Please do read the full text of Security Council Resolution 2334, passed yesterday:
The Security Council,
Reaffirming its relevant resolutions, including resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 446 (1979), 452 (1979), 465 (1980), 476 (1980), 478 (1980), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003), and 1850 (2008),Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and reaffirming, inter alia, the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force,
Reaffirming the obligation of Israel, the occupying Power, to abide scrupulously by its legal obligations and responsibilities under the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, and recalling the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice,
Condemning all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, including, inter alia, the construction and expansion of settlements, transfer of Israeli settlers, confiscation of land, demolition of homes and displacement of Palestinian civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law and relevant resolutions,
Expressing grave concern that continuing Israeli settlement activities are dangerously imperilling the viability of the two-State solution based on the 1967 lines,
Recalling the obligation under the Quartet Roadmap, endorsed by its resolution 1515 (2003), for a freeze by Israel of all settlement activity, including “natural growth”, and the dismantlement of all settlement outposts erected since March 2001,
Recalling also the obligation under the Quartet roadmap for the Palestinian Authority Security Forces to maintain effective operations aimed at confronting all those engaged in terror and dismantling terrorist capabilities, including the confiscation of illegal weapons,
Condemning all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation, incitement and destruction,
Reiterating its vision of a region where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders,Stressing that the status quo is not sustainable and that significant steps, consistent with the transition contemplated by prior agreements, are urgently needed in order to (i) stabilize the situation and to reverse negative trends on the ground, which are steadily eroding the two-State solution and entrenching a one-State reality, and (ii) to create the conditions for successful final status negotiations and for advancing the two-State solution through those negotiations and on the ground,
1. Reaffirms that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation under international law and a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-State solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace;
2. Reiterates its demand that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and that it fully respect all of its legal obligations in this regard;
3. Underlines that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations;
4. Stresses that the cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-State solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground that are imperilling the two-State solution;5. Calls upon all States, bearing in mind paragraph 1 of this resolution, to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967;
6. Calls for immediate steps to prevent all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror, as well as all acts of provocation and destruction, calls for accountability in this regard, and calls for compliance with obligations under international law for the strengthening of ongoing efforts to combat terrorism, including through existing security coordination, and to clearly condemn all acts of terrorism;
7. Calls upon both parties to act on the basis of international law, including international humanitarian law, and their previous agreements and obligations, to observe calm and restraint, and to refrain from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric, with the aim, inter alia, of de-escalating the situation on the ground, rebuilding trust and confidence, demonstrating through policies and actions a genuine commitment to the two-State solution, and creating the conditions necessary for promoting peace;
8. Calls upon all parties to continue, in the interest of the promotion of peace and security, to exert collective efforts to launch credible negotiations on all final status issues in the Middle East peace process and within the time frame specified by the Quartet in its statement of 21 September 2010;
9. Urges in this regard the intensification and acceleration of international and regional diplomatic efforts and support aimed at achieving, without delay a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, including the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Quartet Roadmap and an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967; and underscores in this regard the importance of the ongoing efforts to advance the Arab Peace Initiative, the initiative of France for the convening of an international peace conference, the recent efforts of the Quartet, as well as the efforts of Egypt and the Russian Federation;
10. Confirms its determination to support the parties throughout the negotiations and in the implementation of an agreement;
11. Reaffirms its determination to examine practical ways and means to secure the full implementation of its relevant resolutions;
12. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council every three months on the implementation of the provisions of the present resolution;
13. Decides to remain seized of the matter.
Given the difficulties of negotiating such resolutions between 15 states, the language is remarkably forthright. The relief of the UN Secretariat itself at the UN acting after eight years of US veto impasse, shines through the accurate but stark headline of the official UN press release on the resolution:
Israel’s Settlements Have No Legal Validity, Constitute Flagrant Violation of International Law, Security Council Reaffirms
In one sense the Resolution is a statement of the blindingly obvious. But it has had such a political impact because Israel, with its politics switched radically to the right by Eastern European immigration, had really come under Netanyahu to believe it could simply strangle the Palestinians acre by acre, and the neo-con political hegemony in the West was so unshakeable there could never be any comeback.
Trump’s apparent hardline Zionism since his election has been a disappointment and was not really prefigured by the balance of his past pronouncements, although as usual with him they are all over the place. But of course he now has no ability to revoke or undermine this resolution; there is no retrospective veto. I retain a hope that Trump will come to regard the US$34 billion a year the USA gives in military assistance to Israel a very strange way to spend the taxpayers’ money.
It might be argued that Obama’s decision not to veto the Resolution shows his true decent instincts once political machination is no longer a factor. I have been undecided whether he is a decent but timid man prepared to go along with the machinations of hard power without any fights that would make his own life less comfortable, or a total charlatan who was always just a puppet of the powerful. It took eight years for me to tend towards the slightly less appalling option. Certainly Hillary, an uncompromising Zionist who refused to condemn illegal settlements when Bernie Sanders did so, would have vetoed the resolution. In a strange way, Trump’s victory allowed it to pass; if Clinton had won, Obama would have very probably felt bound to defer to her wish to veto it.
My own view is that it is too late for a two state solution. I wrote recently of my work on apartheid South Africa, and I find the two state model proposed for Israel/Palestine irresistibly reminiscent of the Bantustan proposals of the apartheid South African government. There is no economically and politically viable state to be constructed out of the overcrowded and cut off territories of the West Bank and Palestine, even without the massive seizures of land and water resources that have occurred within them. To reverse enough of 1967 settlements for a viable Palestinian state in a two state solution wpuld involve an unacceptable further uprooting of people.
This next bit of my opinion angers some – but only some – of my Palestinian friends. I see a single, secular state as the only viable long term solution, but to negotiate this would entail accepting that a large number of post 1967 settlers should stay where they are. Not all, but it is very difficult to see how any agreement could ever be negotiated that does not accept most of the facts on the ground. I see a read across here from the Cyprus negotiations, where Greek Cypriots have a great difficulty in accepting that Turkish settlers must remain. And I believe that like Cyprus, a federal political solution which does not attempt to move populations around further, seems to me the best basis to move forward.
For me, the Security Council’s observation that Israeli settlements “are steadily eroding the two-State solution and entrenching a one-State reality” and the “cessation of all Israeli settlement activities is essential for salvaging the two-State solution, and calls for affirmative steps to be taken immediately to reverse the negative trends on the ground that are imperilling the two-State solution”, are accurate descriptions of a process which in fact has already gone beyond the point of no return. The irony is, of course, that it is the Israeli government who are horrified by the idea of a single state solution; yet they have made a two state solution impossible. That leaves them the choice of sharing the land with the Palestinians, and a settlement involving massive financial compensation, or continuing complicity in the slow genocide of the Palestinians herded into their ever shrinking territories.
The Security Council has shown Israel that the whole world is horrified by what they are doing to the Palestinians. It will take further time for the Security Council to acknowledge that their own proposed solution really is no longer viable.
********************************************************************************
The blog is now essentially closing down for the festive period. I am travelling off to where I shall lie shipwrecked and comatose, drinking fresh mango juice. Barring imminent nuclear war, I am unlikely to post again before the New Year. On the grounds that I am already entirely unfashionable, let me say I saw Status Quo live at the Glasgow Apollo in about 1983, and in Katowice about 1996, and I loved every moment. RIP Rick Parfitt. Merry Christmas everyone!
Why has the troll’s silly and facile ad hominem against me last night @ 21.35 stayed up?
It appeared in isolation. There was no previous exchange.
D’you mean this one, Sharp Ears?
“Bevs
re “Plusteenians”
I was just following the example given by Sharp Ears of playing with people’s names -forgive my temporary lapse and blame her ?
Good to see that you disapprove of the practice but I wonder why you have never rebuked her for it ?”
___________________
Firstly, far from appearing in “isolation”, it was a reply to Bevs, who called me a racist.
Secondly, do you deny that one of your specialities is playing with (ie, distorting) the names of public figures or organisations of which you disapprove?
That may be why the Mod let the comment stand.
No you are indulging in your usual cyber stalking habits, Habby and its not only aimed at other posters here, its boring the pants of those who read here regularly.
You are also trying hard to stem the inexorably rising attendance figures attracted to Craigs blog with your constant sniping and vile responses.
How much longer before you have to stop your guaranteed anonymous cyber attacks here? the sooner the better.
Deaf ears and stoney ground come to mind.
You may be right, Goss, but on the other hand my posts might help a few readers see better the mendacious and obsessive nature of some of the regular commenters and their offerings.
Neither of us is able to prove what must, in the end, just remain divergent hopes.
Actually, Nevermind, you should really learn a couple of new songs.
Your use of the word “cyber stalking” appears indicative of a belief that everyone who replies to a particularly egregious bit of nonsense posted on here is a cyber stalker. Let’s be honest, there’s an awful lot of nonsense – and worse – talked on here. Your latest is just one example.
My alleged cyber stalking may perhaps bore some people but i’m happy to see that you are not among them.
Can you talk us through your notion that my posts are trying to stem the inexorably (nice word there!) riding reader numbers? How does it work in and do you believe it’s working (in the light of those apparently rising numbers)?
Finally your apparent objection to anonymity : could this be the same Nevermind who objected violently when I referred to him, on occasion, as” Ingo”?
Have a nice evening now 🙂
After the Berlin Islamic madness Frau Merkel slips in the estimation of her voters.
GERMANY ON THE BRINK: Anti-migrant protesters storm station at scene of Cologne attacks
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/748010/Germany-Cologne-sex-attack-New-Year-migrant-asylum-seeker-protest-NDP-far-right
Members of the Extreme Far Right NDP group planned to take to Cologne’s main square, the scene of the depraved New Year sex attacks, to voice their oposition to Frau Angela Merkel’s controversial open door migration policy
– but police banned the event amid safety concerns.
Undeterred, dozens of protesters scaled Cologne’s train station, unveiling nationalist banners and chanting anti-mass immigration slogans.
In a well-orchestrated and pre-planned move, the NDP supporters clamberd onto the station’s roof and revealed their anti-migrant banner.
Police earlier cancelled the event, citing “a serious security threat, which cannot be averted otherwise”.
The original protest was supposed to take place in the square itself, facing the cathedral that was the backdrop to the sickenig volume of sexual assaults committed against hundreds of women.
Why does a newspaper owned by a Russian oligarch print rubbish such as ‘Russian submarines active in UK waters’ on the front page of the Indy?
One of the reasons, it is said in warm cold war terms, that ‘Moscow is trying to spy on the UK’s Trident nuclear deterrent subs’. Well what a amazing feat, after 22 years in existence during which the Russians knew nothing of Trident, so we are to beleive, they are only now trying to spy on it…. hogwashpoppycock.
Then you look at the tiny map and find out that Britain is claiming that waters between Iceland are ‘UK waters, in an empirical twist from the pen of a Russian who is equally enamoured with empires and non deserving royalty.
Then you ask yourself what a trident submarine, fully loaded with nuclear missiles, struts around in international waters, sitting low for days on end listening to merchant and navy vessels alike and trying to find Russian submarines amongst these signals, in peace time.
Was the cold war not over in 1989 when the wall fell?
Is Britain still playing the same empire games it always played, with petty rivalry chosen before diplomacy?
what a stupid wind up
An open letter to the NZ Prime Minister, Bill English, from Vacy Vlazna.
Open Letter to the Prime Minister of New Zealand on UN Res. 2234’s flaw: the two-state solution
http://www.palestinematters.com/articles/open-letter-to-the-prime-minister-of-new-zealand-on-un-res-2234s-flaw-the-two-state-solution
A federal state with the settlers in situ – bantustans slightly more benign than the current ghettoes? Hurrah? With Palestinians at least half of the population of the federal state, and perhaps keen for some of their relatives to return from exile, how are Israeli Jews to retain 90 per cent of the land and wealth, or the Palestinians persuade them to relinquish some, without renewed civil war? A question, not an attempt at a smart-arse comment.
The (IPPR), the Institute for Public Policy Research, a leading British think tank, has come out and said that in its new report, that Brexit is the firing gun on a decade of disruption.
The think tank warns that Britain faces higher inflation, lower growth, poorer living standards, with up to 15 million jobs at risk.
However the (IPPR) also claims there will be winners, mainly the rich, as work becomes more insecure. The wealth of the households with the highest income is set to rise 11 times faster, than those on lower incomes.
They also warn of a £13 billion pound social care fund, as the number of over 65’s is set to rise by a third by the 2020’s.
http://www.ippr.org
Meanwhile the head of the Civil service, union, Dave Penman, has claimed that the workers at the Civil service are at breaking point, due to Brexit drastically increasing their work load.
Penman added that Civil service had been given very little extra support, despite the mammoth task that faces them over Brexit and article 50.
No doubt other just as important duties carried out by the Civi service will suffer under the yoke of Brexit.
http://www.thenational.scot/news/14991221.Civil_servants__at_breaking_point_due_to_Brexit_/
The MoD has forked out £4,820 pounds of taxpayers money to a vice admiral and his wife to South Korea, to launch a MoD vessel, which has been built there.
Others vessels are in the pipeline and the construction, of one has been plagued by problems and delays.
One wonders why the MoD didn’t give these contracts to say Portsmouth, they should’ve kept them inhouse.
http://www.thenational.scot/news/14991200.Anger_as_MoD_splashes_out_on_junket_to_South_Korea_____to_launch_ship_that_should_have_been_built_at_home/?ref=mr&lp=2
This explains why South Korea is so keen to do a trade deal with Britain that keeps public procurement open to Korean companies post Brexit.
A bit of a porker.
http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Rear+Admiral+Simon+Lister+Prince+William+Kate+Ox4Gcb3WYFLl.jpg
It’s a tanker! aka an ‘oiler’. The first of four. Money no object. Sister ship having a few probs and overdue.
New tanker RFA Tiderace unveiled in South Korea
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/rfa-tiderace-unveiled-south-korea/
Douglas Chapman SNP is on the case and harries Ms Baldwin who was deputising for Fracking Fallon.
The contract for those MOD Navy tanker vessels was given about 3 years ago by a bunch of neanderthals at the MOD. is it a surprise that our steel industry, shipbuilding industry and all the other manufacturing industries that supply a ships construction, is in difficulties ,when we have economic idiots running our country and economy.
You may have noticed the construction of these vessels in S,Korea has garnished very little publicity, another blot on the copy book of our compliant MSM.
A fair number of ex Clydeside and Tyneside shipbuilding engineers and tradesmen are making a reasonble living from Korean shipyards with an annual, well -attended Burnes night on Goje-do( a major shipyard town).At least their skills are being apprecited and used rather than the entire project being handled in Poland or Germany while former skilled tradesmen languish in the pubs and betting shops.
I was rather intrigued, at the idea of looking at a list of celebrities who’ve died this year, the latest being George Michael, Carrie Fisher, and her mother Debbie Reynolds.
However, most of these so called celebrities pale into insignificance, when I noticed that my namesake (well according to Habb that is) had passed away in 2016.
Eliezer “elie” Weisel, appears to have had a remarkable life, condemning acts such as the 1915 Armenina genocide (something Turkey can’t seem to do) and oppression in South Africa, Nicaragua and the Sudan.
Mr Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1986.
There are one or two controversial periods in Wiesels life in my opinion, but you can’t make an omelette with without breaking the eggs as they say.
So the next time Habb refers to me by the name of “Elie” I’ll take that as a compliment. ?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel
RoS
Just to be helpful, I will reveal a little secret: “ELIE” referred to “Englishman Living In England” ( recall that one commenter – can’t remember who it was – got it right at the time.
I seem to recall that you have never taken the opportunity, despite a number of requests, to assure us that you are a Scot living in Scotland. More recently, you also declined to tell us which part of Scotland you live in, despite the fact that that information would not assist in identifying you.
Hope that helps.
Habb.
“despite the fact that that information would not assist in identifying you.”
Why would you, just another ordinary commentor (believe that at your peril) want to identify me?
As for revealing anything about me, you know fine well I live in Scotland, however we, (all the other commentors and lurkers) have no idea where you live, now be a good wee laddie and inform us today, if you want to retain a modicum of credibility that is.
As for your description of “ELIE” I rather prefer my own, it has a certain, je ne sais quoi about it. ?
What did some us say?
Terrrr…Terrrr…Over and over again . They think we’re stupid.
German intelligence agent drove alleged perpetrator in Christmas market attack to Berlin
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/12/28/berl-d28.html
Interesting link Sharp Ears, Amri, looks like he’s been used as a weakminded patsy by the German security service’s.
The similarities to the Nice event, made the Berlin market event, seem even more suspicious.
Alas the “Strategy of Tension” is working for them, the demonisation of refugees/immigrants, is seeing a rise in the right across Europe.
Actually the article seems to say that he was driven to Dortmund by an undercover agent some time before the attack. Dortmund is nowhere near Berlin.
Interesting that WSWS think it “incredible” that people cannot be locked up in the basis of mere suspicion based on what is said to an undercover agent. In the US that does seem standard practice, but I never thought WSWS supported that kind of practice.
Apologies – it was to Berlin, but a long time before the attack
This is sounding like ‘Radio Yerevan reports…..'(East Bloc joke format)
Germany: Tunisian picked up in Berlin attack probe freed
German prosecutors say they’ve released a Tunisian man who was detained on Wednesday after determining that he wasn’t in contact with the main suspect in last week’s Berlin truck attack. The 40-year-old was detained in Berlin on Wednesday. Federal prosecutors said at the time that his telephone number was saved in suspect Anis Amri’s cellphone and that they suspected he may have been involved in the attack. But prosecutors’ spokesman Frauke Koehler said Thursday they now have determined that the man “isn’t this possible contact person of Anis Amri.” (AP)
http://www.france24.com/en/20161228-berlin-attacker-europe-travels-security-tunisia
Following the Berlin attack, suspected assailant Anis Amri travelled from Germany to the Netherlands and then on to France before heading to Italy where police shot him dead, investigative sources revealed Wednesday.
It must be said that Anis Amri was in Chambéry on the same day as François Hollande. The President of the Republic had come to inaugurate the new hospital and security had been considerably strengthened in the city, mainly on the route of the presidential procession. That the most wanted man of Europe may have passed by Chambéry precisely this December 22 may seem hallucinating. Is it pure coincidence, or did he know that the police force would be concentrated on the other side of the city when he passes this strategic point? According to our information, the anti-terrorist services recovered yesterday all the images of the video surveillance of the station. Before Chambéry, the journey of Anis Amri is still unknown. Did he simply pass through the station when he arrived with another train? Has he arrived in Savoy by other means and has he benefited from complicity? Last July, Savoy was marked by another terrorist attack. Abdel Malik Petitjean, one of the two perpetrators of the assassination of the priest who had been murdered in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray (Seine-Maritime), lived in Aix-les-Bains. The inquiry about Anis Amri will be tricky because the Berlin terrorist managed to cross France without hindrance.
It must be said that Anis Amri was in Chambéry on the same day as François Hollande. The President of the Republic had come to inaugurate the new hospital and security had been considerably strengthened in the city, mainly on the route of the presidential procession. That the most wanted man of Europe may have passed by Chambéry precisely this December 22 may seem hallucinating. Is it pure coincidence, or did he know that the police force would be concentrated on the other side of the city when he passes this strategic point? According to our information, the anti-terrorist services recovered yesterday all the images of the video surveillance of the station. Before Chambéry, the journey of Anis Amri is still unknown. Did he simply pass through the station when he arrived with another train? Has he arrived in Savoy by other means and has he benefited from complicity? Last July, Savoy was marked by another terrorist attack. Abdel Malik Petitjean, one of the two perpetrators of the assassination of the priest who had been murdered in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray (Seine-Maritime), lived in Aix-les-Bains. The inquiry about Anis Amri will be tricky because the Berlin terrorist managed to cross France without hindrance.
Sorry everyone, that seems to have doubled,
1) the third man has been released.
2) maybe two autopsys of Polish man, one in Berlin, one in Poland, not same results.
3) Francois Hollande is visiting Chambery, at the same time as Anis Amry.
4) It is thought Anis tried to purchase machine guns.
5) Anis is shot in the area of Milan, where people get false papers.
6) Anis is shot two miles from where the Polish lorry was loaded, 525 miles from Berlin.
7) since the attack Anis has travelled through Germany The Netherlands Belgium France and Italy.
Yet there was an International arrest warrant made out for him?
According to this the Old Devil, Kissinger is cosying up to Putin (they already know each other) to try and offset China’s influence with Russia, and its military build up in the South China seas.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/what-is-henry-kissinger-up-to-better-relations-with-russia-or-eroding-russias-sovereignty/5565195
RoS that has less than nothing to do with anything.
You want to keep up.
Russia has imposed a cease fire in Syria.
Kissinger imposed cease-fires on Syria too – or arranged for them at any rate
Russian embassy in Syria shelled from rebel-held area
Russia’s embassy in Damascus was shelled again on Thursday evening, it said in a statement. The firing came from a rebel-controlled neighborhood of the Syria capital, the embassy said, adding the the shells caused minor damage to the mission. The statement said the attack was apparently meant to derail an attempt to establish a comprehensive ceasefire in the country brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran but not OBOMBA
Investigators in Russia say they cannot rule out the possibility that an attack downed a jet over the Black Sea, with the loss of all 92 passengers and crew.
Ministry of Truth
So, it was very unlikely to be terror, now it is only not ruled out.
I wouldn’t mind betting Ukraine is somehow involved.
My money’s on Frau Hollande and Monsieur Merkel, Norton.
Preliminary findings based on the CVR and FR point to a problem with the flaps.
https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2016-12-28/preliminary-findings-point-flap-problem-tu-154-crash
Of course that’s far too mundane and sensible when we could have a conspiracy theory instead.
Here’s a link which might be of interest to some people: Ms Beeley and other useful idiots get some stick
“http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/12/whitewashing-assad-allies-challenged-161223135228023.html”
Enjoy and apologies if someone’s already posted it without me noticing.
Al Jazeera is based in Qatar and is funded by the Qatar ruling family, who back the head chopping lunatics in Syria (the same head chopping lunatics who are trained and funded by the USA and its pathetic poodles)…
http://theantimedia.org/hillary-email-clinton-donors-funding-isis/
Al Jazeera Arabic language broadcasts and Al Jazeera English language broadcasts have always been two very different entities. Al Jazeera Arabic was always overtly propaganda, whilst Al Jazeera English tried to give an impression of impartiality.
The Arab Spring, and more recently events in Syria, have completely consigned Al Jazeera to the dustbin of reputable broadcasters (along with the BBC, CNN, SKY, MSNBC, etc, etc, etc).
It’s a shame, because Al Jazeera English did start out in a good way, and was staffed mostly by ex-BBC bods who had good intentions.
http://www.ledauphine.com/france-monde/2016/12/23/anis-amri-a-chambery-le-meme-jour-que-francois-hollande
Hollande and Anis Amri both in Chambery, Savoie same day
State of Emergency
International Arrest Warrent farce.
Michael, don’t believe anything the MSM tell you.
If a nuclear war started they would probably roll out the same tired, old hacks to tell you that it’s just a big thunderstorm, and nothing to worry about.
But don’t get me onto the nuclear stuff…
Coalition of the willing bomb Mosul
An airstrike against Islamic State near Mosul may have resulted in civilian casualties, the Pentagon has said.
It would be a miracle of the ‘airstrike’ did not result in civilian casualties.
Another miracle is the way that the media manages to keep a straight face when it reports these official accounts of bombing raids and drone assassinations: they all result in civilian casualties, in most of them the number of civilians killed is far greater then the number of combatant casualties.
Of course, the real miracle is that readers casually imbibe these stories without wondering what the devil is meant by the term “civilian’ in them. We know that the Pentagon excludes from the category any males who have reached puberty, for example.
If a person is being given money /munitions /instructions by the Americans to bring down the government of Syria
are they in the mind of America – civilians?
Further on the death of Chandelon.
https://conservativedailypost.com/breaking-nato-investigator-revealed-obamas-connections-isis-just-found-dead/?
Look at the $billions. An unimaginable figure.
‘As Pravda.Ru reported, NATO’s budgets have been growing lately. The latest increase of $26 billion brought the budget up to a whopping $918 billion. To its credit, many in the US media wonder what NATO needs this massive budget for. Apparently, Chandelon had similar questions, and they cost him his life.’
Poor man.
More alarming was this in the Heil today. I hope it is just fiction but it is also in The Scotsman and on RT.
Cameron is lined up to be the UK’s candidate as head of Nato after Britain pledged to play a greater role following the Brexit vote
Officials say former Prime Minister is likely candidate if May puts one forward
Job heading Nato comes with a tax-free salary of £222,019
Jens Stoltenberg, the former Norwegian PM, will finish his term in 2018 or 2019
Likely to be candidate after Britain pledged greater role in US-led organisation http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4072186/Cameron-lined-UK-s-candidate-head-Nato-Britain-pledged-play-greater-role-following-Brexit-vote.html
On a more current topic Obama is reported to have expelled 35 Russian diplomats for supporting Trump in the election.
There won’t be anyone left in the US Embassy in Moscow if Russia expels those who interfere in Russian elections.
Oh how they squeal when an infinitesimal amount of that they do to others is even just alleged to have been done to them !
Truly pathetic & embarrassing, but than again Obama knows he’s been outwitted & played for the fool that he is by Putin all throughout his years in the White House, and so responds with such departing actions; apparently in a shameful & spiteful break of normal diplomacy, Obama did not even send personal condolences on the murder of the Russian Ambassador, but at least Trump did.
So things are likely to be better under Trump?
Can you provide a reliable link for your assertion that Obama not sending personal condolences to Moscow about the murder of the ambassador was a “break of normal diplomacy”? (we’ll leave aside the “shameful and spiteful” bit for the moment).
I’m a little surprised to hear that it is normal diplomatic practice for Heads of State to send personal condolences to other states in such cases and I must confess I’m not reassured by the fact that the assertion comes from our friend Macks (after all, his area of expertise seems to be limited to defending President rasPutin and saying how intelligent he is).
So off you go, Macks – back up your assertion (but with facts, not just a link to a dubious website which spouts the same so far fact-free opinion.
I guess that for somebody who is always in denial, the fact this is the Russia’s Foreign Affairs Spokesperson will automatically mean that it must be untrue, but for more rational people they will use the caveat “probably true”, especially in light of no contradictory response or evidence in refutation;
https://vimeo.com/197375753
Very interesting link, Macks, but it doesn’t back up your assertion that Obama not sending personal condolences to Moscow about the murder of the ambassador was a “break of normal diplomacy”, does it.
But no matter – I wasn’t expecting you to be able to back up your silly assertion.
Let’s ask you something else : how many Heads of State did send their” personal condolences” to Moscow about the murder of the ambassador? Number and names, please.
(PM – there are something like !90 independent states, I believe, and tey all have a Head of State).
Loking forward to your sunstantive reply, Macks.
Just to ensure that you don’t comment on typos rather than answering the question, here’s a repost, Macks.
Very interesting link, Macks, but it doesn’t back up your assertion that Obama not sending personal condolences to Moscow about the murder of the ambassador was a “break [ sic ] of normal diplomacy”, does it.
But no matter – I wasn’t expecting you to be able to back up your silly assertion.
Let’s ask you something else : how many Heads of State did send their” personal condolences” to Moscow about the murder of the ambassador? Number and names, please.
(PM – there are something like !90 independent states, I believe, and they all have a Head of State).
Looking forward to your substantive reply, Macks.
+++++++++++++++++
Off you go! 🙂
“Loking forward to your sunstantive reply, Macks.”
LOL ! You must be getting very irked to make so many typos in one post ! 😀
All you ever do by “asking” your “questions” is to repeatedly reveal how you try to avoid the point of issue by trying to muddy the waters & nitpick over semantics; Obama apparently did not send out customary personal condolences, as was expected, since it was the normal diplomatic, not to mention decent human, thing to do, and no amount of semantics & whereabouteries alters that, which was my point.
Don’t you ever get tired of coming off second when engaging with me ?! 😀
“Answer : Because you made it up.”
Still in denial mode I see, as it seems you are really unaware that the Presidents/leaders of several countries sent personal condolences, but not the POTUS; as for ourselves we left it to the clown Boris Johnson, who you would have noticed in the clip I linked to, is considered as an obscure marginal figure by the Russians.
“The Presidents/leaders of several countries”
______________________
That’s rather vague, Macks. How many are “several” and which countries?
Thanks.
“That’s rather vague, Macks. How many are “several” and which countries?”
Google is your friend, but I’ll just start you off;
China, Vietnam, South Africa, Israel, Japan, Armenia, Montenegro, etc
Oh dear, it’s just all so pathetic. Apart from waffling speeches, and drone murders, I’m not entirely sure what Obama has been doing for 8 years. Not a great deal, really, appears to like playing golf, and hosting parties. But just as we’re finally rid of him, he starts being suspiciously busy. I wonder why? I hope Trump finds something incriminating on Obama.
Entirely off-topic, I wonder if Trump will also allow the truth about JFK to be revealed? And aliens. That would be awesome.
The truth about JFK would effectively undermine the CIA which has been doing its best to undermine Trump.
‘… I hope Trump finds something incriminating on Obama….’
He already has the goods on Obomba (and ‘wife’); trouble is, Obomba will have the goods on Trump, just as the Killary ‘Hildabeast’ has, so it’s ‘stalemate’ on that, unfortunately. And of course, the CIA, Security Service and FBI, and of course ‘they who must remain nameless’, as well as countless Truthers, have enough evidence to jail the whole shower, but it can’t happen because of the absolutely corrupt ‘Law’ system, bent Judges, Prosecutors and Supreme Court (not forgetting ‘Presidential Pardons’).
@ Hieroglyph December 29, 2016 at 22:57
He won’y if he’s read ‘The Hit List’ by Belzer and Wayne!
Trump has his own privately hired security. He isn’t just relying on the Secret Service that failed JFK. (And the Secret Service has been reported to be mightily offended by his lack of confidence in them.)
As you ought to know, it is quite normal for such actions to have equal and opposite reactions. Unless Putin chooses to avoid such action as a gift to Trump.
@ bevin December 29, 2016 at 19:53
One would expect an equivalent ‘quid pro quo’ from Russia.
Retaliation is standard practice, as Craig will tell us.
“Reaffirming the obligation of Israel, the occupying Power, to abide scrupulously by its legal obligations”. Oh wow! The UN gets off its knees and New York shakes! And what are they going to do after 50 years of refusal? Absolutely fuck all. You don’t even have to remember that Jared Kushner’s father-in-law is about to become US president to know that. Someone is pulling our legs..
As for the idea that Scotland could remain part of Britain but be in the EU single market with the rest of Britain outside it, that is total and utter cock.
It’s a waste of public money for Nicola Sturgeon’s officials to have to work on such an impossible idea. She should be removed from office and surcharged.
If realised, that bullshit idea would make the Scottish-English border akin to the Polish-Russian border. Yes there would be custom posts on the border. There would have to be. The EU would insist on it. There are custom posts around the entire border of the single market area. It’s fucking EU law for there to be. And if Britain leaves that area, there will be border posts across the Irish border, at least when going south. Do you get it? Areas that are part of the single market area must respect EU border law.
The Scottish-English border would be a “hard” external EU border in all but name. It would not be like Sweden-Norway. Not in the scenario when the rest of Britain is outside the single market. It couldn’t be.
In other words, the result would be exactly the same as if Scotland became independent and then joined the EU, while rUK left the single market. Nobody in Scotland who doesn’t aim to get crooked grants out of it or who isn’t a complete moron will vote for that. The day that a majority of people in Scotland do vote for that is the day that many sane Scots – along with sane non-Scottish residents of Scotland – will decide to leave Scotland.
The SNP are Donald Trump in kilts.
“It’s a waste of public money for Nicola Sturgeon’s officials to have to work on such an impossible idea. She should be removed from office and surcharged.
If realised, that bullshit idea would make the Scottish-English border akin to the Polish-Russian border. Yes there would be custom posts on the border. There would have to be.”
Strange then how David Davis has said, there won’t be a hard border between NI and the Republic of Ireland. So why would there be a hard border between Scotland and England?
Sturgeon, is shrewd, by trying to stay in the UK, and the EU, using all, means possible, (unlikely as May said there would be no EU exceptions) she’s appeasing the soft no voters. She can turn around to them as say look I tried, but Westminster is having none of it, her canny actions could be a vote changer, at the next indyref.
“Nobody in Scotland who doesn’t aim to get crooked grants out of it or who isn’t a complete moron will vote for that.”
Speaking of moron’s, where did you get your info from?
You trust David Davis? Just think about it. That’s all you have to do. What would stop German companies exporting stuff to Scotland and then whizzing down south? Or Romanian immigrants doing the same? As I said, “Areas that are part of the single market area must respect EU border law.” Please don’t insult me because I don’t believe idiot crap spouted by a politician and am able to think about something for myself for two minutes.
Here’s the “info” I’m giving you: an area that’s inside the single market cannot allow freedom of movement or the free movement of goods from another area that’s outside the single market. If it wanted to, it wouldn’t be allowed into the single market.
I am not going to bother finding you a quote from a politician or a section of an EU treaty that says so, because it’s obvious. It’s obvious for the same reason that if A = B and B ≠ C then A cannot equal C.
Now replace “=” with “is in a single market with”, and “≠” with “is not in a single market with”.
“Being in a single market with” is what is known as an equivalence relation.
Scotland in single market and rUK outside means there would have to be a customs post by the Coldstream Bridge. But I’m onlu saying that because I’m a “non-believer”, right?
Indeed. However this problem will hit Ireland before the Scotland issue is more than theoretical.
.” Please don’t insult me because I don’t believe idiot crap spouted by a politician and am able to think about something for myself for two minutes.”
__________
Of course I don’t believe David Davis, anymore than I believe you, but that’s not the point is it. If the Tories go back on their word (a common trait) then it only adds more power to the Yes vote, to leave the union. Infact I’m positively hoping Davis reneges on his word.
Remember we were sold the lie that the only way to stay in the EU, was if we remained in the UK.
“Sturgeon, is shrewd, by trying to stay in the UK, and the EU, using all, means possible, (unlikely as May said there would be no EU exceptions) she’s appeasing the soft no voters. She can turn around to them as say look I tried, but Westminster is having none of it, her canny actions could be a vote changer, at the next indyref…”
Baldrick would be proud of Nicola’s cunning plans.
As pointed out by ‘two things’, however, there is a fatal flaw in this one which seems to ignore the origins of the EU as a tariff protected free trade zone.
Baldrick would be proud of Nicola’s cunning plans.
Spot on there Bevin!
Quite why RoS still has faith in this kite flying by Sturgeon- particularly after her claim that it would be unproblematic for Scotland to stay in the EU ‘single market’ if South Britain exits from the same, is a mystery. Craig after all comprehensively rubbished Sturgeon’s wish list in the post before this one.
Why be ordinary- customs posts on the UK/ROI border would as you correctly state be a requirement if we leave the customs union, regardless of the soothing balm May and Davis are transmitting to Dublin at the moment- which I assume is a tactic deployed by UKGov to forestall SF making political hay from the prospect of the reintroduction of some restrictions on cross border movement and trade post Brexit.
You answered your own question with the word “faith”. Nationalism in Scotland is religion rather than politics, the cult members are not interested in things like logic or thinking and having opinions of their own.
Old Mark.
It’s not kite flying Sturgeon, is merely covering all the bases, so that no unionist politician can turn around and say (during the inevitable indyref2) that, she had other options on the table.
May will shoot down Sturgeon’s EU option, but and I don’t know why, Sturgeon has to give May the benefit of the doubt, I certainly wouldn’t.
“Nationalism in Scotland is religion rather than politics,”
_______
Bollocks, the only religious fools I saw during the last indyref in 2014 were the unionist Orange Order, thousand came from Northern Ireland and England, as well as Scotland to March in Edinburgh, banging their drums and playing their flutes to tunes of hatred.
The culmination of the unionist movement peaked in Glasgow’s George Sq, when hundreds of those religiously fanatics loyal to the crown, pounced on independence supporters, waving Saltires, the unionist then proceeded to assault and stab, as many as they could.
Yes yes you keep going on about it like nothing else ever happened in the history of the world.
Did you apply the officially approved block list to your twitter feed like a good boy yet?
“Baldrick would be proud of Nicola’s cunning plans.”
_____
Bevin, at least Sturgeon has a plan, unlike Thersa May, who’s in for a rude awakening come March next year when she triggers article 50.
RoS The Rude Awakening – will be coming to The Good People of Scotland,
should they ever fall for the stories of the Riddler of Prestwick
Well said two things,
you have just so.
The Poland -Russia border is now only about 200miles long around the former Koenigsberg(Kaliningrad) in East Prussia and it is being further militarized but still relatively porous. Poland’s eastern border is now mainly with Belarus and Ukraine.
The new EU rules on bringing in gold and(hard) currency under pretext of terrorist funding control should make for interesting situation on baknote transfers and support for the British poundBank of England), and the banknotes issued in pounds by the Bank of Sctland, RBS , Ulsterbank and Bank of Ireland .
Ireland prefers the Euro because the head of the Irish central bank gets to turn up and vote at ECB meetings, and his vote counts for as much as the Bundesbank.
Scotland has no rights at all at the Bank of England and its note issuance (as Northern Ireland) has to follow Bank of England rules. However at least the rules on currency movements will not really matter as they apply only to anonymous physical money (also in the form of gold) not electronic money, which ismuch more tracable. You will be allowed to carry your credit card over the border.
When Ireland had the Punt it was defacto part of the Sterling Area so had less influence over its monetary policy than it now has. Ireland will keep the Euro because it does not want to go back to having to follow UK decisions without influence over them.
When Ireland had the Punt it was defacto part of the Sterling Area so had less influence over its monetary policy than it now has. Ireland will keep the Euro because it does not want to go back to having to follow UK decisions without influence over them
All that is true Why be Ordinary- the Irish establishment now knows that tying their country to the Euro was instrumental in producing a completely unsustainable property boom there, as Euro interest rates were fine tuned to primarily to German, not Irish needs- but for most them it was a price worth paying as having a seat at the ECB is a signifier that the economic link to perfidious Albion has, at last, been broken.
There are some dissenting Irish commentators however , and this account of what the author regards as gross errors of economic judgment by the Irish Europhile establishment is well worth a read-
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Room-David-McWilliams/dp/1844882764
Indeed it would not have been that way had Ireland compensated for a loose monetary policy with tighter fiscal policy. Instead it suited the politicians in power to pretend that things could only get better and spend, spend, spend
This piece by Greenwald strikes me as being a bit suspect…
https://theintercept.com/2016/12/29/the-guardians-summary-of-julian-assanges-interview-went-viral-and-was-completely-false/
Because Assange hasn’t been seen or heard of since October, just as the Podesta Pizzagate e-mails were hitting the fan.
I’m repeating what I said on the previous page; so instead I’ll ask why the likes of Greenwald (and others) aren’t asking serious questions about what’s happened to Julian Assange and Wikileaks? I mean, this guy is the most wanted man on the planet, and has received numerous death threats from high level politicians, because they don’t like the truth being revealed.
Assange hasn’t signed any digital communication with his PGP (high level encryption) since 16th October. Wikileaks releases since then have often lacked the correct hash codes (which has never happened before). High profile people in Wikileaks, such as Sarah Harrison, have all disapeared from view.
If anyone can offer me a rational explanation for all this I’d be most grateful.
And again, for proof of life all Julian has to do is appear at the embassy window (one assumes that the Ecuadorian embassy in London is still sovereign territory, and hasn’t yet been taken over by the CIA). Considering the huge amount of speculation worldwide as to whether Julian is still with us, this seems like a very simple thing to do.
I asked for a rational explanation, not ad hominem.
I ask for the Mods to let Alcyone’s comment stand, since it’s an object lesson in how not to conduct yourself on comment boards like this.
If Alcyone has any kind of intelligent point to make I’d be delighted to address it.
I would nominate President Francois Hollande as cunt of the decade
I agree about Hollande (although Merkel and May come a close second).
They’re all just puppets of the American empire, which has butchered more people than any other in history..
I’m afraid that Brexit means diddly squat when you are just a vassal state of America.
The vassal state stuff is what ‘they’ never want you to think about.
Hate the poor people, hate the immigrants, hate the Muslims; just hate everyone except those who are the real cause of our misery…
Francois
has the very lowest public estimation of any french president – EVER
you can’t fool all of the people, all of the time, even with a mock State of Emergency.
@RobG, what in particular strikes you as suspect ?
In the original interview, we learn that Assange has got his internet back, so is there no sign of new online activity ? Does he not even have a Twitter account ?!
http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2016/12/23/news/assange_wikileaks-154754000/
Back to the UN resolution.
‘TEL AVIV – “Obama is history. We have Trump,” Israel’s Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev said on Tuesday, adding that President Barack Obama never supported Israel.
Regev also told Israel’s Channel 2 that the anti-settlement resolution at the UN Security Council, which the U.S. failed to veto, proved the international body was always anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian.
“Who is Obama?” Regev asked rhetorically. “Obama is history. We have Trump.”’
Israeli Minister: ‘Obama Is History, We Have Trump’
http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2016/12/28/israeli-minister-obama-is-history-we-have-trump/
As if we did not know Ms Regev.
The Trump administration’s vote alone cannot rescind the Security Council resolution. It was voted for by four permanent members with veto power. Rescission is virtually impossible.
That means that, whatever happens, Israel will remain a pariah scofflaw nation. At least until it agrees to abide by the Security Council resolution.
Not only do they not yet have Trump (and will they ever?) they cannot have any resolution to change what has been enacted at the UN Security Council, thank God. At least one of the big five will veto it.
Some Natural Things..
This is for Sharp Ears.. And Nevermind.. Xmas Newbies
https://www.flickr.com/photos/132108640@N08/31130793564/in/dateposted-friend/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/132108640@N08/31130801764/in/dateposted-friend/
Thank you Brian. So beautiful and so loved.
Than you Sharpy
Thanks for the pics of your wee yin Brian, what a beautiful little nipper.
My grand daughter is a peach she sleeps for England and is already showing her character.
its good to have some good news to balance out the shite that is being presented to us as facts.
Nevernind,,,, Im Glad I met you N yir wumin Till next time .
Craig, why not start a new thread, ‘Joyous News From Aleppo’?
Because, mush to the MSM and Western governments, that is what there is on the streets, but the MSM won’t report it.
‘Tears, Hugs and Smiles, the Relief of Escaping Imprisonment in East Aleppo’ by Vanessa Beeley:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45938.htm
My Sorry Paul
We Know the Place has Been Liberated..Tensions Relaxed..We Know who caused it..
its All Girls…Women…. Vanessa,,, Eva,,, Maria Finoshina…Abby Martin
Wonderful women Brian, wonderful women. My understanding is that Eva is taking a well-earned rest.
A Pakistani asylum seeker, mistakenly named by the German interior minister as the prime suspect after the Berlin truck attack, says he was subjected to physical and mental abuse in police custody.
Naveed Baloch, a 24-year-old asylum seeker from Balochistan, one of the poorest provinces of Pakistan, told the Guardian he was only detained by police because he ran across the road near the Breitscheidplatz, the public square in central Berlin where the truck attack took place.
Berlin truck attack cut short due to vehicle’s automatic emergency brakes – media
He was leaving his friend’s house on the evening of December 19 and increased his pace as he saw a car on the road heading in his direction.
“I then realized it was a police car,” Baloch said. “I stopped when they beckoned to me, and showed them all the ID I had on me.”
At first, officers let him go, but within seconds called him back, handcuffed him and forced him into the car. Throughout that night, Baloch was blindfolded and taken from “one police station to another place” about 10 minutes away. Two police officers dug the heels of their shoes into his feet and put pressure on his neck – treatment apparently given to high-risk terrorist suspects.
https://www.rt.com/news/372244-berlin-attack-suspect-abuse/
The men then undressed Baloch and took photographs of him.
“When I resisted, they started slapping me,” he recalled. Investigators were quick to accuse the asylum seeker of carrying out the attack, interrogating him with prompts like: “Someone took a vehicle and drove it into a crowd killing many people. And you were behind the wheel of that truck, weren’t you?”
Knowing nothing of the truck attack that killed 12 people, Baloch told the interpreter that “I cannot drive at all … neither can I even start a vehicle.” He added the conversation was awkward because the police interpreter did not speak his native Balochi, but Punjabi and Urdu, languages he could barely understand, according to the Guardian.
At the time, German authorities told media they are confident that the Pakistani man was behind the attack. On December 20, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere gave more details, saying that Baloch had come to Germany in February via the so-called ‘Balkan route’ and was still waiting for his asylum application to be processed. The man in question, the minister said, denied all charges.
However, following de Maiziere’s remarks, Berlin police began to cast doubt on Baloch’s involvement in the terrorist attack. Later in the day, Chief Klaus Kandt said that it was not absolutely clear if the Pakistani was actually behind the wheel of the truck.
Shortly afterwards, a high-ranking Berlin police source told Die Welt: “We have the wrong man. And this is a new situation. The actual perpetrator is still at large and armed, and could inflict more damage.”
Although Baloch repeatedly told officers he fled Pakistan because of “death and war”
——————————-
This whole thing is a complete shambles
but we will almost certainly never be told the TRUTH
Berlin truck attack: Poland buries slain driver Lukasz Urban
Ministry of Truth
Truckers sounded their horns across Poland as the first victim of the Berlin lorry attack, driver Lukasz Urban, was buried in his village.
Polish President Andrzej Duda and a German diplomat joined Mr Urban’s family, friends and neighbours in Banie, near the border with Germany.
Mr Urban was shot by the attacker, who hijacked his lorry to kill 11 others and injure 48 at a Christmas market.
An autopsy report is not expected until early next month.
The assailant, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker who had pledged allegiance to so-called Islamic State, was shot dead by police in Italy days after fleeing Germany.
I’ve heard many different stories about the Polish driver.
He was steering the lorry to miss people before he was shot.
He was tied up dead or almost dead in the back.
He was killed three hours before the Market run.
He was still alive, when the lorry came to a stop.
Autopsy in Berlin, Autopsy in Poland – different results?
Something really does not add up.
You have to love and admire Putin for his majestic response to the pathetic stuff from Obama.
Putin decides against tit-for-tat expulsion of US diplomats
5 minutes ago
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38464612
Obama cannot get used to his crowd being beaten in November.
Indeed Sharp Ears; Putin is such a class act compared to Obama:
“Putin also said that Russia would not prevent the families and children (of diplomats) from using the customary rest and leisure facilities and sites during the New Year holidays.
“Moreover, I am inviting all children of US diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas parties in the Kremlin,” Putin said.
The Russian compounds in Maryland and New York Obama closed are used for vacations of Russian kids in the U.S.”
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/12/master-judoka-putin-outclasses-lame-duck-obama.html
“The Russian compounds in Maryland and New York Obama closed are used for vacations of Russian kids in the U.S.””
Shouldn’t that read “..Russian diplomats’ kids..” ?
The Anglo-American school that Russia is not closing in Moscow (contrary to a CNN report) undoubtedly schools the kids of lots of Anglo-American diplomats.
Classic diplomacy Sharp Ears.
agreed, Sharp Ears.
Putin runs rings around Obama.
And I loved the closing line: “Furthermore, I invite all children of American diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas Tree in the Kremlin.”
The US establishment look like total fools.
***********************************
eldudeabides – December 30th – now officially banned from commenting in the Guardian.
Unlike some people, Trump is very impressed by Putin’s gesture. Daily Mail: BREAKING NEWS: Trump praises ‘very smart’ Putin for not expelling U.S. diplomats in wake of Obama’s sanctions for election-year ‘hacking’:
The mainstream media here in the U.S. are busily spinning what Putin did. I just listened to an alleged debate between Democratic and Republican spokespeople on NPR (National Public Radio, aka National Propaganda Radio) where both the speakers were critical of both Putin and Trump and predicted that the two would inevitably come into conflict. That’s what they want people to believe.
It’s now pretty clear in my opinion, that in his final days as POTUS, Obama, is desperately trying to sour relations with Russia, to the detriment of Trump, the incoming POTUS.
This can clearly be seen in the eviction of Russian personnel from America. However Putin, has kept a cool head and thought things through, and by not following Obama’s lead and expelling American diplomats and personnel, he limits any damage between himself and the future POTUS Trump.
One does wonder though, how much more damage Obama’s administration, will try to inflict on Trump’s incoming retinue.
Margaret Thatcher, widely known as “Thatcher the milk snatcher” was on the verge of being charged for dodging the paying of her own Poll tax.
Archives released recently show that despite enforcing her cruel flagship policy, the Poll tax, a year earlier on Scotland than the rest of the UK, Thatcher, was about to be fined for not paying the hated tax.
Pakistan is in the process of evicitng three million Afghans back to Afghanistan. The Afghan immigrants first started arriving in Pakistan, around 1979, during the Russian invasion of the country.
Apparently Pakistan, saw the influx of Afghans as a opportunity, to tilt Afghanistan’s ties to India, in the direction of Pakistan, and in the process influence Afghani politics.
However Pakistan claims a anti-Pakistan taliban has evolved, and has links with the Afghans in Pakistan, so it has stepped up the speed in which the Afghan population in Pakistan must leave.
The UNHCR, have grave concerns that those who do not leave Pakistan in the near future will suffer harassment, or even violence.
USUK carpet bombing of Afghanistan, on the false pretext of one of the uncountable falsehoods of the War on Islam, has left 3 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan. And yet many of them would prefer to remain in Pakistan than to join their husbands in thr UK, the country which perpetrated so many falsehoods against them.
I doubt many Syrians will flock to Europe when it is well-known that USUKIS, Germany and France and their many tin-pot despots like Erdogan are responsible for the unprecedented attack by militants on a sovereign Muslim country.
Most people don’t want to have their lives saturated by politics, lies, and spin.
Back on topic, Theresa May’s rather desperate attempt to massage her way into Trump’s good books by slagging off John Kerry is-
a) unlikely to get her many brownie points anyway
and
b)in its criticism of the phrase ‘the most right wing government in Israel’s history’ is simply a denial of the observable facts.
Sometimes pictures beat words in conveying a message-this primer from across the pond has 4 maps at the top; the one (appropriately enough, on the far right of the page) which shows the current distribution of land ownership in Palestine now (ie the arrangement the Netanyahu government essentially would like to legitimise as their basis for a ‘2 state solution’) speaks volumes about May’s blinkered intervention into something she should have steered well clear of.
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/history/
What a Tory would regard as a brownie point would to you or I look like a Faustian pact with the devil.
Who is trying to spin us that the UK initiated the UN rebellion against Israeli illegal building?
Do they really think Cameron could get the top job at NATO? He’s like a used car lot with a few dodgy wrecks, a caravan and an old Alsatian. I suppose that might get him the job anyway.
He’d be perfect to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Robertson, Rasmussen, Stoltenberg and the others who in recent years have whored for war.
Cameron might actually be a bit too independent for his mad dog employers.
I was thinking of May as the old Alsatian, guarding the wrecks of failed Thatcherite neo-conservative neo-colonialism.
If May’s incompetence over Brexit continues , I foresee an imminent cross-party of no-confidence in February and a June election.
Definitely the failed politics and lies of the Western world are a’changing.
John Kerry and Israel: Too Little and Too Late
By RASHID KHALIDI DEC. 29, 2016
“What is clear is that the Netanyahu government will never willingly endorse a peaceful and fair resolution of this conflict.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/opinion/john-kerry-and-israel-too-little-and-too-late.html?_r=0