A particularly mendacious lie by Danny Alexander puts the institutional start-up costs of Scottish Independence at £1.5 billion. That is a cool half billion pounds cheaper than Scotland’s share of the costs of the Iraq and Afghan wars, even on the Westminster government’s blatant under-estimate of the war costs.
So Scotland can afford criminal invasions killing hundreds of thousands to ‘bring freedom’, but cannot afford the smaller cost of its own freedom!!!
The £1.5 billion estimate is mendacious in two ways. Firstly, it is a simple recycling of a Canadian lie at the time of the Quebec independence referendum, apportioning with no argument 1% of GDP to startup costs.
Secondly, as nearly all the money will be spent in Scotland it is not a loss at all, but actually an increase to GDP, as any but the most nutty neo-con would be forced to acknowledge. And it would be the precursor of government money spent annually in Scotland rather than England for ever thereafter.
Thankfully Alexander won’t have a job much longer – and if he thinks a penny of Scottish public spending is going in future to support his huge arse and deceitful mouth, he is very wrong.
One dark horse too many in the above – never mind!
Jemand commented –
Habbabkuk @ 1 Jun,2014-2:20 pm
If you do a word count, it would be even more extraordinary. My guess is in the vicinity of 30% of all words on this thread, but only about 5-10% being original content.
If I have deduced correctly the subject of your discussion here, Habbabreak ™ instantly vaporises all known nuisances. Or, in this case, both of them.
To be sure, NATO may suit him much better. Cometh the hour cometh the famous war leader.
He’s always seemed to prefer the quick and the dead over the slow strangulation of bureaucracy and finance.
About the most sensible suggestion you’ve made in the past three years.
Place your bets.
Herbie
“About the most sensible suggestion you’ve made in the past three years.”
__________________
You patronising git! 🙂
Actually, I don’t mind. But I would just point out, Herbie, that (1) it was a well-informed hint, not a suggestion, and (2) I’ve only been on this blog for a year and a bit.
_____________________
BTW, the last “reflection group” was one headed by former PM Felipe Gonzalez and had as its members luminaries such as former Prezzie Lech Walesa and CBI Prezzie (I think) Richard Lambert. It was convened a couple of years after Lisbon, sat for a year or so at regular intervals and eventually produced a report. Ever heard of the report? No, I didn’t think so – even I can’t even remember the title.
But all that – itself hypothetical – might be overtaken by the other show in town.
No reason why a Fogh shouldn’t be replaced by a F**k.
He’s always seemed to prefer the quick and the dead over the slow strangulation of bureaucracy and finance.
I beg to differ. He’s always been keenly interested in his own finance. And NATO is as much of a bureaucratic nightmare as the EU. While he may still not be past his sell-by in the US, which would be the only party that mattered in any NATO appointment (as it was for his recruitment as Quartet representative) there are probably hundreds of Americans ahead of him in any putative queue for work these days; younger, better at detail, less of a Napoleon complex and above all American.
Jans from the fjords already has the job, but that don’t matter.
Withdrawal, citing family circumstances, comforted with a large wedge and sauna extension is not unheard of, especially when the greatest leader of all time is interested.
Ba’al Zevul
“there are probably hundreds of Americans ahead of him in any putative queue for work these days; younger, better at detail, less of a Napoleon complex and above all American.”
_____________________
“above all American” – precisely. You are aware of the convention whereby the military commander is always an American and the (civilian) Secretary-General a European (and mostly a former European politician)??
The NATO top job always goes to a European, just as does the IMF job.
What I mean is that Blair is not interested in details. He prefers the big picture stuff, the unending battle between good and evil.
That’s often where you find the charlatans, not that Blair is a charlatan of course. He has firm religious principles and convictions, but it’s always worth pointing out that it’s an area of life which attracts scoundrels.
Hmmm, I must admit that I’d forgotten about Jens Stoltenberg.
But there will still be no top EU job for Blair.
I’m hoping he gets a job at The Hague.
Long hours, poor pay, but plenty of time for quiet contemplation and reflection.
Yes, the all new monkish Blair, Fra Blairio.
Withdrawal, citing family circumstances, comforted with a large wedge and sauna extension is not unheard of, especially when the greatest leader of all time is interested.
He’d still have to fit the US bill better than this:
While Mr Stoltenberg was Prime Minister, Norway’s defence spending increased steadily, with the result that Norway is today one of the Allies with the highest per capita defence expenditure. Mr Stoltenberg has also been instrumental in transforming the Norwegian armed forces, through a strong focus on deployable high-end capabilities. Under his leadership, the Norwegian Government has contributed Norwegian forces to various NATO operations.
During his tenure as Prime Minister, Mr Stoltenberg frequently called for NATO to focus on security challenges close to Allied territory.
Mr Stoltenberg is a strong supporter of enhanced transatlantic cooperation, including better burden-sharing across the Atlantic. He sees NATO and the EU as complementary organisations in terms of securing peace and development in Europe and beyond.
http://www.euractiv.com/sections/global-europe/norways-stoltenberg-confirmed-nato-top-job-301227
Exactly what the US likes to see. No, I’ll buy the unpaid advisor to the EU line for the moment. A bright little weasel with the gift of the gab can parlay those contacts and all that access to the GREAT into rich rewards from his oligarch friends. The fact that he is the greatest leader the world has ever known is only incidental.
Blair a scoundrel? Perish the thought. He believes every word he says. He’s even convinced himself…
The Guardian reckons he’s after Rumpy’s job, as opposed to Barbarossa’s:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/02/tony-blair-europe-council-president-eu
“At 61, it still feels as if Blair has a big job in him”
Yeah. There’s stuff you can get for that.
“Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very heaven!”
And all we get is same old same old.
I agree. Jans had placed himself well. The question then is was he all along positioning himself for that job, at the expense of Norway’s interest.
There’s nothing to stop them doing that, especially in a time of professional politicians.
Anyway, this is how the teams line up:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/North_Atlantic_Treaty_Organization_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg
The International Community versus Rest of the World.
RT has been eavesdropping the team dressing rooms:
“US plans ‘first strike’ on Russia”
http://rt.com/shows/the-truthseeker/162864-us-plans-strike-russia/
He insisted he has no personal ambitions …
There he goes again. Bless.
When push comes to shove…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/10869627/Tony-Blair-ducks-calls-to-release-secret-Iraq-War-conversations.html
… despite his eagerness to justify his personal crusade.
“In fact, just the opposite. We don’t need confusion of any kind. We need clarity and an appreciation of boundaries in every conceivable sphere of action and thought. We don’t need more crybabies, or excuses, or wishful thinking, or the majestic ass-covering that colors the main stream of our national life.”
http://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/coasting-toward-zero/
Yes, Jim. At what point does positive thinking become delusional? Polishing the available turd-remedies does not provide satisfaction, even though they’re available. Time to think outside the traditional 2 or 3 party democratic/economic shell-game.
“The Guardian reckons he’s after Rumpy’s job, as opposed to Barbarossa’s:”
_____________
No, no, no, the Guardian is talking bollocks (once again). It doesn’t even believe it itself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“No, I’ll buy the unpaid advisor to the EU line for the moment. A bright little weasel with the gift of the gab can parlay those contacts and all that access to the GREAT into rich rewards from his oligarch friends.”
_________________________
The sort of “reflection group” job I mentioned wouldn’t translate into favours to and rewards from oligarch friends. So if the job were offered and were he to accept, it wouldn’t be for the money (travel costs to Brussels and per diem only).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But hey, let’s not get into a speculative-masturabatory frenzy over Tony when there are much more important things to talk about, eg Mary’s word-count as referred to by Jemand above!
“Yes, Jim. At what point does positive thinking become delusional? Polishing the available turd-remedies…”
________________-
The man’s really fixated on turds, they crop up regularly in his posts!
and it’s not the first time Ben’s used that curious image of “polishing” turds.
I suppose only a Californian would think of polishing a…turd?
“When push comes to shove…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/10869627/Tony-Blair-ducks-calls-to-release-secret-Iraq-War-conversations.html
… despite his eagerness to justify his personal crusade.”
_________________________
Blair’s position – and that of the current govt – is really rather steep.
There would certainly be a watertight case for witholding private conversations and notes, letters, etc concerned exclusively with personal matters. For example, I believe that Blair once boasted he was a five times a night man; now, conversations with President Bush on their respective capacities and staying-power could and indeed should be kept private.
But the position is completely different when it comes to conversations concerned with the exercise (or non-exercise) of power by the state since Blair is here no longer a private individual but a representative of the state, speaking on behalf of the state. It’s therefore absurd that the govt should not be compelled to release this information into the public domaine.
Mary states “Jemand linked to an injustice in Yemen but fails to mention the great injustice of extrajudicial killings of Yemeni nationals by Obama’s drones.”
Really? I failed? Oh dear!
Mary, I didn’t even realise that the use of American kill-drones was in any way related to forced marriage of young girls to Arab paedophiles. I might have commented on it had I known of the connection (which I still do not understand).
Nor was I aware that splitting open the vaginas of prepubescent girls was a mere injustice in comparison to the “great injustice” of US extrajudicial killings — probably of the very same paedophiles who enslave these girls. Maybe you can help by explaining some more.
So an ‘MP is for life not just for Christmas’ according to Cameron. This exemplefies the attitude our party political oligarchs subscribe to, no, they demand that we also accept this as fact.
Dov your cap, work hard, pay your taxes and vote for us they say. As if no other option is available, what a prat.
If anybody is promoting UKIP, its the established party oligarchs and their combined waffling.
Today Cameron proclaimed that ‘we might come out of the EU if Mr. Juncker is not withdrawn as candidate’
So tyhe referendum might not be given at all, he might ‘just’withdraw us from the EU, more prattish talk, what an idiot to use this as a stick.
Anyway Agela Merkel is in a coalition with the Socialist party who would not accept anyone else but Mr. Juncker, there’s no chance for Cameron to get his wishfull thinking approved.
The lawyer looking into the bribery allegations about the Qatar 2022 World Cup bid.
He was a Bush appointee.
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/garciam-bio.html
http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/bodies/01/66/50/29/michaelgarcia_en.pdf
Qatar: Fifa Investigator To Meet Organisers
The top US lawyer will hold talks with Qatari officials as pressure grows on Fifa to run a new vote on the 2022 World Cup.http://news.sky.com/story/1273765/qatar-fifa-investigator-to-meet-organisers
Each of the attack poodles chimes in with gratuitous posts. They appear to be somewhat obsessed about the mechanics of sexual activity.
“Top secret” Shin Bet memo suggested dead Arafat would benefit Israel
Mon, 06/02/2014
A “top secret” Israeli intelligence memo from 2000 concluded that the “disappearance” of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would be beneficial to Israel.
The memo, revealed in a book to be published this week by British-Israeli political scientist Ahron Bregman, adds evidence to support the thesis that Arafat, who died in November 2004 in a French military hospital, was assassinated.
The Electronic Intifada obtained an advance copy of Bregman’s book, Cursed Victory: A History of Israel and the Occupied Territories (Penguin).
Other revelations from Bregman, reported by Newsweek in advance of the book’s publication, include that Israeli intelligence eavesdropped on the phone calls of US President Bill Clinton during sensitive negotiations with Syria fifteen years ago.
/..
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/top-secret-shin-bet-memo-suggested-dead-arafat-would-benefit-israel
At last.
Palestinian Unity Government Ends Bitter Rift
Israel mulls imposing sanctions against the new administration over its support by Hamas, which calls for the state’s destruction.
Rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas have formed a unity government, ending a seven-year split in a landmark deal which led Israel to suspend peace talks.
The cabinet was sworn in by President Mahmoud Abbas in a ceremony in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Hamas seized Gaza from Mr Abbas’ forces in 2007, leaving him to control only parts of the West Bank.
/..
http://news.sky.com/story/1273902/palestinian-unity-government-ends-bitter-rift
PS to Sky. Hamas did not seize Gaza. They were elected.
Jemand is right, Mary. It’s better to kill all these people, just to be on the safe side. Then we can usher in an era of human rights, liberty, and functioning sewerage systems like we did in, er, Iraq and Libya, and are still trying to do in Syria.
We have to kill lots of people in order to protect their human rights.
Can’t you see that? It’s so obvious.
Call it the dignity of death. The human rights of the corpse are inviolate. Indeed, they are beyond indignity, suffering and oppression. It is an ideal state: to be dead and to be free.
Thomas Paine’s ‘The Rights of Man (deceased’. It’s an important update for the 21st century.
It wouldn’t surprise me if some sick fuck in the state department, just back from a PNAC circle jerk, looked at it that way.
Jemand
2 Jun, 2014 – 10:29 am
Unrelated.. Here’s an uplifting video of a kid with pluck, defying convention :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXespwyiefY
Nice that you care Jemand. Let’s protect all children from adult abuse including the male genital mutilation conventional within the Muslim and Jewish religions.
Scuttlebutt is, this is the start of GITMO closure, which Obama promised by the end of 2014.
http://time.com/2809352/bowe-bergdahl-deserter-army-taliban/