The Respectability of Torture
St Mary’s University College, Thurs 1st August, 7.30pm
Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, was a whistleblower who was removed from his ambassadorial post by Tony Blair for exposing the Tashkent regime‟s use of rape and systematic torture, including the boiling to death of political opponents. He has also spoken out against Central Asia‟s appalling dictatorships, regimes which are allies of the West, involved in torture and rendition, and was accused of threatening MI6‟s relationship with the CIA. Now a human rights activist, author and broadcaster, he outlines the dynamics of torture and the hypocrisy of incriminated Western governments.
My first public appearance for a while will be in Belfast on 1 August where I shall be giving a talk. Long term readers of this blog will recall that, while my focus is largely on international affairs, the domestic political achievements I most hope to see are a united Ireland and an independent Scotland.
Mary if you’re into Peace, withdraw your remark as follows:
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/07/feile-an-phobail-belfast/comment-page-5/#comment-422388
AND, I’ll withdraw mine.
To be clear and sure, I did not and do not use the C-word. The word i used was an innocuous one oft used in common parlance. Just happens that its etymology, new to me, is an interesting one and obscure, so i thought others may be interested in the word play.
Btw when you denigrate K, while you risk ignorance, please understand it means nothing to me — water off a duck’s back, as its his discovery of the working of the mind and the miracle of life that can be termed revolutionary. The messenger is dead, gone, finished, an utter and complete ending, so you can conserve your energy.
Political repression that mandates expunging of Nigel Kennedy’s remarks as outlined by Mary only serves to make acceptable even further repression. This is the reality in the twenty first century:
Evidently history has ceased to exit so far as the ziofuckwit are concerned; “denial of franchise” doe not include/mean the revocation of the right to return for the Palestinians who were ethnically cleansed at gun point from their homes in the villages razed by the ziofuckwit armed vigilante.
glenn_uk, I disagree with your ‘free speech at all costs’ argument, but try to assume I do so in good faith. I read your last post on the topic, but didn’t really have anything further to offer, other than perhaps expressing some personal frustration that one person or another will always be unhappy with my efforts. Given the effort vs reward ratio here is pretty low (for people who keep the software going, at any rate) I wonder if you might ease off a bit?
A policy of entirely free speech would have to ignore bullying, but furthermore it would obscure the fact that barely anyone is having a discussion here at all. The above is a stream of news cuttings and a lot of swearing and sniping (berk! cunt! troll! hasbara! fuckwit! etc) but very little in the way of productive and conversational exchanges of views are actually going on.
Perhaps this is just the dynamic here, on this site, and at this time: the natural ebb-and-flow of links prompting responses, then falling out, intriguing exchanges of opinion, then a spiral of insults, accusations of bad faith, then rinse-n-repeat. I’m sad about it, as the frequency of good discussions was much better before (and not at all because “everyone agreed with each other” – has that ever happened here?).
Doug/Habbabkuk – carry on trading pops at each other if you wish, but do either of you think the other can be persuaded of your view? Perhaps a truce would be better.
Villager – I’m sad too that your relationship with other posters has soured, and hope it can be mended. FJ and others are all deserving of your respect, even if you don’t like their every post. I agree Habbabkuk does have some valuable input to offer, so you should not think his input is exclusively resented by long-term posters here. However, my suggestion would be that if you might resist weighing in on every dispute, it may help to avoid increasing any tension.
Sofia, your broken italics are happening because you’re formatting the close tag incorrectly. The forward slash goes before the closing tag text (e.g. “i” or “em”) and not after it. See the help bar below!
Don’t link directly to articles of which you disapprove.
It only gives that article more prominence in search engine results, kinda like the Streisand effect.
This service links to such articles without giving them additional prominence in search engines:
http://www.donotlink.com/
Many outlets, such as the Daily Mail for example, publish articles which attract a lot of negative commentary. Unfortunately in directly linking to these articles and offering a critique you are actually enhancing the position of that article in search engine rankings.
So, use this service to link to an article without providing it any extra exposure.
Read all about it here:
http://skeptools.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/do-not-link-donotlink-ethically-criticize-seo-nofollow/
Sofia, my sympathy girl, to have been bi-fathered by Hallager and Villabkuk. Have you noticed a shared reference to words like ’eminences’ and ‘posts’ that is ‘my post’ and ‘your post’ when they are actually talking about comments. That was the first clue. But the slip up last night pretty well clinched it. Sorry to have given you double the trouble to deal with. The next time you see your dad at the synagogue just ask him outright if he plays the part of Villabkuk as well as Hallager. I recall that the one who posts as Villager was the first to come to the defence of Goran Rudling when I outed Rudling as being Anonymous. He stopped commenting after that!
Thanks for the entertainment again.
“Anonymouse” that should have read.
U.S. Representative Alan Grayson: “We are not North Koreans. We are Americans and we are human beings and we deserve to have our privacy respected.”
http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/1khdoc/us_representative_alan_grayson_we_are_not_north/
JOHN GOSS: “The next time you see your dad at the synagogue….”
So you’re not just delusional, but also racist?
Carry on, keep showing us what a bigot you really are, Sherlock.
Cesium levels in Fukushima water 8 times higher than after disaster
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201308160041
The USA has gone to pot, truly.
“This story is almost too awful to believe — and it’s taken a turn for the worse. First, teenager Justin Carter was jailed for making a bad joke on Facebook. And now he’s on SUICIDE WATCH …
“According to his dad, while Justin was playing a video game “[S]omeone had said something to the effect of ‘Oh you’re insane, you’re crazy, you’re messed up in the head. To which [Justin] replied ‘Oh yeah, I’m real messed up in the head, I’m going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts,’ and the next two lines were ‘lol and jk’ [all sic].”
“Even though it was a clear joke — underscored by the shorthand for “laugh out loud” and “just kidding” — a woman who saw the post reported Justin to the police. Now he’s in jail for making “terroristic threats” and faces $500,000 for bail and up to 8 years in prison!”
I’m not sure what the value of the ‘petition’ is, but here’s the link
http://act.watchdog.net/petitions/3554?l=KiLFNsBkX0U
“Shir Hever: Israel wants negotiations with the Palestinians to continue for the same reason it recruits students to serve as propaganda agents, it tries to restore its tainted image”
“Benjamin Netanyahu, has signed an agreement with the Israeli student union, which represents most but not all students in Israel, so that students will work for the government and be paid public money to work as paid commentators, and they would work anonymously to promote Israeli propaganda in the world and social media. And this story really shows what Israel is trying to get from these peace talks. Israel is trying to get credibility, Israel is trying to get legitimacy and to restore its images much as it can. But, of course, they have no real interest in the substance. ”
Not sure its agents here are doing Israel any favors in restoring its tainted image, with their foul language and personal attacks, all well outlined by Jon above.
But anyway:
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10588
The folks who brought you Nagasaki want to help with Fuk cleanup. Why is this not a Global emergency with all Nations?
““The U.S. has vast experience in nuclear technology with their military activity, including decontaminating soil and managing river contamination,” Masumi Ishikawa, general manager of Tokyo Electric’s radioactive waste management, said in an interview. “There’s a lot we can learn from them.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-15/nagasaki-bomb-maker-offers-lessons-for-japan-s-fukushima-cleanup.html
Enough about my virtual reincarnation, Sofia who has just joined my virtual ashram deserves a first lecture on global disharmony and the evil minds it stems from Genrikh Yagoda. Before they start WW3.
With the ascension of Charles I to the throne we come at last to the Central Period of English History (not to be confused with the Middle Ages, of course), consisting in the utterly memorable Struggle between the Cavaliers (Wrong but Wromantic) and the Roundheads (Right and Repulsive).
Charles I was a Cavalier King and therefore had a small pointed beard, long flowing curls, a large, flat, flowing hat, and gay attire. The Roundheads, on the other hand, were clean-shaven and wore tall, conical hats, white ties, and sombre garments. Under these circumstances a Civil War was inevitable.
The Roundheads, of course, were so called because Cromwell had all their heads made perfectly round, in order that they should present a uniform appearance when drawn up in line.
Jon Said;
What a refreshing demonstration of optimism and fortitude?
Is there anyone left out?
However as ever condescending upon us all on goes the diatribe:
What is this tag team about?
The contributions of which have been based on sniping at all and sundry juxtaposition with cut and paste of “wisdom” from a font of knowledge for the rich whose indolence and bulging wallets can afford the high roller guru.
Thus can there be room for any other than?
David Duke? Hmmm..(shoot the messenger)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Duke
Glenn_uk
16 Aug, 2013 – 1:43 am
“Fascinating discussion this evening. However, I would appeal to the censors^W moderators not to indulge in further deletion, and would very much appreciate at least an acknowledgement of my earlier argument to this point. (We had a discussion on it a few weeks back, my final argument in favour of free speech appeared to be either ignored or overlooked.)
Calls to the moderator to kindly delete this or that should be – with an intelligent audience – unnecessary. Indeed, points which were out of order from an opponent should be preserved, so that everyone can see the alleged injustice, and surely reach the correct conclusion.
The only reason to argue for censorship is that one considers the audience too immature to appreciate the full picture, and – further – is incapable of rightly processing what has been said, and will thus reach a totally inappropriate conclusion.
This line of reasoning – I believe – insults the intelligence of the audience, and has long been one of the more infantilising approaches of the British (esp. English) self appointed superior class, to what they consider the ignorant masses.”
______
Glenn, the intelligence of the content of your post was obvious, though I doubt any of us, me certainly not, could’ve articulated it better. Your last sentence (This line of reasoning – I believe – insults the intelligence of the audience, and has long been one of the more infantilising approaches of the British (esp. English) self appointed superior class, to what they consider the ignorant masses.) is particularly astute and this is the sort of superior censorship that is now going on here. The assault on our liberties derived from the ‘Moderator’s’ *attitude*, that he know what is best for us, is very disturbing and has now spilt over here. Ever since Craig wrote a piece called ‘Blog Down’ there seems to have been a prophetic downhill tone to it. Jemand’s sub-handle ‘Censorship Improves History’ was also in retrospect, a warning to be taken seriously.
“I’m sad about it, as the frequency of good discussions was much better before” — Jon
It was. And the overall atmosphere was much better too.
“(and not at all because “everyone agreed with each other” – has that ever happened here?)”
No, everyone didn’t agree all the time, on everything. But I think on some key issues there was consensus.
dreoilin, just read your links – thank you so much for some serious information.
Much of the rancor diminishes the larger issues facing us collectively, Villager. It’s like what’s become of ‘journalists’ who make themselves part of the story. The total sum of Egos vying for space on the networks takes precedence over the story their readers/viewers should be focused on.
If ego could be tamped down, we would all benefit. I say this only with regard to honest brokers seeking to understand, not just empty queries and those with a covert agenda. Those egos are unquenchable, and don’t seem interested in learning anything outside their chosen reality. Hey, I could be talking about myself… 🙂
You’re welcome, Tech. Thanks for the smile at 4:40 pm.
It seems to me there used to be more laughter here, but maybe that’s a case of rose-tinted spectacles, on my part.
“The assault on our liberties derived from the ‘Moderator’s’ *attitude*, that he know what is best for us, is very disturbing and has now spilt over here”
Villager; in fact, there is no assault on your liberties. You are free to post here. If anything of substance has been deleted, try posting it again?
As for everything else, I think people *like* disagreeing with each other. Feel free to disagree! Are we learning less, though, I wonder. And what are we doing with it?
Hasbarabollocks tried this three years ago but were exposed as liars. They seem to be up against the (Apartheid) wall!
They shop in luxury malls, lounge on pristine beaches, purchase the best products, trumpeted the Israeli website with picture of indeed a super luxury mall – if you like that kind of thing – but it was in Malaysia. “An honest mistake ..” or some such. No a blatant, shameful bit of hasbara and a pack of lies.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.541772
15 August 2013
Will the Western media show these images? All notes below by Tom Gross Please scroll down below for photos of the new shopping mall that opened today in Gaza. I have also attached new photos and film of Gaza’s hotels, beauty spas, swimming pools, beaches and street markets — images the BBC, New York Times and others refuse to show you. – See more at:
http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/001127.html7 July 2010
S/be
http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/001127.html
17 July 2010
Dreoilin, well its fast coming up to a full dirty dozen of years of a miserable F.E.A.R Culture. Kids nearing age 12 have unfortunately never known anything better. Those nearing age 18 now will only have a very faint recall. One has to ask the question, where are we going?
Technicolour: “Are we learning less, though, I wonder. And what are we doing with it?”
Learning as in information, knowledge, the past? Or learning as in daily life, relating? If the latter, yes, with censorship, we shall all learn less and make our consciousness ever messier.
FJ: did you actually say this: “Hasbarabollocks”
Or was it a quote?
You know things are bad when a former US marine colonel points out that the Federal government are providing military grade equipment to local US police forces.
They’re building a brand new local domestic army and US citizens are the enemy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y4zsgymRxE&feature=player_embedded#at=170
Civilian policing gear?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pS9aw5pcJo#at=14
And here it is, from Obama himself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt2yGzHfy7s
How long before they apply Israeli style apartheid polices to the US itself?
George Galloway was speaking about Egypt last night on Press TV.
50mins http://youtu.be/-_Zjr9le_Bw
~~~
Reports are saying that more people have been killed today. The BBC say 38. Sky News say 50.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23732350
http://news.sky.com/story/1129271/egypt-deaths-reported-in-fresh-cairo-clashes
Technicolour
16 Aug, 2013 – 5:12 pm
“FJ: did you actually say this: “Hasbarabollocks”
Or was it a quote?”
Don’t expect an admission TC. Are you actually shocked?