Work for the UN 1072


GCHQ and the NSA between them employ tens of thousands of people.  I am bemused by the shock at the “revelation” they have been spying.  What on Earth did journalists think that spies do all day? That includes electronics spies.

Since Katherine Gun revealed that we spy on other delegations – and the secretariat – within the UN building, it is hardly a shock that we spy on other governments at summits in the UK.  For once, the government cannot pretend that the object is to save us all from terrorism, which is the usual catch all excuse.  Nor in the real world is any of the G20 nations a military threat to the UK.  The real truth of the matter is that our spies – GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 – are themselves a large and highly influential interest block within the state.  Lots of people make a great deal of money out of the security state, and this kind of activity is actually simply an excuse for taking money from taxpayers – which is from everyone who has ever bought anything – and giving that money to the “security industry”.

I do not view spying on other governments as quite as despicable as spying on ordinary citizens, which is an unspeakable betrayal of the purpose of government.  Spying on other governments is a game they all play to extort money each to their own security elites.  But I will say that spying on the South African government seems pretty low.  Why?

Interception of diplomatic communications is plainly a gross breach of the Vienna Conventions, even if the forms of communication have changed since they were drafted.  I have never studied the particulars of international law as they relate to spying, but it seems to me an area that in the modern world needs regulation.  There must be room here for the UN to be involved in preparing a Convention to outlaw the interception of international communications, with recourse to the International Court of Justice for those victim of it.

There is more work for the UN on Syria.  We should all be grateful that Russia is holding out against the very dubious western claims that the  Syrian government has deployed chemical weapons.  But while Obama can declare all the red lines he wishes, they do not give any country a right to take action on Syrian soil without UN authority.  That needs to be restated, strongly.  There is no basis at all for the continued and massive Israeli attacks on Syria – they are absolutely illegal.  Israeli strikes have definitely killed more people than the alleged deaths from chemical weapons.  Can someone explain to me why that is not a red line?

The UN Secretary General should be speaking out, and the UN Security Council should be meeting, to discuss the Israeli attacks on Syria.  The system of international law has broken down irretrievably.


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1,072 thoughts on “Work for the UN

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  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella!)

    Round-up (this thread is becoming fun!). With some levity:

    @ Dreoilin – you did’t mention me, I feel quite hurt 🙂
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    @Mark Golding:

    “Yes Mary indeed – we exist in a cruel world. The scales have been at equilibrium for too long. Veracious strength will enhance the power of intention required to honor the deserving. Our thoughts must empower empathy, mercy and compassion.”

    Woffly piffle – almost incomprehensible.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    @ Blegburnduddoo:

    “Re Flight of the Snowden. No doubt the Russians will be mindful of the possibility of the US shooting down a passenger aircraft. The US have form in that regard.”

    As indeed do the Russkies (Korean airliner, anyone?)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    @ Komodo

    “It’s Tough at the Top, part 94

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2346811/Nigella-Lawsons-clothes-delivered-Mayfair-flat-prepares-second-week-away-Charles-Saatchi.html

    Wonder if she’s paying bedroom tax on that?”

    I can put your mind at ease on that one, Komodo, and you won’t sweat at night anymore : as far as I know, Nigella is not living, wholly or partially, on state benefits.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~

    @Komodo:

    “Your response is the expected one.”

    Of course! You are, after all, a mind-reader and pyschic. Keep your crystal ball polished!
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    @ Nevermind:

    “cabaret, dear boy, sheer cabaret.”

    But of course. Are you by any chance related to the laste Christopher Isherwood? You know, the guy known to his Berlin landlady as “Herr Ischyvoo”?

  • Flaming June

    The good ex MP for Battersea, Martin Linton, keeps an interesting blog.

    He writes here on an answer Hague gave on settlements.

    June 24, 2013

    Hague rules out action on settlements
    Dummies on question about legality of trade ban
    Calls on Abbas to join talks “without preconditions”
    “Lamentable lack” of action on children

    FCO questions Tuesday June 18th

    William Hague again ruled out taking Government action against trade with illegal Israeli settlements and refused even to say whether he believed the Government had the powers (under EU and GATT trade rules) to ban trade with illegal settlements.

    He also repeated his request to the Palestinians “to enter negotiations without pre-conditions” which would mean starting talks while the Israelis are still building illegal settlements on Palestinian-owned land.

    /..
    http://martinlinton.org/2013/06/24/hague-rules-out-action-on-settlements/

    The Hansard link
    http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm110614/debtext/110614-0001.htm

  • Flaming June

    Not only minor slebs and characters from the court of P William and Kate, (Pippa ‘I’m in a social whirl’ Middleton and her brother) but war criminals too at Wimbledon.

    Condoleeza Rice was seated in the ‘Royal Box’ behind Princess Pushy and two seats away from Pippa.

    Pippa works so hard for her country. She wears expensive frocks, hats and shoes so keeps many employed in the rag trade, goes to lots of weddings, plays tennis and watches a lot of tennis. Oh and she writes piffle for Waitrose.

    The Rolex gold clock was prominent and the military stewards kept everyone safe. Isn’t England wonderful!

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella!)

    @ Mary

    “Isn’t England wonderful!”
    ______

    Compared to a heck of a lot of other countries, yes.

    **************

    La vita è bella, life is good (Oh! to be in England now…etc)

  • Flaming June

    Sonja Karkar who runs the Australians for Palestine website, has had her e-mail system corrupted. Now who would do something like that?

    Dear Supporters,

    I apologise for not following up on the Australia-Israel joint issue stamps campaign. Since Friday, I have been trying to get my corrupted email client rebuilt and have found out today from a Mac technician that the best I could hope for was to retrieve my files to the last backup which was on 21 April 2013. That’s now been done, but I have lost every email from that time until now – 2 whole months’ worth. Most upsetting is the loss of emails re the “joint issue” stamps, particularly because many of you wrote letters and made various enquiries to which I was unable to respond.

    I’d be very grateful if you could re-send any emails that you have sent to me over that time. Not only would I like to respond if I haven’t yet done so, but also I do like to keep copies of emails relating to any of our campaigns.

    Your help would be really appreciated.

    Warm regards,
    Sonja

    Sonja Karkar
    Co-founder & editor
    http://australiansforpalestine.com

    The joint Australia/Israel stamp affair.
    http://www.australiansforpalestine.net/81892

    She has also put up the video of the winning singer from Gaza in the Pan Arab Idol competition. He is so pleasing and also very handsome.

    Raise your keffieh
    http://www.australiansforpalestine.net/82037

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella!)

    @ Mary :

    “The Rolex gold clock was prominent” (on Pippa Middleton’s wrist)
    _________

    Well spotted. In the book of many, recognising a Rolex is almost as evil as possessing one.

    Seriously, what do you have against Rolexes? Wonderful watches! Never had one that kept time!

    ***********

    La vita ! bella, life is good (buy Vacherin-Constantin)

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella!)

    Ah, Mary, in this imperfect world there is a place for irony…and for fact.

  • Phil

    The home secretary resists calls for a public inquiry and asks that anyone with information about police wrongdoing reports to…the police. But don’t worry because all the wrongdoing was by one, now disbanded, rogue unit.

  • Passerby

    Russia studying US extradition request for NSA leaker: Report

    Kerry criticizes Russia, China for helping Snowden

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said there would be “consequences” for Russia and China if they helped whistleblower Edward Snowden in boarding a plane to Moscow in an attempt to reach a third country.

    ##############

    Former Italian PM Berlusconi gets seven yrs in jail over sex scandal

  • Ben Franklin -Machine Gun Preacher (unleaded version)

    ” Don’t you think it’s a bit strange, his giving the whole world a blow-by-blow account of his movements?”

    Yes. It’s like a white bronco, only International in nature. So far, no knife fight.

  • Anon

    Interestingly or not Aeroflot flight AFL150 from Moscow to Havana disappeared off flight trackers just off the coast of Norway. RT Moscow reported that while Snowden cannot be seen on board, cars thought to belong to Ecuador were seen on the runway and he could be in a crew area. Estimated flight position about the tip of Geeenland right now. Only Aeroflot transponder remotely in the area is Aeroflot flight AF102 to New York which took off after AF150 to Cuba.

  • Phil

    “Former Italian PM Berlusconi gets seven yrs in jail over sex scandal”

    Except he passed a law that no one over 70 years of age can be sent to jail. House arrest only. Not bad if you have a big house.

  • Dreoilin

    Wikileaks refuses to say where Snowden is, other than “in a safe place”. (Go Julian!)

    The Guardian says there is no evidence he was ever in Russia.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/24/edward-snowden-booked-on-plane-from-moscow-to-havana-live-coverage

    • Farcical scene as Snowden apparently misses Cuba flight
    • Ecuador: processing Snowden’s asylum request
    • WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange says he knows where Snowden is
    • Washington fury at Hong Kong’s decision to let him go

    “busy working out how to bit bang a rs232 port to do a 5 baud kw1281 initialisation”

    Ahh, tricky

    And a mention for Habbabkuk: Buona giornata!

  • Ben Franklin -Machine Gun Preacher (unleaded version)

    A lot speculation why he would choose this routing. Suspicions abound; ‘Why Russia, Cuba, China”?

    Because they are the least likely to hand him over to the Federales.

  • Villager

    “Wikileaks refuses to say where Snowden is, other than “in a safe place”. (Go Julian!)

    The Guardian says there is no evidence he was ever in Russia.
    ——
    Good to see you back Dreolin. Two thoughts did occur to me:

    In this day and age of phone-cameras, it is surprising that not a single pic of Snowden has been seen from his suggested trip from Hong kong to Moscow, and

    With all the State-muscle supporting Snowden, why would he risk taking an ordinary commercial flight?

  • OldMark

    A lot speculation why he would choose this routing. Suspicions abound; ‘Why Russia, Cuba, China”?

    Because they are the least likely to hand him over to the Federales.

    Quite so, Ben,and, apart from the descent to Havana, which skirts dangerously near Miami, it avoids airspace controlled by the US.

  • Habbabkuk (La vita è bella!)

    I read with considerable interest that the late Al-Hilili’s brother has been arrested for conspiracy to murder. Further arrest cannot be ruled out.

    Now we must obviously wait and see if he is brought to trial and of so, for the verdict.

    Nonetheless, should it turn out that he is found guilty, I must confess that I look forward with unalloyed pleasure to the sight of so many people – including some of the most eminent of the Eminences on this blog (how many posts on the threads? 🙂 – having to eat humble pie, crow and their hats. And I hope they choke while doing so.

    Furthermore, I am confident that all those who ascribed the killings to the evil Mossad/CIA/MI6/French intelligence services will have the good grace to publically confess on this blog that they were completely on the wrong track.

    The self-appointed “experts” in ballistics, psychology, forensic medicine and the patterns of car tyres on grass and mud would also be shown up to be what they are – self-important, obsessive blowhards.

    I’ll be watching and waiting, le moment venu!

    PS – surprisingly little posted about this on here so far, and this on a blog where it’s headline news (are you listening, Mary?) when Poppa Middleton farts in public.

  • Dreoilin

    Macky says,

    “Doesn’t wash, Hubbu-Clown, not even close; one difference between you & Blair is that he can fake sincerity, but you can’t.”

    Don’t be utterly daft. Nobody can judge sincerity from written words. You need facial expressions, body language, tone of voice. You’re blathering.

    “Interestingly or not Aeroflot flight AFL150 from Moscow to Havana disappeared off flight trackers just off the coast of Norway.”

    I tracked a flight once. My eldest son was travelling diagonally across Australia, south east to north west, and on elsewhere. In the middle of the sea north of Australia, the flight disappeared. It stayed disappeared for a long time, hours, during which I nearly had a heart attack. I had a text message from my son saying he had arrived safely, and meanwhile the flight never reappeared on the flight tracker. It never showed up as landed – or otherwise. I’ll never do that again.

  • Anon

    That’s a lot more flight path over the USA than the flight path shown on RT earlier. Almost looks like they have chosen to overfly more of the USA than normal. Of course they could still change course yet if they have enough fuel. Very embarrassing for the USA if they force it to land and he is not hidden on-board.

  • Phil

    I’ve just looked at the Al-Hilli thread. Wow. It’s like discovering a huge crazy eco system going on in the kid’s bedroom. I’d heard some gossip but the reality is something else. I recall it has had a death (Anders). Has there been any babies I should know about?

    The sheer volume of comments is working wonders for this blogs google position. Even with it being a news story today Craig’s blog is above the Sun (on page two) for the search term “al-hillis”. Nice.

    http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=al-hillis

    And position number two for “al hillis spy”!

    http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Al+Hillis+spy

    Congratulations you crazy kids.

  • Anon

    Dreoilin,

    It is always worth double checking with the arrivals web page at the destination airport to avoid that sort of panic. Sometimes the coverage is sporadic especially in more remote areas.

    Was watching some Afghanistan report recently when someone interviewed said the CIA flew them for talks in a plane with blacked out windows to a secret destination. Only trouble was the screens on the seatbacks displayed the plane’s position all the way from takeoff to landing. Much to the amusement of all behind the blacked out windows.

  • Ben Franklin -Machine Gun Preacher (unleaded version)

    The flight path is right over Iceland. Parachutes, anyone?. One thing is for sure; the shell-game of his whereabouts is a rope-a-dope.

  • Ben Franklin -Machine Gun Preacher (unleaded version)

    Dreoilin; If a plane shuts off the transponders, it disappears. Not that I’m saying your son’s flight was an instance. Radio interference? Nevertheless, tracking a flight needs the transponder working. Could be a tactic for Snowdens ride.

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