I am delighted that a new canpaign has started today against the state enforced child slavery in the uzbek cotton industry, especially as this campaign originates in Germany, where a significant portion of society appears to have finally woken up to the reality of the German government’s appalling complicity in the Nazi style regime and atrocities of Karimov.
However in the UK it remains the case that since the coalition government came to power, there has not been one single government statement on the human rights atrocities in Uzbekistan or – even more damning of our sham democracy – one single statement or question from New Labour.
Jonathan Cook writes from Nazareth, where he lives with his Palestinian wife, on the Israeli election results.
Via Facebook:
One of the myths rapidly emerging from the Israeli election is that there has been some sort of dead-heat between the Israeli left and right. That is a very misleading interpretation of the results.
In fact, what has happened is that the right has moved much further rightwards over the past decade, including in this election, to the point where we now have three large far-right parties (Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu and the Jewish Home) constituting about a third of the Knesset.
The new wonder-boy, Yair Lapid, is really just a traditional rightist, who would have once have been quite comfortable on the left of the Likud party. Combined, his Yesh Atid party and the far-right parties have half the seats in the Knesset.
To form a government, Netanyahu simply needs to bring in one of the religious parties or the equally old-Likudist Kadima party under Shaul Mofaz. (To strengthen his coalition further, Netanyahu could bring in Tzipi Livni’s Hatnuah party too, if the two of them can get over their personal rivalries.)
Lapid will get a major post, and the chance to fulfil the role previously played by Ehud Barak as the “good cop”; while Netanyahu will be able to present his government as a broad coalition of the centre and right. The US and Europe will be winners too, now able to talk about a Netanyahu government reined in by the “leftist” Lapid.
(Medialens editors)
http://www.jonathan-cook.net/about/
Seumas Milne makes a few important points in his piece about France’s neo colonialism an d how the link to control over resources can not be denied any longer.
The war on Muslims is also a burglary mission and Miss Ortiz, so valiantly equating ‘burglary with downloading of publicly owned academic papers’ should really step in here and ensure the US refrains form this theatre.
“All this is anyway about a good deal more than terrorism. Underlying the growing western military involvement in Africa – from the spread of American bases under the US Africa Command to France’s resumption of its post-colonial habit of routine armed intervention – is a struggle for resources and strategic control, in the face of China’s expanding economic role in the continent. In north and west Africa, that’s not just about oil and gas, but also uranium in countries like Niger – and Mali. Terrorism has long since become a catch-all cover for legitimising aggressive war.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/22/mali-fastest-blowback-war-on-terror
Nevermind – so you think our friend is a solicitor? Can’t have much business as so much time is spent here. Perhaps retired like me.
Do you remember Stephen, a troll who was a solicitor and who Craig or the mods eventually banned. I can’t remember which. I made the mistake of giving a link to the provenance of Suzanne Nossel who came straight from the White House to Amnesty USA. She has since had the push from AI USA incidentally. Anyway the site I linked to (and I had been passed the link in all good faith) was identified as belonging to a holocaust denier. Thus illogically I was branded the same (which I am not) and then my troubles began. It was a horrid and a torrid time.
Any connection do you suppose? In all this, the base intention must be to dissuade Craig from continuing and to divide and distract.
Hague and Cameron are obviously responding to Clinton in raising the terror threat. The FCO have just issued a public instruction to all Britons to leave Benghazi in Libya as there is a specific threat. It is apparently rare to make such a public announcement and the British there are being phoned by the FCO, again unusual.
The whirlwind these war criminals created is blowing back down on them.
Working-time directive, has never taken effect, workers here are forced to opt-out, indeed doing so is very often a condition of commencing employment. 6 x 12 hour shifts are the norm, leading to physical and mental exhaustion, health, work-life balance issues. You do go on to laud ‘cheap exploitable immigrant labour’ as a pro EU argument, do try to be consistent. Minimum wage has become a maximium, a ceiling rather than a basement. Goods have always moved freely, it takes bureaucracy and/or threat of force, siege, or blockade to stop it. Cooperation with regards to sex/child/people smuggling? Is that to facilitate it?
Anything objectively good for the people, we’ll opt out of or ignore.
Powell and Foot’s main beef was with the loss of sovereignty and the sanctity of the Westminster Parliament, but Thatcher and then particularly Blair’s refreshingly blunt sofa-government, with none of that old parliamentary democracy guff holding any water now, toothless slag that it is today, ended such notions; events and implosion of such hackneyed myths served up for the credulous many, have rendered their anti-EU arguments moot, by fulfilling their worst nightmare predictions exactly. It’ll burn quite nicely with all that wood and leather and alcohol, chopped up for firewood, parliament might finally have a use.
Our agriculture is probably the least efficient it has ever been, paying farmers not to grow stuff hardly seems inspired policy; net prime farmland shrinks as housing bubble fuelled building plots destroy it irreversibly. We’re over-populated on this island, by about 30 million, but even with just 40 million people, around half would have to work on the land in order to feed ourselves. This alarming dependence and vulnerabilty while uniquely UK problems we must solve at home, reflect fundmamental global issues of over-population and resource scarcity, the EU far from having solved them obfuscates whilst worsening the situation. Shiny coloured beads have lost much of their import purchasing power. I’ve never seen a poor farmer yet, they’re the first to wail for handouts, want risk free incomes, no profits can go up or down reality for them, a good example was the excessive compensation paid to them for foot and mouth outbreaks or consequences of the their own fecklessness or greed which enabled many to find a new income stream as buy-to-let rogue landlords and property speculators.
An EU of sorts might be a good idea, this particular EU is a monumental failure -government by the corporations, for the corporations, with titbits thrown to an imbecilic aristocracy.
Why has it had to proceed by stealth, the last referendum for the EEC/EFTA tariff-less trading block quickly mutated into budding new Franco-German empire. The most obvious symptom in this country was rapid industrial decline, falling standard of living for most and unseemly rise of a newly rich rapacious over-class of the most worthless breed.
I’m not too keen on it myself as it is presently constituted. It is indefensible hence the only case its supporter can put is the laughable one demonstrated here and everywhere else.
I’ve GTG now; at least we’re talking substantive issues and points now. It won’t last.
Grrr – I see that the atmosphere here is again rather edgy and unpleasant, so once again, my oft-repeated request: please, instead of making assumptions about other contributors’ positions, just ask them for clarification. Save your expletives for those against whom we have no other recourse – the powerful and the unaccountable, protected behind their spin doctors, secretaries and PR departments, and who would never comment here to justify their actions.
Those who comment here can account for their arguments in due course. Or they can choose to evade scrutiny if they wish, but they would then be seen to be doing so. There’s no need to polarise the debate with insult and innuendo in our otherwise quiet corner of the Web.
Fred correctly points out that Craig will deploy insults and expletives in his posts, but it is very unusual for Craig to be directly rude to anyone actually submitting comments here. When I did so when I was a moderator, Craig told me off for it.
@ Cryptonym
Thanks for your considered reply, I agree that the working time directive and minimum wage has been used to denigrate and categorise workers.
The decline of the industrial base in Britain had more to do with the owning class than anything else. Whilst Franco German companies invested in modernisation and had far fewer publicly listed companies, at the whim of share holders eager for their monthly appanage, for decades they invested a large percentage of their profits in new machinery, research and development, made in Germany did not become a brand for the sheer marketing alone.
If one does not invest in people’s education and modernisation, a process that does not stand still, one will slowly diminish what once made up the profits. So the workers wages can’t rise because the share holders want their pound of flesh.
I have no idea how the future will pen out for my children, as life is not going to improve much but get harder for all of society, bar those who care not and want to hold on to the status quo.
@ Mary, I remember the incident you referring to well, once the lawyers turn up here, weasel words are not very far. habbabkuk’s whole behaviour and school masterly phrases and down talk is telling.
He does not dare to use Adam Werritty’s name, except by insinuating that he might or might not be homosexual.
being so active on this thread concerning the Karimov’s murderous affairs, he could easily be one of Herr Schillings lot.
@Villiager, I agree that questioning fundamentals such as terms & basic premises, is essential in order for a meaningful understanding of any issue, and certainly this can sometimes be very far from easy going; a lot will depend on your frame of mind at that moment of contemplation, and a lot will also depend exactly how the discourse is occurring. I mentioned K’s questionings in The Roots of Psychological Disorder discussion, reminding me of the Socratic method of teaching, and from what I can recall, I think that I personally found the Socratic dialogues a little less hard going, so maybe it due to fluctuations in my frame of mind, or maybe that the way that Plato had written the Dialogues was easier for me to take-in as compared to the rather disjointed abstract conversation of the aforementioned K discussion, or both; anyhow I should & will expose myself more to K’s material, to see if it more of it can click with me as did his UN presentation. Now that I’ve mentioned Plato, I’m reminded of his Theory of Forms , it’s just struck me that with this, both he, Socrates & K were addressing the exact same question, namely how can humans live a fulfilling, happy life in the context of the Paradox of the Human Condition, (which consequently ends the superfluous need for “security”/Certainties). Anyhow I suspect that any detailed comparative study of these three gentlemen will certainly result some “altering of the intricate structure of the brain”, maybe of the enlightening type, or perhaps of some sort of brain-washing type, either way complete with a migraine or two !!
To address your comments about my referencing to “humanism”, please do not get hung-up by its “‘ism”, as I do not consider it a belief-system or ideology. It’s all very well holistically speaking in coming to terms with your own inner-self, evolving your psychological awareness, and having “mirroring” relationships, etc, but that surely is not enough by itself, as there is also an innate feeling of fellowship/brotherhood with others, a natural empathy, which may be derived subconsciously from the intuition that we all are connected at unseen levels to each other; and it’s this empathising inter-connection that I term “humanism”. As you may have gathered I also very much value the thoughts that the ancients left us, and regarding the nature of Man, the ancient Greeks were very specific & unanimous on our dual nature, being both Rational & the Irrational; I would be interested in knowing if K ever made reference to this, as I noticed that he was receptive to some aspects of their world;
http://www.scribd.com/doc/14491544/Nikos-Pilavios-Krishnamurti-in-Greece
“Fred correctly points out that Craig will deploy insults and expletives in his posts, but it is very unusual for Craig to be directly rude to anyone actually submitting comments here. When I did so when I was a moderator, Craig told me off for it.”
Quite rightly too, moderators should be impartial and seen to be impartial.
Fortunately I’m not a moderator but I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I won’t be abusive to anyone who doesn’t go making personal remarks about me, that’s fair isn’t it?
@ Mary (12h45)
I have never suggestedn claimed or even hinted that you might be a holocaust denier or anything else in this “community’s” demonology. If you claim otherwise, I challenge you to find one single example.
You say : “In all this (I suppose you refer in particular to my posts about yours)the base intention must be to dissuade Craig from continuing and to divide and distract.”.
If you mean that seriously, then you reveal yourself to be so delusional and lacking in anhy normal sort of balance as to seriously call into question most of the other stuff you post as well as your motives for posting it. Think about it seriously for a moment. And having done that, don’t take my word for it; why don’t you submit your theory to Craig himself (or to his moderators) and ask them if they endorse your accusations?
********
As a general – and I hope last – comment about you, I must say that for someone who enjoys dishing it out to others, you are remarkably thin-skinned yourself (as indeed are some of your acolytes). I suspect this is because the people to whom you dish it out probable don’t read this blog (more’s the pity) and even if they wouldn’t dream of responding, whereas when you write something illogical, unclear or just nasty on this blog you will get something you’re obviously not accustomed to, namely a firm (but not too hard) kick up the backside.
I didn’t say that you Habbabkuk had said I was a holocaust denier. I said it was Stephen. I just wondered if there was a double act happening as I was attacked then, and now. My skin is of the normal human thickness. Your twists and turns astound me. End of.
I notice with dismay that Runner77 lament for those “who seem constitutionally incapable of resisting their (trolls) bait”, has not be needed by some, and that the flow of sewage language from our resident toilet-mouth is still gushing over this blog.
“I notice with dismay that Runner77 lament for those “who seem constitutionally incapable of resisting their (trolls) bait”, has not be needed by some, and that the flow of sewage language from our resident toilet-mouth is still gushing over this blog.”
That is because neither Runner77 nor you have the right to dictate to anyone what they can or can’t do. Get it into your head that you just can’t herd cats.
Now I told Clark I wouldn’t be abusive to anyone who didn’t make personal remarks about me first, as he requested I will now try and clarify just who exactly are you calling “toilet-mouth”?
Has there been any attacks on British interests in Libya, or is the FCO worried about reprisals to their intent to rule with an iron fist?
NATO has failed Libya’s population and the resulting chaos in Iraq, Libya and now developing to a civil war in Syria, is being proposed by DC to happen to Mali.
So why run away from Benghazi?
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/01/2013124135636172470.html
and now for something more serious : the EU /referendum/etc issue talked about above.
Cryptonym (13h28) writes “Anything objectively good for the people, we’ll opt out of or ignore”. There’s more than a grain of truth in that. No prizes for guessing which major EU member state did most to argue for, and obtain, opt-outs (opt-outs of which any member state can avail itself). But where, then, lies the fault – with the EU or with the UK?
Cryptonym (10h35) also writes “Not quite incapable of dumping shit further out to sea, without the alleged magic of the EU”. Translated into English, I believe this means “The UK could have cleaned up its beaches all buy itself without any need for interference by the EU”. Absoluely correct – but the point is that it didn’t …. until EU legislation obliged it to.
As a last comment, I’d say that there’s a kind of underlying thread to quite of few of these posts which runs more or less along the following lines : “The EU is a capitalist conspiracy”. Well, I’m not sure about the conspiracy bit, but the EU is certainly based on capitalism and run along capitalist lines. It would be somewhat surprising if this were not the case, given that all of the member states are themselves capitalist economies.
@ Fred : “toilet mouth” – I think you can stand down, Fred, I fear Macky might be referring to me. I flush at the thought.
Clark, for the umpteenth time is NOT A MODERATOR anymore and now has the freedom to respond in kind and speak out as he sees fit.
It is very telling that certain posters just don’t want to answer questions after having ‘piped up’ too loud, lost the argument, but still returned to their old school masterly self.
Anybody heard anything of our bluegreen Komodo dragon, how could he have possibly escaped from this island?….
Or, on a second reading, perhaps not. In an expression which our resident Charley (Karel) would recognise from his reading of Private Eye: I think we should be told!
Important thought from Habbabkuk :
the bickering and bad temper whixh has become increasingly evident on this thread is, together with the basic silliness of some members of the “community”, merely an indication that this thread, together with a few of its O/T adjuncts, has run out of steam.
I, for my part, eagerly await a new thread. It is so fatiguing having to put people right all the time, especially as some of them seem unwilling to learn.
Should we expect more US immigration and health tourism after this clutch or rich tax cutters has got to work?
Very likely, but one would not want to make anything about the largesse and opportunism of our most loved immigrants, for that we pounce on the hard working eastern Europeans.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/01/201312215581386760.html
“I, for my part, eagerly await a new thread. It is so fatiguing having to put people right all the time, especially as some of them seem unwilling to learn.”
Hell don’t feel you have to hang around just for us. You run along if you like and we’ll get Craig to drop you an email when he makes a new blog entry.
Honest.
Fred at 24 Jan, 4:39 pm, I think going further than that would be better. If everyone follows that advice, it only takes one misunderstanding or one grumpy comment from someone who has just stubbed his toe, and we can have a continuous tit-for-tat of traded insults instead of a debate.
The alternative is to ignore or play down insults etc, and let the beligerent show themselves up.
I don’t think that moderators need to argue impartially. They need to moderate impartially. Poor Jon used to be a contributor here. Now he rarely comments except on moderation matters. I resigned because people were incapable or unwilling to see this distinction. Ideally, contributors would stick up for the moderators’ freedom of speech.
Compare with the situation of police officers in a society of just laws. They can speak their minds, but they have to enforce the law fairly. Ideally, citizens would come to their aid if the need were to arise.
“The alternative is to ignore or play down insults etc, and let the beligerent show themselves up.”
This, to the tenth power, Clark. Using the ploy of correcting the record, some gain some psychic dollars by being argumentative, for it’s own sake.
Komodo is one who doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and he has chosen to abstain from comments for that reason, IMO.
Mary, A Node, Glen, Jon, et al. Lovely to hear the bike encouragement and your experiences. Great life you had for 12 years A Node. Jon, I did go to the pub quiz on the bike last night. Only my road and the one leading to it caused any problems. Still not clear yet.
Brits and other Europeans urged to leave Benghazi. Undisclosed threat.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21181742
Aware of connections with Saudi Arabia and rebel forces in in Libya, Algeria and Mali, and Cameron’s record in the arms trade, it is hardly surprising that things are starting to kick off again in N. Africa. And Benghazi is where Tony Buckingham, nice man, coughed up $19 million dollars for a stake in the oil just over 12 months ago. Couldn’t be any connection I suppose. Oh and the following report mentions Craig.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/nov/13/oil-commodities
“neither Runner77 nor you have the right to dictate to anyone”
Of course not, but that doesn’t mean that in the vested interest of maintaining this Blog as a place where we like to come, we should remind silent & not express advisory concern;
“just who exactly are you calling “toilet-mouth”?” & “I fear Macky might be referring to me”
How telling, a double-whammy as two guilty conscious posters claim the “toilet-mouth” title !
Let’s see, there’s Fred, who recently tried to justify his language by stating that “Craig is the sort of man who speaks his mind and uses the odd expletive when necessary?”, but can’t realise that he condemns himself in the last four words, as Fred’s use of foul language is of course neither sparse nor warranted. He also claims “I won’t be abusive to anyone who doesn’t go making personal remarks about me”, so let all be aware, describing Fred’s sometimes illogical posts, as “a bit irrational” is likely to generate a torrent of abuse over several threads, containing such choice expressions as “a fucking prick”, “an insignificant little shit like you”, “ the sort of person who probably spent most of their school days with their head stuffed down a toilet and never figured out why”, etc, etc
Then there’s Habbabkuk, a rather too clever for his own good as a Troll; not content with constantly bullying Mary with inane & sarcastic comments, he also served up this now overlooked racist filth iro British born Asians “should be deported to the country(countries) whence they or their forefathers came so that they could practice their bestial predilections on young girls of their own country and religion?”
Well there’s an expression, “If the cap fits”, so I suggest that both should try it for size, and then agree to share it between themselves.
“This, to the tenth power, Clark. Using the ploy of correcting the record, some gain some psychic dollars by being argumentative, for it’s own sake.”
No we don’t.
Even an addled or brainless mind has worked out the ‘war on terror’ is really a war on Islam and Muslims. That enlightenment is in fact a key that will open doors in our minds that allow us to cultivate an alliance, a bond, a great friendship applied to strengthen our power and our ability to rationally progress forward in strength, ensuring our own survival and the continuation of those we cherish, our offspring, our family, those that want and need our love.
We illuminate a place in our conscience that reveals the futility of Western imperialists or neoimperialists who must “plunder” resources and other wealth to maintain an artificial financial system that creates money from nothing and lends it to us at interest at no cost to the lender and did not exist until it was created as a loan.
Maintaining this illusion means stealing from others who possess real wealth like land and resources.
Stealing of course is a sin in a religious sense, it is also illegal and immoral so to avoid hypocrisy and shame in the minds of others, it is essential the Neoimp’s perfect a forward moving deception.
Deceit is a place in our illuminated minds reach by a heavy and Herculean door. At a push we can go there, it is only fear that holds us back.
This place works by imaginary numbers and most things are virtual. It is here we see the plans, the contrivance to keep us backward, to keep us in our present miserable state so others can exploit our riches, our underground wealth, our lands and our human resources.
They want us to remain afflicted and wretched, and our poor to be trapped in their misery … they and their agents wish to go on living in huge palaces and enjoying lives of abominable luxury.
Life is meaningless here, murder the few to save the many is written in blood. Take a look inside just one cell here:
http://truth-out.org/news/item/14008-ex-army-officer-accuses-cia-of-obstructing-pre-9-11-intelligence-gathering
The ‘bacteria’ from that cell spread into the US military and its ‘genes’ were manipulated by the ‘tumours’ or dark agents of Netanyahu.
Thankfully communication has blessed us with the ability to share knowledge. We can bond and evolve. By evolving and becoming larger and self-sufficient we can reach a critical mass; at this point we withdrawn our own bound resource – labour. – We can do it – we must do it for the continuation of those we cherish, our offspring, our family, those that want and need our love.
“Komodo is one who doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and he has chosen to abstain from comments for that reason, IMO.”
His disapperance occured shortly after my correcting several of his factual errors iro WW1 & Smyrna way back on the BBC Vomit thread; I sincerely hope the two events are not connected.
Macky: I shouldn’t think so, don’t worry about it. Komodo has been called out for being wrong on many things, it never bothered him in the slightest. Those scales are pretty tough.
Will this enquiry (yet another) change anything and end the extra-judicial slaughter of civilians and those others whom Obama decides should die? I think not.
UN launches inquiry into drone killings
The use of drones has become increasingly controversial
Related Stories
Seven dead in Yemen drone strike
Viewpoint: Drones, modern war, and the US
Drones: What are they and how do they work?
The UN is launching an inquiry into the impact on civilians of drone strikes and other targeted killings.
/.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21176279
PS Israel pioneered the use of UAVs for real-time surveillance, electronic warfare and decoys. The images and radar decoying provided by these UAVs helped Israel to completely neutralize the Syrian air defenses at the start of the 1982 Lebanon War, resulting in no pilots downed. The first time drones were used as proof-of-concept of super-agility post-stall controlled flight in combat flight simulations was with tailless, Stealth-Technology-based three-dimensional Thrust Vectoring flight control jet steering in Israel in 1987.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_aerial_vehicle