I have a guilty political secret. I do not detest Gordon Brown. That is such an unfashionable opinion that I don’t really expect any comments at all to agree with it. And yes, I do realise that he went along with the Iraq War and all the other horrors of the Blair era. Interestingly, I don’t remember the question of what Gordon Brown really thought about Iraq ever being discussed; he deserves condemnation for having not tried to stop it, and perhaps he was indeed an enthusiast. And I am well aware that the Private Finance Initiative is a terrible disaster, and that he oversaw creeping privatisation in the health services, and – worst of all – the introduction of tuition fees.
And yet I cannot dislike him. Probably because I just know too many people who have known him through decades, who are themselves good people, and who like him. Around Edinburgh and Fife you will find it hard to find people who actually know him who share the hatred and contempt he seems to arouse among the political and media classes of London.
As a general rule I do not like or dislike people according to their politics, but rather according to the sincerity of their political beliefs and the goodwill with which they hold them. I am sure Anders Breivik is sincere in his political beliefs, but those are lacking in goodwill. Sincerity is not enough – humanity and inclusiveness are also important.
There are one nation Tories who seem to me perfectly decent people, genuinely trying to do good. I don’t hate them because their political conclusions on the best way to do good are different to mine. Gordon Brown I put rather in the same category – I feel he was trying to do good for ordinary people, he just got it wrong.
Blair is in a whole different category again – insincere, absolutely focused on attaining personal power, and with a Messianic belief that what is good for him must be good for the World. The Guardian is publishing some emails around the Blair Brown rivalry this week. I don’t care and won’t read them. But while I see Blair as quite properly damned for eternity to the seventh pit of hell, I don’t think Brown deserves anything worse than North Queensferry.
I have been in Ghana the last 20 days living in a house with no internet connection and working (extremely hard) in an office with virtually no internet connection – not enough to load WordPress. I hope to get more chance to blog shortly.
Little Britain – Daffyd Thomas first episode.
I don’t now why, but this scene reminds me of something…
I was looking round to see if the Australian Westfield shopping mall company had any interest in the Nairobi Westgate mall but drew a blank. Anybody know?
Anyway I came across this. Yates ex Met and latterly advisor to the criminal dictators in Bahrain has moved on to Oz to join Westfield. Career path on downward spiral I would say but probably earning more A$ now than he did £s here or 1dinars in Bahrain.
John Yates, who quit Met over hacking scandal, joins shopping giant Westfield
Former assistant commissioner will be based in Australia and take up the position of head of security from November
Oliver Laughland in Sydney
19 September 2013 08.17 BST
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/19/yates-phone-hacking-scandal-westfield
“(Gordon Brown) deserves condemnation for having not tried to stop it, and perhaps he was indeed an enthusiast.”
There’s collective responsibility. Staying in the cabinet at the time makes him a war criminal. Gordon Brown should be in prison for the rest of his life.
Time for people who know him and like him to wise up, whether in Scotland or elsewhere.
Jon Did you mean ‘commenters of a neo-conservative hue’? 😉
~~
Interesting that Miliband E and Ms Yvette Cooper are rowing back from the McBride revelations. Murnaghan asked the latter if she and Balls had ever had McB to their home. ‘No’ she said firmly staring at the camera. I for one did not believe her.
Now Murnaghan has Goldsmith of Iraq Dossier infamy on for his opinion on the S Times articles. Off switch has been operated.
Pot calling kettle black stuff from the war criminal Campbell.
Alastair Campbell says ‘shyster’ McBride broke law
Alastair Campbell: Damian McBride ‘has admitted not just to venality but criminality’ (Richard Pohle)
ALASTAIR CAMPBELL, Tony Blair’s former spin doctor, has accused Damian McBride of breaking the law by leaking the content of confidential documents from government computers, raising the possibility of a police investigation.
Campbell branded McBride, who was Gordon Brown’s spin doctor, a “shyster” and said he “has admitted not just to venality but criminality”.
“I think the other thing that people should be aware of is he [McBride] has admitted to criminal offences in this,” said Campbell.
In his memoir, McBride admits logging onto Brown’s office email when he was in the Treasury and leaking details from some restricted and confidential documents. He also confesses to leaking secret details of the EU budget
…..
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/Politics/article1317311.ece Paywall
Jon: “get yer debating caps on.”
Yes Sireee !
@Daniel Rich – are you of the opinion that the Holocaust was faked or exaggerated? If so, can you provide sources?
@NR – do you believe that 9/11 was a “false flag” attack? What evidence can you provide for this theory?
@”Gordon is a moron” – do you object to immigration? If so, why is that?
Looking forward to the responses and hopefully some fruitful engagement.
Also, would lwtc247 like to tell everyone what his handle stands for, so that a further interesting discussion can be initiated?
Also, Oddie, where are you going with your Israel/Kenyan shopping mall links?
And once more, what significance does Mary attach to Kanye West’s apparent wearing of a Kabbalah bracelet?
Thanks in advance.
Craig – it’s nice that you are putting the boot into the psychotic Kazakh dictator Nazarbayev, even if only in the context of his paid grinning helper, Tony Blair.
Nazarbayev is a major looter and mafia boss, and a complete fruitcake, like all dictators.
He admires dictator Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore.
The other ‘man with the money’ in Kazakhstan is Alexander Mashkevitch. He’s a Jew from Kyrgyzstan.
The western media, and indeed the world media, usually stay away from calling heads of state or other government figures ‘billionaires’, which several are. But they admit that people like Mashkevitch are exactly that.
Mashkevitch owns a large percentage of the Kazakh economy, which is rich not just in oil but many other minerals. He also has minerals interests in Africa, and some in Russia.
He’s based in London. Last I heard, the British press were calling him a “London-based Israeli businessman”. He was president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.
Nazarbayev for a Nobel? Maybe make the nutter the president of Eurasia? He can rule from his pyramid, right? There’s already a ‘National University of Eurasia’ in the Kazakh capital Astana. Those who want to get a grip on the scale of the lunacy should start by looking at the architecture of the new part of that city. Wasn’t it Haushofer who said he who controls the centre of the world island controls the world?
Nazarbayev has done very well for himself since he was a member of the Soviet Politburo.
As for Mashkevitch, the ‘E’ in the name of his best-known company stands for ‘Eurasian’.
Meanwhile, a comedian is paid to mock Kazakhstan in racist terms, to help people continue to avoid getting a clue about what’s going on in that country and the rest of Central Asia.
(Not that central Asia actually is at the centre of Asia. Mongolia is.)
I Feel so sick in my Fkin Stomach after seeing this
http://freedomoutpost.com/2013/06/toddler-forced-to-watch-execution-of-parents-while-chained-by-syrian-rebels/
the worst i have felt in years, tears.
Bastards
need to go out a long walk
N_ writes: “He’s a Jew from Kyrgyzstan”
Would you like to make a little star for him to wear?
Israeli ‘security officials’ have been active in the part-Israeli-owned Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi.
AFP:
“the carnage at the part Israeli-owned complex mall”
“Kenyan police, troops and special forces then moved in and went shop-to-shop inside the shopping centre. Foreign security officials — from Israel, the United States and Britain — were also seen at the complex.”
Of course the AFP don’t ask WHY.
New York Times:
“American officials have long warned that Nairobi’s malls were ripe targets for terrorists, especially Westgate, because a cafe on the ground floor, right off the street, is owned by Israelis.”
Another report:
“Eran Ochayon, like most people at the mall, wasn’t Muslim. His friend, hiding elsewhere in the complex, sent him a text message. It was the shahada, an Islamic creed typically recited at daily prayers.”
“Ochayon, a Jewish businessman from Israel, scrawled it on his hand in Arabic: ‘I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except God, and Muhammad is his servant and messenger.’ He repeated the line to himself as he hid inside a bank at the Westgate mall, where he was taking out money when the attack began.”
What a helpful friend, eh? How on the ball!
I wonder how many other friends of people who knew what to do in a crisis got text messages.
By the way, the big synagogue compound in central Nairobi close to the shopping centre is run by…can anyone guess?…clue: remember Mumbai?…yes, step forward the international gangsters of the Chabad (aka ‘Lubavitch’) organisation.
Meanwhile…Marks and Spencer’s run premises at several the most important British railway stations. That must have taken a lot of muscle. Same with the motorway service stations.
And Israeli crooks run stalls in British shopping malls, advertising paintball and snake-oil face cream and other nonsense.
Where are MI5 when we really need them?
(Aficionados will recall that Stella Rimington took a directorship from Marks and Spencer’s after she retired from running MI5. How obvious can all this be?)
(Lastly – hi there, Anon – you’ve not been doing hasbara for very long, then, right, to judge by your question “are you of the opinion that the Holocaust was faked or exaggerated? If so, can you provide sources?“)
Anon, have fun, Queensbury rules :). However, I’m not sure starting eight or nine conversations is fruitful, if you intend to give them all the time they deserve. Just a thought?
Btw, on 9/11, we have a post for that, since the topic has a tendency to swamp everything else. It had auto-closed comments (due to non-activity) so I’ve opened them again permanently. Break a leg here:
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2010/01/the_911_post/comment-page-10/#comments
Anon – I know I just responded to something you said earlier, which was before I’d read your cheap dishonest quip about making a billionaire criminal wear a star. I won’t be responding to you again, so maybe don’t waste your time?
“Meanwhile…Marks and Spencer’s run premises at several the most important British railway stations. That must have taken a lot of muscle. Same with the motorway service stations. And Israeli crooks run stalls in British shopping malls, advertising paintball and snake-oil face cream and other nonsense.”
Deary me, N_, these Jews get everywhere, don’t they.
Incidentally, on the taking of Israeli citizenship by Jews from outside that country. The facts: 1) it’s on offer (or in their own terms, ‘recognition’ of it is on offer) to all Jews living outside of occupied Palestine, so long as they haven’t taken up a non-Jewish religion; 2) Israel does not, as a rule, extradite anyone. (Doubtless some hasbaranik will find a counter-example, but I said ‘as a rule’.) Israel is therefore a haven for Jewish criminals when they need one.
But you didn’t refer to him as a “billionaire criminal”, did you N_?
You called him a Jew.
Jon, I’m well aware of the 9/11 “dungeon”. Sadly, despite an effortless controlled demolition of the various theories by a professional engineer there, some contributors persist with their ideas. As I am not a believer in censorship – even of Holocaust denial – I believe that such views should be challenged wherever they are found.
I think various things are being insinuated about the attack on the Israeli owned Kenyan shopping mall. Now don’t be shy, are we of the opinion that this was a Zionist false flag op?
Rather than waste bandwidth and potentially give readers RSI from excessive mouse scrolling, instead of asking who here believes 9/11 was a false flag, I am going to keep it very short by asking, who here does NOT believe 9/11 was a false flag?
Anon.
“are we of the opinion that this was a Zionist false flag op?”
Speak for yourself. Insufficient evidence so far either to support or dismiss this hypothesis.
@ BrianFujisan,
Q: the worst i have felt in years, tears.
R: Man, if that is how you feel, I won’t watch it. I’ve seen way too much bloodshed already, but poor, little kid. Very sad indeed.
I’ve changed some words below. What would people think of the following?
According to the AFP, there has been carnage at a part Iranian-owned shopping mall which services the wealthy of Nairobi in Kenya. Since the shooting started, security officials and special forces from Iran, North Korea and Hamas have been seen at the complex.
The Teheran News reports that North Korean officials have long warned that Nairobi’s malls were ripe targets for terrorists, especially Westgate, because a cafe on the ground floor, right off the street, is owned by Iranians.
In another report, Iranian businessman Bizhan Ahmad describes how he was hiding elsewhere in the complex, where he received a text message instructing him on how to present himself as a US citizen, which he did. The message instructed him in the specifics of what sentences he should say, and in what accent.
It is noted that the big mosque compound in central Nairobi close to the shopping centre is run by Salafists rumoured to be involved in the worldwide illegal drugs trade, and is guarded by armed security men. Iranian interests also own a large slice of the shopping centre itself.
The standoff continues, as Iranian and Hamas diplomatic, security and military officials gather outside the Westgate mall.
OK, now change all the geographical and national terms I’ve just used to ‘Israeli’, and ‘Salafist’ to ‘Chabad’.
N_ called Mashkevitch a billionaire criminal. Mashkevitch calls himself an Israeli and a Jew.
So sorry to hear of your experience with Russian hard men, Daniel, I have had similar experiences in my younger life, no doubt Brian Fujisan has seen many a square inches of Dojo mats…;)
When you say that Japans economy depends on the Olympics, that they must and will happen, whatever happens in Fukushima.
One would not like to pre judge athletes and we have to wait what happens in November when they are planning to remove the fuel rods from the pool on the 4th floor. The final decision will lie with athletes and international bodies, not with any politician. If November’s operation goes seriously wrong, because Japan (like any other island mentality challenged nation) felt that global expertise is not required, they can start sharpening their tanto’s and watch the fuel rods burn.
@ all those watching Anon’s wave of questions trying to engage us here.
It is a cyclical affliction and we have had those debates before, so should he get anyone to bite his lure, you will see some homely arguments fly back and forth and after that it will all die down again.
have we dun with Broon?
The Times of India reports that Israeli forces have now entered the mall in Nairobi.
“The Israelis have just entered and they are rescuing the hostages and the injured,” the source told AFP on condition he not be named.
It’s interesting that this is the Times of India, because during the attacks in Mumbai in 2008 in which many innocent people were slaughtered, the Israelis pushed and pushed to carry out a military attack in that city in response to the attack on the Chabadniks. (Never mind all the other people, of course.)
They wanted a kind of super-Entebbe: Israel shows weak little India the way; oh yes, and the world too, because this is a world war and Israel shows how to fight it. It’s only a matter of time until they get a super-Entebbe.
“The Kenyan Red Cross appealed for blood donations and authorities urged residents to steer clear of the area.”
Maybe there will be some opportunities for organ traders too? This is of course a vile thing to talk about, but rest assured, there will be those to whose minds this business opportunity has occurred.
“Foreign security officials — from Israel, the United States and Britain — were also seen at the complex.“
Crikey. It’s not Shillary in disguise is it?
‘BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says a security source told him that at least one of the attackers was a woman who appeared to have a leadership role.’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24193059
Sky’s opening line on their 1.30pm news, openly said that ‘Israeli advisors’ are assisting the Kenyan authorities. A Dr Alvarez was handily in the studio to confirm this to the presenter, saying that it is because Israel has a long history of success in such matters!
What is the ‘news’, and what is the Sword of Gideon film? Can anyone tell the difference?
Or am I out of date? Is it Defiance nowadays, with the ads plastered all over the place during the 2009 Gaza massacre.
‘Sword of Gideon’ is the film (there have probably been others) where Israeli assassins travel to various countries to murder Palestinian resistants. I remember one scene where they happen to be there when a bomb goes off, and they heroically find time to help the innocent injured before they have to get out of there, so as to continue with their heroic higher-level task. But oh how they would have loved just to stay and help people!
The western media paints the soldiers of this super-racist and fascist regime as lovers of humanity. It is enough to make any decent person want to vomit.
Thank you Jon for your balanced commentary. And it’s true. Res Dis mentioned David Irving and his slanted view on Nazi history. For the record I was one of those who opposed Irving when he came to talk (dictate) at Birmingham University in 1980, and one of my lecturers (now Professor) Jonathan Haslam was on the platform with Irving. I did not oppose Irving’s right to speak, though many on the left did, and I felt they did us an injustice by chanting while Irving was speaking. It did not phase Irving who stood there arms akimbo and hands on hips expressing his contested opinion with the arrogance of any and all who are convinced there is no other argument but their’s. Today, however, the German holocaust inflicted on Jews is a nasty piece of history, which has been superseded by other and more recent holocausts in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lybia, Somalia, Yemen and elsewhere. These, and the ones to come, are holocausts I opposed, and will oppose, while they happen. I cannot change history and probably cannot change what is being planned. But I can express an opinion.
Resident Dissident should look at his/her past comments and see how many attempt to make me out to be anti-Jewish. And then see if he recognises anything in the link below. I included it on the previous thread:
“Meanwhile have a listen to this Jewish lady explain the tricks Israel uses to divert from the truth, use of the terms Holocaust and anti-Semitic. It’s a trick she says, we always use it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUGVPBO9_cA
Then consider whether certain former comment-makers on this blog did not use the same tactics.”
Dave ‘I am a Zionist’ Cameron {http://www.jpost.com/International/Cameron-declares-himself-a-Zionist} has just been on the visual media in prime ministerial mode expressing sorrow at the news that 3 Britons are dead, condemning the attack, offering to assist the Kenyan authorities and warning of further bad news. On the latter, what does he know? I assume it means that there is a large number of hostages. Is he getting the info from Tel Aviv?
Mary, somebody should ask David Cameron what happened to the two nuclear weapons that went missing in Africa?
It is on topic because Peter Eyre published the second blog-piece the day before Gordon Brown was to give evidence to the Iraq Inquiry.
http://petereyrepatch.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/us-and-uk-lost-three-nuclear-weapons_03.html
http://petereyrepatch.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/us-and-uk-lost-three-nuclear-weapons_04.html