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.
It seems that the “President” of Venezuela – one Nicolas Maduro Moros – has just announced that the main opposition party will not be allowed to contest next year’s election in that unhappy country. The reason advanced is that said party had boycotted yesterday’s mayoral elections and has therefore “ceased to exist”.
So a party which no longer exists is forbidden to contest a future election. Sounds as if Nicolas Maduro Moron is rapidly losing the plot.
The lawyers association in Tortosa, a small town in southern Catalonia on the Ebro, has been barred from using the term ‘political prisoners’ during meetings. This order from the local electoral board. Freedom of speech is now being moved against by the fascists. While all the British unionist parties look the other way.
I’m one of the donors to your legal defence fund. You owe me nothing – it is a privilege to have helped. Keep on keeping on. Merry Christmas when it comes.
Don’t worry Sharp Ears, with unsubstantiated comments such as the one below, this person has really no idea why shale gas abstraction has nothing to do with helping any country. It has already been mentioned that energy prices will not decrease with fracking, indeed the shale might be far too old to hold much gas.
Water contamination is real as the well casings in many cases have been deformed by drilling and are not stopping contamination of aquifers.
This is the sort of landscape views Habbakuk prefers for Lancashire and Yorkshire dales.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=picture+of+fracked+landscape+in+the+US&t=canonical&atb=v65-7_d&ia=images&iax=images
‘Fracking in the UK is only opposed, in the whole, by those who do not wish well for their country.’
please keep quiet if you don’t know what you are talking about.
The Tories no longer the party of business since they brought about brexit.
Labour no longer the party of working people since they are willing to see us leave the EU, which, despite its faults, indisputably provided the remaining protection of British workers’ rights.
The Liberal Democrats no longer the party of individual freedom since they say little in defence of the people of Catalonia from the Francoist bullies.
The SNP remains the party of business, commerce, worker rights, EU membership, environmentalism and freedom for the individual. Since they are guilty of none of the above treachery and stupidity of the unionist parties.
Independence is the only sane and civilised option left for Scotland.
With great respect, it is a logical fallacy to claim that the SNP is the party of whatever because other political parties are not.
The logical fallacy is compounded because the claim about the other political parties us merely opinions presented as facts on the basis of “evidence” which is in fact not evidence but opinions.
Well yes, quite. I can’t provide incontrovertible evidence that the Tories are no longer the party of business. It remains a matter of opinion. But people know they have been the main political engine that has brought about the prospect of Scotland being out the single market.
Are you mad? Where was the EU when workers’ rights were being trashed 1976-now? To see them as the guardians of anything but coorp-0-rat profits is asinine. Ask the Greek working class.
Online Catalan newspaper El Nacional.cat is reporting that the Madrid government has prevented the Catalan police from replenishing their stocks of ammunition during the whole of 2017. So with the using up of existing stocks in training it means the regional police will be or are out of ammo.
Considering the terrorist incidents in Catalonia in the summer that is just another example of the ill will and sinister callousness that marks the Spanish government’s approach to Catalonia.
Corsican nationalists have won the regional elections with a second round total of 56.5% of the vote.
The day of the big centralised European states is done with.
Balkanisation comes to mind.
Balkanisation is just an unthinking and pejorative term.
Which pretty well describes Western European and,dare I say, German reactions to the smashing up of Yugoslvia
Unthinking yes, pejorative yes. Sorry about that. I was bored. Going out to collect some firewood in the snow.
reel guid.
Ah yes Balkanisation, a word used by Lord Roberston, to describe the fate of the Western world if Scotland became independent in 2014.
To this clown was once the Secretary General of NATO.
Although it seems their aim is autonomy within France and legal recognition of the Corsican language rather than full independence;the best of both worlds .
Well not quite. The nationalist grouping that did so well is an alliance between two parties. One pro-autonomy and one for full independence.
But even the pro-independence wing led by Talamoni does not reckon on full independence and the end of subventions for some ten of fifteen years.Perhaps despite the Bonapartes(Napoleon le Petit) , there are some’Big Fellows’ in Corsica,
“The day of the big centralised European states is done with.”
That means centralisation of regions under an EU state.
But I don’t think the Corsicans want independence. There’s not much talk about that in France. It seems to be more Brexiters and Scots Indies talking up a minor event into something they hope will be the equivalent of what they themselves want.
“I am feeling particularly hostile to Donald Trump after his incendiary move on Jerusalem.”
The term egomaniac has lost some of its pejorative meaning since Mrs Thatcher announced that the meaning of the Gospels was not that we would all be held to account, but that we should not rely on the state for benefits.
It’s a bit embarrassing that President Trump needs to massage his ego with the approval of Mr Netanyahu.
One of the problems with being excessively rich is that you can always buy friendship by paying for drinks. Trump’s actions are like flooding a Christmas pudding with brandy in order to enjoy calling out the fire engine on Christmas day.
More Russophobia is now gearing up for another cold war style arms race, as Unconfirmed US intelligence reports of a new class of INF missiles are being stationed allegedly. America is hell bent to go it alone if NATO partners are not willing to play the tit for tat game.
Craig, any chance you can rattle some doors and try and find out what’s real in this alarmist story, because we seem to be falling backwards into a pile of pigs manure.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/us-delivers-ultimatum-to-nato-regarding-russian-missiles-a-1182426.html
” To protect their own sources and methods, the Americans declined to share all the details, even with their closest allies. In the meeting, Mattis pointed out that other NATO member states have also obtained intelligence pertaining to the Russian developments, something Lithuanian Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis confirmed in comments to DER SPIEGEL. “Russian deployment of intermediate-range missiles in violation of the INF Treaty has been confirmed by the Allied intelligence sources,” he said in a statement.
The German government considers the U.S. intelligence material to be credible but that final proof is still lacking, said a source in Berlin. “We take the indications of a possible violation extremely seriously,” says German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen. She says it is primarily up to Russia to “clear up the doubts about its adherence to the treaty in dialogue with the U.S. and NATO.”
Germany should not support to have US nuclear weapons stationed anywhere in Europe, if they want a successful EU peace and defence force to be supported by all other countries.
Nato’s aggressive expansionist policies aimed at throwing Russia into a chaotic military response a la Ukraine should not be supported one iota.
Trump’s administration is now delivering ultimatums to his fellow NATO partners?
Without any of them questioning this resolve?
Anybody know how Bibi got on today? Should the EU stop its high techHorizon 2020 program to Israel or carry on supporting this regime of fundamentalists?
http:/www.middleeastmonitor.com/20171211-the-eu-already-recognises-israeli-sovereignty-over-jerusalem-just-more-quietly-than-trump/
According to media reports Netanyahu has jetted out of Brussel’s with his tail between his legs, as not one EU nation recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The Israeli premier is the first to visit Brussels in twenty years according to the media. Netanyahu hoped that most if not all EU nations would eventually come around to seeing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, I for one hope they do not.
It really is time for a two state solution.
So once again Jeremy Corbyn’s say one thing do another tactics, comes to the fore. As (ICAN) the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, received the Nobel Peace prize, a congratulatory tweet was sent to them by Corbyn.
However Corbyn’s party didn’t vote against the renewal of Trident last year.
http://www.thenational.scot/news/15714131.SNP_MP_slams_Corbyn_over_Nobel_peace_prize_tweet__hypocrisy_/?ref=mr&lp=1
That’s Jeremy and his intrigues. Live life in the Faslane.
Corbyn voted against renewal of Trident, so how was he being hypocritical?
Corbyn has consistantly voted against renewal of Trident
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10133/jeremy_corbyn/islington_north/divisions?policy=984
Well it doesn’t look like the Catalan people will get any help from the EU. As 45,000 Catalan’s descended on Brussels last week, they were reluctantly only given permission to protest 24 hour earlier.
No representative would meet with the protestors, indeed Brussels is actively working against them by sticking to the line that it’s a internal matter for Spain to deal with.
One has to wonder then, why didn’t the EU intervene and apply the ECHR, when Spain’s Guardia Civil were beating, teargassing and shooting civilians who’s only crime was to exercise their democratic rights to vote.
You know Trump’s cackhanded declaration might actually work in the favour of the Palestinian’s, and lead to a two state solution.
Putin is in Egypt, and is set to head to Ankara, to discuss Trump’s decision on Jerusalem, the Arab League is also meeting to discuss the matter, the overall the majority of countries have condemned Trump’s decision.
This could be the impetus to get heads of state around a table, and thrash out a two state solution before things get really out of hand.
Israel isn’t remotely interested in a two-state solution. It’s been creating facts on the ground to make this impossible for 40+ years, while paying lip service to the optimists who think they’ll have one in the end. I’ve seen it suggested that Trump’s action might assist a single-state solution, with equality for all, too. ROFPMSL.
Here’s the picture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBRxt5ufnGg
A really good interview.
“Israel isn’t remotely interested in a two-state solution.”
Agreed, but it isn’t all about what Israel wants, or at least it shouldn’t be.
What can be done then to push for a two state solution? Well Trump has put pressure on the US in the region to a certain degree, by his lastest declaration on Jerusalem.
I’d imagine the only way Israel would get round a table on a two state solution is if the US pressured them to do so. Therefore a combined movement, in the region to try and pressurise the US is one way of going.
The Arab League really needs to stand firm on this, and the broader Islamic community needs to get behind them.
Many UN nations would gladly help implement a two state solution as well.
The two-state solution is no longer feasible, if it ever was. Oslo was the last chance. Israel will go unilateral if the US squeezes its gonads, and the US won’t, as its military aid budget to Israel amounts to a US taxpayer subsidy of US arms manufacturers. It also won’t because AIPAC’s backers will stop funding campaigns for anyone [proposing to squeeze Israel’s gonads. And, given that and the proven expertise of Israel in exploiting the horrors of Auschwitz for PR purposes, it very nearly IS all about what Israel wants, isn’t it?
The Arab League is shifting towards Israel, not away from it. Israel has convinced the AL (except Qatar) that Iran is the big bogeyman. I have never seen Egypt and Saudi closer, and the new Saudi prince buys the story in full. The broader Islamic community? Ditto. That Sunni-Shi’a split has never worked better for Israel, and don’t forget the hospital facilities for IS fighters in occupied Golan.
I see no cause for optimism that is not based on wishful thinking, I’m afraid.
If there’s truth in some pressreports then Saudi Arabia has criticised Trumps decision as have Jordan and the Arab League.
Egypt and Turkey are none to pleased either.
https://www.npr.org/2017/12/10/569716795/the-view-from-saudi-arabia-on-trumps-jerusalem-policy
http://www.france24.com/en/20171210-arab-league-condemns-trump-decision-jerusalem
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/jordan-humiliated-trump-decision-jerusalem-171206142619670.html
The EU is none to happy either.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/11/eu-to-step-up-efforts-over-middle-east-peace-process
Yes it’s a long shot that a two state solution will come about, but lets hope it does for the sake of us all.
“The Arab League is shifting towards Israel, not away from it. Israel has convinced the AL (except Qatar) that Iran is the big bogeyman.”
That is strictly not true. Al saud pederasts have been in cahoots with the zionists for a long while now. In fact the latest batch of leaked papers in Wikileaks, as published in “Secret cables of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia” by Saud bin Abdul Rahman al-Sabani. That is also published in Asharq Al-Awsat indicate: as far back as 1966 al saud pederasts proposed the invasion of the Sinai desert and Golan heights, by the zionists, in the way of putting the squeeze on Egyptians and Syrians.
The current notions of Arab zionist cooperation to confront the big bad Iranians are just window dressing for the benefit of deflecting from the realities that most Iraqis and other Arabs have know for a long while, in fact it was Saddam whom first outed the al saud pederast as zionist interlopers. Furthermore given the outright mass murder in Yemen, support of the various “Al terrorist” factions in Syria, and repression in Bahrain, the mask of the al saud pederasts has pretty much slipped. Thus the narrative, forwarded to buy some more time for the said regime as well as legitimising the zionists occupation of Palestine.
“The Arab League is shifting towards Israel, not away from it. ”
Actually that’s not true. You forget that autocratic regimes don’t represent their people, or don’t necessarily represent them. Their peoples detest Israel, so no pro-Israel policy can be stated publicly, or they risk being overturned. (Erdogan being a populist does represent his electorate). It’s very limited how far Arab autocrats can go without provoking a reaction. Jerusalem could be a turning point, though I’m not saying it definitely will be.
I am well aware that Middle East autocracies do not represent their peoples’ views, thank you. My reference was to the Arab League as a formal association of autocrats and their functionaries. And that’s where the power lies.
“My reference was to the Arab League as a formal association of autocrats and their functionaries.”
If that limited sense was what you meant, then you should have said it. And no, not all power lies there. The unwinding of the power of the autocracies is visible for all to see, except Israel, and apparently you.
Quite agree the fascist pigs have been turning Palestine into the Generalgouvernment all along.
I wish I can share your enthusiasm. The two state solution is a mirage encouraged by Israel in order to continue expanding the settlements and create facts on the ground with no viable Palestinian State. It is also strange to believe in any way, as Trump wants us to, that this would be a prelude to a new initiative. So far what came out from the Special prosecutor Meueler, is that Flynn was in fact trying to prevent the condemnation of the settlements in the UN, not really a positive sign. And there is very little mention of this sinister fact and analysis in the MSM instead they talk of Russiagate.
Israel’s main aim is very clearly to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians slowly out of Palestine, and unfortunately May playing lovey-dovey with Netanyahu, and the close relation between the White House and the same, does not really bode well for the Palestinians.
Thar same mike Flynn
http://m.spiegel.de/international/world/former-us-intelligence-chief-discusses-development-of-is-a-1065131.html
Seems that there was lots of reasons to eliminate him.
Nor will the EU support Netanyahu on Jerusalem. He thought he had it in the bag.
EU’s Federica Mogherini rebuffs Netanyahu on Jerusalem – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42313727
The headlines in The online Daily Mail a few days ago, featured a commuter photographing a dispute on his mobile phone between a Nigerian woman and a bloke dressed in his suit and tie – on the train going into London. She had allegedly put her muddy boots on the seat opposite where she was sitting, and dirtied the man’s suit.
Now its entirely possible, as I believed, when I saw it that this sequence of events – just happenned. The person with the mobile phone just recorded it as it was happenning innocently, and the Daily Mail published it innocently on their front online page. I initially accepted that explanation. It was no big deal. no one got hurt….Then I read some of the comments. The vast majority of them slagging off The Nigerian woman – but then someone commented – its highly likely they faked the entire thing. I though nah, don’t be daft – what would be the point…but then you read the details of who this man actually is. He claims to have a Nigerian Wife (actually in the video) – and then it is also revealed by The Daily Mail who exactly this man is. I can’t remember the details – but some official or councillor responsible for some aspects of governance with regards to trains running into London.
Was the entire thing a complete set up? And if so who planned this deception, and fakery, and what was the motivation? Clean seats and good behaviour on trains? That is hardly likely to be achieved by deception.
It is entirely possible the video is legit – but it was published by the Daily Mail, and they have “Form”
Irrespective of whether real or faked, This is not news. It is completely irrelevent nonsense filling the heads of millions of people who read the Daily Mail. Newspapers don’t do News. They make most of it up.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5158977/Racial-row-erupts-Southeastern-train.html
Tony
Guess who’s’reporting’ in Israhell.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5162139/Israeli-warplanes-batter-Gaza-missiles.html
Saw it but have not opened it or read it.
The Angry Arab is reporting extensive demonstrations in Beirut and Amman, but of course they don’t get reported, because, as he says, Western correspondents don’t read Arabic. I liked the bit where a Jordanian newspaper had a photo of US Marine snipers on the roof of the US embassy, ready to shoot into the crowd, but the King insisted that it be withdrawn. Abdullah does what he is told by the US.
Now would you believe this? Norfolk county council, under the hands of a majority of Tory magpies, has thieved themselves a 13% rise in remunerations. This from the same clique of cllrs. who lost some 34million plus on some environmentally criminal outfit wanting to build an old fashioned 1960’s waste burner, who then covered up those responsible and kept them in power by scrapping a free inquiry into the waste of money.
This is how the Tory’s build trust in their very own self serving way and I’m already predicting a massive Labour win at the next C. council elections here.
How dare they, after overspending some 120 million on the NDR and then announce widespread subsidy cuts of vital bus route funding, in a county that already suffers from severe social immobility.
On the stocks with them and bring on the Independents. Today was the first time I heard a member of the public suggesting a targeted council tax boycott, as to ensure that District councils don’t follow up on these filthy habits and get these thieves out!
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/conservative-norfolk-county-council-pay-rise-1-5316865
They sound worse than Surrey CC and the borough councils, all Tory controlled. All 11 MPs are Tory too.
Some of our councillors (three for each ward where there was one for decades before) have just been on a jolly to China. £5k in air fares alone. They now want to twin with a French town or city. They are already twinned with a German city. They make nice destinations for future trips.
Last year they had the bright idea to create ‘The Village’ on a disused car park which is well away from the main drag. They brought in shipping containers!, had them fitted with doors and set them up as shops. A disaster. Hardly anyone went there so it has been closed. An ice rink also set up on the site has been closed too. Net cost to the taxpayers? Around £1.5 million in the year.
They have just passed the so called Local Plan. It will allow the building of around +10,000 houses on mainly green belt land. They would not be affordable nor social housing. Developers’ paradise. Many developers are Tory donors needless to say.
All of this to a background of grid locked and potholed roads…Little or no street cleaning…. Never see a police officer..Occasionally, police cars…Inadequate and uncoordinated public transport… Shortage of medical facilities and overcrowded schools and this all before the population increases. Cuts followed by cuts.
BUT my council tax has increased by a factor of 10 since I came to live in the borough.
Nevermind
Some echoes of the Northern Irish political crisis. Arlene Foater who is implicated in this is currently riding on a high at Westminster, dictating the shape of Brexit. I wonder what would happen to the coalition of chaos if she guilty?
But there is also good news, the Brexit outfall and continuing OBN’s here have provided Germany with just the right amount of necessary immigrant work force to keep its economy on the right track.
Time to get little Tarquin out of his duvet at 5 in the morning.
http://www.cer.eu/insights/biggest-brexit-boon-germany-migration
Habbabkuk
Nadira is a great Writer/ Film maker / Artist.. But Don’t think Documentary makers Earn much, if any money..Especially if the content is human missery.. Refugees, asylum seekers.
And Often Film makers rely on Crowd funding ( Which is why I contributed to ‘ Benchmark 6 Film ‘ ) Filmed on MY River –
https://socialscreen.co.uk/films/benchmark-6/support
I hear Nadira’s Heart wrenching film Locked in will be shown in the GlasgowFilmTheatre 11.01.18 8pm.. Not sure where it will be thereafter, maybe Craig will let you All Know.
I seen the film at DTRH Festival.. In Intimate Yurt set up..Nadira was there and gave a Short Speech.. It’s Poweful stuff.
GFT is a Great Theatre with great intentions..Last time we were there was to see The Stanivlav Petrov story ‘ The Man Who Saved The World –
Stunning Docu Film..Stanilav Plays himself –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IncSjwWQHMo
And On that Note …
Well Done Ican –
Here is Part of Their Nobel Peace Prize Accepance Speech –
[Setsuko Thurlow, Hiroshima Survior ]
” Processions of ghostly figures shuffled by. Grotesquely wounded people, they were bleeding, burnt, blackened and swollen. Parts of their bodies were missing. Flesh and skin hung from their bones. Some with their eyeballs hanging in their hands. Some with their bellies burst open, their intestines hanging out. The foul stench of burnt human flesh filled the air.
Thus, with one bomb my beloved city was obliterated. Most of its residents were civilians who were incinerated, vaporized, carbonized – among them, members of my own family and 351 of my schoolmates.
In the weeks, months and years that followed, many thousands more would die, often in random and mysterious ways, from the delayed effects of radiation. Still to this day, radiation is killing survivors.
Whenever I remember Hiroshima, the first image that comes to mind is of my four-year-old nephew, Eiji – his little body transformed into an unrecognizable melted chunk of flesh. He kept begging for water in a faint voice until his death released him from agony.
To me, he came to represent all the innocent children of the world, threatened as they are at this very moment by nuclear weapons. Every second of every day, nuclear weapons endanger everyone we love and everything we hold dear. We must not tolerate this insanity any longer….
” But still some refused to see Hiroshima and Nagasaki as atrocities – as war crimes. They accepted the propaganda that these were “good bombs” that had ended a “just war”. It was this myth that led to the disastrous nuclear arms race – a race that continues to this day.
Nine nations still threaten to incinerate entire cities, to destroy life on earth, to make our beautiful world uninhabitable for future generations. The development of nuclear weapons signifies not a country’s elevation to greatness, but its descent to the darkest depths of depravity. These weapons are not a necessary evil; they are the ultimate evil…
” Tonight, as we march through the streets of Oslo with torches aflame, let us follow each other out of the dark night of nuclear terror. No matter what obstacles we face, we will keep moving and keep pushing and keep sharing this light with others. This is our passion and commitment for our one precious world to survive.
Aagin..Well Done ICAN
Peace All.
Yip, Knew I’d Forget something…
Nobel Lecture
Nobel Lecture given by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2017, ICAN, delivered by Beatrice Fihn and Setsuko Thurlow, Oslo, 10 December 2017. –
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2017/ican-lecture_en.html
And the perpetrators of this war crime and their apologists now presided over war crime tribunals.
These were not the only war crimes at the end of WW2. The firebombing of Kobe and Tokyo, of Dresden and Hamburg were also war crimes against civilians. But history and justice are dictated by the victors.
I Knkow This Sa…but cheres..There somting wrong with link..A Black Blob thing,,Beware
When The bbC Promote..Beware…
I shall be in Trouble ..But Fuck em
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2fnrV0PQQDrH2DkDqJ6VNv6/a-spray-in-a-manger-banksy-at-christmas
I Would Say…. My Fight With Hope Over Fear Last Night…Started My Video
Why have so many comments been deleted overnight but by? A joke.
Happy Hanukkah to all the readers anyway.
Everything to do with a certain “State”; as I stated before, Craig really lost that Court Case, some of the people who sent donations expecting him to stand-up to the Zionists, will feel that they have wasted their money.
I hope not but I fear so; let’s hope that it’s an aberration. I wouldn’t want my Pals to be left in the lurch here as well.
I hope not also, but this far from the first time this Blog has suddenly gone down, to then reappear minus a lot of Israel related Posts; of course some Posts on other issues are also missing, but that’s just collateral damage so that the censorship can be passed-off as a technical failure.
Funny how such “technical failures” have never, ever occurred on any of the other blogs I’ve been visiting for years.
Macky, 13, 09:04
– ‘Everything to do with a certain “State”’
NOT TRUE. I was there. I know why, and that is not why.
Though Craig did not know it on the day of the hearing, the potential gain for the Palestinian cause from settling out of court are greater than if he had fought and won.
“NOT TRUE. I was there. I know why, and that is not why.”
So you are confirming you know why this blog went down last night, only to re-emerge with various posts missing ?
If you bother to read my comment you’ll see that I wasn’t.
But I do know what happened to this blog last night, and that has nothing to do with Israel either.
“But I do know what happened to this blog last night,”
Well, is that top secret too ?
No. But neither is it any concern of yours, nor my business to tell you. Now bog off.
“But neither is it any concern of yours”
In that case I’m sure you will understand that I can’t possibly take your word for it.
Secrets on a Whistle-blowing Site, whatever next ?! 😀
Big thanks are due to sysadmin for all the hard work on this site last night. Unfortunately recent comments could not be saved. If it’s anything to do with Israel, it might be this:
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/02/06/cisco_intel_decline_to_link_product_warning_to_faulty_chip/
Macky… I gave Money..And I’m Skint..And I’ll Stand By the Man…I have interacted Many times With our Host… I would Put my Body before Him…
Come Meet Up Sometime
@Brain, of all the many just & noble causes worth for laying down your life for, blind faith in the integrity of an ex-Ambassador isn’t one of them.
I have Looked Into His Eyes… Macky *…
I have looked into his eyes …
That’s good enough for me Brian. You trust Craig, I trust you.
I didn’t give Craig money to fight Isr**l. I gave it because I didn’t want to see him ruined.
There are times when I very much wish I could say more, but it would be neither fair nor prudent. But to my personal knowledge from being present when Craig made the decision, Macky is completely wrong about this matter.
“… Macky is completely wrong about this matter.”
I’m shocked! But there’s a first time for everything I suppose.
@Shatnersrug, well good for you; others gave because they believe Free Speech should not be curtailed because of intimidation, and they are the ones watching & wondering over the curious lack of Posts iro Priti Patel & Trump’s Jerusalem move.
Macky, you constantly denigrate Craig, and impute motive. You are wrong.
Craig was BUSY, as he told everyone in his previous post, and he still is.
“Craig was BUSY, as he told everyone in his previous post, and he still is.”
In that case, there should be no problem in taking-up some of the slack;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=mXCmReGuiGE
Maybe relates to the extremely strange goings-on in Patagonia that Tony Opmoc linked to last night, subsequently disappeared:
http://www.voltairenet.org/article198968.html
safeguarding the Falklands for us would be one feeble explanation, Joel.
This is the first time I hear of this bolt hole, thanks for the link Tony/Joel, its been shared.
The suggestion is it may be being developed as a potential alternative homeland, although virtually nothing else seems to have been written about it in English.
Some confirmation of what most of us suspected here:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/12/12/1723588/-All-Trump-Ballots-Disqualified-Because-Incredibly-None-Of-Them-Could-Fill-One-Out
O dear.
In the absence of Craig blog post on Trump’s Jerusalem move, here’s Robert Fisk’s;
“Goodbye Palestine. Goodbye the two-state solution. Goodbye the Palestinians.”
https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/12/13/trumps-shameful-decision-on-jerusalem/
A very interesting in depth investigation into Russian manipulation of social media during and after the Scottish independence referendum.
https://medium.com/dfrlab/electionwatch-scottish-vote-pro-kremlin-trolls-f3cca45045bb
It looks very similar to the Catalan referendum where fake photos and video went out immediately so must have been prepared in advance.
thanks for the link, Fredski.
The Catalonia fake pictures are more likely to be the result of people searching for images, finding old images and uploading them to social media as new.
There undoubtedly were hundreds of authentic videos of brutality uploaded that day so there was no need to falsify any.
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on Washington to turn back from its “unlawful and provocative decision” on Jerusalem, and urged world states to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.”
https://www.rt.com/news/412942-erdogan-trump-jerusalem-decision/
So the ball begins to roll, on Palestine’s hopeful revival, Erdogan also calls for Palestinians to be drawn into the international community amongst other things a return of the 1967 borders.
Of course Erdogan might just be playing to the crowd, in the hope that the US backs him in the neverending putdown of the Kurds. If that happens, Erdogan would probably be less vocal in support for the Palestinian people.
If the Isr***is continue playing footsie with the Kurds, I imagine the US will remain aligned with that and Erdoğan will continue backing the Pals. Another thing, though – there’s more than a suspicion that Erdoğan’s positioning himself as a defender of Islam, with echoes of the Ottoman sultanate. There’s some history being revisited, as usual.
Really Fred!
A arm of a US think tank based in Washington
Makes a change from a leg of the Scottish independence movement based, presumably, in Scotland, anyway.
Or multiple fake unionist blogs spouting the better together mantra usually based in England and backed by wealthy Tory businessmen, looking out for their own interests.
Yes really.
We know America employs teams of people to manipulate social media in Communist and Muslim countries, we know at least one Middle Eastern country which does the same to further their own ends.
You aren’t expecting us to believe Russia doesn’t do things like that are you?
Indeed Fred I agree, Putin is anything but snow white, but is there a shred of evidence to back up claims that Russia has been interferring with elections?
Cambridge Analytica
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Analytica
In 2016, after Cruz’s campaign had faltered, CA worked for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign,[6] and on the Leave.EU-campaign for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. CA’s role and impact on those campaigns has been disputed and is the subject of ongoing criminal investigations in both countries.[7][8][9]
___________
Kid, you don’t even know which way you’re being spun. Angry, hate filled people who spend their lives interacting with facebook, twitter, youtube et al are low hanging fruit to these manipulators. A willful pawn. Ignorance is bliss.
The US does not care about Britain or its inhabitants. Add yourself to the list with the Commies and Muslims.
“You aren’t expecting us to believe Russia doesn’t do things like that are you?”
75p is all they can afford ?! 😀
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42342216
So several US media oulets were caught redhanded a few days ago pushing lies as breaking news.
The reports were aired time and time again, in the hope of linking Trump to Wikileaks and you guessed it Russia.
Is real journalism completely dead in the US, and is the UK following in its footsteps?
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/09/the-u-s-media-yesterday-suffered-its-most-humiliating-debacle-in-ages-now-refuses-all-transparency-over-what-happened/
You probably won’t see this on/in the mainstream media.
House of Commons rejects Amendment 158 to the #EUWithdrawalBill by 315 votes to 291.
This amendment would have prevented Ministers from using the new powers in the Bill to amend the Scotland Act 1998 or the Government of Wales Act 2006.
Westminster has been given approval to amend the Scotland Act 1998, endorsing powers to be taken away from Holyrood.
Possibly because it’s always been possible to amend the Act?
See also:
Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004
Constitutional Reform Act 2005
Scotland Act 2012
Wales Act 2014
Scotland Act 2016
A reaffirmation as to why independence is the only way forward for Scotland.
To follow up on the story of the extraordinary pay rise at Norfolk county hall, here is a list of those who thought they can just do that and a list of cllr.s who could not be bothered.
Note the single Independent cllr. who only last month declared himself an Independent, he’s got three more years on the job. This councillor said when he became an Independent ‘that he would still be voting with his ex Labour colleagues on important decisions’, sadly he fell on the first hurdle and besmirched the Independent label some more.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/which-norfolk-county-councillors-voted-to-increase-their-allowances-1-5318761
So Doug Jones has become the first Democrat in 25 years to win a US Senate seat for Alabama.
His opponent Roy Moore is said to be such an odious person, with allegations against him such as:
“After Roy Moore said gay people should be put in jail,
After he said the country was better off under slavery,
After he said Muslims have no place in public life”
https://mobile.twitter.com/Mikel_Jollett/status/940817252475133958
Yet the GOP backed him and funded his campaign, the POTUS even held a rally for him.
What does that say about the GOP and the POTUS?
Re my above comment, I’m pretty flabbergasted that Jones defeated Moore by such a slim margin of 49.9% to 48.4% considering Moore’s outbursts.
Are Democrats loathed that much in Alabama, that a really repugnant Republican candidate is required to squeeze past the winning post.
Also what of the 48.4% that voted for Moore, to them is a Republican victory more important than the character and nature of the candidate?
RoS: “Are Democrats loathed that much in Alabama, that a really repugnant Republican candidate is required to squeeze past the winning post.”
Yes they are. Repugs had more or less said that Moore might be a nonce, but he’s still better than any Democrat. Besides, he might be a child molester, but he’ll vote with us for tax cuts for the rich – and that’s all that really matters.
“Also what of the 48.4% that voted for Moore, to them is a Republican victory more important than the character and nature of the candidate?”
Given that he was accused of behaviour Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis exhibited it’s not a surprise it didn’t scare off all his southern supporters.
Modern political reality is that 50+1 rules. We have seen it in the USA with Obamacare and now the Tax Cut. We are seeing it in the UK with the weakest government in generations pushing through hugely transformative legislation. We see it in Scotland with the balance of the parliament and the SNP’s own rules about members not being allowed to rebel in any case. Elected officials are now largely voting automatons and the electorate are largely treating them as such and forgetting any personal element.
That they they are narcissistic, pussy-grabbing pedophiles.
Trowbridge,
Please do not conflate.
Not all narcissists are pussy-grabbers.
Not all pussy-grabbers are pedophiles.
Not all pedophiles are either narcissists – or – for that matter – do not entertain preferences like Donald Trump.
And so on…
So – put Trump and his preferences to one side – then to the other sides of the issues name and add with specificity.
But how can I separate Trump and his lot, especially NSA Michael Flynn, from the claims when they shouted out at rallies that Hillary was a criminal who should be locked up for being a druggie pedophile, winning the presidential election when they urged Putin’s people to help out!