Ray McGovern and the Sam Adams party have presented the Sam Adams award to Edward Snowden. I am delighted. This from Ray’s account of the event:
In brief remarks from his visitors, Snowden was reassured — first and foremost — that he need no longer be worried that nothing significant would happen as a result of his decision to risk his future by revealing documentary proof that the U.S. government was playing fast and loose with the Constitutional rights of Americans.
Even amid the government shutdown, Establishment Washington and the normally docile “mainstream media” have not been able to deflect attention from the intrusive eavesdropping that makes a mockery of the Fourth Amendment. Even Congress is showing signs of awaking from its torpor.
In the somnolent Senate, a few hardy souls have gone so far as to express displeasure at having been lied to by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and NSA Director Keith Alexander — Clapper having formally apologized for telling the Senate Intelligence Committee eavesdropping-related things that were, in his words, “clearly erroneous” and Alexander having told now-discredited whoppers about the effectiveness of NSA’s intrusive and unconstitutional methods in combating terrorism.
Coleen Rowley, the first winner of the Sam Adams Award (2002), cited some little-known history to remind Snowden that he is in good company as a whistleblower — and not only because of previous Sam Adams honorees. She noted that in 1773, Benjamin Franklin leaked confidential information by releasing letters written by then-Lt. Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Hutchinson to Thomas Whatley, an assistant to the British Prime Minister.
The letters suggested that it was impossible for the colonists to enjoy the same rights as subjects living in England and that “an abridgement of what are called English liberties” might be necessary. The content of the letters was so damaging to the British government that Benjamin Franklin was dismissed as colonial Postmaster General and had to endure an hour-long censure from British Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn.
There has been a determined attempt by government to justify the need to intercept everybody’s communications, all the time. We have, yet again, had MI5 claim there are many thousand violent Islamic terrorists running around the UK, (yet somehow not managing to kill anybody). The cry of “paedophiles” is raised, as always. I can imagine them suggesting the entire population be shot dead, and justifying it as making sure they get the paedophiles. The tabloids would go with that.
There still had not been a single credible claim by the mainstream media that any named individual has died, despite that contingency being trotted out all the time as the reason Snowden and Manning should not have revealed state crimes and abuse of power. I am hopeful that, with the internet still largely free to the dissemination of information, out next massive whistleblower is only weeks away.
You’re a gonner, Guano. You convert, sorry, “revert” to Islam and then call your countrymen filthy kaffirs. You must have been abused as a child or something.
“Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (rough translation “It’s an honour to die for your country”).”
Is it an honour to kill for your country? Because that’s what they really mean.
Oh gawd, it’s poppy time again …
“Whatever your opinion of the idiocy of WW1, or Iraq, those were not choices made by the soldiers who gave up their lives.” — anon-with-shades
Fair enough. But it was their own choice to join the military, was it not?
And frankly, this Sky News “Fallen Heroes” thing pisses me off. Everyone who dies in a war is not necessarily a hero. With all due respect, a guy (or girl) could have been running away when he/she was blown up. Or hiding behind a truck or whatever. The word “hero” is being debased, just as the term anti-semite has been.
http://news.sky.com/story/951515/fallen-heroes-tributes-to-the-fallen-british-military-personnel-in-afghanistan
Anon,
Oh wheesht ya old melodramatic blowhard queen.
If the soldiers thought it folly why didnt they conscientiously object/resign/refuse orders?
They can do this if they choose.
” It’s just a job”
Yes that’s right, Macky, just a job.
Dreoilin, what irks me is Mary’s armchair shot at those who voluntary raise money for the families of the injured and dead. You really haven’t got the point.
” War is organised murder,and nothing else.”
Harry Patch,the last survivor of The Western Front.
Very few heroes in war.
“You really haven’t got the point.”
And you’ve ignored mine.
Obviously raising money for the families of the injured and dead is not a problem to me. But why do they have to do it? Shouldn’t it be the warmongers’ (government’s) job to do that? Look after them?
Dreoilin,
Exactly.
If these warmongering desk cowards were as quick in their duty of care to soldiers as they were to send them to war then volunteers wouldnt have to raise funds.
Agreed, Jives.
“Obviously raising money for the families of the injured and dead is not a problem to me”
Right, so your objection to my post is?
“But why do they have to do it? Shouldn’t it be the warmongers’ (government’s) job to do that? Look after them?”
Point well made, Dreoilin. Go for the politicians, not the soldiers. Back to point one!
9000 ex-service personnel homeles,July 2013 UK
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/9000-ex-service-personnel-homeless-after-2071049
Jives 6:36, Dreoilin 6:52,
You really don’t get it, do you. Mary’s post is an attack on the fundraisers, not those who waged the wars.
“so your objection to my post is?”
The military (in Britain – not so sure about the U.S. where they are a huge lobby) don’t make the decision to go to war. Ok. The likes of D Cameron and his cohorts do.
But any lad who joins the military must know two things: 1) He’ll be ordered into danger at some point, and 2) he may lose his life.
The ads on the TV don’t say that, of course. The ads offer them “adventure”. But nevertheless, they all know the ‘job’ can be lethal. And if they choose to join up, well … they know they’ll be trained how to kill, don’t they. Kill or be killed.
(Sorry, going for dinner. Back anon)
Jives,
“9000 ex-service personnel homeles,July 2013 UK”
You go on and on misrepresenting my views. My contention is not that politicians are not lying shysters who send soldiers to die on the basis of lies, and then do little to support them, but that Mary’s post represents a disgusting attack on those who volunteer their time to do exactly what the government fails to do. Understand?
Anon,
Oh i get it allright.
These volunteers,tho well meaning im sure,need to realise that by doing so are simply exonerating the Govt of their moral responsibilities.
Dreoilin at 6.41 pm. You mean the government should pay them out of the oil revenues stolen from the defeated. Unfortunately that goes to the private sector, whereas the military are owned by the public sector. That’s the difficulty. If it makes money privatise it. If it loses money give it to the public sector, unless there’s a profitable part of it, or it becomes profitable.
John Goss,
‘ the military are owned by the public sector’
Now theres a thread all if its own…:-)
The sick ziofuckwit wanker taking up position behind “support our troops” is on a fucking roll;
Wheeeehhhhheeeeeey, pass the fucking sick bucket. This anon has its head so far up and too deep up the arse of the propagandists to notice that soldiers are doing job and for a fucking living, so far no one ever has cared about the fucking; dustbin men, bus drivers, truck drivers, nurses, road sweeps, ……. but fucking soldiers, what makes them any more precious than the rest?
Then the racist wanker with a racist tirade reminds the fake Mulsim:
Needless to point out resident rodent need not get on his antisem…. hobby horse, cuz the racist bastard is only attacking the “subhuman Muslims”, and not the “Jewish master race”.
Then in a further step following in the steps of habakooky, jemand the nunce, carrying on the traditions of the ziofuckwits, adds:
This is the kind of fuckwit that is supposed to be swinging the public opinion to fall in line and behind their fucking government. No wonder no one is voting and the masses are taking flight from the shagnasty wankers “representative government” selection scam!
@Nasty Nutter
“the ONLY way GB could oust the Miranda was the threaten to leak his recruitment by the CIA, right from Cambridge where they paid for his banger too.”
I think you will find that GB went to Edinburgh – Cambridge is where Putin’s lot do their recruiting.
That got Anon with the shades going. Good of him to print my comment again for emphasis.
Q Are the Anon without shades and the Anon with shades one and the same? Most confusing.
As I write, the local news has finished. No guesses for the theme. The programme ended with viewers’ photos with Wagner’s The Ride of the Valkyries, for the background. Ridiculous.
The schedule has moved on to The One Show. The male presenter (ubiquitous on the BBC) and the female presenter are both be-poppied, as are some B list actress cum talent show judge and guess, a weather forecaster who is talking about, yes the STORM, now named Storm St Jude! I give up. One of these days, I will stop paying the licence fee.
PS I think I must return the insult from Anon. Most applicable to him and untrue about my life.
“You sit there, all day, with nothing to do and fuck all to contribute…”
“Wheeeehhhhheeeeeey, pass the fucking sick bucket.”
I don’t know what happened to ‘Wheeeehhhhheeeeeey slap my thigh’, or ‘Wheeeehhhhheeeeeey I should cocoa too’. But since that person has arrived, I’m going elsewhere.
Regardless of whether Britain’s military sad sacks lose their nuts or their faces or big chunks of their heads or just their minds, her majesty’s hapless cannon fodder cease to be an object of pity when they fail to do their duty under the Nuremberg Principles and denounce and resist crimes against peace. Then they are criminals. Or child soldiers, perhaps. Either way they will need to be rehabilitated like dehumanized LRA zombies.
So stick your poppies up your chancre-pocked ass, you inbred royal sow. Fuck your degenerate Britain. We’ll break it into proper nations and take your entailed land and give it to the peoples.
Macky
I’ll save my scorn for you rather than Jack Straw – have your searches found a single example yet?
Whhhhheeeeeeeehhhhhheeyyyyy slap my thigh, oh Mr. Darcy I declare, the zimmerframe with go faster stripes is clanking away into yonder setting sun. Good fucking riddance.
Cameron gets all hard man and issues veiled(geddit!!?) to Grauniad over Snowden leaks.
Apparently The Sun quotes a surveiilance ‘insider’ (the tea lsdy??) saying the Turrrr$t$ have “all gone quiet” after the leaks.
Load of absolute bollox as per. Any real terrorist,or even a bumbling patsy amateur wouldce known for 20+ years not to say jackshit on phones/online.
Or maybe its all gone quiet cos theyre having their tea and watching Sky Sports…
Total bollox all of it.
But snything to deflect the heat from Cameron as his ginger lovely phone hacking go-to-gal gets ready to squeal..
Sorry forgot linkee for above
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/28/david-cameron-nsa-threat-newspapers-guardian-snowden#comments
Some of Craig’s posts reference poppies. All of the comments thereon are troll free. So different to now.
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2007/11/frank_goebbels/
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2009/11/remembrance_and/
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2011/11/happy-birthday-to-my-mum/
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2011/11/the-day-democracy-died-in-europe/
In the same vein.
Got His Gun: Lost His Legs, Arms, and Penis
by David Swanson / October 27th, 2013
Ann Jones’ new book, They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return from America’s Wars: The Untold Story, is devastating, and almost incomprehensibly so when one considers that virtually all of the death and destruction in U.S. wars is on the other side. Statistically, what happens to U.S. troops is almost nothing. In human terms, it’s overwhelming.
Know a young person considering joining the military? Give them this book.
Know a person not working to end war? Give them this book.
Jones presents the choice before us in the clearest terms in the introduction:
Contrary to common opinion in the United States, war is not inevitable. Nor has it always been with us. War is a human invention — an organized, deliberate action of an anti-social kind — and in the long span of human life on Earth, a fairly recent one. For more than 99 percent of the time that humans have lived on this planet, most of them have never made war. Many languages don’t even have a word for it. Turn off CNN and read anthropology. You’ll see.
What’s more, war is obsolete. Most nations don’t make war anymore, except when coerced by the United States to join some spurious ‘coalition.’ The earth is so small, and our time here so short. No other nation on the planet makes war as often, as long, as forcefully, as expensively, as destructively, as wastefully, as senselessly, or as unsuccessfully as the United States. No other nation makes war its business.
/..
http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/10/got-his-gun-lost-his-legs-arms-and-penis/
Im in the trenches too.
In keeping with my ongoing war of attrition with fiendish German utility mob E-on and revelling in my new found austere spartan self i am now typing this under a duvet.with one candle,and all other sources of power switched off at the wall.
Its tough at the top you know.
Mary at 7.34. I remember the good old troll-free days. I’ll be bloody glad when Craig’s finished his history. Then the blog can return to normal. Hopefully.