I am so committed to getting my book finished I really don’t have time or energy to blog at the moment, and realise it has been very desultory the last few weeks. I am well and happy, it is just that writing a properly researched history is incredibly intensive. I realise there is much of great interest happening in the world, but I must sometimes cut myself off from it.
This is why I don’t ask for donations for the blog…
Indications are surfacing that Cherie Blair is in bed with Exxon Mobil, in her tireless quest to empower women entrepreneurs to skim off the cream from developing countries’ productive capacity:
http://news.exxonmobil.com/press-release/new-research-exxonmobil-foundation-and-cherie-blair-foundation-women-reveals-how-mobil
And mobile phones, too. What a coincidence. Harp music. Sepia dissolve….
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/8050545/Hillary-Clinton-and-Cherie-Blair-launch-mobile-phone-scheme-for-women-in-developing-nations.html
The scheme has the backing of the GSM Association, the trade body for the mobile phone industry.…no. You don’t say.
Maybe this will clarify the picture – donors to the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, according to Powerbase, are currently:
Accenture (1) Bank of America European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ExxonMobil, JP Morgan(3), Oak Foundation, Qualcomm (2), Trafigura Foundation, United States Agency for International Development, Visa, Vodafone Foundation(2), Cheryl Saban Self-Worth Foundation*, COMO Foundation, Crescent Enterprises (4), Marsh and Mclennan Companies (5), Prudential Relief International, Merck.
(1) Digital
(2) Mobile phones
(3) Tony’s employer
(4) UAE global conglomerate, very likely Tony’s employer, but indirectly.
(5) Investment facilitators. Tax and dodgy regimes their speciality. Global.
*Cheryl is the billionaire Israeli Haim Saban’s wife. More here on their philanthropy:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/418181/why-israeli-american-billionaire-pouring-millions-clinton-foundation-jillian-kay
(And Saban is an AIPAC sponsor)
Right now –
http://www.opportunitiesforafricans.com/cherie-blair-foundation-for-womenexxonmobilenterprise-development-center-road-to-womens-business-growth-for-women-entrepreneurs-in-nigeria/
Nigeria. What a coincidence. See above for Tony’s interest in the subject (‘Buhari’ in search bar will find it)
And Tony Blair goes finally, definitively, straitjacketably and padded-wall-buttingly, insane.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/tony-blair-launches-private-mideast-peace-mission-35173839
I see he’s still punting the Netanyahu line, though. Hooray for the two-state solution, we’re willing to talk*, but not today as I have a couple of settlements to consecrate, and only if it is clearly understood that whoever ended the latest negotiations, it wasn’t me.
*To Hamas: Fatah knows I’m a fraud already.
Cherie’s on the phone…
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/qatar-s-ooredoo-partners-with-cherie-blair-in-myanmar-520554.html
Think I mentioned this before, but there’s this very clear answer to the question, ‘qui bono?’
The innovative will develop a franchisee model to enable 30,000 women by 2016 to become entrepreneurs by selling prepaid Ooredoo airtime to their communities.
And, obviously, phones. And networks. All altruism, is Cherie. So much so that she’s showing other women how to make a killing from charity and aid.
The Qatari telecoms giant Qtel/Ooredoo is not listed by Powerbase as a donor to the CBFW, but it has donated:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/hillary-clinton/11709781/Cherie-Blair-helped-Qatari-royal-gain-access-to-Hillary-Clinton.html
Pure coincidence, obviously.
It requires some care to avoid being blaired in the aftermath of a major jihadist atrocity. Probably as well to avoid Greece today, then…
http://www.sigmalive.com/en/news/energy/137661/state-minister-discusses-tap-issues-with-tony-blair
This may not seem immediately relevant to the Dear One bringing peace and enlightenment to Palestine on His own, but Blair moves in mysterious ways, BP’s wonders to perform.
Though no doubt there will be numerous press releases about Paris as soon as Welby junior can write them, pronouncing the TBFF’s holy anathema on all bad stuff everywhere (but failing to mention Daesh’s origins as a splinter of AQ Mesopotamia – an organisation unknown there until Saddam was removed in favour of mayhem. By Blair.)
A little more:
https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=el&u=http://www.tovima.gr/en/article/%3Faid%3D754380&prev=search
Mr. Blair arrived at Maximos Mansion accompanied by a huge security detail.
Paid for by? And is it worth it?
Surprised he hasn’t been sighted there before…the Dear Leader facilitating pipelines in Ankara today or yesterday:
http://www.aktifhaber.com/davutoglu-tony-blair-ile-gorustu-1261405h.htm
Must have joined the queue – Tsipras was there as well.
http://www.aktifhaber.com/davutoglu-ankarada-alexis-tsiprasi-agirladi-1261502h.htm
Details nonexistent. The Blair also met –
http://www.trtturk.com/haber/cumhurbaskani-erdogan-tony-blairi-kabul-etti-162970.html
As Erdoğan becomes more repressive and autocratic, he is evidently more the sort of guy Tone likes to hang out wiv. Previously the Skeletal Grin’s nearest approach to Turkey has been to overfly it en route to Azerbaijan, as documented elsewhere in the archive.
And he was presumably still in Greece yesterday. either with the BP delegation or enjoying the after-effects of ouzo in a darkened hotel room:
http://www.tovima.gr/en/article/?aid=754674
Mystic Ba’al is giving evens on Baku, 3:1 on Tel Aviv and 50:1 on Tbilisi tomorrow.
Scrub the odds on Tel Aviv. He was there on Friday, it turns out:
http://www.jpost.com/Not-Just-News/Grapevine-New-initiative-for-the-Middle-East-434415
In which the Dear Illuminator explains that the droppings of ursine quadrupeds are typically discovered in sylvan settings, and that the robed guy in the Vatican is an adherent of the Roman Rite.
Honest Ba’al – the punter’s friend. At 50:1 I’m robbing muself, squire. Tbilisi it is –
http://rustavi2.com/en/news/32116
This must be the visit foreshadowed here:
http://cbw.ge/economy/ex-british-prime-minister-will-visit-georgia/
Next stop Baku, I guess. Or maybe Astana.
The FCO meets Cherie Blair, re. the Maldives:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foi-release-fco-cherie-blair-and-omnia-strategy–2
Meeting arrangements were made through officials in London or verbally. No minutes were
taken of the meetings.
Nah. Didn’t happen. No lobbying, nuffin to see, move on.
Nothing since the 19th. Could it be….? Mais non, malheureusement.
http://fr.mediamass.net/people/tony-blair/rumeurdeces.html
Silver bullet, stake, crossroads, is what it will take.
Probably keeping his media head below the parapet before a Commons committee asks him some awkward questions about kissing Ghaddafi.
On the bright side, that’s a satirical site, and he may actually be dead.
Now here’s a thing…
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2015/nov/25/intel-finds-no-trace-prince-moosas-fabled-12bn
The Dear Fixer gets a brief mention, but it’s more interesting than that. Back in June 2015:
http://www.en.banglanews24.com/fullnews/bn/111898.html
Tony Blair Associates, a farm established by former Prime Minister of UK Tony Blair, along with three other organizations, is moving for Moosa while the Swiss bank has its own lawyers.
Aside from the typo, what can this mean? TBA does legal work too? Is it allowed to?
Hi guys, I just found my name popping up on this webpage and your discussions about Tony Blair. I´m a lawyer and journalist, and yes, I´m the one who unveilled the connection between Blair, the UAE and Colombia. If you need more info about this, feel free to get in touch via e-mail or Twitter.
Cheers!
S.
Muchas gracias, Señor! Thank you for your excellent work on our travelling criminal, and, although this isn’t my blog, may I welcome you warmly. It’s getting increasingly difficult to find any shady deals in which Blair isn’t involved, or his wife, or many of his former advisors, so I’m concentrating on recording what I can dig up on his movements and connections here, so they are all in one place.
What would be particularly interesting would be – probably impossible – to find out which of Blair’s cutouts or associates specifically is being paid by governments which, like Colombia’s, insist that Blair himself ‘isn’t getting a peso’ This is a common assertion, and while it may mean that Mubadala is paying him, and recouping the cash by other means, there have been a couple of instances in which Windrush Ventures No. 3 has benefited directly. This is one of his companies, of course.
Please feel free to add anything on the topic here: I’m not sure too many people read it, though!
Oh, and look out for Cherie. She’s bound to want to sell you Ooredoo (Qatar) phones and empower your female entrepreneurs, and she does seem to like the same governments that Tony works for.
Thanks again.
In which Blair pays a visit to, what? the VIP Studio at TalkSport? Certainly to Matt Forde, of whom I have never heard, but appears to be, like Tone, though less ironically, a comedian.
What he blaired about remains a mystery, but it’s encouraging to see him at last getting gigs like this. TalkSport and a comedian? Onward and upward, Tone.
https://www.reddit.com/r/LabourUK/comments/3uan3j/tony_blair_did_an_interview_on_matt_fordes_show/
More has emerged on Cherie’s involvement, now believed to have ended, with the Maldives’ current government, Seems her intervention on behalf of the repressive President Yameen wasn’t appreciated by our FCO, which favours the release of former president Nasheed from the cell reserved for former presidents.
http://maldivesindependent.com/politics/government-complains-of-uk-refusal-to-meet-cherie-blair-117521
Another encouraging sign.
(Eerily, Mystic Ba’al was, at 2.54 on the 26th, completely unaware that the subject of Laughing Boy’s abortive and little-known comedy career was raised by Matt Forde:
http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2015/11/26/23674/tony_blair%3A_i_tried_being_a_stand-up_comedian
“It was really dire…”
It wasn’t just the funnies, Tone.)
Even with the Paris police stamping hard on climate change demos this week as The Conference begins, eco-friendly Airmiles Anthony is still nowhere to be seen. Let us belatedly remember September 19th, 2015, therefore. That’s the fourth anniversary of the last entry on Blair’s Beating the Climate Deadlock website. There was a time when he cared,guys. Or so he said.
http://www.tonyblairoffice.org/climatechange/
And then there was the TAP pipeline, wasn’t there?
If Blair didn’t know that there were no WMD’s in Iraq, it wasn’t for the lack of people telling him…
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/30/blair-and-bush-went-to-war-in-iraq-despite-south-africas-wmd-assurances
The Dear Leader’s idiosyncratically – featured Fragrant Consort will be blairing at the Global African Investment Summit tomorrow:
http://www.ugandainvest.go.ug/gais/index.php/program/day-one
As will Tony’s protege Paul Kagame, whose dodgy lieutenant’s extraction from any pretence of due process and dare we say it global legislation must be a matter for his continuing gratitude to Cherie.
Sample bollocks:
• Encouraging entrepreneurship, an engine of growth and an agent for development – discussing effective ways to harness the energy and creativity of the continent
But we all know what it means, really.
He’s never been shy about self-promotion. Here we see Blair’s image of himself: the halo polished, the self-deprecation in top gear and the direct results of his global meddling as unmentioned as the various bastards who pay him. For governance. Sick bag required.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2015/12/01/tony-blair-rise-of-a-new-generation-of-philanthropists/
‘Realspin‘. Exactly.
If it ain’t red-hot or nailed down….
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/12027842/Did-Tony-Blair-pave-the-way-for-Manchester-Citys-265m-deal-with-Chinese-firms.html
What the Telegraph appears not to have noticed is that Khaldoon Khalifa al Mubarak, the chairman of Man City, is also the Managing Director and Group CEO of a little outfit called Mubadala – Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund – which also and no doubt coincidentally (fnarrr) employs the Dear Global Panjandrum.
Background-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/11671685/tony-blair-business-broker-china-abu-dhabi.html
As usual, Tony insists that he receives not a yuan for any specific work undertaken on behalf of his many wealthy employers. Not a penny. Not a dirham. Actually, guyz, you know, he’s on the um minimum wage….payable to Firerush No.3, which handles stuff like sovereign wealth funds.
Moving on from the tussle for ownership of our lucrative football industry –
Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is in São Paulo to single event in the city. He is the speaker on Wednesday at the Educational Complex FMU FIAM-FAAM, located in Santo Amaro. Under tight security, the Blair steps in the country were not disclosed, and the hotel where he is staying until the day of his arrival in Brazil. Glamurama knew the location of the lecture, which is closed to scholars, students and guests, was inspected in advance and suffered a series of bans by the security guards of former politician.
The chat theme is “Challenges and Opportunities of Globalization” in which Blair will reflect on how a globalized world can affect different sectors of the market and careers.
http://glamurama.uol.com.br/tony-blair-faz-palestra-em-sp-sob-forte-esquema-de-seguranca/
(And Google Translate.)
Looks like the guy is now completely convinced someone wants to bump him off. Can’t imagine why he’d object: it’s a global aspiration by now.
Romano Prodi – remember him?- adds his voice to the mounting chorus of loathing for Blair:
http://www.notixweb.com/vladimir-putin-tu-non-sei-dio-la-rabbia-contro-tony-blair-nel-vecchio-vertice/
Looks like Putin was in from the start too.
And why is he in Brazil? Surely he has more pressing business solving Palestine, COP21, even Mongolia’s gold industry? Ah…
Composed of two higher education institutions (FMU FIAM-FAAM and University Center), the Educational Group FMU is a reference in quality education and employability of students, for over 45 years. Currently, the group has more than 70,000 students and offers more than 70 undergraduate and 150 postgraduate options. Since 2014, the Educational Group FMU is member of the network Laureate International Universities, a leading network in the world’s top education. The more than 80 universities in the Laureate educate more than a million students in 28 countries.
http://www.difundir.com.br/site/c_mostra_release.php?emp=4547&num_release=166660
(And Google Translate)
Laureate is a for-profit private education provider. Blair has frequently blaired at its gigs, and Bill Clinton, though he has now left (some dispute about money) was instrumental in its success – $4Bn annually. See also:
http://www.laureate.net/NewsRoom/PressReleases/2014/09/Former-British-Prime-Minister-Tony-Blair-Addresses-Students-at-INTI
http://www.laureate.net/NewsRoom/PressReleases/2012/09/TheHonorableTonyBlairpromotesimportanceofeducationinfosteringapeacefulglobalsocietyinkeynote
(Honorable, lol)
http://www.laureate.net/NewsRoom/PressReleases/2014/04/Former-British-Prime-Minister-Tony-Blair-Applauds-Laureates-Student-Focus-at-Campus-Eiffel-in-Paris
http://laureatehereforgood.net/newsletter/laureate-brings-the-clinton-global-initiative-annual-meeting-and-the-world-business-forum-to-hundreds-of-thousands-of-students-around-the-world/
….etc. It’s almost as if the Great Educator were getting paid for His Work on earth. But I’m sure HMRC will never find out how much.
And if Sergio Held is still watching, it’s not unknown for Mr Blair to combine regional visits. While his last visit to Colombia was from the direction of the US, he might, even so, be on his way to you.
Tip of the hat to Sebastian Shakespeare:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3343749/SEBASTIAN-SHAKESPEARE-Tony-Blair-strikes-gold-Brazilian-speech.html
In which it is claimed that the Laureate cash goes to the TBAGI. Windrush Ventures No.3, then. My bad, and thanks for the research.
So…education, education, education, Tony? Or monetisation…?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-01-06/clinton-pitches-kkr-backed-college-chain-amid-controversy
In April, the Rio State Legislature’s Investigative Commission on Private Universities issued a report criticizing for-profit colleges for firing professors. It singled out Laureate’s takeover of IBMR.
…“They have turned education into a commodity that focuses more on profit than knowledge,” says Robson Leite, the Rio state legislator who led the probe. Laureate counters that several of its schools in Brazil have improved in government rankings since 2009.
Laureate has stirred controversy throughout Latin America, where it derives two-thirds of its revenue. In October, Chile’s National Accreditation Commission voted to strip accreditation from one of the company’s schools, Santiago-based Universidad de Las Americas, or UDLA.
In its decision, the commission wrote that, since 2010, UDLA’s academic standards have suffered as it has added almost 10,000 students while reducing the number of full- and half-time teachers to 399 from 408. Graduation rates were as low as 15 percent in some majors.
“The unsatisfactory results revealed in this evaluation process show a serious problem in academic operations,” the group wrote.
…Some UDLA students say its reputation has declined.
“I meet people all the time who transfer here when they flunk out elsewhere,” says Arturo Bisono, 25, an agronomy major. “This has become the place you go when no one else will accept you.”
Perhaps Mr Blair should enrol.
Meanwhile, the Harbinger of Comfort and Joy encounters a seasonally frosty reception from every Palestinian group which can be arsed to provide a weary soundbite on the subject of His Personal Peace Plan.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/12/blair-middle-east-peace-israel-palestine-abbas-hamas.html
“Blair is nothing to us. Nobody is counting on him in any issue or step. Hamas does not take him seriously because he is not a decent mediator who has the Palestinians’ credibility. Blair’s efforts have gone down the drain, and Hamas has shut its doors in his face.”
[Ahmad Melhem is a Palestinian journalist and photographer based in Ramallah for Al-Watan News. He writes for a number of Arabic outlets.]
Mr. Blair is not expected to attend this, in his capacity of white dove with olive branch:
http://connect.brookings.edu/register-to-watch-saban-forum2015
That said, Tony’s paranoia ensures that expecting him is a pretty fruitless exercise. You only know he’s somewhere when it’s too late to eject him, these days.
So expect the unexpected. Hillary will be there. And Haim Saban, who favours concentration camps for Muslims…the general tenor of the proceedings should suit the Pigeon of Peace.