I am well aware that Osborne has been redistributing money to the rich in his budget. I am also stunned by the idea that the state should see its role not as reducing regional inequality of wealth, but as reinforcing it through regional public sector pay rates.
But my days at the moment are like this. I get up at 7.30 am and after a very frugal breakfast I take a local taxi to the disastrously neglected and underfunded National Archive of India. I spend eleven hours there hastily transcribing from an enormous wealth of documents on Alexander Burnes – really beyond my wildest hopes – and then at 8.00pm the security guards kick me out, the curators having left some time ago. I get back to my budget hotel, take a light supper of imodium and activated charcoal, chat with Nadira, and then fall asleep exhausted.
deary me, what a bombastic word, riot. I do not advocate it, but sniping from the sidelines, when those who have no vote or say get arsy about their future prospects, is not what I’m going to do
It is not me who has advised people to store jerry cans in their abodes, in a three finger salute to health and safety insurance terms and security, it was this rotten Government.
Whatever needs planning will most likely include the same old same sames that are in charge of affairs now, our near privatised civil servants and the establishment. If a system is centralised it will get corrupted centrally for all. If a system is decentralised then you can only corrupt a part of it.
I refute having put words into my mouth. Far from invoking a burning of London, something invoked by those in Government by their stupidity, not me, it will sink into the mud of its own making anyway, I advocate radical change.
You would have to think for yourself if you want democracy, like you said, make your own pitch for it, I do not think that this island ever had anyn democracy, so what are you expecting others to do for you? Do you think you can wake up one morning and change has occured to your liking?
Do wou want others to provide the rotten carcasses for your meal? has the lizard grown old and slow that he can’t help- himself anymore?
This debate is getting a bit circular.
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Anyone read any of this chap’s books?
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You can download these and read them in your own time.
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What is good for the goose, is good enough for the gander too
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Any takers?
Thanks for that, Passerby. And, in the words of that champion of the lower orders, Winston Churchill*: “Jaw, jaw is better than war,war”.
Nevermind, I painstakingly suggested earlier, change will come through evolution rather than revolution, which changes nothing but the names of the exploiters. Contrary to what you say, Britain does have democracy, the problem is that The Markets do not. As I said, nationality has very little bearing on the problem, and what government you vote for/overthrow/replace is largely irrelevant.
While some have a very sharp memory for what I said if they think they can use it, no-one has yet had a go at something I said some time ago re. countering The Markets:
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Again: stop buying stuff you don’t need. Stop investing in stuff (especially houses), and see who’s taking the real skimmings from your investments (clue, not you). Stop paying for services you can perform yourself. Piss yourself laughing at the naivety of advertising and the mendacity of the MSM instead of letting it seep into your gestalt. And tell your friends.
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IOW, use The Markets’ forces against them.
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*joke, before someone tells me about Dundee. I know, I’ve lived there.
And see also (thanks again, Passerby) – this:
http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations103a.html
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Anyone can implement this.
Slowly but decisively with determination, new world powers are emerging. Powers that create rather than destroy…
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A new BRICS Banking System will act as a counterweight to the corrupt World Bank, helping the developing world and another move towards equilibrium.
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http://hosted2.ap.org/OREUG/86053d8662944f7698388c63189f97c6/Article_2012-03-29-AS-BRICS-Summit/id-7662ddee922649abb7f298542d8977eb
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Do you have expertise in SWIFTNet application design and fast reliable loosely coupled parallel computation? Want to help with a holistic project?
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Please contact me on [email protected]
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Thank-you
Other people’s thoughts notwithstanding, I will continue to post (Craig permitting) if only for the sake of informing others and for collegiality. It is reassuring to know that none of us here are alone.
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Did anyone hear Pillay and the syrupy propagandist Fergal Keane speaking on Syria on BBC last night?
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She was revolting in her bias and her choice of black hyperbole.
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This is where she obtained her law degree. See the company that oozes from there. Martha Minow is the one who ‘tapped’ the black-hearted automaton Obama. She is now the US Solicitor General.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Law_School
Oops. Another problem for Cameron lands on his desk. I do not think there are other options vis a vis contractors. The supply of basic services like the provision of water, health care, energy and so on should be provided by the state. This opt out illustrates that we are vulnerable to the privateers.
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29 March 2012 Last updated at 13:12
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RWE and E.On halt UK nuclear plans at Wylfa and Oldbury
RWE and E.On were planning to invest in a new nuclear power station in Anglesey
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Firms drop new Wylfa nuclear plan
SSE pulls out of nuclear proposal
German nuclear plants to be shut
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There has been a setback to the government’s plan to attract investment in new nuclear power stations.
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That is after RWE Npower and E.On announced they will not develop new nuclear power projects in the UK.
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The two were planning to invest in new plants in Anglesey and Oldbury, near Bristol, under a joint venture called Horizon Nuclear Power.
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/…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17546420
Do I smell a news-management rat with all the “top up your tanks” furore? Just a few days ago Cameron, for the first time, was in the firing line with the Cruddas revelations. Then he and Francis Maude come out with some “iil advised” comments, the press hounds obligingly chase the bone, and tasty tales of Cam’s lasagne love-ins with party donors disappear.
That’s our mainstream media: a daft lolloping dog that will chase any old scrap of info that being used to distract it.
You are right Mike. Nothing today on the BBC website main page on the dinner donors. One thing of interest is that the Met PR man Fedorcio has resigned following charges of
gross misconduct, thus providing an escape from an IPCC inquiry. The usual as per their decision that an inquest for Mark Duggan will not take place.
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29 March 2012
Met Police press chief Dick Fedorcio resigns
Dick Fedorcio: “With hindsight, lots of things would have been done differently”
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The communications chief at the Metropolitan Police, Dick Fedorcio, has resigned after proceedings for gross misconduct were started against him.
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The Independent Police Complaints Commission launched an inquiry last year after it emerged he had given work to a PR firm run by ex-News of the World deputy editor Neil Wallis.
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Last week it ruled Mr Fedorcio should face a hearing for gross misconduct.
But the IPCC said his resignation meant this could not now take place.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17548876
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PS Apologies mods for second posting of my previous. It was very slow to send and I must have pressed the submit button twice.
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[Mod: duplicate deleted.]
“That’s our mainstream media: a daft lolloping dog that will chase any old scrap of info that being used to distract it.”
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theyre not daft, its deliberate .. its their job. theyre not distracted its the masses being deceived.
No old hack worth his salt would agree that it’s their job, Wendy. Reporters used to be trained on-the-job by their seniors, nowadays they go to the School of Rent-a-Journalism and are put on the market without a trace of cynicism or any propensity for independent enquiry. The model for an aspiring journalist these days is not Charles Dickens, but a McDonalds assistant. Here’s the patty, here’s the bun. Fry the first, insert into the second, and do not for christ’s sake enquire as to the origin of the “meat”. No doubt some of the older ones (Andrew Neill-alikes) set the parameters for the School, but there used to be real journalists as well.
Thanks for the proffering of what has been tried. Twyford Down, newbury, wymondham bypass, Batheaston bypass, M62, Brighlinghsea against animal transport, just a few were I put my money were my non violent mouth was, and there were many other, in effect hundreds of non violent protests have been had, not one of them has changed course of policies, merely delayed or postponed the resolve of authorities.
2 million marched and nothing happened, so what chance that a politically uneducated and apathetic public will understand the non violent message, or act as the affinity groups decided.
Ghandi himself had to admit that there is no such thing as non violent mass movements and strikes, as there are service that cannot be interupted, like highly strung hospitals for example.
Komodo, you said
” Again: stop buying stuff you don’t need. Stop investing in stuff (especially houses), and see who’s taking the real skimmings from your investments (clue, not you). Stop paying for services you can perform yourself. Piss yourself laughing at the naivety of advertising and the mendacity of the MSM instead of letting it seep into your gestalt. And tell your friends.
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IOW, use The Markets’ forces against them.”
Have done so for as long as I have been green at heart Komodo, for example have just built a greenhouse from bits of wood, leftover water pipes and some plastic someone gave me, most of my furniture is second or third hand and 2/3rds of my chisels are ancient. I do not preach what I don’t advocate for myself, but after a lifelong respect for a non violent movement, I have grown fond of them, they are like pets to these rabid MARKET FORCES you are taking about, beautiful people who think that their actions have consequences, as long as their Ipads are charged and mum has a pie in the oven.
I do no longer believe that change will come by non violent means alone, and when it comes, its important that it is seen through, to reach the vestiges that are hiding behind their power and money castles. Change will come from a mixture of actions. Should I still be alive by then, I will try my best to help and advice, whatever direction change may take, I have knowledge and experience in both.
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Yes, Nevermind. Please don’t think I don’t see what you see. The beautiful people (on bad days I call them f***ing hippies) are like something I vaguely remember from HG Wells, subject to the Morlocks, and unable to save themselves. On the other hand, children eviscerated by shrapnel are not a particularly good idea either. As to the uneducated public, the least one can do is try to educate it, no?
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Like you, I have considerable experience of living on sod-all, and have resurrected quite a lot of thrown-away stuff in my time. Much more sense of achievement than using an ipad, I imagine, never having gone into the tricky little gadget with coloured screen and flashing lights zone myself….
…anyway, here are some of the real rulers. Their empire relies on lying propaganda. If that is countered, it is at least a start. These people can buy all the coercion they need, use it ruthlessly, and spin the smell of roses afterwards. Publicity is their friend. Make it their enemy.
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http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2011/10/2011102683719370179.html
You’re spot on Komodo re journalists’ lack of cynicism and their propensity for independent enquiry. If the sausage factory redbricks don’t squeeze that out, there are other ways of making them behave, most notably the various regional competitions that routinely sideline “troublemakers” while rewarding those who produce human interest stuff. The process begins at the bottom of the ladder. Describing the traumatic experiences of individuals has replaced journalists’ ability to ask awkward questions of powerful institutions, and to make sense of the answers.
Whilst doing the ironing this afternoon with mind in neutral!, I was wondering if we are being trained up for some sort of state of emergency. If and when they bomb Iran, oil and petrol prices will rocket.
PS I still have some petrol coupons issued in the 70s. This was the background then. The Guardian omits to mention the Yom Kippur war in 1973 which resulted in the Suez Canal being blocked.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/03/1970s-oil-price-shock
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Oil embargo
In response to U.S. support of Israel, the Arab members of OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, decided to reduce oil production by 5% per month on October 17. On October 19, President Nixon authorized a major allocation of arms supplies and $2.2 billion in appropriations for Israel. In response, Saudi Arabia declared an embargo against the United States, later joined by other oil exporters and extended against the Netherlands and other states, causing the 1973 energy crisis.
(Wikipedia)
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Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. Nearly 40 years later, things are little different, perhaps even more dangerous.
Mary, anybody who irons has their mind in neutral, it has got to be the most oppulent waste of good energy, ever, next to trouserpressing.
This false panic is successfully bagging record profits for the treasury, many happy bunnies hop about and lots of jerry cans have benn filled waiting in garages for further use.
One of the comments on the EDP today was ” I filled up five jerry cans today and I don’t even have a car”
so people are getting into the spirit of the panic and our schnewspapers are supporting it, fanning it some more, god knows how the joker got his jerry cans home.
I somehow knew that would produce that response. I will not go into detail on what environmentaly friendly things I have done today and excuse me for not going around looking like a bag lady. 🙂
Pity most family managers lack your insight Mary – Good point!
Afraid I can’t remember Komodo if you have already posted this item on a different link. Werritty got over £70k from Pargav.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/29/adam-werritty-liam-fox-pargav?newsfeed=true
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Where is the b? Who is he being protected by? Investigative journalists wake up!
MSM.. a daft lolloping dog
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the diesel shortage is a distraction from Cruddas
and Cruddas was a distraction from something else …and so on…
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it was pointed out to me today that Blair’s re-befriending of Gaddafi was the point at which he was hooked in for destruction.
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If the press ever gets interested in the way the world is run,
expect the end of our illusion of freedom.
Certainly did draw attention to the Pargav connnection, Mary, but it bears repeating. My guess is that Werritty was officially authorised and is now living with a beard, dark glasses and an assumed name in the US, Sri Lanka or Israel. In any event, he hasn’t been pulled in for questioning like Murdoch’s sacrificial lambs, despite talk last year of charges….McWerritty’s not there. Too many tools involved: Hague, Gove, the entire BICOM cast of generous philanthropists, and too many subtleties in US/UK relationships. I never saw a trail go colder than Atlantic Bridge.
But we live in hope.
Look – I’m with Mary on this. As an ironing freak myself, all sorts of things come forth while pressing the pants; the mind is not really in neutral. I bet she was turning over something other than a shirt collar.
And on the same (off) topic – I have a lovely recipe for blue poppy seed cake Komodo which you may like.
God – how long is Craig going to be before we all turn into the knittin’ and natterin’ club.
While agent Cameron causes a panic at the pumps and Saudi Arabia promising to increase oil production, perhaps the time is right to create a geopolitical tsunami.
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Saudi Arabia’s trade with Britain is worth £16bn and Saudi invests at least £62bn in Britain. A reliable source has suggested agent Cameron’s ‘trip’ to Saudi included an assurance that Britain’s Royal Navy would ensure the Straits of Hormuz remain open.
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Not only is the internal Saudi human rights record atrocious and their soldiers kill and vandalise at will in Bahrain, apodictic evidence exists that shows the major players in Saudi Arabia’s ruling family had a hand in the attacks on America’s World Trade Center.
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Some of this evidence was buried when a division of Lloyds of London settled a $215 million compensation claim alleging that the Saudi government was responsible because it used banks and charities to support ‘Al Qaeda’ type terrorism. Other connections disappeared when Sarasota Saudis linked to Mohamed Atta fled America.
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lloyds-insurer-sues-saudi-arabia-for-funding-911-attacks-2356857.html
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Perhaps the saddle gifted by agent Cameron to King Abdullah was an assurance that Britain would remain schtum in future reigns. Not so; time is approaching to end this coverup, in the name of the common good?
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This article fills in a few important gaps:
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http://www.carbonbrief.org/blog/2012/03/michael-hintze
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Apologies if I posted this before
I don’t know if this was always the case, Komodo, but now certainly I think that the media’s job – apart from peddling titilating distractions – is to critique the management of the state, and perhaps how Western power struggles to project itself. But that is all. Bigger geopolitcal trends/aims or deep state stuff is strictly off limits. Whether that is because journalists are actively discouraged from asking certain questions, or because those questions simply don’t occur to mass-produced McHacks, I’m not sure.
Rose – all contributions gratefully received. I assum you have taken good advice on suppliers of blue poppy seed? Heh.
Mark, here’s the link to the Saudi/911 piece. If the NYT are starting to ask these questions, then perhaps there’s hope for the mainstream media yet!
Finally, after 11 years, the full truth is coming out. No wonder Bin Laden’s family, and other members of the House of Saud, were allowed to leave the US on 9/12. Note the verb – allowed. This, of course, raises awkward questions about who within the US administration facilitated their exit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/us/graham-and-kerrey-see-possible-saudi-9-11-link.html
Was Mohamed Merah a French secret service informant? So says a former head of an intelligence agency in France. Also, an Italian paper says Merah travelled to Israel in 2010 – with the support of French spy agencies.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30938.htm
Journalism’s always been about what sells papers and what sells advertising, Mike. I hesitate to go into the complexities…issues (then and now) of deference, union attachment, decent English, the tatters of an ethical code (both politicians and journalists) and critical thinking rather than flattering the voters/paper’s audience…no, it’s a can of worms, and I’d rather not look at it right now! But oh how the once-mighty Times has fallen…
But I never got a handle on Luke Coffey. Hugh Muir (Guardian, Mar 20) did, though. A real journalist.
We have been enjoying a period of silence from Liam Fox and his self-styled adviser Adam Werritty. But another member of the coterie has put his head above the parapet. And once again, we find that things are not as they are supposed to be. Luke Coffey was Fox’s special adviser. An American citizen, a former soldier and a member of the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs – an intelligence-linked US thinktank – Coffey was there when Liam Fox was having odd meetings with Werritty and businessmen in Dubai. Think of him as the third limb. Well, since Fox lost his job, Coffey has moved on, and last month he became a “Margaret Thatcher Fellow” at Washington thinktank the Heritage Foundation. However, the advisory committee for business appointments, which polices the revolving door between government and the private sector, is not happy. This month it said: “Under the rules introduced in February 2011, all applications from special advisers must be referred to the advisory committee who then makes its recommendation to the appropriate permanent secretary”. The MoD messed up; a breach of protocol. “The committee was concerned that this had not happened in this case.” For all that, it approved Coffey’s new job, so long as he desists for 12 months from lobbying government. Everyone deserves a fresh start but especially him. Dr Fox, Werritty … he was with a bad crowd.
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But Heritage is solely a lobbying group. How is poor Coffey to make a living?
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Even the crawling Wiki entry for the Heritage Foundation acknowledges that “In 2007, Heritage reported an operating revenue of $75.0 million dollars. As of February 2011, Heritage reported 710,000 supporters. Heritage Foundation is also a part of the Koch Foundation Associate Program.
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Hey, I’ve mentioned the Kochs already tonight. They just keep popping up. Heritage also tell lies about climate change, but that should come as no surprise…Koch. My, my.