Alex Salmond’s jeopardy has caused me a dreadful shudder of recognition and empathy. I too was accused of hideous offences under a civil service disciplinary code and barred from taking any action to defend myself. I was not allowed to speak to anybody at all about the charges, and particularly not allowed to know the identity of my accusers, or to organise witnesses in my defence – which appears the exact procedure which Alex Salmond now, with absolute justice, complains of. These Civil Service disciplinary investigations are contrary to all rules of natural justice, and designed to facilitate executive stitch-ups, not to uncover the truth.
As with Alex Salmond, some of the accusations against me were hideous – offering visas in exchange for sex, for example. They were so hideous that the mental anguish of not being permitted to take any normal steps to defend myself caused me a mental breakdown. I know what Salmond must be feeling. I received psychiatric treatment in St Thomas’ Hospital for a condition called “learnt helplessness” – meaning it was the dreadful experience of having things done to me which I was not permitted to take any normal steps to counter, which caused my clinical depression.
The charges against me were entirely fake and entirely vexatious, even malicious, issued after I had objected to British complicity in torture in the “War on Terror”, which the government denied at the time, calling me a liar, though now admits. The charges were designed to destroy my reputation. You can read the full story in my book “Murder in Samarkand”, widely available in libraries. I believe it conveys the anguish that “learnt helplessness” can cause.
To be plain, I was told not to reveal the existence of the charges to anybody at all and specifically forbidden from contacting witnesses. Nevertheless the charges were such obvious nonsense they eventually collapsed and I was found not guilty of all eighteen charges – but found guilty of breaking the order to keep the charges secret, in organising my defence. Not keeping the charges secret is the only disciplinary offence of which I was ever convicted.
The extreme Kafkaesque nature of this is only increased by the fact that the government themselves had revealed the charges in the widest possible manner, by leaking them to the Daily Mail, in the effort to permanently ruin my reputation. A number of the charges were sexual, such as having a secret flat to entertain prostitutes – again, totally untrue, but great for the tabloids. The use of false sexual allegations to destroy threats to the political elite is routinely deployed – Alex Salmond joins Julian Assange, Tommy Sheridan (whose recent court victories against the Murdoch press went totally unreported), Scott Ritter and myself among recent victims of this tactic.
There is one important difference between Alex Salmond’s case and my own – I requested several times that my case be referred for police investigation but the FCO refused, whereas the Salmond allegations have been referred. The case of Michelle Thomson, the entirely innocent former MP whose career was deliberately destroyed by Police Scotland keeping an investigation open for years into simple matters that could have been cleared up in a week, makes this a limited comfort. I don’t doubt we will see years of this nonsense against Salmond before it is finally dismissed.
“Safe” members of the establishment elite can conduct the most blatant of crimes and never get prosecuted at all. The late Tessa Jowell engaged repeatedly and personally in blatant money laundering of crooked Berlusconi funds that would have had anyone but a senior politician locked up. Amber Rudd was a Director of a share ramping scheme that ripped off hundreds of investors. Michelle Mone is currently engaged in a Ponzi scheme badly disguised as a crypto-currency. None of those will be prosecuted.
I would suggest that the financial affairs of the vast majority of the wealthy and powerful would not stand up to close investigation and scrutiny. But in the normal course of events the powerful are shielded from such scrutiny. Paul Manafort’s financial dealings would have been actionable at any time in the last few decades. It is only when caught in the mass fishing expedition of the Mueller “Russiagate” investigation that he gets convicted – for matters nothing to do with the ostensible reason for the investigation. Which is not to say the convictions are a bad thing, just that if you scratch below the surface of any multi-millionaire or any friend of the powerful, you will be able to convict them. They should all be scratched, not just those whom other wealthy individuals regard as a threat to the political order.
Prosecution is not happening in the Manafort case from motives of preventing financial impropriety of the rich – 99.9% of that is overlooked, all the time. It is happening because for some reason the neo-conservative Establishment in the United States continue to see Donald Trump as a threat. What I do not understand is why they see Trump as a threat to Establishment interests, as he has given no indication he means to follow through on any of his anti-establishment or non-interventionist campaign rhetoric. The Establishment are not those who should feel threatened by Trump.
As a lawyer practising for nearly 30 years, I often tell the glib, who raise the “no smoke without fire and if you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve nothing to fear” argument, that they have no idea how awful it is to face trial and be found innocent.
Rather then the presumption of innocence, the so-called basis of our hallowed ‘rule of law’ that we laud repeatedly, people find themselves judged guilty by the media and the establishment generally often without even the slightest nod to due process such as knowing who made the charges or the extent of evidence (if any). Justice is availabe to all; just like the Ritz!
I have no way of knowing whether Mr Salmond is guilty or not but at least if it gets to court and he clearly has the resources to fund it, he stands a chance but, as Mr Murray has indicated, if they decide to get you, they will.
Ingwe
Tonight on our Scottish News we had a Labour MSP declaring how this news would be “distressing for every woman in Scotland” and that Salmond should be suspended from the SNP immediately!
Blimey! Shouldn’t we want a fair system for all, including the accused? Apparently not. If you’re female you should automatically convict someone accused of harassment without knowing anything. As a female myself I really do despair of the current trend where some among my “sisters” suddenly remember – five years later – something that will destroy a prominent male politician.
Jo1-yes, the rush to judgment is appalling especially from those who should know better. Natural justice dictates that we should know our accuser, be in full knowledge of what is being alleged, and what the evidence consists of. But of course, some have agendas of their own and like to leap on any passing bandwagon if they sniff and personal advantage. What entitles anyone to know what is distressing for every woman in Scotland?
The main stream media will run and run this just like the spurious Corbyn anti-Semitic meme. Mr Salmond has obviously p***ed off those in power so his card has been well and truly marked. Nothing whatever to do with justice, due process, fairness, rule of law, whatever you want to call it. Keep speaking out. It shows the inaccuracy of his bizarre assertion concerning all Scottish women.
Agreed
Jo this yet again reeks of the work of Alister Campbell’s @Portlandcomms it seems thryvcan do nothing but concoct smears. You can tell it’s campbell because of the “shock and awe” presentation. Nothing at all then suddenly someone is public enemy number one. It’s fairly pathetic. But once a Blairite MSP piped up with a predictable line that could have come straight out of the mouth of Campbell himself you can tell exactly where this is coming from, presumably it’s to keep him out of it whilst Campbell tries to railroad Brexit. The next 3 months are going to see the Establishment tear itself apart
That’s a great post Ingwe. You have far more knowledge and experience than me, but I have seen a move away from “innocent until proven guilty” (perhaps it was always there and I’m more cynical now) and trial by media (definitely right here right now). Justice isn’t that blind these days.
Nick
Trial by media is spot on.
I watched Salmond being interviewed by three different journalists on the news today. Brian Taylor of BBC Scotland, the hapless Colin Mackay from STV News and Alex Thompson from Channel 4. All were excruciating to watch. These so-called journalists weren’t interested in the points Salmond was making. Rather, they wanted to ask sleazy questions about, maybe, inappropriate touching of someone’s bum…and had he ever done that, unintentionally maybe…or something else that could have been misconstrued…maybe? Ugh! These weren’t interviews, these idiots took it upon themselves to conduct interrogations! And the truth is, they were deliberately avoiding the questions they should have been asking. It wasn’t about the truth. It was just about, “This is Salmond. This is a chance to take him down.”
They’re a disgrace as journalists.
You don’t have to disagree or agree. It’s the obvious hatchet jobs and bias. If I were a Scot I’d vote for independence like a shot. But I’m from Yorkshire, we have our own resistance movement 🙂
It must have been hellish for you Craig not being able to see the allegations or confront your accusers.
I’m sure you of all people can understand Salmond’s predicament.
How true, Mr. Murray.
Alex Salmond had it coming after he joined the RT network, the governing elite will not forgive him for it, will use every trick in the book to make his life a misery.
If he has the funds, he should take them to court.
Same with Livingstone. Or actually any one:
NGO publishes names of 2,300+ RT guests, labels them ‘useful idiots who undermine Western democracy’
https://www.rt.com/news/407347-rt-guests-list-ngo/
Its so absurd..
the stinking rancid system, designed for amoral psychopaths to ruin carreers, corrupt the system and with no comeback to them. a system that needs ripped apart. creates a perfect place for corrupt perverts.
Trump censures social media firms for ‘silencing millions’
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/08/24/572122/Trump-censures-social-media-firms-for-silencing-millions
Where the hell are leftists today to condemn this censorship?
No wonder Trump is popular when left is nowhere to be found on subjects where they should be the ones at the helm!
I couldn’t get your link to work, Jack. However the left here in the UK were being censored by Facebook although that company claimed the problem was caused by a glitch. Strangely enough this ‘glitch’ didn’t affect any of the MSM websites or indeed the extreme right-wing Guido Fawkes blog.
http://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-facebook-blackout-glitch-censored.html
Incidentally Jack, the World Socialist Web Site had its traffic reduced by 70% due to Google’s manipulation of search results.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/01/23/pers-j23.html#pk_campaign=sidebar&pk_kwd=textlink
Where the hell were rightists to condemn this censorship? Perhaps they were too busy applauding Mr. Trump’s administration repealing net neutrality.
I think you miss my point, that rightwings often support censorship is one thing, the issue was that left has often been condemning this activities, but now they are silent, perhaps because they very much support the censorship of today by liberals/leftwing social media.
HI Craig
Sorry to hear the personal problems you went through and even if the allegations against Mr Salmond are without basis doubtless it will continue to be a protracted affair to come to a conclusion. I’m afraid I see these things in a very sinister light as I believe the rot goes far beyond government level as I see government simply as a tool used by the Establishment as a form of crowd-control. Anything or anyone who is prepared to or likely to alter the status quo is a threat and if they can’t be bought like the Tony Blairs of this world then they are destroyed by character assassination or worse. I don’t know whether Salmond is a saint or a sinner but he poses a threat to the established order so they will throw shit at him and some will stick if not to him then in the minds of others.
I absolutely agree
The Tory wonks still think they can swing the war in Syria by Skripalgate. Salmond is live on RT. The only people who are capable of believing that wars can be won by muck-spreading are , in this country, the public-school elites and royals and in the US the neo-cons, who genuinely believe they are better than everyone else and that their high public standing will convince the public they are telling the truth.
They’ll keep flip-flopping their tails in the drained swamp until they end up as fossils on somebody’s coffee table. Yawn. When is the official end of the journalistic silly season?
O/T
22 Yemeni women and four children have been killed today
by the so called Saudi-led coalition. Yesterday four children were also killed.
Anything to say Theresa May?
You had the Crown Prince from the killers, Mohammed Bin Salman, at Chequers earlier this year.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/saudi-crown-prince-theresa-may-meeting-mohammad-bin-salman-chequers-uk-state-visit-a8245741.html
Anything to say Philip May?
Your employers, Capital Group, are funding the manufacturer of the weapons used, Lockheed Martin.
Yemen school-bus airstrike: Theresa May’s husband’s company has shares in firm that made bomb
22 Aug, 2018
https://www.rt.com/uk/436562-may-lockheed-martin-yemen/
Sky News are quoting the UN who report 22 Yemeni children being killed with no mention of women’s deaths. The reports are conflicting.
Sharp Ears
Colonial war is far more degrading than you seem to think. In order to stoke a good war in a Muslim country the Zionists have to secretly support both sides, Iran and Saudi Arabia, or previously Assad and the rebels, while publicly asserting the opposite. Saudi Arabia would not be fighting the Houthis in Yemen if the neo-cons had not given Iran the green light to attack the centre of Sunni Islam from under its left armpit, having previously given Saddam Hussain a green light to annoy it from its right.
USUKIS knows that Sunni Islam continues to fight wars on principles if provoked. None of the resident commentators here will buy this argument because it’s so easy to see things in black and white. From a Sunni perspective the false worship of dead imams and prophets, which is practised by Shi’a Islam, is more appalling heresy if it were allowed to get a grip in Yemen, than the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children.
The bit we don’t see, the bit by which the West fosters sectarian division, is only unseen because the MSM choose not to report it. IMHO the West is 100% responsible for creating the sectarian divide which creates the conflict, which it previously did in Iraq under general betrayus, and it also profiteers from the conflict by arms sales and defence, while rubbing its hands with glee at mass Muslim misery by its evil conspiracy of pushing sectarian Muslim pressure points.
All the while the Zionist West pushes the buttons of Sunni Islam, they maintain their continuous whine of anti-Semitism to get themselves seen as victims in all of this. Our politicians are vastly nastier than you can possibly think.
It’s over. They have lost in Yemen. As they have lost in Syria. McCann is no longer calling shots.
(I really hope the pulling of western airlines from Iran isn’t a precurser to a sneak attack – Trump’s chances of hotels and golfcourses would take a major set back!)
https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/msm-finally-concedes-defeat-on-yemen-ceases-blackout-of-coverage-1b774266dbfe
https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/do-not-let-them-make-a-saint-of-this-asshole-6626690474bc
She should be on everyones regular must read list.
“if the neo-cons had not given Iran the green light to attack the centre of Sunni Islam from under its left armpit,”
Really? Where’s that happening? We know about Saudi attacking Shi’a around the ME, but I must have missed the attacks on Sunnis by Iran.
What is the definition of sexual harrassment and how do you prove it? Back in the days when I was a young woman about town, no one took much notice of the odd occasion when a man had one too many drinks and came over amorous. More serious were the men who could not keep their hands to themselves or dealt in constant sexual innuendo. For these two types, even when we complained to human resources, other men seemed reluctant to take any action. But the men who did this, did it regularly. We knew who they were and avoided them as far as possible.
Actual sexual assault, as I would define it, would mean trying to force explicit sexual behaviour on a woman who has specifically rejected the man’s advances. One of the problems with the current climate seems to be that rather like racism, where any comment is racist if the hearer believes to be so, so almost any behaviour is sexual assault if the person who makes the allegation says it was. And some of situations they complain about, seem to me, as a militant feminist, pretty flimsy. Alex Salmond should at the very least be told what the charges are against him. ( Wasn’t there something similar at the end of last year, hotly denied, against an English MP, from Kent I think?)
From across the water, your understanding seems rational and lucid.
Alas! However well-intended its ambitions, pernicious postmodern identity-politics ideology has taken us Through the Looking-Glass. Unfortunately, the present Wonderland seems to have been inspired by Kafka and Orwell as much as Carroll.
Great post MaryPaul. Thank you.
You’re right. Apparently it’s all about perception these days.
I don’t think some of our sisters come out of it well. Especially the ones who recall misdemeanors from years gone by which, for some reason, have now become suddenly very important.
Great post. Totally agree that a grown woman should be able to see off both types, especially when aided by a complaints procedure. That kind of male behaviour is however still very threatening to young women (teenagers) if in a vulnerable position.
I am I naive, or is there any reason why Boris Johnson should not be prosecuted for conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.
The evidence, is all there in the public domain re his recorded conversation with that Guppy? fellow.
I don’t know how to do links etc properly so you will need to look for yourselves.
Imagine then if JC or Ken Livingstone had done the same their feet would not have touched the floor on the way to the Klink.
Of course, that’s impossible since they are both honourable and honest to a fault so.
However, we can see how in the establishment, justice is blind to their own criminals within.
You are correct.
This is the telephone conversation between Johnson and Guppy in 1990.
https://youtu.be/C9MUwBEJRwk
Major was PM at the time until November when Thatcher came in.
Surely Major was after Thatcher. Maybe you are mixing up Thatcher with BLiar, an easy mistake.
Don’t know how I transposed them. Sorry.
Thatcher 1979 – 1990
Major 1990 – 1997
Then Blair for those awful 10 years.
Where is he bte? Lounging on some oligarch’s superyacht?
“1.) Did you [Special Counsel Mueller] conspire with, and take money from, Oleg Deripaska in a failed bid to free FBI agent Robert Levinson?
2.) What is the working relationship between Joseph Mifsud and former MI5 official Claire Smith?
3.) What is the working relationship between MI5 official Claire Smith and former MI6 operative Christopher Steele?
4.) What is the working relationship between former MI6 operative Christopher Steele and Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson?”
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index2634.htm
Craig, I have read your book, and thoroughly understand the torment you went through, and the courage, and determination, you demonstrated, and still do to, to recover from “learnt helplessness”
You are a very positive example to the over 25%, who are currently sufferring from one kind of depression, or mental illness at any one time.
What happenned to you, can and probably will happen to almost everyone, in one way or another at some point throughout their lives.
I do recommend to anyone, who has the slightest interest in World Affairs, whether depressed or not, to read your book Murder in Samarkand. I personally found it, very uplifting, fascinating and exciting, and I wasn’t the slightest bit depressed when I was reading it, even though it wouldn’t stop raining.
Anyone who is really depressed should also listen to Leonard Cohen (especially his early stuff). You will typically think Oh My God, even I don’t feel that bad. Strangely enough when you are feeling down (lost a girlfriend or whatever) you want to expereince similar emotional content, and not eg. The Beatles – She Loves You – “with a love like that you know you should be glad”
Hugh Cornwell (ex Stranglers) Nosferatu, is pretty good too.
“Hugh Cornwell & Robert Williams – Nosferatu.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLkSJCkYqpI
Tony
“Anyone who is really depressed should also listen to Leonard Cohen.”
Tony
Do you want to send them over the edge altogether?
“when you are feeling down (lost a girlfriend or whatever)”
Surely a cause for celebration.
Nice. The SCL can of worms just gives and gives.. More. Yumm.
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2018/03/20/scl-a-very-british-coup/
I recommend anyone, at least anyone who is (apparently) as uncertain as Craig as to what’s going on re the Mueller investigation to consider these questions.
“he has given no indication he means to follow through on any of his anti-establishment or non-interventionist campaign rhetoric”
Well… Paris Climate Accord, Tariffs and Trade Pacts…
Perhaps left commentators need to re-examine what is establishment and what is anti-establishment.
https://alethonews.com/2018/08/15/protectionism-for-liberals/
Aletho
In politics there are kids and there are grown ups. Right now , Corbyn, Putin and Trump are the grown ups, while Hubris Johnson and the other wriggly invertebrates of the Stinky Party are the infantile, spoilt kids.
I don’t necessarily count Alex Salmond with the grown-ups, as he has backed many an establishment line in order to get preferment, but he’s a hell of a lot more grown up than Theresa May’s racist Brexit and anti-Russian witch-hunt. I can’t stop Mrs May repeating unremitting tripe nor can I make Alex Salmond become George Galloway. But my litmus paper is showing him on the safe alkaline side of neutral, which in Litmus terms is blue, while in political terms is red.
BTW , just to be pedantic, I understand that the word doubt in Scotland sometimes means the opposite to the English meaning. I doubt can mean I do think that rather than I don’t. It’s Friday, the start of the Muslim week.
I have just received a e/mail message from Nicola Sturgeon outlining the complaint against Alex Salmond , well it didn’t actually tell me anything other than a complaint has been made , the investigation has been completed and the mater is moving forward , meaning there is enough proof to continue meaning Alex is guilty ,if ever a message contained the reference tossed under a bus that was it, I appreciate the need for total neutrality even when friends and former colleagues are involved but FFS it looks like everyone is asleep on duty ,dosnt anyone have the political savvy to handle the whole situation with some idea and sense of the political fallout thats on the Way .
Bloody Amateurish from seasoned politicians give me bloody strength .
Robert
It became clear today that NS is not able to interfere in this ongoing process. I’d hardly say she’s thrown him under a bus!
The woman who is leading the process is Leslie Evans, (I always thought the female version for that name was Lesley but we live and learn!) who, forgetting she’s meant to be impartial while spouting all that integrity stuff, took time out to launch a personal attack on Salmond by claiming he’d tried to “gag” her. In fact, he’d understandably sought an interdict because she was preventing him from knowing the facts before making it all public!
Robert Graham
what you call lack of savvy is what Craig calls learnt helplessness. The accusation by a woman who is leading you on of unwanted attention is not impossible to refute. Salmond must now recollect the exact words by which he was being given the green light by someone who is now claiming to the authorities that they were giving a red light. But he was not trying to memorise the green light words that were said to him because he was too busy sticking his paws into the honey trap.
Evil cow, But there again some women are pretty badly mentally f***ed, including my ex-wife. It’s all sordid , normal , nasty manipulative stuff in hindsight but a bit shocking to be on the receiving end of both gross misrepresentation and summary justice from the police.
So Craig finds himself locked out of Facebook, presumably for the small part he played in helping Donald Trump win against the anointed Her. It will be justified under the new “muh Russia” regulations announced by the big tech companies today.
There will, of course, be much wailing and gnashing of teeth about free speech and censorship, but this has been par for the course for conservatives on social media for years.
Therefore, let’s only listen to those who stood up for free speech when it was the conservatives being silenced, shall we?
All conservatives should be silenced at all times. Well let them out on the balcony under a full moon to ramble incoherently to themselves, like Hamlet but otherwise using the motto “Catch it . Bin it.” for Tory tripe would save a lot of unnecessary public stress.
I’m not talking about Tories. I mean actual conservatives.
Anon1
As I have said before, some people are young and their minds are old, while others are old and their minds produce continuous gushing springs of new ideas. Tories use the slogan radical to advertise their recidivist authoritarianism as somehow fresh. Conservatives with a small C are genuinely scared of change. If all of the Asians and Eastern Europeans and Afro-Caribbeans did not admire something about the British over the 100s of years, do you think they would come here? Society is not going to radically change because of immigration. It’s going to move; rivers move ;wind moves; light waves move ; traffic moves; babies are born and live in the houses of those who die.
Didn’t you say all the Muslims in your community have disowned you because you are white British? And don’t you normally have a lot to say about the refusal to integrate of the South Asian Muslim community?
🙂
” the small part he played in ”
You mean the non-existent part he didn’t play in. Do try to keep up..
“So Craig finds himself locked out of Facebook”… are you spreading fake news, Anon1? ?
https://m.facebook.com/craig.murray.1257?fref=nf
He said so on Twitter. If it’s a glitch then I’m afraid it’s just conservatives.
All historical posts from the blog have been deleted by Facebook. In addition Facebook have disabled the interlink between Twitter and Facebook (for everyone) and revoked our permission to auto-post a new blog article to Facebook. The current article eventually appeared after manual human intervention to post it. Facebook want a video of Craig writing a post on the blog and also logging into his Facebook account as part of the procedure to be re-authorised. Facebook also demand temporary admin access to the blog to check it out – they won’t be getting that! For the moment posts will be manually sent to Facebook but that could stop working as well depending on what Facebook does next.
It’s funny you should mention free speech, because, the Moderator has just seen fit to delete some of my posts that were deriding you.
I really, wouldn’t have expected that Anon1 would have been a protected member of establishment, but it just goes to show.
You’re officially a victim and deserving of sympathy. You were losing 99-nil but somehow you scored an extra winner. Well done, old chum
That should of course be ‘extra-time winner’.
Don’t forget to maintain that list of yours. Your new official victim status might one day demand a statute and your list of names inscribed along the plinth would set it off nicely.
We all have posts deleted from time to time, ADHD. You just happened to have one deleted by the blog owner. Still, no need to cry over it. Just try to keep the personal abuse off the board.
By the way, you’re also using multiple IDs in contravention of the blog rules.
Why the ADHD rebrand was entirely your suggestion. I never directed personal abuse at you I just made fun of your victim posturing. It’s a bit pathetic really, a grown man collecting a list of names he was called. A case of don’t dish it out if you can’t take it, if you ask me. But times are different now than when I was a lad. I think they have a word for it nowadays? Snowflake, yes, that’s it, Snowflake. You could add that to your list?
My concern is more about freedom of speech and the wanton damage of a piece of art that I have named “The Puncturing of a Racist”. Did you by any chance see the white duck gif before it was deleted? It really does deserve a wider audience.
Anyway, I know that you are a strong advocate of free-speech and wondered if you would lend your voice to protecting my free speech rights? Surely, it can’t be that your desire for free speech only extends to yourself and those you agree with; I think you’ll find that’s the opposite of free-speech; that would make you a hypocrite? That’s another word you could add to your list, but there’s a good chance it’s already there.
I really am helping you with the words, today. You know what they say…one good turn, deserves another!
I defend everybody’s right to free speech but it’s Craig’s blog. He can delete/ban as he sees fit. Your free speech is not affected.
One more handle for you to try out – ADWA.
GREAT NEWS, ANON1
I come up with a name for our GoFundMe c-word. Wait for it…..
White Victims Of Racism Matter
Fantastic, eh! But that’s not the half of it……It forms a wonderful acronym….
WvORM
I really think this is major stepforward in addressing the victimisation that you have suffered.
Now have you been maintaining your list because I think its high time we took your case to the United Nations.
Good to point out the ways of the English state and their tentacles.
Their propaganda media all their lackey stenographers on the band wagon now.
All aboard!
Lined up to wheel out fake trial by media.
Drip drip drip.
Let’s link it with Hollywood etc, let’s wheel out an obscure
English labour branch office employee calling for a
Lynching.
Glen Campbell ( not the singer, just a BBC stenographer) stitching bits together.
Sarah shmith that anti SNP stalwart and defender of the liebor myth.
Her daddy was nearly a Messiah too!
Trying to stitch it up.??
“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.”
— Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
“Learnt helplessness”. I know the feeling, even if the label is new to me, and of course my experience was of lesser magnitude than yours Craig, or Salmond’s. The only thing that really surprises me about today’s revelations are that it took them so long.
What is interesting about Craig’s description of “learnt helplessness” is that it is a known psychology condition with known negative causes. So it’s designed application by the state is obviously intended to be psychological torture.
Manafort – even weirder is the Cohen case, who caught bang to rights on half a dozen tax fraud cases has managed a deal where he admits to a campaign contribution crime which is not even a genuine crime and claims Trump was part of it.
The blackmail by government employees of Cohen is criminal.
Fake news. Wealthy people sometimes find paying off porn-stars cheaper than paying off ex=husbands or wives. It’s a business choice. We are sexual animals. Where’s the collusion with any enemy of the US?
Three words-
Charles Stewart Parnell
What: Rest in Peace?
He was driven to his death by A.V. Dicey, Gladstone’s Liberals and the Tories because he was wrongly suspected of being behind the Clan Na Gael and the Phoenix Park murders which led the Liberals giving up on Home Rule, his affair with Kitty O’Shee. Parallelism and Crime by The Times and the Tories, and his dying efforts to keep the Irish Party together
Reminds me of what happened to poor Willie McRae of the SNP..
Parnell still cannot get his due from the Brits. Read my biography to that vastly overrated bastarrd Dicey achieved.
Brus,
Yes – I had Parnell in my draft but decided it needed too much explanation.
No, you were right the first time. Salmond has compared himself to Parnell’s tactics.
For many, the legal system is a weapon to use against those who cross them – nothing more. The institutionally broken and corrupt police force means that “innocent until proven guilty” is no where near being part of actual reality. Police bias, aided but media sensationalism and disregard for truth or principles, has killed people and destroyed lives – and will continue to do so.
My Autistic daughter suffered medical examinations, and police interrogation without a known/trusted advocate, at 7 years old – followed by weekly questioning by social services for 3 years. During this time, she was told that she could never be alone with her own mother, and repeatedly told to be scared of everything. She still suffers cripplingly severe anxiety, at age 13. They have ruined her life.
My wife was arrested, interrogated, and abused by police. She was threatened with rape, told she would have her child taken away, refuse medication, and even refused toilet roll, by police officers while in custody. Her crime? She was in the flat of the blind guy she is a carer for, when they turned up to arrest him. She was forced out of university, and her mental health was destroyed – despite all charges being dropped.
So, what was so bad about the guy she cares for, that we got dragged in to it? Nothing. All charges were dropped, as there was no evidence of a crime.
For 3 years the police and social services tried to pull us apart, and went out of their way to accuse and abuse anyone who wouldn’t throw the *completely innocent* guy they arrested under the bus!
So, what were the charges? Well, apparently, his ISP had reported to authorities that his PC had been used, on two occasions, to search for acronyms which *may* have related to child pornography. This, apparently, is enough evidence to kick a BLIND MAN’s door in at dawn, and arrest him. His previous activities as an outspoken anti-government activist, and involvement in organising political protests had *nothing* to do with it, obviously :/
3 years of pain, lies and abuse, to a young blind man, his carer, her husband, and their 7 year old daughter – to try to prove that A BLIND MAN was downloading illegal IMAGES of children.
They didn’t give a shit who they destroyed or hurt, as long as they were “protecting [non-existent] children” from non-existent harm. The irony of their *actual abuse* and *actual harm* of a young child was lost on them.
We tried to pursue a complaint, once it was all over. We were told, by a solicitor, that the complaint would have to go through police channels first – and that they would, in no uncertain terms, never let it go any further, and would make our lives hell for daring to speak up. Our *solicitor* advised us that the system was so broken that the likely outcome of a complaint was more pain and hardship for us, and the very real chance of social services being sent after our child. Social services agreed – “drop it and try to move on” was their advice. Both said that what we faced was not only not unique, it was not all that unusual.
I hope Alex, by dint of being visible, can get some better treatment from the ‘justice’ services than we did.
Badger
I once set out on a career in social work, until I met social workers who seemed to be using their work as a form of revenge for their own trauma history. You have to keep saying yes to their tripe until they think they have won the battle to get the square peg into the round hole. I hope you all more than recover from your horrendous ordeal.
My son had several break-downs in his teens but his mum and the doctor never let him express his anger at some abuse he received under her care. The police only listened to her version of events from day 1 of our divorce until now 30 years later and she even became a vicar in the C of E.
None of the English institutions, the police , the solicitor, the vicar, the family, the community would uphold my right to complain about her adultery. they all only upheld her right to do whatever she liked in front of my children. That’s why I came to Islam because it defends the sanctity of marriage.
Back in those days the police had vehicle tracking but not universal spying as we have now. The police would be there in a patrol car every time I left to see my children and there when I returned. Take no notice. They are bonkers. They do after all have to implement political tripe like Skripalgate without complaining and they take it out on innocent people like you.
Badger, horrendous, man. Total respect. What to say. Just wishing you the best.
The Government residing when you are found guilty, that is picked up by the Police, will decide your sentence. Innocents are not picked up by the Police. There is no need for a verdict or jury, it is quaint, and old fashioned 20 century liberalism. In our totalitarian state you are guilty if the Police can see you and you better confess, the longer you resist, the graver your crime. But guilty you are! Show repentance for your ill deeds and the Government might show clemency and understanding. Only Enemies declare themselves not guilty. There is no such thing as a not guilty person, it is a matter of actions and time whether the Police sees your guilt and chooses to act on it.
I think I at one time read a book by a Brit along those lines, he also wrote a biography of Napoleon I believe.
😉
I can’t help but suspect that there is part of the establishment that is keeping a look out for Trump. Maybe but not necessarily to avoid a Trump / Pence presidency, but because the Trump style, as damaging as it may be for pubic understanding of what might be deemed to be acceptable and ethical conduct, does allow the US to radically readjust foreign relations in a way other than by missiles and announcements.
You can use missiles against small nations but not big ones (without a lot of risk and problems).
You can try words against big countries but at the end of the day they are ignored as the other big nations think “same old same old. We’ll sit it out”. Trump’s maverick words and actions do cause some alarm and so with him in the pubic seat perhaps there are some trade adjustments which can be worked out. If so that suggests that Trump (or those who have his back, whoever they might be) is playing the long term game, whilst the Koch insistence on free trade is the short term game.
Trump playing the long game. That sounds like a counter intuitive conclusion* but there might be something in it. Hell, how else could Trump still be in charge unless he is performing some useful function?
(* he may have played a long game with his original big NYC tax deal)
This goes in private business too.
I faced exactly the same working for IP Group plc, facing non-specific charges against unnamed women brought up by two of the most disgusting women ever allowed into management. I refused to engage in any way.
In 2005, I was asked, as an interview presentation to effectively outline a 3 year corporate strategy. This I did, which unfortunately put one of those two women in an embarrasing situation of not having done it herself.
So you brought in a younger woman and obviously tasked her with troublingmaking, attacking me relentlessly and generally saying ‘Thank you for nothing, I am a self serving psychopath who takes £50-100k free consultancy without thanks but call myself a proper mother to my children.’
The greatest irony came when I met her children, being brought up by a controlling dominant mother and a peace-seeking amenable kess ambitious father. The daughter was very competitive and would doubtless grow up ambitious. Her son was quiet, withdrawn, obviously non-competitive.
I had seen this with the children of other hyper-aggressive women I had known (one now a senior exec with Astrazeneca), so it was clearly what happens with that kind of mother.
That son was, as I typed ironically onto my personal home PC, exactly how I had been at the same age.
This was perceived as me attacking her. Of course it was not, what it was was me saying: ‘hating me says something about how you may see your son in 20 years time, so stop your inappropriate behaviour.’
Typing into personal, not company, computers shows whether your employer is carrying out illegal surveillance.
They were, so calling that foul and disgusting woman a criminal is entirely apposite. It should a sine qua non that lifetime bans from financial services should accrue to peepshow perverts denying basic human privacy and dignity not to uncontrollable 18 year old working class yobs liable to drink themselves into a stupor, rather PhD+MBA-educated 40 year olds. In my opinion that woman had lost all right to human rights: nowhere in my contract of employment was FSD surveillance mentioned. But her self-righteous narcissistic manias brooked no human decency. I resigned, served out a six month non-compete-clause costing £25-30,000.
Of course her real problem was that she had said I had the psychological make up of a killer! Oops, that would imply her son was the same. I have never lifted a weapon, never inflicted violence, been a commited peacenik, vigorously opposing the Iraq war. To say her claims were anything but brutal corporate politics would be telling a lie. But effectively I had told her her son would grow up to kill people.
I had called Tony Blair a ‘fucking cunt from a North East Hole’, which caused no deaths, widespread uproarious laughter all over the North of England and doubtless through the London media as well. Bernard Manning was reputed to have been highly amused, but never having spoken to him, I cannot corroborate that.
But I only did that because he had spooks hacking me for three years in Manchester. Quid Pro Quo, I thought.
The name of that disgusting woman can easily be found from the net. I will not deign to type it here.
What I will say is she could not delegate, infantilised employees, Professors and support staff alike.
She can lie, blow and bluster all she likes. I will never back down about those truths.
Rhys Jaggar
The forces of darkness hate publicity. This is what I have learned from Craig. even if he wanted to retire from public blogging and just tend his garden, the day he goes quiet is the day the PTB think he is tired. He has to continue to kick them in the short and curlies because the only thing that scares them is truth.
Rhys Jaggar,
I appreciated the logic of your solution to massive wealth disparity, posted elsewhere. Even my friend smiled, but did not completely agree. We even progressed to the core topic of extreme wealth, happinness and power, and actually came to some common ground whilst disagreeing about almost everything else.
You are very brave posting what you do, even if you don’t really mean it.
Haven’t you had the thought police round yet?
My other friend has, and he’s much milder than you.
Tony
Wasn’t this investigation supposed to be about russia collusion? They didnt find that. Instead we have trump paying off some hooker with money that may or may not have been campaign funds. Big deal. I mean this is really going to swing it for Trump voters isn’t it. They’re not going to give a damn about their jobs going to Mexicans after this. It’s over. Might as well all go home They’re all with Her now. Can you imagine Bill doing something like that?
But it gets worse. There is, allegedly, a tape in existence in which Trump can be heard, presumably in a muffled and not very clearcut “did he/didnt he” way, to utter the (drumroll) N-word. It could be 50 years old. We don’t know. But if it does exist it’s being withheld for the midterms.
So here’s a prediction. Presuming there is such a tape and it does come out, Trumps popularity with the black community will either stay the same or go up, from the moment such a tape is released to the time at which black voters are next polled. Who wants a bet? I’ll take anything up to £100.
You are a nasty piece of work, aren’t you?
No. I’m making a prediction. If you think I’m wrong you can take my money. Easy.
“nasty piece of work” – have you got that on your list?
Yes, and many variations of it from Ian. He never replies to me with anything else.
Well don’t forget to thank Ian for helping you with your list.
“What I do not understand is why they see Trump as a threat to Establishment interests, as he has given no indication he means to follow through on any of his anti-establishment or non-interventionist campaign rhetoric.”
It is the example set by Trump’s campaign that they want to destroy. If they fail, a whole load of maverick and independents will be going for President and every other elected position.
Indeed, but it’s already done. A thousand Trumps have already been spawned. Within 10 years all of Europe will have elected its own Donald Trumps. Like with Brexit it’s all about punishment now. Teach the plebs a lesson.
I’m nowhere near as optimistic that a change is guaranteed. What I am surprised at is that they didn’t try buying off the people, they could have done and they could still do it. The establishment are determined to weather the storm.
If there is a real change then nature of that change will be in flux. What you want is very different to what I want. Can this be resolved in discussion or compromise or does it have to be resolved on the street?
What everyone is imagining is something that requires a revolution. Every revolution brings its own counter revolution. The seeds of the counter revolution are watered by the inability of the revolution to consolidate its gains.
The mere election of Donald Trump does not guarantee that change.
On a different, but, I feel, equally important note I did notice what I perceive as a certain reluctance on your part to stand up for my free-speech rights. It would be very good of you if you could let the Moderator know that you are happy to be derided and ask him (or her) to release my censored posts. Many thanks!
The Royal Emmanuel Macron party formed and named for him already did – using the same m.o as Trump. Which was to neutralize the traditional voting base – to bring in a ‘outsider’ untainted by their political history – Sarko wasn’t getting traction.
That trick cannot work again. The grass roots are blooming.
If it’s any consolation to Salmond and others, it seems that allegations along the lines suggested do not too negatively impact on career prospects. Trump is a good example. Most sensible people don’t really care what politicians get up to in their private lives, assuming consenting adults, etc.
The SNP and Scottish independence movement will take this in their stride, whatever the outcome. The full weight of the British State has been on their necks for years; they know it and are accustomed to it. Only idiot (and treasonous) Unionists in Scotland fail to acknowledge how vicious the approach of the British State has been.
For the independence movement, it’s a given that MI5 and all manner of corrupt practices are actively deployed against them at all times, ranging from hacking servers and phones, bugging offices, and manipulating the media with lies and distortions of the truth.
Most people I know believe that the 2014 referendum was rigged. I do too.
The indications are that Scotland is teetering on the brink of annulling the British Union and this explains the heightened intensity of the attacks on people like Salmond as well as the upsurge in BBC distortions. In short, they are panicking and desperate.
Brexit is a gift to the independence movement and when the effects of it are felt by people on the ground in Scotland, it won’t be possible to hide the truth of the colonial nature of their relations with England.
It’ll be much harder for them to rig the next referendum, of that you can be sure.
And frankly, I don’t give a fuck what Salmond or any of them get up to behind closed doors. I stopped caring about that sort of thing when the sordid details of the Westminster paedophile ring escaped into the public domain and overloaded my flimsy circuit-board. How’s the inquiry into that going?
For now we sit and wait, knowing that the tide will soon change in our favour. None of this will matter in the end. We’re leaving Brexit Britain and nothing can stop that.
I found this for you, Hatuey
https://youtu.be/YZ46I3kMOr0
I’ve actually already watched that. Funnily enough, I made several hundred pounds on Trump. I put my bet on after his first televised debate wth Hillary. I realised, no matter how unlikely Trump appeared, Hillary just couldn’t win on account of being such a really horrible person.
£100 at 6/1 here. I tried telling everyone…
Bloody hell. You people make the worst Corbynites look like cool headed dispassionate seekers of truth.
Welcome to the madhouse.
Solero,
I was discussing that with a friend of mine this afternoon. All I said was that, I think the way Jeremy Corbyn has been attacked by the all The Media, is not only completely Disgraceful, but also totally counter-productive, and only goes to increase support for Jeremy Corbyn.
His next response, almost completely floored me, but it showed the power of propaganda.
I was now close to being accused of everything that Jeremy Corbyn has been accused of.
I had a brilliant response, that was much better than John Ward’s, though somewhat similar.
Tony
The left have spent the past 30 odd years smearing everyone who disagrees with them as racist. It’s reap what you sow time.
Anon1,
But I Have Always Been a Left Wing Capitalist.
Well, since I started posting on the Internet.
I have had to etaredom my writing style slightly , because I could tell it was beginning to annoy people.
I did name my budgie “ragiregdub”, so have always been a bit weird
And I nearly always sign my posts Tony, which annoys people even more.
Ynot
But, Anon1, Corbyn, as far as I know, has never accused anyone of racism. But just like you he’s white and keeps on being unjustly accused of racism.
I’d have thought you’ve found a kindred spirit. Here’s an idea….you could change your avatar to Corbyn2, or even go for Corbyn1, why the hell not!
Feel free to enlighten with your Blairite/Tory/Liberal conventional wisdom.
FIFA roll over to Israel.
Palestinian FA president issued year-long FIFA ban for inciting ‘hatred and violence’ against Messi
https://www.rt.com/sport/436772-palestinian-fa-banned-fifa/
‘The action comes after Jibril Rajoub called on football fans to burn pictures of the footballer if he decided to participate in a friendly against Israel in Jerusalem earlier this year.
The match between Argentina and Israel was eventually canceled despite an appeal by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu to his Argentinian counterpart Mauricio Marcri to have the game go ahead as planned.
Rajoub’s plea caught FIFA’s attention, and he was fined $20,000 in addition to the year-long ban from attending any football matches. It added that he will “not be able to attend football matches or competitions in any official capacity, which includes, among others, participating in media activities at stadiums or in their vicinity on matchdays.”:
“FIFA roll over to Israel.”
Not at all – merely teaching a disgrace to football and a hooligan a well-earned lesson :
“The action comes after Jibril Rajoub called on football fans to burn pictures of the footballer if he decided to participate in a friendly against Israel in Jerusalem”
Where did the bugger think he was – on the Israel/Gaza border? 🙂
I think Trump is perceived as a threat because of the vast numbers of people who voted for him and rejected the ‘advice’ of their betters in the political process, Hollywood, journalism and the wider media. It’s that ‘disobedience’ that’s troubling and cannot be allowed to stand.
Essentially the American voters turned their backs on both the main parties and voted for an outsider, someone who wasn’t even a ‘vetted’ politician, but a brash, crass and maverick business man… everything Obama wasn’t.
And Hillary’s campaign spent twice as much as Trump’s. I think that really shook them.
In case you did not know, Komodo keeps a log of Blair’s travels and activity. Originally named Blair Miles now under the heading An Apology.
Recent posts from:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2015/02/an-apology/comment-page-50/#comment-770402
I see Cherie has become a director of a cement company called Dangote. Handy for burying the bodies. She is also an ‘Independent Director’ at Renault.
Dangote – Nigerian but expanding into other 13 African countries Inc Ghana
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangote_Cement
She joins Sir Mick Davis on that board, he of the Liam Fox/Werritty scandal. Use search box on here.
http://www.dangotecement.com/about-us/board-of-directors/mick-davis/