Having a wonderful family Christmas, and thinking of our community of blog commenters, hoping that nobody is lonely today.
As regular readers know, my favourite carol is “It Came Upon The Midnight Clear”. Search for the lyrics and you will find that this verse is routinely censored out (missing from 8 of the first 10 versions on a google.com search for “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear Lyrics”):
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife
And hear the angels sing.
Cemeron wants us to adopt Christian values. Not bombing people would be a good start in the New Year.
Love to all.
Thanks for that Mary, so there will be some goading of Arab neigbours and israel must have had already had some contact with Egypts generals, otherwise they could not be so cock sure about this, another attack on Gaza, or the blatant talk about it.
We can assume that Egypts generals will talk tough, but will do nothing in response, that Hezbollah might be launching some rockets in support and that Russian ships already in Lebanon or nearby, would be looking on. Turkey will be at the cross roads with public opinion in support of Gaza but with a PM sitting on the fence, he is talking tough against Assads forces.
The whole area is like a trigger, Greeks and Turks in Cyprus are not likely to shake hands either. If Israel attacks Gaza, then this might set off a powderkeg. If it coincides with an US/UK attack on Irans naval forces on manouvre, then all matter of shits is gonna hit the fan, involving Russia and China. The UN security council might not get out of session and will be limping behind the actions as usual.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/mossad-chief-nuclear-iran-not-necessarily-existential-threat-to-israel-1.404227
As usual, we are told that there is no danger from radiation. Pity the poor men trapped inside the Yekaterinburg.
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Russian nuclear submarine fire contained but not out
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16361825
An excellent piece from John Hilley.
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Kim Jong-il dies, North Koreans weep and the Western media deride it all as contrived hysteria and crude propaganda, warning of a dangerous new threat to international security.
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In a typical exchange (News at One, 29 December), BBC newsreader Matthew Amroliwala presses senior correspondent John Simpson on the problems now for “the international community grappling with this rogue nation.”
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Simpson responds to this open bias with another rambling ‘analysis’ of the ‘unstable, unknown intentions’ of the regime. We learn little, other than ‘we have to wait and see’ and the implicit message that ‘they are not to be trusted’.
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http://johnhilley.blogspot.com/2011/12/north-korea-and-bbc-myth-factory.html
Mary, John Hilley’s blog on North Korea is balanced and observant and I’ve circulated it.
The Guardian published a letter of mine regarding our Attorney General today.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/dec/29/inquest-for-david-kelly
Yesterday Poetry24 published a poem (song) on the same subject called ‘Above the Law’. It can be sung to ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’ or ‘The Internationale’.Sing up and circulate.
Whague’s idea of a ‘distinctive’ foreign policy, a bent diplomat in charge, a Zionist man in Israel, fuckswearitty in the defence ministry, help al Qaida to open a base for Africom in Libya and help a non-Arabic speaking Turkey to represent Islam on condition of wrongly admitting to genocide.
Aangirfan’s piece on Mountain-god worshipper Marcus Aurelius Antonius Augustus, whom he compares with Obama because they were both brought up by women, describes the short political life of a daft politician. But daft is as good as it gets in post-feminist Britain.
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com/2011/12/elagabalus-baal-obama.html
If you have time watch this video The old documentary, only confirms the current problems which were in fact the other poors’ problem.
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The problem is never solved but reapplied as a new a solution, hence the ziocons put in charge of the World Bank Robert Zoellick replaced Paul Wolfowitz. The war goes on, only the theatres change and the methods, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy,……. there is a long list of places.
Syrian forces fire ‘nail bombs’ as masses protest ,
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Any rumours are getting treated as the “truth”, the use of nail bombs is not by the little terrorist trying to stoke up some kind of Libya redux, but the work of an army equipped with all manner of weapons systems.
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How do we know this?
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The same guys who told us the Syrian army use…., also have told us; “Our revolution which was launched nine months ago is peaceful,”. So there. Oddly enough the same bunch are taking off their shirts to go meet the machine gun bullets of the Syrian army. (no mention of the nail bombs)
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Meanwhile Daraa is getting pushed to become the Benghazi, as in Benghazi Model that makes the no fly zone come true, which means the NATO, and US air forces bombing the crap out of every airport and air-plane to stop any flights, in the no fly zone Syria.
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Although last night Malcolm Rifkind was interviewed on the telly and he blurted out that: “Syria needs to be sorted out because a year from now, six months from now we need to confront Iran on the nuclear issues.” Also in the same interview Malcolm referred to Hizbullah, and foresaw its destruction too. Evidently our man; ambassador Gould has been busy faxing the talking memos set by the Netanyahu government to all the relevant talking heads
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Evidently Malcolm should have overdone the eggnog, and was not paying any attention to the developments in the area, Iranian navy manoeuvres and their success in locating the Us aircraft carrier, and filming it. Of course silly anyone could have seen the big ship!!!! No worries about the same guys filming it could have also torpedoed it, then.
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Man these characters, from where have they been plucked and shoved into the seats of power?
BTW anyone noticed the green and white flag the “peaceful demonstrators” wave around? It is the old flag of independence, sort of winding the clock back to year dot.
@Suhayl: “Abe, thanks for the suggestion!”
No problem. I was thinking about what kinds of plots you could use for such a novel. Here are some ideas – not all might be equally suitable:
1. Something out of Mills and Boon. Trashy, soppy and offering plenty guilty enjoyment for those who are into such stuff.
2. A murder mystery, perhaps in the “fair play” tradition, in which readers are put in possession of the clues before the detective announces that he has cracked it. An author’s foreword could indicate this, so that readers could enjoy trying to work out the detective’s solution before reading on.
3. A thriller that has the reader wanting to know what happens next. “He opened the file and gasped as he saw ….” Maybe bring in politics, both domestic and international!
4. A novel that tries to tell the truth about a historical situation through the realm of fiction. For example the emergence of the NHS in 1948, or the introduction of so-called public-private “partnerships” (may they perish in favour of public ownership).
Here endeth the brainstorm for today. Good luck!
A Very Happy New Year Craig To You And Your Readers.
A movie/documentary you will never get to see in your country. My interest, Piers Morgan’s opinion of Diana’s unlawful killing verdict and the hard time he had at the Leveson inquiry when it is commmon knowledge The Guardian’s David Leigh hacked phones but was not even questioned !
Again I am not a conspiraloon but carbon monoxide found in the blood of Henri Paul ?????
http://dianaunlawfullkilling.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-post_29.html
Abe – you’re a star!
Well done John. That was an achievement to get the Guardian to print your letter. Not one of the MSM were at the Royal Courts of Justice last Monday fortnight when the judge turned down the request for an inquest for Dr Kelly. Only Press TV, soon to have their licence to transmit on the Sky platform taken away by Ofcom, interviewed David Halpin. Over 9,300 have watched it so far.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JBYAy1eyZI
Mary, thanks. We are living in dark times. There was also a poem. Unless you are a great poet, like Havel, few listen. Still, what is amazing is that all day I have not been able to post on Facebook the following linK.
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This song was published yesterday in Poetry24. It can be sung to the tune of ‘The Internationale’ or ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’
http://poetry-24.blogspot.com/2011/12/above-law.html
Thank-you Mary – David is superb in his logic. PressTV is obviously available from a number of satellites and I will put together a reception kit at cost that will provide coverage.
well done John Goss, not easy to get heard by the Guardian. The David Halpin clip is so telling and makes it obvious that Dr. kelly’s death stinks to high heaven. Not a single MSM reporting?
well done John Goss, not easy to get heard by the Guardian. The David Halpin clip is so telling and makes it obvious that Dr. kelly’s death stinks to high heaven. Not a single MSM reporting?
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I came, I saw, I
pasteurisedplagiarised (bloody difficult words).,
seriously though, well done John Goss, dog on you.