Writing about your personal demons for the public is seldom a good idea, and it is a particularly bad idea when you are starting at 3.40am as they are haunting you. We are spending Hogmanay in the beautiful city of Gdansk. It is my first time here for over twenty years, but the city has remarkable memories for me.
In November 1994 I was newly arrived as First Secretary at the British Embassy in Warsaw when a fatal fire occurred at the famous shipyard, in a hall being used for a rock concert tied in to a MTV transmission. The fire doors were all padlocked shut, and the heat had reached such intensity that a flash fire had occurred right across the hall. Miraculously only five people had died immediately, but hundreds had been horrifically burnt or suffered fume inhalation and the hospitals were completely overwhelmed.
Within hours of the fire I was dispatched to Gdansk by our dynamic Ambassador and found myself on a train heading North with only a Motorola mobile phone the size of a large brick (1994) and a phone number for DFID, in those days a part of the FCO and known as ODA. I roused from his London bed the official in charge of emergency assistance, Mukesh Kapila, and he instructed me to get a list from the medical authorities of all the supplies required. He explained that major burns required large volumes of consumables by way of ointments and special gauzes and bandages.
Arriving in Gdansk I very soon discovered that the victims were dispersed round several hospitals and there was no central authority able to produce a list of requirements. Poland was still in the early stages of a shock transition from communism and elements of administration were shaky at the best of times, let alone in a large scale emergency. The only way to make any progress was for me physically to go to every hospital and every concerned ward, buttonhole the doctors there and ask them what they needed.
To say they were swamped would be ridiculous understatement. Victims were everywhere, very many critical, and in some places bleary-eyed doctors literally had nothing – creams, bandages, painkillers, saline drips all exhausted. Meeting many doctors, when I told them I could get anything sent out instantly, the reaction ranged from angrily incredulous to massive bear hugs.
It was of course difficult. In 1994 Polish medical practice differed quite sharply from British. There were language barriers; my as yet basic Polish lacked medical vocabulary. And I had to keep interrupting incredibly busy people. But after the first couple of hospitals I was able to extrapolate and phone through to Mukesh the most obviously urgent items, and by the end of the day I was clutching 16 handwritten lists and could sit down to consolidate them.
But I have not described to you what it was like to go round those wards. I really cannot – it was indescribable. Horribly disfigured people screaming and writhing in pain, begging and pleading for any relief, even asking to die. And the worst thing is, they were all teenagers – the average age seemed about 16. One image I shall never forget was of a girl sitting bolt upright in bed, looking calm, and I recall thinking that at least this one is OK. But I had seen her right profile and as I passed her, the left side of her face was literally skeletal, with a yellow blob for an eye, no skin and just the odd sinew attached to the bone. Her calm was catatonic.
But in a way still worse were two girls who looked perfectly healthy, lying on top of their beds apparently in an untroubled sleep. The doctor told me that they were already brain dead, having inhaled cyanide gas from the combustion of plastic seating. The mother of one of them was there and she pleaded with me to tell the doctor not to turn off the ventilator; the poor woman was crazed with grief and pulling at her hair, which was dyed red. I can still recall every detail of the faces of both mother and her still daughter.
I called in every day for a week or so and sat with the mother a few minutes, in silence. Then one day they were gone; the doctors had switched off the ventilator.
Andrze Kanthak, our Honorary Consul, was a fantastic support and worked extremely hard throughout this period – but as we walked together into the first ward, Andrze simply fainted straight out at the sight of it all. That evening we had hardly finished consolidating my 16 lists and sending them off to Mukesh when news arrived that the first shipment of most urgent supplies was arriving at Gdansk airport, and we dashed off there with a lorry from the City Council.
It was a bitter disappointment. Customs refused to release the medicines until duty had been paid and, still worse, everything would need to be checked and certified by the food and drug administration, which could take weeks. All my fury at the self-satisfied officials was of no avail, and we returned temporarily baffled.
A phone call now came that DFID had chartered a flight to arrive the next day with 20 tons of medical supplies, so the situation was now critical. Walesa was now President and I suggested we contact his office, but Andrze advised we should rather recruit Father Jankowski.
Jankowski was the parish priest in Gdansk who had been integral to the Solidarnosc movement, and at that time he wielded enormous political influence. His home was extraordinary for a parish priest – literally palatial – and when I met him there the next day he readily agreed to help. He came to the airport with us as the chartered cargo flight arrived, and supervised the loading into the council lorries which I dispatched to the various hospitals. A tall imposing figure in a flowing black cassock, the customs officials who had blocked us obeyed him without question.
Things calmed down over the next few days, Mukesh Kapila himself came out, and the hospitals once supplied performed brilliantly. Astonishingly, from hundreds of cases of severe and extensive burns, with scores in intensive care, we lost nobody except the two girls who were already brain dead, bringing the final death toll to seven. The incredible survival rate was viewed as a miracle, and perhaps it was, but it was a miracle assisted by some fantastic doctors, by Mukesh Kapila and his staff, by Father Jankowski, by Andrze Kanthak and by the Secretary of Gdansk Council whose name (Janowski?) has slipped my mind, embarrassingly as the experience made us firm friends for a long while.
But I am afraid to say the personal impact on me was quite severe. It is no secret that I struggle against bipolar disorder, and the sheer horror of those days in the wards undoubtedly triggered me for quite a while. I also suffered recurrent nightmares for more than a decade, about the horrific burns but also about the brain dead child and the mother tearing her hair. Worse than the nightmares were the waking flashbacks, not so much visual as emotional, experiencing the feeling of it happening again.
When I got back to the Embassy nobody was very interested in what I had been doing. I was ticked off for returning a day late and also for not obtaining much media publicity for the UK’s role. I have written before that one of my frequent duties in Poland was to conduct high profile visitors around the concentration camps, a visit all British politicians wish to make. Those places filled me with horror, which resonated on the same emotional frequency as the Gdansk trauma. Those frequent visits made my time in Poland difficult to me, which is a shame as it is a delightful country and people.
Back here now as a tourist, with my family and at a festive time, no troubling memories are assailing me. I find I can now be proud of what we did, rather than ashamed at my emotional reaction afterwards. And I can’t quite tell you why, but I felt it should be recorded.
Finally, it is worth noting that this Gdansk experience was one of a number which led me immediately to understand that the famous BBC report on “Saving Syria’s Children” was faked. The alleged footage of burns victims in hospital following a napalm attack bears no resemblance whatsoever to how victims, doctors and relatives actually behave in these circumstances.
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The U.S. military will be withdrawing its forces from Syria via Iraq, the Iraqi commander Major General Yahya Rasul said on Wednesday.
The U.S. Coalition troops in Syria will “withdraw through Erbil, not areas controlled by Iraq’s [Baghdad] central government,” the Iraqi commander claimed.
Erbil is the capital of Kurdistan Regional Government and the most populous city in the Kurdish inhabited areas of Iraq.
Amidst all the talk about the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, and partially from Afghanistan, that is welcomed by some, but not by others, I detect a little Devil in the Detail that so far, I have not seen mentioned or asked about. What about the so-called Military Contractors who nowadays appear to fulfil an increasingly important role within the American (and their allies) Armies of occupation. No doubt they supply a highly lucrative revenue stream for their private employers, and also provide “deniability” for the respective Government spokespeople with regard to the exposure of unsavoury and unwelcome atrocities. I suppose my question boils down to; Will the mercenaries be departing as well ?
Probably not.
One of my ancestors was a mercenary in the Boer War but I’m not sure which side he was on. I think he often changed sides depending on who was offering more money.
“Amidst all the talk about the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, and partially from Afghanistan,” .. China builds a rail tunnel through the Himalayas and lands a craft on the far side of the moon.
re the little Devil in the Detail, a more important point is the effect on the local population, totally ignored by everyone commenting here, i.e. mainly on the Rojavan Kurds, but also others. Trump announcing he’s pulling out has had a certain effect on them – in effect they’ve had to change sides and join Asad. You can’t go back on that. It’s permanent. They’ve lost confidence in the US (which they were foolish to have anyway). Graham spouting about Trump changing his mind (which Trump didn’t say himself) is simple folly – the die is cast. And that applies to directly employed military, or contractors.
No friends but the mountains, the sequel.
The Rojavan Kurds don’t live in the mountains, but on the plains. They haven’t lost from this, you know. They never abandoned their relations with Asad, indeed were wise not to do so.
“Will the mercenaries be departing as well?”
I suspect many flew home just in time for xmas. Possibly via Gatwick…
The contractors, paid as tax free off-shore workers are just off books MoD employees, they would not be risked being caught.
The chilling manipulations of the Institute for Statecraft are straight out of the cold war playbook
As the prospect of a socialist government is now a real possibility, it seems that vested interests will stoop to all manner of dirty tricks and smears to prevent that eventuality, says CHRIS WILLIAMSON
2n January 2019
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/chilling-manipulations-institute-statecraft-are-straight-out-cold-war-playbook
I don’t think there is much that is new but he did visit the premises fwiw.
Chris Williamson is right to be concerned, but what is the Scottish govt doing or saying about it, as on the face of it, Statecraft’s activities directly affect them?
Scotland is a separate legal jurisdiction with its own legal and judicial system, criminal laws and law enforcement agencies, after all. What is the SNP’s Ian Blackford, who sits on the ISC at Westminster, doing about it? It does seem the state is straying too far into party politics and stifling dissent and debate in breach of very basic human rights. Some of what minister Ben Wallace has said recently is concerning, he’s a former military man and he’s clearly brought that blunt solutions mentality to politics.
“but what is the Scottish govt doing or saying about it, as on the face of it, Statecraft’s activities directly affect them?”
The OSCR is directly answerable to the Scottish parliament. So any result from an investigation of them should be presented to Holyrood.
In my opinion the Institute for Statecraft, is a right wing propaganda machine, and that the British security services know fine well what they’re peddling and they probably agree with it.
Is it a threat to the realm or the status quo? If so it then become a matter of defece which isn’t devolved. In any case everyone knows apart from you it seems that the SNP has no real powers at Westminster.
There is no prospect of a socialist government. We have the worst government in history at its worst moment in time and Labour are still lagging 2 points behind in the polls. We have long passed peak Corbyn. He should stand down for being a useless failure.
Labour were consistently 20-25% behind in poll after poll before the start of the GE campaign in 2017; polling in the mid to low 20s with the Tories in the mid to high 40s, An ultra confident Theresa May (personal approval ratings back then around 70%) went to the country to get her landslide majority.
The ‘fairer rules’ broadcasting coverage of an election campaign , a manifesto people actually like and TV leaders’ debates all favour Labour.
Fairer rules broadcasting find it hard to inform us of the vile practises of organ harvesting without consent and their illegal chemical weapons attacks on innocent civilians.
We should be told which MPs supported and or channelled monies to these lawbreaking, ex mercenary led, criminals.
None of them should be given refuge here, without any trials being set in motion to bring them to justice at the ICC.
“peak corbyn” check your calendar this bot died three months ago, childless
But presumably there is a real possibility of a right-wing coup. So you consider Dis-May a roaring success, then?
@D_Majestic A right-wing coup? Unlikely as I think they both went down the pub …
I wouldn’t necessarily agree that this is the worst government in history, but I would agree that this is probably its worst moment so far and I would agree very strongly that despite this there is no prospect of a Corbyn-led Labour government.
Not only is it that peak Corbyn has passed (people have had time to see his promises for the snake oil they are) but it is also that Labour has lost much credibility with its deeply dishonest dodging and weaving on Brexit in general and the deal brought back by the PM in particular. Much contempt – and of course also enjoyment – is afforded by the spectacle of various Labourites attempting to answer concrete questions on that subject.
If a Corbym-led government were to be elected (highly unlikely) and were such a government actually to carry out its election promises (even more unlikely) the country would be bankrupt in 12 months and the £ worth half of a euro.
@Charles Bostock
So you really believe Corbyn-led Labour + others eg.SNP (offering supply and confidence) wouldn’t have the numbers to form a govt? When most bookies and even the Corbyn-hating Daily Mail admits that’s the likely result of an early election?
And it’s a near certainty the SNP would offer that, with or without PLP backing for another referendum in return. Because, the alternative would be yet another election , possibly allowing for a Tory recovery. The SNP would feel almost obliged to prop up the most progressive option at Westminster, which would be Labour. Although, they wouldn’t enter a formal coalition (take cabinet seats) – the Lib Dems made that mistake with the Tories.
…and of course the country is not already bankrupt under the Tories.
How many £trillion are we in debt?
If the government were bankrupt, it would not still be paying your state old age pensions and your NHS pension. I assume that that is not the case.
Charles, the State can’t afford to pay pensions for the long-hsul. That’s why laws were recently introduced to oblige even the tiniest businesses to procure and provide a private pension scheme for their employee(s).
As for the NHS, if you can’t see that it’s being privatised by stealth, as they say in Yorkshire: “Tha must be bloody blind!”
Tony
1/. Yes, an occupational pension – paid for by both employer and employee – is now obligatory and a good job too. This is not unique to the UK, by the way – many Continental countries (where, according to some on here, they do everything better) have a similar system.
2/. This bit about the “privatisation by stealth” of the NHS is just a lazy trope from people who don’t really know very much about the health system. It;’s just a left wing slogan.
A new series of Hospital starts next Thursday on BBC2.
The last series was excellent exposing the shortages and the stress and pressure under which the staff are working.
‘Filmed between October and December 2018, as the impact of the collapse of the multinational construction company Carillion is felt across the NHS and other public services, Hospital is the story of the health service in unprecedented times.
Now in its fourth series, the award winning Hospital, for the first time, charts the day to day life of six NHS Trusts across an entire city – Liverpool – whose hospitals have a catchment area covering more than two and half million people, stretching beyond the city to North Wales, Cheshire and to the Isle of Man.
Edited and broadcast within weeks of filming, this six-part series for BBC TWO will once again capture the day-to-day realities facing the NHS right now. Hospital will bring audiences close to the issues and challenges that continually dominate the headlines. (+ five more paragraphs)
/..
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0by3q5q
Sharp Ears
It would be surprising, wouldn’t it, if a leviathan like the NHS (once described, I believe, as the “biggest employer in Europe”) were not to have any problems, whether of staffing, hospitals or financing.
But it’s quite a leap from acknowledging that to claiming that the NHS is being “privatised by stealth” and prophesying its imminent demise, surely?
Money is not real, it’s a psy-op.
Steady on Sharp Ears. You just praised the BBC!
That won’t do around here.
If the steady, insidious increase of outsourcing in the NHS is not privatisation, what is it then? Re- nationalisation?!?! When blindness to bald facts becomes wilful, it becomes something else.
Labour’s 2017 manifesto was the only one that was actually fully costed. The Tories like to just make things up. Like their claim Labour promised to scrap all historic student debt at a cost of £100bn + (they never did, only promising to end tuition fees) at a cost of around £11bn per year ongoing.
The Tories exaggerate wildly the costs of renationalisation too. Claiming, falsely, Labour wish to renationalise every utility and pay current market value coming up with absurd figures.
Not true : a couple of Labourites dangled the prospect of cancelling all student debt before the electorate. And once the snake oil had had its effect, Jewemy quietly said it wouldn’t be.
A country that has a sovereign currency cannot go bankrupt.
Perhaps not, but your implication that a Labour government would simply print money would simply lead to sky-rocketing inflation. Remember 1975-1976?
(And don’t say that QE has done the same, because it hasn’t. That is because QE and the sort of money printing stunts a Labour government would pull are completely different things)
Charles. Huh??? Quantitive Easing IS a money printing stunt. It’s the same as any ‘free’ money: it has to be paid for further down the line. Why are you trying to suggest that it’s a better type of ‘free’ money?
(And don’t say that QE has done the same, because it hasn’t. That is because QE and the sort of money printing stunts a Labour government would pull are completely different things)
Hang on, I thought QE was brought in by a Labour Government.
So what? How does that make QE the same as what a Corbyn-led Labour government might do with the money supply in furtherance of its hare-brained promises and policies?
Your comment didn’t say “a Corbyn-led Labour Government”, now, did it? It said “a Labour Government”, and that was what I was answering.
“How does that make QE the same as what a Corbyn-led Labour government might do with the money supply in furtherance of its hare-brained promises and policies?”
QE has been the government printing money to which only city financial institutions have access to in order that they buy government debt and equities in order to “fix” the financial markets, specifically the UK government bond market.
Corbyn has suggested that instead of providing state welfare to multi-billion-profiting financial institutions running a racket, that QE money (which like all fiat money is simply credit) should be spent on the real economy, i.e. the one that builds and maintains national infrastructure, improves national economic competitiveness and creates jobs thereby turning government created credit into tangible economic assets, rather than see it all swallowed up by the ‘markets’. Your blatant confusion of QE with the money supply demonstrate a complete lack of understanding about basic economics.
Yes, but QE isn’t printing money according to Charles, it’s better than that because it’s not done by a Labout government. It’s magic, so we can’t compare it to anything else done by anything other than a Tory government.
A Corbyn government is actually highly likely, which is why the same tired propaganda is being rehearsed. Labour fought a defensive campaign in 2017 when the polls were saying the Tories had a 25 pt lead. Yet even without targeting Tory seats they won in places like Kensington, Canterbury, Leamington Spa.
And contrary to the spin campaign, Corbyn’s stance on Brexit will likely pay dividends once more since even fewer Labour supporters want a second referendum today than in 2017.
“Don’t believe the mass media lies Labour support for a second EU referendum has fallen”
https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/01/03/dont-believe-the-mass-media-lies-labour-support-for-second-eu-referendum-has-fallen/
I think many are torn on Brexit, including Labour’s leadership. They look at who is pushing hardest for a second referendum and it’s basically like a Who’s Who list of New Labour: Blair, Mandelson ; Campbell, Adonis et al.
However, against this is the prospect of the Tory right being unleashed to impose on the UK the low tax, small state – a colder, harder society, post-Brexit.
I find N.Sturgeon’s behaviour strange, inasmuch as Brexit surely offers the best chance of easily reaching that 70% consensus for independence? Yet she’s at the forefront of demands for a second Brexit referendum?
Goose
I think most people see Brexit as about the long term future of the country. There is no such thing as a “right wing Brexit”.
It is a remainer scare story based on the assumption that only the right could possibly win an election outside the EU.
The truth is, the left have as much stake in the future of the country as the right if they come up with policies that appeal to the people. Hiding behind Brussels is not going to do the left any favours. Unless of course they are a completely busted flush with no future.
Charles Bostock
You seem to know a lot about money. The borrowing of and the spending of.
So – I’ll ask this question in a comradely manner ( come ou from behind the sofa):
This Tory/Coalition government has near doubled the National Debt.
Its boast is that it has cut the year on year spending on the Current Deficit.
So it begs this question:
What exactly has the extra borrowing of around 800 to 900 billion pounds of borrowing since 2010 to the current period been borrowed for?
If you can guide me to where and when it was spent and of course – on what I would be most gratetful.
Snake Oil indeed.
CB, “dishonest dodging and weaving” could equally be pragmatic sequencing!
What realpolitik is about, surely!
I disagree. I believe Jeremy Corbyn is a decent man who, left to his own devices, would introduce a genuinely socialist government i.e. a government that recognises that the class system should be dead and buried and a more equal social and economic structure introduced.
Of course, in reality, this isn’t going to happen while the super-rich basically control government by bribing with big donations and support if the government bows to their demands.
I’m not sure I agree with Corbyn’s stance on Brexit but it can be argued that many Labour supporters (misguidedly, in my opinion) voted to leave the EU and Corbyn is trying to abide by the referendum result.
I think he should take the view of the Green’s Caroline Lucas and demand a second referendum on the basis of irregularities and lack of information or misinformation during the referendum campaign.
Actually, Caroline Lucas talks more sense than all the other politicians put together.
That said, I think Jeremy Corbyn deserves enormous praise for his efforts to highlight the failings of the so-called Free Market and the obscenity of the Tory austerity cuts.
I think before we criticise Corbyn, we need to be reminded how outrageous has been the relentless media campaign against him.
As if that wasn’t enough, he’s had to face down many of the Blairites (Tories in all but name) in his own party.
I applaud Jeremy!
@Garth Carthy “a decent man” who exercises very poor judgement when it comes to making his thoroughly incompetent former squeeze the Shadow Home Secretary …
She’s also a massive vote loser for Labour. It beggar’s belief that Jeremy can’t see that!
@Goodwin
“who exercises very poor judgement when it comes to making his thoroughly incompetent former squeeze the Shadow Home Secretary …”
Well, you may be right, but it has to be said that Diane Abbott has suffered the most terrible misogynism and other smearing by the mainstream and social media. Maybe her incompetency is exaggerated or even a myth…
I was a reluctant admirer of DianeA but sad!y she is a shadow of her former self and can only still be Shadow HS for old times sake now.
The big problem with Diane Abbot is the years she spent on the sofa cosying up with Portillo and Neill when she thought her political career was over. The demeanour and character she projects in public today is so far removed from her previous BBC persona that it is hard to see her as a genuine person.
Garth
” I believe Jeremy Corbyn is a decent man who, left to his own devices, would introduce a genuinely socialist government i.e. a government that recognises that the class system should be dead and buried and a more equal social and economic structure introduced.
Of course, in reality, this isn’t going to happen while the super-rich basically control government by bribing with big donations and support if the government bows to their demands.”
Is that why Communism was such a failure in Russia – and in China – and in Cuba? Because of the “super-rich” in those countries?
No – systems like Communism and Jewemy’s brand of socialism cannot work in a free society (and not even, long term, in a totalitarian society) because of their essential and intrinsic features.
@Charles Bostock:
Charles: The reason why Communism was such a failure in Russia, China and Cuba was for much same reason that so-called ‘Free Market’ capitalism has failed. Both economic systems tend to be run by greedy (greedy for money or power) psychopaths. Both systems become centralised and increasingly controlled by tiny power elites.
Capitalism just happens to be in the ascendency – there is nothing rational about capitalism – it might yet lead to an eventual apocalypse because short-term primitive thinking is also in the ascendency and the widening gap between the super-rich and the poor is creating increased instability and discontent throughout societies globally.
Cuba’s economy has always been interfered with and destabilised by the US. We will never really know how successful Cuba might have been without US interference – Cuba never had the chance to prove itself. It’s the same with other Latin American countries.
One can hardly argue that Communism leads to war without recognising that most wars and subsequent deaths are caused by capitalist nations.
You say that Jeremy Corbyn’s brand of socialism cannot work in a free society.
I say the exact opposite: Jeremy Corbyn’s socialism CAN only work in a free society – but our society is NOT free. If our society is so free, why are there so many disable people having their benefits cut?
Why are there so many disabled forced to work when they are clearly unfit?
Why do we have austerity for the poor but no austerity for the rich?
I’ll tell you why – because the craven, spineless toadies that call themselves journalists never call to account those in power for their actions.
Jeremy Corbyn rightly hates the EU because he is aware of it’s origins of being partly born out of the remnants of the numerous post-second world war national socialists who managed to wriggle away from Nuremberg. He knows that there is no future for a genuinely socialist government in the UK under the EU’s programme.
This bit about the EU being the creation of a bunch of unreformed (or even reformed) Nazis comes up ever so often. Of course it is bunkum and bottom-of-the-barrel scraping bunkum for that matter.
That well-known loon Christopher Booker (you’ll have heard of him, I’m sure), came out with something vaguely similar in one of his screeds. Which says it all really. 🙂
Charles, do some of your own research on the committee/grouping which created the Treaty Of Paris (which set the European union on it’s merry way). Some of them were known nazi collaborators.
“We have long passed peak Corbyn. He should stand down for being a useless failure.”
Utter tosh. As is pointed out, when there is a GE the media will have to comply with fair reporting practices, which is something they should be doing as a matter of course rather than being compelled to by the law. Corbyn and Labour have faced a massive, continual and orchestrated smear campaign since the result of the last GE. Not just from withing the Tory dominated media, but also from tax-payer funded government agencies. The present government is so truly appalling on so many levels that you have to be a brainwashed idiot, or a tax avoiding multi-millionaire, not to support the only viable political opposition to the outright fascism that is attempting to turn this country into a one-party state.
You wish. But let us assume you are 100% correct. So why not have a snap election and see JC get trashed? The blairites can then make grounds for getting back control of the party and work as one with the tories as they have done for the last 20 years.
Your work here will be done and you can go to happy demob on civvy street or enjoying your booty in some far flung paradise shorn of its natives.
Bring it.
Mrs May shut down the vote which would have shunted her off her perch.
The worst party in history at its worst moment decided to postpone oblivion for four weeks.
” Total control ” as only Gove could put it
“The worst party in history..”
A little unbalanced, Giyane, surely, if you refer to the current UK Conservative government?
I would nominate as worst party in history, ex equeo, the Communist Party, the Nazi Party and the Baath Party.
Sorry Habba I was mis quoting misery guts “” able “”.
I could hardly put inverted commas on a misquote. Fake news is the New truth.
keep up.
There’s 3 whole months of Tory bickering to go, by which time they will have throttled themselves like a Celtic illuminati-on by a bored bawdy and cold scribe.
I love the fake earnestness of your comment about old notches in the neo-con walking stick.
If only there were as many trillions of dollars in the kitty to get rid of the Tories as the Tories wasted on trashing the soviet union and the middle-east.
All we have is low sarcasm and long memories to remind us of their main achievements : sinking the belgrano, poll-tax, Iraq, Libya, Syria, 2007 banking crash. BSE. Food banks.
China probe ‘lands on dark side of the MOON’ in space exploration BREAKTHROUGH
3rd Jan, 2019
https://www.rt.com/news/447980-china-probe-moon-dark-side/
What a pity the residents of Beijing cannot see the moon at present, because of the smog which arrived in October.
https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2018/12/13/beijing-air-pollution-winter-worse-coal/
Probably as genuine as NASA’s Ultima Thule garbage!
Why do you question these space missions?
If the New Horizons space probe is a hoax, it is an elaborate and well planned one. Nasa must have faked the lift-off in 2006, photoshopped pictures from a Jupiter fly-by in 2007, staged several days of excitement involving dozens of actors in the mission control centre as it sent back 1000s of detailed images of Pluto in 2015, and will have to maintain the con for decades to come in order to make the probe seem to sent back data from beyond the solar system. Cheaper to do it for real.
As for the Chinese mission, they invented rockets 1000 years ago.
That would be the NASA mission which discovered that Pluto the planet actually has Pluto the dog engraved onto its surface, right? https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-spacecraft-displays-pluto-s-big-heart-0
Clouds. Copyright of the New World Order:
https://www.google.com/search?q=images+in+clouds
MODS: Thanks for the info.
Grief, it must be dreadful to be like that; the privet hedges forever leering at you and your washing machine trying to seduce you.
Rorschach test –
The Rorschach test is a psychological test in which subjects’ perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. Some psychologists use this test to examine a person’s personality characteristics and emotional functioning.
– “Why do you question these space missions?”
It’s a side effect from the subconscious acceptance of the capitalist myth of Perpetual Progress. Actually there are a load of things humanity could do mid 20th Century but can’t find the resources for any more. You used to be able to fly supersonic on Concorde. Gone. The Dounreay Fast Breeder Reactor was built in just three and a half years, from 1956 to 1959 – by WWII-impoverished Britain, in the most remote and northern part of Scotland. Nothing like it had ever been built, anywhere in the world. These days we can’t even build a major sewer in less than a decade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIkYOFxcqRg
Why would NASA fake such a thing, what’s in it for them?
Who knows? I wasn’t in the room where this was hatched.
However I chose not to believe it.
Just as the truth resonates, so do lies, and this resonates negatively with me.
I call it lunacy.
Well to put not too fine a point on it funding.
If any of the Moon landings were faked it would more than likely be the 1969 Apollo 11 mission.
Purely to put the US in a good light with it citizens, and put one over on the Russian’s who for a period of time were actually ahead in the space race.
I recall reading that NASA spent an absolute fortune developing a pen that would work in space. Russia decided to use pencils more practical and less costly.
I recall reading that NASA spent an absolute fortune developing a pen that would work in space. Russia decided to use pencils more practical and less costly.
It’s a myth.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-nasa-spen/
Node looks like the cost is a myth but not the pen.
Thanks for the link.
https://history.nasa.gov/spacepen.html
Forty years since man first landed on the Moon, yet we do not have a Moon base yet, the question must be why not? Solar radiation? If so how did the astronauts of the Apollo missions get past this hurdle?
Newton’s third law probably?
Here’s an analysis of some of the highly exotic, top end, no expense spared, multi-billion dollar budget, NASA spacecraft engineering https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6vAiyUIQog
50 YEARS
It’s like Alcock and Brown flew across the Atlantic in 1919 but nobody had done it again by 1969 because it was “too expensive” or even more laughably “we’ve lost the technology”.
newsflash, going to the moon isn’t really like flying across the atlantic. nor climbing everest.
Actually, going to the Moon isn’t that bad. The worst bit is getting out of Earth’s atmosphere; there’s nothing in the way for the rest of the journey. This is another argument against the hoax proposal; there’s film footage of lunar modules being tested in Earth orbit. It’s quite clearly Earth below, with its now familiar colour and cloud patterns. Launching two crewed modules, and deploying, manoeuvring and docking them was the big challenge. Not bothering to do the same thing in lunar orbit would have been daft.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xytZh161E7o
Thank you J Galt for the correction. ?
RoS, 15:30: – also in answer to J Galt, 17:03:
– “we do not have a Moon base yet, the question must be why not?”
Because there hasn’t been any way of making money from it.
The Moon missions were part of the Cold War. Specifically, rocket development is really the same thing as missile development. The Space Race was the publicity side of superpower rivalry.
Launch vehicles for communications satellites have become commercially viable, so now we’re seeing commercial development of launch systems by private enterprise, eg. Virgin and Falcon, with a view towards asteroid mining.
“A Rocket a Day Keeps the High Costs Away”:
https://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/rocketaday.html
Superpower rivalry is also a strong argument for the reality of the Moon missions – Russia and China would have exposed a US hoax. Space missions are also monitored by enthusiastic amateurs, as well as universities and the militaries of multiple countries.
There are now satellites orbiting the Moon, and they have sent back some pretty good pictures of the Apollo landing sites; you can even see the tyre tracks of the Lunar Rover. There are higher resolution versions than my link below, but the article provides much other evidence; even pupils at Kettering grammar school managed to track US and Soviet spacecraft:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-party_evidence_for_Apollo_Moon_landings#Photographs
who’s going to finance it? and where on earth do you get “solar radiation” as the reason?
My memory is vague on this, but I think that a big solar coronal mass ejection towards the Earth-Moon system would have been a major health risk for the Apollo astronauts. That’s not what’s usually meant by “solar radiation”, but RoS isn’t a specialist.
Yes, here you go:
https://history.nasa.gov/SP-368/s2ch3.htm
The command module was well shielded, so I think the plan was that if radiation levels were measured to rise, no spacewalks, and/or the lunar excursion team could have returned to the command module.
Radon emissions are a serious consideration. There are old granite structures in Egypt where infrequent visits are advised. I guess archaeologists and tour guides rotate around sites to avoid the worst consequences. Maybe the just have higher incidences of leukemia. On lunar exploration, I am not convinced that a human occupied moon base would be any better than robot explorers.
Time to keep ‘man’?? out of the space equation, we are far too fibrile and soft to do longterm,one way space missions.
Remarkably in this discussion, seeing one robot after the other fullfilling complicated, for us dangerous, manouvres to land on asteroid fly for twelve years without being sick, nobody seems to be able to acknowledge that manned space missions are a thing of the past.
I disagree. If only the war budget were put to crewed space missions. Diversity ensures that some humans will always crave conquest; let them explore together rather than fight each other, with all the consequent “collateral damage”.
Can I gently point out that it is not the dark side of the moon (an album by Pink Floyd) but the FAR SIDE of the moon.
It does get sunlight too – but we never see that hemisphere from earth because of our cosmic dance which keeps one of its faces always looking at the Earth.
Not a dance.
The time for the moon to orbit Earth just happens to equal the time of its axial rotation.
Sounds like a cosmic dance to me
Synchronous rotation caused by tidal locking:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_locking
The Moon actually rotates back and forth slightly with respect to Earth, permitting more than half its surface to be seen from Earth over time; and effect called libration. There’s a nice time-lapse of it on this article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libration
Clark – yes well done
@ bj January 3, 2019 at 19:31
‘..The time for the moon to orbit Earth just happens to equal the time of its axial rotation.’
‘Just happens’…. bit of a coincidence, what?
Like ice starting to expand at 4*C (otherwise large areas of the oceans and seas would be solid ice), unlike all other substances, which continue to shrink the colder they get.
Almost as though it was ‘planned’ that way!
Our comment times crossed; answer above^
– “Almost as though it was ‘planned’ that way!”
Huh. If the molecular structures of methane, ethanol etc. had been similarly planned, there’d be life all over the solar system. The solar system, indeed our whole region of galaxy, seem rather barren places to be the result of planning for life.
“The solar system consists of the Sun, Jupiter, and assorted debris”.
And on that note, I make no apology for re-posting Roger Waters’ New Year message:
https://m.facebook.com/notes/roger-waters/a-note-from-roger-new-year-2019/2
Link not working.
hopefully this works:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/roger-waters/a-note-from-roger-new-year-2019/2460895520591550/
?thanks.
Rogers a Don.
The pm 2.5 count today is 11. Apart from yesterday, the overall air pollution count has been below 50 (no mask required) for the last two weeks now. There has been a significant fall in air pollution throughout China, including Beijing, for several years now (mentioned in the article you link to). Most of Beijing’s air pollution now comes from Tianjin and Hebei, and is very dependent on climactic conditions. The problem won’t be fully solved until Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei are able to coordinate their overall planning and industrial policies. The creation of a tripartite planning system is being enacted as part of the current five-year plan.
Running around like Chicken Licken because of one temporary period of problems back in autumn last year doesn’t serve anybody’s interests.
Recently I was happily surprised to be informed by a returned expat, that the most populous country; the industrial foundry of the world; and all its agriculture and habitation occupies in TOTAL less then 10% of that ancient land.
Much is still pristine with still undiscovered flora and fauna.
Compare that to fetid arsehole that the USA invaders have made of that land with it’s extinctions, poisonings and ongoing slavery by s few psychopaths.
Where in the US the poor are preserved in poverty and relied on to keep the rich getting richer, China has raised the poorest – i understand thete is no starvation, education and health are provided as is affordable housing – conditions which allow people to be industrious and entrepreunial, allowing many to achieve great riches regardless of their original background.
Xi is also a sucessful scientist, who is well liked, as is his wife.
All in all – there are many cities in the world that would be equal or worse than Beijing. Many of our young and brightest are employed and living there, because they know what is what.
Polish businessman and diplomat https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrzej_Kanthak
Craig misspelled his first name.
Thanks for a very moving story.
more advice from johnny foreigner – let’s ignore it for five years then look back in tears and anger. the roman crucifiers are in charge now, not the honeyed greeks
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/british-brexit-debate-democratic-opportunity-by-yanis-varoufakis-2018-12
Brexit is a great opportunity to Make Britain and Ireland Great Again with a democratic (voting reform) and economic (local government decentralisation) reformation, including an industrial policy not stymied with carbon reduction targets.
A Commonwealth Union of Britain and Ireland is a good sized union and few support actual independence for Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England and the EU is too big and diverse to be run as one country.
Dream on. England (and that’s all that matters in any practical sense) is not inclined to political reform. Westminster has the perfect opportunity to change course with the huge scale, urgent refurbishment project looming. An opportunity to build a new parliament complex fit for the 21st century in somewheres more central (say Leeds). Many practical issues resolved and crucially, a signal at home and abroad that the psyche of the country is open to change. This will of course never happen, the English psyche is terminally locked in subservience to the Class system, inherited authority from the Royal family down and an exceptionalist notion that the English are somehow better than all else.
A move of parliament would also go some way to dampening the growing sentiment towards Scottish Independence but the English people would rather see the Union broken than the tradition of Westminster with its men in tights and Victorian, fake pageantry.
….and they all lived happily ever after.
Excellent by Kit Klarenberg:
https://sputniknews.com/europe/201901031071174759-nimmo-integrity-initiative-propagandist/
Ben Nimmo’s original plan was writing fantasy fiction ? Hmmm ….
Well it’s a new year but with the same old incompetent British government at the helm. First we had the drone that some are now saying wasn’t a drone at all. Then we had the migrant swarm, that turned out to be a trickle, on top of this, we now have the ferry company that has no ferries and has never moved any real cargo to boot awarded a multi-million pounds contract by this inept government.
Now as the cold crisp month of January bites, some dolts at the MoD are beginning to realise that Westminster’s obsession with the £31billion renewal of Trident and submarines, might sink the Defence budget. However the walking death in Whitehall will have their atomic phallic symbol, no matter the cost.
Singing from the same Alice in Wonderland hymn sheet is Defence secretary Gavin Williamson, who has stated that We (Britain) can actually play the role in the world that the world expects us to play. What do Williamson et al of similar delusional thinking, think the world wants from them? Is it the rise of Empire 2.0? Is it any wonder Europe is laughing up its sleeve at this pathetic wee island.
This year should see Scotland once again push to dissolve this farcical union.
The US deep state is run from Britain, from City of London, hence the Steel dossier, but its in retreat from America First Trump, hence the globalist narrative is continued by Britain, which otherwise would seem ridiculous, hoping this will keep alive the globalist agenda and attempts to overthrow Trump.
“Well it’s a new year..”
I’m glad you noticed, RoS. Just blame it on Queen Lizzie and the Tory gov. in Westminster, why not?
Meanwhile (as you like to say), a very Happy New Year to you and please pass on my best wishes to your absent friend “reel guid”.
And a happy and healthy new year to you Charles. As for reel guid, I haven’t read any comments on here from him/her for a wee while. I hope he/she is in good health, wherever they are. ?
NB.
You restrained yourself well from replying on the other thread when I called Old Queen Lizzie droopy chops. Bravo!
Didn’t the late Christopher Hitchens coin the term ‘Leathery Bat’?
Thanks for the new article and for sharing your experience, Mr. Murray. I know this smell of helplessness and I can feel for you. Please, keep strong.
Let the rest of your vacations be all harmony and peace.
Happy New Year to you as well, Tat, and stay strong as well!
Thank you, Charles 🙂 I missed you, honestly 🙂 I wish you every luck and success in the New 2019 Year, too.
I do appreciate your entries in this blog, I find them nformative, and emotional, and very alive, and I’m grateful for it 🙂
—-
As to me pesonally, I know the feeling of turnig off the ventilation mechanism in the hospital. It was when I’ve lost my firstborn baby son. I wish I’ve never gone through the desperation and helplessness of such a situation in my life. It hurts.
—-
I do wish we all have enough strenth and beliefe in our inner power to go through any trials in our lives.
Stay strong, stay calm, we are humans, we can handle it.
Regarding Seaborne Freight:
Seaborne Freight
Check the first document ( unaudited accounts) :
Shares at 1p and in a total amount of 53.00 Pounds (5,300 shares) , plus 1325 extra shares issued September 2018 at 452.82 totalling circa 600K and a negative balance of accounts of 374K with only 35K fixed assets .
35K fixed assetts, what do they have a rubber boat?
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10709921/filing-history
Failing Grayling’s gaffe cont’d
‘A firm awarded a government contract to provide extra ferry services has used website terms and conditions apparently intended for a takeaway food firm.’
‘Its original terms and conditions advised customers to check goods before “agreeing to pay for any meal/order”. ‘
BBC News – Brexit ferry firm Seaborne in terms and conditions gaffe
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46748193
YCNMIU
Israel seals the Palestinians in.
This is in addition to shooting at fishermen in their boats within the 6 mile limit trying to catch the only available source of protein for their brothers and sisters.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/01/02/584710/Israel-Gaza-sea-barrier
“The only available source of protein” – what are you on about? There is meat a plenty available in Gaza.
I’ve nothing against pro-Palestinian hasbara but do try and retain a smidgeon of believability, bless!
Situation seems dire:
“Residents of the Gaza Strip are growing increasingly desperate over food shortages,”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-gaza-approaches-famine-israel-rather-than-world-appears-most-concerned/
I recall headlines like that every few months for the last decade.
I must say that the people you see at terrorist funerals or demonstrating or whatever all look pretty fit and healthy to me.
“I recall headlines like that every few months for the last decade.”
Yes you are right, one wonder then why you keep denying it.
Just exposing your trolling to others here, I know what your job is here.
The point, Jack, is that it seems to be taking an awfully long time for the Palestinians to be starving to death.
Of course, the truth is that they are far from starving or anything like it.
Repeating a lie over decades does not make it any truer, you know.
Always defending the apartheid state, aren’t we?
It is indefensible.
Go, BDS. GO!
Not at all, “bj” – just countering the sillier bits of pro-Palestinian hasbara.
BTW, looks as if more countries are going to do the sensible thing and move their embassies to Jerusalem.
A toddler & its pacifier.
Have you been there? Obviously not.
I know you’ve told us you have, Sharpie. Your point, exactly?
Lots of people visited Soviet Russia in the 1930s and saw a paradise there. Ditto with Nazi Germany.
But, you see, some were fooled by those showing them around (this applies particularly to Soviet Russia) and others just saw what they wanted to see and didn’t see what they didn’t want to see.
Mr Bistock has got his terms muddled in an attempt to deflect and project. The term hasbara is owned by the apartheid state and unique to it. It is official policy . See Wikepedia:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_diplomacy_of_Israel
Nevermind that officials from the apartheid state often make statements like : “mowing the lawn” referring to regular ritual killing of innocent Palestinians and that the population of Gaza is being “kept on a diet” by another. I am sure that Charlie boy would enjoy spending a summer amongst those well fed Palestinians eating lobster and caviar.
Eva Bartlett:
“UN Panel Details Organ Theft, Staged Attacks by the White Helmets”
https://www.mintpressnews.com/un-panel-details-organ-theft-staged-attacks-white-helmets/253441/
Even worse than expected.
Eva Bartlett? Yes she is isn’t she.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/18/syria-white-helmets-conspiracy-theories
Hailed by Assad as one of his “female soldiers” along with the equally odious Vanessa Beeley.
Kempe
She isnt she? What does that mean?
You mean further that there is no harvesting of organs or what is the purpose of the post?
She wrote the several hundred eye witness testimonies in the report?
Kempe, the Guardian isn’t shilling for Assad or Russia.
It’s shilling for your team
She’s awesome, isn’t she?
Kempe, you and your ilk are getting desperate. Apologies to all the civilised people on here for providing sustenance to one of the under-stone- dwellers.
Now Kempe, citing the guardian is like handing round used toilet paper. Can we start the year with a sense of decency. Those black marks on white paper are really excrement if i can put it bluntly!
Honestly Kempe! quoting this article as proof to attack Eva Bartlett suggests a rather unfortunate faith in the Guardian and its self proclaimed alleged fiercely independent journalism. Never mind that this paper recently shred all semblance of credibility by a publishing a piece on Manafort visiting Assange on which scorn was poured by many and which has failed all tests of credibility.
I am not quite sure why an UN report on the activities of the White Helmets should be dismissed so cavalierly. The story of the “conspiracy theory” regarding them seems to have hung around like a bad smell for some time.
The conspiracy allegations about what some people seem to think about the saintly White Helmets motives was presented in the Guardian on 18th December 2017 by Olivia Solon (“San Francisco-based writer and editor interested in how technology impacts society” :https://www.oliviasolon.com ) Quite what her knowledge is about middle eastern affairs, what her qualifications are and how she comes to know what is going on in a country thousands of miles away is a mystery. I guess she is just in it for the money, like the other paid hacks on the Guardian. Possibly, for the right money, she is just likely to say exactly the reverse.
The concerted propaganda campaign against the White Helmets is a matter of fact. Interesting that the only response to my early post has been a series of ad hominem attacks. Here’s some further reading on the issue.
https://observers.france24.com/en/20180514-white-helmets-allegations-fact-fiction
I have doubts about the organ theft story, not only because of it’s source. To be suitable for transplant organs have to be quickly matched to suitable recipients, correctly removed by a surgeon and implanted in a matter of hours. Do the White Helmets have such highly developed organisational ability? Would the shattered infrastructure of Syria support it?
I suppose an “argumentum ad hominem, …a fallacious argumentative strategy whereby genuine discussion of the topic at hand is avoided by instead attacking the character, motive, or other attribute of the person making the argument” (Wiki definition) would be unfair if the person under attack was unreliable, or even criminal – for example the frequently cited Stalin or Hitler – But what’s under discussion here is not that.
Beeley and Bartlett have gone the extra mile and done their homework. What Solon had done is neither. You would have expected a reliable reporter to be able to respond to questions about their report – as in: https://www.corbettreport.com/an-open-letter-to-olivia-solon/ Whereas no reply to that letter was received.
The lack of answers invites us to question the motive of the reporter, and that might be interpreted as an ad hominem attack.
“The concerted propaganda campaign against the White Helmets is a matter of fact.”
You don’t have much of an idea of the meaning of the word “fact”, do you? You’re talking about your own opinion, which you are confusing with facts. There are many proven facts about the White Helmets, but “concerted campaign” is not one of them. Nor, I agree, is the story of organ theft. One that is, is that the White Helmets are closely associated with the jihadis of al-Nusra, working out of the same headquarters. That fact in itself demonstrates that the White Helmets are not a civil defence organisation, but a partisan one. And consequently that the Guardian article is a fake piece inserted for political reasons.
Ah a tank corps man/woman! How is LeMesurier enjoying his defeat and what’s he done with his head choppers and chemicals?
Where are these children that were to be the victims to get Trump to attack Russian air defence?
Have you failed to notice that the russian new tech hypersonics means that no aircraft carrier or forward operational hq is defensible? Never mind the canon fodder. The toy generals probably not so gung-ho about their own personal safety no doubt.
And as of the Farce-35 – super stealthy future all purpose toy plane – it will never see what hit it!
All carrier groups have been rendered ineffective in an offensive role.
Never mind White Helmets better get your white flags ready.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/07/23/569021/Syria-White-Helmet-Israel-evacuation-US-Canada-US
Israel involved?
You are lies, but you masquerade as the truth. Just another deceiver from the British establishment, snakes nest
Erm stop whinging at least your comments appear here, try posting anything anti-British establishment or pro-Scottish on this shit site and you’ve no chance of it appearing.
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/mp-inexplicably-claims-there-are-no-royal-navy-vessels-in-scottish-waters-despite-major-naval-base/#comment-445208
Its like they don’t want read another opinion besides Britannia is the bees knees.
“Try posting anything anti-British establishment”
Oh grow up.
Scotch nationalists are a major bore on any comment thread and no one is obligated to host them.
Oops looks like I’ve hit a nerve there.
The UKDJ, has the audacity to have under its name the word impartial.
Yet when I try to post a comment countering lies aimed at the Scottish government they fail to publish. No I think it’s the UKDJ that should grow up and be impartial as they claim to be.
You just said you post “anti-British establishment” comments. It’s a defence journal for those interested in the military. You’re probably one of those “But it hasn’t got any planes!” jokers.
Anti-British equates to pro-Scottish in my book. Not pro- anyone else.
Why would you think that Britain has no planes? I take it you must think that.
Infact I replied regarding the 6000 miles of sea and the waste of cash on renewing Trident.
70% of my comments get deleted, most for no good reason other than that cold lies cannot stand the heat of the truth. just one recent example, why would a link to NASA’s own website showing their official imagery of Planet Pluto get deleted, other than the fact that it exposes NASA as liars. why is craig doing their dirty work?
{ Mod: You mean this comment, letthatslip? The authenticity of the moon landings or Pluto imagery isn’t relevant to this topic. You’ve already stated your position and linked to a supporting site, so if you want to continue the debate please mooch off to an earlier thread. ]
SpicyFingers/letthatslip,
you’ve probably decided I’m a prime NASA shill / paid agent etc. My name is Clark Killick and I live near Chelmsford in Essex, England. You are very welcome to come and stay in my spare room for a bit, see the way I live, drop in randomly to see if any NWO agents pay me any visits etc. I’ll show you how to observe passes of the ISS and Iridium flares, how to observe Jupiter’s moons and so on. My web page is down at present (I’m depressed, mostly by the idiocy of humanity), but you can contact Craig or the mods via the contact form.
Mods, if you hear from this commenter, tell Craig it’s OK to pass on my phone number, but would he please remember to supply my landline number as I can’t stand the sound quality of cellphones.
The moderation rules are here:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/06/moderation-rules-commenters/
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2015/06/some-rules-for-comment-moderation/
In three months time the United Kingdom, will probably “Fall off a cliff”
or to put it another way go to Full Non-Aligned Brexit, the pound is dropping each and every day, yet we are not in such a bad state as Greece or Spain or Italy or France.
The pound dropping is certainly speculators wanting to make a killing.
After the Euro Elections next May, the Eurozone will most likely be in deep shit, the pound will bounce back.
“In three months time the United Kingdom, will probably “Fall off a cliff””
Indeed Michael, I suppose Britain is already the laughing stock of Europe. This tiny wee island will be ripe for Trump to push through a favourable US deal.
Companies fleeing to the continent, Ireland not taking any shit from Westminster now as the bigger EU backs it. Poverty rife, cruel British governmemt policies hurting people, low wages austerity. Billions to be spent on Trident whilst homelessness spirals out of control. Still the Royals can still have their overseas jaunts paid for by the taxpayer and the troughers in the HoL will not feel the icy cold blasts of winter snug in their subsidised restaurants, quaffing lobster and champagne.
Hospitals at breaking point, last year 2017/18 winter the Red Cross called the NHS a humanitarian crisis. But not to worry because £31 billion pounds will be spent renewing Trident and several new subs. There don’t you feel better already?
On a point of info, RoS, you can’t quaff lobster.
Personally, I prefer caviar and oysters, I always find lobster a little , well you know….chewy.
Meanwhile and indeed, RoS, I believe certain Scottish fishing grounds are quite rich in lobster. Once Scotland has become “independent” country lobster could become a very significant export industry, don’t you agree?
Overrated, is lobster. Still, anything is better than the environmental catastrophe that is the diseased Scottish farmed salmon industry.
Actually lobster were once served in American prisons, the prisoners received lobster so often that they felt they were treated cruelly.
Now its seen as a delicacy.
As the finds of millions of shells have shown, working men in Victorian London used to gobble large quantities of oysters while quaffing porter or stout.
Now they’re seen as a delicacy.
(Note to Ros – oysters, not porter and stout)
Didn’t Edward VI have to pass a law to stop the London apprentices being fed so much salmon?
The House of Representatives becomes even more Israel friendly as Nancy Pelosi takes over the chair.
Explained: Nancy Pelosi and Israel: Just How Hawkish Is the Next Speaker of the House?
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/pelosi-and-trump-are-both-pro-israel-but-the-leading-democrat-is-not-pro-netanyahu-1.6679073
I do empathize with your disdain for this faux progressive.
But one thing — she called Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran deal “senseless, disturbing & dangerous”.
Sharp Ears, I dedicate this to you. Have a healthy and satisfying 2019!
https://theintercept.com/2019/01/03/veteran-nbcmsnbc-journalist-blasts-the-network-for-being-captive-to-the-national-security-state-and-reflexively-pro-war-to-stop-trump/
(I hope you didn’t tag it yourself already).
Merci beaucoup!
Best for 2019 to you too bj.
Thank you. Here’s a kissy.
There’s a curious parallel between Trump and Corbyn whereby both are victims of their own establishment’s “Integrity Initiative”.
I loved the debate between Trump, Pelosi and Schumer, the latter two arch zionist Israeli firsters, about the wall. P&S arguing that the wall will be useless to prevent people coming in. Trump then asks ‘why did Israel build a wall then,” to which the squirming pair had no answer.
I’ve no idea if this story is a porky-pie, or simply barking up the wrong tree?
Many of the links are #404
https://disobedientmedia.com/2019/01/british-intelligence-infiltrates-voice-of-europe-media-outlet/
In fact, I’ve never read the “voice of europe” or even heard of it, and it’s not very european, as
Watching tonight’s Channel 4 news,.. at least someone’s still doing investigative journalism.
This Seaborne fiasco is becoming bigger than Moby-Dick. Surely ‘failing’ Grayling must now resign?
Yes. Excellent investigative journalism on Ch4 tonight not seen on the BBC or in the British MSM these days.
Replay here. You need their App to play it if you don’t have Flash.
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/channel-4-news/on-demand/69214-003
Channel4 doesn’t do news. It does agenda.
But granted it can occasionally put together some decent investigative journalism.
Jon Snow is one of the better, fairer journalists in MSM in my opinion. Alex Thompson is good too, as is
Siobhan Kennedy, the Business editor responsible for tonight’s report. Lindsey Hilsum is another good Ch4 news reporter, she travelled around Iraq in early 2003 querying the Iraq dodgy dossier; visiting sites listed as banned weapon production facilities, basically revealing it to be a pack of lies. This was before the invasion and MPs only had to watch her reports to see the truth.
These are all good, solid journalists. I believe Jon Snow is the only British journalist accredited to report from Iran too?
Never trust a Snow, especially if his name is Dan. Though Tom Holland likes him.
Goose
I would have agreed with all of that once, especially about Jon Snow, but I have changed my view somewhat especially when it comes to Syria.
If this were happening under a Labour govt it’d be front page news tomorrow – it’s a scandal.
I had a look at the BBC’s news page – nothing, Independent, Guardian,Telegraph and it’s not mentioned in any detail on those either. How the hell did Seaborne win the contract?
They got the contract to undermine No Deal!
I have been staying around the UK in recent months. What has been I interesting is how much, in what might be called heartland England. the EU and it’s Eurocrats are much distrusted as indeed are all politicians, with particular scorn reserved for Tony Blair and his clique – to an extent Corbyn is still getting the backwash of this.
Someone engaged in a spot of Diane Abbott bashing earlier on.
I wrote a post defending her but it seems to have been deleted so I’ll say it again: there are far dafter people – and certainly far more dishonest people – than her on the Labour front bench. Just look at soft-voiced, smarmy, hypocritical Barry Gardiner or that dumb bimbo rejoicing in the wonderful name of Rebecca Long-Bailey.
See what I mean?
Are you an editor of their Wikipedia articles?
No, Sir.
Before getting all excited about the prospect of a victory for the Corbyn-led Labour Party, people should look back to recent British history and recall
– the false promises of the incoming Labour government in 1964
– the fiasco of the 1983 election when Labour was led by Fruitcake-in-chief left-winger Michael Foot
– the death blows to labour’s credibility resulting from the frantic antics of “Tony” Benn
– the chaos and inflation characterising the government of the unions’ best friend Uncle Jim Callaghan
– how Britian was widely regarded as the sick man of Europe in the 1960s and 1970s…..
Yeah. But. Tories.
Sadly for you, people are wide awake to the long con of neoliberalism. There is not going to be a return to the charlatans of New Labour, while the Tories now have majority support only among retirees. Maybe time to invest in some waterproof bedsheets.
Nearly 2 million twitter followers. JC doesn’t seem as unpopular as you seem to be shilling.
So whats the plan bos?
I’m not sure that following someone on twitter equates with genuine popularity. If I followed Jewemy on twitter, for example, it would be to follow his latest inanities and get a good free laugh.
We live in an unrepresentative two-party system, a very primitive form of democracy, one most are dissatisfied with in terms of the limited choice presented in most constituencies FPTP suits the Tories – allowing them HoC majorities built on as little as 35% of the vote.
Not everyone who supports Labour necessarily loves the Labour party. but what choice is there for those that want to see change? The Tories aren’t going to modernise the country, improve transparency and democratise the Lords. If you want any change , you’ve got to back Labour in England, possibly Lib Dem in a few places and that’s just how it is. Those bashing Corbyn don’t seem to be able to see that many Labour voters are looking at the bigger picture, beyond Corbyn.
This is completely meaningless as a measure of his popularity . For a start, the vast majority of people aren’t on Twitter. Second, all sorts of people will be following him who don’t support him. Third, as should have been established by now, Twitter is not an accurate cross section of political opinion as its users lean mostly to the left (virtue signallers). Corbyn can’t expand his constituency beyond public sector employees, student unions, benefits recipients and assorted wasters.
Oh lordy lordy Able (you ain’t) and bosom Bosy you do protesteth a bit too much at my simple statement – think you not?
Lols- desperate, so desperate attempts at spinning.
I’m not a follower of JC on twitter either, but he does use it effectively, for instance yesterday making people aware of the impending freezing weather on homeless and vulnerable neighbours. You know? Stuff that REALLY matters not your scripted bs agenda and multiple personalities. Got that 77?
You may just be following orders but that is no excuse. You may know it’s all lost but are already fighting the following battle rather than the current one but you will still lose both. You may have no clue and really didn’t see that the country has turned, but that will only deserve pity.
In the meantime i’ll just gloat at the inneffectual bluster.
Carry on corps(ing)!
The 1964 Labour government was the best government of my life. People who disagree probably weren’t there.
Exactly, and Wilson only had a 4 seat majority. Having then won a big majority in 1966, Labour set about repairing the damage of 13 years of tory misrule, the economy was back on track under Roy Jenkins, then riduculously with the usual tory press propaganda, Ted Heath won in 1970. His chancellor Barber, totally destroyed the economy and then Labour won a bare majority in the 2 elections of 1974. Sadly Wilson saw early signs of his Alzeimers and handed over the Callaghan, a thick and useless party servant promoted far above his abilities, Crosland was bumped off and the tory press had a field day with more lies and propaganda.
Wilson was still perceptive enough to state, with the discovery of North Sea oil in the last 1970s, that whoever gets in at the next election will be in power for 20 years. How right he was. Except in stead of using the North Sea bounty to rebuild the country, its infrastructure and create a sovereign wealth fund, Thatcher spunked it all away on tax cuts and paying unemployment benefits to the millions she cast on the scrapheap in destroying British manufacturing.
Now look at us, compared to Norway. The tories are not known as the stupid party for nothing. In contrast to what Charles Bostick alleges, Labour always salvages the country from bouts of economic wreakage the tories engage in, and when the economy is somewaht back in shape, the FPTP system and tory media propaganda get the stupid party voted in again to wreak havoc once more.
Good summary.
I think a slightly better way of looking at it, is, if Corbyn’s Labour party is as bad as you make out, then how much worse must the Tories be for Corbyn to get so much support? Cf Trump vs Hillary C.
(Unless, of course you take the view that the electorate are all as thick as pigshit and will believe anything they are told.)
I think Bostock is part of the Integrity Initiative gang.
You missed out the utterly ineffective Neil Kinnock; a man who lost an election against John Major, who promised to abolish the House of Lords and is now a member of it.
Neil Kinnock falls over, a classic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh8ktNsie0I
‘Lord Prescott’ is the one that really stuck in my craw.
That’s why Corbyn is the only hope. Blair promised proportional representation and Lords reform in 1997. he ditched PR completely , this after having Roy Jenkins spend a year producing the AV+ plans( now sat on a shelf somewhere gathering dust). And he only carried out phase 1 Lords reform (removing most of the hereditary peers), never getting to phase 2 – full democratisation. This is why many reformers have more faith in Corbyn and McDonnell to deliver, they aren’t part of the cabal, paid up members the establishment. Although Mps who act like Tory plants in the PLP are the biggest concern
Sorry Charles
” The chaos and inflation occurred under your blessed Mrs T and Geoffrey Howe’s dabbling with Milton Freidman’s Chicago School economic of Monetarism.
Inflation in 1980 was around 19% and interest rates around the same figure.
See: The Glasgow Daily Herald front page for details.
I’ll ask you again just in case you missed it.
Your governement has borowed between 800 and 900 billion quid over the past eight plus years.
Would you care to elaborate as to what it was borrowed for and what it was spent on?
p.s. Labour will not use QE to reflate the economy – it will borrow money from the markets at the unusually low rates
which exist at the moment and actually grow the economy rather than shrink it. You can only grow a business by investment.
If you never bought a lottery ticket – don’t complain that you never win the Lottery.
After all, what’s good for the private capitalists is surely good enough for the government of the people?
As your long lost friend Mrs T said ” It’s not our money we spend it’s the peoples money”
Chinese spacecraft lands on the dark side of the moon. That’s a lot more useful than going to see a peanut 4 billion miles away. I didn’t see Pink Floyd though.
‘SYRIA: The Western Rogue States Must Confess their Crimes Against Humanity and be held Accountable’:
https://21stcenturywire.com/2019/01/02/syria-the-western-rogue-states-must-confess-their-crimes-against-humanity-and-be-held-accountable/
Another great article by Vanessa Beeley.
Gdansk was an accident, although the locked emergency exits were criminal.
The wars the West imposes on the Middle East, North Africa etc. are deliberate, barbaric War Crimes. Often, probably more often than not, there are no shelters, no hospitals, just the local community to muddle through with what assistance they can to the horrific injuries caused by drones, cruise and other missiles, bombs, napalm, white phosphorus and high explosives. Then there’s the depleted uranium and DIME bombs or shells.
Hear. Hear. You won’t find a mention of her in the UK MSM either.
BSNews Person of the Year for 2018 – Vanessa Beeley
https://bsnews.info/bsnews-person-of-the-year-for-2018-vanessa-beeley/
Not forgetting Eva Bartlett and Caitlin Johnstone and others who tell us the truths of what we have been supporting in Syria.
2 interesting news from Russia.
We’ve caught an american spy! Consular access has been granted and John Huntsman visited him personally.
https://naaju.com/ukraine/in-moscow-they-arrested-an-american-citizen-for-spying/
France agreed to extradite a corrupt russian minister Alexey Kuznetsov. He and his then-wife Zhanna Samuilik (aka Bulah, Bullock, Krechmer) stole big money from Russia. Thank you, France!
https://ria.ru/20190103/1549009960.html
Britain only joined the infant EU to subvert it from within (see Yes Minister) which it did by promoting over expansion and Euro. I doubt EU want us to Remain so shouldn’t be difficult to get a good deal. The failure is due to a Remain establishment wanting to Remain to continue to subvert EU. Brexit is a chance to make Europe Great Again!
Time to get that MEGA hat out Dave!
Dave
Allow me to set you right on a couple of minor points:
1/. The UK did not promote the euro. Indeed, it made a number of proposals at the time intended to remove the euro idea from the table (eg, the idea of a European unit of currency working in parallel with national currencies;
2/. It is true that the UK was in favour of expanding the EU; in the discussion about “widening or deepening” and which should come first it was clearly on the side of the “wideners first” (and, perhaps, “only widen”).
But you have perhaps forgotten that admitting another state into the EU requires the unanimous agreement of all the existing member states. The implication of your post is that the UK strong-armed all the other Member States against their will. That theory is garbage, I’m afraid.
Have a nice day.
You are right – the Fed did not like the idea of an alternative to the $, still don’t.
The UK got in to disrupt the ever closer economic AND political union.
UK,US the japanese car makers were happy to use the UK as a backdoor into the largest single market.
Life was good while there was a rebate and a veto to achieve that goal. Now both are ineffectual- it became time for the tax dodgers to heave anchor and slip away.
It ain’t over yet.
Oh! This US spy is UK citizen also!
“…US embassy officials in Moscow contacted their British counterparts to inform them of the arrest of Whelan and his status as a British citizen. A spokesperson for the British Foreign Office said that “department officials requested consular access to the British citizen detained in Russia , after they had received a request for assistance…”
His name correct speing is Whelan, more details here
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/03/moscow-spy-charges-ex-marine-arrested-after-usb-drive-pickup-paul-whelan
I’ve just left a comment on the Skripal thread because consular access was not allowed to the Skripals (Yulia is a Russian citizen).
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/12/british-government-covert-anti-russian-propaganda-and-the-skripal-case/comment-page-4/#comment-814511
An analysis of the killing of a Palestinian medic last Summer at the Gaza ‘border’.
A Day, a Life: When a Medic Was Killed in Gaza, Was It an Accident?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/30/world/middleeast/gaza-medic-israel-shooting.html
Equivalence is given to Hamas and the IDF. There is no mention of the Palestinians’ reistance to the Occupation of course.
Gaza is not occupied.
I’ve heard it is.
By Palestinians apparently.
Loads of them and the neighbours don’t like it.
Gaza is described by many Palestinians and humanitarian actors as the world’s largest open-air prison, where 1.94 million Palestinians live behind a blockade and are refused access to the other occupied Palestinian areas and the rest of the world.
The Warsaw Ghetto was not occupied either, until wiped out by the Nazis.
Palestine certainly is. And the Golan.
Charles B – “Gaza is not occupied.”
– – – – – –
Sanger, Andrew (2011). M.N. Schmitt, Louise Arimatsu, Tim McCormack, eds. “The Contemporary Law of Blockade and the Gaza Freedom Flotilla”. Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 2010. Springer Science & Business Media. 13: 429. doi:10.1007/978-90-6704-811-8_14. ISBN 978-90-6704-811-8:
– “Israel claims it no longer occupies the Gaza Strip, maintaining that it is neither a Stale nor a territory occupied or controlled by Israel, but rather it has ‘sui generis’ status. Pursuant to the Disengagement Plan, Israel dismantled all military institutions and settlements in Gaza and there is no longer a permanent Israeli military or civilian presence in the territory. However the Plan also provided that Israel will guard and monitor the external land perimeter of the Gaza Strip, will continue to maintain exclusive authority in Gaza air space, and will continue to exercise security activity in the sea off the coast of the Gaza Strip as well as maintaining an Israeli military presence on the Egyptian-Gaza border. and reserving the right to reenter Gaza at will.
– Israel continues to control six of Gaza’s seven land crossings, its maritime borders and airspace and the movement of goods and persons in and out of the territory. Egypt controls one of Gaza’s land crossings. Troops from the Israeli Defence Force regularly enter pans of the territory and/or deploy missile attacks, drones and sonic bombs into Gaza. Israel has declared a no-go buffer zone that stretches deep into Gaza: if Gazans enter this zone they are shot on sight. Gaza is also dependent on Israel for water, electricity, telecommunications and other utilities, currency, issuing IDs, and permits to enter and leave the territory. Israel also has sole control of the Palestinian Population Registry through which the Israeli Army regulates who is classified as a Palestinian and who is a Gazan or West Banker. Since 2000 aside from a limited number of exceptions Israel has refused to add people to the Palestinian Population Registry.
– It is this direct external control over Gaza and indirect control over life within Gaza that has led the United Nations, the UN General Assembly, the UN Fact Finding Mission to Gaza, International human rights organisations, US Government websites, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a significant number of legal commentators, to reject the argument that Gaza is no longer occupied.”
Scobbie, Iain (2012). Elizabeth Wilmshurst, ed. International Law and the Classification of Conflicts. Oxford University Press. p. 295. ISBN 978-0-19-965775-9:
– “Even after the accession to power of Hamas, Israel’s claim that it no longer occupies Gaza has not been accepted by UN bodies, most States, nor the majority of academic commentators because of its exclusive control of its border with Gaza and crossing points including the effective control it exerted over the Rafah crossing until at least May 2011, its control of Gaza’s maritime zones and airspace which constitute what Aronson terms the ‘security envelope’ around Gaza, as well as its ability to intervene forcibly at will in Gaza.”
Gawerc, Michelle (2012). Prefiguring Peace: Israeli-Palestinian Peacebuilding Partnerships. Lexington Books. p. 44. ISBN 9780739166109:
– “While Israel withdrew from the immediate territory, it remained in control of all access to and from Gaza through the border crossings, as well as through the coastline and the airspace. In addition, Gaza was dependent upon Israel for water, electricity sewage communication networks and for its trade (Gisha 2007. Dowty 2008). ln other words, while Israel maintained that its occupation of Gaza ended with its unilateral disengagement Palestinians – as well as many human right organizations and international bodies – argued that Gaza was by all intents and purposes still occupied.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaza_Strip&oldid=876329243#cite_note-occ-22
Following Whelan’s arrest, the ex US Ambassador to Russia, 2012-14, warns that Russia is not a safe country for travel by Americans.
He was an Obama appointee needless to say.
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/448028-mcfaul-russia-tourists-safe/
‘American tourists or students who were considering taking a trip to Russia should probably strike it from their bucket lists, as former US ambassador Michael McFaul has warned on Twitter that it is no longer safe.’
This is McFaul in October –
Michael McFaul called out on trying to whitewash Obama’s support for Saudi Arabia
23 Oct, 2018
https://www.rt.com/usa/441984-mcfaul-saudi-arms-yemen-obama/
What a smart conclusion by mr. McFaul 🙂
No contry is safe for travel by spies, I think. Whelan detained with irrefutable proof in his hands
Eric Drouet was arrested late Wednesday for organising an unauthorised Yellow Jacket protest
macron is hardening his resolve, no French Spring to be allowed.
On New Years Eve 147,000 police were on the streets.
This two month long protest must be very damaging to the Economy of France.
I can’t see many Brittish businesses wanting to relocate to Paris?
You need to read a bit more. First up on a 2 second google: Gilets jaunes : Eric Drouet confirme qu’il cherchait à se faire arrêter (LCI telly channel).
It was pour “montrer aux Français qu’on n’est pas libre”. In other words, to try to make out that things are as you claim they are (which they are not). Rather discredits your argument, doesn’t it?
You’d do better to work on the theme that Brexit and the Gilets Jaunes are pretty much the same movement, with the same driving forces, the only difference being that the Brexiters are in power (and are in a position to destroy Britain), but the Gilets Jaunes are not, and are unlikely to be.
Ah ah and what to say about the UK (Assange ) and USA (Butina , inter alia) Shall we all issue travel advisories for both?
Tatiana, worry not, Russia is next on my travel list as soon as I can. It must be a fascinating country 🙂
I’ve never ever travelled abroad 🙁
I wish we could afford international travel the next year, when bank loan payments are finished.
Guess, what is the country I’m eager to see first?
Aha, Scotland!
* Nice idea for my son, too, good motivation to improve his English study, now he has 3 points of 5, I’m rather ashamed to say this 🙂
You’d be very welcome in Scotland, that is if the Home office lets you in.
Another good reason to dissolve this unfit for purpose union.
Home Office might not allow me to visit 🙂 I’m not a corrupt russian minister, I’m not an Israeli citizen, neither a spy, nor am I even an arab immigrant!
Two men at the HO Brokenshire and Goodwill, have turfed out many good folk for less. They’ve moved on I think but there’s a reason why Scotland’s population is kept low and manageable.
Nonsense – plenty of poor Russians in the UK and many on holidays across the world too. I meet quite a few.
If you have a passport get a cheap Ryanair ticket for a long weekend stay, then keep staying. That is how 99.99..% of immigrants arrive in the UK.
And if you tell Theresa May and the immigrant Javid that you are seeking ASYLUM from PUTIN, they will give you a big house and car for free andake you famous.
Why are you still not packed!
2 ‘ities’, Dungroanin 🙂 these are ‘dignity’ and ‘probity’
+ a strange feature named ‘self-respect’
—-
* I’ve got a friend whos nickname is Ronin. That means “warrior without a lord” in Japanese.
I just want to let you know, I mis-read your pseudonim every time I meet it here, sorry, but it is funny 🙂
Ah your english is improving in leaps and bounds, Taty. See if you can figure out why I chose my nickname. I’m glad it makes you smile.
Some of my favourite films are Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, Yojimbo and Sanjuro – if your friend takes his name from these then great. If it is from some hollywood bs then not so great.
Antway, I don’t see any reason why you would be denied a tourism visit by the ‘Home Office’ – return flights are about a £100. Do you know people who have had any problem visiting the UK?
I don’t think it matters how much of a lush you are as long as you don’t get shit faced on route and stagger into passport control in a cloud of alcohol – which may result in a immediate return flight. So best to save yourself till you are in the street, if you are concerned about your probity being an issue.
I’m sure your many friends and admirers here would be very happy to show you their locales.
No loss of self respect in that, is there?
Have you seen it?
HMS Mersey warship deployed to English Channel
https://news.sky.com/story/warship-hms-mersey-deployed-to-intercept-migrant-boats-in-channel-11598276
What is danger for migrants, I can’t understand? Is someone shooting at migrant boats?
Tatyana, it has been said that the main reason the people of the United Kingdom voted for Brexit was out of fear of people from other lands.
We are leaving the European Union on 11pm UK time on Friday, 29 March 2019
so for our government to not look completely stupid they have to stop migrants from crossing the channel
if they can’t manage that little thing with the Royal Navy
what would be the point of spending 1/3 trillion pounds ( lifetime cost) for the Nuclear Deterrent.
No shooting, Tatyana, but these are still dangerous waters. I understand there might be sharks in the Channel. Some have have been identified in harbour waters around Ramsgate.
Yeah there was one big nasty shark spotted in the Channel recently, Sajid Javid.
However I suppose frightening immigrants is now the level of the British navy, it’s not as if they could go to war with Russia or China.
Frightening them? Usual policy towards these “refugees” fleeing from wartorn,..er, France, is to pick them up and transport to the UK for a full lifetime of benefits.
They’re all Iranian Kurds, so must have been being financed by US, Israel, and presumably Britain, to destabilise the Iranian regime. That’s why they’re on benefits. Just the right sort of people for May’s Project Fear.
It’s curious that they’re all from one ethnic group.
I mean to listen to the Tory MP for Dover Charlie Elphicke on the few immigrants that are coming across the Channel, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was back to 1940, and Britain was in the process of defending itself against the Nazi invasion Operation Sealion.
You really do sound terrorized.
Are you a grown man or are you 8.
Quite so.
HMS Mersey (and her two sister ships) was given a reprieve from decommissioning last year. Phew! Handy that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Mersey_(P283)
They could certainly blow the Iranians out of the water with the Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
It was reported that the MoD had ordered the Drone Dome system developed by Israeli company Rafael.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46754489
Gatwick and Heathrow to get Anti-Drone System
but they are not disclosing which system or where it was manufactured?
It hasn’t been very effective in Israel, where they’ve had to shoot down drones, and one passed right over the country. Much like the Iron Dome anti-missile system, which failed to shoot down many missiles. However the Israelis have their agents on hand to whisper in May’s ear for the sale.
A shotgun would be cheaper, and probably more effective. Perhaps we could get Kate (duchess of somewhere) to shoot down drones:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6540705/Duchess-Cambridge-waited-Meghan-left-Sandringham-shooting.html
Shockingly arrogant Labour MP
The Labour MP facing jail for lying to police to avoid a speeding charge has been kicked out the party.
Fiona Onasanya, who compared herself to Jesus and Moses after being found guilty of perverting the course of justice, had said she intended to remain a Labour MP despite calls for her to quit.
But Ian Lavery, the party’s chairman, announced she had been expelled after her refusal to leave, allowing a new Labour candidate to fight a by-election.
Onasanya is awaiting sentence, and offered no apology, but will now have to represent Peterborough as an independent MP.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6556283/Shamed-Labour-MP-Fiona-Onasanya-expelled-party.html
There must be quite a tally of (Labour) M.P.’s who have departed the Labour Party but are remaining as members of Parliament, if there is a General Election ( just after Brexit) and these independants get to keep their seats, it would make getting a majority for J.C. quite difficult.
Jared O’Mara left the Labour Party because he did not like their contempt for disabled people, yet he retains his seat.
In a general election the candidates would need to be approved by the local party.
So actually the best way to remove them.
If the (Labour) M.P.’s have left the Labour Party, they will not have to be approved by the Labour Party, whatsoever, only by their constituents.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona_Onasanya
she is already counted by Wikipedia as Independent.
So there are seven Sinn Fein who do not sit
there are now eight Independent M.P’s
so neither of these groups amount to a row of beans
Labour now only have 256, and J.C. can’t count on the Blairites to back him.
Even if every remaining Labour M.P. backed J.C. he does not stand a chance of forming a government, he is sixty short.
A minority government can be formed by the ifficial opposition at the invitation of HM, if the PM offered to dissolve parliament as a means of avoiding a GE.
That is the only way the establishment have of having a neutered JC premiership.
Any GE would mean that the independent MP’s would not be standing as Labour and very likely miss out on the traditional vote – end of.
Any views on some of the revolting Tory MPs?
The truth will out.
‘The Dark Overlord claim to have hacked documents from not only major global insurers like Lloyds of London and Hiscox, but also Silverstein Properties, which owned the World Trade Center complex, and various government agencies.
The “megaleak” purportedly includes secret documents that were meant to be destroyed but were instead retained by legal firms, allegedly revealing “the truth about one of the most recognizable incidents in recent history.”
The group emerged in 2016 and has been responsible for numerous extortion schemes involving hacked data. The Dark Overlord infamously leaked an entire season of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black last year after a ransom was not met.’
Hacker group releases ‘9/11 Papers’, says future leaks will ‘burn down’ US deep state
4 Jan, 2019
https://www.rt.com/usa/448058-dark-overlord-leaks-11-september/
From 8chan:
Hello, world. As you’re well-aware, we designed a compensation plan that would allow for the public crowd-funding of our organisation in order to permit the public disclosure of our “9/11 Papers” in the interest of the public. Part of this plan was to create a tiered escalation plan that would result in multiple layers and milestones (which we’re calling checkpoints) to ensure the powers at be are being properly bent over a barrel. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: we’re financially motivated, and you (the public) has spoken to us in our language (internet money, specifically Bitcoin). Through voicing your satisfaction by sending us 3.27 BTC for a total of over 12.000 USD of BTC (at the time of writing), you’ve successfully unlocked Layer 1 as well as Checkpoint 03, Checkpoint 04, Checkpoint 05, Checkpoint 06, and Checkpoint 07. As with our previous paid releases, we’ve demonstrated to you that we’re honest about our intentions and we’re transparent. As a result of this most magnificent achievement, we’re continuing to follow the wishes of the public by releasing the Layers and Checkpoints we promised you we would. Remember, continuing to fund our wallet will continue to keep us motivated to help break the truth to the world by open-sourcing what we’re calling the “9/11 Papers”. As such, let the leaking continue:
Statistics:
Layer 1 = 500 Files
Checkpoint 05 = 50 Files
Checkpoint 06 = 50 Files
Checkpoint 07 = 50 Files
TOTAL = 650 Files
Layer 1
Layer_1.container Decryption Key: uS\gY(oY@(5e=#(8e2nXOZ:9.DqK#abx>v4YUPqlb*~`d$76?VFZPN0Bh2\6vT=N
If you still haven’t downloaded all the 9/11 Archive with the Layer containers, the torrent link is below:
9/11 Archive
LINK: https://anonfiles.com/6fx7q6pfb6/911_Archive.zip_torrent
SHA1 HASH: F4C18CF980648E9FBDAC55952F5F3485DBBA95F9
Checkpoint 05
LINK: https://anonfiles.com/Vds5Aapaba/Checkpoint_05_zip
SHA-1 HASH: C00B9117F08EEBF261DA32DDAB8EC97AF382CE8F
Checkpoint 06
LINK: https://anonfiles.com/c2t6A2p6b2/Checkpoint_06_zip
SHA-1 HASH: 42C3DE7CAE57702A1ADA84FC396B7EAEBA84B925
Checkpoint 07
LINK: https://anonfiles.com/V4v1A8p9b2/Checkpoint_07_zip
SHA-1 HASH: 3D76610FECCF093250F39354DB70A704D47D241C
Instructions to decrypt the containers – Download Veracrypt and use the decryption key above.
If you don’t have our previously released ‘Preview_Documents.container’ key, it is here: *CZ4=I{YZ456zGecgg9/cCz|zNP5bZ,nCvJqDZKrq@v?O5V$FezCNs26CD;e:%N^
Transparency Disclaimer: Checkpoint 03 and Checkpoint 04 would have been comprised of documents from Layer 1, but since the single donation covered past Layer 1, we’re releasing Layer 1 as an aggregate of itself along with Checkpoint 03 and Checkpoint 04.
Let this serve as more definitive proof that what we’re saying is true, and that we’re doing exactly as we promised you. Continue to keep the bitcoins flowing, and we’ll continue to keep the truth flowing. Remember, Cyber-Cash for Cyber-Cache. We hope that there’ll be more releases. Continue to share these download links and decryption keys on Reddit, 4chan, Steemit, Voat, your siblings, your friends, your pets, and anyone else! We can’t allow the mainstream media to silence the truth any longer. We must ensure they’re propaganda is crushed by the truths we’re dealing today.
Stay tuned on PasteBin for future announcements related to this leak. We’ll always sign all of our releases for verification of authenticity.
Teaser Statistics:
Layer 2 = 7.566 Files
Your friends,
thedarkoverlord
Professional Adversarial Threat Group
TheDarkOverlord Solutions LLC, World Wide Web, LLC
OFFICIAL BITCOIN ADDRESS:
192ZobzfZxAkacLGmg9oY4M9y8MVTPxh7U
Tread carefully folks…I’d caution anyone from downloading .zip files from those sites.
Downloading with wget is safe. Wget for Windows is available, gratis, here:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/gnuwin32/files/wget/1.11.4-1/wget-1.11.4-1-setup.exe/download?use_mirror=netix
wget is a command -line program. In Windows you’ll have to install wget, open a command line from the Start menu or use “Run Command”, and type “wget” followed by the URL of the file you wish to download.
But there is probably no danger in just right-clicking on any of the links above, and choosing “save target as…” from the context menu. Then you can scan the downloaded file with your virus scanner.
Clark, did you notice which papers Anonymous is about to release. 🙂
Happy New Year!
Yes I did John; that’s why I don’t want people put off by Spencer Eagle’s warning.
Really, you and I should spend an afternoon with some big sheets of paper and some pencils. A calculator won’t be necessary.
Apologies. The links above are not direct download links, so you can’t right-click them and save as I said, and the pages linked above might indeed be dodgy, though I have no evidence that they are.
I have visited the pages (with Javascript disabled) and here are the direct download links which you can right-click to download, but do check the downloaded files with a virus scanner before opening them:
Bit torrent seed file for the archive:
https://cdn-02.anonfiles.com/6fx7q6pfb6/80df63dc-1546616669/911_Archive.zip.torrent
The three .zip files:
https://cdn-05.anonfiles.com/Vds5Aapaba/65dc0287-1546616970/Checkpoint_05.zip
https://cdn-04.anonfiles.com/c2t6A2p6b2/ddb6e970-1546617214/Checkpoint_06.zip
https://cdn-07.anonfiles.com/V4v1A8p9b2/7ac90baa-1546617263/Checkpoint_07.zip
John, do you mean this release by Anonymous?
https://www.cyberguerrilla.org/blog/operation-integrity-initiative-british-informational-war-against-all-part-4/
More documents relating to the “integrity” initiative and their propaganda against Russia and Corbyn.
Mighty Drunken, no, I mean the “9/11 Papers” released by Dark Overlord / 8Chan. Mine are the direct download links found from the links in freddy’s comment above at 13:09.
I haven’t been through them yet, but don’t expect much. It may lead to more. Everyone knows the official story and no-one believes it. Except for a few outliers.
I’ve looked at a few files; so far just fairly boring legal stuff about which organisations could possibly be sued by the victims.
There might be some additional names of hijackers.
There appear to be some AutoCAD electrical files – I cannot open these as I don’t have AutoCAD, but it’s interesting that they are there at all.
Mighty Drunken, sorry, you were asking John Goss – and he hasn’t replied – but I’m pretty sure he meant Dark Overlord rather than Anonymous, and was asking me if I’d noticed that the release concerned 9/11, since we have a long-running and acrimonious disagreement; John is certain of and polemicises for pre-rigged demolition of the Twin Towers whereas my conclusion is progressive collapse. John seems to be assuming that I would have played down this new evidence had I noticed that it concerned 9/11.
I don’t believe. What’s this?
Truth sold by portions 🙂 awesome! Can I have two bottles? Or is it sold by weight?
Thank you Mods.
PS I think TDO originally posted on 4chan
For anyone wanting to read a sample, layer 1 has been put up on GDrive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1M0ux3PDMZGBNaxKqeyh7NvbAI2nw4fkB?sort=13&direction=a
The truth will out.
But will not make us free. The authors and players have moved on and beyond meaningful reproach or justice. US reveals its political scandals when it’s safe to do so and that’s why we don’t see them in jail, eg Tricky Dicky.
We’ve had the Seaborne Freight nonsense.* Now we are to have a trial of a lorry park on a motorway in Kent.
First rehearsals to be held for Brexit ‘no-deal’ Dover congestion
The first trial of its kind will be held for Operation Brock to test how roads could cope if there is no divorce agreement.
4 January 2019
Image:150 drivers have been drafted in to trial parts of Operation Brock.
The first rehearsals for how Britain’s roads will cope with a “no-deal” Brexit are to be held next week.
A plan known as “Operation Brock” will be trialled, with up to 150 lorries between Manston Airport and Dover, one of the key points of entry to the UK.’
https://news.sky.com/story/first-rehearsals-to-be-held-for-brexit-no-deal-dover-congestion-11598671
This is yet another of Grayling’s ‘initiatives’.
Read more on Seaborne and especially about John Sharp and Ben Sharp.
http://www.handyshippingguide.com/shipping-news/government-ridiculed-over-roro-freight-investment-in-company-with-neither-ships-nor-experience_9635
This was on R4 early this morning.
The DUP are very keen for Cliff Edge Brexit, they really, really do not want what Theresa May wants.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46757459
Brexit: The DUP says there is “No Way” it will back PM’s deal
They think the back-stop is designed to leave them isolated from the rest of the United Kingdom.
The Guardian reports:[ May] seeks further written reassurances that the unpopular Northern Ireland border backstop in her Brexit deal will not be used.
Which begs the question, why on earth did she sign off on the final Withdrawal Agreement text? EU leaders must think the PM is a complete tool – trying to renege already on the finalised text of a agreement she only just signed.
Goose, whatever is it, that Theresa May actually wants?
I have not got a clue.
She seems to be scatching at a deal, that will please nobody and the U.K. will not be able to do it own thing.
I think she is mentally deranged, she should be removed.
The conclusion to draw from that article is that May still hasn’t got a parliamentary majority for her vote. It is pointless starting a new round with the EU when she’s been told so clearly no the last time, unless in a state of utter desperation.
She seems to think the EU and EU leaders have a vested interest in keeping her govt in power by keeping her DUP cofidence and supply partners happy. The DUP don’t even represent N.Ireland, which voted remain in the referendum.
Why should the EU do anything that risks upsetting Sinn Féin and the Irish govt?