Obama was a massive disappointment. Promise of economic change proved empty. It is difficult now to recall what a big emphasis in campaigning he placed on civil liberties, including ending torture and closing Guantanamo. What we got was the opposite. There was no proper legal process for Guantanamo detainees. Those responsible for the policy of torture were promoted and protected. The only CIA officer jailed over torture was John Kiriakou for blowing the whistle on it. Obama’s War on Whistleblowers has been the fiercest in US history. There is no doubt that in Obama’s USA, Daniel Ellsberg would have gone to jail for a very long time. The surveillance state has extended its reach still further, while execution by drone is so routine as to pass without notice. Between drones, bombs and troops on the ground often as “advisers” or “trainers”, there has not been a single day in Obama’s eight years in which US forces have not killed a Muslim in a Muslim country.
Yet a year from now we are very likely to conclude that things have got much worse since Obama. I fully expect Clinton to be elected. What was for me most interesting about the various WikiLeaks releases was not the mesh of sleaze and corruption. There is no doubt that Hillary was peddling influence in exchange for massive donations to the Clinton Foundation and fees and gifts to Bill and herself, and that the Clintons were able to access the resources of their “Charity” for personal use through a variety of subterfuges, quite probably legal. I knew all of that. Anybody who had not already worked out that the same Saudis who have top western politicians in their pockets are also funding ISIS, is a fool. I have been saying it for years.
No, what particularly interested me was the hundreds of examples, day to day, of the close media collusion with the Clinton camp. The leaking to Hilary in advance in advance of debate questions, and the planting of questions for Trump, was but the tip of the iceberg. What the emails reveal is a huge slew of journalists who are actively in the Clinton camp. Of course politicians and journalists engage in a certain degree of mutual schmoozing – though less than you might imagine. Of course politicians are often sources. But the sense of collaborative purpose in the relationship of the Clinton camp with the mainstream media that comes through the emails is striking.
It is of course a wonderful irony that the mainstream media failed to then report on the WikiLeaks emails in any meaningful or proportionate way. The gulf between the way the election looks on mainstream media and social media is massive – otherwise Clinton would be 20 points ahead. I expect the mainstream media to come out on top on this occasion and get their woman in, just.
Like most people this side of the Atlantic, I prefer Clinton’s slightly more state interventionist approach to health, social care and of course gun control. But abroad she is an extreme hawk, and I genuinely fear she will foolishly push confrontation with Russia over Syria, and could end the détente with Iran. Civil liberties does not register with Clinton at all, and we can expect the security state to redouble.
Trump is of course much harder to read. I suspect in office he would be just as corrupt as Clinton. I fear he would pander to the Republican right on questions of state spending and economic intervention. But there is every indication that in foreign policy he may be a great deal more sensible, reducing the US military profile abroad and attempting a more pragmatic relationship with Russia. There are few votes to be won by his more pacific stance, so I am inclined to think it is genuine, at least at the moment.
But there is much we recognise about Trump – the right wing populism, the battening on the economic travails of the poor caused by neo-liberalism and the vast wealth inequality of society, and shamelessly blaming the poverty on immigrants. This is a nasty, racist trick, which has firmly taken hold in much of England as with Trump supporters. It is unforgivable. Whether Trump really intends to build a wall on the border with Mexico I can’t tell – he probably meant it when he first said it. The border is not exactly unguarded. He seems to have rowed back from the desire to ban Muslims. But Trump’s willingness to appeal to dog-whistle racism ought to disqualify him from serious consideration for high office.
Yet the WikiLeaks emails cast a bright light on the other side of that coin – the Clinton camp’s blatant manipulation of identity politics. This goes beyond the stupidity of the appeal that women should vote for somebody merely because they happen to be of the same sex. The cynicism of the approach to blacks and Hispanics and the manipulation of these voting blocs is chilling to me. The WikiLeaks emails leave you unconvinced that black lives matter to Hillary. Black votes do.
So, by this time tomorrow we will know who the new President will be. Probably Hillary, but either way it will be somebody of whom most Americans strongly disapprove. They are voting on the basis of which candidate they wish to punish most by making them lose. Both options are awful. My advice to my American friends is to refuse to be co-opted into expressing a fake approval of either of these horrors, and vote Green for Jill Stein.
Sikunder Burnes Master of the Great Game
Signed first editions are now available direct from this blog! You can leave a message naming the dedication you want. Sold at cover price of £25 including p&p for UK delivery or £29 for overseas delivery. Ideal Christmas presents!!
The 1951 refugee convention is not the open door nothing we can do international treaty as some believe. It contains an opt out allowing a signatory state to opt out if the need arises without the need to negotiate another international treaty. Politicians blame the convention for the “open door” when its their failure to apply the opt out, because they support the open door, no doubt to facilitate the migrant crisis resulting from their neo-con wars.
To say that there will be no WW3 is a safe prediction, because, if it is wrong, we will all be dead, and there will be no one to point out that the prediction was wrong.
Not an original comment on my part. JFK said it about the Joint Chiefs who wanted war in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
‘..abroad she is an extreme hawk, and I genuinely fear she will foolishly push confrontation with Russia over Syria, and could end the détente with Iran.’
I agree -and further:
Britain and the US have repeatedly sided with radical Islamic forces in the Middle East and elsewhere as counterweights to check the rise of nationalism, as shock troops to bring about pro-Western regime change and as proxies to fight wars against the West’s enemies.
President Putin has said there is no war between civilization, no Manichaean struggle between the good and evil forces of Islam, rather the ever present convoluted thread of shifting alliances to maintain British control of key energy sources and Britain’s place in a pro-Western global financial order centered on Saudi Arabia.
Syria is key to Russia’s rise from the collapse and dissolution of the USSR and I wish her good fortune.
Reading real history from Russian elders we might call to mind the abjection the Soviets experienced after bearing the brunt of fighting the Nazis and the strong perception that the Western allies has deliberately delayed opening a second anti-German front in order to step in at the last moment and shape the peace settlement.
In more detail we can conclude this WWII fact was hugely overlooked either through ignorance or willful intent to hide the truth. The delay was not forced by circumstance. ‘Allies’ had promised Russia that they would open a Western front one year prior to the eventual D-Day. This agenda was hijacked by our ‘hero’ Winston Churchill who convinced Roosevelt to open a front on the North African coast from which they could attack the German Axis’ supposedly weak underbelly. This ‘change in plan’ had more to do with protecting British commercial and financial interests and less to do with shortening the war. Thus, Operation Torch which intended as a landing in Western Europe was diverted to Africa. Russia was left holding the bag and suffered horrendous casualties. One should never wonder why Russia, having defeated the Huns at Stalingrad and Kursk, came West with a vengeance.
Back with today I am mindful of the correlation with the prior.
I have never really understood why people care so much about American elections yet are so bored with European elections which have certainly had more of an impact on our economic lives. That said, surely it’s a no brainer – Trump doesn’t appear to progress US imperialism so much and thus avert WW3 and he’s brilliantly funny.
The answer is clear, dear boy.
It is much easier for the sort of people who inhabit this blog to talk about far-away matters rather than domestic ones. For a start, they run little risk that what they shout might be contradicted by others who might be able to speak from personal experience or hands-on professional experience.
It is noticeable that the rare posts by Craig on internal UK matters of considerable socio-economic interest attract far fewer comments than his posts on international affairs. His recent post on housing benefit is a good example of this. It is also noticeable that the quality of the comments is better with such posts: that is because the people who then comment generally have something concrete to offer and because the venters, ravers and ConspiraLoons tend to abstain (far easier to talk about the US or the Middle East than about what’s happening under your nose)
Nonsense.
It’s because who’s elected in the US tells the rest of the world what to do.
They’re bullies, you see.
In ever decreasing circles, thankfully.
Who’s elected in the US tells the UK what to do about housing benefit/homelessness?
Come on, Herbie…..
You haven’t got a clue have you.
Unless you elect someone from outside the system then elections don’t matter. No-one has elected Janet Yellen yet she sets monetary policy for the US and its vassals. Current policy is designed to create asset bubbles – especially real estate bubbles. Real estate is rising in value faster than government social policy can respond.
As a consequence of monetary policy the US covertly instructs its UK vassal to increase homelessness and reduce housing benefit.
The hope is that Donald Trump could not care less whether everyone in the UK is starving and homeless or living in stately homes gorging on roast swan. That way the British can start holding their own elected leaders to account
“Re Janet Yellen – she was appointed by a democratically elected government.”
Are you claiming that the US govt, Congress, Senate whatever can appoint whomsoever they wish to the Fed chair?
Any suitable candidate like.
I don’t think so.
Herbie. If the Bankers could be distilled down to a novel.
Your monomania would be Moby DICK…
Fact is.
The Fed is a private company, and the US govt don’t get to say who’ll run it.
They’re given a choice of three by the bosses.
Just for appearances sake like.
But, Moby Dick is surely one of the greatest works of literature.
Pity you don’t quite get its themes.
But what is happening in UK is so utterly boring . You are still great comedians though and your politics is getting closer to that area every day, so don´t despair . Soon you will read some very funny comments about UK too.
It’s there Peter in the here and now:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2016/nov/08/steve-bells-if-empress-theresa-may-chastises-bozza
But also I think Theresa May has a touch of class that Hillary would not acquire in a few lifetimes. For example have you ever seen Hillary smile? I have only seen her grin–like a jackass, the jenny.
Mrs Clinton’s smile at election time is a veritable depiction – a veritable definition – of falsity.
She’s a waxwork robot.
They haven’t quite perfected it yet, which is of course why she keeps breaking down.
It’s so simple for the simpletons…
It has been a long time since Europe had any elections worth bothering with. Substantially all candidates for everything have been intent on following the policies that the US instructs them to follow.
Things could be in the early stages of changing. There is Brexit and Jeremy Corbyn in the UK.
The UK establishment appears to be seeking avenues to frustrate the will of the people – what with smearing them for being nasty racists and so forth. However as soon as the US elections are over it will be time for the Italian referendum. That could well signal the end of Renzi and mark another victory for Beppe Grillo.
Grillo wants Italy out of the EU – and so that should relieve pressure on the British.
In the first half of 2017 French Presidential elections take center stage. Hollande has an approval rating of about 6% – so wave bye bye to him. The French are seriously hacked off and remain a potential revolutionary nation. Whatever happens a substantial portion of the French electorate are going to be looking to put the EU to the guillotine
If Trump wins Europe will be left to deal with popular uprisings on its own. If Clinton wins then she will order local elites to crackdown hard on their populations. There could be blood on the streets.
You live in hopes. It seems to me there’s hardly any chance of Europe going as you imagine. They’ve all been horrified by what happened to Britain, and under no circumstances want it to happen to them. You fail to understand that they’ve all benefitted fundamentally from the EU, and they’d be throwing away what has brought enormous prosperity, in different ways in different countries. If Britain didn’t, it’s its own fault for not bothering to make the effort.
Yes. You’ve fundamentally benefitted from the EU.
Therefore; YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY leave…
Who has benefited? The Italian economy is smaller today than it was in 2000. The Italian banking system is bust,
Deutsche Bank is a financial nuclear explosion waiting to happen.
Greece is being hurtled into the 3rd world.
Spanish youth unemployment stands at around 50%.
France and Germany are host to a large migrant population – whose alleged governments seemed to overlook the need to consult their populations.
Despite the cold parts of Sweden are literally on fire.
Eastern Europe is just taking the money but not the migrants
The Baltic states want you all to die in order to prosecute on their behalf an historical loathing of Russia.
The ECB is fully captured by Goldman Sachs.
You may have benefited, but the vast mass of the population has been totally eviscerated and disenfranchised.
.
How dare this fallen person/war criminal make this sort of comment. He comes nowhere Jeremy Corbyn’s honesty and decency.
There is an obvious lack of mirrors in the Clinton household, that is if they still live under the same roof.
His comment was revealed in the latest Wikileaks release of the Podesta e-mails.
WikiLeaks
@wikileaks
Bill Clinton in private speech: UK’s Jeremy Corbyn is a “guy off the street… the maddest person in the room” https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/49501 …
Clinton: Corbyn is ‘maddest person in room’
The former US president said that Jeremy Corbyn is what happens when “people feel shafted”, leaked documents reveal.
http://news.sky.com/story/clinton-corbyn-is-maddest-person-in-room-10650057
Bill’s powers of perception have not waned with the years, have they 🙂
Bill’s a scumbag.
I believe, even Chris Hitchens said as much.
“There is an obvious lack of mirrors in the Clinton household, that is if they still live under the same roof.”
________________________
Are you adding distaste for fragile or broken marriages to your apparent homophobia (your “hints” about Dr Liam Fox and Adam Werrity refer) ?
You should really concentrate on substance rather than on in-laws, grandchildren, people’s looks, whether people have had successful careers, marital status, people’s voices and so on. To do otherwise puts one woth the Daily Star.
It’s not clear how soon you want to leave the EU. But I do have a few uninformed opinions based on little information. I’m trying to imitate your methodology (er excuse me….approach, or ax or insert word you comprehend here__________)
Old hat Mary we’ve all read it hours ago on our favourite news sites. In today’s day and age it feels like yesterdays news.
Talking about mirrors in households, Corbyn’s neighbours pitched in and bought him a new M&S suit. Is he looking anymore the man? He’d better not try to block Brexit. We don’t want to say ‘Bill was right.’
Source as there is a keenness for them on here from certain posters.
How often do Bill and Hillary Clinton see each other?
With their busy and often conflicting schedules, and offices in DC and New York, it would seem that it would be a challenge for the married couple to see each other regularly? Does anyone have a sense of how often they meet up in person?
5 Answers
Jon Mixon, Closely followed her career for the last 25+ years.
Updated 23 Apr 2015
Speculation: It seems very rarely. It’s an open secret that since leaving the White House, the Clintons spend very little time together and have been living apart for the better part of a decade. With the exception of the time they spent together during Secretary Clinton’s abortive 2008 presidential run, the Clintons have rarely even been photographed together.
While the two remain married and share business interests together, it’s a virtual certainty that if Mrs. Clinton wasn’t seeking an election bid in 2016, the couple would quietly divorce and move forward separately with their respective lives.
http://www.quora.com/How-often-do-Bill-and-Hillary-Clinton-see-each-other
Do you mean how often they have sex? I believe their status as Public Figures does not entitle you to such information.
Relevance to Mrs Clinton’s fitness (or otherwise) to be US President?
Well aren’t you the lucky one Craig? You didn’t need a blood transfusion at the time Bill and Hillary got into their blood transfusion project and of course Blair was keen to buy their blood for the NHS:
http://www.taintedblood.info/index.php
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
HL Menchen made that observation and today is the day it finally comes true’
OK Julian. Where’s the shit on Putin?
By Julian Assange
In recent months, WikiLeaks and I personally have come under enormous pressure to stop publishing what the Clinton campaign says about itself to itself. That pressure has come from the campaign’s allies, including the Obama administration, and from liberals who are anxious about who will be elected US President.
On the eve of the election, it is important to restate why we have published what we have.
The right to receive and impart true information is the guiding principle of WikiLeaks – an organization that has a staff and organizational mission far beyond myself. Our organization defends the public’s right to be informed.
This is why, irrespective of the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential election, the real victor is the US public which is better informed as a result of our work.
The US public has thoroughly engaged with WikiLeaks’ election related publications which number more than one hundred thousand documents. Millions of Americans have pored over the leaks and passed on their citations to each other and to us. It is an open model of journalism that gatekeepers are uncomfortable with, but which is perfectly harmonious with the First Amendment.
We publish material given to us if it is of political, diplomatic, historical or ethical importance and which has not been published elsewhere. When we have material that fulfills this criteria, we publish. We had information that fit our editorial criteria which related to the Sanders and Clinton campaign (DNC Leaks) and the Clinton political campaign and Foundation (Podesta Emails). No-one disputes the public importance of these publications. It would be unconscionable for WikiLeaks to withhold such an archive from the public during an election.
At the same time, we cannot publish what we do not have. To date, we have not received information on Donald Trump’s campaign, or Jill Stein’s campaign, or Gary Johnson’s campaign or any of the other candidates that fufills our stated editorial criteria. As a result of publishing Clinton’s cables and indexing her emails we are seen as domain experts on Clinton archives. So it is natural that Clinton sources come to us.
We publish as fast as our resources will allow and as fast as the public can absorb it.
That is our commitment to ourselves, to our sources, and to the public.
This is not due to a personal desire to influence the outcome of the election. The Democratic and Republican candidates have both expressed hostility towards whistleblowers. I spoke at the launch of the campaign for Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, because her platform addresses the need to protect them. This is an issue that is close to my heart because of the Obama administration’s inhuman and degrading treatment of one of our alleged sources, Chelsea Manning. But WikiLeaks publications are not an attempt to get Jill Stein elected or to take revenge over Ms Manning’s treatment either.
Publishing is what we do. To withhold the publication of such information until after the election would have been to favour one of the candidates above the public’s right to know.
This is after all what happened when the New York Times withheld evidence of illegal mass surveillance of the US population for a year until after the 2004 election, denying the public a critical understanding of the incumbent president George W Bush, which probably secured his reelection. The current editor of the New York Times has distanced himself from that decision and rightly so.
The US public defends free speech more passionately, but the First Amendment only truly lives through its repeated exercise. The First Amendment explicitly prevents the executive from attempting to restrict anyone’s ability to speak and publish freely. The First Amendment does not privilege old media, with its corporate advertisers and dependencies on incumbent power factions, over WikiLeaks’ model of scientific journalism or an individual’s decision to inform their friends on social media. The First Amendment unapologetically nurtures the democratization of knowledge. With the Internet, it has reached its full potential.
Yet, some weeks ago, in a tactic reminiscent of Senator McCarthy and the red scare, Wikileaks, Green Party candidate Stein, Glenn Greenwald and Clinton’s main opponent were painted with a broad, red brush. The Clinton campaign, when they were not spreading obvious untruths, pointed to unnamed sources or to speculative and vague statements from the intelligence community to suggest a nefarious allegiance with Russia. The campaign was unable to invoke evidence about our publications—because none exists.
In the end, those who have attempted to malign our groundbreaking work over the past four months seek to inhibit public understanding perhaps because it is embarrassing to them – a reason for censorship the First Amendment cannot tolerate. Only unsuccessfully do they try to claim that our publications are inaccurate.
WikiLeaks’ decade-long pristine record for authentication remains. Our key publications this round have even been proven through the cryptographic signatures of the companies they passed through, such as Google. It is not every day you can mathematically prove that your publications are perfect but this day is one of them.
We have endured intense criticism, primarily from Clinton supporters, for our publications. Many long-term supporters have been frustrated because we have not addressed this criticism in a systematic way or responded to a number of false narratives about Wikileaks’ motivation or sources. Ultimately, however, if WL reacted to every false claim, we would have to divert resources from our primary work.
WikiLeaks, like all publishers, is ultimately accountable to its funders. Those funders are you. Our resources are entirely made up of contributions from the public and our book sales. This allows us to be principled, independent and free in a way no other influential media organization is. But it also means that we do not have the resources of CNN, MSNBC or the Clinton campaign to constantly rebuff criticism.
Yet if the press obeys considerations above informing the public, we are no longer talking about a free press, and we are no longer talking about an informed public.
Wikileaks remains committed to publishing information that informs the public, even if many, especially those in power, would prefer not to see it. WikiLeaks must publish. It must publish and be damned.
“OK Julian. Where’s the shit on Putin?”
It’s all over western mainstream media.
Problem is, it’s all made up.
That’s why there’s no shit when you look behind the scenes.
Anyway.
It ain’t Putin who’s a threat to the West.
Your banking chums are doing a very good job of destroying the West all on their own.
I believe, even Ms May made reference to this fact a few days ago.
. Julian seems to lack interest in an objective info war, and his ‘m’lady doth protest too much’ rationale for the Mission Statement (wikileaks) and their putative integrity, leaves me unconvinced. I think we shall eventually be shown how he is slightly less objective than RT.
I feel certain his personal bank would be excluded from the publication of Banker crimes.
Ya think, ya think, ya think.
Same as Western media, funnily enough.
And we know their game.
Yeah. But we already knew the Media game. Now we have Assange using their tradecraft. This is what’s new.
He just wants to expose the dangeous criminality at the heart of the Clinton gang.
Surely everyone would want to know about that.
Keep socking it to them, Kief.
I hope you’ll stay on this blog after the election, I like your keen antennae for cant, bullshit and misrepresentation.
“I hope you’ll stay on this blog after the election,” Hardly likely as he’s only there as a representative of the Clinton campaign. Did you provide him with the files you keep on all of us? He hasn’t been here long enough to build up the files he claims to have on us.
Are deletions arbitrary or purposeful and policy driven?
[ Mod: Please consult the blog rules ]
It’s really hard to tell. BTW; I am copying this for email to Craig, just in case we have a rogue mod.
Laggard; If you could keep up…I’ve stated my intention to stay for monitoring of the faux Left. So no need for personal concern. No genuine Left acquired as yet.
It is quite illuminating that mods have the power WITHOUT ARBITRARY concerns.
Now that’s some neat fascism…
Yeah.
The Mods.
Crap bikes.
Crap hairdoes.
Definitely made up.
Guys.
you are talking shit Kief, Why should Wikileaks keep political balance to suit your twisted black and white agenda?
And the shit you are asking for is about to be unleashed in Aleppo and Raqqa, two ancient Cities that have brought culture and science to Europe and the US. Why?
Because some pushy climate polluters want it all their own way. They have brought war into the Magreb because they could not possibly allow Europe energy needs to be supplied by the Sahara’s sun of the Magreb.
The oil and gas lobby is guilty of playing dirty politics, regardless of which power block is pushing it.
Its unsustainable and it is ruining the globe for rich and poor, no two ways about it, one singular calamity that’s guaranteed.
Cheer up, for a few more hours.
good night
Netanyahu wins either way. Neither Trump or Clinton will do anything to stop the expansion of the illegal settlements.
Other sites like Haaretz and Times of Israel report that he has stayed out of taking sides.
Benjamin Netanyahu already the winner of US election
http://www.thenational.ae/world/americas/benjamin-netanyahu-already-the-winner-of-us-election
Yes indeed, both puppets, I mean candidates, have been pictured with the usual Israeli, supporting groups, around the Resolute desk, with grinning puppet at the centre, and the multiple puppeters at his, or on this occasion (possibly) her back.
I wonder how the American taxpayer would feel about, the 44th and now the 45fifth POTUS, if they knew that humungus amounts of taxpayers hard earned tax dollars, are being diverted to support, a external warmongering nation.
This is a problem.
Trump’s team are very very close to Netanyahu.
Clinton more likely to be Obama-like on the matter.
The Bankers aren’t overly fond of Netanyahu.
But Bibi and Putie seem to get on well.
First Theresa May, gives lucrative financial assurances, to Japanese car manufacturers, over Brexit. Then May, does not slapdown claims that London’s financial sector will have access to the EU.
Of late May has offered more visa deals, which will allow Indian nationals to enter the UK, after a meeting with Indian PM Modi.
It would appear that Theresa May’s Brexit, is whatever she deems it to be, when she deems it, unless of course, you’re from one of the Home nations. If so, then Brexit means Brexit.
“Of late May has offered more visa deals, which will allow Indian nationals to enter the UK, after a meeting with Indian PM Modi.”
More info and source on that please. Thanks.
I’m ambivalent. The choices are a known murderess and corrupt fraudster or a racist entrepreneur, the successful one of which will kowtow to the Zionist agenda of New World Order. I make no prediction on the outcome of the US presidential election. I will make a prediction. While this election farce is going on I predict that the Russians will use it as cover to strike Aleppo terrorists.
The Russians have not been bombing for weeks (since October 17) to try and get a peaceful ceasefire. Meanwhile the ISIS rebels have been pounding civilians in western Aleppo. During that time safe corridors were opened to allow these civilians to leave the city. Terrorists were invited to take their weapons (small arms) and leave. Instead they tried to take more territory. Russia did not send its aircraft carrier and other naval vessels to the Med on a military exercise or war-game. It intends to strike only Daesh fighters on the outside of Aleppo trying to get into the city and to avoid civilian casualties. The outome is predictable with an almost certainty of cruise missiles being used. More widows to grieve. But for the US/Israel/NATO unholy alliance there would never have been a need for this. The election won’t change it.
Thanks for dropping in.
You’re welcome what’s your name.
The media, reported triumphantly, that several more Royal navy ships could be built in Scotland, in the coming years, though no contracts have been signed just yet.
http://wingsoverscotland.com/sailing-away-from-the-truth/
However, the Lord giveth (Tory government) and the Lord taketh away.
The Tory government are cutting their military prescence in Scotland, by closing a number of military barracks. These include Fort George, Glen Corse barracks, Penicuik barracks and Redford barracks.
The MoD Caledonia in Rosyth will also close, leaving no navy prescence in Fife, something that historically has always been present.
It would appear that, defence forces, on the outer reaches of the empire, are to be hollowed out, but the renewal of Trident, still goes on.
There has never been a greater need for Scottish independence, than now.
I saw that too yesterday and found the pdf with the detail.
‘The UK government will sell off 56 more defence sites by 2040, the defence secretary has told MPs.
Sir Michael Fallon said the sale of the sites – part of a review of Ministry of Defence land – was in addition to the sale of 35 MoD sites that had previously been announced.
Unions called the plans “brutal” and promised to fight the closures.
But Sir Michael said it would deliver better value for money and release enough land to build 55,000 homes.’
Defence review to see dozens of sites close
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37902141
Details within here. Many sites scheduled for closure are in Scotland.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/565858/20161107_MOD_Better_Defence_Estate_FINAL.pdf
“But there is every indication that in foreign policy he may be a great deal more sensible”
For all non-Americans, he would be the better option.
Craig’s choice for American Asshole of the Year.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-11-08/it-s-finally-u-s-election-day-as-clinton-trump-wait-on-results
You UKNutters should be proud.
This is just the first salvo you salivate over.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/08/politics/nevada-voting-lawsuit-donald-trump/
It’s just the beginning of this litigious revenge-seeker of proportions not unlike that of Genghis Khan.
Be proud. Be very proud.
If I were vengeful I might ask Americans to do the same for you (Brexit)
BTW; I will make you suffer for the support you gave Trump, but not in a vengeful way (snark)
You will feel the Love.
Surely this highest turnout for 30 years can’t be to endorse the Clinton crime family?
It is the honest working man and woman turning out for the honest Scottish person who tells it like it is, the up till now, non-politician.
Let the shit be brushed away.
I saw this and liked it very much. Hope you like it too.
I VOTED
By Gary Corseri
I voted today. …
I voted for peace and justice and sanity
In an insane world of violence and injustice.
I voted.
I voted for clear streams, rivers, and seas;
Bright stars in a cedar-scented night-sky;
Whale-songs heard in unpolluted oceans.
Not for the lesser of two evils,
But for the greatest good for the greatest number—
For nothing less, I voted.
I voted for climate-change victims;
And for those torn apart by war;
Against the Empire, and for the planet;
For the hungry and forgotten,
For the terrified and abused–
I voted.
Against the military-industrial-media complex
And for the dream of MLK–
I voted.
I voted for Iraqi mothers and Afghani;
For Pakistani mothers, and around the world—
Because each of them is my mother, also,
Weeping like Rachel for her lost children.
For Kathy Kelly and Rachel Corrie,
For Cindy Sheehan and Cynthia McKinney,
Jill Stein, Helen Caldicott and Chelsea Manning–
For standing against madness and lies,
Opportunism and exploitation—
For all of them, I voted.
For brothers in exile I voted;
For the martyred, the betrayed, the abandoned—
Ishmael, Aguinaldo, Sandino and Guevara;
Tashtunka Witco, Tecumseh, Snowden and Assange—
For this council of leaders, I voted.
Against slavery and wage-slavery;
Sexploitation, television and bad food;
The corruption of Art; mis-education;
The torture of humans and animals;
Our prison-work-complex and sham democracy;
Citizens United; the Electoral College;
And every meme kicked down the road
By glutinous politicians and their corporate masters—
Against all of this, I voted.
To pass from these Dark Ages
To a Renaissance of Reason,
To a New Age of Enlightenment–
I voted.
That truths may be reclaimed;
For the wisdom to discern;
That children may be honored
With cleanliness and virtue,
With books and venerable teachers;
That all may be protected
From the ravenous and greedy—
I voted.
To see the planet whole;
To know our place upon it;
To nurture and restore it;
To abide in moderation,
With compassionate humility;
That the arts might consecrate us—
I voted.
For the best that lies within us;
For the fortitude to harness;
For the healing grace that’s needed.
For the courage to continue–
http://www.uncommonthought.com/mtblog/archives/2016/10/16/i-voted.php
Well done you. Good poem. She won’t get in of course because of media bias but I really do admire people who are principled and care and are prepared to stand by their principles at the ballot box. So whatever the outcome, which will mean more of the same, you, and those who supported the Libertarian Party, have shown that politics need not be what it was and is, but can be different. We, some of us this side of the Atlantic are placing our faith in Jeremy Corbyn. Well done you protectors of the planet.
There is a fine line between positive thinking and delusion….
These alibis of “he/she did’t get elected because of media bias” are very boring, but I suppose they’ll be trotted out again and again, up to when Mr Corbyn leads the Labour Party to a historic defeat.
Well, you more than most must know who owns the media. You’re kidding nobody H>
Very Beautiful Poem Sharp Ears..thanks
Paints a picture of Hope..For many things.
Did he use that one in an advert?
Bob Dylan Didn’t Sell Out to Sell Chryslers
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2014-02-03/bob-dylan-didn-t-sell-out-to-sell-Chryslers
Even CNN, Shillary’s cable network of choice, agrees.
OK. So now I feel bad about punching you out cuz you’re non-violent types (snark)
So here’s a little grist for your myopic mill.
http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2016/11/07/a-tale-of-three-foundations-carter-clinton-and-trump/
“Peace in our time’
Thanks Neville. That is reassuring…
Relax. The Allies will save your redolent asses once more without even a ‘Tally-ho”.
That’s the second reference made to ‘ben’.
Why? Was he an American?
I can certainly understand that you can’t tell one American from another. Lol.
Hopefully still is.
I think each mod has his own bias and is reflected by the deletions. This is normal and expected with human beans.
Re The many References and concerns of a Poss WWIII situation…
Tom Welsh
November 8, 2016 at 16:18 Puts it Very well. we Know Clinton is pushing for a No Fly Zone,
And Why is it Always Russians that wind up saving the World.. Cuban Missile crisis, Stanislave Petrov.
i booked Two Tickets for a showing of @ The Man That Saved The World ‘
Anyone in the Glasgow or surrounding areas interested –
Thu 17 Nov 2016 6:45pm – 9:00pm
Where:
Grosvenor Cinema – Glasgow
http://www.banthebomb.org/index.php/component/eventlist/details/831-the-man-who-saved-the-world-film-showing?Itemid=179
Perceptive and mostly on-point my man.
unfortunately, cyber warfare is even more important for now…
Carry on…
John Kerry is in Antarctica at the moment. Safest place to be if there’s a nuclear war. Does he know something?
Good Point lysias
Off to Antarctica at Tax payers expense..on Bullshit reasons. more like he always wanted to see the most southern continent methinks…Wonder what he’s / they are really up to.
But what Would He return to.. Not much will remain of U.S.
Will a superpower that’s losing a cyberwar feel compelled to use its nukes?
Dang! As a survivor of that epic deletion I must be a favorite son. how did that happen/
Brian, what is hope? I thought you were old enough.
The Biggest Hope I have..is that the world can Wrench back, Control of the MSM.. Many Wars Would not have taken place without the Neocon Media
I also Hope The Water Protectors Win
Talking of Winning.. I should maybe Start Buying lottery tickets. Live it up Whist the Earth, and Oceans can Still Breathe
Maybe Advanced E.T’s will come and save us ..From ourselves… There’s Hope
The last line: smartest thing you’ve ever said on this blog. The night suits you fine!
And yes definitely get that lottery ticket. Live it up, regardless!
“Vigo County, Indiana, which has voted for the winner of every presidential election since Eisenhower, has gone for Trump.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2016/nov/08/us-election-2016-polls-trump-clinton-live
Riiiiiight.
That’s that then.
Off to bed.
The world is safe.
GUAM has voted in the last 30 years as predeterminate of the election….overwhelmingly for Dems in 2016
Assholes for Trump in UK….zero
I think Vigo, Indiana has the longer record.
You old wishful thinker, you…
I expect to see my posts in the AM on the morrow.
Otherwise there will be emails and explanations galore.
And who are you, madam.
Accept some well meaning advice – complaining about mods is not a worthwhile activity.
They are hand-picked by the blog owner, and they work according to his rules. Whining about moderation is an absolute waste of time, it really is best not to bother.
I have to disagree with you glenn. Its not about whining.
Not a good idea to suppress/condition keif’s instincts to freedom. And hand-picked or not, they are not perfect.
Heck, Alcyone – I don’t think we disagree. The mods are most definitely not perfect – that is absolutely true! However, I hope you agree that complaining about them is unproductive, for several reasons – not least of which, they are following the wishes of the blog owner to the best of their limited abilities.
Glenn sometimes it is not clear that it is CM’s instructions.
I was there. Kief turns and asks ‘Why’ about the deletions
I responded a few minute later after penning-down “Moderation Blues”:
Don’t ask me why
Not that I’m shy
I’m just mystified
As the next guy
Be moderate
Don’t berate
Or even be irate
Just debate
Now its time to turn in
There’s a new morning
And a night full of grins
And more arguing
Now I could go on
Make it nice and long
Think I’d best be along
Before the troll comes in
__________
Answer: Deleted, I say wrong answer. Take a chill-pill
Well… blog-post moderators is, as blog-post moderators does, as my old grandmother used to say. And I never found any gain by arguing with her.
Is that an original work by yourself? Not bad, I have to say.
The Unpublished Poems of Donald J. Trump, 2015-16
By ELINOR LIPMAN
COMMENT
2016-11-08T18:52:49-05:00 6:52 PM ET
No, I won’t participate
If Megyn Kelly moderates.
She’s mean and scary in debates,
And worst of all: She menstruates.
*
I cherish women! Why so mad?
My views on choice are ironclad.
First I’ll sentence you to jail.
But Mexico will pay your bail.
*
Shiite! Sunni! It’s confusing!
Please explain or I’ll keep losing.
And Hezbollah? Are they O.K.?
The teleprompter doesn’t say.
*
I’m softening. I won’t deport!
Those nice illegals — sold them short.
I hope with next amigo poll,
They won’t forget that taco bowl.
*
They made me do that: walk it back,
Say he’s born here, though he’s black.
Bigots, please! It’s not goodbye!
I’ll be a birther till I die.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/opinion/election-night-2016/the-unpublished-poems-of-donaldj-trump-2015-16
Top 10 Indications or Proofs ISIS is a US-Israeli Creation:
http://freedom-articles.toolsforfreedom.com/top-10-proofs-isis-us-israeli-creation/
It’s not just the Saudis, Turkey and the Gulf States that support ISIS/ISIL/IS!
And the gun-grabbing is what all dictatorial regimes do, be it Hitler, Stalin or anyone else. The False Flag and Hoax mass shootings are orchestrated by the State, to further the gun-grab. Crooks can always get guns – look at the weapons that have been found in the UK, where drug gangs have had all sorts of machine pistols and assault weapons – totally illegal, but they get them, no pproblem.
I voted for Jill Stein. Looks like it’s going to be a very close election. Trump could win.
Brilliant job voting that way, Lysias! At least your conscience is going to be ok, as you’ve assisted Trump into office. Well done.
Trump is right about the electoral system being rigged.
HE WON!
I’m retreating into my bunker until further notice.
The US elites are simply retreating from the neocon elite plan.
There’ll be rumptions, of course.
It’s stormy waters, for now
But there’s calm ahead.
Good for you lysias
Bravo! If only Sanders hadn’t gone over to backing the Trollop, and told his followers to do the same, she would have got her 5% (I hope she has, maybe you know?).
Our wonderful host, being broad-minded and truth-seeking, rarely predicts the choices of the people correctly in elections. We saw how trigger-happy the UK electorate were in the Brexit vote, in my opinion because Cameron crawled out of the perma-frost of Tory unelectability after Mrs Thatcher, by his devious alliance with Nick Clegg.
Clinton has been exposed as fixing the election candidacy, fixing foreign policy, and fixing her grin, Even if it brought bankruptcy and disgrace on the US nation, nobody ordinary person could resist pulling the trigger on a cheat – except Craig who’s diplomatic antennae refuse to be triggered by shallow deceit.
But there again we are here for the discussion, and Craig has stated clearly that he is not even permanently convinced of his own opinions. He is open-minded. Most people in an election are much less forgiving. It’s our one chance to knee the elite in the general area of the groin, and we do enjoy using it.
It is going to be
BREXIT PLUS PLUS PLUS
Mrs.Clinton has telephoned the Scottish Donald to congratulate him.
I wonder how Frau Nicola Sturgeon will take the news?
I think the SNP may have cut off their own nose
I think there are some similarities with BREXIT.
Trump invited Nigel Farrage to give him some pointers and to give a speech.
On both sides of the Atlantic the voting public have spoken,
they have said they do no want
the status quo,
they want different, different is what we are going to get.
Let’s hope that Syria can be resolved, soon.