I am feeling particularly hostile to Donald Trump after his incendiary move on Jerusalem. But it remains the case that I have enough direct knowledge of events to be aware that the entire premise of the Russophobic “election-hacking” conspiracy theory is simple nonsense. I am therefore most amused that my friend Randy Credico, who stayed with Nadira and I in Edinburgh a few months ago, has now been subpoenaed by the Senate Inquiry on Russian meddling as the alleged go-between for Roger Stone and Julian Assange, on the brilliant grounds that he knows both of them.
I can tell you from certain knowledge this is absolute nonsense. While Randy is a delightful person who hides a shrewd political mind behind a deliberate crackpot façade, he is the most indiscreet person in the world. He is not anybody’s conveyor of secrets, he would tell it all impulsively on his next radio show! Where Russia fits into this mad conspiracy theory I have no idea. If I had any belief that it was the genuine intention of Senate or Special Counsel inquiries to discover the actual truth, I would be surprised they have never made any contact with me, as opposed to my fleeting houseguests. But as I am well aware the last thing they want to know is the truth, I am not surprised in the least.
On a personal note I have just emerged from a really harrowing period. I had to leave the High Court a month ago straight to Heathrow and fly out to Ghana. Here I have been battling for the last year to save Atholl Energy, a company I chair which had some US $50 million worth of debts. The reason for this was that it had built an extension to the power station it originally constructed for the Ghanaian government, and the Ghanaian government had failed to pay for the extension after Atholl pre-financed it. In line with company philosophy, Atholl had both completed and handed over the extension, despite the non-payment, as the aim is to supply power to the people of Ghana.
The massive debt of course threatened Atholl with going bust. That would mean redundancy for our staff, and potentially many scores of redundancies at local sub-contractors we had been unable to pay in full. The thought of inflicting that mass misery on families, many of whom I know, has stopped me sleeping for months.
The current government of Ghana took over in January and inherited a huge fiscal deficit due to – and there is no other way of saying it – wholesale looting by the last government on a scale which Ghana had never witnessed before. To give an example from our own sector, we install power plant using Siemens equipment at about 1.2 million dollars per MW for a turnkey plant including fuel supply and power evacuation infrastructure. The last government of Ghana were contracting large projects at three times the unit cost or more, using inferior equipment. For $150 million per project to be added corruptly was not unusual.
On top of this, despite having imposed some of the world’s highest electricity tariffs – higher than British tariffs, for example – the revenue collected was mysteriously vanishing. As a result, our $52 million owed was part of a US$2.5 billion energy sector debt the current government inherited.
In effect this has been rescheduled, by the launch of bonds to raise the money to pay off the debts. The bonds are serviced by a levy on petrol and diesel. As usual in Africa, the IMF and World Bank were extremely unhelpful, refusing to sanction a government guarantee on the bonds, which means the energy levy is now to be collected by a new corporate structure and the bond is a corporate one. This structure necessitated an increase in the bond interest rate to 19.5%, which will benefit the financial institutions who have bought them, to the detriment of the Ghanaian public. In my experience every IMF and World Bank policy intervention in Africa always, on analysis, benefits corporations to the disbenefit of the African public.
It is also a gross double standard – if the energy debt had been treated as government debt, Ghana’s “unacceptable” debt to GDP ratio would still have been substantially less that that of many developed countries, including the UK.
The government of Ghana is to be congratulated on its persistence and the brilliance of its financial engineering that enabled it to tackle a huge problem despite obstruction rather than help from the international agencies – the energy sector debt had been threatening to crash the Ghanaian Banking sector, to the benefit of the large international banks.
For our company, we had to take a haircut because the payment was made not in the cash dollars which were owed, but in a mixture of bonds and local currency. We owed banks and suppliers in dollars, so we have been structuring sales and taken the odd hit on discounting. But we have got through it, and as of yesterday have paid off all our creditors in full. There is not a single job loss caused by us, either in our company or at our suppliers and sub-contractors, and that has removed a fear which has been haunting me. I cannot express how tough this period has been – I did not receive a single penny from my major source of income for nearly four years, and as of this morning still haven’t. I am not going to be a millionaire, but I am now going to be OK.
2017 has personally been really difficult. But I can now look forward to the New Year with lightened shoulders, and pick up the rest of my life again.
I am truly sorry that for the last few months speaking invitations and book orders have gone by the wall. I have 21,253 unopened emails!! Not to mention over 5,000 donors to my legal defence fund I have not thanked yet. I promise I shall be less elusive in future.
Good to see you back blogging.
Build a wall?. No Arlene and Donald. Plant a thorny hedge just like the East India Company did in India to stop smuggling of salt of all things. That was in the days of the inglorious British EmPyre.
The Great Hedge of India: The Search for the Living Barrier that Divided a People
by Roy Moxham
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146077.The_Great_Hedge_of_India
As described and discussed with the author on Gardeners’ Question Time 12 mins in approx.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09h6x6t
Thanks, Sharp Ears. Never heard of this till now. The book sounds like a great read. Just bought it.
Good to see you back Craig.
Just one question – It is a Ghana Electric Powerstation.
The sun shines a lot in Ghana, and I guess its quite windy too.
Can you tell us what the power source is to Generate The Electricity?
I’m not particularly interested in the money, but I wouldn’t have paid a Penny. In fact I would have asked the EU for The £39BN to make us go away…
You don’t want to buy our stuff fine….We will find someone else to flog it to.
Err – Now why do you want us to buy your EU stuff at your prices, when we can buy it much cheaper elsewhere.
There’s something wrong here – maybe Craig can explain it.
Tony
It seems unlikely that the Trump team’s highest political priority was ending Russian sanctions for nor reason whatsoever.
What is comic is Craig’s denials.
Common sense tells you there must have been some big quid pro quo b/t the Trump team and the Russians.
And if it wasn’t the WikiLeaks, what was it?
Sherlock Holmes: “When all other possibilities are eliminated…”
Rather a good question: why isn’t this news?
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/05/michael-flynn-jared-kushner-israel-settlements-trump/
I can guess.
Please do guess Komo.
I like Intercept and go there regularly although there have been some disturbingly odd articles (in terms of context and assertion) fairly recently, of course finding corroboration at the moment is a nightmare, the internet is like a closed book these days, and can only become more problematic if net neutrality is abandoned as seems nearly certain. (Let’s build a crowd sourced search engine, let’s call it Louverture or some such. And why stop there, let’s build a peer to peer network while we’re at it. If only.)
That said, the article does seem to have some really interesting ideas and material but I’m not sure I’d draw the same conclusions from it as others have. Thanks for the link.
@ J, You are of course right. The problem is weeding out fact from fiction, as much on sites of an an antiestablishment tendency as on the BBC. Particularly as rather a lot of material can be sourced directly to state actors on one or other side of the line. However, this piece refers to stories which were (perhaps insufficiently) published at their time, and brings them into a plausible conjunction. And Kushner is a bloody amateur. It holds some water, at least. I still wonder what the USA gets out of its devotion, under either party, to Is***l, apart from a valuable tranche of fundamentalist and J**ish votes for whichever candidate shouts “Is***l First” loudest…and F-35 sales, of course.
As ever, you’re there before me.
Trump’s an oligarch and Russia is an oligarchy. Do birds of a feather flock together, or is it a conspiracy? Does it even matter?
Israel destabilises the entire
oil cacheMiddle East, and Israel is a massive cache of high-tech weaponry, and a beachhead right at the end of the Mediterranean. Trump is coal money, but you can’t run a Chevrolet on coal.Wait. Y’all thought he was across the Pond….no problema?
I guess the World is smaller now.
Welcome back Craig.
Just in time – because I was in the process of taking over your site. Trust that you got my holiday greeting to you and all the others – along with my Caribbean song.
Anyway, you had this to say:-
“I am feeling particularly hostile to Donald Trump after his incendiary move on Jerusalem. But it remains the case that I have enough direct knowledge of events to be aware that the entire premise of the Russophobic “election-hacking” conspiracy theory is simple nonsense.”
I make two observations:-
1. Professor Edward Said in the New York Times presented his analysis for a one state solution and to this day I remain convinced of the wisdom of his arguments for reasons of humanity, intellectual honest and practicality. Here it is:-
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/10/magazine/the-one-state-solution.html
2. As regards “russiaphobic” I say to myself that if a significant number of persons can be convinced by the official narratives about:-
i) WMDs in Iraq.
ii) 9/11
iii) The death of Diana
iv) UK Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook’s death
v) Death of Dr. Kelly
Then add to that any narrative and label it “official” and send it to the mainstream media for reproduction and just about 75% of the reading public will embrace it – and much the same for “election-hacking” by Russia.
I ask myself if I am correct that there are some 16 intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the US. The NSA, I believe, is the single most important one? So, if the NSA has not alleged and/or produced any Russia election-hacking evidence to date – what are all these bullshit allegations all about anyway?
So – that leaves me as just another conspiracy with my Caribbean song for you Craig Murray.
“ Ice-bucket in my hand”
( * A genuine Caribbean song – and – a mere coincidence that it can be sung to the tune of ‘Island in the
sun). I suggest that, if you know the tune, you amuse yourself by singing along. Mr. Music….please play….
This is my ice-bucket in my hand
Where my guests have ice since my shift began
I may sell on many a bar
Restauranteurs will always zone to me
Oh, ice-bucket in my hand
Willed to me by my able hands
All my days I will sing in praise
Of your liquor, waters,
Your shining brands
As morning breaks
The heaven on high
I lift my heavy load to the sky
Sun comes down with a burning glow
Mingles my sweat with the sand below
Oh, ice-bucket in my hand
Willed to me by my able hands
All my days I will sing in praise
Of your liquor, waters,
Your shining brands
I see women on bended knees
Cutting shame for their families
I see man at the waterside
Casting belch on the liquor high
Oh, ice-bucket in my hand
Willed to me by my able hands
All my days I will sing in praise
Of your liquor, waters,
Your shining brands
I hope the day will never come
That I can’t awake to the taste of rum
Never let me miss carnival
With calypso songs philosophical
Oh, ice-bucket in my hand
Willed to me by my able hands
All my days I will sing in praise
Of your liquor, waters,
Your shining brands
Copyright © Courtenay Francis Raymond Barnett
barnettlyrics.com 2017
P.S. Sing this song with friends with drinks in your hand – and have a jolly good time and forget your woes ( at least for a short time).
P.P.S. Cautionary note – do not mix your regular whiskey with the rum.
Courtenay …
is that yours…
Womderful talrnt you have there.. Much Appreciation
“conspiracy” as stated solely should have read ” conspiracy theorist” which I am not. I examine facts, carefully consider the evidence and apply logic. I am not always right, but at the very least try to be careful in my reasoning before coming to conclusions and willingly accept constructive criticism. What more can a man do?
Everyone who refuses to consider conspiracies makes a big mistake because they occur often, and should be confirmed or disproven..
Like assassinations of people like JFK, MLK, Dr. David Kelly, Gareth Williams, Olof Palme, the Al-Hillis et al.
Trowbridge,
I met the ghostwriter for James Early Ray, who taught me a lot. I subsequently wrote this about MLK’s death:-
“I MET A MAN –OR, WAS IT JAMES EARL RAY WHO KILLED DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING?
I met a man. His name was Tupper Saussy. He happened to have been the ghost writer for a book by James Earl Ray, entitled “ Tennessee Waltz” published in 1987. The book gives Ray’s account of the events to state that he did not kill Dr. King.
Saussy’s view, in his long conversations with me, was that James Earl Ray was not Dr. King’s murderer and he explained to me in considerable detail why Ray was not the killer, then gave me a copy of the book which I then read.
On Thursday, the 3rd April, 2008, I watched a CNN special on the eve of the anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination. The book came back to mind and I asked myself on conclusion of the CNN special – why is CNN trying to confuse the public?
Before I return to the book’s contents, I would invite the reader to look at the physical location at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. King was shot, and consider the photographs of the positioning of surrounding buildings, the trajectory of the bullet, and the direction that the witnesses present were all pointing to when the single shot rang out that killed Dr. King. The web site is worth a visit and it is at 🙁http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/ARTICLE1/overlooked.html).
The reasoning at the web site is sound, the pictures are clear and the conclusions can logically be drawn.
Back to the book. Read Ray’s own story for yourself and draw your own conclusions. The points I would leave you with are these:-
A. Why would the witnesses present all be pointing in the direction they heard the shot come from, and CNN be leading the unsuspecting public in 2008 towards some alternative belief that they were pointing elsewhere to a window at a rooming house across the street, from where Ray is supposed to have shot Dr. King?
B. Is there anything to be made of Ray’s reference to an operative or handler called “Raoul”, and if Ray was this perfect sniper shot who assassinated Dr. King – did he simply conveniently drop all his evidence outside the doorway of the rooming house, to link him to the crime?
C. If, it was Ray’s doing from reference to B above – then why don’t the test bullets fired from the weapon attributed to Ray not ballistically match the bullet taken from Dr. King – so who did fire the weapon that killed Dr. King?
Conclusion
A single person cannot be in two places at the same time. There are two (2) vantage points for the location of the sniper who did the shooting (1) a window from the rooming house and (2) the Gattis penthouse ( to which Andrew Young and all other witnesses are pointing at the time of the shooting).
Again, carefully review the photographic evidence at the web site:- (http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/ARTICLE1/overlooked.html).
Now – you decide – who killed Dr. Martin Luther King?
When the state is confronted with legitimate challenges against its destructive polices:-
“…I knew that I could not ever again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greater purveyor of violence in the world: my own government.” Martin Luther King in his “Beyond Vietnam” 1967 speech.
it has the power to destroy those who dare speak truth to power. The agents of the government of the United States of America did first attempt to destroy the reputation of Dr. Martin Luther, and used its FBI’s COINTELPRO program to try by criminal means to destroy the credence of those who fought for and sought equal rights and justice. When that failed – well – simply stated, the agents of the state just murdered Dr. King.
Courtenay Barnett – 4th April, 2008”
You are stating that a state conspiracy assassinated MLK, and I have no trouble with that.
I would suggest that Harvey Steinmeyer who Ray was getting weapons for was the CIA’s William King Harvey who deeply hated King.
It is not conspiracy theory to accuse the US Govt of being complicit in the death of MLK. The MLK took it to Court and surprisingly got a Guilty verdict.This of course this was suppressed in the media. James Earl Ray DID NOTkill MLK, he was the Patsy.
There is always a Patsy, be it Lee Harvey Oswald, Sirhan Sirhan,or Osama Bin Laden or the Tsarnaev bros.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/court-decision-u-s-government-agencies-found-guilty-in-martin-luther-kings-assassination/5320024
Salford Lad, the US government was in involved in almost all the conspiaicies you mention, but being a pstsy means different things in varying contexts. Believe Ray and Sirhan pulled the trigger, though Oswald didn’t because he would not submit to being hypnotized as a Manchurian Candidate to kill JFK while they did agree to targeting MLK and RFK.
And the $100 the Kings got for exonerating Ray was hardly worth the effort. Ray had no clue about what he had done, and evidence implicating him was doctored..
If, after examining facts, considering the evidence and aplllying logic you form a theory that involves a conspiracy are you a conspiracy theorist?
Mathiasalexander,
In saying:-
“If, after examining facts, considering the evidence and aplllying logic you form a theory that involves a conspiracy are you a conspiracy theorist?”
you are unwittingly putting the cart before the horse. The ‘cart’ ( so to speak) really is the facts. It exists independent of the ultimate theory and stands as the actual fact(s) to be examined. So, let us start there and look at the actual fact(s) to determine by reference to such evidence what actually exists. Then let us apply logic to come to a rational conclusion and/or conclusions ( what you have termed ‘theory’). Unless there is a more sensible approach – I stand to be corrected.
The use of the term “conspiracy theory” and/or “conspiracy theorist” is consistently applied in a pejorative sense. Its use seems to discount and debased the reasoned arguments of others who question official narratives. To that extent, it is not willingly and/or readily to be accepted as designated and/or being placed as a label on any analysis which, as an alternative to the official narrative(s), is posited for serious consideration. In that way and for those reasons – I reject your label.
Let us then first examine and determine which ‘horse’, based on facts and evidence actually exists, then determine which direction said horse is moving in, and therefrom then determine where the ‘cart’ ultimately is being led. Then we draw ( pun intended) safe and rationally based conclusions.
In plain words – let us all reason honestly and try to be accurate, without being pejorative or diversionary in our responses to the finding of unpleasant facts. Some people on this blog do that very well; others don’t.
I’m no coincidence theorist.
Congratulations to you and your Ghanaian colleagues for getting this more or less sorted. I hope that some day when you have time you will write a book explaining how this sort of thing happens, because most British people (and I suspect Europeans in general, let alone Americans) have little clue about what really goes on in Africa, the competence of Africans is greatly underestimated, so too the contribution of Western governments, corporations, and even charities to creating problems for Africa. This is because Africa only really hits the headlines when there’s a savage civil war or a famine, in both cases the charities depict Africans as helpless victims to drum up more sympathy.
One thing I don’t quite understand though- why can’t the present government of Ghana arrest the previous government and force them to return the money they embezzled? They surely can’t have spent all of it yet?
I wonder how much major western banks who stood to benefit had a hand in engineering these problems in Ghana. That would be a conspiracy theory, but then people haven’t stopped conspiring.
What you say here is absolutely spot on,
“most British people (and I suspect Europeans in general, let alone Americans) have little clue about what really goes on in Africa, the competence of Africans is greatly underestimated,”
Having recently retired after spending over seventeen years working there, the difference between the work colleagues I was told to expect and the people I ended up working with was at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Like anywhere, everyone is different, and like everywhere if the proper selection processes are put in place the right people can be identified for the correct positions.
The team started out training as “hands-on” fabricators but within a short time some had developed into career directions that were just amazing to observe.
One guy was given an Autocad textbook and within a week he had taught himself how to use the program. This led him on a path to eventually become a Project Manager with the oil company and today he is one of their most senior Managers.
When he was being considered for Project Manager I was asked, by senior management, to recommend another person to train in Autocad. It turned out that I picked the same person as my colleague and within a week he had trained him into doing all his work, I actually thought he was better at it in some respects. This man is now Personnel Director for an airline that flies passenger B777’s from Africa around the Globe.
Another two of the guys run the Quality Control department of the large American owned gas plant. Last but not necessarily least, is the guy who I trained up to replace old me.
Well done.
I and many others love your blogging so I hope you can soon sit down and review positively the major achievements of 2017. Then: back in the saddle. There’s much we need your understanding of, so much happening that begs intelligent reaction.
But only when you’re fit and recovered.
Always a disaster putting a government apparatchik in charge of something he hasn’t the first clue about.
…on the brilliant grounds that (Credico) knows both (Assange and Stone)…
The version being punted by (eg) NY1 is that Stone himself fingered Credico as his contact with Assange. Which, as Credico was actively (and apparently sincerely) campaigning for Trump in 2016, under the banner of ‘Sanders Supporters for Trump’, seems not unlikely.
http://www.ny1.com/nyc/bronx/politics/2017/12/06/randy-credico-subpoenaed-house-intelligence-committee-explainer-russia-probe
The FBI would only be doing its job by following up Stone’s assertion, and checking its implications. Its investigation isn’t limited to election hacking.
Pleased to see that things are starting to look up for you.
Sorry to hear about your friend Randy getting caught up in the Russophobia nonsense. I also feel sorry for the Russian athletes not being allowed to compete in the winter olympics (they don’t deserve capital letters). I saw a BBC newsreader touching his nose as he was announcing that crock of shite. Expect there to be some silly pretext to try to keep us away from the World Cup next year.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156794455017646&set=a.78716027645.101535.613672645&type=3&theater
Cheap shot at Williams, John. However, if you were talking about Lance Armstrong, then you would have a stronger point. Personally, I’d be happy with dual-Olympics: one drugs free; one free for all. Ben Johnson’s 100 metres’ race was great, despite the assistance!
Expect there to be some silly pretext to try to keep us away from the World Cup next year.
I very much doubt that John- winter sports are very much a minority middle class activity, and the fact that the coming Olympics will be compromised by one of the strongest teams not being allowed to take part will just go over the heads of most people. But to allow establishment Russophobia to go as far as stymieing Southgate’s boys participation in the bread and circuses next summer would be overstepping the mark- and the Russophobes know this.
Anyway, we’re obviously going to come second in the group behind Belgium (2 world class players- De Bruyne & Hazard, to our big fat zilch) and then get eliminated in the knockouts.
CM – ” In my experience every IMF and World Bank policy intervention in Africa always, on analysis, benefits corporations to the disbenefit of the African public. ”
An example would be Zimbabwe.
http://jubileedebt.org.uk/countries/zimbabwe
An extract from the above link:-
“By the end of the 1980s Zimbabwe was spending a quarter of government revenue on debt repayments. Some of the inequality of the Rhodesian and colonial eras had begun to be addressed. Infant mortality and malnutrition had fallen. The average number of years children spent in school almost doubled through the decade.
But the World Bank was not happy about the amount of state involvement in the economy. They made clear that more lending was dependent on liberalisation. The government were attentive listeners, and from 1990 spending was cut, trade rapidly liberalised, financial markets and prices deregulated, and labour laws removed. The promise was higher growth, bigger trade surpluses and falling unemployment.
The World Bank named Zimbabwe one of its top ‘reformers’. But the promises and praise rang hollow. Between 1991 and 1997 economic growth fell. Unemployment almost doubled. From having a trade surplus in the 1980s, a trade deficit was created. By 2004 the World Bank acknowledged that liberalisation “largely failed. Social progress slowed, per capita incomes declined and poverty increased.”
An example of liberalisation I heard of was that a condition of the loans was that Zimbabwe was told to sell off its reserves of wheat, which it held as a hedge against drought years. This was sold off at a relativey low price. When Zimbabwe did experience a drought they had to go on to the world market to buy wheat at a relatively high price, thus eating into the loans.
http://www.macrotrends.net/2534/wheat-prices-historical-chart-data
http://www.ess.co.at/GAIA/CASES/ZIM/drought.html
“If I had any belief that it was the genuine intention of Senate or Special Counsel inquiries to discover the actual truth, I would be surprised they have never made any contact with me, as opposed to my fleeting houseguests. But as I am well aware the last thing they want to know is the truth, I am not surprised in the least.” Craig, I fully support you if you are asked to testify in any US Senate or Special Counsel inquiry – I wish they would, if only to clarify what happened in the 2016 presidential campaign
Some more Russophobia goes comic. Michael Flynn was allegedly lobbying Russia on behalf of Israel (Jewish source).
http://mondoweiss.net/2017/12/guilty-plea-russian-influence/
Great to See Ya Back Craig
Don’t fret Your will community keep posting up.. Real Stuff… Mostly Facts..But also some Amazing Philosophies.. Don’t Rush it.. A time away needs Building..
Best to The family.
Sorry if I Skipped over Anyone Posting this..
Utterly Horrifying …How the EVIL bbC Do this –
The ( Worst Moment ) To me – At 2;30 mins –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=5juymXrh8KM
I see Russophobia as a stratagem for deceiving Saudi Arabia which has wasted trillions on fighting a religious war against the Shi’a and Alawites, because USUKIS are secret allies with Russia and Iran. Is it clever for USUKIS to bankrupt Saudi Arabia through this deceit? Islamically speaking, this tells me that Islam will not progress through state repression of the people or political lying.
Why does the Heart of Islam not explain to Western audiences what their religious grievances against the Shi’a and Alawites are. The pen is mightier than the sword. Trouble is the Saudis don’t see the West as Ahlul Kitab/ people of the Book, so they don’t think we’d understand. The pen only works if you yourself occupy the high moral ground.
Al mumlikah’til’arabee al Saud seem to be getting more than just black-gold energy
https://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/world-s-cheapest-prices-submitted-for-saudi-arabia-s-first-solar-project-1.663842
They are building 300 megawatts PV at an LCOE production price of below 1,8 cents/kWh in northern town of Sakakah, compare with UK’s Hinkley C planned Feed in Tarrif of ~ 14,2 cents/kWh ( an LCOE might be more ~ 34cts/kWh? )
( the Saudi ‘trick’ here is that the financing/capital costs are very favorable, unlike in Ghana, the take-home fact however is that a renewable revolution is here )
“Why does the Heart of Islam not explain to Western audiences what their religious grievances against the Shi’a and Alawites are”
Your posts often hint at a personal enmity to Shi’as.
Personal yes because I dislike adultery which they condone. If I hated everybody who did that …
Instead I reserve my dislike for the Tory hypocrisy that allows married Boris Johnson to impregnate his girl-friends while Damian Green gets exposed by a junior policeman for looking at porn. Weird. I hope the temporary shags the Iranians line up for him are infected with incurable diseases that make his nose drop off. Then his ultra arrogant droit de seigneur might wane.
giyane
I am always baffled by your posts. You seem to be excusing people like Blair and Cameron for complicity to kill Muslims but say they are coerced. You now also seem to be defending KSA and seem to imply that they are victims rather than perpetrators. Also like Stu below, I wonder what you have against the Shi’a and Alawis? You also appear to advance a theory that the grand conspiracy between Iran, Russia on the one hand, and the US and UK. I find all this rather fanciful and without much evidence.
The Saudis squandered trillions because they have an absolute monarchy whose representatives, past and present, are full of grandiose delusions.
Not grandiose delusions, an absolute duty to challenge the incorrect teachings of the Shi’a.
Do you really think Blair was not blackmailed into the war in Iraq? Nasty personal Zionist blackmail. No wonder he’s deranged.
SA
“without much evidence”
This statement is delicious on a political blog. Since when did what Kissinger called ” covert operations ” give out much evidence. It is the fact that Mrs may dedicated her entire Lord mayor’s speech to Russiaphobia that leads me to the conclusion that USUKIS and Russia are allies against Islam.
Mrs May, as with all liars, and half of Tories are liars according to Dennis Skinner, is best understood by reversing their words or inserting a negative.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article198816.html
The old hag says: “Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea was the first time since the Second World War that one sovereign nation has forcibly taken territory from another in Europe”
How is it that NATO forced the Soviet Union to surrender its provinces to Europe after 1991, and eject its influence in the Ukraine last year. ”
It makes much more sense with a not inserted:
“Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea was not the first time since the Second World War that one sovereign nation has forcibly taken territory from another in Europe”
Similarly, we have seen Mrs May this week cuddling up to Juncker because she has created a strong and warm relationship with Europe instead of pointing out to Europe where Europe was going wrong.
There is literally no point in Brexit unless the UK can demand that Germany stops interfering in Syria by running the proxy Islamist opposition. We are all going to carry on trading together and allowing free movement anyway. The whole point of the exercise was to tell the EU to stop making refugees by conducting the war for USUKIS in the Middle East.
Where was Mrs May’s evidence, from a unitary yes/no vote on Brexit that us peeps hated foreigners. We don’t. We just don’t like or trust Federal organisations that are undemocratic or the Federal institutions of the USA that over-ride [ fuck the EU ] the EU’s decisions.
giyane
I give up.
Clark,
“you can’t run a Chevrolet on coal.”
Well you can actually – both Germany and Great Britain, certainly did do a great deal of research re converting coal into petroelum – both during WWII, and continuing to at least 1982. It works, and is almost certainly far more efficient than converting anything to ethanol unless you drink it…
And all this bollocks about electric cars – yes they are very nice – my milkman has one – designed over 100 years ago. It works really well – doesn’t even wake us up in the morning….
But on a large scale basis it simply is not going to work. The batteries are woefully inefficient re the conversion and delivery of the energy to charge them, and they simply have not got the energy density compared to petroleum – and will not have. The laws of conventional physics, chemistry, maths and economics, simply do not support their existence, unless they are nuclear fueled – and we don’t even know if that will work.
My idea would probably work quite well, but it would mean digging up the roads and laying very high powered cables below them and the electric car (most of the time – with battery backup) picks most of its energy up from below – like an electric tooth brush whilst its driving along (like trams and trains without the rails or the overhead lines.
But no one has tried it yet, and we will still have to build a lot more power stations (Thorium Salt? – Eats nuclear waste and the contents of nuclear missiles – and changes the power to rich clean electricity with very much cleaner waste than what we are burying now.
We would still need to enhance the power infrastructure with much thicker cables..
I do like the idea of electric cars and a clean environment and everything, and it may actually be possible, except we have a bunch of totally incompetent lunatics in power who it seems want to simply blow up the world in the final Apocalypse and get resurrected to Jesus – and most of them are Americans – They call themselves Christians..To be perfectly honest I prefer the other lot, and have heard they are going to give up, and move back to where they come from – The Ukraine (more or less) if Khazaria is full or won’t take them back.
Then the Palestinians can go back home to Palestine and we can all live in peace.
Tony
Watch a Samurai(ess) Destroy the Evil bbC..
See The WORST DRESS You would EVER see on MODERN NEWS… WHY… To Catch… and Keep your Eye… SEE the FAKE note taking with sharp pen…( FUCKING DISGUSTING FALSE PLAY ) see a bbC war monger taken apart by a peace warrior.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5juymXrh8KM&t=11s
Sorry to reapet. the link
Agree Brian. Ms Maitlis likes displaying herself and her jewellery. A princess and so glossy!
The poor Palestinians. Two lives have been taken by the IDF.
Keep a Eye on this over The Winter – especially if it gets REALLY COLD with a 3 month anti-cyclone over The UK like in the winter of 1962-63 when the wind didn’t blow. I know how cold it was in Oldham.
http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/
We are so close to the edge even now at 05:20 in the morning when its windy.
Tony
See Wikileaks on The Hive. CIA software which among other things can take over a system and mimic it – including “Russian” Bots.
Yes agree Brian. Two Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by the IDF since Trump made his announcement. Another who was shot in the head is in a critical condition. I read earlier that there were also two men killed in the so called ‘Occupied West Bank’.
25 have also been injured in the strikes on Gaza, six of them are children
It is terrible.
http://news.sky.com/story/two-palestinians-killed-in-israel-airstrike-gaza-officials-say-11162648
Correction. Two Palestinians were killed by missiles fired from Israel into Gaza. Two more were shot and killed on the Gaza border. RIP.
The new unionist astroturf group UK Unity is a breakaway from the Scotland In Union outfit. UK Unity is pro-hard brexit and against more devo powers.
It is led by one David Clews who, as a Renfrewshire councillor, defected from the Tories to Labour in 2011. At the time he cited his reason for defecting to be his opposition to Tory cuts affecting ordinary people. Strange that he should now be so keen to keep Scots in a political union that imposes even more drastic cuts than in 2011.
Stranger still is UK Unity’s choice of location for an HQ. They are registered as having offices in London’s posh Regent Street. Who is paying this not for profit organisation’s rent in one of the most expensive streets in one of the most expensive cities in the world?
How many we love the union groups is that now? That have sprung up since a year before the 2014 indyref.
Most backed by some rich faceless Tory/groups, only concerned about their own interests.
The union is a farce.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Zarkwan/status/939417427955388417/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwingsoverscotland.com%2Fthe-compromise%2F
RoS, the ‘love the union’ groups tend to be bound together by a common hatred / intolerance. They never have anything positive about them, and certainly no vision for the future.
This is worth a read reel guid, alas most of it rings true.
https://grousebeater.wordpress.com/2017/12/09/scotland-leased-to-the-scots/
Yes Ros that’s a good piece by Grousebeater. The situation Scotland is in can be called, without exaggeration, a form of colonialism. The union used to be more robust when Scots didn’t feel the colonial status so keenly, since it was better disguised. With one imposition after another now – particularly the English made disaster of brexit – more and more Scots are becoming aware that the union is inimical to their interests.
Delighted to hear that you’ve emerged from a difficult 2017 in such good spirits, with the Atholl Energy problems and the libel case sorted out more-or-less satisfactorily. Your blogs are widely read and appreciated.
t’s gobsmacking that there is this witch hunt making out that Trump is a puppet of Russia, when all the evidence indicates indisputably that he is a puppet of Likud and Israel. Netanyahu is a close family friend of Kushner and his dad. A big chunk of the funding for Trump’s presidential election campaign came from Zionist supporters.
Since the election,Trump has done Russia no favours in return for their alleged meddling, and Israel is on the crest of a wave as payback – quite a deal. Not many dots to join. As soon as DJT made his big announcement about Jerusalem, there was an Israeli announcement of building 14000 new illegal settlements in Jerusalem in another Israeli landgrab. As soon as DJT made the announcement some angry Palestinians not surprisingly threw stones at Israelis, and they returned automatic machine-gunfire, then bombed part of Palestine.
Who needs a special inquiry?
There are probably about a hundred explanations, of varying levels of tinfoilhattedness or none, of Trump’s US embassy shift. A plausible one may be that the recent partial alignment between the PA and Hamas needs to be destabilised, and this is just another cage-rattling exercise with that in mind. Replacement of Abbas, who’s been getting rather independent-minded of late, with Dahlan, who can be bought, is an option here. Additionally, Is***l is very keen for the US to attack Iran: a shitstorm, inevitably involving Iran’s clients Hizb’ullah as well as Hamas, is how this scenario starts. I don’t see any explanation that doesn’t assume Isr***i input, however.
As to Russian involvement, although it and Iranian forces are currently on the same side in Syria, there is the aftermath to consider. Putin clearly wants Syria to remain Russian sphere-of-influence after the bloodshed subsides, and in this it is in conflict with Iran’s wish to keep Syria, and Lebanon, under some sort of control (largely due to the Isr***li threat). Russia is very happy to keep Hizb’ullah from being a factor in postwar Syria, and would probably not be too bothered by a suitably framed attempt on Iran, given a few relaxed sanctions here and a blind eye to web propaganda there.
No-one’s clean. To suggest otherwise is *russophilia goes comic*, really.
russia would not be bothered by an ‘ attempt on iran ‘ ??
Once Syria’s quietened down, no. Why should it be? Sure, it will make noises, but that’s par for the course. And it will lose no opportunity to weaken the US effort – but not overtly, if the price is right.
how long do you think syria would be quietened down for if the us / israelis became the power behind the throne in tehran ?
how long do you think syria would be quietened down for if the us / israelis became the power behind the throne in tehran ?
You underestimate your chums. Look how peaceful Chechnya’s been since they quietened that down. And much of Syria looks like Grozny did then, already. Without the Iranian theocracy, Russia would have no competition. Fine. Putin doesn’t bother much with principles*: he’s a pragmatist, and he wants access to the Med.
*Nobody in the region does, in fact.
so syria would be left in peace if your us / israeli chums managed to effect regime change in iran ?
An uneasy quid pro quo between your Russian chums and Habbabkuk’s US/Israeli chums* could probably be engineered, yes. With some help from Turkey, perhaps. Who will not favour control of Syria’s oilfields, small as they are, relatively, by Kurds. You’re an idealist. Think cynical.
* I have no chums.
Sorry, having tinfoil hat repaired. It suddenly stopped relaying bullshit for some reason. Or was that in code?
There are probably about a hundred explanations, of varying levels of tinfoilhattedness or none, of Trump’s US embassy shift.
My explanation : Trump promised that if he won the presidency he would move the US Embassy to Jerusalem and support expansion of illegal settlements, and he won, and he did.
Marks, please, on a scale of 1 to 10 for tinfoilhattedness.
0. That’s a good reason. But the question of why he made the pledge (and why Obama previously did, but didn’t follow through) remains susceptible to answers such as mine, above. Or simply votegrabbing (see mine, further above).
You won’t believe me, but you would probably benefit from a course in physics.
Indeed Node he did, Trump and the US in general which charges into Muslim nations at the first sign of any human rights infringements, has stood by idly for decades and done nothing but back Israel as it systematically removed Palestnians from their lands.
Now at behest of the powerful US J**ish financial backers Trump has ignited tensions in the region, which ultimately has already led to the lose of lives.
Node
Tinhattedness is a derogatory term for political nouse. The more tinhatted you are the more you have struck a nerve with the political class that lies for a living.
1. Distraction from Russiagate.
2. A trap for Hamas and Hezbollah to a reaction inviting self righteous retaliation.
3. The ultimate aim is of course justification of war against Iran.
The fact that he promised this before the election is neither here nor there because I am sure he made many other promises which he is unlikely to keep, and the timing is telling.
SA.
Trump by his past rhetoric is a confirmed Muslim hater, there’s no great mystery as to why he’s decided to move the embassy.
He didn’t need much coercing from the powerful J**ish lobby groups in the US. If you recall he already tried to ban people from certain countries, predominantly Muslim countries from entering the US.
Most recently he Tweeted about Britain First another far right group.
Lets not forget what he said about Mexican’s either.
RoS
He doesn’t hate all muslims, he loves those with petrodollars who share his values.
Israel will never attack Iran.
Why Wikileaks Is Probably Only Peripheral to the FBI Investigation (and why Craig isn’t going to be subpoenad)
Warning: non-Novosti content…
https://rantt.com/why-trump-and-kushner-should-be-terrified-of-the-deutsche-bank-subpoena-7be600bfbf03
Always good to follow the money.
Craig, good man. Best wishes for the future and I sincerely hope 2018 leads to a better place for you. Keep up the good work. You are correct, Russia phobia is just that and Trump’s position on Jerusalem is a cynical move to entice Hamas to react and set the scene for more bloodshed by a hugely more powerful neighbour. ( again)
Pakistan, now shooting down US drones that violent itd airspace. Pakistan has strong regional support from China.
https://www.rt.com/news/412535-pakistan-down-us-drones/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/China–Pakistan_relations#Overview
Republic of Scotland,
A question for you. Actually, more than one.
Is it true that Osama bin Laden was hold up for a number of years in a compound just down the road from Pakistan’s Intelligence Services HQ?
Is it plausible that bin Laden had died many years before the staged raid, with all in the theatre watching with popcorn in hand – Barack – Hillary and rest of the US establishment clan?
Since Pakistan seemed to cozy with the relationship with the US, inclusive of sheltering one of the CIA’s foreign policy assets, in the person of Osama bin Laden – then is this not a seismic shift for Pakistan now to be shooting down US drones?
What went wrong?
Where is Pakistan heading in its foreign policy relations with the US?
Does anyone have answers?
Re your first point, it’s possible Pakistan, was and still is in my opinion batting for both sides. Aiding the US whilst allowing fighters of other sects slip in and out of its borders.
As for your second point, ask yourself why was “Osama’s” body buried at sea?
Why have Dr Kelly’s remains been disinterred?
To be cremated, the campaign to have the Dr exhumed and re examined was gathering pace. The official narrative was that, this, was distressing for the Dr’s family.
Any chance of now finding out if foul play was involved is sadly gone.
Courtenay Barnett,
I think most of the following,is highly likely to be true, even though I cannot stand Alex Jones’ grating voice, nor anything much else about him. Paul Joseph Watson is a lot better, but he comes with a nice Yorkshire accent. As regards Dr. Steve R. Pieczenik, well he is obviously highly intelligent, and has a detailed working history, of lots of things most of us do not want to know, for example the assassination of The Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978, and the death due to natural causes (acute kidney disease and Marfan Syndrome of Osama bin Laden in 2001). I can’t think of any motivation why Dr. Steve R. Pieczenik, would lie about this. i would have thought that by telling the truth, he has put himself at considerable risk of being assassinated himself. If people want to continue to believe in the benevolence of The US Government, such that they wouldn’t possibly countenance doing such evil things, and that they always tell the truth, then that is up to them. It’s highly unlikely that anyone will change their minds, despite enormous evidence to the contrary.
I know nothing about Pakistan shooting down US drones, but if they are still bombing innocent Pakistani people at weddings, it would seem a quite sensible reaction.
https://www.infowars.com/top-us-government-insider-bin-laden-died-in-2001-911-a-false-flag/
Tony
Bin Laden had a serious Kidney disease and is rumoured to have died in the American hospital in Dubai in 2001 but good ol uncle sam needed to keep the boogeyman alive to justify their war of terror