It is my birthday! I had a celebratory dinner last night in the home of very dear friends from student days. whom I had not seen for decades. We regaled each other with stories of those long ago times, and for a while were young again.
I heard again how I forgot about one of my finals and had to be helped, too drunk to walk, into the examination room but still got a first. Absolutely true but I had forgotten it until reminded. I did remember the tales of Clement Freud’s sleaziness while Rector in his advances on female students. There was one story in hearing which I took a shamelessly big-headed delight, of when we were at a Clement Freud speech in a formal university occasion. Rather pompously, he said: “You know when you are doing the job of Rector properly when the University Court thinks you are on the students’ side, and the students think you are on the Court’s side”. I interjected loudly “Two-faced bastard” and brought the house down.
If you live long enough you will make some jokes worth retelling.
But I haven’t changed in one respect. Just as I managed to miss the start of a final exam, I managed today to miss my speech to SNP conference by not being in the hall when called. I simply misread the programme, though to be fair to myself the programme is not plain whether the resolution would be in the 10am resolutions session or the 11.30am session. I am annoyed with myself nonetheless.
The motion was on the BBC Charter and I had wished to move a reference back on the grounds that it was not radical enough in its treatment of the BBC. SNP activists are continually accused in the media of being against journalistic freedom in their “attacks” on the BBC. I intended to say that, after a great deal of professional experience monitoring state propaganda organisations around the world, I know one when I see one. To oppose the propaganda output of a state propaganda organisation is not to oppose media freedom, it is to promote it. I missed out on the applause this would have got in the hall. You can applaud now.
I was fortunate in that for the whole of my twenty years in the FCO I had staff working for me who could organise me. Tell me where I was supposed to be, take me there, and make sure I didn’t forget my coat, briefcase or wallet. Without this structure around me, life is a constant struggle against my own impracticality.
Oh well, I have got through 57 years of this. If the next forty are even slightly as enjoyable, I have much to look forward to.
Rob G Did you hear that Cameron ignored a letter from 84 bishops?
Bishops in stinging rebuke to David Cameron over refugee crisis
Clergy release text of private letter sent in September as it emerges that PM snubbed church’s offer of help http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/17/bishops-rebuke-cameron-over-refugees
Harriet Sherwood and Toby Helm
Saturday 17 October 2015 21.00 BST
PS Harriet Sherwood has done some sympathetic reporting from Palestine in the past.
Goodbye Gaza: our correspondent reflects on her time in the Middle East
After three years reporting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, our Middle East correspondent is coming home to the UK. With heavy heart she pays a farewell visit to Gaza and pays tribute to the resilience, creativity and humour of its people
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/25/goodbye-gaza-harriet-sherwood-palestine-israel
Will Amazon be going after Aaronovitch? I do hope so.
Amazon Sues 1,114 People For ‘Fake’ Reviews http://news.sky.com/story/1571496/amazon-sues-1114-people-for-fake-reviews
‘The Aaronovitch Scandal
April 24, 2014
The Wayback machine has shown that there is a scintilla of truth to Aaronovitch’ claim, in that one single one star review was posted before his procured five star reviews arrived. But it also shows that four one star reviews, which arrived no earlier than a larger number of five star reviews and appear equally genuine, were deleted by Amazon. No five star reviews were deleted.
I therefore contacted Amazon’s press office to ask for their reaction to Aaronovitch’s admission of posting fake reviews, and asked who initiated the deletion of his poor reviews. They asked me to put my questions in writing by email. This I have done. Answer came there none.
To [email protected]
Re: Voodoo Histories
I refer you to these comments by David Aaronovitch published recently in The Times newspaper:
“Something like half of all book sales are now made through Amazon, and when you find a book on Amazon it is accompanied by reviews from “readers” who give it a 1 (lowest) to 5 star rating. So, almost before my book was published, the first 1-star reviews started to appear, from people who had never read it. After a week, even I wouldn’t have bought it.
There is only one thing you can do in this situation. You ask every friend and family member to go onsite PDQ and 5-star your baby. You get your frauds to balance off their frauds. Ce n’est pas magnifique, mais (grâce à Amazon) c’est la guerre.”
These are my questions:’
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2014/04/the-aaronovitch-scandal/
We can easily accuse Putin of being a (former) member of the GRU,
but in Tony Blair’s case I find it hard to pin down exactly which TLA he was a member of, where his allegiance took him. It certainly wasn’t PLP of the U.K.?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3277402/Smoking-gun-emails-reveal-Blair-s-deal-blood-George-Bush-Iraq-war-forged-YEAR-invasion-started.html
• “[Blair also onboard/onmessage]. . . will yield more regional success” [post Saddam]
by success did they already mean chaos even then?
Thanks Hillary
Evel Knieval = Greatest survivor of most bones broken in a lifetime.
Craig Murray = Greatest survivor of persecution.
If you finished the cake please get back to work now, WW3 is almost upon us. You still havent told us what it was that a Bibi would need to talk to Cameron face to face about? Or what is discussed at such a meeting.
BTW-enough pussyfooting before the 50 labour Blairites vote for war against Syria, its not going to be just a bombing, they need to be told Miranda was opted into the CIA as far back as his Oxford days, Bush was simply his highest handler.
You do not allow nearly 3000 people to be murdered on your own soil for nothing even with a fall-back excuse nuclear bombs have been planted high up in tall buildings that would certainly wipe-out New York.
The agenda is real, the actors are real, the economic war on Russia begun time ago; the game plan alternated after Russian air-power wrecked ISIL in Syria.
Forthwith the British Zionist doctrine is insisting the UK Defence Staff lay the ground-work for a major incident in Syria that will ignite war with Russia. America is preparing, Britain and Israel are swiftly manoeuvring into check with President Putin. Turkey is apprehensive.
The tritium generators have been changed for new ones.
Another article from the Salon.com foreign correspondent. He makes rather a lot more sense than Fallon & Marr did today
http://www.salon.com/2015/10/14/putin_might_be_right_on_syria_the_actual_strategy_behind_his_middle_east_push_and_why_the_new_york_times_keeps_obscuring_it/
How are refugees from Syria being selected for admission to the UK? Those people may carry some very revealing stories.
Happy birthday Craig.
Clark, good to see you back mate.
Off topic, but well well well, apparently there is indeed a smoking gun. I’d like to think that his reputation was finally destroyed, and his acolytes in the Labour Party would finally see the light, but it doesn’t really work like that. No, the spin will be ‘this is old news’ or ‘this has been dealt with by The Enquiry’ or ‘it’s time to move on’, or whatever. And the Blair-ites in the party will return to telling us that Corbyn will never be PM, and should retire to his hobbies. I personally think they have hugely underestimated Corbyn, but we will see.
Hopefully, Bliar will finally, you know, just fuck off and leave us alone. He can play tennis with Sir Cliff, or whatever. But he really should stop imposing is weird, psychopathic world-view on the rest of humanity, it’s long ago gotten pathetic.
The Red Tories, when asked 5 times, if they would reverse the Blue Tories, Tax Credits cuts, if they were in power, refused repeatedly to say they would.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/10/18/tax-credits-labour-seema-malhotra_n_8324386.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
Jeremy Corbyn, isn’t changing Labour, Labour are changing him.
Britain, fawning over China, and its economic wealth, now lets see, where on earth will we fit China in, I mean we’re already fawning over Saudi Arabia and the US.
Is their really anything left in Britain, for the Chinese to buy that’s worth buying, the Saudi’s and Russian’s have bought it all.
Nα τα εκατοστήσεις
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“That’s what Italians say too: “Cent’ann’”.”
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And, as Craig will probably know from personal experience, also in Polish : “sto lat”
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Having said that, belated birthday wishes to Craig from me too, I hope you had a wonderful day!
Oops forgot to add link.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/18/britian-has-made-visionary-choice-to-become-chinas-best-friend-says-xi
Good to see you back here, Clark, you are an essential part of what we are all trying to do here.
Good Point, RoS, and what of the new tax that will hit all insurances next month, well the increased tax, Osborne already relieved taxes from insurances. All insurance premiums will go up from 6-9.5% next month, translated this will mean some £9.48 on top of household insurance, some 12.25 on car insurance with 17-22 year olds being hit hardest with an avg. £40,-more on car insurance.
Osborne is re-born, he is the real Guy of Gisborne, the sheriff of Nottingham
The Red Tories, when asked 5 times, if they would reverse the Blue Tories, Tax Credits cuts, if they were in power, refused repeatedly to say they would.
Nah, I think that’s harsh. There is a tradition of not speaking outside your brief, and the lady in question is only the deputy, she doesn’t set the policy. From what I see, the cuts have been opposed, but the final policy hasn’t been agreed – due to the epic, almost funny, cabinet divisions. I welcome these divisions, because I don’t write for the tabloids. And of course, why would anyone expect a full, complete set of policies, only a few weeks after Corbyn took over? Give him time, I think, before writing him off. Admittedly, I gave Blair 2 minutes before writing him off – but it turns out I was right.
I thought Scotland was China’s best buddy, after all Wee ‘Eck’s been there enough times.
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/alex-salmond-tells-china-not-1241263
Airhead on Sky News paper review speaking of the memo.
‘Christina Patterson on the 2003 Iraq Genocide: “Both Bush and Blair were very committed Christians and they had a very Manichean view of the universe and thought, ‘this is wrong, right this is what we must do.’ They believed in it. They absolutely did. Their shared belief coincided with their political aims that… Bush wanted support and Blair wanted to seem like a major player on the world stage… With the special relationship again being shored up. So, there were PR gains from it but they believed it was absolutely the right thing to do and they sought the evidence afterwards.”
Presenter: Mark Longhurst.
Guests: Christina Patterson and Matthew Syed.
Video ‘
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1445160783.html
Nah, I think that’s harsh. There is a tradition of not speaking outside your brief, and the lady in question is only the deputy, she doesn’t set the policy. From what I see, the cuts have been opposed, but the final policy hasn’t been agreed – due to the epic, almost funny, cabinet divisions. I welcome these divisions, because I don’t write for the tabloids. And of course, why would anyone expect a full, complete set of policies, only a few weeks after Corbyn took over? Give him time, I think, before writing him off. Admittedly, I gave Blair 2 minutes before writing him off – but it turns out I was right.
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Hieroglyph.
Remit or not if Labour has in reality opposed the Tax Credit cuts, wouldn’t it be to their benefit, to shout it from the rooftops at every opportunity.
In my opinion somethings not right when a front bencher won’t confirm that Labour has opposed Tax Credit cuts on the Andrew Marr show.
The Marr show slot, for Malhotra was an excellent opportunity for her and Labour to prove they’re serious when it comes to opposing disgusting Tory policies.
“I thought Scotland was China’s best buddy, after all Wee ‘Eck’s been there enough times.”
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Kempe, yes Salmond did try and bring trade to Scotland from China, and all the UK press could focus on was, will Eck, mention China’s Human Rights, they added it will be a disgrace if he doesn’t.
I wait with baited breath the same principle over David Cameron’s Chinese adventure, the national press will kiss his arse, and Human Rights will take a back seat.
Hypocritical b*stards.
“Osborne is re-born, he is the real Guy of Gisborne, the sheriff of Nottingham”
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Nevermind is it any wonder, Osbornes name Gideon, means destroyer, and he’s certainly living up to it.
Mary
18/10/2015 1:04pm
If it’s true – and I unhesitatingly reject it, I think it is lies, and that Bush and Blair were a lot more interested in oil and power and control than they were in whether or not someone is evil to their own people and to others, as Craig Murray’s whole experience illustrates – it was none of Bush’s or Blair’s bloody business to do that.
They were representatives of and servants of the public. They were not divine crowned kings, empowered to lie to the public in the service of the greater good. Their business was to take the evidence that they had to the public and get the public’s mandate, not to fucking make it up because they knew better than the public.
Kind regards,
John
Another nasty piece of work.
Eric Pickles accuses Foreign Office of turning blind eye to Palestinian incitement
Former communities secretary says FCO has ‘pathological desire to appear balanced’, but that Israel deserves ‘support and empathy’
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/16/eric-pickles-foreign-office-turning-blind-eye-palestinian-incitement
Recently knighted by Cameron, Pickles, the chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel, has recently been to Israel with his wife for a week, all expenses paid.
4. Visits outside the UK
Name of donor: Conservative Friends of Israel
Address of donor: 41 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2BY
Amount of donation (or estimate of the probable value): airfares, accommodation and hospitality for myself and my wife, valued at £3,700 in total
Destination of visit: Israel and the West Bank
Date of visit: 24-31 July 2015
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10477/eric_pickles/brentwood_and_ongar
‘Sir Eric Pickles was appointed Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust issues in September 2015, replacing Sir Andrew Burns, who is stepping down after 5 years in the role. Sir Eric works closely with the wide range of Holocaust academics, survivors and educational and social organisations.
[..]
Sir Eric is also UK Government Anti-Corruption Champion and has been Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar since 1992.’
https://www.gov.uk/government/people/eric-pickles
LOL
Other offices held in the past
Minister for Faith (6 Aug 2014 to 30 Mar 2015)
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (12 May 2010 to 8 May 2015)
Party Chair, Conservative Party (19 Jan 2009 to 6 May 2010)
Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (3 Jul 2007 to 19 Jan 2009)
Shadow Minister (Communities and Local Government) (10 May 2005 to 3 Jul 2007)
Deputy Chair, Conservative Party (10 May 2005 to 3 Jul 2007)
>>>>>
Happy Birthday Craig.
Great to see your comments Clark.
‘Sunday Times smear story on VIP Paedophile rings
October 18, 2015
“TWO key witnesses championed by the deputy Labour leader Tom Watson in the VIP paedophile sex abuse scandal are being helped by a charity that uses a controversial therapy experts fear could generate false memories.
The therapy, in which the victims are given the details of the effects of sex abuse suffered by their own counsellor, has prompted concerns of a repeat of previous scandals in which “recovered memory” played a part in false claims of child abuse in cases such as the Cleveland child abuse scandal in 1987 and the Orkney satanic ritual case in 1991.
Graham Wilmer, with wife Barbara, defends the therapy his charity uses, in which counsellors tell patients about their own experiences. He says standard counselling did not work for the people he helps.”
As Craig Murray recently pointed out, will we be seeing the same level of scepticism as we have recently seen towards alleged victims of VIP paedophiles, being turned on the alleged victims of Julian Assange? ‘
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/National/article1621055.ece
ex http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1445171006.html
“but they believed it was absolutely the right thing to do and they sought the evidence afterwards.”
Isn’t this the modus operandii of many on this blog as well?
Oh and a belated happy birthday to Craig!
Bevin, the answer to your question about the book and review is on the previous thread.
Have no idea how it got there, as I noticed your question here.
Mary
18/10/2015 1:37pm
I would like to know more about this.
If you or anyone else is able to post the full text of the Sunday Times article, I would be immensely grateful.
Many thanks,
John
Nevermind
“Good to see you back here, Clark, you are an essential part of what we are all trying to do here.”
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And what is it you’re all trying to do here? I’ve often wondered.
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PS to Clark – glad you’re feeling more cheerful.