It was happy to see Yulia alive and looking reasonably well yesterday, if understandably stressed. Notably, and in sharp contrast to Litvinenko, she leveled no accusations at Russia or anybody else for her poisoning. In Russian she spoke quite naturally. Of the Russian Embassy she said very simply “I am not ready, I do not want their help”. Strangely this is again translated in the Reuters subtitles by the strangulated officialese of “I do not wish to avail myself of their services”, as originally stated in the unnatural Metropolitan Police statement issued on her behalf weeks ago.
“I do not wish to avail myself of their services” is simply not a translation of what she says in Russian and totally misses the “I am not ready” opening phrase of that sentence. My conclusion is that Yulia’s statement was written by a British official and then translated to Russian for her to speak, rather than the other way round. Also that rather than translate what she said in Russian themselves for the subtitles, Reuters have subtitled using a British government script they have been given.
It would of course have been much more convincing had Sergei also been present. Duress cannot be ruled out when he is held by the British authorities. I remain extremely suspicious that, at the very first chance she got in hospital, Yulia managed to get hold of a telephone (we don’t know how, it was not her own and she has not had access to one since) and phone her cousin Viktoria, yet since then the Skripals have made no attempt to contact their family in Russia. That includes no contact to Sergei’s aged mum, Yulia’s grandmother, who Viktoria cares for. Sergei normally calles his mother – who is 89 – regularly. This lack of contact is a worrying sign that the Skripals may be prevented from free communication to the outside world. Yulia’s controlled and scripted performance makes that more rather than less likely.
It is to me particularly concerning that Yulia does not seem to have social media access. The security services have the ability to give her internet risk free through impenetrable VPN. But they appear not to have done that.
We know a little more about the Salisbury attack now:
Nobody – not Porton Down, not the OPCW – has been able to state that the nerve agent found was of Russian manufacture, a fact which the MSM continues to disgracefully fudge with “developed in Russia” phrasing. As is now well known and was reported by Iran in scientific literature, Iran synthesised five novichoks recently. More importantly, the German spying agency BND obtained novichok in the 1990s and it was studied and synthesised in several NATO countries, almost certainly including the UK and USA.
In 1998, chemical formulae for novichok were introduced into the United States NIST National Institute of Standards and Technologies Mass Spectrometry Library database by U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical and Biological Defense Command, but the entry was later deleted. In 2009 Hillary Clinton instructed US diplomats to feign ignorance of novichoks, as revealed by the last paragraph of this Wikileaks released diplomatic cable.
Most telling was the Sky News interview with the head of Porton Down. Interviewer Paul Kelso repeatedly pressed Aitkenhead directly on whether the novichok could have come from Porton Down. Aitkenhead replies “There is no way, anything like that could…leave these four walls. We deal with a number of toxic substances in the work that we do, we’ve got the highest levels of security and controls”. Asked again twice, he each times says the security is so tight “the substance” could not have come from Porton Down. What Aitkenhead does NOT say is “of course it could not have come from here, we have never made it”. Indeed Aitkenhead’s repeated assertion that the security would never have let it out, is tantamount to an admission Porton Down does produce novichok.
If somebody asked you whether the lion that savaged somebody came from your garden, would you reply “Don’t be stupid, I don’t have a lion in my garden” or would you say, repeatedly, “Of course not, I have a very strong lion cage?”. Here you can see Mr Aitkenhead explain repeatedly he has a big lion cage, from 2’25” in.
So the question of where the nerve agent was made remains unresolved. The MSM has continually attempted to lie about this and affirm that all novichok is Russian made. The worst of corporate and state journalism in the UK was exposed when they took the OPCW’s report that it confirmed the findings of Porton Down and presented that as confirming the Johnson/May assertion that it was Russia, whereas the findings of Porton Down were actually – as the Aitkenhead interview stated categorically – that they could not say where it was made.
The other relatively new development is the knowledge that Skripal had not retired but was active for MI6 on gigs briefing overseas intelligence agencies about Russia. This did not increase his threat to Russia, as he told everything he knows a decade ago. But it could provide an element of annoyance that would indeed increase Russian official desire to punish him further.
But the fact he was still very much active has a far greater significance. The government slapped a D(SMA) notice on the identity of Pablo Miller, Skripal’s former MI6 handler who lives close by in Salisbury and who worked for Christopher Steele’s Orbis Intelligence at the time that Orbis produced the extremely unreliable dossier on Trump/Russia. The fact that Skripal had not retired but was still briefing on Russia, to me raises to a near certainty the likelihood that Skripal worked with Miller on the Trump dossier.
I have to say that, as a former Ambassador in the former Soviet Union trained in intelligence analysis and familiar with MI6 intelligence out of Moscow, I agree with every word of this professional dissection of the Orbis Trump dossier by Paul Roderick Gregory, irrespective of Gregory’s politics. In particular this paragraph, which Gregory wrote more than a year before the Salisbury attack, certainly applies to much of the dossier.
I have picked out just a few excerpts from the Orbis report. It was written, in my opinion, not by an ex British intelligence officer but by a Russian trained in the KGB tradition. It is full of names, dates, meetings, quarrels, and events that are hearsay (one an overheard conversation). It is a collection of “this important person” said this to “another important person.” There is no record; no informant is identified by name or by more than a generic title. The report appears to fail the veracity test in the one instance of a purported meeting in which names, dates, and location are provided. Some of the stories are so bizarre (the Rosneft bribe) that they fail the laugh test. Yet, there appears to be a desire on the part of some media and Trump opponents on both sides of the aisle to picture the Orbis report as genuine but unverifiable.
The Russian ex-intelligence officer who we know was in extremely close contact with Orbis at the time the report was written, was Sergei Skripal.
The Orbis report is mince. Skripal knew it was mince and how it was written. Skripal has a history of selling secrets to the highest bidder. The Trump camp has a lot of money. My opinion is that as the Mueller investigation stutters towards ignominious failure, Skripal became a loose end that Orbis/MI6/CIA/Clinton (take your pick) wanted tied off. That seems to me at least as likely as a Russian state assassination. To say Russia is the only possible suspect is nonsense.
The Incompetence Factor
The contradiction between the claim that the nerve agent was so pure it could only be manufactured by a state agent, and yet that it failed because it was administered in an amateur and incompetent fashion, does not bother the mainstream media. Boris Johnson claimed that the UK had evidence that Russia had a ten year programme of stockpiling secret novichok and he had a copy of a Russian assassination manual specifying administration by doorknob. Yet we are asked to believe that the Russians failed to notice that administration by doorknob does not actually work, especially in the rain. How two people both touched the doorknob in closing the door is also unexplained, as is how one policeman became poisoned by the doorknob but numerous others did not.
The explanations by establishment stooges of how this “ten times more powerful than VX” nerve agent only works very slowly, but then very quickly, if it touches the skin, and still does not actually kill you, have struck me as simply desperate. They make May’s ringing claims of a weapon of mass destruction being used on British soil appear somewhat unjustified. Weapon of Upset Tummy does not sound quite so exciting.
To paint a doorknob with something that if it touches you can kill you requires great care and much protective gear. That no strangely dressed individual has been identified by the investigation – which seems to be getting nowhere in identifying the culprit – is the key fact here. None of us know who did this. The finger-pointing at Russia by corporate and state interests seeking to stoke the Cold War is disgusting.
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I had to switch Boris’s MH17 Long Running Script on the news off before I got an allergic reaction to his lies. Nobody an remember when British Government las did something honourable which would place it in a credible position to take another country to court. Was it in Somalia? No, Was it in Libya? No, Was it in Syria? No, Was it perhaps back in AD 432 when St Patrick arrived with Christianity in Ireland? Or AD 200 in Cornwall? The religion of Christianity adopts the false notion that a sacrificial scape-goat has been provided for sins. The scapegoat offered in the case of MH17 is Russia. perhaps because of the deep-seated addiction to scape-goating others ingrained in our culture over 1,800 years there are a majority in the UK who will accept Boris’s lies. However blaming others for crimes you have done yourself is still regarded as a major sin in Islam. White man’s magic, more potent than Druidic megaliths with its arch temple at the United Nations, also rules by Washington white men. When will civilisation arrive?
We will see more news from The Netherlands soon. They investigate MH17 story, and their laboratory tests samples from Douma, Syria.
When will civilisation arrive in Perfidious Albion?
It will not arrive , unless called upon.
‘UKRAINIAN MILITARY DEPLOYS MORE MILITARY EQUIPMENT AT CONTACT LINE WITH DRP, LPR FORCES’:
https://southfront.org/ukrainian-military-deploys-more-military-equipment-at-contact-line-with-drp-lpr-forces/
West heating the Ukrainian pot up pre World Cup.
Surely there are some people in the British military, ‘Security Services’, police or medics who have knowledge of the conditions the Skripals are being held in, and where, who do not want to see war with Russia, and could leak the information to Blogs like this?
@pb, that’s a reasonable question that you ask – but of the 5-eyes/one-brain,
or the 17+ us agencies,
or the very many tier-one, two & three partner agencies – there must be close to two million spooks “on our side” one million of which are employed checking the other million for the potential “insider-threat”
It’s not that great a career-move to blow whistles, unless you like pelmeni , and probably only 1% of the spooks might be genetically susceptible to the righteous moral outrage required to leak.
I’m always surprised that “the other side” Putin/Xi don’t leak directly more about the darker depths of UKUSA politics and their routine abuses.
I’m not that good at playing chess, or ‘go’
The eponymous Philip Cross edited Oliver Kamm’s Wiki page today! ‘Preceding’ was changed to ‘previous’! World shattering stuff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oliver_Kamm&diff=842874594&oldid=842857884
Exactly – world shattering stuff. I get the impression that the great majority of Philip Cross’s amendments are of the same import. Why then all the fuss, the threats of legal action from Messrs Murray and Galloway, the various conspiracy theories? This whole story is a deflated balloon, a dog that didn’t bark, a bizarre example of hysteria emanating from a certain minority sect.
I hardly think so, Charles. Wikipedia is being sold to us as “the peoples’ encyclopaedia” and if it turns out that some entity going by the name of “Philip Cross” is working indefatigably to pitch numerous entries towards a particular political mindset and is furthermore doing this with the apparent compliance of the Wiki creators, then it is vitally important that as many people as possible know this – as opposed to the wishes of that true minority sect who dominate the media and would rather everyone look away and move on.
You might be disappointed if you looked at the statistics of the no. of people who search for political stuff on wiki as compared with science, technology, history music, languages, cinema, media, design, medicines, healthcare, swimming, horseriding, bicycles and tampons. I trust you get my drift?
Could you share a link Riskpal? (to the stats)
PC is the tip of a very big iceberg that brings hacks like me into disrepute. I’m trying to finish off Operation Fritham and I can’t stop laughing at the effect that sunlight is having on him, it’s all so Christopher Lee.
Changing just one word or even a letter in a sentence can change its meaning. So it IS important
Because it is al part of the divert and deceive agenda that they now wish to promote.
I believe Mr Cross was simply making sure he was still able to edit Oliver Kamm’s page. It has had a level of protection placed on it.
Or, possibly, demonstrating to someone else that he was still able to do so.
I don’t know if anyone listened to George Galloway’s TalkRadio MOATS programme yesterday evening. He had a number of things to say about Philip Cross:
He is now in possession of Mr Cross’s identity, address, and telephone number.
He has spoken with someone who knows Mr Cross well.
Mr Cross is a real person.
Mr Cross is a vulnerable person.
Mr Cross is refusing contact, not answering his telephone number.
George Galloway further commented that Mr Cross is being made deliberate use of by someone more influential. He was not certain if that influential person gave instructions to Mr Cross, by text or email or whatever, or if it was simply psychological influence. He said that in all probability the details of that would be exposed shortly in legal proceedings.
If George Galloway is correct that Mr Cross is a vulnerable person, and acting under the undue influence of someone else, I strongly recommend keeping entirely to the facts about what Mr Cross is doing, without adverse comment on him.
So the matter, at its lowest, may simply be that Mr Cross is responding to the published output of someone else (or more than one other person). There is actually no doubt whatsoever that, at the least, that is happening. It may, however, be a considerably uglier matter than that. My own opinion is that Mr Cross is very probably not simply responding to published output, but is much more explicitly in contact with, and a conduit for, someone else’s views.
In any event, until the public allegations by George Galloway are cleared up one way or the other, I believe the Wikipedia community would be well advised to suspend Mr Cross’s editing privileges on both biographies of living persons and contemporary political matters.
Time will tell. Best, J
If Mr Cross is a vulnerable person then your advice to everyone should be to STFU – commenters here and in your milieu have demonstrated again their inability to keep entirely to the facts and not make personal adverse comments, and certainly have only limited ability to distinguish between the two.
Perhaps Craig could do the right thing and close comments on these posts?
The generalised lack of understanding of Wikipedia and the proliferation of conspiracy theory on this thread has been disappointing; in fact I’ve found it depressing.
Hours pass……
No. Craig apparently doesn’t want to thwart your freedom of expression here.
I find the contents of Spender-Davis’s post very sinister indeed and i also find it disturbing, given the nature of his professional activities, that Spencer-Davis has taken it on himself to publicise Galloway’s statements on the radio on this blog.
Firstly, I find it sinister that Galloway should have gone to the trouble of going as far as to offer a reward for whoever could establish Philip Cross’s identity and address. It is of course entirely possible that he did so with the sole objective of finding out against whom to launch legal proceedings as was reported on here. If so, well and good and I’m sure someone -perhaps Galloway himself – will report back on whether he has in fact started those proceedings (and paid out the reward). In that case, however, one assumes that Galloway will keep the information strictly to himself and his legal representatives until the legal action is launched; to do otherwise and disseminate it more widely could be interpreted by some (not by me, of course) as enabling a third party or parties to establish personal or telephone contact with Philip Cross.
Secondly, it is also sinister – or perhaps ugly is a better word – to label Philip Cross as a “vulnerable person”. Now that could be interpreted by some (again, of course, not by me) as an attempt to devalue Philip Cross rather than an attempt to empathise with him. And the suggestion that the “vulnerable” Philip Cross is being used by a more “influential person” may again be interpreted by some (yet again, not by me of course) not only as an attempt to devalue Philip Cross but also to make accusations against another person as yet unnamed whose identity will surely be revealed in due course when Galloway initiates his announced legal proceedings.
Finally, it would be interesting to learn the offences Galloway will allege in his announced legal action against Mr Cross (and perhaps the alleged more “influential” person behind Philip Cross). To have this information would perhaps enable people to assess for themselves whether Galloway is serious or whether he is bringing a vexatious lawsuit or, indeed merely blustering. Does the man have his own website?
I’m moved by the emphatic pleading
This man Galloway must be on to something.
This is beginning to reek of the Ruth Smeeth manoeuvre when she burst into tears after being accused of being the target of an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. And BTW the addiction of “anti-Semitic” to “conspiracy theory” I think is something we will see more of as the old “conspiracy theory” = idiocy meme is no longer as effective.
That should have said “……Ruth Smeeth manoeuvre when she burst into tears after claiming to be the target of an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory”.
Did Mr Galloway mention whether he’s paid out the £1000 reward he offered? 🙂
JSD, is this the “George Galloway’s TalkRadio MOATS programme yesterday evening”? It says 22 May:
http://talkradio.co.uk/podcasts/mother-all-talk-shows-george-galloway-may-21-18052226244
No, doesn’t look like it, looks too early. George Galloway has raised Mr Cross on a previous programme, probably that one, but one I’m referring to was yesterday evening 25/05/2018, probably not up yet. Cheers J
Thanks JSD.
Meanwhile the opposition Labour know how to match the Tories in callousness.
https://mobile.twitter.com/RhysWat57168899/status/1000010068513914880/photo/1?tfw_site=WingsScotland&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwingsoverscotland.com%2Fthe-alternative-to-growth%2F
Vivian O’Blivion We call the IDF (Israel Defence Force) the IOF (Israel Offence Force).
They tweet about a RN ship docking in Haifa. The UK and Israel are up each other’s *****.
‘Today, the British HMS Duncan & Spanish frigate Victoria, commissioned by NATO, will dock in the Haifa port. This is the first time that the Spanish frigate will dock in an Israeli port pic ‘. https://twitter.com/IDFSpokesperson/status/999976673448726529
4 hours ago · Twitter
Good for Sean in the comments underneath.
‘Sean ? @Sean_x_Larkin · 2h
Replying to @IDFSpokesperson
Will they be unloading a fresh shipment of bullets to replace those you have buried in the bodies of Palestinian children? ‘
Wikipedia – HMS Duncan – Type 45
HMS Duncan is the sixth and last of the Type 45 or Daring-class air-defence destroyers built for the Royal Navy. Duncan is named after Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan, who defeated the Dutch fleet at the Battle of Camperdown on 11 October 1797
Construction started: 26 January 2007
Launched: 11 October 2010
Built in Govan. Launched at Scotstoun.
‘(HMS) Duncan participated in a joint military operation with the French and United States navies against Syria in April 2018 during the Syrian Civil War.’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Duncan_(D37)
How vile. That’s Williamson and May at work for you. They are pieces of work.
I wonder how many of those settlement units will be holiday homes for Russian dual passport holders (summer sun and all that)? All nicely subsided by Billy-Bob and Ethel-May Trautheimer of Number three Trailer park, Grand Rapids, working four jobs so Washington can give massive foreign aid to a country that the last time I checked was not known for its poverty and malnutrition (not it’s Talmudic adhering population anyways).
Not many, Mr Vivian. Perhaps none -there are nicer places for a holiday home.The great majority will live and work there and in the region all year round.
As for the ‘massive’ aid from Israel’s good friend the USA : this runs at about 3 billion dollars a year and another 3 billion in military aid. If you have any notion about the size of US national income, the size of government spending and the size if US overseas aid you will see that those sums are chickenfeed.
Those billions of dollars would be better spent on less fortunate Americans, many of whom are living in cardboard boxes in alleys and drain systems known in America as Obamavilles.
The oppressive apartheid military regime known as Israel, would struggle to oppress the less fortunate without US aid, consecutive US presidents as we all know have been pressurised by powerful lobby groups and wealthy business people who are faithful to the cause to keep funding Israel to the tune of billions of US taxpayer dollars.
The constant demonisation of Muslims by the US media and certain politicians, persuades public opinion that it’s acceptable to fund Israel with billions of US dollars.
Of course in the main part it’s mostly deception, that Muslims are a threat to every American.
And of course the USA underwrites Israel’s entire government borrowing.
If it’s chicken feed then Israel will not miss it when it’s stopped
You can’t adhere to the talmud in a fascist colony.
With the mention of MH117.
Putin’s aircraft was in the neighbourhood that day and had passed close by two hours earlier.
I would assume his aircraft was the real target and the Malaysian aircraft was targeted by mistake and then all the other stories were invented.
So it would actually have been about 1,200 miles away.
A former pharmacist- now professional writer looks to our fated era of megadeath, hmm.
(for those new to Charlie – there’s no spiritual malice in his website name, it was a typo)
https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2018/05/happy-21st-century.html#more
I am skeptical about three-weeks-in-a-coma story for Yulia. The first issue here is the difference being sedated (to attain a semi-conscious state: propofol) and being put in medically-induced coma (ICU-only: controlled dose of anesthetic, more propofol). The latter is more typically done in cases of brain trauma involving swelling, not applicable here.
Bystanders reported brain seizures, with fitting continuing into medevac. A&E after assuring the respiratory passage and examining her pupils, would want to shut the seizures down asap as there could be sequelae on top of effects of the poison: “prolonged seizure activity may lead to irreversible neurological injury as well as hypoxia, hypotension, pulmonary aspiration, hyperthermia, rhabdomyolysis [muscle breakdown followed by kidney failure] and metabolic acidosis.”
http://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/bcp.12720
However seizures following organophosphate exposure [household insecticide] can be exceedingly difficult to control, as a Pakistani case study of refractory status epilepticus shows:
New onset refractory status epilepticus as an unusual presentation of a suspected organophosphate poisoning.
Waheed S, Sabeen A, Ullah KN. Case Reports in Emerg Med 2014; 2014: 1–3.
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/criem/2014/676358/
“On physical examination, a clear observation of pinpoint pupils [miosis*], bradycardia [slow heartbeat, bronchorrhea [watery sputum], and drooling saliva raised strong suspicions of organophosphate poisoning… Her treatment started with the administration of intravenous atropine and pralidoxime …she developed seizures for which she was administered intravenous benzodiazepine. Despite treatment, the seizures continued. She was given multiple antiepileptic drugs, none of which controlled the seizures…. When intravenous administration of atropine and pralidoxime was stopped, the seizures recommenced. She was put on a combination of five antiepileptic medications [and] the treatment combo of intravenous atropine and pralidoxime restarted. She continued to have seizures for 6 days.
* pinpoint pupils seen in codeine, fentanyl, oxycodone, methadone, heroin, sarin, soman, tabun, VX and insecticides exposure; the opposite condition, dilated pupils (mydriasis) goes with BZ, atropine, cocaine, meth, MDMA and scopolamine. Note BZ-like could not possibly be confused with novichok-like poisoning at A&E.
Section 17 d) below, a ‘Treating Consultant ZZ’ says that up March 19th, “Ms Skripal is unable to communicate in any meaningful way” meaning she is not in a coma and is able to communicate somewhat but that it is garbled enough that the UK govt, rather than family or embassy, is best positioned to give informed consent on her behalf for a second blood sample to OPCW and to convey her medical records to them.
In other words, they were sedated to the extent necessary. They would not sedate a person already unconscious due to the poison without seizures.
Sergei remained unconscious far longer than Yulia who was already communicating somewhat with Salisbury staff two weeks after the incident.
Meanwhile back at the controversial Court of Protection decision, neither Skripal had capacity to give consent to taking of blood samples for the OPCW’s lab tests. I’ve previously explained that neither PD nor Spiez was for free novichok still floating around in plasma two weeks out but rather for a possibly aged and derivatized specific serine on butyrlcholinesterase (or better, unaged on bystander albumin: http://academic.oup.com/toxsci/article/83/2/303/1713924)
In my opinion, a gratuitous medical intervention this late into treatment, with disclosure of private medical records without consent of patient, relatives, council or consul and provision to strangers at OPCW was not in the Skripals’ best interest; the whole intent was third-partying blaming of the Russian state, rather than enabling administration of non-existent miraculous antidotes.
I see no issue whatsoever with A&E taking blood samples and running BChE assays without consent; sending them over to PD without consent along with their medical records — which PD themselves testifies to analyzing to the Court at #17 below — is problematic. The benefit to the patients of a second round of testing escapes me.
However the full text of the Court of Protection decision is one of the few indisputably authentic documents in the whole affair. The hearings took place 20-22 March 2018.
Section 3 skirts the distinction between coma and heavy sedation: “Because Mr Skripal and Ms Skripal are unconscious and neither are in a position to consent to the taking of further blood samples for these purposes or to the disclosure of their medical records.”
Section 17: “I consider the following to be the relevant parts of the evidence. I shall identify the witnesses only by their role and shall summarise the essential elements of their evidence.
i) CC: Porton Down Chemical and Biological Analyst: “Blood samples from Sergei Skripal and Yulia Skripal were [already] analysed [without obtaining consent date not provided] and the findings indicated exposure to a nerve agent or related compound. The samples tested positive for the presence of a Novichok class nerve agent or closely related agent.”
ii) DD: Porton Down Scientific Adviser: “The evidence summarises the timeframes for the visit of the OPCW and the collection of additional samples and confirms that Porton Down consider samples taken post-mortem would be of less scientific value.”
v) ZZ: Treating Consultant.
a) Mr Skripal is heavily sedated following injury by a nerve agent.
b) Ms Skripal is heavily sedated following injury by a nerve agent.
c) Mr Skripal is unable to communicate in any way.
d) Ms Skripal is unable to communicate in any meaningful way.
Section 5: “samples taken from living individuals are of more scientific value than post mortem samples. At present both Mr and Ms Skripal are critical but stable; it is not inconceivable that their condition could rapidly deteriorate. I heard submissions from the Secretary of State and from the Official Solicitor who was to be appointed the Litigation Friend of both Mr and Ms Skripal. The NHS Trust were neither present nor represented … the NHS Trust were aware of the application and the evidence I have read from the lead treating clinician is that they do not feel comfortable going beyond their clinical role.
Section 14: “a) Neither patient is expected to regain capacity by the time the sampling will be needed; neither can participate; there is no other person who might practicably and appropriately be consulted.”
Section 20 whopper needed for jurisdiction: “The evidence before me does not enable me to ascertain the habitual residence of either Mr Skripal or Ms Skripal.”
Section 21: “On balance the lack of capacity arises from an impairment or disturbance of the brain arising out of both sedation and the impact of the exposure to a nerve agent.”
Section 35: The judge is still wondering if either will survive: “The taking of the modest blood samples proposed through the cannula already in situ [plasma drip?] will have very little impact. ZZ is of the opinion that it will be unlikely to adversely effect their clinical condition. The involvement of the OPCW and the use to which the results may be put in support of the pursuit of ‘justice’ will no doubt lead to further publicity but it seems to me to be unlikely to lead to any further intrusion than is currently the case and assuming that Mr Skripal and Ms Skripal regain consciousness so as to be aware of it… I accept ZZ’s point that disclosure of medical records should only go so far as is necessary … it is in their best interests that OPCW is provided with copies of the relevant records not merely having sight of them.”
Justice Williams was up against exceedingly one-sided and powerful array of interests. He could have, but so far has not, ordered that Yulia, Sergei, mom, cousin, fiance or Russian embassy get the same disclosures as OPCW and disclosure of what was actually testified to the private hearing.
http://www.transparencyproject.org.uk/why-the-court-of-protection-gave-permission-for-blood-samples-to-be-taken-in-skripal-poisoning-case/
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCOP/2018/6.html
http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sshd-v-skripal-and-another-20180322.pdf
Patients will be put into an induced coma if they need to be mechanically ventilated, we know this happened to Yulia because she still bears the tracheotomy scar.
I though engineering was your bag! just saying.
thought
Why not look it up yourself?
Anyway we know no such thing. Allegedly, though you never know with our media, an unnamed doctor treated the Skripals at the scene of their sickness for, among other things blocked airways. Tracheotomies can be performed when a patient cannot breathe normally, as in cases of choking.
God knows what Kempe is trying to say. A trachy is for a compromised airway that prevents intubation. A simple intubation would suffice if ventilation is required. I believe heavy sedation rather than an induced coma would then be in order.
Here you go:-
https://intensivecarehotline.com/breathing-tube-or-endotracheal-tube/
Induced coma is not necessary then. She may even have been sat up and trying to talk. The sedation is to help with gag reflex etc. So we know nothing about her consciousness level based on a scar
Wonderfully simplistic world some people live in, obviously. No other explanations needed. Apart from the official BS story.
Tracheostomy.
What was that earth-shattering amendment by Philip Cross earlier?
You are missing the salient point here: have you thought about why Yulia’s minders wanted everyone to see that ugly scar on her neck? The medical significance is that it is indicative of her having remained intubated and on a ventilator for more than a week. However, the real question is why it was so important to emphasize that point?
In every other way Yulia has been meticulously prepared for this performance which is why the scar is so glaring. In reality, the perfectly natural inclination would be to cover a feature that any normal proud young lady would consider unsightly. A loosely tied scarf would naturally detract from an immediate focus on Yulia’s recent ordeal, so why did her handlers subject her to this unnecessary indignity? The issue is less about the medical intervention and more a matter of why her captors consider it so important to draw our attention to it.
Why is everyone assuming that the scar is real? Given all the smoke and mirrors we have already witnessed, it is just as likely to be a clever piece of make-up.
And if that is indeed the case, then the Skripals are very likely willing (and paid) players in an ongoing subterfuge.
PR 101. Elicit an emotional response from your audience and reinforce their preconception…
Vulnerable white female. Sensible hair & sensible shoes, a full sleeved dress and slightly open neck. Just a few hints of pride and determination…. with public evidence of physical harm.
Christ, even the leafy background. I’m surprised she wasn’t wearing an english rose.
It’s also the reason why she didn’t accuse anyone of the poisoning. (apart from the fact it would raise too many questions as to how the hell she’d know in the first place) Instead it’s left unstated and on display… the barbarism of those who would put such a nice sensible girl through such an ordeal.. she could be your daughter you know. If only she could safely return home to russia… but she can’t and you know why.
etc etc.
I know Tom. It stinks. You missed out the fact that Yulia Skripal (or someone) accessed her VK account (recently removed) three days after the poisonings.
As it ever occurred to people that in repressive countries like Russia they have open debates about the Skripal poisonings and here in the free west we don’t.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRg2HRcZlLs
As it ever occurred to people that in repressive Russia they can send journalists to ask the kind of questions UK journalists should be asking about Sergey Skripal and his spook connections but in the free west it is not allowed.
https://www.msk.kp.ru/daily/26825.7/3862259/
Oh I forgot. The Christopher Steele, Pablo Miller and Sergey Skripal connections have a D-notice preventing our media, in the free west, from investigating or reporting on such highly sensitive matters that everyone – apart from those whose source of information is the free MSM press – knows about.
https://www.therussophile.org/u-k-defense-notice-d-notice-here-are-the-official-state-censorship-documents-relating-to-the-skripal-affair.html/
Let’s see one of these Russian journalists ask a question their government doesn’t want to hear, like was Putin responsible after all, and see how long they live afterwards.
https://cpj.org/data/killed/europe/russia/?status=Killed&motiveConfirmed%5B%5D=Confirmed&type%5B%5D=Journalist&cc_fips%5B%5D=RS&start_year=1992&end_year=2018&group_by=location
thought
There have been more non-embedded journalists killed in western wars over a much shorter period including one in Israel recently who appears to have been specifically targeted.
As to journalists killed in Russia you might consider Paul Khlebnikov who wrote a book about the London Mafia Godfather Boris Berezovsky, whose employee was Alexander Litvinenko (two inquests started neither finished). Robert Owen did the whitewash on it and guess who got the blame!
You’re comparing journalists killed in war zones with those killed in normal civilian life?
Paul Khlebnikov was at war, at war with the Mafia who had robbed Russia and spent a life of luxury in London. So it might occur to you if you put two and two together that it was (is) the western-sponsored Yeltsin Mafia, which Putin has almost wiped out, who did the murders. But who gets the blame? Yep. Spot on Kempe. Even you must be getting some kind of indication there is something wrong with the Skripal story.
Anyway, I tried to answer your questions even though I knew they were a diversion from the real story that Russia can discuss freely subjects the free-west prohibits from discussion. Even the Independent refused to name the minder who was Skripal’s neighbour. So I will do it myself. It was Pablo Miller, also known as Paul, also known as Antonio Alvarez de Hidalgo, MI6 agent.
“Russia can discuss freely subjects the free-west prohibits from discussion”
I wonder if Tatyana could give us her take on the above claim?
Sure, Charles 🙂
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/05/the-guardian-rejoices-in-the-silencing-of-assange/comment-page-2/#comment-749111
Thanks, Tatyana, but I get the impression your reply evades answering the question I actually put.
You seem to have focussed on so-called dissidents and established an equivalence between the treatment of dissidents in Russia (they might fall out of a window) and in the UK (Mr Assange is ‘forced’ to flee into a foreign embassy. That attempt at equivalence of course neglects taking into consideration the fact that the vast majority if dissidents in the UK continue to go about their dissidenting in a completely unhindered manner; they neither fall out of windows nor flee into foreign embassies. If you don’t believe me, reflect on the fact that Mr Murray and hid followers are unmolested, as indeed is Mr Clive Ponting who has recently been commenting on here.
No : my question asked you to comment on Mr John Goss’s claim that “Russia can discuss freely subjects the free-west prohibits from discussion”. That is rather more general than the question of the treatment handed out (or in the UK, not handed out) to a few dissidents with certain notoriety which you chose to focuss on.
BTW, I once asked you whether there were any equivalents in Russia of Mr Murray’s blog. You were kind enough to give us a couple of links (including one to Mr Navalny, who I recall was not allowed to stand in the recent Presidential election) but I noticed – and brought to your intention – that those blogs did not actually have a readers’ comments facility, So they are not really blogs equivalent to Mr Murray’s blog, are they. Could you therefore please try again – are there any blogs in Russia like Mr Murray’s, ie blogs where the blogger can say more or less anything he pleases and where readers are free to comment – and do comment – more or less as they please?
As always, good to dialogue with an ordinary Russian citizen, I find it’s a horizon-widener.
Charles,
you assume I have an opinion on John Gross’s claim to share, but you are wrong. Up to this moment all I have to say in reply to your question is: I believe Mr. Murray about D-notice on Scripal’s case, I’m sure that Govt will use this mechanism to hide their secrets, I don’t know if D-notice is obligatory for journalists, so I don’t know if you have free discussion or not.
You extend your question wider than Skripal’s case, asking to give my general view on the Liberty of Speech in Russia and UK? I’m neither a historian, nor a political activist, not a journalist to have a well-grounded opinion, Charles.
But again, up to this moment, my thoughts on your question are the thoughts of an ordinary citizen – I think that if a government has power to silence you, so they will silence you, no matter which country, no matter if they proclaim freedom of speech or not.
BTW, Charles, I didn’t miss your question about comment facility on russian dissidents’ blogs and I did advise you to look closely. How can we proceed in our discussions if you are not going forward? Let me help you once more
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1AsVHLjatjAoC8fqPrauOLSFFn6Bp7hBA
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ycCmi0tCocjJ2nFD29Kq5hJwVD_Wsb0A/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BZXeXvZa3YpjTGvWm8ipInQpRMTwVIk5/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mhr0CKjAxe7qS24GZ4OjOkSff8s_USFI/view
—-
Let me please know another rather personal question, Charles. You belive that anybody in Russia can easily be shot in the street for being critique about Russian state/Putin/KGB/oligarchs dirty deals. At the same time you are like inciting me to research in that field and bring my opinions here. What do you feel about it, Charles? I’m interested in your personal motives about me.
You’re good, Tatyana, very good. LOL
Come on Kempe look at this
https://cpj.org/data/people/adlan-khasanov/index.php
And others not killed by the Russian state but during troubles in the Caucasus and elsewhere. Some of them 6 were killed during Yeltsin’s storming of the TV station in 2994. Remember Yeltsin was the darling of the West.
Oops 1993!
Ad the others the CPJ has down as “murdered”?
@ SA May 25, 2018 at 20:19
Don’t vorry Easy slip. I doubt the world will be habitable, if still existing, in 2994.
Kempe
Having looked randomly at several not ‘murdered’ by The Russian state I thought I would leave it to you to work out since you provided the link. No one doubts that Russia became a lawless place between 1991 and 2000, and that it is less so. I wonder if you know how many journalists have revently been murdeted in Gaza, a much smaller place. I bet you have researched it and are outraged.
John… just read your update on the petition. You really should hold your head high because you acted when the rest of us looked on. Yet everyone I spoke to under a certain age thought the gov was lying. Have we really become a nation of scaredy cats?
Has it ever occurred to you why the Putin regime keeps taking over and closing independent newspapers and TV channels?
Like Press TV?
‘These are the unanswered questions that still remain after Yulia Skripal’s shock reappearance’:
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/yulia-skripal-poisoning-russia-novochok-salisbury-question-remain-a8367471.html
A very good article. I posted a number of ‘replies’ to the few comments, but when I tried to put a comment of my own:
‘There is not even any evidence she knows about her 90-odd grandmother’s plea to phone her son – a plea which has heartlessly been ignored by HMG.
On what grounds? None, to my knowledge.
And Yulia looked after her grandmother – would she not be interested in phoning her to see how she was, and to assure her everything was OK and that she intended to return to Russia?
Well, she would, wouldn’t she, if she were allowed to.
She is not heartless, like HMG.’ it immediately went into moderation.
And here is another commenter; I don’t know what she means by the story being removed, but I’m sure she’s right about the comments being removed: ‘Alicia Lopez 2 hours ago
A bit of ambivalence here, what? An interesting article which raised many points. Lots of positive response. And yet nearly all the comments deleted and the story removed. Why?’
” I checked who owns the Independent. An ex-KGB man, an oligarch who seems tight with the Kremlin. ”
‘Nuff said.
Why didn’t you check who owns The Sun? They ran a very convincing article by their Defence Editor, David Willetts, about an unnamed ‘pal’ of Yulia bringing over the buckwheat which poisoned the Skripals.
It was only when Galina Sapozhnikova came over here and found ten different varieties of buckwheat in the Russian shop where the Skripals shop that the story was seen to be a crock of shit. Some of us could see through it before that. I guess when there is a D-Notice on the real news the poor scribes have to make something up to earn their crusts. Pity it was so unconvincing.
John, you may be interested in another russian-speaking journalist, sometimes he adds english subtitles.
Earlier we’ve mentioned here pro-Nazi Ukrainian ambassador in Hamburg. Here is the video by Anatoly Shariy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuRpmWRuiFc
and his investigation into Nazi in Ukraine in 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tJphAe9h0w
He’s very good. Solid research using social media and the morons who think they are above the law. You would hope Europe had seen enough of fascism. It is still endemic in Ukraine.
John might also be interested in this as well
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_Russia
I suspect Tatyana doesn’t care as she seems rather more interested yet again in promoting the Kremlin line.
Resident Dissident
perhaps you mean anti-nazi line? if this coincides with Kremlin line, then thank God.
Donbass border is about 230 miles from my city. And what about you? What is your interest in Ukrain and nazies?
I wonder about the line Kempe is following.
But let’s not kid ourselves that the British press is any less partisan.
And of course very welcome with open arms to spend his millions in U.K., no questions asked.
Times have changed.
Due to public pressure and exposure of collusion and I am not referring to that Russiagate.
I am referring to the FS’s comments and tentatively Abrhamovich.
Riskpal
We were talking about the owner of the Evening standard and the independent. You want to talk about Abramovich. Fair enough.
I agree this is an interesting article, which puts the finger on the pulse of the matter. Unfortunately the Comments section just gets cluttered with asinine opinions that make it hardly worth bothering with – which could be the intention!.
@ Crispa May 25, 2018 at 22:03
I realise it may be a revolutionary idea, but have you ever considered ignoring the comments if you find them so asinine?
On ITV and BBC local news.
Salisbury reopens!
25 May 2018
Key site in Salisbury nerve agent attack to re-open tomorrow
A police cordon was in place around The Maltings in Salisbury
One of the key sites at the centre of the nerve agent attack in Salisbury is expected to re-open this weekend.
The Maltings shopping centre was closed to the public after a small amount of the Novichok substance was thought to have been used to target Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs carried out a multimillion-pound decontamination operation centring on nine areas where experts thought traces could still remain. However, following 11 weeks of tests, they have concluded The Maltings area was safe and could be open for business.
/..
http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2018-05-25/key-site-in-salisbury-nerve-agent-attack-to-re-open-tomorrow/
Note the £multi million expenditure. There is no money we are always being told.
Has HMG ever missed a payment due to you?
Has the NHS and it’s excellent professionals ever let you down?
Do you begrudge the people of Salisbury for the spend on their health and safety?
If I gave you a million pounds, what would you do with it?
Please answer comprehensively. Thank you and good weekend, that is if you are taking it off!
Baby wipes’ stocks went through the roof.
Radar writes a ways back: “I’m always surprised that “the other side” Putin/Xi don’t leak directly more about the darker depths of UKUSA politics and their routine abuses.”
Me too. There must be some gentleman’s agreement in effect. Recall that CSA and GCHQ operate utterly without privacy constraints and pass everything along to NSA, a major funder. This then passes — in a most cost-effective way — to the Russians and Chinese who thoroughly compromised all Five Eyes long ago and scarcely run their own IT programs otherwise.
Even without using NSA’s spyware code now out in the wild, it would not take a Russian teenager but five minutes to get the Skripals complete medical records from the Salisbury Hospital. Here the Russian embassy probably knows but wants to harp on the principle of consular access.
Porton Down, the Russians would have unfettered access since the 1940s (PD invented VX) but not want to provide clues as to the multiple hows, though PD probably accepts a certain level of transparency as long as they are not embarrassed by its public revelation. A lot of intelligence secrecy stuff is strictly for public consumption … mainly, to keep them in the dark.
The current location of the Skripals? No use really, plus if they disclosed, the Skripals would just be moved which would be disruptive to whatever monitoring Russia has in place now. The interest would be in UK plans for their eventual disposal. This is not happening before Sergei is well enough to be on his own.
They may just want to go home to Salisbury. That was not torn down after all, too silly even for the phony clean-up theatre. Yulia lived there too some years ago. Sergei never considered himself a risk there and now that the false-flag nonsense has moved on to Douma and beyond, is not at risk today.
“induce coma for mechanical ventilation”
Yes, I discussed that previously. Cholinergic diaphragm muscle innervation and all that. Yulia was breathing ok after posture adjustment at the time of the medvac. Seizures were then top priority for A&E. Sergei was catatonic, frozen. From a higher exposure? Different age, diabetes, initial health status? Did symptoms peak at the bench or continue to worsen? I tend to think not, they nearly died on the spot. There was a strange delay in getting them to the nearby hospital, an hour or more in the case of Sergei.
The tracheostomies, I would put them down to non-clearage of mucus and need for periodic suctioning. I’m assuming the Court of Protection, in thrashing about for non-consent, would have latched onto mechanical ventilation if that were continuing. Instead, he went with consulting dr saying Yulia was somewhat communicating, so not in a mechanically ventilated coma.
Why do you think Dr. Stephen Davies, Resident in Emergency Medicine at the Salisbury Trust Hospital say no one was exposed to a nerve agent? And why does no one question him about the basis for his claim and whether he sticks with it?
The BBC 6 O’clock News is now determined to omit any actual news.
There was lots about an American rapist and a man in his 90s being robbed but the news that Q1 growth for the UK was 0.1% was quickly presented and immediately glossed over, bizarrely during the sport section.
BBC Scotland are heartily reporting on the SNP cynically slitting the throat of the independence movement.
We must never forget that the state broadcaster reports the so called news in the best interests of the establishment and not the masses. Ergo don’t expect clarity on matters that are harmful to the status quo.
As for the BBC in Scotland, it’s a well known arm of the state broadcaster, and it to acts in accordance of protecting the British establishment at all costs. That’s why a fair and proper debate on Scottish independence can never be promoted through the eyes of the state broadcaster.
The BBC won’t have to attack the Scottish independence campaign any more because the SNP have just killed it.
Escape Tory austerity! For ten years of Tartan austerity!
It’s a vote winner.
What exactly do you mean Stu?
I am referring to the growth commission report which suggests Scotland using the pound for a decade with the BoE setting monetary policy. Cutting the deficit to below 3% within 5-10 years. Limiting public debt to 50% of GDP. Economic suicide basically.
I honestly believe the SNP are now campaigning against independence.
Stu.
I recall Ireland using the pound, for a while after it became independent, it then moved to its own currency and finally to the Euro.
Of course we were told back in 2014 that if we voted to leave the union that we’d be £500 pounds worse off as a result of our actions. Recently Mark Carney the Governor of the BoE, said that Brexit has cost every person in the UK £900 pounds each so far in lost revenue. Things will only become more uncertain, several studies show that Scotland could lose up to 80,000 jobs due to Brexit.
I don’t disagree that independence will throw up few challenges , however in the long term, using our own currency combined with managing our assets to the best of our ability through full fiscal levers which we currently do not possess is the best way forward.
Staying in a union where the likes of Brexit or a Tory government can be forced up you, when the majority didn’t vote for them, isn’t in our best interests.
Full fiscal levers!? Sounds impressive. Tell us more, Chancyllor.
The Snats are being open about being a bourgeois partei for bourgeois people. The fruits of office must taste so sweet.
New report on ZeroHedge that any day now Assange may be forced to leave the embassy, be arrested by the UK, and be shipped to the U.S. under U.S. charges. I continue to fail to understand how an Australian citizen can be charged under U.S. law for, outside U.S. territory, revealing secrets that are only classified underU.S. law.
How’s that different from Iran sentencing Rushdie to death for committing blasphemy in the UK?
The big difference is that the UK protected Salman Rushdie, as they did General Pinochet when Spain requested his extradition. The Australian embassy in London has served Julian Assange very badly. We wrote to their foreign office when Bob Carr was foreign minister and again when Julie Bishop, formerly a critic of how JA had been treated, became foreign minister. Although the foreign office responded on both occasions it was not the support one would have expected for a high profile Australian in need of consular help. We got an acknowledgement that: “If requested by him, the Australian government will make appropriate consular assistance available to Mr Assange.” It was signed on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs by Adrian Lochrin, Assistant Secretary Consular Operations Branch and received on 6 June 2014. Should it come to this he might be advised to rely on his own embassy.
Having said that the hopes are not outstanding and although he was set up in the Anna Ardin, Sophie Wilen affair he has not committed any crime other than jumping bail, which is not an extraditable offence as far as I am aware. There are some nasty people who comment on this blog who would like to see him extradited.
Dear, dear, dear. Now that’s what I call a summary execution on a balmy spring night.
Btw, Assange still has full access to his legal team. I doubt they are a pushover, but we certainly live in interesting times.
One hears that the US is putting extraordinary pressure on Ecuador. If you’re up to speed can you please shed some light on the levers and dynamics? It may well be that our host is presently under advice to keep low on this matter.
No offence meant Craig, to be clear.
As a diplomat Craig might be interested in this. It is our foreign minister demonstrating for 18 solid minutes why he and his advisors are not fit for purpose. Some Russian pranksters, who have caught out a few others, must be causing him sleepless nights. Pretending to be the newly-elected prime minister of Albania they got him talking about the Skripals, Russian oligarchs, a Russian mole in the Corbyn camp, Novichok and lots of other gems. On London oligarchs Bozo Boris said “if you throw a stone in Kensington you’re sure to hit a Russian oligarch” or words to that effect. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPJt74gUQFo
Has it occurred to you that you might just be a little behind the curve?
Anyway, take comfort in Paul Simon’s : You’re older than you once were, younger than you’l be, and that’s not unusual.
It’s the first I’ve seen of it.
Surfaced here a good 24hrs or more ago. I think he handled the call brilliantly. Even the pranksters admitted that Boris was an intellectual and no fool.
Not sure one can say the same for Nikki Haley’s performance, i believe a few (or maybe many) months ago.
Armenia, not Albania.
Otherwise, someone who talks for 18 minutes with a prankster is not handling the issue “brilliantly”. If he didn’t discover in 18 minutes, he’s a fool.
Quite Laguerre. Falls under the umbrella of what i said earlier(?)…..
“You’re older than you once were, younger than you’l be, and that’s not unusual.”
Ain’t I diplomatic?
You must have listened to a different telephone conversation to the one I heard. For example he was still going on about how the Russians poisoned the Skripals, and when more information was available he would willingly pass it on to the fake Armenian PM. What a plonker!
Yes Laguerre Armenia. Oops!
For the record:
“Details of the call were first published in the pro-Kremlin tabloid newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda and those responsible expressed disappointment that <r Johnson had not made a fool of himself.
Stolyarov told the paper Mr Johnson turned out to be 'a smart diplomat, an intellectual'.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5767151/Boris-Johnson-spent-18-minutes-speaking-prank-callers.html#ixzz5GYHgFW60
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
BJ (zero relation) and the circumstance under which such a call cold even get by the spooks, both got tore apart by George Galloway, and I agree.
@ Riskpal May 25, 2018 at 22:39
A Bullingdon intellectual? Wow, we must have underestimated the moron.
It’s not just Boris. It’s his staff as well. However did they get though security. Oh sorry, that will be our secret services, the ones who made up the Skripal poisoning. No need to explain. They’re doing a great job! Innit!
Alan Duncan arranged the call. So it bypassed the usual checks. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/boris-johnson-russian-prank-sir-alan-duncan-a8367866.html
Armenia not Albania – not that the facts matter to fools.
Hope the old sod is not too far behind the curve with this but Craig Murray is making quite a hit with this blog from English readers of the Russian Insider News which has re-published a Phillip Cross blogpost and made proud boasts of Craig being the most popular journalist in the UK. Well done Craig!
that’s this one:
https://russia-insider.com/en/shocking-wikipedia-scandal-unfolding-uk-rampant-leftist-political-manipulation/ri23534
Yes Craig must be so proud of being awarded this accolade by Russian Insider of which even RT said “RT categorically and unequivocally condemns the disgusting hate speech promoted by the recent Russia Insider article, its author, and the platform as a whole, and rejects any association to such”. It asserted that the station had blacklisted Bausman two years ago.
Who shall we believe John, RT or your friends at Russian Insider
And one which he will conveniently not answer, probably claiming “other more important things to do than answering trolls, fascists and MI6 agents” 🙂
Resident Dissident, you are looking for someone or something to ‘believe’.
My advice is: don’t.
Stop believing.
Be skeptical.
Start questioning.
And then, question more.
RD has never questioned anything that might compromise his attempts at indoctrination through his two memes “Blame Russia” and “Blame Putin”. It make one feel proud when he calls you foolish for a mistake I had already acknowledged that someone had previously pointed out. His own history of mistakes, horseshoeing, sock-puppeting, establishment arse-licking and downright lying he chooses to downplay.
I note that the genius of President Trump is again evident.
This time Saudi Arabia has banned the letting of Saudi government contracts to German companies. As the Saudi’s cannot produce whatever it is that is being supplied by Germany then they will need to look for a new supplier – step forward the USA. Trump has never for one moment taken his eyes off either Germany or China. The Chinese too had to back down the moment that they realized that their retaliatory sanctions would likely lead to the starvation of some 400 million pigs. Unlike Germany, China is run by some pretty switched on people. All akin to shooting fish in a barrel for President Trump.
Pity the British – still obsessed with remaining in the rotting carcass that is the EU and parading their idleness and stupidity by bemoaning the fact that soon there may not be anyone to pick fruit for them. Far be it from them to pick their own fruit. Whilst the British prepare to stare vacuously at rotting fruit the US is (or soon will be) busy hoovering up business previously in the hands of the Germans.
@ Loony May 25, 2018 at 23:37
On rare occasions I agree with you; this is one.
Paul
What? You agree that Trump is a genius?
@ SA May 26, 2018 at 04:26
Er, hardly. I should have qualified my comment – I was referring to the British part.
Oh right. German goods command a premium since they are well made, their reputation is hard-earned. Go ahead with the tacky US stuff and see where that takes you. This is another reason why MBS will be thrown out sooner or later.
What you say is true – but completely irrelevant if their products are banned.
Sure the US will, at least initially, provide inferior goods – but probably for at least the same price as the superior goods. Being able to sell a substandard product for a premium price seems like genius to me.
* How did the fake callers get to speak to Alan Duncan? (Duncan, by the way, a former member of the Intelligence and Security Committee, once seemed to have fallen out somewhat with the Z__nists. Readers will remember the film of the October 2016 conversation in the Kensington restaurant.)
* Now that the supposedly true information about Duncan has been revealed, why don’t the fake callers publish the call they had with him? If they know British security has rumbled them, surely they might as well have a laugh?
* To what extent is the responsibility for giving Boris Johnson’s private number to fake callers proportioned between Alan Duncan and his private office?
* Did Alan Duncan or any member of his private office break security rules? What are the security rules?
* Will Alan Duncan, any member of his private office, or Boris Johnson have their security files looked at?
* How many other times have callers now known to be fake spoken to government ministers, or cabinet ministers, what issues were discussed, and what information was given?
To weaken this shithouse government, those are the kind of questions that should be asked. Anybody can call Boris Johnson a fool. He can cope with that. Security risk is another matter. But I doubt Jeremy Corbyn is going to step up the mark. Perhaps someone should remind him how the Tories got themselves into trouble in the few years leading up to the Labour victory in 1964?
Good questions!
* And why was Boris Johnson sniffing so much during the call? To what extent does his heavy illegal drug use affect the behaviour and mental functioning of this man who is responsible for Britain’s foreign policy and its secret intelligence service?
Argumentative!
@ Reply ↓
Kempe
May 25, 2018 at 18:02
” I checked who owns the Independent. An ex-KGB man, an oligarch who seems tight with the Kremlin. ”
‘‘Nuff said.
On the other hand, as Chaim Bermant used to say:
‘Paul Barbara
May 25, 2018 at 17:48
‘These are the unanswered questions that still remain after Yulia Skripal’s shock reappearance’:
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/yulia-skripal-poisoning-russia-novochok-salisbury-question-remain-a8367471.html
A very good article. I posted a number of ‘replies’ to the few comments, but when I tried to put a comment of my own:
‘There is not even any evidence she knows about her 90-odd grandmother’s plea to phone her son – a plea which has heartlessly been ignored by HMG.
On what grounds? None, to my knowledge.
And Yulia looked after her grandmother – would she not be interested in phoning her to see how she was, and to assure her everything was OK and that she intended to return to Russia?
Well, she would, wouldn’t she, if she were allowed to.
She is not heartless, like HMG.’ it immediately went into moderation.
And here is another commenter; I don’t know what she means by the story being removed, but I’m sure she’s right about the comments being removed: ‘Alicia Lopez 2 hours ago
A bit of ambivalence here, what? An interesting article which raised many points. Lots of positive response. And yet nearly all the comments deleted and the story removed. Why?’
And now, I find that even the two or three ‘replies’ I posted to that article, which did appear, have now disappeared.
So we have a good article appearing in the ‘Independent’, yet the comments in line with the article get blown away?
Keep drinking the Kool Aid, sonny boy.
Paul
The Independent is fast becoming the only progressive news venue to some extent. Robert Fisk publishes there and did a recent piece demolishing the Douma MSM narrative. There was also an article quoted by You and another on Emma Thompson not interested in the royal wedding.
A quick note. On the subject of D-Notices, it appears Tommy Robinson has been arrested, tried and convicted, all within an hour. 13 months, apparently. I wonder if Craig could investigate this? It appears the MSM have been forced to delete references to the arrest. Most curious, and made me think of D-Notices. Craig now has what I believe they call ‘reach’, and is himself an independent journo\general boffin, the story might interest him. Also, I wonder if Mr Philip Cross has been across Tommy’s Wiki as well? I bet 10 charity dollars he has.
I know Tommy Robinson – ex EDL – won’t be everyone’s favourite here, and indeed isn’t mine either. But he was there as an independent journalist, covering a child-abuse scandal, which he is perfectly entitled to do. They’ve locked him up on some breach of bail ruse, and it’s very suspicious indeed.
It’s quite hard to trust someone as a journalist when they have changed their name
I agree – hardly anyone respects Mark Twain or George Eliot.
As for George Orwell – well he is universally despised as a charlatan.
Who could possibly have anything other than abject contempt for the 1995 ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Mcintyre vs the Ohio Elections commission.
“As for George Orwell – well he is universally despised as a charlatan”
I guess I live in another universe.
Are you joking? Craig already said he didn’t want to hear any mention of Rotherham etc because it’s ‘racist’ to even discuss it.
“They’ve locked him up on some breach of bail ruse, and it’s very suspicious indeed…”
It appears that he was arrested, tried and convicted of breach of the peace (in the space of an hour). He was then sentenced to 13 months in jail for breach of bail conditions. It seems (although how would/could I know for sure?) that there is a D-notice preventing any discussion, or indeed mention, of any of these facts in the MSM.
I thought D-Notices were supposed to be for matters of national security (made up or otherwise). I don’t really see how Tommy Robinson being jailed is a matter of national security. I wonder what else we won’t be allowed to know about/talk about in another 2, 3, 4, 5 years.
Twitter account expunged too.
When trying to find out who was in Alan Duncan’s private office, I found this in the Financial Times from 2011:
“Divisions have emerged over access to Libyan oil between countries that contributed to the war and those that did not, such as China and Russia, says the WSJ. The Telegraph alleges that oil trader turned junior minister Alan Duncan set up a ‘Libyan oil cell’ inside the UK government to find ways of helping the Libyan rebels export oil. This paved the way for a deal between the rebels and commodities trading firm Vitol, a big donor to Alan Duncan’s private office in the past, according to the newspaper.”
Vitol is a privately-owned global trading company, trading oil and other commodities. Even in its Wikipedia article, there’s a lot to be going on with. Its key fixed asset in the Middle East seems to be in the UAE, not in Dubai or Abu Dhabi but in Fujairah. According to this much more recent article in the FT (8 April 2018), it regularly trades with Surgutneftegaz, the Russian oil and gas company headed by apparent billiionaire Vladimir Bogdanov, who recently had US sanctions slapped on him.
I wonder how Vladimir Bogdanov feels about Alan “Vitol” Duncan and for that matter Boris Johnson.
I see that Thierry Myessan is promoting his old lies about Kurdistan in a new piece:
http://www.voltairenet.org/article201257.html
” The Kurds are a nomadic people that have only recently settled down.”
In reality , the Kurds have inhabited the same place for 4000 years, during which they enslaved the Children of Israel who ended up speaking their language Aramaic. Ethnically Kurds and Israelis are as interconnected as Celts and Anglo-Saxons, but also completely distinct in religion at the same time. The nomad bit is pure Israeli fantasy, the same as their fantasy about the Palestinians being nomads. Pure projection. The Israelis were nomads looking for a homeland after they messed up in 500 BC. The Israelis were nomads looking for a homeland after they messed up again in 33 AD. This is all recorded in the Qur’an. The Kurds would be well advised to avoid the protection of the Israelis now IMHO because every time they totally exceed the limits of their religion , they get zapped down.
@Hieroglyph – Reports of Tommy Robinson’s arrest are still appearing on the websites of the Independent, the Metro, the Sun, and the Evening Standard. This is alleged to be the video footage he shot outside the court in Leeds. (I haven’t watched any of it because Google’s Youtube only allows access to its account holders.) Has there been much reporting of the Leeds grooming trial other than by TR? I mean in the last few days, of what’s been happening in court. If no, then perhaps that has been subjected to heavy reporting restrictions, either by the judge or perhaps even by D-Notice? I wonder who decided to arrest him? Court police? The judge? Other police?
Was he taken before the trial judge, some other judge, or a magistrate? The offence he was accused of seems to have been breach of the peace rather than contempt of court, so it doesn’t seem that he was taken before the trial judge. And it does seem that the trial is considered to be very sensitive. I wonder whether it connects with Jimmy Savile…just a thought.
I stand corrected, media is covering. There was a Tweet which said otherwise, don’t know if it’s fake.
https://twitter.com/nickmon1112/status/1000094952620163073
Apparently it took less than 2 hours to arrest, try, and convict Tommy to 13 months. The UK legal system is not known for its’ efficiency, I think it’s safe to say. Barristers aren’t paid by the case, they are paid by the hour after all …
And the allegation is he had no lawyer. A trial judge, but no lawyer. Is this normal? Perhaps legal peeps can help me here, but if true, it seems very odd.
Contrary to what I surmised above, Tommy Robinson was taken before the trial judge (look at the court number in the listing – court no.12 is where the grooming case was being tried) and the proceedings against him were for contempt of court.
When is it OK to for the UK government and its agents to lie to the public?
To protect the Public from alarm / protect against Official embarrassment? When the POTUS says so?
And when they are found out is it OK for a judge / senior civil servant via a public inquiry to endorse that lie?
What if the consequence of not lying might lead to mass riots?
Or are they, by lying in the first place exacerbating an unhealthy situation (further mistrust / loss of confidence) and the inevitable will eventually happen anyway?
“Four meals from anarchy is the maxim of Mi5”
Less than that in France ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE1nYyNsdgk
Its been going on months apparently so maybe not 4. But I understand (no thanks to the British MsM) that similar scenes are being played out throughout Europe and other parts of the world including the US.
In Britain we need the good weather to fuel contagion.
So does it matter if the people on the bench were not the Skripals and they have been / are being debriefed at a secure location for very good reasons? And that the bench people (oddly enough) were volunteers that were not Novichocked? Or that very careful dabbing of a nerve agent was “safely” applied at strategic points in Salisbury for the benefit of the OPCW?
Well the people of Salisbury might have something to say about the government deliberately fucking the economy of their beautiful city.
I think it is wrong. I think Hutton standing as a judge and lying for the State was wrong. I think Chicot “Absolving” (ffs) Blair was wrong and I think any lie for whatever reason from a Minister ? Servant of the Crown is wrong 1) because its wrong and 2) Once they allowed themselves that grace they did what politicians and civil servants do, they abused it.
Things don’t look good.
Any Junta taking over a country change the rules to ensure its longevity. In the case of Western ‘democracies’ secrecy in the name of ‘national interest’ for which read ’junta interests’ is the tool used rather than overt state violence which is reserved for later stages of any rebellion.
Craig, have you thought about why Yulia’s minders wanted everyone to see that ugly scar on her neck? The medical significance is that it is indicative of her having remained intubated and on a ventilator for more than a week. However, the real question is why is it so important to emphasize this point?
In every other way Yulia has been meticulously prepared for this performance which is why the scar is so glaring. In reality, the perfectly natural inclination would be to cover a feature that any normal proud young lady would consider unsightly. A loosely tied scarf would naturally detract from an immediate focus on Yulia’s recent ordeal, so why did her handlers subject her to this unnecessary indignity? The issue is less about the medical intervention and more a matter of why her captors consider it so important to draw our attention to it.
We should also wonder why her statement was handwritten rather than typed on computer and printed out? It is not as if she is stranded on a desert island, but obviously her captors do not want to let her go anywhere near a computer. She must realize by now that these people are not denying her access to modern technology to protect her. It is both very unnatural and highly suspicious that she has been unable to call her family for so long as this is such a universally instinctive priority.
I think Yulia is being kept away from her father and probably fears for his safety if she fails to comply with the directions of her minders. One the sections that has been crossed out in the Russian translation hints of this reality as she refers to being able to care for her father as if that is not yet a possibility. There are some interesting analysis’s of certain aspects of Yulia’s writing supplied by Russian nationals commenting on the “Moon of Alabama” blog.
We need more blogs focusing on trying yo hry yjr Skripal’s released as they are obviously still being held against their will. Can we get Amnesty Interational to take an objecyove look at this case and launch aninternational appeal? If a former diplomat with your credibility and integrity were to contact them it might be taken more seriously. We also need to get a vouple of good investigative journalists on the case? Is this possibility eliminated by the “D” notices?
Nice article on 5-eyes/one-brain pushing for powers here, appeared in print in Ottowa.
Can do anything they want to “foreign actors” – do they mean Gérard Depardieu?
https://canadiandimension.com/articles/view/new-bill-will-give-ultra-secret-spy-agency-extensive-powers
Tho’ my quick reading of the Law Gazette on cybersec would seem to suggest that Syria or Palestine could now legally bomb the Canadians?
https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/cyber-warfare-retaliation-would-be-lawful-says-uk-/5066230.article