to Saddam Hussain, and no doubt died because he knew too much, not because of his principles. You all probably disagree with me on that one.
I have been highlighting Syria for a number of days and as usual everybody ignores what I have been saying. Azra and Suhayl have highlighted the fact that in Iran spying and counterspying is normal. The same is true to my own knowledge in Iraq, and Syria.
We do not seem to realise in this country that Arab countries like Yemen, Libya, Syria are so well infiltrated by foreign agents that our government is able to run a secret army of special forces in Libya undercover of our media, and I believe our government is also responsible for sniping at civilians in Syria, assisted by another power, in order to start a civil war.
Our special forces caused the wrecking of Northern Ireland.
My argument is that if our politicians are absolutely ruthless to our own kinsmen, why would Israel be any less ruthless with its neighbours in Syria?
We are the country Israel chooses to do its dirty work, in exchange for them passing the buck of our banking de-regulation onto Europe, the Middle Eastern oil states and the Far East.
As for the Islamists who have been hardened by torture in and before the War on Terror by our chosen dictators like Gaddafi and Saddam Hussain, IF they have overcome their experience and fully understand that this country , the UK along with USIS, are the chief sponsors of terror in the world, not the puppets who tortured them, then, they will know they are playing with fire in accepting arms from our hands and air-cover from our planes.
The killing of Gaddafi, removed the main witness to UKUSIS rendition, and was an act of revenge that left the chief perpetrators, UKUSIS politicians 1/ untouched and 2/nicely in the clear.
The Islamic groups need to exercise a deeper wisdom than the events in Libya. Inshallah I believe they will do so, and I also believe that it’s possible that Israel may take back the Golan, as Mark suggests, which I have visited from the Israeli side, and allow a relatively peaceful transfer of power from Assad to a Muslim leader. Only time will tell.
This is a time for the Muslims to be ‘ as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves ‘ ( New Testament ). If they are, they will achieve the first transfer of power from Western powers to local Arab power in the Arab Spring. Freemason Turkey and freemason Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt won’t be happy at being upstaged by a proper Muslim government for the Arab world to model itself on.
Sorry to be impatient with you for not sharing my Islamic vision. Your aspirations and efforts for a peaceful world are greater than mine and our intentions are the same.
You got a (peripheral) mention in the Grauniad, Craig –
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/nov/29/1?INTCMP=SRCH
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Sadly, no mention of the questions you wanted answered under FoI. Still, it’s a start.
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Re. Iran:
All that nastiness could have been avoided if we’d sent them a Shi’a ambassador, couldn’t it?
Anno
Kelly was bumped off because he knew too much and was found to have been leaking to journalists. The Iraq dossier thing that he was actually leaking about wasn’t important, but the fact that he was leaking about anything was cause for concern – he knew too much about other, earlier things.
Thanks for the clarification, Anno. I certainly accept that one interpretation of what’s going on in Syria is that Israel has a vested interested in destabilising it. It rather resembles, in approach and methodology, the old Soviet game. But does Israel want a Syrian democracy? No, because this would probably involve the Muslim Brotherhood, and Israel assumes that support by Iran and support for Hizb’ullah would continue in this case. So perpetual instability is the name of the game.
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It would be well if this were more widely recognised in Syria. All very well seeking to depose Assad in the hope of getting something better, but the reality is that something better isn’t on the table.
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And I agree that Israel is using the US and UK as proxies to advance its own special interests…I have been saying this for years, and so have others here.
Robert Fisk.
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It’s a weird irony that Iranians know the history of Anglo-Persian relations better than the Brits. When the newly installed Ministry of Islamic Guidance asked Harvey Morris, Reuters’ man in post-revolutionary Iran, for a history of his news agency, he asked his London office to send him a biography of Baron von Reuter – and was appalled to discover the founder of the world’s greatest news agency had built Persia’s railways at an immense profit. “How can I show this to the ministry?” he shouted. “It turns out that the Baron was worse than the fucking Shah!” Of which, of course, the ministry was well aware.
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/…
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http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-sanctions-are-only-a-small-part-of-the-history-that-makes-iranians-hate-the-uk-6269812.html
This is how it works.
Someone at a high level in the CIA goes to the Covert Office and says can I have a truckload of notes.
They say sure – how much do you want – 10 Mil, 100 mil – 1 Billion?
And what denomination do you want it in?
They say they take either US Dollars or Euros.
So they print up a load of 200Euro notes…
And shortly after the Mercenary Army that is raised and does in Libya, 200Euro notes are found circulating in Ireland.
You see the stupid twats don’t realise that 200Euro notes are actually rather rare.
Even the Irish police could work out where they had come from.
Still the Wars go on.
Syria next.
Tony
Campbell’s on live now if anyone is at all interested.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15959391.
Alastair Campbell says journalism has become ‘putrid’
Live from the Royal Courts of Justice
Continue reading the main story
The Leveson InquiryPapers have ‘culture of bullying’
Q&A: The Leveson Inquiry
Week two of the Leveson Inquiry
Leveson to ‘shine light on ethics’
Former Downing Street director of communications Alastair Campbell has said the press is “frankly putrid in many of its elements”.
Mr Campbell, who worked closely with Tony Blair during his time as prime minister, is giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics.
He said many newspapers considered their coverage of the lives of celebrities was a “public service”.
His written evidence has already been leaked by blogger Guido Fawkes.
It appeared online on Sunday and Paul Staines, who blogs under the name Guido Fawkes, has been called to attend the inquiry on Thursday.
His witness statement has now been posted on the Leveson Inquiry’s own website.
From the country that brought you what is the meaning of “is” is?
Now we have this excuse; Newt Gingrich: I Cheated On My Wives Because I Love America Too Much
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Saying you can’t make it up, would indicate a paucity in imagination, however, pushing the bounds of credulity in quantum direction, on goes the
beautypageant for the corporate servants jockeying for the chief cheerleader position, with the mandatory ceremonies of; who will kid thesheeplebox tickers the best?[…]
‘Peter Eyre, a Middle East consultant, told RT that the Arab League is a “puppet of America and the United Nations.”
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“You’ve got to understand that Cold War has never finished, the crusades have never finished,” he stated.
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Eyre stresses that despite the idea of a movement uniting Islam, the Arab states have consistently turned their backs on each other in the Balkans, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq,
Afghanistan and, most recently, in Libya.
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He also underlined that further sanctions will not help Western states to end the violence in Syria.
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“Obviously the people of Syria are the ultimate victims. What we have here is the tip of the iceberg of the Arab Spring which is over-influenced by the West infiltrating into Syria,” he explained.
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“Sanctions are a blunt instrument which ultimately affect the population more than they affect the ruling elites,” Middle East expert Edmund Ghareeb told RT.
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As the peaceful protests did not have the kind of impact that its organizers had hoped for, Syria is sliding towards a civil war, he added.’
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http://rt.com/news/syria-un-condemnation-crimes-523/
“Iceland recognises Palestinian state”
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“Icelandic parliament passes resolution making country the first in western Europe to accept Palestine as an independent state”
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/30/iceland-recognises-palestinian-state
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Yup, history still goes on Mr Fukuyama. Everywhere things are changing.
@ Passerby
From the country that brought you what is the meaning of “is” is?
Now we have this excuse; Newt Gingrich: “I Cheated On My Wives Because I Love America Too Much ”
Patriotism,the FIRST refuge of the scoundrel.
Herbie,
The plucky little Iceland has been gaining my respect of late. Their almost revolutionary overthrow of their oligarchs, and the fast move to indict the thieving corporates ceo, changing their constitution, and now this news, makes the little guys sound awfully independent, and dog on them for that.
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This is what US is terrified shitless from these little countries, if they can do it then any country can do it, ergo the domino effect?
@ Anno.
Apology accepted and understood.I think most posters here want a more peaceful world and i know it can be frustrating,to say the least,watching the endless cycle of lies and violence.
Re Paul Staines,
Has recently delared his willingness to “personally execute child killers”
This from a guy who’s been done TWICE for drink-driving.
I guess he doesn’t do irony or self-awareness.
Mary, thanks for the Fisk link. He’s one of best journalists.
Anno
Thank you, that took courage, and you have my respect.
Jeni
Jives,
I have some sympathy with how Paul Staines feels about Child Killers, though I don’t actually believe in Capital Punishment even for them.
I think the Child Killers should be brought to justice, and kept alive for as long as possible, starting with our own Tony Blair.
They should of course be treated humanely for the rest of their lives in jail, and only put on public exhibition in a Cage outside a major tourist attraction on one day each week.
Tony
Tony,
I don’t believe in capital punshment either.In such cases though life should mean life.
What i was trying to illustrate is that people like Paul Staines and Alistair Campbell are deeply confused and hypocritical individuals.How Campbell can sleep is truly beyond me.