Russia does not have a functioning criminal justice system at all, in the sense of a trial mechanism aimed at determining innocence or guilt. Exactly as in Uzbekistan, the conviction rate in criminal trials is over 99%. If the prosecutors, who are inextricably an arm of the executive government, want to send you to jail, there is absolutely no judicial system to protect you. The judges are purely there for show.
When critics of Putin like Alexei Navalny are convicted, therefore, we have absolutely no reassurance that the motivation behind the prosecution or the assessment of guilt was genuine. Which is not to say that Navalny is innocent; I am in no position to judge. People are complex. I sacrificed my own pretty decent career to the cause of human rights, but in my personal and family life I was by no means the most moral of individuals. I see no reason for it to be impossible that all of Navalny’s excellent political work did not co-exist with a fatal weakness. But his criticisms of Putin made him a marked man, who the state was out to get, and the most probable explanation – especially as prosecutors had looked at the allegations before and decided not to proceed – is that he is suffering for his criticisms of the President rather than a genuine offence.
It fascinates me that the Western media view the previous decision by the prosecutors not to proceed as evidence the case is politically motivated against Navalny; but fail to draw the same conclusion from precisely the same circumstance in the Assange case.
David Ward MP has not been sent to jail. He has however had the Lib Dem whip removed, which under Clegg’s leadership perhaps he ought to consider an honour. It is rather a commonplace sentiment that it is a terribly sad thing, that their community having suffered dreadfully in the Holocaust, the European Jews involved in founding the state of Israel went on themselves to inflict terrible pain and devastation on the Palestinians in the Nakba. Both the Holocaust and the Nakba were horrific events of human suffering. For this not startling observation, David Ward is removed from the Liberal Democrats. He also stated that, with its ever increasing number of racially specific laws, its walls and racially restricted roads, Israel is becoming an apartheid state. That is so commonplace even Sky News’ security correspondent Sam Kiley said it a few months ago, without repercussion. In Russia you cannot say Putin is corrupt; in the UK you cannot say Israeli state policy is malign. Neither national state can claim to uphold freedom of speech. Meanwhile, of course, David Cameron announces plans to place filters on the internet access of all UK households.
In the United States, the House of Representatives failed by just 12 votes to make illegal the mass snooping by the NSA which was not widely publicised until Edward Snowden’s revelations. What Snowden said was so important that almost half the country’s legislators wished to act on his information. Yet the executive wish to pursue him and remove all his freedom for the rest of his life, as they are doing to Bradley Manning for Manning’s exposure of war crimes and extreme duplicity.
Around this complex of issues and the persons of Manning, Navalny, Snowden and Assange there is a kind of new ideological competition between the governments of Russia, the US and UK as to which is truly promoting the values of human freedom. The answer is none of them are. All these states are, largely in reaction to the liberating possibilities of the internet, promoting a concerted attack on freedom of speech and liberty of thought.
States are the enemy. We are the people.
Silly pictures of a silly man on holiday. Looks like a photo op. The photos were taken by Associated Press.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2378933/David-Cameron-appears-slightly-awkward-holiday-garb.html
Habby, add Saudi Arabia to your list — one of the more mischievous countries on Earth, rarely mentioned on this blog. What is their relationship to Palestine? Why haven’t they with all their money and power derived from their US collaborators, been able to foster an Israeli-Palestine peace? Anyone?
Agent Cameron’s side kick Cleggover seems to think he can live the high life at our expense. When will be shot of these creeps?
Nick Clegg refused to pay his bar bill for thousands of pounds at grace-and-favour home… and thinks you should pick up the tab: Row erupts over Lib Dem leader’s lavish entertaining
Nick Clegg shares Chevening, in Kent, with the Foreign Secretary
Landowner Edward Barham complained after Mr Clegg objected to the bill
The complaint led to negotiations with Mr Clegg who paid most of the tab
The taxpayer was left to foot the rest of the bill from Cabinet Office coffers
Mr Clegg earns £134,000 a year and his wife Miriam is paid up to £500,000
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2380177/Nick-Clegg-refused-pay-bar-thousands-grace-favour-Chevening-home.html
Phil @ 7.54 pm. There is a 1 in 7000 chance of dying in an air or space incident according to: http://www.nsc.org/NSC%20Picture%20Library/News/web_graphics/Injury_Facts_37.pdf.
Taking the years 2001-2010 based on this Wikipedia link of air-crashes involving famous deaths:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatalities_from_aviation_accidents
2001 = 13
2002 = 05
2003 = 02
2004 = 05
2005 = 03
2006 = 06
2007 = 06
2008 = 03
2009 = 08
2010 = 03 (In one of these crashes in 2010 the polish prime minister, his wife and members of the cabinet were killed). But leaving that aside, and the fact that these figures are included below, in total there were 54 crashes with famous fatalities)
Fatalities in air crashes
2001 = 4140
2002 = 1413
2003 = 1230
2004 = 771
2005 = 1459
2006 = 1294
2007 = 971
2008 = 884
2009 = 1103
2010 = 1115
Total = 14,380
Multiplying the under-representative number of famous people 54 by 7000 gives:
Total = 378,000
Like I said it does “need some thorough research” so if you have any figures showing that this is a miscalculation I should be happy to consider them.
Forgot to put in the link for the second set of figures.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_accidents_and_incidents
Habby argues:
“The implication of Mr Ed Murray’s email, brought to our attention by the Frequent Poster at 20h54, would seem to be that North Korea should not be criticised by the western media because of the existence of food banks and Trident in the UK.”
Surely the point of Mr Ed Murray’s email is to show that this hack, who writes so scathingly of N Korea, has not and would never write in such terms about the UK.
A similar acusation, I might add, that you’ve levelled at regulars here, regularly.
So, further to my post above @9.15pm, which you derided as bickering, here’s a fine example of your good self trying to squeeze a round peg into a square hole.
Others will just call it hypocrisy, but I think my post above has it bang to rights.
Someone
27 Jul, 2013 – 4:13 pm
“Brighton man faces jail for calling Hove MP Mike Weatherley ‘coward’”
Yes Someone, Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 is a catch all law that has been misused by the police and state numerous times for over 20 years.
The same law was used against David Lawley-Wakelin who interrupted the Leveson inquiry when Blair was giving “evidence”.
Blair didn’t press charges but that paragon of justice Leveson did.
What a twat!
There was no use of bad language or adjectives of swearing. There was no actual threat made to Mr Blair on anyone else.
It was Lord Leveson who had pushed for prosecution.
Freedom of speech?
You can say what you like as long as no one disagrees with you and calls the police.
The biggest number of plane crash deaths in 2001 involved the twin towers. I do not know of any celebrities who were killed in the event. Does anybody?
I came across this:
http://listverse.com/2011/12/12/10-famous-people-who-avoided-death-on-911/
And Donna Summers believed dust from 9/11 led to her death.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4323815/911-dust-kills-disco-queen-Donna-Summer.html
If there were no famous people deaths caused by 9/11 it would bear out the expected figure of 1 in 7000 but be anomalous to airplane crash figures presented in my comment above.
Less than 3000 signatures and there will be 100,000 people nominating Bradley Manning for the Nobel Peace Prize. Please help this good young man.
http://act.rootsaction.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=7612&track=MM&tag=MM
This “peace” initiative by sewage satanyahu,hostages being freed and all,what really lies behind it? That he has messianic delusions about being remembered as another expansionist hero like dayan is known, but what is his target? Methinks its an expansion up to the Litani River, to include both Syrian and Lebanese territory. The evil seed of the irgun,haganah and stern gangs (who invented the hotel and car bombs way back in the 1940s as we know them today.BTW-the mossad motorcycle assassin is a fairly recent innovation)who are at the heart of zionistani politics,may yet surprise us. But it will have to put Lavon,USS Liberty,Argentina,911 capers to shame, to get past the hawk eyed internet community that is no longer swayed by the MSM harps. But their devilish cunning and deception may finally only be stymied by a whistleblower like in the Barksdale nuclear saga.
“If there were no famous people deaths caused by 9/11 it would bear out the expected figure of 1 in 7000 but be anomalous to airplane crash figures presented in my comment above.”
Barbara Olson.
“Silly pictures of a silly man on holiday” noticed by a silly mind that takes the silly action of posting them here for her assumed silly friends.
Subtle propagation of silliness from silly ego-centred mechanical activity jumping from silliness to silliness without any responsibility to one’s own self-created silliness.
Silliness is not an abstract, it is personified. Only self-awareness can end it.
One letter in and one letter out gives you Stillness — then respond/go from there and a whole new creative way of life might just emerge. Try it!
Flaming June
27 Jul, 2013 – 11:07 pm
Theresa May has had Type 1 diabetes diagnosed.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2380142/My-shocking-illness-Home-Secretary-Theresa-May-reveals-Type-1-diabetes-needs-daily-injections–vows-continue-political-career.html
“Theresa May reveals she has Type 1 diabetes and needs daily injections… but vows to continue her political career.”
She makes it sound like a terminal illness.
“Type 1 diabetes, a chronic illness, carries a risk of heart attacks and strokes.”
So does being poor!
I have been a type1 diabetic for the past 30 years and I have 5 injections and 6 blood-glucose tests a day. It’s something you have to get used to.
I wonder how much she got paid for her story.
“I wonder how much she got paid for her story.”
You’ll never know that, but what you can know is that it appeared here for free.
Btw, Doug, try fenugreek seeds — they are supposed to be bitter and counter the action of sugar. Please do research it. Probably won’t cure since its well-entrenched but may alleviate gradually.
Villager says, of some Daily Mail story that Mary posted:
“You’ll never know that, but what you can know is that it appeared here for free.”
Who would say that?
It’s kinda like a knee-jerk defence of old media.
So, who would say that?
Ben now its entertainment time. Nico’s on my mind with mind, mellowness and melody:
I’ll be your Mirror NICO 1966 Warhol video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sKzMEQ6MUo
These days
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_z_UEuEMAo
“Who would say that?
It’s kinda like a knee-jerk defence of old media.
So, who would say that?”
Midnight excitability? Don’t know what you’re going on about. I said it appeared in CM’s blog for free. What you smoking? Pass the joint around…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvGJvzwKqg0
FFS all this Villager babbling its all krishnamurphy to me !
Dedicated to all the bikers here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQZ8piKtrJ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjYAEtO-Ohk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eCtRXIcbvc
☮
change of tempo:
Roberto e Nera Sol – Sunrise in gambia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5bUmAQNDpI
Good Hasbeen have another machiato!
Fred, thank you for that. It still fits the 1 in 7000 criterion. I also notice she died in the Pentagon attack and not the twin towers!
“My post yesterday about Agent Cameron’s intention to impose a tourist bond was purely a extract from a Financial Times article, ie a statement of fact.”
____________
Quite, which is why I wrote :
“What an egregiously silly argument, and I’m glad that the Frequent Poster, WHO BROUGHT IT TO OUR ATTENTION..”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I expressed no opinion on the imposition of the bond,…”
________________
And nor did I say that you did (although you are on record here as opposing it). But I assume you would agree with me on the silliness/selfishness of the position taken by London’s retailers of luxury goods, surely?
And now please stop bickering.
SFO to receive funding for Barclays probe – FT
Mon Jul 29, 2013 1:16am BST
(Reuters) – Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is expected to receive about 2 million pounds from the UK Treasury to support its criminal probe into the dealings between Barclays Plc and Qatar Holding, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
Barclays is being investigated by the SFO and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for an allegation that the bank lent Qatar Holding, a part of the Qatar Investment Authority, money to invest in it as part of a rescue fundraising at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.
UK rules forbid a public company from giving financial assistance in order to acquire its shares or those of a parent company.
The bank has been deeply investigated by the FCA, which is now taking a back seat with the SFO probing into other parts of the fundraising, the FT said, citing people familiar with the matter.
A treasury spokesperson and the SFO declined to comment on the matter, while Barclays was not available for comments outside regular business hours.
David Green, the head of the SFO, has said he expects to secure extra funding from the government for some complex investigations, partly because the agency’s annual budget has been slashed to around 30 million pounds – a fraction of the budget of some regional police forces.
Green, who has said he hopes for progress in the Barclays investigation by year end, is already receiving more than 3 million pounds per year in extra government funding the help with the largest and most complex inquiry on his books – the investigation into Libor rate rigging.
Some lawyers have argued that this so-called ‘surge’ or ‘blockbuster’ funding for specific investigations risks undermining the independence of the SFO, which is battling to restore faith in its crime-busting abilities.
Barclays, which publishes financial results on Tuesday, is expected to set out plans either to sell bonds that are wiped out if it hits trouble or to raise equity to meet tougher UK rules on capital.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/07/29/uk-barclays-investigation-idUKBRE96S00120130729
A split emerges between Cable and the May cohort of right wingers.
Vince Cable today attacked Tory colleagues for launching a “stupid and offensive” crackdown on illegal immigrants and accused them of being obsessed with migration figures.
The Business Secretary said Immigration Minister Mark Harper’s decision to send vans bearing the message “go home, or you’ll be picked up and deported” round London was designed to create fear among the public.
/..
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/mayor/vince-cable-attacks-tories-over-stupid-and-offensive-immigration-crackdown-8735327.html
@ Doug Scorgie (23h53 yesterday):
“I wonder how much she { ie, Theresa May }got paid for her story.”
______________
May I remind Doug of his request posted on the “getting back into the water” thread at 21h06 on 26 July, which read as follows :
“When putting points of view forward your opinions must be supported; you should produce your evidence and explain why this evidence supports your point of view; if used, you should always quote sources and give references”.
Off you go, laddy.
@FJ – signs of an early election, the Torah Party is simply in your face electioneering on its main plank immigration platform with tax payers money. With satanyahu formulating “referendum” laws well in advance of never to be undertaken bogus “road map” peace negotiations,definitely some surprise coming up.
Access to the law is now definitely only available to the well off.
Legal aid cut and judicial reviews cut.
http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/2271327/top-qcs-unite-to-criticise-legal-aid-cuts-and-judicial-review-reforms
Funding to go to a tribunal is cut.
Fees for employment tribunals begin
The fees were first proposed by the chancellor two years ago
People bringing employment tribunals must now pay a fee for the first time since they were created in the 1960s.
Under the new UK rules, they will have to pay £160 or £250 to lodge a claim, with a further charge of either £230 or £950 if the case goes ahead.
The higher charges will cover cases like unfair dismissal, the lower ones issues such as unpaid invoices.
/..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23482520
~~~
Doug Scorgie I attended the Magistrates’ Court when David Lawley Wakelin was fined and convicted. He lives in Shepperton yet they used a shabby looking court miles away in NW London. A decent man who now has a criminal record cycled there. A travesty as you say. The only amusement was the evidence from his protection plods who had not secured a back door into the court entrance behind Leveson. Thick as the proverbial short planks and it gave encouragement to the thought that one day B.Liar will be arrested for his major crimes.
Meanwhile, he still roams the planet increasing his wealth. I read the other day that he made £170,000 on the sale of a house that has been bought for one of the sons.
@ Doug Scorgie :
“Someone
27 Jul, 2013 – 4:13 pm
“Brighton man faces jail for calling Hove MP Mike Weatherley ‘coward’”
Yes Someone, Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 is a catch all law that has been misused by the police and state numerous times for over 20 years.
The same law was used against David Lawley-Wakelin who interrupted the Leveson inquiry when Blair was giving “evidence”.”
________________
Well, I thought the discussion was supposed to be about the Weatherley case, but I have no objection to Mr Scorgie raising the Lawley-Wakelin case if he feels it’s relevant to the Weatherley case.
Mr Lawley-Wakelin had – and continues to have – numerous possibilities of making plain his feelings about BLiar other than by disrupting a judicial public inquiry in which, by the way, he had no locus.
Presumably Mr Scorgie would not condone disruption of – to take just a few examples – ordinary court proceedings, religious services, public inquiries and meetings on university campuses. If this assumption is incorrect then it would be interesting to hear more from him on the subject.
Free speech, it could be argued, does not give every Tom, Dick or Harry the absolute right to shout whatever he wants whenever he wants. That sort of behaviour should be confined – rightly – to blogs such as this one?
Any way, to get back to the Brighton/Weatherley case: as we’ve had no response from the original poster on whether he would be disposed to follow up on that case and report back, perhaps Mr Scorgie could volonteer to do so? It would be interesting to see what happens in court and whether the alleged disrupter (Mr Cline) is found guilty or acquitted by the magistrates.
Free speech operates within the confines of law in all countries.
I see that Villager replied to my deliberate ‘silly’ post by indulging in some more of his silly preaching. Surely he knows it is the silly season!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silly_season