For saying a black man did it and ran away. In other news Frank Lampard tipped to be new Energy Secretary.
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Clark your analysis of the Mail is correct. They did however, via Miles Goslett and Tim Shipman and presumably with the editor’s support, keep up the pressure on the case for an inquest for Dr David Kelly, whereas no other part of the corporate media did so.
In that link about wind farm subsidies, a right wing paper is being critical of the PM’s father in law. Surely that is a good exposure. They have also kept up the pressure on identifying the chicanery of Blair’s financial affairs.
PS Just to say that the fascists are elsewhere Anon.
Anon, rather than speculating about or misrepresenting the opinions of people such as Mary, why don’t you just ask them what they think of the likes of Assad? Or do your assumptions serve you better?
@ Kingfelix. From one dingus to a wannabe dingus , it does not hurt….;) as long as I understand the guist of what you are posting I shall never call you a dingus, what is it?
@Vrosnky Me, a new party, did you just plisten to the complete works of Brahms, non stop? This is something to be sorted in each and everyopne’s conscience. If those grumblers frequenting this blog from far and wide, still want to vote and grumble after they voted for the same lot again in the next election, then thats their prerogative.
If on the other hand they want to have somebody to vote for with progressive thinking and ideas, themselves’ :), provide an Independent candidate who is not aligned to CFI’s, TNC’s and or is licking the BBC’s backside, then this is something to be discussed.
Should there be more than a few willing to plant the thorny roses of an English spring, as a coalition of Independents with a progressive list of questions, ready for voters to give them a mandate, if there are enough of us to commit to a long term strategy, then I will be part of it. Longterm, there is nothing more deprerssing and frustrating to represent the spitting candle, only alight for the jamjar holding it, in a raging storm, and have it blown out, something we would have to accept, unless the general public all in a suddden wakes up from their genetically pre disposed political dream of electing the main parties forever, inbred politico masochism would be another term for it.
You brought this subject up Vronsky, see what you have done now. BTW. I’d love to try challenging my throat at the low C competition, have been gurgling at low refs. for decades now…
Mary, I agree that the Daily Mail’s rather odd approach to news certainly does get some interesting material into the Mainstream Media that we wouldn’t see there otherwise. It can be useful for linking.
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What on Earth must it be like to work at the Daily Mail? Do they need security doors between the various offices to prevent the opposing factions from strangling each other?
A few important links regarding Syria:
The Arab League agenda in Syria, which produced, surprisingly, a quite balanced report
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB04Ak01.html
Report itself: see comment above by TSF
Article by Boris Dolgov, a Russian scientist, member of recent international delegations to Syria:
http://www.voltairenet.org/What-Is-Really-Going-On-In-Syria
Clark
Mary never answers direct questions – but more than happy for her to answer the question you raise.
Unless there is some recognition that Assad’s regime is abusing human rights – and that this needs to be addressed, then i fail to see how any resolution is possible. Just denying the obvious is more likely to result in civil war and the involvement of other states.
Anon, are you going back to be Anon again? I thought you changed your user name here?? Please do not confuse me!
Clark, I think they don’t DM journo’s have problems with switching off from work, do you? I’m sure they still sit and drink together. I put it down to P.Dacre playing both side’s, trying to attract as many readers as possible.
“Unless there is some recognition that Assad’s regime is abusing human rights – and that this needs to be addressed, then i fail to see how any resolution is possible.”
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No one argues that the Syrian regime is based on a Stasi style police state or that it has an appalling record on human rights, which can be confirmed by their involvement in rendition and torture on behalf of the US government in the early days of the ‘war on terror’.
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If the abuses of the Assad regime, putting aside the baseless stories appearing in the recent orchestrated media campaign, are to be addressed then why not the clear abuses of the US, NATO or Israel?
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The point is that the Syrian regime is being demonised by the media in order to sway public opinion to accept yet another unnecessary military involvement by NATO, the geopolitical motivations for which are glaringly obvious and have absolutely nothing to do with human rights abuses.
@Ingo
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You would have to believe that there is something very genetically different about the Scots that they will support a vaguely social democratic party against all the right-wing alternatives (and in the teeth of a uniformly hostile media) but somehow the English would not. I don’t believe that and I bet you don’t – so what jam jar do we have that the English lack? This is an important question: why cannot a radical party arise in England?
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The media (principally the BBC) present a narrow section of the political spectrum, way off to the ultraviolet right, as ‘centrist’ and ‘respectable’. All outwith is dubbed ‘extremism’ if not actually terrorism of some kind. The wonderful thing to be is a ‘moderate’ – someone who doesn’t question this. But while a factor in public acquiescence to the status quo, this is not adequate explanation – we have seen how Scots seem easily capable of ignoring the prevailing propaganda. I’m trying to think hard about why the SNP seems to be succeeding (at least thus far) when no similar political force exists in England. So some thoughts:
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A central belief which can unite a disparate group of people and serve as a discipline. I have often heard acrimonious debates peacefully ended with ‘Oh, come on – we all want independence, don’t we?’
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Freedom to speak the truth. The others don’t have this and it tells.
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A zest for on-the-street campaigning, with plenty of young people to do it. The big parties don’t have the membership.
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The resilience to continue through many years of unrelieved failure, content with small incremental gains. This means it’s a poor place for careerists – only the committed apply (though I guess that’s going to change).
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Talent of all sorts – radicals attract it. Note that the SNP has the most sophisticated campaigning software in existence – written for free by members.
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There’s probably something critical that I don’t see because I’m too much among it, but that’s my attempt at being helpful. Must go and start the Sunday dinner now.
Anon, you never ask direct questions, only leading ones.
Another article by the far right propaganda machine the BBC, no mention of the undemocratic closing down off Press tv.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16874177
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Its all about people with already blood drenched hands getting ownership of the Iranian oil fields, start telling it as it is BBC, you are the bubonic plague of media information.
Vronsky, limited proportional representation helps. The trouble with “starting a new political party” is that it in England, it can only further fragment an already fragmented opposition. FPTP voting is divide-and-rule in another guise.
This is a wee bit “chicken and egg”, but studies relate lower cognitive ability and affinity with right-wing ideology.
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/23/2/187.full
Vronsky
‘why cannot a radical party arise in England?’
The people at the centre of the discussion, The Muslims, when they arrive in this country no doubt with plenty of agendaagainst UK foreign policy, see more advantage in brown-nosing to these ultra violet political parties that in raising their valid cause in their own parties. Is this because the only people who seek refuge here are greedy, self-serving, heartless political manipulators, or is it because they are forced by the ultraviolet parties do do their bidding for them?
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The Qur’an tells us that the Jews’ hearts became harder than stones. That is what the Muslims who arrive here have become. They voluntarily form a natural alliance with the Israel-friendly ultraviolet parties, because ideologically and emotionally they are the same. For a political party to form which opposes the violence being wrought on the Muslims, by non-Muslims about Muslim issues is a bit like asking France to surrender her sovereignty back to the Queen. It is the Muslims’ fault entirely that the ones who arrive here have more in common with Zionism than with the truth of Islam. Until you correct that, you will inevitably have a mandate for brutal colonial war in Muslim countries. Every Muslim says’ It’s not my problem. All I want to do is fill my pockets and hide from the problem.’
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There is a solid bloc of Islam in this country, from Arab to Deobandi who want to feed their grievances about UK foreign policy with racism against the English, and another bloc who want to bury their heads in Sufism.
Blaming the English for the policies of the UK friends of Israel on us ordinary citizens is a big turn-off for opponents of UK state violence, and to be honest the UK has enough of its own home-grown mystical hypocrisy, without adding Sufism to its list of weird religions.
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That’s why there is not a political party being formed to counter UK state terrorism.
Guest: They forget that they have told us (while ago) that BBC signals have been jammed and Iranian cannot watch it any more or listen to BBC radio, and now they tell us that BBC is watched by huge number of Iranian! I would like to know how?
Arthur Askey
It is possible to want to see Assad removed and at the same time not want to see US military intervention to achieve such an end. This is of course what Syrians want to see. Perhaps those who advocate the do nothing (or worse) approach might reflect that such an approach narrows rather than increases the range of alternatives. Didn’t the appeasement of Hitler and the do nothing approach actaully increase the chance of WW2 happening?
“The Qur’an tells us that the Jews’ hearts became harder than stones.”
Where?
> The Qur’an tells us that the Jews’ hearts became harder than stones
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Maybe it does, I’ll wager there is plenty of racist material in all holy books. Let us remember that the Israeli people are comprised of a wide body of opinions, left and right, anti-militarist and militarist. There are some good protest groups in Israel, many of whom are against the occupation.
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Interestingly, I think the Israeli media is much more likely to reflect this range of views than the international media does of the Israeli public.
@Anon – would you give yourself a name, so as to distinguish yourself from other Anons?
Iran offered the UK, France and Germany, a nuclear deal in 2005.
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Peter Jenkins, Britain’s former IAEA envoy said, “with hindsight, that offer should have been snapped up. It wasn’t, because our objective was to put a stop to all enrichment in Iran. That has remained the West’s aim ever since, despite countless Iranian reminders that they are unwilling to be treated as a second-class party to the NPT – with fewer rights than other signatories – and despite all the evidence that the Iranian character is more inclined to defiance than buckling under pressure.”
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Correct Peter except for one ‘small’ point – Britain and America are gunning for regime change in Iran and so called ‘sanctions’ – a strange word for ‘strangulation’ or chocking the pipe that feeds a country’ – are ‘curtain raisers’ for war and with it the complete destruction of a countries infrastructure together with the murder and mutilation of it’s people – as history records with the massacre of Iraq, the ‘no fly zone’ crushing of Libya for strategic resources and agent Cameron’s threats to Somalia.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9033566/The-deal-the-West-could-strike-with-Iran.html
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We are sick of this bullying by a depleted, outrageous and frenzied clique of Western allies, hell bent on domination. Yet domination without the will of the world’s people is delusion, ignus fatuus, self-deception and trickery egged on and screwed into people’s mind by a corrupt, obliging, bigoted and false main stream media ranked in line behind the Royal sword held by an outmoded, slavish and benign British Broadcasting Corporation that is fed by the pockets of a mooning British public intoxicated by the trivia spoon-fed into their minds on a daily if not, minute by minute pushed delivery.
Mark Golding – Children of Iraq. Quite right, which is why, in some ways I am happy that China and Russia have vetoed western attempts (i.e. NATO member states of the UN) to further destabilise Syria as a stepping-stone to Iran. It has outraged Voice of America:
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http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Activists-Syrian-Troops-Kill-More-Than-217-in-Homs-138736879.html
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So it must have done something right! I feel sorry for Syrians who are seeking a more democratic election process, but the greed of the west has got to stop. NATO leaves more devastation and disruption in its wake, while mineral resources are stolen by companies like Tony Buckingham’s Heritage Oil. China and Russia should have played the veto card before Libya. Enough is enough. If needs be they should back this up with commitment of support to stop the US, UK and Israel from achieving its proposed and evil transformation of the middle east.
” it can only further fragment an already fragmented opposition.”
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Clark, you are one of the most intelligent and common sense people that I have ever come acoss (imho), you must know there is no real opposition to the far right in the houses of Parliament. They are all in the same party annaxed into three sectors, they are just looking to gain an extra advantage to be elected to government to procure even greater opportunities to add to their own individual wealth, Blair done extremely well using this system.
”it can only further fragment an already fragmented opposition.”
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Like Guest, I’m afraid I see no opposition, fragmented or otherwise. Besides, your view is a counsel of despair. Remember that the SNP grew in Scotland under FPTP, and in fact PR was stipulated for the Scottish Parliament in order to halt the SNP (whoops!). Subsequently the laughingly titled Liberal Democrats made PR in local government a condition of their support for the egregious Jack McConnell as First Minister, yet another Labour leader who, like his predecessor and successor, soon had staying out of jail as his principle project.
anon
Authu billahi minashshaytanirrajeem
Surah 2 Al-Baqarah verse 74
‘Then, after that, your ( The Jews ) hearts were hardened and became as stones or even worse in hardness. And indeed, there are stones out of which rivers gush forth, and indeed, there are, of them (stones) which split asunder so that water flows from them, and indeed, there are, of them, (stones) which fall down for fear of Allah. And Allah is not unaware of what you do.’
Are you saying God is racist, anon? Salam to you.
This parable is told by Jesus pbuh about Muslims who have been given knowledge and responsibility by Allah, but they get tired of waiting for Allah’s help to come to them. They start making problems for the ordinary people under them like the mujahideen in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria.
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Gospel of St Luke 12:41-48
21st Century King James Version (KJ21)
41Then Peter said unto Him, “Lord, speakest Thou this parable unto us, or even to all?”
42And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?
43Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing.
44In truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
45But if that servant say in his heart, `My lord delayeth his coming,’ and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink and be drunken,
46the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him asunder and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
47And that servant, who knew his lord’s will and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
@John Goss: “Syrians who are seeking a more democratic election process”.
I hope this was a joke.
Anon said:
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“It is possible to want to see Assad removed and at the same time not want to see US military intervention to achieve such an end.”
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This is my position. If it’s to be reduced to ‘do nothing’ vs ‘US military intervention’ then I will go for ‘do nothing’.
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HRC was there tonight calling for formation of a ‘friends of Syria’ etc. The US wants to invade, another Libya. I was against that intervention, too, fearing that a ‘success’ would simply mean another intervention in months. Here it is.
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I am basically against the idea that US imperialism aligns with the interests of the planet as a whole, and particularly against the idea that, despite whatever short-term gains might be made by a country’s citizenry that begs for intervention. Also, there is a further reflexive component to this, in that no less worthy substitutes know that if they agitate for an intervention from the US, they can then take the top table and cut the deal with the US. This is pretty much the Libya thing, isn’t it? A change of management, and then slicing up the pie with the oil giants. That was pretty much the perspective of tonight’s Moroccan guest at the table tonight.
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What’s going on in Syria doesn’t strike me as belonging to the order of ‘the real’, but is stage-managed. 200 deaths before the UNSC vote became 40 after, etc.
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If the aim of Russia/China is to positively bring to a close US expansion, then it’s not possible to be swayed by one day’s violence. If anything can frustrate the US and its allies into a less aggressive approach in the Middle East, I will support it for the long-term benefits it may bring. Otherwise, it looks as if we’re doomed to sit through the realization of the taking out of a sequence of states that ends with Iran as related by Wesley Clark in his speech on the ‘foreign policy coup’ (that I suppose we’ve all seen)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY2DKzastu8
Guano
And in what context was that remark made? It seems to be in response to a particular event rather than the more universal context in which you are now applying it.
In the long term it might have been possible to get rid of Assad from the inside, weren’t it for the haste and intent of a few neocons slightly behind schedule and who have accelerated this process using our soldiers, idiots with an all conquering neurosis and a gun for a dick. Like Cheney for example, should he be left to contemplate his life’s mistakes and repent,dropped somewhere in the Equadorian jungle, until he runs out of batteries, or gets home experienced by his natural retreat.
This people are Straussians they have been taught by rightwing ultra’s many at Chicago’s university, who has a reputation for giving jobs to Nazi bigots, who then in turn argue their racialist policies and ueber Mensch philosopies to those who now float the boat of US policy. Their actions are within Government, but outside it they represents all sorts of secuirty and military interests, from Carlyle to John Goss friend Tony B., forgive my jest, they command puppets in Government and have managed to subvert US foreign policy something rotten, dare I say cost taxpayers dearly, over there and here, where the CFI seems to run the show in the main parties, greased by the palms of some influential rich people with, should they believe in Netanyahu, murderous minds.
It looks like we are barking too late British foreign policy has been subverted and the plot is international.
Now, somebody, write the script. The points of reversal are visible and known, so why is there no progressive entety striving to oust these neocons?