UPDATE
Minutes after I posted this article, the ludicrous Jess Phillips published an article in the Guardian which could not have been better designed to prove my thesis. A number of people have posted comments on the Guardian article pointing this out, and they have all been immediately deleted by the Guardian. I just tried it myself and was also deleted. I should be grateful if readers could now also try posting comments there, in order to make a point about censorship on the Guardian.
Catching up on a fortnight’s news, I have spent five hours searching in vain for criticism of Simon Danczuk from prominent or even just declared feminists. The Guardian was the obvious place to start, but while they had two articles by feminist writers condemning Chris Gayle’s clumsy attempt to chat up a presenter, their legion of feminist columnists were entirely silent on Danczuk. The only opinion piece was strongly defending him.
This is very peculiar. The allegation against Danczuk which is under police investigation – of initiating sex with a sleeping woman – is identical to the worst interpretation of the worst accusation against Julian Assange. The Assange allegation brought literally hundreds, probably thousands of condemnatory articles from feminist writers across the entire range of the mainstream media. I have dug up 57 in the Guardian alone with a simple and far from exhaustive search. In the case of Danczuk I can find nothing, zilch, nada. Not a single feminist peep.
The Assange case is not isolated. Tommy Sheridan has been pursuing a lone legal battle against the Murdoch empire for a decade, some of it in prison when the judicial system decided his “perjury” was imprisonable but Andy Coulson’s admitted perjury on the Murdoch side in the same case was not. I personally witnessed in court in Edinburgh last month Tommy Sheridan, with no lawyer (he has no money) arguing against a seven man Murdoch legal team including three QCs, that a letter from the husband of Jackie Bird of BBC Scotland should be admitted in evidence. Bird was working for Murdoch and suggested in his letter that a witness should be “got out of the country” to avoid giving evidence. The bias exhibited by the leading judge I found astonishing beyond belief. I was the only media in the court.
Yet even though the Murdoch allegations against Sheridan were of consensual sexual conduct, Sheridan’s fight against Murdoch has been undermined from the start by the massive and concerted attack he has faced from the forces of feminism. Just as the vital messages WikiLeaks and Assange have put out about war crimes, corruption and the relentless state attack on civil liberties have been undermined by the concerted feminist campaign promoting the self-evidently ludicrous claims of sexual offence against Assange.
As soon as the radical left pose the slightest threat to the neo-con establishment, an army of feminists can be relied upon to run a concerted campaign to undermine any progress the left wing might make. The attack on Jeremy Corbyn over the makeup of his shadow cabinet was a classic example. It is the first ever gender equal shadow cabinet, but the entire media for a 96 hour period last September ran headline news that the lack of women in the “top” posts was anti-feminist. Every feminist commentator in the UK piled in.
Among the obvious dishonesties of this campaign was the fact that Defence, Chancellor, Foreign Affairs and Home Secretary have always been considered the “great offices of State” and the argument only could be made by simply ignoring Defence. The other great irony was the “feminist” attack was led by Blairites like Harman and Cooper, and failed to address the fact that Blair had NO women in any of these posts for a full ten years as Prime Minister.
But facts did not matter in deploying the organised feminist lobby against Corbyn.
Which is why it is an important test to see what the feminists, both inside and outside the Labour Party, would do when the leading anti-Corbyn rent-a-gob, Simon Danczuk, was alleged to have some attitudes to women that seem very dubious indeed, including forcing an ex-wife into non-consensual s&m and that rape allegation.
And the answer is …nothing. Feminists who criticised Assange, Sheridan and Corbyn in droves were utterly silent on the subject of Danczuk. Because the purpose of established and paid feminism is to undermine the left in the service of the neo-cons, not to attack neo-cons like Danczuk.
Identity politics has been used to shatter any attempt to campaign for broader social justice for everybody. Instead it becomes about the rights of particular groups, and that is soon morphed into the neo-con language of opportunity. What is needed, modern feminism argues, is not a reduction of the vast gap between rich and poor, but a chance for some women to become Michelle Mone or Ann Gloag. It is not about good conditions for all, but the removal of glass ceilings for high paid feminist journalists or political hacks.
Feminism has become the main attack tool in the neo-con ideological arsenal. I am sceptical the concept can be redeemed from this.
Node, Israel is the most criminal country on the planet. Its apartheid is as bad as that practised by whites in South Africa. The Big Ride will be happening again this year on behalf of Palestinian children and against war. More than £60,000 was raised last year with no mainstream coverage. We realise there will be none this year either. But when Neocon/Zionists control the media they call the tunes.
“I’m pretty sure Putin has dirty laundry belonging to Britain, that could be washed in public. But I feel there’s a unwritten rule as to how far each nation will go to smear the other, before political decorum kicks in.”
This is no doubt true. But what bothers me is the erosion of justice. I’m going to write about this. It needs to be written about.
Mr Scorgie
Thank you for that, Doug.
What are your thoughts on what I describe in the second part of the post you appear to object to, ie
“It reminds me a little abut the power UK local councils have to take over private properties which have remain vacant for more than a certain time in order to provide housing for homeless people in their area…..” ?
“When will it ever end?
When every Palestinian is dead or driven out of Palestine.
There’s a word for that.
Genocide.”
__________________________
I wonder if any kind reader could furnish another example of a “genocide” during which the alleged victims have been reproducing at a faster rate than their alleged oppressors? 🙂
John Goss. The Big Ride will be happening again this year on behalf of Palestinian children and against war.
I can’t find a link to the 2016 event. You doing it again? I’ll sponsor you 10p/mile, minimum £10.
Don’t like “genocide”? How about “apartheid”, as defined by the Genocide Convention?
Node, that’s very kind of you. It will be different this year in that it is terminating in Birmingham. Instead of doing Edinburgh to London we are doing several shorter trips, for example, Sheffield to Birmingham, London to Birmingham, Manchester to Birmingham and Bristol to Birmingham. Each area will be responsible for organising its route and accommodation and it need not be just these four spokes from the Birmingham Central hub. The idea is to make it more of an extended weekend event from Friday to Monday. That way perhaps more people will become involved.
More to come later when I know how much I can go public on. There are two flyers available and when I get permission I will fly them on this blog with the good grace of Craig. There will be a picnic in the park on the Sunday (perhaps with a big star entertaining) and I’m sure it will be a great event all round. The camaraderie last year was something to behold.
Proof that Man has been at War since forever:
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/01/10000-year-old-mass-killing-is-still-a-mystery/
Still very much the Type Zero Global Civilisation.
We need aliens to come and tell us to get our act together:
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/jill-tarter-says-stephen-hawking-is-wrong-about-aliens-2016-1
Lysias
“Don’t like “genocide”? How about “apartheid”, as defined by the Genocide Convention?”
__________________
Are you having another of your ‘Spanish-language magazine’ moments, Lysias?
You link to the “Convention Convention” and I admit to having been momentarily impressed when I saw that title.
Imagine my disappointment when, having clicked on the link, I find myself confronted by the text of the rather less impressive 1973 Multilateral International Convention on the suppression and punishment of the crime of Apartheid.
You might like to know that that Convention was ratified or acceded to, in the 1970s, by the following enlightened, democratic and freedom-loving member states of the UN for whom the practice of any form of discrimination, let alone apartheid, was of course inconceivable(but by no one else…):
Benin, Bulgaria, White Russia, Chad, Czechoslovakia, Ecuador, German Democratic Republic, Guinea,Hungary, Irak, Mongolia, Poland, Qatar, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine, USSR, UAE, Tanzania, Yugoslavia, Libya.
+++++++++++++++++++
I see that your winter break in the Caribbean sun has had the opposite of a beneficial effect 🙂
You link to the “Convention Convention” = you link to the “Genocide Convention”
Habbabkuk (The Irgun apologist)
21 Jan, 2016 – 6:20 pm
Thank you for that, Doug.
“What are your thoughts on what I describe in the second part of the post you appear to object to, ie”
“It reminds me a little abut the power UK local councils have to take over private properties which have remain vacant for more than a certain time in order to provide housing for homeless people in their area…..” ?
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Well it might remind you of that Habbabkuk but you cannot equate the two circumstances, much as you would like to.
The powers local councils have to take over private property in certain circumstances are only temporary and covered by law.
What Israel does is completely illegal. Not only is land confiscated from Palestinians but the Palestinians are often evicted from their homes which are then taken over by J-ws.
Sometimes they (the Palestinians) are evicted and their homes demolished to make way for new J-ws only apartments.
That is not what UK councils do.
The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on Nov. 30, 1973. It has been ratified by 110 countries, which are very few of them now under Communist rule.
´`·.¸¸.¸¸.··.¸¸Node
21 Jan, 2016 – 5:55 pm
When will it ever end?
When every Palestinian is dead or driven out of Palestine.
There’s a word for that.
Genocide.
__________
Node, since you are something of an expert, could you please explain to me ‘What is the joint unified position of the Palestinian power structure that they would like to see implemented as a practical solution for their homeland?’
Thanks.
PS Thanks to your offer will John Goss be vigorously riding around the block at Birmingham Central all around the long weekend?
The Graun:
“Owen’s conclusion that Putin and his spy chief, Nikolai Patrushev, “probably approved” Litvinenko’s murder appears to be largely driven by secret evidence heard in closed sessions, some of which he hints at in the report.”
Well, that’s persuasive isn’t it? Secret evidence, behind closed doors, that we might, if we are good, get to read in a hundred years. I’d be surprised if the Russian security people were dumb enough to employ comedy poisoners who didn’t appear to even know how dangerous pollonium is, but I guess I haven’t seen the secret evidence. Is it a letter from Putin, saying “I did it, soz’, please keep this letter secret, thanks Comrades.”
Spooks everywhere are totally out of control. I’d even vote Tory, if they had a plan to complete reform the security services, but let’s face it, currently nobody can. Bad things tend to happen when people tackle the big problems. My guess, May is lobbying for the PM gig, and some Putin bashing is part of the game. I certainly don’t believe anything coming from official sources, that would just be silly.
And even with the secret evidence, all that could be concluded is that Putin “probably” ordered the murder. Not exactly the level of proof that the law ordinarily requires.
Plus, if, as seems likely, the secret evidence was communications intelligence, who knows in what redacted form Owen was permitted to see it. Do we know if he’s cleared to see communications intelligence in its raw form? (And, even if he is, only an intelligence expert is able to properly evaluate such intelligence.)
Heiroglyph, polonium is not in itself all that dangerous in small amounts and occurs minimally in the environment. Polonium 210 which Litvinenko, Lugovoy and Kovtun were most likely ‘muling’ on behalf of Berezovsky, is highly volatile. Does anyone know who was the other man at the sushi bar on that fatal day, the one who Litvinenko allegedly accused of poisoning him way back in late 2006?
I have done a search of this Torygraph coverage today and his name does not appear, even though he is an expert in nuclear waste and knew Litvinenko as well as his other colleagues, Lugovoy and Kovtun.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/12111812/Alexander-Litvinenko-Inquiry-murdered-Russian-spy-live.html
John Goss
Never mind that shit, why this old story is now making the headlines?
What is for bargain on the table?
Can anything be mire absurd than the polls that CNN has reported in the upcoming American presidential primaries, claiming that Trump and Sanders are surging in Iowa and New Hampshire!
The only basis I have seen is that the polling agencies telephone less than 1,000 people over a short period of time, randomly selected, and this is what they claim.
There is no explanation of where they got the numbers, how they were called, who the callers are, how experienced they are in doing such work, how they assess the results. etc.
I have done a lot of telephoning for candidates in Connecticut, and can tell you that I only believe what a small percentage say. I only gained an impression how candidates were doing during the capping, and it was pretty much confirmed by the election results.
CNN is just helping Trump and Sanders in the hope that the latter will win in the end.
“Lugovoy and Kovtun were most likely ‘muling’ on behalf of Berezovsky”
Do you truly think if Lugovoi and Kovtun were working for Berezovsky that they would have been allowed to return to Russia and then be treated so favourably by the Putin regime? If such a statement a sign of naivety, stupidity or just the usual Putinista diversionary technique of putting up several conflicting theories in order to divert from the most obvious and likely one, or perhaps some combination of all three.
“John Goss
Never mind that shit, why this old story is now making the headlines?
What is for bargain on the table?”
That’s a bigger picture. Global in fact. Can’t see that there’s anything in it for the UK. We have no bargaining power and have shown ourselves to be useful idiots in coming to an obviously dubious conclusion as to how and why Litvinenko died.
“Do you truly think if Lugovoi and Kovtun were working for Berezovsky that they would have been allowed to return to Russia and then be treated so favourably by the Putin regime?”
Welcome back RD, suddenly appeared from nowhere. Well as you have assured me you are not a spook I shall have to take that on face value. In answer to your question I am not sure. Do you know they weren’t considering that Litvinenko worked for the Russians and our secret services?
As to Putin’s probable involvement in the murder of Litvinenko might I suggest people read the Report from page 242 onwards
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/493860/The-Litvinenko-Inquiry-H-C-695-web.pdf
Lets just say that Robert Service is a rather more respected witness on the workings of the KGB and the Russian State and certainly has a rather better reputation for honesty and reliability than some of the commenters here.
Trowbridge, I have to be honest, over here nobody gives two hoots about what is happening in US politics, primaries, secondaries presidentials. The thinking ones amongst us are just in fear that we will soon be as much without choice as you are. 😀
“Welcome back RD, suddenly appeared from nowhere.”
No just working hard to pay my taxes – and avoiding wasting my time on much of the dross that has been served up here recently. You clearly know nothing of the relationship between Berezovsky and Putin or how the KGB treat their ex agents, and the fact that killing them abroad is nothing new whatsoever.
Robert Service is a veteran historian of Russia, most of whose books -starting with the first published in 1979 — concern the Soviet Union and/or Communism. He is a senior Fellow of the archconservative Hoover Institution of Stanford University.
Perhaps he is stuck in Cold War thinking?
Yes RD, the report does mention the missing person. You should be more concerned about how our secret services spin the web.
Oh dear.
What’s Putin gone and done now.
“Russia’s President Vladimir Putin “probably” approved the London murder of former spy Alexander Litvinenko, a landmark inquiry report concluded today.”
Probably?
Why the diffidence now.
Some months ago, Putin was Hitler, Stalin and everything in between. No probablies about it.
Anyway, bugger Robert Service, where’s Eliot Higgins.
I much preferred his rather more definite approach to these things.
Never a doubt, when Eliot’s about.
But yes, I do sometimes wonder, who probably killed Dr Kelly.
Would it probably be someone close to Putin’s circle or probably someone close to Western circles.
Perhaps some suitable academic might enlighten us as to the Western chain of decision making that initiates and results in the murder of such low-born clerics.
“Perhaps he is stuck in Cold War thinking?”
Perhaps he isn’t if you could bother to look at his work a little more closely. Perhaps you might wish to deal with what he says about the Litvenenko case rather than trying to rubbish a decent man.
“You should be more concerned about how our secret services spin the web.”
My immediate concern is about how you are trying to spin this little corner of web. Putin’s spiders are clearly in full flow tonight.
“Lets just say that Robert Service is a rather more respected witness on the workings of the KGB and the Russian State and certainly has a rather better reputation for honesty and reliability than some of the commenters here.”
“Service” is a professional distorter of history. He is certainly well spoken of among warmongers and cold warriors but as a historian he is merely a neo-fascist propagandist.
Trowbridge: It takes a peculiarly American form of propaganda to see CNN’s use of cheap polling as partof a master plan to push the nomination to Sandrrs.
If the network had any interest in doing so it would just have to give him proper coverage whereas, so I am informed, his name has rarely been mentioned on the big news stations and coverage is heavily skewed noy just in favour of the Democratic Leadership but of Clinton herself.
As to the polls themselves-we shall soon see.
Resident Dissident, thanks for the link, seriously. I’ll ignore your criticism of my naivety and pounce straight in on the conclusions (which as we all know might leave important details out that do not fit the narrative. Regardless look at this statement from RD’s recommendation.
“8. Because they are both still wanted [Lugovoy and Koftun] for Mr Litvinenko’s murder, the criminal investigation by the MPS continues”
I am not a lawyer but I would presume with a statement like that there is coronial evidence that Litvinenko was murdered. Yet there has been no inquest to determine that he was murdered.
A simple question for everyone. Is there evidence that Litvinenko was murdered?