Confirmed speaking dates at the moment are
26 August St Andrews
28 August Insch
29 August Dundee
30 August Cupar, Fife
I will post details of times and venues shortly – these are all evening events. I am still open to invitations on dates around these, and indeed any daytime events. Don’t mind dashing all over the place. A number are in the pipeline already. Contact me using the button at top of page.
Have been rather unwell the last couple of days, so please forgive lack of regular posts. BBC Hardtalk interview with Anders Fogh Rasmussen of NATO made me feel much worse. Totally incapable of acknowledging the disasters NATO and NATO members have inflicted on the world since the collapse of the Soviet Union – and the BBC totally incapable of serious questioning on the point.
“Dreoilin, what makes … a Christian a true Christian?”
Jemand, if someone professes to be a true Christian, and at the same time gaily talks about killing as many black and brown people as possible, or “turn their country into glass”, they are not Christians, they are hypocrites. And if they head off as part of ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’, saying they intend to “kill as many Iraqis as possible” (something which was attributed to Blackwater/Academi guys) they are not Christians either. One has to assume that being a Christian means following the teachings of Jesus, and he would not approve (according to what we are told of him.)
“What is it about these ideologies that attracts more maniacs than other ones?”
Probably the fact that US/UK have been bombing the shite out of countries with which they identify for years now – and killing and torturing their people. They may quote Islam, but Islam is not the inspiration behind them.
[Hey, what’s wrong with 6 – 2 = 4? Give me another captcha then!]
Just FYI (Jemand), I’m going offline. I was up all night. Literally.
Mary
21 Aug, 2014 – 8:37 pm
“Are we being manipulated? Seems farcical when you watch it.”
—————————————–
It could be a hoax Mary but I fail to see the rationale for that.
ISIS has beheaded before and they are not short of hostages.
Also, if it was a hoax then presumably James Foley is still alive somewhere.
Another YCNMIU
Ex-Army Chief: West May Have To Talk To Syria
The former head of the British Army says the West should consider negotiating with Syria’s president to tackle extremist group IS.
http://news.sky.com/story/1322819/ex-army-chief-west-may-have-to-talk-to-syria
Jon Snow is given what for.
Are the US and Syria now on the same side
Dr Bouthaina Shaaban, adviser to Syrian Presidency tells Channel 4 News that western reactions to Isis “are coming too little too late.” “The whole world should be against Isis,” she says.
Video on http://www.channel4.com/news/catch-up/#
Thursday 21 August 2014. 9 mins
Snow is appalling.
Fred; I hope you’ve only experienced beheadings in a metaphorical way. Although I can almost see your serrated knife. 🙂
Doug To allow reinforcement of the reinvasion of Iraq?
@Ben
I just couldn’t get black puddings the way I like them up here.
That is very sick Fred.
Looking from the other end of the telescope. There is an account within this of US military raping and killing young girls in Iraq.
Are We Not Savages Too?
The Beheading of James Foley
by GARRY LEECH
Without question, the beheading of US journalist James Foley was an inexcusable and savage act of violence by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The killing of non-combatants should always be condemned. But there is a clear discrepancy in the response of both the Western media and the general public with regard to the killing of Western civilians compared to Islamic civilians. The number of Western civilians killed by Islamic militants pales in comparison to the number of non-combatants that have died at the hands of the US and its military allies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen. And yet, the outrage at the killing of these innocent Muslims, many of who are women and children, is virtually non-existent in the West.
According to several studies, more than 1,000 Afghan civilians were killed by the US military in the first six months of Operation Enduring Freedom. The number of non-combatants killed by coalition forces surpassed 3,000 by the end of the third year of the occupation. The killing of civilians by the US military continued thereafter with drone strikes accounting for most of the deaths in recent years. According to the UK-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, some 2,400 people were killed by US drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen during the first five years of Barack Obama’s presidency. The study claims that as many as 951 of these deaths were civilians and that almost 200 of the victims were children.
These numbers are corroborated by another study conducted by the Columbia Law School which reports that approximately 600 people were killed by US drone strikes in Pakistan in 2011. According to the report, as many as 155 of those killed were civilians. Together, these two reports suggest that 30 to 40 percent of people killed by US military operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan are civilians. This percentage corresponds with that reported in a study headed by public health expert Amy Hagopian of the University of Washington. Hagopian’s comprehensive study of civilian deaths during the US invasion and occupation of Iraq (2003-2011) reveals that Baghdad was at the epicenter of the violence for much of that period and that 35 percent of those killed in that city by US coalition forces were civilians.
/..
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/22/the-beheading-of-james-foley/
Fred (09h28)
Thanks for that succinct explanation of cognitive dissonance.
I never bothered to look it up despite its liberal use on here since…well, it was used mainly by the Eminences and we all know what we should think of the Eminences, don’t we.
A further question following your explanation – could people displaying cognitive dissonance pose a danger to the man on the street in certain circumstances or is it quite harmless? Ie, are they to be feared or pitied?
“With their surplus US$, Israel spends some on NINE of these aircraft. Why? Where are they planning to use them?
‘The Israeli Air Force is seeking to purchase nine C-130J-30s.[50]”
____________________
Wow, the RAF and many other NATO airforces will be jealous – they’re tremendous planes!
Actually, the answer to your question is simplissime.
Much impressed by, and quaking before your righteous anger, Israel has been persuaded of the need to evacuate the whole of Palestine and return that land to its rightful owners. The planes are needed to transport the Israelis out of Palestine and resettle them in leafy Surrey.
******************
Habbabkuk wants a C130 for Xmas this year.
“A further question following your explanation – could people displaying cognitive dissonance pose a danger to the man on the street in certain circumstances or is it quite harmless? Ie, are they to be feared or pitied?”
Everybody does it, it’s how the human brain works. It isn’t an impairment, it’s a feature of the human thought process. You often exhibit it, all the posters do.
Fred
21 Aug, 2014 – 9:59 pm
“You have obviously never cut a head off either. There is very little blood. As how much blood a human has very little of it actually escapes.”
___________________________________________
You really are thick aren’t you Fred; admit it.
The amount of blood “escaping”, as you put it, depends on the method of beheading.
A swift beheading like as happens with a sword in Saudi Arabia, kills the victim almost instantly (ie his heart stops pumping blood).
However, cutting someone’s head off with a sharp knife would involve slicing through the jugular veins and the carotid arteries while the victims heart is still pumping away (probably faster than usual under the circumstances); hence lots of blood.
Biology is obviously not your strongest subject.
“You really are thick aren’t you Fred; admit it.”
You are obviously a shit for brained retard who never cut off a head in his life.
When I butcher a pig if I want the blood I hang it upside down and even then I don’t get nearly all of it. Without hanging and just cutting the throat there is not vast amounts of blood.
You haven’t got a clue, admit it.
Fred (18h15)
OK, thanks.
Dreoilin, Christians and Muslims have been on war paths, conquests and engaged in bloody massacres well before the arrival of European colonists to North America and well before the US pursued an aggressive foreign policy.
You have described what you think makes a Christian. I beg to differ. A Christian is not defined by how good they are, nor how compliant they are with the traditions and tenets of their faith. A Christian is simply defined as someone who believes that Jesus is Christ. He is either a Christian, or he is not. There is no inbetween. He can rape and pillage all he likes, but he is still a Christian, tho’ maybe not a “good” one. The important question here is what motivates him to do wrong. Does Christianity play any role at all? Or is it irrelevant?
If you want to know what motivates a person to do the things they do, ask them. Listen to them. Who knows better than they why they do those things? Why would they lie, or be mistaken? Lee Rigby’s killers made their motives perfectly clear about why they did what they did. Islam was central to their reasoning. How can any non-Muslim presume to contradict their words?
A lot of Muslims are in conflict with each other over religious, political, social, economic and personal reasons. Who is anyone to pick and choose who of them is Muslim and who is not on the basis of how they conduct themselves? If one of them has a problem with alcohol, on what basis does a non-Muslim presume to strip him of his faith and identity just because he fails to fulfil his religious obligations?
I think it’s high time that non-Muslims stop lecturing Muslims about their faith. They are the experts, even if they can’t agree amongst themselves. If they say they are Muslim, and believe they are Muslim, then that’s good enough for me and, it seems, most other Muslims. I’ve never heard a Muslim accuse another of not being a Muslim. Doesn’t that tell you something?
Jemand,
1) You asked me what makes a “true” Christian. I don’t believe that “a Christian is simply defined as someone who believes that Jesus is Christ.” Anyone who truly believed that would follow his teachings – and they didn’t include wiping out great swathes of other peoples for the sake of greed or dominance. Jesus favoured the poor, the weak, the displaced, the disabled, the sick, and the shunned …
2) For me (an atheist) morality does not depend on what’s written in some ancient book. Or what is taught off the alter. If I want to know what a person IS, I don’t look at what they SAY, but at what they DO.
3) You say, “I’ve never heard a Muslim accuse another of not being a Muslim.”
Have a look at what Technicolour posted at 22 Aug, 2014 – 11:38 am. It’s here:
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2014/08/yes-scotland-meetings/comment-page-4/#comment-474134
It begins
“From the Gaza Youth Breaks Out (GYBO) facebook page:
“Extremism is racism, Moderation brings peace to the world.
“We, Palestinians and all good-hearted Muslims around the world, we condemn ISIS and all their supporters. They have nothing to do [with] Islam, and real Islam is not them …”
———–
We’ll have to agree to differ, Jemand. I’ve seen you on this topic before, and I know you dislike Muslims and Islam. As far as I’m concerned, every religion has its extremists (or extremists who label themselves as being under the banner of that religion) and they should not be allowed to define that group of religionists as a whole.
An exchange on Medialens, with which I concur.
‘C4 and BiBiC ignore Saudi Arabia and Gulf as founders and funders of ISIS – its all Assad’s fault!
Posted by CJ on August 22, 2014, 11:58 pm
The level of lying has just reached its peak in the MSM – instead of focusing on Saudi and Gulf creation and funding of ISIS and other wahabi fanatics (which of course have been fully supported by Western governments) blame the growth of ISIS on Assad.
Snow sought cover for this story this evening from … wait for it, that objective independent expert….the US State Department deputy mouthperson Marie Harf!!! This was the nadir of all interviews, imo.
BBC dribbling out the same false meme on all its platforms as far as I can see.
If only we had 3D news broadcasting we could then get a real sense of the massive nasal growth as these muppets utter their bile.
~~~
Posted by Ed on August 23, 2014, 1:16 am,
6 Pilgers is awful if you ask me, more awful than the Warks and the Paxmans because he loves to portray himself as independent and a real thorn in the establishment’s propaganda narrative and so far, he has hoodwinked a lot of the public in to thinking this is true.
Of course, that just makes him a more accomplished and subtler propaganda operative than the likes of Aaronovitch and Sean Hannity, for example.
Also, just look at the team he surrounds himself with: Frei, Guru-Murthy, Newman, Long, Rugman, Hilsum…all Washington worshipping hacks.
He’s actually more dangerous than the overt propagandists as a result.
A Frigging Fig-Leaf Lapdog.
~~~
Posted by CJ on August 23, 2014,
You’re right. I forget sometimes that this is not another BBC establishment channel but an ITN product working for its shareholders with all that brings to the party of the oligarchs. Any news product that overall is left of Genghis Khan will therefore have a short life, Snow and dwarves will understand this, but of course this cannot be openly admitted.’
~~~
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/thread/1408748331.html
Thanks a million!
Yes declaration hits million target
More than a million people have signed a declaration that they are in favour of Scottish independence, campaigners say.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-28894313
Here she goes. More curbs on our freedom.
“We are in the middle of a generational struggle against a deadly extremist ideology,” Mrs May says.
“We will be engaged in this struggle for many years, probably decades. We must give ourselves all the legal powers we need to prevail.
“I am looking again at the case for new banning orders for extremist groups that fall short of the legal threshold for terrorist proscription, as well as for new civil powers to target extremists who seek to radicalise others.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11052486/Theresa-May-New-laws-to-tackle-British-jihadists.html
“An exchange on Medialens, with which I concur.”
Mary is yet again grasping at straws to attribute everything bad in the world to her usual culprits – remember that she once Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood to Hillary Clinton.
Quite frankly this view that people around the world are not capable of doing bad things in their own name or on their own initiative, without help from outsiders, really is just a form of racism.
R2D2 You seem to have missed out a verb there in your haste to have a(nother) go at me. LOL.
I totally agree with the commenters there on Medialens about the output from Ch 4 ‘News’ and BBC ‘News’.
Your output here is equally pathetic.
Mary; “Here she goes. More curbs on our freedom.”
“People who insist on travelling to fight in Syria and Iraq will be investigated by the police and security services.”
“any British national who returns from Syria and Iraq faces prosecution here for participating in terrorist activities abroad.”
That she is hypocritically unconcerned about those Britons who travel to Israel, to fight in a foreign army, & partake of the warcrimes & terrorism committed against the Palestinians in Gaza, doesn’t seem to registered to her that she herself should be investigated for encourageing radicalisaton & extremistism.
Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !
22 Aug, 2014 – 5:13 pm
“I never bothered to look it up despite its liberal use on here since…well, it was used mainly by the Eminences…”
I think you’ll find that the term cognitive dissonance is used to a monotonous degree by your friend Resident Dissident (or should that be Resident Dissonance?).
He probably thinks it makes him sound clever but we know he’s just a tosser like you.
Good point Macky. I believe many British went out to assist in the massacre.
~~~
Free Palestine? First We Must Free Ourselves from the Enemy Within
Western leaders ‘nobble’ the International Criminal Court
by Stuart Littlewood / August 23rd, 2014
Was anyone surprised to hear that the International Criminal Court is under pressure not to investigate Israel’s war crimes in Gaza?
The British government wouldn’t even vote for the UN Human Rights Council’s proposal to launch an inquiry and, along with France, abstained. The US, as expected, voted against. Even Ireland, Germany and Italy abstained in an extraordinary show of collective political cowardice. The enemy within had revealed itself.
As The Guardian reported, “at stake is the future of the ICC itself, an experiment in international justice that occupies a fragile position with no superpower backing. Russia, China and India have refused to sign up to it. The US and Israel signed the accord in 2000 but later withdrew.
“Some international lawyers argue that by trying to duck an investigation, the ICC is not living up to the ideals expressed in the Rome statute that ‘the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished’.”
/..
http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/08/free-palestine-first-we-must-free-ourselves-from-the-enemy-within/
There were 30 airstrikes on Gaza last night, ie bombings. They were Netanyahu’s revenge for the killing by a Hamas mortar of one Israeli child in a kibbutz on the border. No concern by Netanyahu for the over 400 Palestinian children, whose killing he ordered in Protective Edge.
If anyone thinks that there has been any cessation of Israeli atrocities, then think again.
In Occupied Palestine
Zionism in practice – Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Property
24 hours to 8am
19 August 2014
3 attacks – 31 raids including home invasions – 2 beaten – 1 death – 3 injured – 2 acts of agricultural/economic sabotage – 35 taken prisoner – 16 detained – 107 restrictions of movement
Another victim dies from injuries sustained in Israeli air strikes
Israeli soldiers shoot and wound resident during raid on West Bank village
Israeli Army opens live fire in yet another West Bank village
Israeli Army bulldozes Palestinian olive grove
Occupation settler terrorists open fire on waste removal truck in Jericho
Settler arsonists spray-paint racist graffiti during assault on West Bank village
Night peace disruption and/or home invasions in refugee camp and 17 towns and villages
Read more http://www.sapienspromise.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3233
Mary
The missing verb is “linked” – you were wrong then and are wrong now.
Fred
22 Aug, 2014 – 6:45 pm
“Without hanging and just cutting the throat there is not vast amounts of blood.”
————————————-
Why would you cut a pigs throat while it’s on the ground Fred?
Are you a psycho?
BTW I should add that an exchange on Medialens and a dose of Mary’s bile does not count as sufficient evidence that ISIS/IS/whatever the evil bastards call themselves was a UKUKIS put up job – except possible for Mr Scorgie.
Resident Dissident
23 Aug, 2014 – 9:19 am
“Quite frankly this view that people around the world are not capable of doing bad things in their own name or on their own initiative, without help from outsiders, really is just a form of racism.”
Who do you think is funding IS/ISIS ResDis?