In the week they took hundreds of pounds from people in severe poverty, MPs and Lords claim up to £3,750 each to return from their luxury holidays to spout off in honour of Margaret Thatcher. Meantime the media are busy classifying any potential protest or expression of opinion at the taxpayer funded funeral jamboree as “potential terrorism”.
Whether protest at the funeral is tasteful or not is a fair question. But there is no question it is perfectly lawful. There is virtually no understanding of the very notion of civil liberty in the mainstream media.
Re: my comment at 3.18 p.m. The petition site is back up, with only 50 or so signatures added. Whoever took it down I would think it was deliberate as this is its last day.
“Let’s see now …. Jeremy Clarkson, er, Shirley Bassey …. ummmm … Jeffrey Ar….. er no, best not mention him….er … oh yes, Joan Collins, and …”
🙂 🙂 🙂
@ Herbie et al :
Of course the fact that Eisenhower and Churchill knew each other personally, having been comrades in arms, had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that Eisenhower attended Churchill’s funeral…..
whereas Obama’s and Thatcher’s careers at not point overlapped….
—-
I would if I were you be slightly careful of overblowing Eisenhower’s eminence. As I said before, his Presidency is not generally seen by historians as one of the great ones, and his leader/generalship during the war (by the way, he was not the supreme allied commander until 1943) was controversial and did not find unanimous favour with a number of rather competent generals (Montgomery, Patton…).
——-
But the real pount of course is that the rabid (it’s the right word, I think) Thatcher haters are really scraping the bottom of the barrel when they have to use the fact that President Obama (or certain other eminences) is not going to attend in order to diminish her.
The funeral is fitting for a political personality who dwarfed her contemporaries and got Britain out of the messs it had been in since the 60s (if not the 50s). It behoves her opponents (why should they bother to turn up?) to show respect both to her and to those other members of the public wishong to pay their last respects. If they do not, and break the law in so doing, I very much hope and expect that the forces of law and order will intervene in an appropriately vigorous manner. We do not want the real-life equivalents of the filthy-penned Doug “Son of Mary” Scorgie to wreck the occasion, do we.
It occasioned all sorts of comment — and a Tom Lehrer song — when Lyndon Johnson didn’t send Vice President Humphrey to lead the official U.S. delegation to Churchill’s funeral. The delegation was headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren and Secretary of State Rusk. Eisenhower was not part of the official delegation, but attended in a private capacity.
Habbakuk
There’s nothing you can say to diminish the stature of Eisenhower as compared with Johnson, not even by mentioning well-known weirdoes like Montgomery or Patton.
But now, thanks to Kempe, we find out that Johnson had a sick note. He’d wanted to go to Churchill’s funeral even though protocol didn’t require it.
So, Obama could well have gone to Ding Dong il’s funeral had he wished to view it as Johnson and Eisenhower viewed Churchill’s funeral. At the very least he could have sent someone of stature, or alternatively someone currently in a position of stature. He didn’t, and that’s the snub.
Or to be more accurate, the snub is actually one aimed directly at what her supporters are claiming for Dong Dong il.
Hoist by their own petard, as it were.
hebay.co.uk
Bidding has ended on this item:
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://sabotagetimes.com/wp-content/uploads/media-newspaper-front-pages-margaret-thatcher-12.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sabotagetimes.com/reportage/the-newspapers-and-thatcher-what-is-this-drek/&h=781&w=618&sz=218&tbnid=j7q9-JRVW1r8TM:&tbnh=186&tbnw=147&zoom=1&usg=__9Dn7EqGQjmv0tGd1Y1QDHe6AHIo=&docid=TeC6WpFhYyEE-M&sa=X&ei=hZ5tUYmoKce0O4C_gdAK&ved=0CDEQ9QEwAA&dur=3363
More chances to get what you want:
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/4/9/1365502765116/Spitting-Image-Margaret-T-010.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr/09/margaret-thatcher-hard-to-mourn&h=276&w=460&sz=37&tbnid=BsGmvmpnmTZSLM:&tbnh=72&tbnw=120&zoom=1&usg=__UajPW7d9brNM4jnUGbcoBTThqxs=&docid=DGyM3j7OezjERM&sa=X&ei=hZ5tUYmoKce0O4C_gdAK&ved=0CDoQ9QEwAg&dur=2769
The excuse — true or not — that Lyndon Johnson offered for not attending the Churchill funeral was that his doctors would not allow it, because of the state of his health at the time.
There is a very appropriate aspect to the use of ‘Ding, dong, the witch is dead’ as a symbol of Thatcher disapproval. It is believed that Frank Baum, the writer of ‘The wizard of Oz,’ wrote it as an allegory on the US banking system, specifically the dark art of using private banks to control nations. The Wicked Witch represented the bankers!! Here’s a summary:
http://www.skeptically.org/dep/id9.html
A very important milestone in my own journey of awakening was a documentary called “The Secret of Oz” by Bill Still. It leaves no room for doubt that bankers rule the world and their primary tool is control of the money supply:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qIhDdST27g
I’VE JUST LOOKED UP THE WIKIPEDIA PAGES ON ‘BILL STILL’ AND ‘THE SECRET OF OZ’ WHICH I KNOW WERE THERE 2 WEEKS AGO. THEY’VE VANISHED WITHOUT TRACE.
I have to go out now but I’m going to check this out tomorrow. This seems to confirm my belief that Wikipedia’s purpose is to control knowledge. The bankers do not give up their secrets lightly.
Jemand
16 Apr, 2013 – 3:42 pm
“While people bitch and moan about the destruction of British industry and economic wellbeing of the bottom 50% under Thatcher (all of which can be restored with hard work, good ideas and goodwill – anyone remember Japan?), nothing will be restored of the cultural history ravaged by the march of Islam.”
Every time you post a comment your extreme right-wing and racist character is exposed.
A Node, did you see Anon’s comment on the previous page? Worth another look.
Statement by the Ernie Harburg, son of Yip Harburg – the man who wrote “Ding, Dong the Witch is Dead”. This was the 6pm announcement by Mark Biddiss
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2807687628
Mark Biddiss
6pm STATEMENT.
setting the record straight :
despite numerous inacurate reports citing the family of of kip harburg being angry at us for using ‘DING DONG’ , I would like you to view the following statement
DING DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD
Statement by Ernie Harburg
Son of the late Yip Harburg – the lyricist of “DIng Dong! The Witch Is Dead” (and all the songs in the “Wizard Of Oz”) – and President of the Yip Harburg Foundation
Yip Harburg, lyricist of THE WIZARD OF OZ film, would have been amused that “Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead” rose to the top of the charts when Margaret Thatcher died. W.S. Gilbert and George Bernard Shaw taught Yip Harburg, democratic socialist, sworn challenger of all tyranny against the people, that “humor is an act of courage” and dissent. Those who sang the song “Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead” in the film THE WIZARD OF OZ celebrated the end of tyranny at the hands of the Wicked Witch of the East. That celebration was not in L. Frank Baum’s book. Yip’s artistic leadership put it into the film. (Yip also brought the rainbow, also not in the book, into the film.)
Yip said “Humor is the antidote to tyranny” and “Show me a place without humor and I’ll show you a disaster area.” Yip believed tyranny is caused by the policies of “austerity,” “imperialism,” “theocracy” and “class supremacy,” which deny most people human rights and economic freedom from poverty and want. A song – music and lyrics – allows singers and audiences to “feel the thought” of the lyric. “Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead” is a universal cry against the cruelty of tyrants AND a protest against the ban on laughter at that cruelty. For the 99%, laughing and joy are required at the funeral of a tyrant. According to Yip, humor gives us hope in hard times.
ERNIE HARBURG
Now John Goss again. I would just add that for those living in the US Thatcher’s kingdom is to the East.
[Mod/Jon: unpleasant and possibly racist sentiment, deleted]
Some of the nastiest tweets about Boston
http://publicshaming.tumblr.com/tagged/Boston-Marathon
handbrakeclutch
Habbabkuk (La vita è bella!)
16 Apr, 2013 – 4:42 pm
“I must say that it is rather refreshing to have a day off from Mary’s continual newsfeeds and sinister hints and remarks about Jews (latest example Henrique Capriles Radonski).”
I know that you are trying to goad Mary into replying to your slurs.
Your transparent trolling tactics are plain for all to see.
Of Mary’s posts that I have read I find nothing sinister said about Jews. Henrique Capriles Radonski campaigned on a Jewish-Holocaust-survivor-grandson-of ticket so it is quite legitimate to comment on his Jewish roots and his support for Zionism.
You say nothing however about Jemand and his blatant racism, firstly about Australian Aborigines and more recently:
“…nothing will be restored of the cultural history ravaged by the march of Islam.”
“I am certainly NOT going to censor my commentary to assuage the concerns of apologists of Islam.”
In fact I seem to remember you defending Jemand.
English Knight in best provocateur troll mode I see. Isn’t their a ban on this “ovenchosen” nonsense? On the slight chance he is real and English can someone just arrest the prick?
Dave Lawton
16 Apr, 2013 – 5:48 pm
Racist state at Wembley.
http://refrainplayingisrael.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/alexandra-burke-refrains-from.html
Nice of you Dave to confirm your Zionist troll status.
Seven dead in Venezuela post-election trouble:
“Merida, April 16th 2013 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – This afternoon president Maduro said the opposition’s call for a general strike today had “failed”.
He also blamed the losing candidate in Sunday’s elections, Henrique Capriles, for the seven deaths last night.”
“Maduro said last night’s violence was part of a plan “to take Venezuela off the road of democracy”, and called on the people to be peaceful and not “fall for provocations”.
Capriles is a neo-con, US backed, traitor of the Venezuelan people; what a cu*t.
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/8652
“The government is refusing to admit that thousands of classified US embassy cables obtained by WikiLeaks and published in the Guardian are genuine, the high court has been told.
It was made clear that the refusal was intended to protect the government from the charge that it imposed a Marine Protected Area around the Chagos Islands in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) to prevent the islanders from ever returning to their homeland.
Lawyers representing the government made it clear that it was also worried about upsetting the US if it confirmed that the leaked cables were genuine.
A US embassy cable published in the Guardian in December 2010 quoted a senior Foreign Office official, Colin Roberts, telling the Americans that as a result of imposing the marine reserve, there would be no “human footprints” or “Man Fridays” on the islands.
He said the plan would “in effect, put paid to resettlement claims of the archipelago’s former residents”, according to the cable.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/15/uk-us-embassy-cables-wikileaks
“Similarly, Dr Sharon Bennett lists herself in the register as a shareholder in the private company DictateIT, which types up dictated notes.
However, according to information on the company website Duedil, which searches information at Companies House, it is her husband, the Conservative MP and former Cabinet Minster Andrew Mitchell who owns the shares.”
http://www.islingtontribune.com/news/2013/apr/how-gps-responsible-spending-islington%E2%80%99s-%C2%A3302million-nhs-budget-are-linked-private-fir
“New GP commissioning group board member who is married to Tory in ‘Plebgate’ affair”
http://www.islingtontribune.com/news/2013/apr/new-gp-commissioning-group-board-member-who-married-tory-plebgate-affair
“ISLINGTON CLINICAL COMMISSIONING GROUP REGISTER OF GOVERNING BODY MEMBERS'”
http://www.islingtonccg.nhs.uk/Downloads/CCG/Register_of_Interests.pdf
@ Doug “Son of Mary” Scprgie :
“Of Mary’s posts that I have read I find nothing sinister said about Jews. Henrique Capriles Radonski campaigned on a Jewish-Holocaust-survivor-grandson-of ticket so it is quite legitimate to comment on his Jewish roots and his support for Zionism.”
—-
Just two points if I may :
1/. I believe I’m not the only one on this blog to have noticed and commented on the, let’s say, anti-Jewish flavour of the Blessed Mary’s posts;
2/. Can you give sources to back up your assertion that Capriles campaigned on a “Jewish-holocaust-survivor-of ticket”? Thank you in advance.
“Andrew Mitchell”
http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/2013-04-12/andrew-mitchell-joins-up-with-former-lazard-collegues
“The Register of Members’ Financial Interests: Part 1
As at 8th April 2013”
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem/130408/mitchell_andrew.htm
@Anon Yiddy boy, a Zen Koan to shut you up for several YEARS – “Why was Mr Cause n Effect also SILENT in Rwanda, together with the Pope of Rome?”
“An investigation by the Camden New Journal has also revealed that doctors on the group have links to more than 30 private providers. Seven of them (diagram) have links to a private company, South Islington GP Alliance (Sigpal), which was bootstrapped with no less than £40,000 of private money.”
http://www.thecnj.com/download/GPs_and_Private_Companies.pdf
“IDS caught fiddling his figures – again”
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/131734
Capriles rechaza que Chávez lo vincule con grupos nazis [Capriles rejects Chávez’s linking him with Nazi groups]: El candidato presidencial de la oposición le recordó al mandatario de Venezuela que su familia fue víctima del Holocausto, del cual su abuela fue una sobreviviente. [Presidential candidate reminds Venezuelan president that his family was a victim of the Holocaust, of which his grandmother was a survivor]
@ Doug “Son of Mary” Scorgie :
“You say nothing however about Jemand and his blatant racism, firstly about Australian Aborigines and more recently:
“…nothing will be restored of the cultural history ravaged by the march of Islam.””
———-
Two points here as well :
1/. And I seem to recall that when I once asked you why you had never said anything about the Canadian First Nations and -yes! -the Australian aborigines, you replied by asking me why I hadn’t included the North American Indian tribes in my question and went on to say “why should I have said anything” (go back and you’ll find it). So your sudden taking up the cause of the aborigines, while most welcome, is nevertheless somewhat surpeising…and less than convincing.
2/. I can’t of course speak for Jemand, but he might have been referring to the destruction, by the Taliban, of cultural artifacts in Afghanistan predating Islam in that unhappy country.
@ Lysias :
I think it would be perfectly fair of Capriles to mention his Jewish background in response to accusations by Chavez linking him to Nazi groups, don’t you?