One of my oldest and dearest friends has gone public on his support for Scottish Independence. I am greatly cheered by this. More thoughts later.
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NHS fees plan is a turning point in privatisation. April 1st 2014
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/apr/01/nhs-fees-plan-turning-point-privatisation
habby approvingly quotes Nye Bevan’s view:
“in favour of keeping Britain’s nuclear deterrent : something about “not being sent naked into the conference chamber”.”
BUT Britain doesn’t have an independent nuclear deterrent anymore. They can’t shoot their load without first getting guidance codes from Washington.
Britain is now completely naked, without whatever briefs Washington cares to supply.
And the cleaning bill is very high.
“According to a US diplomatic telegram released by WikiLeaks last year, President Obama handed over the unique serial numbers of the UK’s missiles to the Russians as part of an arms reduction deal, despite the strong objections of Her Majesty’s Government. As a result the Russians now know exactly what we have got and what it can do. Sucking up to Putin is clearly more important than the ‘independence’ of the British deterrent.”
http://www.theweek.co.uk/politics/45658/nonsense-heart-britains-independent-nuclear-defence
That’s Crispin Black, no less, who knows where all the dirty briefs are buried.
Why has the US stayed silent over the missing Malaysian Boeing 777 when it has the best equipment in the area where the plane was said to be heading? Diego Garcia, where the US has a specialist and highly secret base acquired in a land-grab coup, from where the Chagossians were kicked out, after all their dogs had been gassed by the good old Yanks, to where UK residents were extraordinarily rendered, has its own runway and prison, yet not a squeak from our so-called ally across the Atlantic.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/why-was-the-malaysian-mh370-flight-not-detected-by-the-diego-garcia-us-naval-and-intelligence-base-in-the-indian-ocean/5375272
For a few hours it looked like you’d gone away HabbAKÜK; but alas like the bad penny that you are, you crop up.
No love,no hate, but I am curious as to why you are here. You don’t seem to like many of the posters.. all you seem to have is a well ironed turn of phrase.
They say they want to turn the NHS into a profit centre,(making business), and yet at every turn they forbid the NHS to work with the money making stuff.Virgin can take over all of that. It’s a scam. The NHS does not get VAT back,but business does. Why ? That’s a huge chunk of money.
This Govt ,supported by the Liberals are setting the NHS up to fail…. then of course it needs replaced.
At the same time ,Cost + in the NHS is no different to QE 1 ,2,3 & 4 in the finance world.
Difference is that the money helps sick people as opposed to the money creating sick people.
Interesting concurrence with Craig’s views on Crimea from Gregor Gysi, http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/951.php
This seems crucial to his argument: ‘Through the violation of international law via customary law you can also create new international law.’ Sounds like he’s referring to the ICJ endorsement of Kosovo secession with which Putin justified Ukraine’s secession. But was the ICJ wrong? Is the new law invalid? If somebody could explain his point I would be much obliged.
Stuart Littlewood’s good piece on DV about Livni and the JNF’s invite to her. He explains the current law. In September 2011 the British government changed the ground rules by providing the director of public prosecutions with the power of veto over private applications for arrest warrants. That is a lengthy process which allows the person in question to slip away and also costly in terms of legal fees presumably.
This coalition changed the law on universal jurisdiction by slipping it in to the Police Reform and Social Responsiblity Act. Yet another facet of their fascist mindset.
£50 for an Audience with Israeli “Justice” Minister on War Crimes Wanted List
…and Basking Under the Special Protection of Her Majesty’s Government
by Stuart Littlewood / April 1st, 2014
http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/04/50-for-an-audience-with-israeli-justice-minister-on-war-crimes-wanted-list/
::::
Michael Mansfield on the change in the law.
Sleep easy, war criminals
Britain’s insulting new rules on arrest warrants will only encourage Israel’s view of itself as above international law
The Guardian, Friday 7 October 2011
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/07/israel-tzipi-livni
@Goss
“Why has the US stayed silent over the missing Malaysian Boeing 777”
Probably because they know very little – especially as it was heading away from Diego Garcia. But don’t let that stop the usual conspiracy theory on your part – why let a little thing like no evidence get in your way, it never has before.
@Herbie
I thought Redwood worked for a subsidiary of Credit Suisse First Boston – last time I looked neither Switzerland or Boston were French and CSFB was not owned by the Rothschilds. Can I presume that you will be the banking adviser to John Goss and Left Unity friends when they nationalise all our Banks on the day they string me up a lamp post?
John Goss – btw is it true that Left Unity only managed to fill 20 out of the 40 places on its National Council at its conference? Never mind it leaves open the opportunity for a bit of “democratic centralism”.
ferd; “Interesting concurrence with Craig’s views on Crimea from Gregor Gysi”
I can only assume you have not read Craig posts on the Ukraine, as not much of this concurs at all, unfortunately, quite the opposite.
“This Govt ,supported by the Liberals are setting the NHS up to fail…. then of course it needs replaced.”
Needed repeating. The US insurance firms have been circling the NHS for years, ever since it became obvious that their model back home was leading one way: to bankruptcy (in the course of this, many many individuals became rich, naturally).
Resident Dissident
Read the article and argue against it. I know this would stretch your grey matter to its limit. Never an iota of substance from you. You just lift a sentence and think this will do. I’ll tell everyone it’s wrong and they’ll believe me. Truth is RD nobody gives you any more credibility than Habbabkuk, because you have been cloned from the same mould. Get a grip and argue the case against the article. Otherwise people will think you’re a twat, that is more of a twat than they already think. And address me properly if you want to gain my respect.
Donny
“This Govt ,supported by the Liberals are setting the NHS up to fail…. then of course it needs replaced.”
Precisely.
That’s been ongoing a long time. The NHS is the biggie. the last on the list.
Takes a bit of time, cunning and effort to overturn the British people’s fondness for the NHS, to the point where they’ll agree to nearly anything so long as they can retain the brand name, NHS.
The Royal Mail was second last. Sold off at 50% its value. Knowingly.
They’re doing exactly the same to Britain as they did to their colonies before.
But they’re running out of things to rape and plunder.
They’ll be needing new territory before the dollar falls.
===========================================
Anyone come across this.
It’s an account of Libya by an American business couple who were working on quite a substantial contract with the Libyan government, in Libya, prior to and during the invasion.
http://www.corbettreport.com/interview-849-james-and-joanne-moriarty-reveal-the-truth-about-the-libyan-war/
It’s even better than that though.
It gives you a perfectly full picture of just how the whole Neocon scam works.
Tomorrow, in about half an hour, it is world autism day. Theresa May sent a sufferer from Asberger Syndrome, Talha Ahsan to a maximum security prison on behalf of her masters. Talha, after spending more than seven years in UK prisons without being brought before a court, was extradited to the US, and has since been in solitary confinement. We are supposed to be a civilised country!
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/02/impossible-injustice-talha-ahsan%E2%80%99s-extradition-and-detention
This from John Goss to RD is nonsense. “Never an iota of substance from you”. There has been plenty of substance in Resident Dissidence’s posts; most recently in his posts on Russia. Not that he is ‘right’ all the time; no-one is ‘right’ all the time. But the fact that almost everyone here screams ‘troll’ when faced with someone who disagrees with them and feels free casually to then insult them is shameful, I think. What are you all here for? To reinforce your prejudices? Or to be challenged on, and therefore analyse, your own preconceptions?
It gets boring and it gets tiring to reiterate facts, and consequences, in the teeth of people who don’t seem to care about either. But it has to be done. And if you can’t do it with grace and without awareness that even that person who makes millions out of the destruction of the health service/environment/lives is still a person, then – well, then we’re lost, in this mindless and heartless morass.
Rant over, I thankyew. I’m not here all night, so goodnight.
You would have thought that more than eight years would have been long enough for the Yanks to have put a case together, but he is still there 23 (sometimes 24) hours a day, every day. I have no time for Theracist May.
John; quick addendum: I do think there comes a point where people cross the line between needing facts to needing help, rather than argument. As far as I can see there are a few people who comment on this blog who do this, and RD is not one of them.
This article in The Guardian seems to have caused quite a stir:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/31/nigel-farage-relationship-russian-media-scrutiny
As I said before I’m seriously thinking of voting for UKIP (or Green) and will watch tomorrow’s debate with interest just because Farage has got the guts to speak out. My view on Putin is that he had and has a pretty poor human rights record, but nothing like as bad as the 21st century leaders of the West. The history lesson of the 20th century (as of every previous century…)was that if you let your government do terrible things to people in other countries, and believe their obvious lies something terrible will come back on YOU. This was most recently true in Belgrade. The citizens of mainstream Serbia still don’t seem to know what Barbary was perpetrated in their name.
I think it’s fair to say that most Americans don’t know what’s being done in their name.
They’re poorly educated and fed non stop bread and circusses through the box.
But it’s they and their brand which will take the blame, whilst the brand owners create another brand and pull the same trick again.
Nothing personal. Just business.
Hmmm, Herbie. That’s a very cold comment, but probably right on the money, if you’ll excuse the pun.
Harking back to the last thread, I wonder if that’s the way Teflon Tony perceived it regarding Iraq. Nothing personal, we just needed the oil.
And, sadly and just as coldly, we did,and do. Can the up-coming generation imagine life without petrol (or computers!) As I’ve got two generations coming behind me, perhaps I should turn to the Greens rather than UKIP…
“Sorry, world, we tried (half of America)”
http://www.sorryeverybody.com/gallery/1/
But sure ‘they’ are mainly stupid, not.
Greens or UKiP: strange choice. No decent independents? Then vote for the ones who at least have a decent track record – cf ‘Caroline Lucas’ v ‘the ones who have mysterious millionaire backers, and chisel millions out of taxpayers’ expenses’ ?
Macky, don’t be a dick. Craig said, “In fact of course Russia was right over Kosovo, and thus is wrong over Crimea.” Gysi would agree. Now, I’m not asking you for an explanation because you failed so dismally to explain anything last time, but I want to know, from somebody who can do more than just piss randomly on other commenters,
– Does this mean the ICJ was wrong about Kosovo when it said in its July 22, 2010 advisory opinion “No general prohibition may be inferred from the practice of the Security Council with regard to declarations of independence,” and “General international law contains no prohibition on declarations of independence,”
– Or, does this mean the ICJ was recognizing precedents that actually changed the law, as Gysi implies?
Not in my area, Technicolour… and I don’t want to have to spoil my vote. I started off “anti-Europe” was then persuaded to thinking it was a good thing, both in terms of encouraging peace and economically. The first of these was dashed in 1991-2 over Yugoslavia, but I thought Europe made economic sense until the banking crash, and a slow and reluctant acceptance that unelected European bureaucrats were partly responsible. Last time I voted Libdem because I was still giving Vince Cable the benefit of the doubt. Never again!
Peacewisher 2 Apr, 2014 – 1:24 am
“…and I don’t want to have to spoil my vote.”
Why not?
Pretending you have a choice where there is none just prolongs the delusion. Don’t vote, do something useful instead.
Not that ‘fair’ Herbie from my own experience; our friends across the pond hold a sure enough sense of community. That accommodation and sense of association has lead to an ‘out to lunch’ mentality on all things non-American unless experienced directly when an amazing eagerness and spirit to engage hits pay dirt.
I agree that conditioning and brain-washing play some part on conscious development although that is universal and is outweighed by fear of vulnerability, isolation and detachment together with a growing fear of the state. We witnessed the ‘Occupy’ movement in America ‘taken down’ in a brutal way by authorities in Emergency management mode now an addendum to Homeland Security doctrine after the attack on America in 2001.
Being lied to by government is taken as ‘normal’ in America – “Its what our governments[administration] do,” said an American work colleague, “they cover all bases to insulate our lives.”
So sad..
Democracy is in trouble because an increasing number of people aren’t engaging with it. If the people decide not to engage, for whatever reason, it will become a dictatorship, and there’s no point then in crying because your voice isn’t being heard.
The “don’t vote” movement need to think it through. Are you one of them, Phil? You should know what happens to people who don’t speak up about injustice. If you have thought this through, what would you expect to replace democracy with when you’ve achieved your goal?
(apologies if you were just being facetious 🙂 )
Peacewisher 2 Apr, 2014 – 1:49 am
“Democracy is in trouble because an increasing number of people aren’t engaging with it.”
No, we are in trouble because people think that voting once every few years for one of several variations of the same party (the big business party) is democracy.
“it will become a dictatorship, and there’s no point then in crying”
People not voting will not make a dictatorship. People not engaging in politics in a meaningful way might.
“The “don’t vote” movement need to think it through.”
We do. Have done for yonks.
“what would you expect to replace democracy?”
As discussed, we currently have no real political choices. I would like, by radical decentralisation, a more democratic democracy.
Peacewisher, it’s been thought through, quite conclusively, http://fubarandgrill.org/node/1172
You’re making the common mistake of forgetting that there’s more to civil society than electoral politics – especially when electoral politics is rigged to undermine the democratic standards of ICCPR Article 25 clause b by failing to guarantee the free expression of the will of the electors.
If you walk into a restaurant and the unctuous waiter hands you a heavy menu with two items, the Shit Sandwich and the Deluxe Shit Sandwich, are you going to tuck in your napkin and eat? Of course not.
Peacewisher, you might find this short article interesting: Are You An Anarchist? The Answer May Surprise You!
For anyone who has been noticing the push for genetically modified organisms, here is the latest roundup of news items from GM Watch.
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php/news/archive/2014
I see the weed killer Roundup on supermarket shelves and also glyphosate products. Do the purchasers have any idea of the dangers contained within those brightly coloured packages which are heavily advertised?
See these items on the link.
Technicolour, when I outed RD as a sock-puppeteer both he and ESLO (the two puppets) were slinging the same @Goss tag at me because they were incapable of addressing the argument. I have seen it time and again. When that tag is used I discovered the puppeteer is mad at me, largely because the argument cannot be dismantled, as with the Boeing 777 disappearance. The puppeteer never read the article but chose to argue against it anyway. It is not so much me that casually insults the puppeteer than the other way around.