Hillary Clinton only “won” Iowa because she won all six coin tosses in tied precincts. What are the odds against six successive coin toss wins? I calculate 1 in 64, or you have a 1.5% chance of pulling it off. If I am right, do we really believe it did happen? That question is posed without taking into account the indisputable bias for Clinton of the Democrat machine which was organising the vote, and other startling irregularities, including the falure of the organising committee to staff over sixty caucus meetings. It all stinks, frankly.
I have been trying to think up a word to describe the kind of society we have now, in which a tiny number of extremely wealthy people control the politicians and manipulate the public through the mass media. Then I realised we already have a perfectly adequate word for it – plutocracy.
It is a plutocracy where 85 people own the same wealth as the other 50% of the population of the entire world, and the wealth gap still grows at astonishing pace. A reaction from the people who actually create that wealth is inevitable. The extraordinary concentration of capital has only been possible because of the existence of state mechanisms designed to promote it, and a popular movement to end that state bias was bound to happen. It was also predictable that it would be dominated by the young. To see youth mobilise for Scottish independence, for Corbyn or for Sanders has been life-affirming for me.
I might wish the movement for change to be sometimes better directed. But there is now a generational shift, a desire of young people for fundamental change, resisted by their elders. This phenomenon has not been seen so strongly since the 60’s. In the battle between the growing and the dying, there is only one ultimate winner. A good time to be alive (again). Almost makes up for struggling on through Thatcher and Blair…
Hi Clark – what do want me to say? Trident missiles come from Lockheed Martin in the US and are maintained by the US Navy at Kings Bay, Georgia, USA, along with the Trident missiles for US submarines.
The rest is, well, nuclear secret and I have signed the OFA.
It looks like Craig’s right; Sanders is the US Jeremy Corbyn, supported mostly by the young:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/01/29/sanders-surge-panics-washington-establishment
Mark Golding, 10:48 pm; well I didn’t know what you could or couldn’t say, but I knew you were the one to ask… You did point out that the firing sequence isn’t run by the Micro$oft Windows OS, so that’s one degree of freedom from US corporations.
Not that I’m praising the things; I want rid of them and yes, I read William McNeilly’s Trident leak.
@Clark
3 Feb, 2016 – 10:35 pm
I don’t have the energy for an arguement at the moment. I’m sure that others tuning in will be able to give links about who controls the British nuclear deterrent – and by the way, the ‘British nuclear deterrent’ is all about incinerating upwards of 100 million people. Psychopaths are fine with this. Sane people are not fine with this.
Endless war, endless fear, all fecking psychopaths…
“Des Moines Register: Iowa caucus coin flip count unknown.”
The link says Clinton won at least six and Sanders won at least six.
So at least a dozen coin flips then and the results as statistically unremarkable.
Very true the shameless dissembling of the state propaganda organ aka beebeecee is so out of whack given the plethora of the other news organs around that are reporting around the clock on the issue of Syria.
The Aleppo gains of the Syrian army are effectively destroying the life line of the terrorists and smugglers whom have been making a great deal of money form selling the stolen Syrian oil as well as the inward steady stream of weapons from the Turkish border that has been pouring into Syria for terrorists classed as fighters in the West. The same terrorists that are bought by Saudi money and their “sheikh’s” edicts that allows eight year old girls to be “married” to the fighters and then divorced and “remarried” as in this case of an eight year girl who has been married to eight fighters ie terrorist. With the border in control of the Syrian army no longer stream of weapons pouring into Syria. The terrorists will have been comprehensively turfed out whitin a few weeks.
The facts that are not being reported by the beebeecee;
a- Daesh terrorists are selling women for as little as ten dollars!!!
b- Daesh is using the civilians as human shields.
c- Deash is being supported by the US arms that are being imported from Turkey.
d- A clear example of the US supply chain
bevin 3 Feb, 2016 – 9:05 pm
It is good to have some measured thought even though it does not allay my doubts. Sanders has caught the bloodstream of the heartbroken, as so many of Americans, Europeans and we are. Finding a cure is only possible in my opinion if the current world financial systems collapse (a probability).
But those at the helm are madmen (and women, no names HC). They have been so used to luxury and power, and the destabilisation of any other power centres, that when it falls from their grasp they will detonate the silos of concealed nuclear weapons to ensure nobody else can enjoy what they have taken from us.
Thanks for the thoughts.
RobG, 11:01 pm
Yes, as are all nuclear weapons including Russian ones. You never complain about these, yet you continually accuse this site of bias – which you haven’t yet provided examples of. You play down the importance of climate change, too, and of course Russia is a big hydrocarbon producer. I wonder if it isn’t you who’s biased, Rob.
UK’s nuclear deterrent entirely dependent on the US – crossparty report (July 1, 2014):
Lysias, 11:48 pm: it probably makes no difference anyway. According to William McNeilly’s Trident leak, in trials his submarine neither passed nor failed the launch trial because they couldn’t even complete the test.
It’s a huge waste of money and should be scrapped.
“You cannot salvage the present electoral system based on economic privilege…”
The electoral system in the US is a very bad joke but the underlying reality is that, as Occupy reminded us, this is a war between the 1% and 99%. Given that disparity not even fiddling the count will work. Bear in mind that these primaries involve only minuscule samplings of the public and the general election far less than 50% of the qualified electorate.
As to the Congressmen (leaving aside the Senate) they, like the two big parties feast on apathy: if only about 65% of the under 40s turned out they could blow away the cobweb festooned status quo.
One thing I do recall from the 60s is that, when people begin to take an interest (often because they are forced to) the facades of the Establishment crumble. I recollect the panic that set in in 68 when we went to pay the US Ambassador a courtesy call- the boarded up offices, the lurking packs of security guards….
John, the financial system is an optical illusion.
Trident has been leased? shock horror, now we pay to update this museums piece.
David Camerons support for TTIP today says it all, he’s gone belly up and is striving for perpetuity get yourself organised off line, off mobile and ….. writing letters make so much more sense.
good night
Nevermind, thanks. TTIP is a menace to democracy and public services.
Write to your MP here:
https://www.writetothem.com/
” Bear in mind that these primaries involve only minuscule samplings of the public and the general election far less than 50% of the qualified electorate.”
Therein lies the problem. They may coddle the apathy but they are positioned to an advantage when the current pay-to-play system is allowed to pretend toward democratic ideals.
Only a re-boot will suffice and turn the electorate into the juggernaut it was intended. An invigorated brigade of new politicos could rise to the challenge of actual accomplishment as new blood is injected into the body politic gives genuine optimism to the disenchanted voter.
Thanks Clark re TTIP. When you get it right you have my full support.
Do you know how incredibly annoying it is – when it is obviously your fault – when you have turned your camera down from extremely high definition…to extremely low definition to send some cunt in government the evidence by email..and you forgot to turn it back up?
I got the sound pretty good though.
Brilliant night.
My Wife and I were Blown Away.
Tony
How come Google and Amazon seem to know Everything I Like…they seem to know everything about me.. the books I read – The Videos I do not watch on Amazon prime..cos I never knew I had actually clicked that button – that you charged me £79 for the next month (I complained – as did my friends – We don’t like Americans Scams and I actually find it quite repulsive when they think they know what I want..and advertise it whilst I am just trying to innocently communicate on the internet
About the only thing they haven’t tried to flog me is a sex toy, or a girl..cos they seem to know I am completely in love with my wife – well and my “ex” – and my “sis”.
What did I do wrong?
The Young Fathers Were Brilliant tonight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PdYvkaYsaU
I got almost right to the front tonight – and I wasn’t going to move…Do you know how hard it is when you are as old as me..to get your “Spec” near the front of a gig..and you are there just by yourself…and they could see me turning around waving to someone..but she couldn’t see me…the numbers grew rapidly …and she had been to the bar to buy me a pint of beer and herself a pint of cider ..it takes a long time to queue…and she made friends and found a girl a diamond ring she had lost…
And the South American and the Young Girls from Stoke-on-Trent were just so nice to this old man…they made friends with me…and pulled my hair (its real)…and says to me…We will look after your spec…Your Wife can come to The Front Too with You..
I knew they didn’t want me to tell anyone…but my wife and I already Knew.
Brixton is Really Nice
Tony xx
I hadn’t had any pills..not even an excessive amount of Cherry Juice..for My Gout…in fact I was almost completely sober..and hadn’t even had a smoke…
But the Young Fathers Blew me away…and I didn’t take any videos of them ..i took loads of photos of them – I fucked up – but the photos are great – even in the lowest resolution (it was supposed to be ultra high – all I managed was 640×480 – but you Still Blew Me and My Camera Away..
Sorry about that…
I will try harder next time…Are you guys doing any Festivals in The Summer???
If so well We are going to Be There..and Next Time…
I will try and do it better..but I don’t think it’s Possible
The Young Fathers Were Brilliant Tonight…
and then you know when like when you think…it couldn’t possibly get any more INTENSE…like it is Hard To Describe
MASSIVE ATTACK come on
If you weren’t there…well you ain’t fast enough are you mate????
AWESOME
Tony
Craig
It is Great to see You Back…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz17uQrPWPs
We NEED to Film You at Doune…NOT Ranting or sorts.. but Taklkin..Daft Idea…Music…But…..
Sorry i Missed Many Names….. Clark…Nevermind…. Jamie…Gannet Bill….With Luck for next one..
Mods By Me
3 ; 48 .. Best Delte… Please
It Thinks iTs Detected Mary.
“A lot of Dutch civil servants may have been complicit with the German crimes”
_____________________
As I’ve already explained to RoS, “complicity” is the wrong word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“the official Dutch government, which went into exile with Queen Wilhelmina”
____________________
The official Belgian government went into exile but King Léopold stayed in Brussels.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I imagine all governments of the time kept records that an occupying Nazi power might have misused.”
______________________
That is a correct guess but, as I have explained to RoS, the Dutch records were particularly helpful to the Nazis in pursuit of their extermination aims.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“If collaboration with the Nazis is such a black mark for countries like the Netherlands..”
__________________________
1/. There is an enormous amount of literature – and therefore diverging views – on collaboration, its nature, the reasons for it, the forms it took, and so on. It is a word which should not be thrown around lightly (as in the above example) but used with great caution.
2/. Historians have not given a particularly black mark to the Netherlands. The writer of the above is starting off from the wrong premiss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“The Stern Gang, one of the ancestors of Netanyahu’s Likud Party, and led at the time by Yitzhak Shamir, who later became prime minister of Israel..”
______________________
I suppose it would be fair to say that all political parties have their ancestry. And, as the saying goes (I think I’ve even seen it on CM), yesterday’s terrorist is today’s statesman.
United Nations panel could rule in favour of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
“It is understood that a decision will be published on Friday. If the group concludes that Assange is being unlawfully detained, the UN is expected to call on Britain and Sweden to release him.”
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/united-nations-panel-could-rule-in-favour-of-wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-20160202-gmk2k8.html#ixzz3zBj52KfA
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook
______
Ecuador is aware of the decision already. My guess is that it favours Assange and he knows it. Hence the offer of leaving the embassy at noon tomorrow if he is unsuccessful. In order to create public opinion for a full release/safe passage in his favour.
I think the BBC is reporting it similarly while I type.
Cybernat fined £1,500 at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14250001.Cybernat_who_created_spoof_account_and_launched_Twitter_hate_campaign_fined___1_500/
Ignore the constituents….whether we stay in Europe or not is to be *democratically* decided by a bunch of financial-industry-sponsored lawyers on the make:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3430848/Ignore-constituents-Cameron-tells-MPs-PM-issues-controversial-orders-survey-shows-support-campaign-Tory-grassroots.html
If you are able please support Julian Assange before noon at the Ecuadorian Embassy in Knightsbridge, London
3 Hans Crescent, London SW1X 0LS
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35490910
^ This won’t change anything in the near future, but it is at least a solid basis for Ecuador to pressure the UK Govt and the FCO in particular.
In turn, they are unlikely to relent until Sweden drops the remaining allegation after completion of Assange’s interview at the Embassy.
It’ll be interesting to hear Craig’s thoughts at this juncture and what the FCO could do at this point where JA still wanted for skipping bail.
Caithness crofter fined….
http://www.northern-times.co.uk/News/Rogart-crofter-fined-700-after-being-found-guilty-of-causing-unnecessary-suffering-to-sheep-14042015.htm
evil bastard.