The Independent has an article about the new FCO sponsored Mitchell and Webb “comedy”, which was made with FCO co-operation and is openly an attempt to bolster its image – and to make light of, and acceptable, the disgraceful British alliance with the dictator of Uzbekistan. The argument that this series is based on – and is an attempt to counter the effect of – Murder in Samarkand – is overwhelming.
Not least because the producers of Ambassadors, Big Talk, attempted to buy the rights to Murder in Samarkand. They invited me to, and I attended, a meeting in their offices and they had several copies of Murder in Samarkand in their office. They also had access to the original unpublished (and much longer) manuscript of the book, under its original title Should Not Be Known. For them to pretend their “Tazbekistan” comedy is unrelated does not just make them lying bastards, it is ludicrous.
I did get solicitors to write both to Big Talk and to the BBC, but unfortunately the lawyers wanted money amounting to tens of thousands to apply for a copyright injunction, and I just don’t have it.
The Independent article takes the opportunity to recycle ten year old slurs against me by the FCO, without mentioning that they were disproven.
I wonder if one of my talented commenters could design an online “poster” for Murder in Samarkand, showing the book, Mitchell and Webb or the Ambassadors logo, and the slogan “Murder in Samarkand – Now a Major TV Series”. Then we can get it everywhere we can on the web, and the bastards can try and sue me! That would turn the tables nicely.
The other extraordinary thing in the Independent article is the contention that New Labour had an ethical foreign policy, as though the tabloid humiliation and marginalisation of Robin Cook- and the dodgy dossier and invasion of Iraq – had never happened.
@Mary
“She got applauded by the followers. They (the warmongers and the abusers of human rights) should all be put in cells on a cold island.”
I presume you had something like this in mind
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solovki_prison_camp
Christ, it’s masonic policemen’s hour. Look, Anon, it’s in the Torygraph so it must be true. Not a lefty librul conspiracy at all. More like a hardline righty one if you ask me….
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8713343/Freemasons-in-the-police-leading-the-attack-on-David-Camerons-riot-response.html
Edward Snowden’s father arrives in Russia to visit his son.
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2013/10/sse-makes-1500-profit-a-minute/
Aaronovitch of the Times tweets that as MI5 Parker said that Snowden had done damage it must be true. A true stenographer to power.
https://twitter.com/daaronovitch/status/388206979203600384
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/thread/1381399858.html
Komodo,
“Would I be wrong in thinking Anon is anxious not to explore the core issues: justice delayed is justice denied; subordination of our laws to the US judicial system, the presumption of innocence until found guilty….”
************
No Dragon you would not be wrong.
Anon and co are not anxious to explore these core issues of law.
Until,of course,7 years incarceration without trial happened to them or their families.
Only then would you hear their wailing.
Are the Anon with specs and Anon without specs one and the same?
Collective noun for a gathering of Anons anyone?
Aaronovitch,like Con Coughlin,Nick Cohen,Frank Gardiner,Gordon Corera etc..
Ever ready to parrot the bullshit gushing from their Masters lying mouths.
Horrible types,just horrible.
Oh,i almost forgot Dame Pauline Neville-Jones.
Jives Ha!
Puppet pipes up to join in the attack on Snowden. No show without Punch.
Edward Snowden leaks damaging, says Nick Clegg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24476047
Wonder if he has another job lined up post May 2015?
There is no way SSE should be putting up prices as much as they propose – the prices for forward purchases of electricity and gas, which is how they should be purchasing from wholesale markets if they are efficient are now lower than they were a year ago. Though I daresay that the suppliers will now go and rig that market short-term just to fool OFGEM and Cameron and Co.
http://www.edwt.org/content-documents/EDW_Energy_Wholesale_Market_Review_Week_Ending_20131004.pdf
How is this any different to “Secret Army” morphing into “Allo Allo”?
One deadly serious one questionably funny.
This does seem to make you seem having lost some perspective.
Guess that makes me a government stooge or whatever 🙂
@Mary
Collective noun for a gathering of Anons anyone?
Wikileaks? <- meant to be praise.
Following Resident Dissident’s comment last night and today’s Guardian article it is worth looking at the following from Craig’s book before concluding that all educational co-operation with Uzbekistan is a bad thing.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=d7nBlwm_yV4C&pg=PA281&lpg=PA281&dq=%22craig+murray%22+%22university+of+westminster%22&source=bl&ots=7Maf9a8ciL&sig=I0OW47WSmSEr0vlubGFVCnB4XGM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=i59WUpHZDoKshQfK54GgDQ&ved=0CEgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22craig%20murray%22%20%22university%20of%20westminster%22&f=false
Nick Cohen …..Ever ready to parrot the bullshit gushing from their Masters lying mouths.
Really?
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/nick-cohen/2013/09/righteous-indifference-and-how-to-fight-it/
http://nickcohen.net/2013/09/29/open-government-dont-make-me-laugh/
http://nickcohen.net/2013/09/26/how-many-more-must-die-for-qatars-world-cup/
http://nickcohen.net/2013/09/16/the-privatised-sexual-abuse-of-immigrant-women/
What you mean is that he doesn’t agree with everything you say – like 99.99% of the population
“Collective noun for a gathering of Anons anyone?”
An anonymass
Or maybe just a lurk
Wow!
1. Craig gets ambassador’s job.
2. Craig does ambassador’s job (facilitating UK interests), well.
3. Craig realises regime stinks, says so.
4. Craig no longer has ambassador’s job.
Thank you for highlighting (2) above.
And see –
http://ipd-lcf.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/uzbekistan-partnership-with-tashkent.html
The current ambassador, Edgar, is very keen on this partnership, but hasn’t yet said the regime stinks. Possibly because Gulnara’s close to the LCF…
Anon,
“What you mean is that he doesn’t agree with everything you say – like 99.99% of the population”
*********
So do you know 99.99% of the population Anon?
Nah,thought not.
That latter half of your sentence though is reminiscent of a 5 year old’s playground retort-but sillier.
Are you gonna get your big brother to beat me up as well?
Matthew Amroliwala just made a boob on the News Channel. He said ‘big heist’ instead of ‘big hike’ when talking of the SSE price rise. Wonder if someone sabotaged the autocue!
Miss Sophie Long was then about to extol the virtues of the Desert Rats on their deployment to Helmand but neither the film or David Loyn live from Afghanistan appeared so she stood there looking rather awkward.
Oops.
Anonymously asked;
What was the outcome of the parliamentary inquiry into freemasons in public life to declare their involvement in a register at the behest of Chris Mullin MP? The grand master just humbly asked to be excused and not answer any questions, and that was the end of that then.
No evidence required indeed.
The Azerbaijan Electoral Commission have employed mystics, and clairvoyants. They have announced the winner of the presidential elections, the day before the elections are held.
Let me be the first to congratulate the current president His Excellency President Ilham Aliyev the most fantastic ever president (Azerbaijan has known no other, that is except his dad) winning the hearts and minds of the people of that country that is a very good friend of UK, US, and has special relationships with zionistan.
Winning the seventy three percent of the vote the day before the elections are held is only a measure of the esteem of
the inmatespeople of Azerbaijan who have made it their business to vote astrally the day before the elections were held.Democracy is the best ever, ever, ever, ever, racket the reach one percent have hit on, and it is great to be the king. (for the king that is).
Proud to have such fantastic trail blazers in democracy on ours side.
Anon – No a Dubai contact exposed the Syrian chemical deception now in the public eye.
Superficial was a trait of pimp ‘smart alec’ [cough] who used his police contacts to protect him, that is until he duped them out of their share of the loot…
Mark Golding, the intriguing comment has got me running around to learn as to who it was, the semantic web as yet is not cutting the mustard, hence the none success. Any hints, if it is not any trouble?
PS I for one enjoy your contributions and make a point of reading them, thanks Mar.
Komodo
I don’t know if you have read Craig’s book, but I got the impression that Craig did not believe that engaging with young people and students in Uzbekistan was a worthless pursuit – and is something that ambassadors should spend more time on rather than indulging in the gesture politics of boycotts etc.
Jives
99.99% was just an estimate – so how many people do you estimate agree with everything you say? Of course you would never indulge in a playground retort would you?
Recollecting the earlier comment, the bizarre story goes on;
U.S Congressmen congratulate Azerbaijani President
Anon –
Entirely worthy point. But I feel the argument for engagement as the sole corrective to the likes of Karimov is akin to that of the Trotskyite who gets a job in the City on the pretext of subverting the system from within. While Craig presumably recognises better than most the value of engagement with anyone who will talk to you halfway rationally, he also seems to have realised that engagement only gets you so far, and that an atrocious regime playing his country for a sucker is not a system he wants to collude with. Apologies, Craig, if I am misreading your thoughts, anyway.
Re. Azeri Elections-You Don’t Have to be Psychic…
http://www.ibtimes.com/azerbaijani-president-aliyev-one-israels-best-friends-arms-buyer-re-elected-third-straight-term
I guess we won’t be helping any rebels there, then.
Craig has a new post up OK, Now You Sue Me!
AA; First it’s toast, then it’s good to go…
http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/comet-ison-likely-survive-sun-131010.htm
It seems Gambia has to be on the list of to liberate next. Last week she left the commonwealth to stop her membership in a neo colonial organisation.
===
Komodo, winning an election before it is even conducted is solely to do with the super powers of forevoting! However, the link you have forwarded explains the need for such an arrangement. It is all in the wristband as they say!!!
Collective noun:
A shilling of Anons.