I spoke to a really uplifting Perth for Independence meeting yesterday – over 300 people, more than attended Cameron’s “Rally to Save the Union” in the same city during the campaign. There is no sense of defeat at all in the Yes campaign and it retains its spine-tingling energy intact.
Many interesting contributions including – a continuing feature of this campaign – several first time speakers, and more female than male. In my own talk I said that anyone who voted No because they believed “The Vow” was stupid beyond belief. Scotland will never be given by Westminster its revenues from oil and whisky, and any devolution settlement based on Scotland keeping and spending its own taxation but excluding taxation from oil and whisky, would undoubtedly be arranged by Westminster to result in a net cut in public spending in Scotland.
I have in any case not the slightest interest in any arrangement which does not give Scotland control of its own foreign and defence policies, and leaves us still as participants in continual aggressive war, torture and extraordinary rendition.
It remains my view that Scotland’s innate dislike of the astonishing wealth gap of British society, the rise of UKIP and the shift to the right of the Westminster parties, the danger of leaving the EU and European Convention on Human Rights (and thus expulsion from the Council of Europe), all contribute to a political, cultural and social divergence which make independence inevitable. It is coming in a much shorter timescale than people realise.
A very long piece from Tariq Ali on his indoctrination into Islam and general regional history. I have skimmed it but will re-read it later.
October 17-19, 2014
Mullahs and Heretics
A Secular History of Islam
by TARIQ ALI http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/17/a-secular-history-of-islam/
Gutter
“Imagine if the result of the referendum had been reversed – 55% ‘Yes’, 45% ‘No’ – and ‘No’ campaigners were holding meetings and rallies”
As the No campaign were incapable of holding popular meetings and rallies even when they were “winning”, the idea they could do so if they lost is in fact beyond my imagination.
Craig: a margin of 55 to 45 isn’t “winning”, it’s winning. You’re in denial. Get over it.
“Craig…..You’re in denial. Get over it.”
It’s a sad fact of life that democratic outcomes can often be a real bummer.
Breaking news. Press TV reporter Serena Shim killed in a car “accident” near the Turkish border not long after making this report on Thursday, Friday or Saturday but broadcast yesterday. She was obviously worried about the Turkish secret services and had clearly been warned. All secret services, as I say consistently, should be abolished. They are sick murdering a brave woman trying to report the truth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgXPW2q7v9M&feature=share
MJ
Never heard of a Pyrrhic victory then?
I have. What’s your point?
Mr Goss
“She was obviously worried about the Turkish secret services and had clearly been warned. All secret services, as I say consistently, should be abolished. They are sick murdering a brave woman trying to report the truth.”
___________________
You’re at it again.
Can you not understand that the fact that someone is “worried” about the Turkish secret services (or any other secret service for that matter) does not mean that secret service is automatically guilty of that person’s “murder”?
On what do you base your accusation of “murder” other than on your wish to seee all secret services abolished?
Given what we know of the standards of driving in places like Turkey and Irak, have you considered the possibility that it might actually have been a road accident?
Talk of “victories” and in particular Pyrrhic victory is misguided and otiose?
Just as the fuss over alleged “ballot rigging” and “dirty tricks” has died down, so will the resonance of the refusal of a few diehards to accept that Scotland has spoken fade away into insignificance.
The dogs have barked and the caravan will move on. From now going forwards, attention – including in Scotland – will be increasingly focussed on the general election and the potential for the mainstream parties and UKIP.
For people here to keep revisiting the independence debate and how to carry forward the “resistance” is just posturing self-indulgence.
” . . . have you considered the possibility that it might actually have been a road accident?”
Yes. I’ve also considered that Michael Hastings was killed in a road accident.
That is terrible John. The cruelty. I bet that there will be little or no mention of her death in the MSM.
~~~
The UK is a fascist state, viz
Police move to clear Occupy protesters from Parliament Square
Demonstrators voicing support for pro-democracy campaign in Hong Kong evicted after three days of occupation
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/19/occupy-protesters-parliament-square-london
‘Possessing items that could be used for sleeping in Parliament Square was made illegal under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.’
‘Officers could be seen dragging away about 50 protesters one by one after they refused to leave. She said officers told them that they could not sit on tarpaulins, which were deemed to be “structures”.’
Livestream video http://bambuser.com/v/5010919
“The cruelty. I bet that there will be little or no mention of her death in the MSM.”
Exactly. Turkey is currently doing the US/UK dirty work and is therefore an ally.
Craig: You need to campaign. Really campaign, as self-therapy and self-education. Don’t speechify, don’t write, just do what we soldiers do. Knock doors and talk to people. Talk to all those people you think are wicked and stupid. It’s amazing how smart and moral they get if you just keep talking to them.
“Craig: You need to campaign.”
Campaign for what? The referendum is been and gone and the parliamentary election is yet to come. It’s like carol singing in June.
I think it was Macky…Who said if its good..its worth repeating…Although first time post of this from me… is this –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTmeRwo1IYA&list=UUADeL7Al3p2zDEcZs2wNPSQ&index=1
@Vronsky at 10.48 pm – you have a good point: polite non-party doorstep persuasion may not be dead. The Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses seem to think it worthwhile. Myself, I would still prefer the radical Scottish tradition to keep its links with English and Welsh radicalism. Deployed in time, Craig’s Titanic tug might have steered the ship of state away from the iceberg. However, the argument for Scottish Independence is fundamentally not party political. It’s about the political unit people want to take the decisions that affect them.
Realism arguments should not be ignored. The referendum did decide the issue for “a generation” … but how long is a generation? And how will future arguments be couched? “English votes for English legislation” is a stirring cry. But so is “Scottish votes for Scottish legislation”. If a majority of Scottish MPs (not MSPs) want there to be another referendum, in which, as in the recent referendum, only those on Scottish electoral registers have the vote, how easy will it be for Westminster to say “No, this time this is not a matter just for Scottish voters”? The UK gave up long ago its UK majoritarian defence of the union when it said: “If the majority of the people of Northern Ireland do not want to be part of the UK, so be it. The UK is not coercive. ” For now it seems unlikely that a majority in Northern Ireland would vote either for independence or to join the Republic of Ireland. Scotland might be different. The next clue will be the outcome of the 2015 election. Let’s resume analysis of the possibilities when these bits of the jigsaw are in place. On your 2015 marks!
Scotland might be different
Just a wee Bit Ian…Or a Lot
Second, third, the suggestion to – not campaign, canvass. What I found, after talking to literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of people, was that it was not about you talking to them, it was about you listening, first. A real privilege to have done it.
BrianFujisan – in referenda that are decided by a simple majority, the key is not whether the vote for or against independence is by a large or a small majority, but which side has majority support. At this stage I’m not in the business of making predictions or of expressing preferences – except this: there will be no further Scottish referendum until after the 2015 Westminster elections and the 2016 Holyrood elections. Only when the terms of any future referendum are agreed (and I am able to assess the state of UK politics at that time) will I be tempted to make predictions or declare my preferences.
Nevermind – Ebola has been of interest to the government’s bio-weapon Lab at Porton Down for some years.
We know the human immune response cunningly determines and attacks the ‘messenger’ that embraces most virus’s reproduction code. With that code altered the virus cannot replicate itself and is wiped out.
Typically, when a virus infects our cells, the sophisticated human immune system responds to this virus’ ‘messenger’ and mounts a defence or attack.
Ebola ‘cloaks’ or binds the ‘messenger’ with a protein called VP35 which adroitly and ingeniously prevents our immune ‘memory’ from determining the ‘messengers’ signature that identifies this messenger RNA. Thus by genetic engineering, a number of common viruses, like flu for instance, could be ‘cloaked’ by splicing in the required genes from VP35 – Good work for world-wide pandemics.
Interesting and thank-you.
Ian
Thanks for that…We accept the vote.. even with the rigging ..Of which there is much evidence…even here in inverclyde.
Blessings Ian
Technicolour – an excellent point. It might be a more subtle diagnostic question in polls about leading politicians, rather than “Do you think X a good leader?”, to ask “Do you think X – or X’s party – listens with both ears to your concerns?” On marks out of ten (0=deaf, 5= did let me get a few words in, 10= no ideas except getting elected) how would you rate (and describe)the listening skills of?:
Cameron
Osborne
Johnson, Boris
May
Grayling
Clegg
Cable
Alexander, Danny
Miliband
Balls
Cooper
Harman
Johnson, Alan
Alexander, Douglas
Farage
Reckless
Lucas
Craig
Fred
Habbakuk
Mary
Yourself
BBC
Guardian
Daily Telegraph
Times
Sun
Vronsky,
I cannot quite understand why you think I don’t canvass. More than a few readers here will have canvassed with me during the campaign. But there is also a place for writing and for making speeches (and videos). That is where my talents appear to lie.
Nevermind and Mark Golding, Ebola can be cured, I understand, by very high doses of vitamin C so high as to where the patient would be on the verge of diarrhoea. It needs to be done by specialist medical personnel but would stop the global drugs companies making vast profits and prevent Bill Gates from making megamillions more. Would I lie to you? I am not a politician.
Well, my talents lie in creating extraordinary structures out of filigree, but if I were hoping to represent people in any way I would be hoping to listen to them first, and that includes the people whose superficial views make me want to vomit over their primulas. Because they are just as important as I am.
Iain: thanks, but not sure that the ‘leaders’ (most over-paid of our elected representatives) are the point. Are we listening to each other?
(sorry, see you made that point too: wasn’t listening!)
I am all ears!
+++++
Police use loophole to hack phones and email
Dominic Kennedy Investigations Editor
Published at 12:01AM, October 20 2014
Police are hacking into hundreds of people’s voicemails, text messages and emails without their knowledge, The Times has discovered. Forces are using a loophole in surveillance laws that allows them to see stored messages without obtaining a warrant from the home secretary. Civil liberties campaigners reacted with concern to the disclosure that police were snooping on personal messages so often, without any external monitoring and with few safeguards.
Surveillance laws protect the public from having live phone messages, texts and emails accessed by police unless a warrant is granted by the home secretary. Forces are able to get round these rules if the messages have been sent and are in storage. Officers can simply obtain production orders from a judge and force telecoms and computer companies to hand over records of… (paywall)
Cease and Desist
Distrust leads to police ‘brotherhood’
Technology left the law behind
DPP defends hacking of journalists
Police can snoop on the press
1 Comment
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/article4241503.ece
Mary,
Nice to have you bsck.
Nice of you to say so Jives.