After such an extended break from blogging, you will be deeply disappointed that I restart with something as mundane and trivial as Jeremy Clarkson. I have defended the man in the past, because I much enjoy Top Gear and consider that much of what he has been criticised for in the past had been an amusing winding-up of the po-faced of the kind I employ myself. But nasty, indeed vicious bullying of a subordinate should always be a sacking offence.
That did not ought to be the question, though. He hit someone and they had to go to hospital. Where are the police? They are incredibly fond of sweeping up scores of teenagers for thought crime, but here we have an actual violent assault that spills blood, and it seems completely out of the question the perpetrator is brought to account. Why is that? I had a personal experience a couple of years ago when I was very mildly hurt – less than young Oisin – in an assault, and the police insisted on arresting the perpetrator despite my repeated requests to them not to do so. They told me rather firmly that the idea that it is the victim who has a say in pressing charges, is a myth. Why was Clarkson not arrested?
I cannot in my mind dissociate this from the non-arrest of Jimmy Savile for his crimes, despite their being well-known and reported at the time. That seems to link in to the wider paedophilia scandal, and the question of why no action was taken even in the most blatant of cases when there was compelling evidence, such as that of the extremely nasty Greville Janner MP.
But then I think still more widely as to why, for example, Jack Straw has not been charged with the crime of misfeasance in public office after boasting of using his position to obtain “under the radar” changes in regulations to benefit commercial clients, in exchange for cash. I wonder why a large number of people did not go to jail for the HSBC tax avoidance schemes or the LIBOR rigging scandal, which involved long term dishonest manipulation by hundreds of very highly paid bankers.
At the top of the tree is of course the question of why Blair has not been charged for the crime of waging illegal war. The Chilcot Inquiry heard evidence that every single one of the FCO’s elite team of Legal Advisers believed that the invasion of Iraq was an illegal war of aggression. Yet now the media disparage as nutters those who say Blair should be charged.
Then I think of all the poor and desperate people who get jailed for stealing comparatively miniscule amounts in benefit fraud, or the boy who was jailed for stealing a bottle of water in the London riots.
The conclusion is that we do not have a system of justice in this country at all. We have a system where the wealthy and governing classes and those associated with them enjoy almost absolute impunity, broken in only the rarest of cases. At the same time those at the bottom of the pile are kicked hard to keep them there. There is no more chance of justice against those in power in the UK than there is of the killers of Nemtsov being brought to book in Russia.
But what has really scared me is this thought. This situation has been like this my entire life: and I have reached the age of 56 before I realised it. A very great many people have still not realised it at all.
What does not scare me is this. I realise that if the system of justice is completely corrupted, then there is no obligation on me to follow the laws of the state. In fact it would be wrong of me to do so. I must seek my ethical compass elsewhere than in the corrupt power structure which weighs so hard upon the people.
@Andy, here’s the same article from the author’s own blog;
http://joequinn.net/2015/02/20/euromaidan-anatomy-of-a-washington-backed-coup-detat/#more-1056
I linked to this in response to RD linked article which tried to whitewash the role of NGO’s, not to query Nuland’s 5 billion figure, yet even RD’s article has this;
“The insinuation that the United States incited the people of Ukraine to riot or rebel is patently false,” said Nicole Thompson, a State Department spokeswoman.
Since 1992, the government has spent about $5.1 billion to support democracy-building programs in Ukraine, Thompson said, with money flowing mostly from the Department of State via U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as the departments of Defense, Energy, Agriculture and others. The United States does this with hundreds of other countries.
About $2.4 billion went to programs promoting peace and security, which could include military assistance, border security, human trafficking issues, international narcotics abatement and law enforcement interdiction, Thompson said. More money went to categories with the objectives of “governing justly and democratically” ($800 million), “investing in people” ($400 million), economic growth ($1.1 billion), and humanitarian assistance ($300 million).
The descriptions are a bit vague, which could lead people to think the money was used for some clandestine purpose.”
Don’t you just love that last sentence !!
If Russia had spent the equivalent per head of population from 2009 to 2013 promoting Scottish independence that would work out at $5m a year.
Not so farfetched at all….
http://uk.businessinsider.com/scottish-independence-and-russian-submarine-invasion-2014-8?r=US
And. as Russia kindly reminded us, the referendum was not up to its democratic standards at all. *snirk*
http://theweek.com/speedreads/445982/russia-identifies-north-koreanstyle-irregularities-scottish-independence-vote
Thuggish US “diplomatic” behaviour towards it’s allies;
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/03/19/us-threatened-germany-snowden-vice-chancellor-says/
Yet another reason for its mass spying on everybody on the planet, useful data to use as information carrotts to make others obey you.
Ba’al Zevul
Are you saying Russian submarines were delivering cash to independence activists?
Some conspiracy you have there.
Your article says
”the Russians sail their submarines into Scottish waters on a regular basis.”
What are ”Scottish waters” ?
Scotland isn’t independent so there are no Scottish waters.
As far as I know there has never been a Russian submarine detected in UK territorial waters.
To my astonishment, still nothing on matters of import in and to the UK now and in the next few years – except for a mention of the possible paedophilia cover-up.
Nothing on the future economic course of the country (or economic matters wider afield), nothing on the prospects for the NHS and social services, nothing on justice and home affairs topics such as mass surveillance, legislation on terrorism and policy on crime, no discussion of or speculation on the form and composition of the next govt, nothing even on more general societal issues such as those touched on by Craig with this new thread of his.
Just Ukraine/Putin’s Russia and silly personal remarks and tiny rages from our resident whisky priests.
Speaking as a senior, long established guest and commenter, I would draw the conclusion that what this blog needs is more not less Habbabkuk!
Macky
“Since 1992, the government has spent about $5.1 billion to support democracy-building programs in Ukraine, Thompson said, with money flowing mostly from the Department of State via U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as the departments of Defense, Energy, Agriculture and others. The United States does this with hundreds of other countries.
About $2.4 billion went to programs promoting peace and security, which could include military assistance, border security, human trafficking issues, international narcotics abatement and law enforcement interdiction, Thompson said. More money went to categories with the objectives of “governing justly and democratically” ($800 million), “investing in people” ($400 million), economic growth ($1.1 billion), and humanitarian assistance ($300 million).
The descriptions are a bit vague, which could lead people to think the money was used for some clandestine purpose.”
Don’t you just love that last sentence !!”
____________________
Well, I actually do just love that last sentence because it is spot on – as, for example, various comments on this blog (Mr Goss, yourself, “Peace”wisher, etc..have proved. People with an agenda, no matter how inchoate and mistaken, will always pit the worst interpretation on everything. In this way – to take another example from the sayings of one of your heroes – Noam Chomsky stated, in the course of a TV discussion with William Buckley Jnr, that the purpose of US Marshall Aid was to underpin American economic hegemony (or words to that effect).
But I digress.
Anyone who has had anything to do with foreign and development policy will readily recognise the categories of assistance as broken down in the article cited by Macky as perfectly standard categories which are also used, for example, by the EU and the UN.
Congratulations ( a little late, I’m afraid! ) on your 30th!
“Craig, I’m still with you 100%, although this will probably be my last post in the comment section of your blog.”
________________
A star is born, a new noun created.
That was RobG, 4 days ago, as the first comment on this thread.
There are evidently lies, damned lies and RobGs……
Fascism is the state and the state is fascism, smash it and have a society with the rule of law instead.
No need to single out Russia though, it’s a state, no better and no worse than any other.
Neologisms:
a “John Goss moment” – the condition in which an egregiously silly statement is delivered; a statement without any connection to reality made while the author is not entirely compos mentis
a “Macky” – a sentence in which commeon sense and accuracy is in inverse proportion to its length
a “RobG” – a promise or threat to withdraw from a blog, usually unfulfilled.
perhaps: are in inverse proportion 🙂
Thanks for those links Jay…
I think these ideas relate to the utilitarian movement ..people like Jeremy Bentham who promoted the principle of utility as the standard of right action on the part of governments and individuals. There is a paper written by an American eco philosopher entitled ‘When Utilitarians should be virtue theorists’
Here’s part of the abstract which I think connects to your links
–Utilitarianism is a universal emulator: it implies that we should lie, cheat, steal, even appropriate Aristotle, when that is what brings about the best outcomes. In some cases and in some worlds it is best for us to focus as precisely as possible on individual acts. In other cases and worlds it is best for us to be concerned with character traits–
Andy; “Some conspiracy you have there.”
Yes, it seems that Ba’al/Komodo’s normally hidden streak of irrationality is now in embarrassing full following the onset of Russophobia; a condition known to interfer with a person’s ability for logic & rational reasoning.
Habbabkuk ;”a “Macky” – a sentence in which commeon sense and accuracy is in inverse proportion to its length”
A “Habby” – a pointless, inadvertenly amusing, buffoon of a troll.
Concise enough for you Habby ? 😀
Can´t better Billy Bennett on this:
It’s the same the whole world over
It’s the poor what gets the blame
It’s the rich what gets the pleasure
Ain’t it all a bloomin’ shame?
But the thing that gets me about this is how Jeremy Clarkson and so many of the viewers of Tope Gear seem to think viewers only watch it because of Clarkson. Do they really think all the hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide just watch it because of Clarkson? I mean, I can see Clarkson believing it, but all the rest? What a sad world we live in if that’s true!
I have the ideal replacements, Mike Brewer and Edd China from Wheeler Dealers. But then I don’t even have a licence to drive, let alone a licence to watch BBC. Imagine that, licenced to watch telly, only the British could dream that one up.
While you have all been hammering out the rights and, in particular the wrongs, of US foreign policy in Ukraine I popped out and took a few snaps of this morning’s eclipse in Birmingham. They are not great because I needed a much stronger filter, but some cloud cover helped. Enjoy.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127161425@N07/16686017009/in/pool-2815072@N23/
@ Andy
Can you explain please?
“It’s the same the whole world over
It’s the poor what gets the blame
It’s the rich what gets the pleasure
Ain’t it all a bloomin’ shame?”
She stood on the bridge at midnight,
My heart was all a quiver,
When I undid her suspenders,
Her leg fell in the river.
In a somewhat farcical attempt to stem the flow, of Lib/Dem deserters,Danny Alexander,stood up in the House of Commons,and pitched his parties own budget.
In a car crash speech Alexander did his best to deride,Osbornes budget,part of which Alexander himself formulated. To howls of derison and scorn,(Alexander fronted by his yellow suitcase,a take on the chancer of the exchequers tatty brownish case) proceeded to push the Lib/Dems vision of the future under them in government.
It was the first time, in living memory that a government minister,had given an alternative budget. It was a faux pas,by Alexander, a sign of desperation, from a desperate party,urgently trying to distance itself from the Tories.
The Lib/Dems are currently holding their party conference in Aberdeen, all three of them,they still haven’t paid the whopping great bill to Police Scotland,for their previous conference in Glasgow.
There was a lot of talk on the radio this morning about the new drink drive laws. People have noticed that the Scottish government have made what wasn’t an offence, what isn’t an offence in England an offence yet kept the penalties the same.
The penalties for drink driving were, quite rightly, severe. Mandatory 12 month ban and a very steep fine yet now even a small amount of alcohol in someone’s system, perhaps from a modest amount drunk the night before can lead to a prosecution yet the penalties remain the same as for the time when if someone failed a breathalyser their driving would certainly be impaired.
Draconian penalties for minor offences is the sign of an authoritarian dictatorial government, the mark of the fascist.
In the latest attitudes poll by Survation,in Scotland only 17.9% of people questioned believed Labour were the best party to represent them.
While 46.5% belived the SNP are best placed to represent them.
Very encouraging findings.
SNP supporters told to intimidate canvasers from other parties.
http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/intimidating-snp-facebook-message-taken-down-1-3695035
Macky
“Yes, it seems that Ba’al/Komodo’s normally hidden streak of irrationality is now in embarrassing full following the onset of Russophobia; a condition known to interfer with a person’s ability for logic & rational reasoning.
Habbabkuk ;”a “Macky” – a sentence in which commeon sense and accuracy is in inverse proportion to its length”
A “Habby” – a pointless, inadvertenly amusing, buffoon of a troll.
Concise enough for you Habby ? :D”
__________________
You’re not fit to lick Ba’al’s boots, Macky.
And now, I’ve given you your daily fix of attention, away with you!
Habbabkuk; “You’re not fit to lick Ba’al’s boots, Macky.”
You’re really a hoot today ! This is tha same Ba’al who uses & advises everybody to use Habbabreak to avoid seeing your nonsense, and the same Ba’al whose brave ex-military boots do a runner everytime I engage him !
Draconian penalties for minor offenses mean the government has the power to inflict such penalties on almost everybody who does something else that the government really doesn’t like (their real crime).
Notice the glaring difference in what the government does to leakers here in the U.S.: substantial jail terms, even mounting to decades in the case of Manning, for people who leak what the government doesn’t like; versus no punishment at all (for authorized leaks from the top of the government) or ridiculously light punishment for members of the ruling class (e.g., Petraeus).
The Independent: British naval base in Bahrain faces legal challenge over human rights abuses: Moosa Mohammed, allegedly tortured by Bahrain, is set to seek a judicial review over the decision:
“the same Ba’al whose brave ex-military boots do a runner everytime I engage him!”
He’s clearly terrified of your superior intellect, Macky.
——
Alex Thomson has a good blog on Jeremy Clarkson/Top Gear here
http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/jeremy-clarkson-bbc-top-gear
I want independence but I’ve never been too sure I trust the SNP. Just another political party, after all. However Fred has re-assured me. He spends his waking hours scouring the media for reasons to criticise them and the worst he can find is a couple of rogue social media comments and a claim that they are too harsh on drink drivers. That’s a clean bill of health as far as I’m concerned.
There’s no way I’d spend so much of my own time scrutinising a political party so thanks for doing the hard work for me, Fred. You’ve won me over. I’m voting SNP.
Dreoilin
“He’s clearly terrified of your superior intellect, Macky.”
_________________
Surprised to see you let the word “intelligence” get within a hundred yards of the name “Macky”, Dreoilin.
Surely you have not recanted…?
I’m very disappointed,that the Pegida,march through Edinburgh will go ahead tomorrow. The far right wing group which has affiliations with the BNP,and the NF,are in town to stir up racial tension.
Thankfully my fellow Scots,and other more diverse
residents of Edinburgh are mounting a counter protest, which I’m assured will far outnumber,those of Pegida.
Tomorrow in Glasgow’s George Square,at least 1500 people are expected to turn out as well in defiance of Pegdia.
It’s a heartening thought.
I suppose we should be grateful – once more! – for the informed comment on British matters from a transatlantic source.