The number of people still prepared to defend the Iraq War in public is tiny. The interesting thing is the very strong correlation between those people, and those prepared to pretend to give credence to the farcical sexual allegations about Julian Assange. Zoe Williams Guardian piece about what a jolly good chap Blair is I find breathtaking. War crimes like Blair’s result in terrible anguish for millions. I am prepared for purposes of argument to believe that Williams’ anguish for female victims of crime is genuine; why she can’t extend that to the tens of thousands of women who were raped because of Blair’s Iraq War, or had the still worse agony of seeing their children killed and mutilated I don’t know. Nick Cohen is just very, very sad. I just hold up these two in the hope that those deceived by feminist political correctness into following their lead against Assange will see to what they are subscribing.
Rather a side issue, but even if we accept Zoe Williams view that dead Iraqi children don’t matter, she appears not to have noticed that Blair introduced tuition fees, academies, kick-started NHS privatization, allowed the banksters’ bonanza leading to worldwide economic crash and oversaw the greatest widening of the gap between rich and poor in British history.
Squonk
BTW, have you got over that expression of peevishness of yours which I quoted?
Developments in Ukraine/Russia
There is a lot of ill-concealed glee on this thread about the latest developments in eastern Ukraine.
On the basis that the posters concerned (1) wish the best for the people of Ukraine and (2) wish the best for Britain and the British people (if not its govt), I invite them to share their thoughts with us on the following:
in which way do they see the latest developments in eastern Ukraine as being to the benefit of the Ukraine/Ukrainian people and/or to the benefit to Britain and the British people?
_________________________
The friends of rasPutin on this blog seem to be at a loss for words……:)
Squonk
Don’t you feel a bit redundant now that Craig’s blog is back and going strong?
I mean, it can’t be very interesting for you when most of the comments are from CM regulars pontificating about someone else’s blog, surely?
Perhaps you should yourself take a leaf out of Craig’s book and post some interesting topics for discussion?
Habbabkuk ,
Actually I subsequently deleted a whole bunch of comments not long after that post and things have since calmed down. You’re not hoping to stir things up again I presume?
“Good to know that posters on Squonk seem to spend most of their time posting about me and Resident Dissident posting on CM”
Shorter Horseshoecrab; “They’re talking about meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee !!!!”
lol.
UPDATE on MH 370—-The search is vast, complex and difficult 🙂
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/12/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/
Habbabkuk – good grief – not satisfied with “suggesting” policy for Craig’s blog you want to do mine as well!
I could set up Habbabkuk.tk for you with its own WordPress blog for free if you want. Just think, you could enlighten the world from your own platform. I’m sure we could then all then pop over with helpful suggestions for your consideration.
Me.Me.Me. That makes 6 posts within the last 40 mins. Sad.
I have been out in the garden in the warmth of the sun under a blue sky. Glorious and I pulled up so many dandelions which have seeded around. The verges along the roads and lanes glow with them. Even the leaves on the trees are coming out!
Mary; Here alongside roads and highways seeded with wildflowers is gorgeous with different species.
It’s the one thing CalTrans does well.
Russian commandos take Government buildings in Kramatorsk
See the comments beneath
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=qmxBjsU2rig&app=desktop#
Retweeted by Anne Applebaum
The Interpreter Blog I linked to earlier today cannot be accessed as present.
Here’s a nice group photo of the nice local activists of Eastern Ukraine. All with identical automatic weapons – from Carl Bildt’s Twitter site
https://twitter.com/carlbildt/status/455311785755938816/photo/1
I don’t recall anyone mentioning the recent events (Friday) in Syria.
Multiple fronts for the Triangulators. Iran continues to rankle the Neocons.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/syria-gas-attack-in-kfar-zeita-reported-by-government-rebels/
AlcAnon/Squonk
“Habbabkuk ,
Actually I subsequently deleted a whole bunch of comments not long after that post and things have since calmed down. You’re not hoping to stir things up again I presume?”
____________________
No, absolutely no intention of stirring up things for you; after all, I don’t post on your blog and have no particular wish to do so.
Your blog is, in a sense, the unintended victim of a couple of points I wanted to bring to the attention of the casual reader of CM, viz
1/. the squabbling on your blog which gave rise to your admonition demonstrates that the regulars on CM (who also post on yours) are a naturally fractious, unpleasant lot and that my presence or otherwise has nothing to do with that fractiousness and unpleasantness;
2/. far from me being obsessed with myself (cf for example Ben Weedsmoker above) it appears to be the CM regulars who are obsessed with me – to the extent of spending much of their time on your blog talking about me on CM;
3/. the CM regulars (the Eminences) spend a lot of their time telling each other to “ignore the trolls” and to “scroll past the trolls” and the new old poster Afrend hawks his Habbabbreak to all and sundry amid cries of admiration and gratitiude…..while simultaneously spending much of their time talking about me and Resident Dissident on another (your) blog. Slight inconsistency there, perhaps?
End of chapter 🙂
You might like this piece by Richard Mabey Ben.
http://noglory.org/index.php/articles/164-richard-mabey-poppies-and-skylarks-among-the-horrors-of-world-war-one
It is a counter to the swamp of commemoration for the mass slaughter of WW1 which Cameron is superintending. To my mind, the whole thing should be quietly remembered by the descendants of those who died. This warmongering state should be kept well away from it.
My hero was Harry Patch. Here is Heathcote Williams.
http://noglory.org/index.php/when-tony-blair-met-harry-patch
~~~
I have several of Richard Mabey’s books including Food for Free dating back to the 70s. Lovely man. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Mabey
Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !
13 Apr, 2014 – 12:20 pm
“There is a lot of ill-concealed glee on this thread about the latest developments in eastern Ukraine.”
If that is true Habbabkuk you can surely point it out by giving examples but of course you won’t because you can’t.
“…in which way do they see the latest developments in eastern Ukraine as being to the benefit of the Ukraine/Ukrainian people and/or to the benefit to Britain and the British people?”
The developments in eastern Ukraine are a natural follow-on from the western-backed coup in Kiev. These developments will not be to the benefit of ordinary Ukrainians or ordinary anyone but you and your clan will no doubt deny any western involvement and simply blame the evil Ruskies but in reality your heroes the US/UK/Nato started this crisis and it’s gone pear-shaped.
What’s the difference between the protesters in Kiev which you supported and the protesters in eastern Ukraine?
A comprehensive answer is required but I won’t hold my breath.
What happens when the State and Church get too cozy? Easter eggs, bunny rabbits; What do they have to do with it?
“Because of that history, the reign of Herod and the operation of the temple were linked and locked. It was the near inseparable joining of government and religion. To offend one was to offend both.
Herod the Great died in 4 CE, when Jesus was still a child. During the years of Jesus’s teaching ministry, Herod’s son, Herod Antipas, was the ruler. The joining of kingdom and temple continued.
Jesus grew up and taught in a rural area 70 miles north of Jerusalem. His faith was shaped, not by Jerusalem and the temple, but by weekly gatherings of the community elders as they read Torah (Jewish law) and discussed its meaning.
Jesus and his followers had limited contact with Jerusalem’s social, political and religious leaders, mostly through the retainers (enforcers) of Herod’s Roman rule who also represented the Jerusalem temple. Retainers made regular trips into the rural north to collect tithes and taxes.
To understand Jesus, one must realize the depth of his contempt for both the rule of Herod and the religious rulers of the temple. To further understand Jesus and the last week of his life, the student needs to realize that the Old Testament contains not one religious tradition, but two. One is called the great tradition; the other is called the small (or lesser) tradition.
The great tradition is the definition of society laid down by those who rule and enforced by their retainers. The great tradition is centered in cities in which the controlling institutions are located. For Jesus, that place was Jerusalem. There is no evidence that Jesus ever visited Jerusalem as an adult before the last week of his life.”
http://consortiumnews.com/2014/04/13/misunderstanding-jesuss-execution-2/
Mr Scorgie
“A comprehensive answer is required but I won’t hold my breath.”
_______________________
It would be if you had put any serious questions worth answering…which is unfortunately and as so often from you, not the case.
But you have answered my essential question by saying: “These developments will not be to the benefit of ordinary Ukrainians or ordinary anyone”.
I agree.
They will only benefit rasPutin’s over-sized ego and sense of entitlement. rasPutin, as I’m sure you’re aware, is the man who said that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the biggest political catastrophe of his lifetime.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I suppose I owe it to you to acknowledge that you’re the only Excellence with the balls to have essayed an opinion. The others maintain an embarrassed silence.
What’s the difference between the protesters in Kiev which you supported and the protesters in eastern Ukraine?
Foreign militia, a rather higher level of weaponry would be two obvious differences.
Mary; I’ve often wondered what it was like to clear and rebuild a flattened cit, after viewing pics of the mountains of debris. The Great Wars couldn’t stop seedlings from pushing through the asphalt and concrete. Now that’s power.
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth” 🙂
Apologies to you, Squonk, but I’m reposting in case the Eminences missed it.
_________________________________
It’s always interesting, not to mention instructive, not to focus on just one blog but to keep one’s eye on what’s going on in other selected parts of the blogosphere in general.
So, with that in mind, I thought I’d pop in to visit AlcAnon’s (“Squonk”‘s) blog to take a look at what’s going on there…
Well, the first thing I noticed to my surprise is that most of the Em
inences posting here are also rather busy on Squonk (Ben, Fujisan, Mary, Phil,Macky, Fred, lots of Clark, etc..) and have come out with some quite – let us say – “intimate” revelations.
But the second thing I noticed is that, very much to my disappointment, the variety of themes brought up there is very limited by comparison with what you find here on Craig – there’s some technical stuff, a lot of self-advertisement by our new old poster “Afrend” for his Habbabreak, and above all, a lot of agonized and cross talk about myself and Resident Dissident. In fact, the Squonk posters seem fascinated by Resident Dissident and me, which is very flattering given that neither of us has posted on there.
But, despite the absence of Resident Dissident, ESLO, Anon and myself from “Squonk”, it still appears that there’s trouble at th’mill. At least judging from a post from Blogmaster Squonk, who writes (in bold and large font):
“This is getting out of hand. I didn’t set up this blog for people to learn to hate each other a little more and to hurl insults back and forwards.
If it doesn’t stop I’ll switch all comments to be pre-moderated and stop it that way. Of that drives people away then I’ll shutdown the blog as a natural consequence.”.
Perhaps Squonk had comments like the followng in mind?
From Phil to Clark, “You don’t need protecting frpm Macky because he’s just another gob shite on the internet”
Tut, tut! Such brotherly love, even in the absence of myself and Resident Dissident, Anon and ESLO. I weep.
And from Clark to Phil, “So fuck off Phil, you’re no longer needed or wanted.”.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I do recommend that all non-Eminences briefly visit Squonk’ blog – you’ll learn a lot about the Eminences and their curious ways. 🙂 And I sympathise with Squonk for having to put up with them.
Just be sure you wear your tiny helmet. 🙂
“Apologies to you, Squonk, but I’m reposting in case the Eminences missed it.”
For fucks sake grow up shit head.
Yes, go over to squonk anyone and look for yourself I don’t say anything there that I wouldn’t say here as what this cretin is implying.
I’ve told you before to keep my name out of your pathetic little juvenile games fuckwit. I wipe better things than you off my boots.
The slow build-up brand directed towards war exercises on Russia’s borders.
http://stopwar.org.uk/videos/is-nato-itching-for-war-as-it-baits-russia-with-isolation-and-threats#.U0rIWlVdV22
According to my RAF sources a major part of these exercise will involve joint sorties of the Eurofighter Typhoon with Oman and others with emphasis on air-to-ground coordination building on the successful ‘pathway’ attacks on ground vehicles operated by Gaddafi forces during the smashing and destruction of Libya.
It is quite clear that when Mary comes across a person in the public sphere she does not like, the very first thing she tries to ascertain is whether that person is Jewish, is married to a Jew, or has Jewish ancestry.
A Google search of ” Xyz Jewish ” would appear to be the first recourse, followed by a cursory scanning of the relevant Wikipedia page, gimlet-eyed and ever watchful for that capital J.
Jives,
Hard luck on the Scotch National old thing. I could’ve told you it’s a mug’s game!
Fred
“Yes, go over to squonk anyone and look for yourself I don’t say anything there”
_________________
Liar or memory loss, old man?
6 times, eg April 3 at 16h05, April 11 at 08h06, April 12 at 13h59 ( The thread with a picture of General Melchett from Blackadder at the top).
And that’s only looking at the April 2014 comments, Fred
Mark “Walt” Golding writes:
“According to my RAF sources…”
I’ve told you before, Walt. The guy on the internet you believe to be your SAS/Army/RAF informant is at best another internet crank, and at worst a figment of your imagination.
How do I know this? Because I follow up on your tip-offs and they never seem to happen. You’re a bit like Jives in that regard!