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.
“Coburn, compared Scotland’s International Development Minister Humza Yousaf,to the convicted terrorist Abu Hamza.
Around the same,time Coburn was publicly spewing his racial slur of Mr Yousaf…”
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In the interests of accuracy and perhaps even clear thinking I feel impelled to point out the following:
If Mr Humza Yousaf is of the same ethnic origin as Abu Hamza, then the comparison made by Mr Coburn, while arguably disagreeable, cannot be called a racial slur.
Is he?
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“..UKIP’s Misty Thackeray,said, Glasgow City Council,was being run by gays,catholics and communists.”
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The question is whether Mr Thackeray’s comment is accurate or not.
It should be pointed out, en passant, that all three “categories” might be seen by some as relevant to one of the other of the city’s council’s policies.
So, is the comment accurate or not? Could RoS perhaps supply figures for the political parties represented on Glasgow city council and perhaps also on the religious affiliations of the council members?
Once he (or indeed someone else) has done so we could embark on the discussion which is obviously well worth having on the UKIP man’s comment.
That said, could you back up your statement about the Edinburgh régime being deeply concerned? A couple of quotations from the régime’s ministers would do fine.
……………………..
http://www.thenational.scot/news/migrants-on-hunger-strike-for-better-conditions-at-dungavel.1168
I can do better than that Habb oldboy,read the link for youself.
Habbabkuk (la vita è bella)
18 Mar, 2015 – 1:51 pm:
“Indeed, that phenomenon can be observed on this blog. What other purpose, for example, is served by digging up the personal details of many public figures (are they Friends of Israel; their husbands, wives and lovers; their previous careers, their friends; are they rich…)?”
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Operation Midland, which recently raided the homes of Leon Brittan, Harvey Proctor and former head of the armed services, Lord-whatisname, is also a murder inquiry, as well as an investigation into allegations of historical child sex abuse.
Trying to bring all this into the light of day is what Habba describes in derogatory terms as a “phenomenon”.
Is it also a phenomenon that Theresa May continues to block any proper inquiry into Kincora Boys’ Home, which was in east Belfast. Kincora is, arguably, the most important of these scandals, because allegedly the British state was directly involved in child sex abuse. It is alleged that in the 1970s and into the 80s, MI5 used the Kincora Boys’ Home as a kind of honeytrap for high profile paedos, including leading members of Irish paramilitary groups. MI5 secretely filmed these acts of child sex abuse, in order to give them a hold over the high profile paedos
The following blog post, made last summer, from a now retired Met officer who was a young copper in the 1980s, gives quite a good insight into the cover-up and total corruption that to this day still envelops the British Establishment:
https://retiredandangry.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/independent-child-abuse-inquiries-a-question-of-trust/
The Liberal Democrats reached a new low today in Prime Minister’s Questions as outgoing MP Malcolm Bruce appealed to David Cameron to help the Liberal Democrats hold on to his seat – which is currently being contested by Alex Salmond.
Commenting, SNP Westminster Leader Angus Robertson MP said:
“The Liberal Democrats showed their true colours – and desperation – this afternoon by appealing to David Cameron and the Tories for help.
“As the Lib Dems teeter on the brink of electoral oblivion, they are so panicked they are publicly relying on their Tory colleagues.
“After five years in government propping up the toxic Tories, all the Liberal Democrats have to show is a trail of broken promises. On austerity, tuition fees, Trident renewal, Lords reform, and the NHS, they have backtracked and abandoned their principles. It’s no wonder trust in the Lib Dems is at rock bottom. They know tens of thousands of former Lib Dem voters have already moved to the SNP, with many more now also intending to vote SNP at the General Election.
The likes or Willie Rennie,and Danny Alexander,deserve to be ousted,for complying with the Tories,on austerity matters,causing suffering to the poor and disabled.
John Goss, 6:20 pm; sorry, I didn’t mean to detract from your point, with which I agree; most news media does show various biases, many of which are clearly racist, or at least anti-foreign.
I just felt it important to point out that we have no unbiased news media – it’s part of my scientific / analytic mind-set; bias in the data must be taken into accounted.
RobG, 7:04 pm; yes, this answers Habbabkuk’s earlier question to Mary as to why child sexual abuse by the elite should cause even more concern than that by ethnically Asian gangs. With the gangs the child abuse itself was presumably the objective, whereas abuse by the elite may have been “merely” a means, by blackmail, unto some even more hideous, and as yet unknown crimes.
SNP book burners re-elected.
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/snp-councillors-who-torched-smith-report-re-elected-1-3720751
What sort of Scotland are we living in?
I would think that someone who genuinely objects to child abuse but who dislikes the way this forum concentrates on such crimes committed by highly placed persons, as opposed to ethnic gangs, would publicize the crimes of the ethnic gangs, rather than complaining about other people bringing up such crimes committed by the elite. But that, of course, does not happen.
OBR have estimated income from North Sea Oil 2016/2017 will be £600 million.
So the £6.8 billion to £7.9 billion forecast by the SNP in their white paper was a bit out…well a hell of a lot out…if it wasn’t so serious it would be a frigging joke.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11481354/SNP-referendum-oil-figures-13-times-higher-than-reality.html
Clark, just for the record, one reason I don’t usually directly mention that a lot of the recent child sex abuse involves men of Pakistani origin, is because I don’t want people to think I have some kind of racist agenda (I don’t). Just about all links I give to relevent recent cases do mention the Pakistani side of things, though.
The other reason, of course, is that Pakistani taxi drivers, or whatever, don’t run the country, and aren’t covering up one of the biggest scandals in British history, a scandal that all our present shower in Westminster are quite well aware of.
I have to say, yet again, that we are talking about child sex abuse and murder here.
But I suppose the present day bunch of spivs, psychos and shysters in Westminster just see it all as ‘business as usual’.
God help the British Isles…
RobG 7:04pm
Your link describes child abuse cases involving celebrities and politicians over the last 40 years. The writer, a retired police officer, catalogues cover-ups, whitewashes and aborted inquiries over 40 years. He paints a consistent picture – anyone who seriously attempts to investigate these scandals is fired, demoted, transferred, or worse.
Theresa May is still in charge of the latest investigation.
Well, it has happened, actually, but unfortunately the reaction was one of cries of “racism” or, alternatively, cries of “what about the highly placed British paedophiles” or even “do you have a personal interest in paedophilia?”.
But perhaps you have not followed this blog long enough to notice that…
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If I might make a suggestion : would foreign commenters’ time not be better more profitably spent if they posted expert commentary on events in the country they live in rather than making rather pointless remarks about this, that and the other in countries thay do not know that well?
I do not of course count 4 years spent reading Greats (allegedly) at an Oxford college (as yet un-named) quite a while ago (apparently) as sufficient qualification for commenting learnedly (not) on British affairs.
I am also against cultural imperialism (amongst other things) 🙂
RobG, 8:12 pm; I suspect that this matter is international. It involves the very powerful, and power crosses national borders. I admit it’s just a suspicion I hold, but I think this is really about blackmail. I just can’t believe that state apparatus was involved in covering it up unless the point was blackmail. Otherwise, why protect a presumably fairly small minority of the powerful? The powerful happily bankrupt each other, strip each other’s assets, take each other’s power, so why did they not expose the abusers so as to take what they could no longer hold? To me this suggests some greater degree of power acting from above.
No single Celtic group, Scots genetically closer to English than Celts.
Wouldn’t it be better to spend the money on food banks rather than road signs nobody can read?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-31946436
By the way, I am just now reading a new book, Henry W. Vinson’s Confessions of a D.C. Madam: The Politics of Sex, Lies, and Blackmail, about the use of sexual blackmail by powerful politicians and institutions in Washington, D.C. It isn’t just in Britain.
@Doug Scorgie
Did you not know that Russia has a large independent mass media?
No I didn’t perhaps you could elucidate and tell us why Putin has consistently been taking TV and radio stations and newspapers into State control since he came to power.
I doubt if it would count as cultural imperialism in the eyes of a certain commenter if an American were to support NATO policies, criticize Putin’s Russia, praise the coup in Ukraine, and the like.
Resident Dissident, are you available for a while?
Clark
For a little while.
Lysias
Having views is not cultural imperialism – enforcing them to the exclusion of others would be, but not much chance of that happening here.
RD, thanks. Now I’ve been very annoyed with John Goss for looking at the Ukraine conflict only from the RT angle, but I’ve been following some of Macky’s links, and reading some articles by Robert Parry, the journalist who broke the Iran-Contras affair. I’ve also looked at the Russian / Separatist side, and they look like an alarmingly violent mob too, but I can see why John Goss has been getting so angry.
Could you comment on Parry as a journalist, and would you read this article please?:
https://consortiumnews.com/2014/09/08/seeing-no-neo-nazi-militias-in-ukraine/
My point was that the views that I express here are the antithesis of American “cultural imperialism”.
The variety of cultural imperialism this “certain commenter” was alluding to was that of people who live a long way away from the UK and yet presume to lay down the law about UK matters despite not being terribly well-informed about them. The fact that certain of those people appear to be American (allegedly) is purely coincidental.
Nor, for this “certain commenter”, would it be surprising that America supports NATO policies, given that the US was one of the founder members of NATO.
But perhaps another certain commenter was unaware of that despite having served in both the US Navy and US Army (allegedly, of course).
Clark
I don’t know a lot about Robert Parry apart from what you have told me – I’m afraid that it is in the nature of war that it often attracts violent nationalists and I would hope that the Ukrainian government is seeking to repress such elements within its armed forces and if Amnesty and others want to hold their hands to the flame in this regard I have no problem in theme doing so. The one think that is undeniable however is that the extreme right in the Ukriane have been in retreat both electorally and politically since Yanukovych fled the country, and also that the Maidan and the Ukrainian resistance to Russian interference have much wider support just those who are Nazis and fascists.
It should be noted that there were no attacks by neo Nazis or similar before the little green men ceased the Crimea and government building in Eastern Ukraine. There are also not a few neo Nazis, anti semites and human rights abusers among the rebels and their friend in Eastern Ukraine. I have already linked on the previous thread to calls from the leader of the fascist National Bolsheviks in Russia for volunteers to go to fight in Eastern Ukraine – and I could also add that the corporatist economic policies favoured by Putin, as well as curbing of press freedom and other liberties perhaps bear more than a passing resemblance to the Mussolini’s fascism, and how it modern day European fascists such as Le Pen, Jobbik, Nick Griffin (and not to say modern day Poujadists such as Farage) have all flocked to Putin’s cause.
I would recommend reading people such as Tim Snyder and Andrei Kurkov (an ethnic Russian who has lived in Ukraine for many years and is better known for his satirical novels) if you want to appreciate that the main force behind the Ukrainians is a natural desire for independence rather than fascism. This reaction for Putin to accuse his opponents of fascism, wanting to stoke up the Cold War, threaten Russia etc is I’m afraid the standard Soviet/KGB response over the years to cover up dreadful behaviour on their part.
If memory serves, Snyder whitewashes the misdeeds of the Banderists during World War Two in his book Bloodlands.
My point was that the views that I express here are the antithesis of American “cultural imperialism”.
Very good – doesn’t make either the thesis or antithesis correct however – there are plenty of other rather more palatable alternatives between those two positions.
RD, I don’t doubt either the Russian propaganda nor the Russian nationalist volunteers. Neither do I doubt that many Ukrainians supported the overthrow of the Kiev government. My concern is that they were exploited by the US Neocons. How likely do you regard this to be? considering also the article linked later.
RD, I’ve read John Pilger’s Hidden Agendas which describes a number of covert US interventions in various countries. I do not have the book to hand, but a consistent theme is the covert US funding of indigenous but extreme right-wing paramilitary groups that wreak terror upon the local population preparatory to a regime-change that is beneficial to US commercial interests.
There seem to be various similar aspects to the Ukraine conflict, and what with the relative silence from the corporate media about the Ukrainian extreme right-wing groups, I must say I’m suspicious, and more so since reading about the US connections behind the overthrow in Kiev:
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/03/11/nulands-mastery-of-ukraine-propaganda/
“If memory serves, Snyder whitewashes the misdeeds of the Banderists during World War Two in his book Bloodlands.”
Then memory serves you wrong – http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/feb/24/a-fascist-hero-in-democratic-kiev/