As long term readers know, I love the Eurovision Song Contest. It is just so much fun and so resoundingly daft. Graham Norton’s comment last night, “it’s like the gay wedding I’ll never have”, summed it up rather well. We also learnt that Danish humour is impenetrable. Having once spent a week there living with Danish friends, I guess a country that seems to live on raw fish and raw eggs will forever shimmer beyond my comprehension. Like Hamlet’s mind – impossible to understand completely, but marvelous.
I was however saddened by the audience booing of the two young Russian girls. That was really nasty and unfair. They were scarcely more than children, for goodness sake. Putin is not their fault. That booing was an exhibition of racism; nothing else you can call it. If people wanted to make a point, they could have screamed for the Ukrainian girl – they didn’t have to boo the young Russians.
People always complain about political voting, but I think that’s half the fun. I always enjoy the voting far more than most of the singing. Last night, I think, was political voting in a wonderful way. It was a joyful expression of approval for the idea that human beings can and should be what they want to be. It wasn’t the first time either – I remember a similarly gender challenging singer from Israel winning some years ago. What was even better this year, was that another stereotype was also challenged, in that Conchita swept up much support from Eastern as well as Western Europe. Let it be said that she had a damn good song too.
We voted for the Polish girls. I thought the honesty of their approach was brilliant, and reminded me of so many happy days in Warsaw in my youth. Good to see women doing the washing too.*
All in all, great fun and a life-affirming evening. Now to clear away all the mess – why did I stick all those empty Prosecco bottles on the front garden railings?
*Private joke for my friends at Russia Today media (formerly trading as Indymedia).
Mary,
Sorry working this afternoon!
Fantastic post 1.38pm – you couldn’t make it up!
Thank you
Tory troughers everywhere, even in County Hall, Kingston upon Thames, home of Surrey County Council.
Surrey County Council pay panel resigns over 60% increase
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-27398200
They took the maximum possible for their council tax precept avoiding a referendum.
Council tax in Surrey is set to raise for the third time in a row after the county council agreed on the largest possible increase without prompting a referendum.
Homeowners will have to pay for a 1.99% increase in the county council’s precept, making for an increase of just under 7% in the last three years.
http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/local-news/surrey-county-council-approves-council-6708219
The roads are probably the worst in the country for lack of maintenance and number of potholes, apart from those routes shown on television for the multiple cycle races and marathons which get a makeover beforehand.
Potholes here, there, everywhere.
http://tiny.cc/ltdtfx
There’s no need or likelihood for Putin to be vindictive, given his demonstrable good character, I would expect magnanimity, it is the special favoured by Russia status of Ukraine in a post-soviet world, with considerable economic advantages, that the west wish to sever. The EU, not known for its philanthropy, cannot prop up too many neo-liberalised and now consequently basket case ‘states’ in its nascent United States of Europe, if Ukraine is to have an intoxicating, bewiching taste of honey, it will mean be more and sourer vinegar for everywhere else and even wider dissatisfaction and economic dislocation. Given what the west has resorted to in its efforts to subvert Ukraine’s independence and buy that country and people outright like so many chattels, by lies bribery, corruption and violence and deaths on the streets – exactly what the majority and core of the nazi-hijacked mass-demonstrations were protesting against – then even a thin but true democracy if allowed and given time would reject an unreformed EU, as the EU with its mad-dog master NATO for cover, exemplifies these self same plutocratic vices in spadefuls. Inevitably Ukraine would be rejecting the EU and wishing the EU had kept its nose out and its greedy hands off Ukraine.
It is unfortunate that in the interim the country will be looted and indebted for inestimable generations by the anarchic gangs presently seismically uprooting Ukraine’s foundational roots, by domestic and international oligarchs and the rapacious spearhead of the infamous gnomes of Zurich – a euphemism Harold Wilson was fond of using used to describe ‘bankers’, as even he dared not be more specific just who had and used such unaccountable economic power to wreck nations and lives – the sooner these western-backed stooges andfree-booter oligarchs face the Ukrainian people, with full inquiry begun into their sources of wealth and their crimes, the sooner the thieving will stop and as much of the extracted booty can be traced and returned to Ukraine’s people and future credit. Look out you gnomes.
“There’s no need or likelihood for Putin to be vindictive, given his demonstrable good character”
Do you really believe that?
@Mary
Stop the front page – Tories in Surrey behave like Tories!
@John Goss
“Plenty of time then for the Russians to switch off the lights as a pilot if Yatsenyuk does not pay his energy bills.”
You talk like the Russian regime/Gazprom (the two are interchangeable) have never done this before. As always you patently ignore the fact that Putin has interfered in Ukrainian affairs for many years. Do you belive that such interference has always been legitimate?
RD I don’t believe any power should interfere in the affairs of foreign countries. Putin’s Russia has interfered but nowhere near as much as the US has. 360 separate military interventions since 1945 I believe. “Do you belive that such interference has always been legitimate?” Or ever?
@Kurtan: I agree with you entirely. What can’t the digital natives think like that? Can’t be the parents… maybe it’s a reaction to the parents? 😉
@Scouse Billy: Great video. And did anyone ever tell you you look like Bill Shankly.
Do you belive that such interference has always been legitimate?
I asked the question first regarding Putin’s interference in Ukraine – please answer.
No I don’t always believe interference by the US or anyone else in another country is legitimate – just like I don’t always believe it is illegitimate – it depends on the facts of the particular case. Non interference would have meant the UK not going to war when Hitler invaded Poland etc etc.
@Scouse Billy: Great video. And did anyone ever tell you you look like Bill Shankly.
But there the resemblance ends.
Yes RD @ 10.21pm. You got it in one. Any suggestions how to get rid of them? Local pest control companies cannot help.
“I asked the question first regarding Putin’s interference in Ukraine – please answer.”
Response.
“RD I don’t believe any power should interfere in the affairs of foreign countries.”
What was wrong with that?
Resident Dissident 13 May, 2014 – 10:47 pm
Was it something like “Some people think that football is a matter of life or death. But it’s much more important than that.”
You’ve been missed RD. People have been looking for answers.
https://squonk.tk/blog/2014/01/20/the-general-discussion-thread/comment-page-18/#comment-7264
Scouse Billy, you’ve been missed too. Welcome back.
Now all I have to go and brush up my Russian. Just in case the Russians are coming. 🙂
Did anyone hear Hague’s awful speech today? I suppose the Tories think sabre-rattling is winning them votes and will win them more. More likely a shift because the public saw Labour’s party political, and some Lib-Lab switchers felt sorry for the Clegg character and switched back to Libdem. Bit like the clever Labour cartoon of 1959 (take a look on youtube) that perhaps was “misunderstood” and helped win the Tories a landslide. It seems that Toffs will never understand the character of ordinary people…
Peacewisher
I think even Hague’s worst enemy would hardly call him a “Toff”.
I don’t think you read my post correctly, Habby. Hague is not a toff, but he’s fulfilling the expectation of “toffs”. It may well work. From the Falklands conflict onwards, I have never ceased to be amazed by the obedient “patriotic fervour”. Second part of post was a dig at labour party’s ineptness at understanding how to appeal to ordinary people.
John Goss: ” I don’t believe any power should interfere in the affairs of foreign countries. Putin’s Russia has interfered but nowhere near as much as the US has. ”
Utterly pukeful listening to Cameron and ‘If you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve nothing to worry about’ Hague’s verbal diaorrhea against Russia today in parliament.
Cameron, the farcical leader of a failed philosophy of greed which bankrupted the entire world economy states that Russia doesn’t have a plan. Hahahahahaha. But Cameron has a plan, to eat the Thatcher vomit, tickle his throat and spew it up again.
And Hague mocking Russian weaponry as junk. Yes mr Yorkshire butter, if you don’t bugger your junior colleagues and let you political arsehole be gratified by Zionist banker world domination you don’t get the passwords to your oversized piles of bombs.
I cannot wait for the result of the election to be rid of them for the last time in my lifetime. I ask one question. If it is possible to create vast quantities of jobs in the run-up to a general election, why was it not possible to create those jobs in the dark days of 2008 onwards?
Smug selfish slime. They create a recession for their Zio-masters. and create a civil war in Syria for their Zio masters, and then proceed to fill the air with cuckoo cries: ‘ We have thrown the baby chicks of caring Socialism to the ground. We have closed the NHS, we have subjugated workers pay and rights, we have closed personal privacy and social conscience down.’
I pray these Tory shite will never come to power again in my lifetime. Inshallah. I will not forget this spectacle of the definitive superiority of Socialism over Capitalism. The spectacle of planless Zio-pimped Tories heckling a sister nation for not having re-armed after the Cold War.
Glad to see Craig exercising his liberal rights to subject his wife to sexual humiliation. I will not forget this spectacle of the definitive superiority of Islam in relation to the treatment of women.
I wouldn’t put it that strongly, Guano. Labour was led by Tony Blair (’nuff said) for many years, and Brown wasn’t much better. Final nail in libdem coffin for me was Paddy Ashdown on the radio the day after MPs voted against war with Syria… pleading for war. So UKIP or Greens… which is it? (playing devils advocate for the “undecideds” of the British electorate. If they get 10% each and libdems recover to 15%, that still leaves 30+% bound to vote Conservative, and that may be enough for them. Only hope is to vote labour. That approach was used by USAns and they got Obama… who is turning into Bush III.
John Goss – thank you.
Peacewisher – Bill was and still is a source of inspiration.
For anyone who enjoys Sibel Edmonds’ posts here she is with James Corbett et al on Ukraine and Syria. The last 5 minutes is priceless where she lets rip on Seymour Hersh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu2TXEbHq2M
Peacewisher I think you mean ..’turned into Bush III’.
Sky have just had a segment about the election gurus being employed by Agent Cameron and Milipede E. They showed footage of Obomber performing to audiences and explained how Axelrod (The Axe) now employed by Labour achieved Obomber’s election and re-election.
Agent Cameron is employing Linton Crosbie (The Wizard of Oz) responsible for the promotion of John Howard and Boris Johnson’s two terms as Mayor of London.
Both creatures of spin will have difficulty in 2015 in achieving their aims.
Here’s my favourite.
In Ukraine, the US is dragging us towards war with Russia
Washington’s role in Ukraine, and its backing for the regime’s neo-Nazis, has huge implications for the rest of the world
John Pilger
The Guardian, Tuesday 13 May 2014
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/13/ukraine-us-war-russia-john-pilger
Thanks for the Livni story, Doug. Contains this rather disturbing admission:
The UK promised Israel it would change the law to make it harder to secure arrest warrants for Israeli public figures. In an address to the Israeli parliament last month, David Cameron said: “When I was in opposition, I spoke out when – because of the law on universal jurisdiction – senior Israelis could not safely come to my country without fear of ideologically motivated court cases and legal stunts; when I became prime minister, I legislated to change it. My country is open to you and you are welcome to visit any time.”
Crawling bastard. So –
Now senior Israelis can come here without fear of entirely legitimate prosecution for serious criminal activity. Well done, Dave. The next move is seriously to question the legitimacy of Cameron’s legislation, which acts to overturn international law under treaties to which the UK is a signatory.
Bit of background. Usual suspects. Drooling supplicants for grace and favour of apartheid state listed:
http://www2.cfoi.co.uk/Campaigns/UniversalJurisdiction/
This appears to be the relevant Act – if I’m wrong, I’d welcome correction WITH REFERENCES.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/13/section/153/enacted
Dave’s bold stroke in defence of Israel’s freedom to do exactly as it wants was buried in a contentious dog’s breakfast of random provisions loosely scattered round the legislation for appointing police commisioners.
As far as I can see Section 153 doesn’t apply to Scotland!
Livni features half way down here
Once Upon a Palestine
by Tamerishe / August 3rd, 2013
“Once Upon a Palestine” began in the spring of 2011; a few lines and the title, swiftly followed by a cascade of verse, then put to one side for a previous work barging in out of nowhere, demanding to be written. Going through my own dark night of the soul at the time, “Once Upon a Palestine” continued to gather dust in a drawer until the summer of 2012, when the words came back to haunt me. So here it is. My humble contribution to the betrayed, abandoned, shunned, vilified, outstandingly brave Palestinians of Palestine. I don’t know about the ‘Lost Tribes of Israel.’ It’s about time the dispossessed, ethnically cleansed, indigenous Peoples of Palestine picked up their keys and came home. Where they belong. –Tamerishe
[..]
Cowards and bullies, two of a kind
Sound in the body, but sick in the mind
Spawn of the Stern Gang and vile Haganah
Irgun’s Ms. Livni, her Ma and Papa
Who would you believe it? But hush now! Don’t tell!
Blew up us Brits in King David’s Hotel!
We know who our friends are, didn’t we do well!
Birds of a feather, we’ll meet them in hell!
But hey! What’s your problem? We’re all best mates now
Changing our laws to protect ‘Sacred Cows’
The woman who boasted, with no sense of shame
Operation Cast Lead, she’d do all again
Proud of her role in this orgy of pain
It’s all so confusing, speak up! Hague! Explain!
Shielding war criminals, since when was our game
There’s blood on your hands and it’s staining our name
The wrong side of history is where lies your fame
Next to your Masters of Zionist shame!
[..]
http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/08/once-upon-a-palestine/
You are correct Ba’al about the abolition of universal jurisdiction being ‘slipped’ into police legislation. ‘Slippery’ people these Tory Zionists.
The Diamond geezer is under the microscope again. No stopping of the mindset ‘I want more, more’.
12 May 2014
Ex-Barclays executives face fraud office questioning
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27370623
Talking of war criminals:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2627608/Blair-Bush-letters-ARE-delaying-Iraq-report-says-Chilcot-Head-inquiry-admits-records-conversations-issue.html
VS:
‘I’ve made it absolutely clear that when the report’s published is entirely up to them [the inquiry team].
‘It’s not my decision at all… it’s the responsibility of the people who run the inquiry,’ he said.
A spokesman said: ‘He has as much reason as anyone for wanting the report published.’(St. Anthony of Baghdad, all papers)
But it’s admittedly a bit more opaque than that. Much further under the MSM radar is the question of 200 Cabinet minutes requested by Chilcot, whose release seems to have been obstructed (in the most gentlemanly way possible) by Cameron’s merry men.
This was the position in November last year, and appears to still be the position:
http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/media/54976/2013-11-04_Chilcot_Cameron.pdf
The rule of law would have a lot more validity if the government of the day didn’t change it when it was inconvenient or flannel its way out of its legal obligations.
From the CFOI link @ 8.41 –
Ambassador Gould asserted that the UK’s justice system could no longer be “abused for political reasons”
I wish.
Very distant planet bearing life of a sort detected. And Wiiliam Hague is there –
“A negotiated two-state agreement remains the only way to resolve the conflict once and for all. The parameters are clear: two states, based on 1967 borders with agreed land swaps, Jerusalem as a shared capital, a just, fair and agreed settlement for refugees, and Gaza as an integral part of the Palestinian state.”
As are the winged pigs, effortlessly soaring over the cigarette trees.
https://www.facebook.com/ukinisrael?_fb_noscript=1
Scroll down to 1 May. Connoisseurs may also be interested to note that the vacancy for HR Head at our embassy in Tel Aviv is advertised in English and Hebrew. But not Arabic. LOL.
Pfizer hard faced and dead eyed. At the the Science Committee today.
Pfizer facing second grilling by MPs
Pfizer Chief Executive Ian Read
Pfizer’s boss is being questioned for a second day by MPs about the drug firm’s controversial bid for AstraZeneca.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27403777
Read is with a Mikael Dolsten, Research and Development and an Australian Vice President Rod McKenzie.
Reminder:In September 2009, Pfizer pleaded guilty to the illegal marketing of the arthritis drug Bextra for uses unapproved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and agreed to a $2.3 billion settlement, the largest health care fraud settlement at that time.[8] Pfizer also paid the U.S. government $1.3 billion in criminal fines related to the “off-label” marketing of Bextra, the largest monetary penalty ever rendered for any crime.[9] Called a repeat offender, this was Pfizer’s fourth such settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in the previous ten years.[10][11]
Mr Read said he was “very proud” of his 35 years at the firm, describing it as a “company of high integrity focused on patients and delivering drugs to patients”.
We are a highly ethical company. Pfizer is a company that keeps its promises.”