The overruling of a European Court judgement to assert individual privacy, and the anti-democratic rushing of emergency legislation through parliament where no emergency exists, are the antithesis of liberalism. So of course is the jettisoning of all the Lib Dem manifesto pledges on civil liberties.
It is not news that Nick Clegg has become the poster boy for a politics utterly devoid of principle, organised purely around the desire of individual politicians for wealth and power. But even with all that background, I found Clegg’s enthusiastic ratcheting up of the fear factor over the “need” to protect us from virtually non-existent threats, utterly reprehensible.
At his press conference with Cameron, Clegg actually quoted the non-existent “liquid bomb plot to bring down multiple planes” as the reason these powers were needed. He even made a direct claim that telephone intercepts had been instrumental in “foiling” the “liquid bomb plot”. That is utterly untrue. The three men eventually convicted had indeed been under judge approved surveillance for a year. In that year, they made no reference to a plan to bring down airplanes, because there was no such plan. The only “evidence” of a plan to bring down multiple airplanes came from a Pakistani torture chamber. There never was a single liquid bomb. 90% of those arrested in the investigation were released without charge or found not guilty.
The three found guilty had done little more than boast and fantasise about being jihadis. That is not to say they were nice people. They may even have done some harm, though if Clegg were in any sense a Liberal he would not be supportive of imprisoning people in case they one day do some harm. But they had never made a liquid bomb or made a plan to bring down multiple airlines.
The point is, that while any ordinary member of the public could be forgiven for believing in the Liquid Bomb Plot, given all the lies of the mainstream media, Clegg has to be aware that he is spreading deliberate lies and propaganda to justify this “emergency legislation”.
Still more ludicrous was the failure to address the elephant in the room – Snowden’s revelation that the NSA and GCHQ indulge in vast mass surveillance, of the communications of millions of people in the UK, with absolutely no regard for the legal framework anyway.
In the last few weeks there has been a concerted effort to ratchet up the fear of the extremely remote possibility of a terrorist attack. We have seen, as first lead on the news bulletins and front page headlines, the jailing of two young men for “terrorism” for fighting in Syria, when there was no evidence of any kind that they had any intention of committing any violence in the UK. We have the absolute nonsense of the mobile phone in airports charade. We had days of the ludicrous argument that ISIS success in Iraq will cause terrorist attacks in the UK. Now we have the urgent need for this “emergency legislation”.
Why is the fear ratchet being screwed right up just now? What is this leading up to?
” It’s certainly not encouraged by the prowess of the opponents.”
I don’t get the point.
Phil, hmm, no rules, is what I see. Perhaps we will decentralise in the sense that we all realise we are a very small planet in the middle (of course) of a really quite large universe, and stretching a hand across to Ghana really takes up quite a small amount of time, in the span of human existence, even if you do it by vegetable oil powered boat.
Mary, really trying to smear Uri Avnery for quoting a fact? The man who is doing this?
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/index_en.html
Go on, try and smear the Shministim
http://december18th.org/
or the Israeli Women in Black. Go on, I dare you.
Aesalan
“Alfred Rosenberg the founder of Nazism doesn’t make a secret of the fact he has copied Zionism when he founded Nazism.”
Reputable source for that, please. Thanks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=
Fedup
“Fact that Jabotinsky and his betar used to be parading alongside the Hitler youth bearing their swastika flag , and the zionist youth with their own flag (the lined prayer shawl depicting a minora in the middle) as the various archival photographs of the era convey.”
_____________________
Reputable sources and links for that, please.
****************
Otherwise Mr Scorgie will get very cross with you.
I think you don’t know what you think. It’s all a muddle for you.
Talk is cheap. Actions have some legitimacy, UNHRC, ICC et al. Time for decisive and definitive acts without equivocation and ‘patience’
http://rt.com/news/172188-israel-operation-international-law/
I have a feeling that this attack on Gaza is a deliberate distraction by Israel from its other operation in Iraq.
Sheikh Nabil Naiim stated that Israel’s ISIS forces killed 1,000 Sunnis in the manly Shi’a city of Sammarra. Here is the link again, so far no comments about it:
http://counterinformation.wordpress.com/2014/07/06/obama-regimes-support-of-al-qaeda-and-isis/
“Nabeel Naiem: It fights both Sunnah and Shiites, when they entered Sammerra, Sheikh Ali Hatimi, head of Anbar Tribes said: ISIS entered Sammerra and killed a thousand Sunni in cold blood.. and it kills Shiites and kills Christians and kills whoever it faces, ISIS considers all people infidels and their bloods are free.”
You can see why the prospect of using Islam against itself is so attractive to Israel. There is a Fatwa that if someone lives alongside open wrongdoing, such as the false worship of the Shi’a rituals and does nothing to oppose them or remove themselves from living near them, then even if they are Sunni Muslim , they should be killed first.
That’s logical because it shows utter indifference to Allah’s laws. Problem is, that some of the Jihadi Sheikhs who flew to Jordan to initiate the ISIS attacks on Iraq have lived in proximity to European decadence for up to 15 years and they are free to fly to London or Jordan but they have never succeeded in seriously opposing Western Decadence nor removing themselves from its evils.
Sheikh Nabeel calls London a “nest of spies”. Why do the moral leaders of ISIS not apply the same laws they apply to ISIS victims to themselves. So far the only reply I have had to this link is an ugly death threat on the So Soon Forgotten thread
last time http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/executions-at-nuremberg/ Time.
The collaborators with Zion and moral leaders of the “Dogs of Hell” ISIS cannot bear their hypocrisy being aired on the internet.
Amjad Shabita, an Israeli Palestinian activist in Israel’s Hadash Maki party introduces a harrowing account of Jewish lynch mentality on Facebook in Hebrew during the period the Israeli government was lying about the three “kidnapped Jews” and Hamas. Its following English translation was published by Nijmeh Ali, an Israeli Arab citizen.
Fascists in a colonial regime? Is that a historical precedent?
http://rehmat1.com/2014/07/13/israel-the-jewish-lynch-mentality/
Basically, the leadership of all 3 parties have shown they have zero respect for people’s privacy, and zero respect for democratic process. And there are 600 sheep-people in parliament who will do their every bidding. It’s all rather sad really. I’ve never been fooled by David Cameron, he’s a lightweight, authoritarian prick who gets red-faced angry whenever someone says something critical. Clegg is a nobody. Ed Milliband, well I was slightly surprised, at first, he sided with Cameron on this one. However, on reflection, Ed has said basically nothing about illegal surveillance, it’s been tumbleweed all the way, so I really shouldn’t have been surprised. Ed has been vetted, like all the rest.
And now we are hearing rumours of, basically, a corporate coup. The Trans-Pacific partnership has been organized in secret, and none of us are even allowed to see the details.It took Wikileaks to reveal a law that will affect us all; they simply refuse to let us know what the agreement is. I mean, how fucked up is that? It should be put to a referendum – where it would be roundly rejected – but evidently such thoughts are naive, in our current phase of authoritarian rule. We are just going to take what they give us, as they say in prison.
@Technicolour: The Palestinians cheering on 9/11 was a great deception. The footage was in fact from Kuwait, cheering the liberation of Kuwait from Sadaam Hussein in 1991. At the time in was “unthinkable” that CNN would do such a thing. Nowadays, there are many examples of deception via mainstream media.
@Brendan:
If this blog is representative of concerned British citizens, I don’t think there is much hope of even raising a finger to stop the powers behind Cameron & Clegg doing as they please. Despite Craig’s best efforts, we just have a quick gas about it, and then go back to our favourite subject… Palestine. although what is happening out there is terrible, we are never going to help the Palestinian, or any other people, until we get democracy back in our own land.
I don’t know who else received an email from 38 degrees, but the one I received was asking whether or not the Emergency legislation was a problem and whether they should bother with a petition (!) And this organisation was supposed to be about bringing back democracy…
I can’t believe that I’m having to say this but if we aren’t happy we all need to write to our MPs about this. If we wish to have any effect at all, we should avoid electronic media and go back to traditional means of communication… that will at least give them something physical to think about. We should also hold demonstrations outside constituency offices, but we need to act, not just talk, and should not expect the mainstream media to support our cause, because they are the cheerleaders of this apparent rush to a snooped on society.
Sorry you felt unable to continue with the dialogue between us about the theme of this blog, Habby. From my side it was genuine debate with no hidden agenda.
I’ll try once more though. What do you think of this statement by a real eminence, the President of the Law Society?…
“We are concerned that introducing emergency legislation does nothing to enhance the rule of law or address the fact that we are increasingly becoming a ‘surveillance society’. The history of emergency legislation is not exemplary, with laws being used for purposes for which they were not intended. Today’s news is particularly worrying, given the emergency legislation will go against a court judgment on human rights.
“There needs to be a public debate about how to strike the right balance between security, freedom and privacy. We need to simplify and clarify a complex and confusing legal framework and ensure that it protects human rights.”
@ Peacewisher
“I can’t believe that I’m having to say this but if we aren’t happy we all need to write to our MPs about this. If we wish to have any effect at all, we should avoid electronic media and go back to traditional means of communication…”
Yup. And I have to say, I’m no fan of petitions. If someone wants to sign one, fair enough, but I don’t think any Government gives a flying. I suppose at best it gives a sense of strength of feeling (as in the reaction to a potential Syria invasion), but the good old fashioned way of writing to MP’s, and going on demo’s strike me as a better option. If nothing else, demos interrupt traffic, so get some attention.
As to Palestine, it’s a good barometer of how screwed our own democracy is. Basically, Israel pulverizes Gaza, and almost nobody in parliament says a word. Collective parliamentary shrug. This is just weird. It’s not even a fair fight, it’s a massacre, and I’m led to believe that massacre’s breach all sorts of international laws, and are bad. Well, they used to be bad. Perhaps they are good now, and I’m mistaken.
And, that idiot Cameron. I shake my head in disbelief almost every time he opens his mouth. How that lord of nong is PM is beyond me. They should give Craig the gig. Might be a bit jolly on the sauce sometimes, and cause the odd diplomatic incident now and again, but I’d vote for him. Especially if he told Karimov to go fuck himself. That would be a chuckle.
Technicolour
No rules? Vegetable boats?
To be honest I haven’t got a clue what you are saying.
Just in case: anarchism does not mean “no rules”. This is a common misconception from those who know nothing about it. Anarchism requires rules. It requires self reliance and self discipline. Anarchism is about minimising the ability of individuals to coerce others.
Anarchism does not have a lot to say about vegetable boats. Except at a stretch: locally sourced power is good. And I am not aware of any huge vegetable oil war boats. Maybe you are on to something. Which is much better than a rosé sneer.
This caps it all.
BLiar on YNet News.
Tony Blair – A ‘Peace Envoy’ or an Israeli Ambassador? (must watch)
By Gilad Atzmon
Tony Blair is not a Sabbath Goy, he actually works for Israel 24/7.
In this shameless performance on Ynet (11/7/2014), Israel’s most popular media outlet, Blair misses an opportunity to communicate with Israelis and explain to them for the first time the context in which the conflict is taking place. Blair obviously prefers not to upset the Israelis. Bearing in mind the scale of the crimes Blair committed in Iraq on behalf of Israel and the Jewish Lobby, it is understandable. Israel is probably the only country that is willing to give him a shelter.
Apparently, in the last seven years, Peace Envoy Tony Blair has visited Gaza only once.
Posted July 12, 2014
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article39062.htm
I could stomach only 3 mins of the 13 mins.
“The Palestinians cheering on 9/11 was a great deception. The footage was in fact from Kuwait, cheering the liberation of Kuwait from Sadaam Hussein in 1991.”
Strange that they should be waving a Palestinian flag and that the distinctive Kuwait headdresses are conspicuous by their absence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrM0dAFsZ8k&feature=player_embedded
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/cnn.asp
Technicolour
Attempting to improve on my par above:
Anarchism does not mean “no rules”. Anarchism requires rules. But rules agreed by everyone they apply to rather than rules imposed by an elite few. Anarchism is about minimising the ability of individuals to coerce others. It prioritises cooperation over coersion.
And it does not require a fluffy wonderland where no one is a nutter. Anarchism has mechanisms to minimise the ability of nutters to run amock. I think that this is in fact the one of the main reasons we should look at it. Our current system seems to reward nutters with positions ruling over us.
Given that the oppression in Palstine would end tomorrow if the US wanted, given that the US state is the power that has enabled decades of slaughter it is hardly surprising even if a few Palestinians did cheer 911.
Shouldn’t discussions about Palestine be on the relevant thread from a few days ago?
Interesting that Kempe, quick as a flash, had those links up his sleeve.
I would not believe anything Fox News produces, nor the word of CNN. Remember the fake palm trees in the studio?
CNN Fake Newscast Best Quality
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTWY14eyMFg
LOL
How about this from the BBC’s Mark Urban retweeted by Aaronovitch?
Retweeted by David Aaronovitch
Mark Urban @MarkUrban01 · 13h
Hamas just tried a big strike on Tel Aviv. Are they goading Israel to see if it has guts for ground op in Gaza? Both sides playing with fire.
Urban’s loving it. More war and killing. He can get his magic pen and charts out on Newsnight.
~~
Aa’s own tweets in which he reveals his prejudice about Hamas. Predictable of course.
Chris Gunness of UNWRA starts off.
https://twitter.com/ChrisGunness/status/488071860001972225
Good challenges there from a Mark Doran.
What do we think it’s leading up to, then?
There were preparations on the London tube system before the bombs went off on 7/7 too.
The vile Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General, has said that there is a risk of an “all-out escalation” in Gaza, and that the Arabs in Gaza must stop defending themselves.
(In his Zionist terms, “Hamas must stop firing rockets”).
Meanwhile the moderated comments on the Jerusalem Post website contain exhortations to turn Gaza into glass.
In case anyone doesn’t understand what that means, that means a nuclear attack, which causes enough heat to fuse sand into glass.
With the ‘new’ government in Teheran, the Sharon doctrine – based on Netanyahu’s replacement for the East-West arms race (the ‘war on terror’) and focused on Iran (any problem for the Zionist entity is a problem for the world) – looks as though it is in the process of being updated.
“Interesting that Kempe, quick as a flash, had those links up his sleeve.
I would not believe anything Fox News produces, nor the word of CNN. ”
There was a gap of nearly four hours between Peacewisher’s post and mine. Hardly quick as a flash even at my age.
The footage was shot by Reuters and syndicated to CNN, Fox and other outlets.
“In case anyone doesn’t understand what that means, that means a nuclear attack, which causes enough heat to fuse sand into glass.”
Considering nowhere in Gaza is more than 7 miles from Israel and the destruction zone of even a small atomic bomb has about a 30 mile radius I think we can safely assume those are just idle threats.
@Kempe:
That may be the case, but it wasn’t the original footage shown by CNN after 9/11, which was obviously pulled out of the archives for purposes that soon became apparent – deflect the blame from the incompetent Bush to those wicked ragheads…
BBC has being using archived footage as well in recent years, which is again deception and undermining democracy. We have to see it, and say it, as it is… however unpalatable it may seem
“We have to see it, and say it, as it is… however unpalatable it may seem”
Which is precisely what Kempe was doing.
You were the one saying it how it wasn’t.
Was my reply to Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) deleted?
If so what was wrong with it?
Anyway, read The Myth of 20th century man by Alfred Rosenberg,
Where he discribes how he constructs Nazism.
I don’t think you need to though. Taking a look at both idiologies is enough to see that they are one and the same.
The interview from Israel was indeed disgusting and like you I had to stop it ..he looks and sounds like a ventriloquists dummy Mary
Just over one year ago this article by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya appeared in Global Research: Are the Boston Marathon bombings tied to a New American Campaign into the Caucasus?
Since false flag events become credible for what they are with hindsight and their purpose ultimately reveals itself has the time come? Not only was the Boston fake bomb event a practice for the imposition of martial law with civil liberties suspended while the man hunt was underway but did it serve another purpose? Is its main purpose now revealing itself?
And of course the UKs emergency data law will be justified by such false flag events as the comical headless dummy and very very tragic and not faked bombing of the underground. The shameful public memorial was defaced this week
The slogans, including “Blair Lied Thousands Died”, “4 Innocent Muslims” and “J7 Truth”, were stencilled onto the 11.5-foot (3.5-metre) columns in red and black paint.
http://ngrguardiannews.com/news/world-news/169721-london-bombings-memorial-vandalised-on-ninth-anniversary
Phil; I remember reading Anarchy & Order rather belatedly: it felt as though Reid had been looking over my shoulder and written down what I’d been thinking since about the age of 5 (rather more eloquently, however). Read the Secret Life of Plants at around the same time: it was an interesting week for books. Thank you for your thoughtful definition. I still prefer guidelines to rules, mind you. And decentralistion, I think, should be a very good thing, although of course a small community can be as corrupt, wasteful and bullied as a large one (hence the guidelines). And, I’ve found, understandably inward-looking, hence my diverting to muse on the real situation of the planet.
Mary, you seem to be blithely brushing over your attempt to smear Uri Avnery and your suggestion that all people in Israel, even the children, are somehow to blame. You therefore appear to be the mirror image of the extremists you hold up for horror. Quite unforgettable.