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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Bono – another one for the chop along with Geldof. How dare they? How did they happen?
‘Bono’s positioning of the west as the saviour of Africa while failing to discuss the harm the G8 nations are doing has undermined campaigns for justice and accountability.’
It was bad enough in 2005. Then, at the G8 summit in Scotland, Bono and Bob Geldof heaped praise on Tony Blair and George Bush, who were still mired in the butchery they had initiated in Iraq. At one point Geldof appeared, literally and figuratively, to be sitting in Tony Blair’s lap. African activists accused them of drowning out a campaign for global justice with a campaign for charity.
But this is worse. As the UK chairs the G8 summit again, a campaign that Bono founded, with which Geldof works closely, appears to be whitewashing the G8′s policies in Africa.’/
/..
http://www.hangthebankers.com/bono-exposed-as-a-complete-fraud/
Good news from the West Country. The trains are running again. And well done to the young Network Rail project manager, Rosie Major.
The contractors were AMCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of Renew Holdings plc
‘We provide a range of multidisciplinary engineering support services to the rail industry where our operations target the on-going maintenance, asset renewal and enhancement programmes.
Our strength lies in our ability to successfully deliver a variety of integrated and sustainable solutions for our clients.The Group has over 26 years’ experience working in the Rail sector delivering projects for clients such as Network Rail, London Underground and a number of train operating companies. Acquired in 2011, specialist engineering business Amco is a leading provider of maintenance works to Network Rail. Work is undertaken through the Building and Civils Delivery Partnership where Amco is the only contractor appointed nationally/’
http://www.renewholdings.com/about_us/board/
‘Several other suppliers were needed to support BAM Nuttall as principal contractor so Amalgamated Construction (AMCO) was drafted into the process by Network Rail. One of its teams was carrying out other railway work in the area at a significant site near Tiverton, where they are carrying out repairs to Whiteball Tunnel (as reported in this issue on page 92). AMCO was given the responsibility for repairing the 90 metre breach.’
http://www.amco-construction.co.uk/media/news/58/AMCO-Responds-to-Emergency-Works-at-Dawlish
Multiple contractors by the sounds of it. How do they divi up the money? Another lawyers’ paradise. Agent Cameron will bask in reflected glory I bet. Everything is privatised.
http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2014/04/03/great-news-labour-commits-to-repeal-gagging-law/
I had an e-mail from Ed yesterday about it. He’s after our votes 🙂
I’ve been mulling over the JFJFP article on Terrorising Children. It makes me wonder about the mental abilities of the planners.
What are the long term effects on societies when so many people face brutalising traumas in their most vulnerable developing years?
In Israeli society, where is the benefit in having large numbers of citizens trained to treat the young people of Others in these ways?
How clever is it to systematically mass produce deeply damaged citizens?
Images from occupeid Palestine, http://www.activestills.org/images.php?type=top
‘Sorry Bob, Band Aid millions DID pay for guns: Charity’s man in Ethiopia tells his disturbing storyToday, for the first time, the Band Aid man on the ground in Ethiopia speaks out exclusively to The Daily Mail, saying he believes it is possible that up to 20 per cent of donor’s money went to fund the rebels.
Furthermore, he told me that he personally sympathised with the rebel cause he calls ‘a liberating force’, and travelled in convoys he suspected were transporting arms to them.
[..]John James was Band Aid Field Director in Ethiopia from 1985-91 and was awarded an MBE for his charity work. He says: ‘I would be surprised if it were any less than 10-20 per cent of funds were diverted to the rebels.
‘Did I sympathise with the rebels? Yes. We would not have tolerated any direct assistance in the purchase of arms or condoned it, but just remember it was a highly complex situation.’
James, a farmer who is now 85 and living in Devon, adds: ‘I think it is ridiculous for anybody to claim that not one penny of aid money was diverted.
‘You couldn’t help the hungry in the rebel-held areas without helping the rebels. You have to be realistic about that. It is probable that some money was diverted to buy arms. I believe a just use was made of the money. I think it fulfilled the interests of the donors.’
He recalls travelling on a rebel convoy, which he suspected carried arms, saying: ‘I didn’t know what was in the heavily sheeted tarpaulin load of the lorry in which I travelled, and I didn’t ask. I would be surprised if it had not contained arms.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1259061/Sorry-Bob-Geldof-Band-Aid-millions-DID-pay-guns.html
Sorry, I forgot link, http://jfjfp.com/?p=57946
A funny.
David Cameron’s Waitrose Comments: A Translation http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/04/03/david-cameron-waitrose_n_5083413.html?139653186
and a copy of his Waitrose bill 🙂
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1716816/thumbs/o-WAITROSE-RECEIPT-570.jpg?6
Mary.
“…just remember it was a highly complex situation”.
Yes indeed. The generic cover for bad actions by “good” guys.
I need a bigger sick bucket after the Bono-Geldoff puke-fest.
By the way, in a piece which was supposed to be largely and dully about Bono, there was this quite interesting assessment of what’s happening over there in Africa. Have yet to recheck, but sounds about right:
“Last week I drew attention to the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, launched in the US when it chaired the G8 meeting last year. The alliance is pushing African countries into agreements that allow foreign companies to grab their land, patent their seeds and monopolise their food markets. Ignoring the voices of their own people, six African governments have struck deals with companies such as Monsanto, Cargill, Dupont, Syngenta, Nestlé and Unilever, in return for promises of aid by the UK and other G8 nations.”
Thanks, Technicolour.
May I just remind readers of the otherwise unemployable world leaders currently attached to the African investment cash teat?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/10729538/Hillary-Clinton-agreed-to-help-Tony-Blairs-charity.html
(You may need to restock on these –
http://www.firstaid4less.co.uk/category.php?Catid=12831&gclid=CPnLiNmsxr0CFSkewwod_5MA9g )
Here’s a good take on what possibly the majority of African’s themselves think.
Last fall, shortly after I returned from Nigeria, I was accosted by a perky blond college student whose blue eyes seemed to match the “African” beads around her wrists.
“Save Darfur!” she shouted from behind a table covered with pamphlets urging students to TAKE ACTION NOW! STOP GENOCIDE IN DARFUR!
My aversion to college kids jumping onto fashionable social causes nearly caused me to walk on, but her next shout stopped me.
“Don’t you want to help us save Africa?” she yelled.
It seems that these days, wracked by guilt at the humanitarian crisis it has created in the Middle East, the West has turned to Africa for redemption. Idealistic college students, celebrities such as Bob Geldof and politicians such as Tony Blair have all made bringing light to the dark continent their mission. They fly in for internships and fact-finding missions or to pick out children to adopt in much the same way my friends and I in New York take the subway to the pound to adopt stray dogs.
This is the West’s new image of itself: a sexy, politically active generation whose preferred means of spreading the word are magazine spreads with celebrities pictured in the foreground, forlorn Africans in the back. Never mind that the stars sent to bring succor to the natives often are, willingly, as emaciated as those they want to help.
Perhaps most interesting is the language used to describe the Africa being saved. For example, the Keep a Child Alive/” I am African” ad campaign features portraits of primarily white, Western celebrities with painted “tribal markings” on their faces above “I AM AFRICAN” in bold letters. Below, smaller print says, “help us stop the dying.”
ad_icon
Such campaigns, however well intentioned, promote the stereotype of Africa as a black hole of disease and death. News reports constantly focus on the continent’s corrupt leaders, warlords, “tribal” conflicts, child laborers, and women disfigured by abuse and genital mutilation. These descriptions run under headlines like “Can Bono Save Africa?” or “Will Brangelina Save Africa?” The relationship between the West and Africa is no longer based on openly racist beliefs, but such articles are reminiscent of reports from the heyday of European colonialism, when missionaries were sent to Africa to introduce us to education, Jesus Christ and “civilization.”
There is no African, myself included, who does not appreciate the help of the wider world, but we do question whether aid is genuine or given in the spirit of affirming one’s cultural superiority. My mood is dampened every time I attend a benefit whose host runs through a litany of African disasters before presenting a (usually) wealthy, white person, who often proceeds to list the things he or she has done for the poor, starving Africans. Every time a well-meaning college student speaks of villagers dancing because they were so grateful for her help, I cringe. Every time a Hollywood director shoots a film about Africa that features a Western protagonist, I shake my head — because Africans, real people though we may be, are used as props in the West’s fantasy of itself. And not only do such depictions tend to ignore the West’s prominent role in creating many of the unfortunate situations on the continent, they also ignore the incredible work Africans have done and continue to do to fix those problems.
Why do the media frequently refer to African countries as having been “granted independence from their colonial masters,” as opposed to having fought and shed blood for their freedom? Why do Angelina Jolie and Bono receive overwhelming attention for their work in Africa while Nwankwo Kanu or Dikembe Mutombo, Africans both, are hardly ever mentioned? How is it that a former mid-level U.S. diplomat receives more attention for his cowboy antics in Sudan than do the numerous African Union countries that have sent food and troops and spent countless hours trying to negotiate a settlement among all parties in that crisis?
Two years ago I worked in a camp for internally displaced people in Nigeria, survivors of an uprising that killed about 1,000 people and displaced 200,000. True to form, the Western media reported on the violence but not on the humanitarian work the state and local governments — without much international help — did for the survivors. Social workers spent their time and in many cases their own salaries to care for their compatriots. These are the people saving Africa, and others like them across the continent get no credit for their work.
Last month the Group of Eight industrialized nations and a host of celebrities met in Germany to discuss, among other things, how to save Africa. Before the next such summit, I hope people will realize Africa doesn’t want to be saved. Africa wants the world to acknowledge that through fair partnerships with other members of the global community, we ourselves are capable of unprecedented growth.
Uzodinma Iweala – is the author of “Beasts of No Nation,” a novel about child soldiers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/13/AR2007071301714.html
P.s…. Cheers for putting up the Hang the Bankers Piec Mary… i didn’t even notice i left it out.
Guano, Mark and some others may be interested in this:
http://muslimmatters.org/2009/02/04/to-blair-or-not-to-blair-that-is-the-question/
(Yasir Qadhi has a Bachelors in Hadith and a Masters in Theology from Islamic University of Madinah, and a PhD in Islamic Studies from Yale University. He is an instructor and Dean of Academic Affairs at AlMaghrib, and the Resident Scholar of the Memphis Islamic Center.)
Illuminating to see
(a) the procedure Qadhi had to go through to be accepted for the high honour of attending Blair’s lectures
(b) Qadhi’s own standpoint
(c) Blair’s utter ignorance of Islam and dislike of straight questioning
(d) Blair’s easy co-option of faith as a means to promote corporate globalism. Which continues, of course.
I found it fascinating.
Ahh Effin Edit…
That be … Piece Mary
There is a petition to stop women from being detained in Yarls Wood following the deportation of Yashika to Mauritius. I’ve signed it. What about you?
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/theresa-may-british-home-secretary-end-the-detention-of-women-who-seek-asylum
Ba’al Zevul.
Vom Bags link. Thanks. Will order in bulk.
Re Bono/Geldoff phenomenon,
”I have a small Thai boy who dresses me and every year I let him pick what campaign I am going to work on. It saves me having to worry about it and, bless him, it makes him feel involved in the struggle for global liberation.” Mark Thomas
John.
Thanks for the Asylum petition link. Done.
Must switch this thing off and get out into the world.
Interesting looking indeed Ba’al
That deranged cretin sure needs a saviour… Comments look worth a good read too, a lot there…i’ll take a good look into that later…
Gotta dash out
Sadly Corinne Souza died on 13 March 2014. She was, in my opinion, one of the best writers in the country.
She wrote Baghdad’s Spy, Jasmine’s Tortoise, several articles in Lobster magazine, and So You Want to be a Lobbyist?. I saw that Iain Dale and Corinne herself both thought the last-mentioned book wasn’t very good (she gave him the wrong disc!), but nonetheless there are passages in which she shows a huge amount of insight which, quite simply, you won’t find in any other book whatsoever. The same is also true about most of her pieces in Lobster, to some extent Jasmine’s Tortoise, and certainly Baghdad’s Spy.
She was a failed publisher – failed because her well-meaning and generous personality made her into the opposite of a breadhead.
An honest, charming and brilliant woman has passed away. RIP Corinne
“Must switch this thing off and get out into the world.”
Good idea!
I have just read Yasir Qadhi’s piece linked by Ba’al Zevul regarding Blair’s visit to Yale. It is typical of many academics who deal with minutiae to give long-winded reasons for their actions. This might seem unfair on Yasir but there are time limitations which militate against this kind of self-indulgence. I did read it, and though he an I are coming from a similar standpoint I did wonder whether I would learn what he had for breakfast before he got to the point, or points, which were his contemplations regarding war on Iraq and:
“1) if Blair had any regrets regarding his decision,
2) if he realized that his actions seemed to demonstrate to many people the hypocrisy of democracy when a majority of his own people opposed the war, yet he so stubbornly brought his country into this conflict against the will of his people,
3) and, lastly, if he understood that his perception in the Middle East, and in fact in many parts of the world, as a man of war, actually made it impossible for him to be an ‘Envoy of Peace’ in the Middle East.”
Anybody knowing Blair could answer these questions and those were the answers Yasir received. He should have taken the opportunity to arrest Blair for war crimes. It is the duty of anybody who meets Blair to arrest him. If I ever get caught with a pair of handcuffs in my pocket, that will be my defence.
Thanks for posting the link Ba’al Zevul.
More lies from the BBC:
“Israel has cancelled the release of a fourth group of Palestinian prisoners over the Palestinian leadership’s pursuit of further UN recognition.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26870132
It was in fact Israel’s refusal to release the prisoners that lead to the Palestinians pursuit of further UN recognition.
“The Palestinians said their unilateral move is a response to Israel’s refusal to release a fourth round of prisoners. It therefore considers itself relieved of its commitment not to seek recognition from international institutions, the Palestinian Authority said.”
“The PA also said that if Israel releases the fourth group of prisoners, it won’t pursue its application to join United Nations institutions.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.583557
Re. the charge of Qadhi’s longwindedness, remember that the target audience was not a European blog, or the soaraway SUN. The guy is an observant Sunni, and the comments show that his readers are mostly the same. Also, the perception of Blair around Yale is very different to what it is in England, and American Muslims – or Muslim Americans – have to be rather careful that what they say and do does not fuel the antislamism which is rather pervasive in much of non-Muslim America.
But my point in posting this was to highlight something that not “everybody knowing Blair” will usually stress. It’s by someone who was actually present at an early exposition of Blair’s game plan, and shows that Blair very calculatedly set up his complex organisation with the major objective of promoting globalisation under cover of an attractive (and naive) “Let’s get the faiths to be nice to each other” banner.
There seems to have been quite a lot of corporate input to the course, no non-Christian lecturers, and,indeed, Miroslav Volf, a Yale academic, alternating with Blair in presenting the course, is purely a Christian theologian, specialising in reconciliation. While Blair endorsed revenge attacks in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and continues to add his support to Israel’s everlasting retaliation.
Blair’s selling phosphoric acid, caffeine, flavouring, sweetener and fizz, in other words, with his hands clasped in prayer, against a CGI montage of the people of the world dancing and singing. Blair as Coke salesman.
Thanks, Doug. As predicted, the talks will now fold. Expect more insistence from Netanyahu that it was the other guys’ fault, and that he was prepared to offer them a fully-fitted independent state, subject to getting Iran bombed by the US first, just as soon as the lab in the Negev genetically modified a pig capable of airborne surveillance.
Geldof was always a plastic punk. The Boomtown rats 1st hit which he penned the lyrics to describes “Bob Geldof” in perfect detail. It’s all about BoB.
”
The world owes me a living
I’ve waited on this dole queue too long
I’ve been standin’ in the rain for fifteen minutes
That’s a quarter of an hour too long.
I’ll take all they can give me
And then I’m gonna ask for more
Cos the money’s buried deep in the bank of England
And I want the key to the vault
CHORUS:
I’m gonna take your money
Count your loss when I’m gone.
I’m alright, Jack,
I’m lookin’ after number one.
If I want something I get it
Don’t matter what I have to do
I’ll step on your face, on your mother’s grave
Never underestimate me I’m nobody’s fool
(repeat chorus)
Don’t give me peace and love or the good lord above
You only get in my way with your stupid ideas
I am an island
Entire of myself
And when I get old, older than today
I’ll never need anybody’s help in any way.
(repeat chorus)
Don’t wanna be like you.
Don’t wanna live like you.
Don’t wanna talk like you, at all.
I’m gonna be like
I’m gonna be like
I’m gonna be like ME!
“
“Also, the perception of Blair around Yale is very different to what it is in England. . .” Well, yes I agree. My criticism was the detail that did not, in my opinion, add to the argument.
You knoe, John, I don’t think he intended to make an argument. He was describing his experiences. Think novelist, rather than politician. Academic training relies – or should do – on clearly separating observation (of experimental conditions as well as data) from interpretation. IMO he does that, and it’s more telling for that. We know Blair is an asshole…here’s the crap it produces.
OK Ba’al. Thanks.
Here is the beautiful, the lovely Elizabeth Kucinich, wife of senator, Dennis, who spoke out against the Iraq war.
The vast bulk of food subsidies go on propping up the meat industry that has made the USA a nation of bloated Kelly dolls, wobbling all over the globe, and still somehow managing to bounce upright in some eyes. Stop the meat subsidies and there will be money to spend on important things, the meat industry will have to get lean, or go to the slaughterhouse. Do the same with defence spending and hey presto: “it’s a beautiful world”. Thank you Elizabeth for being the beautiful woman you are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOZ-Hf6JgNA
P Harry and Boris endorse the Limp Ics Park now open to all comers.
http://queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/media/press-releases/get-ready-to-enjoy-londons-new-park
http://queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/the-park
£15 to go on the Arcelor Mittal heap of junk. £40 for a family.
http://arcelormittalorbit.com/tickets-opening-times/
Cost of transforming the park. Unknown.
Those on the board http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Legacy_Development_Corporation
Sir Edward Lister is on that LLDC board. He featured on BBC London News last night.
Boris’s head honcho. Paid more pa (£150k) that Agent Cameron. Has run up expenses > £24,000 and more than £10,000 has not yet been declared.
They are all IN IT together of course.
https://www.london.gov.uk/mayor-assembly/mayor/mayoral-team/sir-edward-lister
~~
I see he is quoted here in favour of a 29 storey tower block adjacent to Waterloo Station. The plans went to the High Court where they were rubber stamped by Judge Collins.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-26683017
The Maria Miller thing is refusing to lie down and die. I had not appreciated that it was recommended that she repay £45,000 but was let off by her parliamentary mates and some other stooges.
‘On Thursday, the Commons Standards Committee ordered Mrs Miller to apologise to MPs for breaching the parliamentary code of conduct with her “attitude” towards an inquiry into the culture secretary’s expenses claims.
She had supplied the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, whose role it is to investigate allegations of abuses of the rules on expenses, with “incomplete documentation and fragmentary information,” it said.
The commissioner concluded that she had over-claimed by £45,000 for expenses towards mortgage interest payments and council tax.
But the committee, which comprises five Conservative MPs, four Labour MPs, one Lib Dem MP and three members of the public, decided that she needed to pay back just £5,800.’
No 10 rejects expenses threat claim
Downing Street denies threatening the Daily Telegraph with tougher regulation as it investigated Maria Miller’s expenses.
Miller apologises and repays £5,800
Miller sorry after expenses inquiry
Watch PM backs Miller as inquiry begins
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26881909
Ex-Telegraph editor on Craig Oliver and Maria Miller
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26888465
The spin doctor Craig Oliver featured above is married to the BBC News presenter Joanna Gosling.
The godbotherers demonstrate the truly unifying power of faith –
http://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/orthodox/moscow_patriarchy/55715/
http://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/state/national_religious_question/55901/
More generally, the Russian Orthodox Church (as opposed to the Ukrainian ditto) offers a peaceful message, while gracefully acknowledging that it is the Ukrainians’ fault. Also that it would be far better to pay attention to the peaceful Russian troops currently exercising happily over the border, and sort out your priorities pronto…
http://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/orthodox/moscow_patriarchy/55802/