Now updated with Campaign Launch Video below.
In December 1980 I stood alongside George Galloway in Caird Square as the flag of Palestine was hoisted above Dundee City Chambers to mark the twinning of Dundee with Nablus in the West Bank. I was 22 years old.
George had led the campaign for the twinning, against much opposition. In those days I worked alongside George to support the striking miners, in support of striking workers at Timex and NCR as Thatcherism ripped through the city, in the Anti-Nazi League and in other causes.
George and I never had the same politics. But we cooperated.
And now we are together working to do everything within our power to halt the sickening genocide of the Palestinian People in Gaza and indeed in the West Bank. Because that is the absolute priority at this moment.
Both major parties support arms sales to Israel, military cooperation with Israel, intelligence links to Israel and trade with Israel. We have to give people something else to vote for.
But I am happy to say I also firmly support the need to give an alternative to the Thatcherite economic policy offered by both Labour and Tory.
I heard Rachel Reeves launch Labour’s economic policy yesterday and the emphasis on fiscal rigidity, on tax cuts, on allowing untrammelled capital formation, bore no trace of social democratic, let alone socialist thinking.
The return to the homely analogies of state finances with family finances absolutely mirrored Thatcher and either wilfully embraced a fallacy or showed extraordinary ignorance.
Fundamental reform is needed as late-stage capitalism hurtles towards unsustainable wealth inequality and widespread lack of opportunity in a helot society. I am very pleased to align myself with the Workers Party on nationalisation of Rail, Water, Energy and all natural monopolies – which has always been my position. That is just a start.
Finally the Tory stance of Starmer, banging on about “Border security” and endorsing huge amounts of money pumped to the military-industrial complex, sickens me in supposedly coming from a left-wing party.
Starmer leads a Genocide Party and is as Tory as they come.
There isn’t a cigarette paper on domestic policy between Labour and Tory. But I am unapologetic in admitting that I would not be in Blackburn fighting this election were it not for Gaza.
Will a politician who is prepared to be complicit in thousands of children being slaughtered in Gaza, genuinely care about the education of your child as a poor person in the UK?
George and I still hold different views on many things, but the notion that you have to cancel anybody with whom you disagree on anything is a foolish one and can only lead to a general decline in intellectual rigour.
Here are George and I debating Scottish Independence. I hope it is an example of how two people can hold fundamentally opposed positions on an issue, and debate them openly without softening of the differences, yet with mutual respect.
Now we have to win this election in Blackburn and send a message against genocide, and provide me with a platform in the House of Commons where I can take forward my views as expressed for two decades on this blog.
This is the moment when I need help. Come here now and join the campaign on the streets of Blackburn. Come now from wherever you are. Give a few days or weeks to working against the genocide.
Accommodation here is strangely expensive; if you have a sleeping bag we can find floor space.
If you can help in any way please email [email protected]. Otherwise donations to the election fund are very essential!
Any individual donations over £50 in value will require to be declared to the Returning Officer together with your full name and address and you must be on the UK Electoral Register at the time the donation is made (we are required by law to verify this). No overseas donations over £50 can be accepted unless you are currently on the UK Electoral Register. No anonymous donations can be accepted above £50. Information about donations, including donor details may be published. Returning Officers make returns prepared by candidates available for inspection after elections. These include details of donations.
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As we witness the last White Power Anglo European Racist Western imperial colony the Illegal Apartheid Entity, running amok exterminating their mythical fake biblical amaluk enemies.
Did they burn their fake Red Heifers?
The Ancient Greek God Poseidon having pulled rank, destroyed US built jetty in Gaza …we appear to be edging closer to the eschatological ravings of the ‘rock and roll free world’ fantasy.
Genocide double down with the unelectable shapeshifter power couple ‘Niki and Nutty’’ with the most execrable staged lovey dovey interaction (usually reserved for hard core corny porn movie opening scenes before getting down to their dirty business)
The porn in this case being the mass murder and genocide kind. As Nicky moans for more, more more genocide spreading to the Lebanon and Nutty screams orgasmically about having his hands handcuffed by the international Law Court of The Hague!
You may think I exaggerate but it is not as vomit inducing as the reality.
‘🇮🇱🇺🇸 This video of Netanyahu talking to Nikki Haley will literally give you brain damage.
🔴 @DDGeopolitics’
https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/111997
Another fifth columnist, mossad asset fighting to destroy the UK.
“Keir Starmer’s Labour party has parachuted a professional lobbyist for Israel into the safe seat of North Durham for the UK general election.”
https://www.declassifieduk.org/luke-akehurst-arch-israel-lobbyist-picked-for-labour-safe-seat/
The dumbest so-called old school socialists are the Durham ex-miners.
North East is where mad fascist scientist Dominic Cummings treats as his personal Dalek homeland for his mad creations. Where he drove to ‘check his eyesight’ because of ‘Covid’… Where he previously developed the secret weapon – postal vote fraud. That was used to deliver the failed Indy vote for Scotland that made HMQ ‘purr’ with delight as Lord Snooty crowed about; and the surprise BrexShit result with massive turnout (postal votes) in the NE! Also the CIA-gauntleted general election victory for Bozo in 2019! Which was announced by the top mockingbird presstitute LauraKoftheCIA from the backseat of a car using her phone on election results day! The PV’s delivered it she crowed! She and her dodgy family, have connections in these parts; and it was Blair’s safe seat – because he couldn’t get Corbyn to give up Islington to him.
Other notable neocons include the disappeared mushy-guacamole-eater Sith Lord Mandellson … this GE already giving off a deepstate swampy stench.
@Tom Welsh. Morning Tom, I wonder whether you can help me find a room with a bed. Unfortunately the offer to stay at someone’s house was withdrawn this morning.
Please, let me know today, as I would otherwise have to pay exorbitantly to stay in Blackburn. It can be outside it, as long as theres a bus connection.
Thanks in advance.
Sorry to have missed your post, nevermind. Actually I live nearly 200 miles from Blackburn.
I hope you found somewhere.
Tom: Your reply (thank you for making it) was not wasted, and there are replies to it on this page…
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/forums/topic/climate-change-denialists-who-get-all-shy/page/7/?view=all#post-98477
… and the previous one. (Your original post is on the previous one.) Hope to see you there.
I’m utterly disgusted at Scotland’s women’s national football team who are taking on Israel tonight behind closed doors at Hampden.
It would appear that not even an ongoing ethnic cleansing in Gaza by them is enough to dissuade our ladies national team from playing them.
Utterly shameful.
Being Scotland I have to ask are they real ladies?
Tread carefully Stevie Boy, for some of them grew up in England and are English but their parents or grandparents are Scottish.
These women are human beings first and foremost surely they must have some sort of compassion for the utterly oppressed Palestinians, but not enough to make a statement by not showing up to play Israel, which is currently in the middle of carrying out a genocide in Gaza.
These conscience-free women of Scotland’s women’s national football team will play the Israeli women’s team again on Tuesday night which is just as shocking.
I’m done with supporting Scotland’s women’s national football team and any other Scottish, be it national or not team, that agrees to play an Israel team at any sport anywhere in the world.
The SFA are an utter disgrace, they should all be sacked along with the players that have agreed to this farce.
A little harsh on the players perhaps RoS. I believe 3 of the players have dropped out from the squad for “no reason given.” There is a planned protest outside the grounds tonight I read. The real culprit is FIFA UEFA and the SFA who should have excluded Israel from the competition entirely. Difficult if you are a young player who might forfeit any future in the game for an action that the governing body ought to have taken and would have little real world effect anyway.
Same thing with the Irish Women’s basketball team when one of the Israeli players stated that Ireland was well known for being anti-semitic.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/forums/topic/breaking-news-gaza-only/page/7/#post-94506
“A little harsh on the players perhaps RoS”
ET.
The way I see it is that they are human beings and football is only a game. The SFA can say that the game will go on, but it can’t if the women decide not to play. I know several women have dropped out – good on them – but the rest have a moral duty to humanity to not go ahead and play this game or Tuesday’s game.
If the women go ahead and play the game tonight they will bring the whole of Scotland into disrepute. A stand MUST be made. If the women put their careers first then we know what kind of folk are playing in our names, and frankly that is shameful and unacceptable. No one can make them play. They need to do the right thing.
To be fair, they probably had no choice. But the players and spectators certainly showed the visitors whose side they were on. As reported by Israeli media:
Israeli Women’s Soccer Team Harassed by pro-Palestinian Protesters at European Championship
‘Shameful of Scotland to host Israel’s women’s team while Israel is carrying out genocide’: Israeli soccer players were tailed, refused entry to training fields, and denied their national anthem at the contentious match in Glasgow
https://archive.ph/yR7LW#selection-1739.116-1739.277
Meanwhile.
This is the kind of shite that infests BLiS, a war criminal is his hero.
“A SCOTTISH Labour MP hopeful has been slammed after describing the Iraq War spin doctor Alastair Campbell as his “hero”.
Gordon McKee, running for the Glasgow South seat, gushed with praise for Tony Blair’s former consigliere after meeting him in 2016.
In a tweet, the candidate said: “Can’t even say how amazing it was to meet [Campbell] in Eastwood this afternoon. The dude is my hero!””
No way you are getting selected anywhere as a Labour candidate now if you view Alastair Campbell as anything less than an heroic figure. That’s irrespective of Sir Keir and Lord Peter’s zero tolerance of antisemitism.
https://skwawkbox.org/2019/07/19/2005-abbott-called-campbell-antisemite-over-howard-poster-mandelson-defended-him/
In any case, is Alastair Campbell still to be considered more of a war criminal than the great human rights lawyer, Sir “Israel does have that right” KC?
I don’t think anyone here tolerates antisemitism. What you mean is surely: Sir Keir and Lord Peter’s zero tolerance of “antisemitism” – their use of the word “antisemitism” having little or nothing to do with antisemitism.
You’re right, of course. Their tolerance for actual antisemites like Alastair Campbell knows no bounds. Similarly Rachel Reeves, open fangirl of Hitler worshipper Nancy Astor.
Didn’t Der Sturmer import zionist witch-finders to purge Jews?
Campbell wrote text for soft porn mags in the seventies – apparently one of his contributions was to promote “fart sniffing” as a sexual act.
His career path changed eventually but he still carried on promoting “fart sniffing”, this time as a political act and indeed built a fine career as an advocate for the farts that he had sniffed.
Now to hear young people like this Gordon McKee express admiration for this inveterate, lifelong fart sniffer grieves me. McKee and many other youngsters are being groomed to accept the basic premise of Campbell and the ugly cabal of fart sniffers who have gathered around him – that fart sniffing is good, if, and only if the fart to be sniffed is produced by the right person – a rich person.
Where all this leaves George Galloway’s metaphor of “two cheeks of the same arse” is anyone’s guess.
Don’t strike a match….
I watched the first couple of episodes of “Father Ted” the other night.
A reporter from the mainland is meeting Father Ted at the island fair and of course it all goes wrong for the ambitious but hapless cleric.
One of the encounters the reporter has is with Tom,the island “village idiot” (more likely the island “idiot-savant”), who is talking about a nasty scar on his face to the journo
“Reporter – “That’s a nasty scar on your face Tom”
Tom – “That’s nothing, take a look at this”
[Tom pulling his pants and undies down and putting his head between his legs looks up at the journo saying]
Tom – “Can you believe my own Dad did that to me?””
We only see his upside down head between his knees but that’s enough lol
The MSM seem to have spent a lot of airtime on what they would deem as irrelevant politicians of the past.
Yet Diane Abbott – Jeremy Corbyn – George Galloway and even Nigel Farage have been high profile in the
same allegedly uninterested media since the GE was called.
What that interest indicates for myself is that this GE may not go to plan and that there is a fear in the Liberal media
that Starmer may not have an easy victory and worse, a comfortable ( but not too big ) working majority.
Strangely enough in one those weird ways that happen in current history this fear is reflected in the USA with Donald
Trump V’s the Liberal media.
When you hear Kirsty Wark refer to the US President (Biden) as ” The Commander in Chief of NATO” she appears to be saying that
Biden is in charge of her world and the whole of The Western World.
To me that tells me a lot about the mindset of all Liberal commentators.
I have heard the BBC reporters refer to Biden and other Presidents as ” THE President ” as if he was OUR president and everybody else’s President by definition.
No fan of Trump at all but it looks as though he has been ‘ Lawfared ‘ similar to Lula and possibly Imran Khan.
Here’s one that may scare them though:
Trump can still run for President and if he wins then he could theoretically Pardon himself.
All is fair in Love and Lawfare so, if he wins he will be doing a lot of revenge Lawfaring himself
and the likes of The Guardian will be screaming that this is not fair.
All Trump will say is that they started it and set the example.
Even if Trump wins in November, he can’t make state charges/convictions disappear, only federal ones. The recent conviction was for state crimes.
Some journalists and broadcasters also refer to Trump as ‘the President’, and have continued to do so even in reports of his conviction, so I’m not sure how that fits in with your thesis?
The same Democrats enabling genocide/ ethnic cleansing, scorning the ICC/ICJ, etc, talking haughtily of the rule of law and how getting Trump off the ballot is for the greater “good”.
Ok I am just going to state this breaking news below. If it is acceptable.
I believe The Palestinians may well be the first beneficiaries of that undeniably urgent protection.
Read for yourselves below.
George Galloway has already responded to it.
“George Galloway
@georgegalloway
55m
Replying to @GeromanAT
Big News this…
May 31, 2024 · 9:06 PM UTC “
‘ – GEROMAN — time will tell – 👀 —
@GeromanAT
46m
The Chinese army is ready, together with the Russian army, to defend justice in the world.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is ready to strengthen strategic ties with the Russian armed forces and work with them to defend international justice. This was stated at a briefing by the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the People’s Republic of China Wu Qian.
“China’s armed forces are willing to work together with the Russian military to fully implement the important consensus reached by the heads of the two states to further strengthen strategic communications and coordination, deepen mutual trust in the military field and jointly implement the Global Security Initiative,” he said.
According to a representative of the Chinese military department, PLA military personnel are ready, together with their Russian colleagues, to “defend international justice and impartiality”, and also make every effort to ensure international and regional security.
#Russia #China #DragonBear
🇷🇺 Sofa General Staff
May 31, 2024 · 8:55 PM UTC ‘
My opinion- The Collective Wastes armed forces, the US carrier group, will suddenly find they are facing more than Ansar Allah in their fight for justice for Palestinians. The punitive strike against Sanaa radio station today killing may have been the last!
It goes with my earlier comment about the Arabs being summoned to China. Now this announcement by China. It’s been a while coming , but it finally has, stated unequivocally. I read it as The Law Based World Order starts now, and they and the Russians will enforce that Law wherever it is needed.
I fear we are now at the midnight moment of the long warned doomsday clock and I can hear the mechanism beginning to whir into action for The Bell to Toll…
Depends on their interpretation of ‘international justice’. Based on how their national justice systems work I wouldn’t hold out much hope.
Anyway if the US acting as the world’s policeman is bad how is this any better?
Counterweights Pears?
If true, we might be back to a Cold War. Back then the choreographed dance between the Superpowers, was of a tit-for-tat kind and seemed more predictable than today’s “We could be at war with anyone forever”. Then the violence erupted on fault lines between the Big Two, so had a slower more definite pace.
I’m not saying I’m pining for a Cold War but I’ve always fancied a bunker on “The New Frontier”
“Based on how their national justice systems work I wouldn’t hold out much hope.”
I truly believe this question would deserve serious research.
I am pretty convinced 90% in the West have zero competence on this.
What do we know about China? Nothing. (Something that was confirmed to me by a fomer inofficial advisor to former chancellor Schröder re: China, over 20 years ago.)
If I look into documentary film production about China e.g. there is almost not a single prroduct today intended to understand, to question, to ask, wonder. I know what these films will try to sell me in advance.
I might exaggerate but the last major effort on this field to understand China, was Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni´s epic China work.
As the national vs. international agency are concerned: I want to point out that in the history of the West (the only area I would dare to argue over) free societies were no guarantee for peaceful foreign policy.
In fact you have enough evidence for an argument that there is a direct correlation between free societies (by comparison in their own era) and violent, even genocidal imperialistic foreign “policy”.
This certainly is true for Ancient Greece and Republican Rome, for England, the Netherlands, well most of Western Europe since the Renaissance.
And is ongoing with the US in the lead today.
Sry if this comes along as mundane, common knowledge. But it has to be articulated and reminded of when discussions over China, RU, BRICS on the international stage will increase.
Keep in mind their attitude will also be reaction to the way WE behave. So an empathic approach, one of respect is paramount. After all we have much to amend for.
“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.”
― Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (1996)
There is a chap on Twitter/X Arnaud Bertrand who does a lot of travelling and writing about China. His commentaries are very interesting and very positive about China. There was also a BBC programme by Michael Wood The story of China which shows you the age and changes in Chinese civilization and culture. China is a very old civilization and has a very old, very useful, and effective medical culture – Chinese traditional medicine based on diet and herbal remedies – goes back thousands of years! Fascinating country!
thx!
The medical side I am telling people about constantly when I hear about the obscene wealth dentists and orthopaedists in Munich in Bavaria are accumulating. (rich people like to ski -> injuries -> makes doctors happy -> doctors go skiing -> injuries -> new circle of money)
I´ll check out Wood and Bertrand.
(I know American Monthly Review and Tricontinental have a lot on Chinese economy but I´ve found hardly any time so far.)
The story of China is also available as a book if you find books easier than movies – I do, especially with a poor internet connection. However, you will miss Wood’s presentation. He has a good voice, is enthusiastic, and very kind and compassionate. I came across a little book by Dr Joshua S. Horn, Away with all pests, New York, London, Modern Reader, 1969. Horn was an English surgeon who went to China with his whole family in 1954, stayed until 1969! He had visited China as a ship’s doctor in the 1930s. The description of the change between his original encounter and his return in the 1950s shows the huge benefits of the Chinese Revolution and the horrors of colonialism. Very descriptive of China’s efforts to make health care available to its population and its methods, effects of cultural revolution etc. Not a long book and a good read.
If interested, a book I can recommend is: “China: A History”, by John Keay.
both of you, thx for the info
p.s. embarassing how dumb folks are in my region. 1,4bn people. They can´t even grasp what that actually means, and what it does not mean and how meaningful conversations about that may look like.
But as Mark Sleboda likes to quote Western pundits on RU: Nigeria with Snow (which the Nigerians of course will take issue with).
Rosemary, hello. Also worth a look at is the work of Joseph Needham, something of a masterwork: “Science and Civilization in China”. Once loaned an abridged version from our local Library. It basically details how the Chinese have pretty much invented most of the things we, today, take for granted, including; paper, gunpowder, missiles, porcelain, piped natural gas, germ warfare etc etc. I have also watched Mr Woods’ series, twice and found it awesome. The big takeaway for me, because of its tremendous age, approaching 5000 years, is that they’ve been there and done that, time and time again. They had civilised, advanced societies with developed social structures millenia ago, that lasted hundred of years. Those were their various dynasties, Tang, Song, Ching and Ming etc. When they collapsed, it was big style, lasting in some cases for decades, total societal destruction, anarchy, collapse in any rule of Law, criminality, murder and mayhem. We, in the West, because of our excelling in super violence have dominated for a couple of centuries, tops, and haven’t as yet, experienced the fate of those ancient dynasties, until now that is, things are looking bleak and apocalyptic for the so called elite, entitled and supposedly most civilised Civilization of all time. All I can say further is that we, here, are both blessed and/or curse, depending on one’s viewpoint as we stand at the inflection point of a clash of Civilisations, a point not seen for millenia.
Pyewacket, Wow! That is a hefty work even in its abridged form – thanks! Needham is a fascinating character also. The Chinese have felt the effects of climate change over the 5000 plus years which caused huge upheaval, wasn’t just warlords! Remember learning about Chinese inventions as a school kid in the 1950s – gunpowder, printing, compass, clocks etc. Hope kids are taught this today.
China and Russia presented a joint declaration to the UNSC 1997 – Russian-Chinese Joint Declaration on a Multipolar World and its Establishment of a New International Order, adopted Moscow on 23 April 1997. My reading of the Chinese position is that it incorporates the position in this paper. It seems to be part the BRICS approach. The rules based order is the problem in the world at the moment because it is a figment of the US imagination/foreign policy (like Nato). There is a whole raft of international law to which most countries align but which the US constantly undermines. I think this is what Russia and China are getting at and I think the world would be a whole lot safer – fewer wars/conflicts, far fewer people displaced (this is a horrible aspect of US perpetual wars). All people want is peace, security and a bit of prosperity – this is not coming from the US and I hope it comes with BRICS and multipolarity.
Also, saw that South Africa is planning to take the US to the ICJ for complicity in genocide.
The US justice system jails 25% of the worlds prisoners out of a total population of just 5% of the human population. It looks like a profit making endeavour our human misery! No surprise eh?
It is at best a curates egg with its largely politically appointed justices and prosecutors and easily rigged juries.
As the ‘worlds policeman’? Fuck that for a game of whatever.
Dungroanin, Hi. Re: the profitability of the US Prison system. It is indeed very profitable, one reason is that it’s largely privately run, in fact the whole justice system is a massive earner. For example: when a prisoner is released on probation, they’re expected to pay for that, failure to pay, lands you back in Court, which then may well see you back in the chokey. Another reason relates to legislation imposed by the Abolition of Slavery. There’s a section (apologies, I can’t recall the section number), that states it is illegal to profit from the unpaid employment of any man or woman ie: slavery. However, and here’s the moneymaking rub. That section becomes null and void when it involves those imprisoned by law upon criminal conviction. Therefore, millions of prisoners do work for cents, making road signs, litter picking highways and all sorts of other jobs that would normally incur payment of wages.
Dungroanin – the US has 1.8 million prisoners, China has 1.69 million prisoners.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/incarceration-rates-by-country
Thanks andyOL. Absolutely glaring isn’t it?
US 531 per 100k population.
China 119 per 100k population.
“the US acting as the world’s policeman” 🙃
The US method-acting as the world’s policeman
Yes Dungroanin, the stakes are rising day by day. Macron wants to send troops to Ukraine and attack Russia. We have headlines saying we will conscript the royal family. Coffins placed under the Eiffel Tower are rumoured to be from Russia. Israel will persist in killing all the Palestinians. General Petraeus is in the UK. He has a new book out, about the countries he invaded.
Storm clouds are gathering. Will Blair and Cameron form a coup while Parliament is dissolved? Or do we have a hiatus in which we can hold back from the maelstrom? Democracy? Will it happen? Truth? International rule of law? I truly cannot understand why we support the extermination of the people of the former British Protectorate of Palestine. 400,000 Israelis protested this plan before October 7th. 180,000 of them are out on the streets now pleading for acceptance of the Biden ceasefire plan and a return of their hostages, but the hostages will not be allowed to return to tell of what they have seen. The press are targets. Doctors, hospitals, aid workers, and Lebanon. Is Lebanon to be sacrificed too?
There is a headlong dash to Armageddon, it seems, and we are gentle people living in a multicultural nation, while hedge funds hoover up our infrastructure and public services.
It is all a bit of a mess at the moment and diplomatic skills will be needed if there is any chance of averting the looming catastrophe.
Interesting, Craig Mokhiber has ONE Wikipage. English.
No German, no French, no Spanish. Nothing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Mokhiber
Re Wiki history of Gaza
The Wiki pages for Gaza seem to have been mysteriously changed, the history of the strip prior to 2023 seems to have gone, if it was ever there, this applies too to the French and Spanish versions. Wiki is a useless source for information on Gaza. History did not begin in 2023.
I suspect Craig and his team are already aware of the web resource “Who Targets Me” but I’ll post a link here for anyone who isn’t.
“We make online political ads more transparent…with tools for individuals, data for researchers and journalists, and advocacy for better policy from platforms, regulators and governments.” Their focus is on digital advertising, who spends what on Meta, Google and what ads are being used, who those ads target etc etc. I hadn’t come across it before and was pointed to it by a similar online resource focusing on Ireland.
https://whotargets.me/en/
Interestingly even some conservative journalists see Starmer’s Labour for what it really is and know very well why the British media is so supportive.
Here’s the Telegraph’s former chief political commentator:
“To sum up, Starmer’s Labour Party has been captured by a small, highly determined right-wing clique, one that is as insouciant of Labour’s magnificent history and democratic tradition as it is contemptuous of ethnic minorities.
It’s important to ask why the mainstream media simply ignore so much appalling evidence of naked racism.
The answer, I believe, is that much of the British media shares the basic attitudes of Starmer’s Labour Party: the toxic racism towards Black people, the contempt for Muslims, the almost uncritical support for Israel despite its atrocities against Palestinians, and the worship of power at all costs – not to mention the instinctive authoritarianism, and contempt for due process and basic decency.”
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/keir-starmer-drawing-terrifying-blueprint-uk
Coming from a former Torygraph commentator, that’s pretty damning stuff!
Ah, it’s from Oborne – a decent fellow. His contributions to Double-down news are worth watching, too. Thanks for the link.
Yes, stating unvarnished truths now he is outside the bubble.
May be that´s a method Murray&Galloway should give a try:
from Matt Taibbi, Racket News, with Walter Kirn:
“(…)
Kirn: De Niro is writing me constantly.
Matt Taibbi: Oh, we’ll get to him. Unfortunately, we have to.
Walter Kirn: Yeah. I get at least two messages from him per day. And it’s wanting me to just go into the woods, making me want to go into the woods.
Matt Taibbi: De Niro should just do the thing that he did to Maury in Goodfellas, get behind everybody and put a telephone cord around their necks. I want you to vote for Biden today. Today.
(…)”
At least I gotta chuckle once a day.
(-“I want you to vote for Galloway today. Today.” -“Craig, I think he got it.”)
“Galloway & Murray, the thugs of Blackburn”, the latest from Monty Python.
p.s. Craig and George are not thuggish enough. What would be really scary first names? Or do Brits actually have such a thing?
Entirely on a whim I got curious about the history of workers’ unrest at Timex and NCR, and found this fascinating article, including interviews from folks who were there in 1983:
https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/lhr.2021.4
Jon swimming in a sea of info, why should I look
Unless you can tell me what attracted your attention – what, exactly caught your interest as you read the article?
[ Mod: The commenter name has been changed to ‘[Not] 4BwD’ because the submitted name – ‘Anonymous’ – is reserved, due to over-use and possible confusion with commenters who previously used the same pseudonym. ]
—
They won’t elect Craig Murray, he’s not “local” (he doesn’t look like them; yes, people want to vote for people who are “like them” and this is not a racist comment).
Before Sunday 2nd, the 4BwD independents have already endorsed Adnan Hussein and asked that Mr Murray stand down so he doesn’t split the vote. It’s over.
via nitter:
“the decision was communicated to Craig and George’s team and it was our understanding that Craig would stand down”
“at the meeting George came with the mindset he was going to ask Adnan to stand down. He also said ‘Craig Murray is an immovable object’. We explained that we were fed up with people who parachute candidates in our town and we understood our constituents better than him”
I, for one, wanted Mr. Murray to be restored to a dignified well paying job after nearly two decades of sacrifice. Unfortunately and ironically the biggest obstacle is the discernment of the people he wishes to represent. Glad to have saved the substantial donation I was planning to make towards electioneering expenses, perhaps it can be better used another time.
All the best
It looks like Altaf ‘Tiger’ Patel has also been asked (anonymously) to stand down, again so Adnan Hussein can take all the anti-imperialist vote. From Craig’s Twitter timeline:
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/24355466.blackburn-independent-tiger-condemns-bully-boy-election-tactics/
I guess Anonymous [4BwD], if there ought to be standing down of small parties and indies, who would do it? Why is the view of 4BwD so decisive for you?
Details of the group for curious readers here:
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/23943029.blackburn-darwen-labour-gaza-rebels-form-new-group/
The Lancashire Telegraph a propaganda bastion of the Uniparty
How does one get asked to stand down anonymously?
You’re clearly unaware that George Galloway was elected by such people, not only in Rochdale but also in Bradford and Bethnal Green.
Galloway supports Palestinian independence and Irish independence, but opposes the independence of his native Scotland. In fact, he is quite happy to team up with loyalists and UKIP-types to do so, using RAF style roundels in his electoral material. British nationalism in that sense is a-okay for George, but not the Scottish variety.It’s also fair to say that George Galloway never met an enemy of the West that he didn’t like. So what the feck are you doing with this clown???????????????????
The title alone should have answered your question, even if you couldn’t be bothered to read the short article. It’s because they oppose the West’s sadistic murder campaign in Gaza. A depraved, historic genocide plumbing fresh depths every week
I’m not a member of any party TBTF, but do follow these things for interest. SGP had an article about Craig being a member of Alba but standing for the Workers party of GB. This was supposed not to be a problem as Galloway had said the party wouldn’t be standing any candidates in Scotland. That seemed reasonable to me – a trade-off. But after reading the recent article by SGP I looked it up, and they are:
“Workers Party of Britain – Scotland Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (Wave 1)
as of 30th April 2024
Gordon and Buchan – Craig Proctor
Glasgow South – Nick Stewart
Glasgow East – Maximilian Owen
Livingston – Danielle Mclean
Mid Dunbartonshire – Kevin Riley
Paisley and Renfrewshire North – Majd Eddin Bashar Helmi
Aberdeen North – Neil Healy
Glenrothes and Mid Fife – William Alexander Rankine
North East Fife – Andrew Strachan”
https://workerspartybritain.org/general-election-2024/
Does Craig think it’s still appropriate to remain a member of Alba. apparently against their constitution?
Craig,
I had thought “How on earth can Craig – someone whose views I often agree on (Assange in particular) – be talking about Genocide in Gazza as though it were a real thing. Has he gone mad, or been reprogrammed, or what?”
I was thinking that “genocide” was something like the Nazis or the Ukranians did against the jews, or the Hutu against the Tutsi or those other folks who set out to eliminate a whole race or ethnic group and killed a big part of that population.
But it turns out (see Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit) that the definitition has changed. Now it just seems to mean that some bad stuff happened to people (of a nation or political persuasion or whatever). So now most war (including bad things like Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima, maybe Ukraine) and some other bad but understandable things (like ridding Palestine of some most unpleasent folks like Hamas, even from the river to the sea) all count under the same heading of “genocide”.
I think this is a mistake and really an insult to the victims of what was formally and properly, before the redefinition, known as genocide.
So, I would sympathise with your hot tears more if they were shared for the murdered folks at that rave (maybe not unlike your own Doune) and those peace loving hippy comune dwellers, also slaughtered.
And, no – we can’t just excuse it by saying the Zionists were to blame.
(Just saying, as one man to another, each with wit to think)
@Gareth
Tell better jokes.
Gareth get a grip. Have you not seen the hastily buried torture victims and murdered Palestinians with their hands tied?
Your believe in a freely to be edited Wikipedia page, before the expertise of the ICJ and ICC is noted, but you are wrong.
The thousands of dead children and women you so readily want killed for some victims in an ill placed and organised rave, is genocide.
I hope your mental health will soon improve.
Like murder, the crime of genocide has two elements: action and intent. The leaders of most countries embarking on actions that might look a bit genocidal take care to frame the consequences as unfortunate side effects of a military campaign. The leaders of Israel, with an amazing sense of impunity, openly called for the destruction of the people of Gaza before embarking on theirs.
“(see Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit)”
Squeeth is right, Gareth’s piece is a joke. All Israel related entries are written by Israel itself, not some independent objective author as G presents. If you yourself try to edit an article, the edit will most often be rejected, as a very strict control or moderation is maintained. There’s been lots of discussion of this problem, including on this site.
Try mentioning on the Jerusalem page that it is the capital of Palestine and it’ll be reverted in about thirty seconds. On any matter adverting to the US empire or CommercialPrivateEquitybbc, Wiki is a US NGO in all but name. You have to go back to 1917 on the Western Front for the good stuff….
That is what is sad about it Squeeth, there is loads of really good stuff on it but trust is low. A medical student said to me that science based articles are being rewritten now based on the commercial connections that the article refers or alludes to – particularly clear with any science article that touches upon the commercial interest of transnational pharmaceutical companies , I was told
It is an ongoing process, they will get to WW1 and 1917(Did you enjoy this film?) sooner or later
Gareth does have a point – the meaning of the word Genocide, in his opinion, has changed. IMO, it’s ok with the word, it’s Gareth is applying logic incorrectly:
– on one side he puts events that have already happened, and the facts have been established to date, and there was Nuremberg, and there are lots of evidence;
– on the other side he puts those events that are yet unfolding.
It would be correct to compare what is happening now in Gaza to maybe 1941 in Europe, when the majority of the population was not truly reliably informed about what was happening, did not realize the scale of the disaster, and therefore did not understand the urgency and timeliness of counteraction.
So, if someone wants to be pedantic, they might choose ‘Israel agression against Palestinians that may amount to genocide if we let it continue’. As you see, it’s quite a long phrase, and I dare say unnecessary redundant in linguistic sense. People normally understand each other correctly with the help of context.
What Israel does fits nicely with the genocide definition (excl. #5).
1 Killing members of the group
2 Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
3 Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part
4 Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group
5 Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group
Also, it is odd that the large scale killing of millions of slavic people by Nazi Germany during WW2 is somehow not considered a genocide.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalplan_Ost
What is the reason for that? Atleast here in Sweden I have never heard anyone talk about this killing of slavs as a genocide.
I bet you also haven’t heard the words Poraimos or Samudaripen – words meaning genocide of the Romani people.
As for the genocide of the Slavs, it seems we haven’t invented a separate word for this. Those who are guilty of the destruction of the Slavs don’t want to recognize even the two-and-a-half-year Siege of Leningrad as genocide
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Leningrad
And when I say those who are guilty, I mean not only Germany, but also Finland, who entered the war on the side of Hitler, occupied Karelia and treated the civilian population extremely cruelly in concentration camps. Finland secured the siege of Leningrad in the north.
The extermination of the Slavs apparently does not touch the hearts of other people as much as (I apologize for the cynicism of the expression) the widely publicized genocide of the Jews. Well, what Kiev did to the Donbass and Lugansk people for 8 long years, Scholz called something like “ridiculous genocide.”
Tatyana
Yes the Finns accepted help from Nazi Germany.
There was noone else.
And yes the USSR previously invaded Finland unprovoked.
Finland understandably feared Stalin’s USSR more than Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
Perhaps Finland should have accepted Stalin’s assurances of friendship.
After all the Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians did.
You’re stupid or ignorant, John? Accepted help in what? In extermination of the Jews?
In Latvia 70 thousand Latvian Jews were killed, and 20 thousand Jews were brought there and killed there. Latvia killed about 90% of its pre-war jewish population. They hurried to finish this by the end of 1941.
How does Stalin relate to this?
Ah, ask me about other Baltic states, I’m quite good in googling Yad Vashem.
JK redux
In case you don´t know the text and in case you have a little time to spare, there is this interesting essay/response by Canadian “Russia historian” Michael Jabara Carley who had been mentioned here before.
Carley´s main subject of research has been the diplomatic side of the USSR between 1917-1945.
His latest, and who knows final work will be a three-part study on this subject.
After a scholarly review of one of his books he responded to that other scholar´s review:
This is from: H-Net network on Diplomatic History and International Affairs
“Author’s (Carley) response to “Michael Jabara Carley. “Fiasco: The Anglo-Franco-Soviet Alliance That Never Was and the Unpublished British White Paper, 1939–1940.” International History Review 41:4 (2019): 701-728.”
25 August 2021
https://networks.h-net.org/node/28443/discussions/8127981/authors-response-article-review-1052
It contains this bit mentioning Finland. (The paper is about how France and GB failed in supporting USSR attempts of forging an anti-German alliance until 1939/40 inspired by a White Paper retrieved from the Foreign Office´s archives. Instead they tried to repeat their old charades of playing off one – Finland in this case – against the other – RU in this case. Eventually Finns and Russians managed to negotiate a peace without outside help/interference.)
“(…)
What I found particularly interesting about the white paper is that the French government vetoed publication. Charles Corbin, the French ambassador in London, delivered an unsigned note to the Foreign Office in early January 1940 saying essentially that the French government thought the collection of documents chosen for the white paper suggested that the Soviet side was more serious about concluding an anti-Nazi alliance than were the British and French.[11] That was the key point, and of course the French were irritated that they did not receive credit for a more active role in trying to obtain agreement with the Soviet side. This was a somewhat paradoxical position for the French government to take because it was ready to charge at the Red Army, which was then bogged down in the Winter War against Finland. The French therefore pressured London for the despatch of an expeditionary force into Scandinavia to help the Finns and to draw Norway and Sweden into the war against Germany. In March 1940 Daladier, still président du Conseil, instructed his chargé d’affaires in Moscow to try to impede Finnish-Soviet peace negotiations to give France and Britain time to intervene. In fact, French pressure in London seemed to be having some effect. The Finnish-Soviet war ended in mid-March, just in the nick of time if one took the position that the outbreak of war between France and Britain and the USSR would have been a catastrophe. Not everyone shared that view.
(…)”
p.s. An interview with him, interesting guy:
https://www.thepostil.com/of-collective-security-an-interview-with-michael-jabara-carley/
There, in your teeny-weeny European district, they teach only a small part of history, probably only those moments that concern you directly.
Here in Russia we also know what happened to our closest neighbors, like China. The Japanese exterminated the Chinese no less fiercely than Hitler exterminated the “Untermenschen” . For you, the name Xinjiang means only the oppression of the Uyghurs, but here in Russia we know that this was an important region through which aid from the USSR went to China. The same with Taiwan, it was a vulnerable place where the Japanese kept military air bases. Today, these weak spots in China’s defense suddenly desperately need a shot of Western democracy! (Which I find extremely suspicious).
As for genocide, do you know at least approximately the numbers of losses in that war by country? I came across such a visual animation
https://youtu.be/7cgRwDkP6vk
Good graphic, thanks.
Thanks Tatyana. This kind of information is easily available in the west so there is no excuse for not knowing and understanding the terrible consequences of conflict. The gross figures hide the civilian and ethnic casualties which were appalling. The Roma people lost about 20% of their numbers. Horrible thoughts on a lovely morning – time to walk with Kia!
Thanks for the visual graph of WW2 death, Tatyana, it should never happen again.
Is it not the case that many “Nazis” not just Germans but those who supported their cause in other Eastern European countries conflated their hatred of Jews with their hatred of socialists as represented by Russia. Killing a Jew was like killing a Russian and it is this conflated attitude that is spilling over in this current situation? What else can explain the ridiculously extremist warmongering views of the likes of Kaya Kallis, who perhaps have not yet shaken off their anti – semitic past?
The definition of genocide, like anti-semitism, nowadays conforms to the ‘rules based order’ philosophy: It means whatever we decide it means and it applies to you, not us.
I don’t like this phrase, I’m probably too sensitive to shades of meaning. The word Order for me smells like Discipline, and the word Rules for me implies Rulers and Governed. In this particular case, no one has even seen this “list of rules”, so it remains something virtual and serves only as an expression for fantasies.
I love better the word Law, which implies discussion and agreement, and the word International, because I really love everything International. This means that many people of different cultures have come to something in common. And this is a guarantee that the chance for error is minimized and the interests of the participants are taken into account.
Hi Tatyana,
‘Rule-based order’ is just one of those nonsense phrases that are repeated ad infinitum. The specific class it applies to must repeat like a mantra : ‘ Diversity, Democracy, Rule based order, we must be allowed to defend our border.’
Order tends to be rule-based, or it wouldn’t be order.
Thanks for the wiki link, Jack. I myself would never have thought to read the English version. It was interesting and I’m grateful that they mentioned Stalingrad.
This city has now been renamed Volgograd (not very far from me). The battle there was epic.
There’s the Pavlov House there, a small old four-story building, which during the battle was occupied by Soviet soldiers, about 30 of them and the same number of wounded civilians in the basement.
Jack, they held the line for 58 days!
Such events go into folklore. There’s a parable in the form of a joke about this:
A teacher in a German school asked which city is the largest in the world. One of the students said Stalingrad.
– But why?
– My grandfather claims that it took him two months to walk one street there.
When I find out that Denmark then surrendered to Hitler in six hours, I combine this with the recent message that Denmark supports Kiev regime, supplies weapons and approves attacks on Russia, and I cannot help thinking there was no resistance in Denmark. Sorry.
—
—
Rosemary! Hello! Happy to see you here!
May I please also share a graphic on Stalingrad battle?
https://youtu.be/MI8g3p4eXw8
It was one of those events that influenced the whole war.
By that moment Japan planned to invade USSR from the East, and Turkey gathered big army at our Southern borders. After nazis got defeated in Stalingrad, Turkey and Japan changed their invasion plans.
“Atleast here in Sweden I have never heard anyone talk about this killing of slavs as a genocide”
You are right Jack. I have often wondered why this is
When I first became aware of this fact, the USSR was considered a dangerous enemy by the MIC, so I vaguely put it down to the baleful vagaries of Cold War politics.
But now today in 2024, it stands clear today as a colossal murder machine – a genocide for the ages
Jack, in “Mein Kampf”, the text speaks of the necessary death of 50 million people. This book was published in the early 1920’s, so it was no surprise when General Plan Ost commenced – everybody of importance in the West knew what was going to happen
The guys there in Italy started first, taking a course towards nationalism and imperialism, declaring themselves an exceptional nation (they send their warm regards to Mike Pompeo. A surprisingly Italian-sounding surname, btw). They established fascism in their country, united with other dudes from Germany and Japan, forming the Axis. We all know what happened next.
Surprisingly, the division of Poland is considered the beginning of the WW2, although three years before that Poland itself happily issued ultimatums to Czechoslovakia, participating in the division of that country, with no shame, as if it was the right thing to do. Hey, Poland, jow did you like it played on yourself?
Well, about the genocide of the Slavs, for which we do not have a separate word, I will mention Srbosjek (Serb-stabber)
https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srbosjek
The article on the wiki is more complete in Russian. It says in Groatia appeared dude Ante Pavelic, the leader of Ustaša and Mussolini’s protégé. He was the ruler of ISoG (Independent State of Groatia, that’s how they called it then, in fact it was a collaborator regime).
And this is what he came up with – they found out that a sheaf knife was not very effective in killing Serbs. So the Croatian government of Ante Pavelic held a special competition on the question: what kind of knife should be made so that the executioners could kill people as quickly as possible and at the same time get tired as little as possible.
A batch of Srbosjek was produced in Sollingen and in the Jasinovac concentration camp there was a speed competition. Petar Brzica won it, he killed 1300 Serbs in one night.
Closer to our time, the years of the collapse of Yugoslavia.
“In 1991, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman allowed the exiled Ustashas to return to Croatia. He was also the first among Croatian politicians to begin to talk about the role of the ISoG as a Croatian national state. In one of his speeches, Tudjman stated that World War II Croatia was not only a Nazi entity, but also expressed the thousand-year aspirations of the Croatian people.”
From this source ‘genocide of Serbs’ https://ru.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B4_%D1%81%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B1%D0%BE%D0%B2
According to a recent story, Mussolini was working for MI6 at some point in his career as “Il Duce” – the Italian strong man loved by the wealthy in Britain and America
Hitler was entranced by the genocide perpetrated by America of the First Nation Peoples and took the British Empire as his primary model of governance
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
MI6?
The entire monstrous colossus of destruction in the Second World War was launched by one small spark.
You simply put the idea into the Croatian’s head that his skin is whiter than that of a Serb, and your Croatian happily slaughters his neighbors. And the Ukrainian will suddenly begin to consider himself a descendant of the Vikings, who is more worthy to live on this land than the Russian, who mixed his blood with Asians. And an Asian Japanese will also find his skin more important than the skin of an Asian Chinese. And so on and so forth.
The idea of innate superiority is our inseparable mental parasite. It works everywhere. If I remember correctly, the same thing was the reason for the massacres of the Hutus and Tutsis.
Of course, a lot of spin-offs and fan fiction about WW2 have been invented – stories about the special services, politicians, rich people, partisans etc. Younger generation of TikTok believes that the whole point of WW2 is that Hitler hated Jews and ran around Europe looking for them to destroy them, while brave Allies did not let him to do this.
But few people talk about the most important thing – if your government tells you that it’s now legal to hate a nation, then you should be very careful. If your government gives money to support and spread this hate, you’re in trouble. If your government tells you to take weapons and do your duty, that’s it. You’re ready to kill and you believe you’re on the right side.
Such ideas are contagious and lead to world wars.
—
One important sign of this ideology I’ll try to describe.
In “normal” fight you want to make your enemy surrender, to change their ways, to accept your point.
In ideologically spiced fight the goal is extermination. I see this in Israel vs Palestine and I see this in NATO vs Russia.
One side is better than other so the other side must be destroyed, this exact ideology.
Yes Tatyana MI6 – I was quite surprised to read that the Brits had been paying Mussolini to do their dirty work
Racism is the fuel of empire in this modern era. If you are interested, check out the story around Napoleon III who governed France in the middle of the 19th century.
I would hazard a guess that “racism” in it’s modern, media form that we know today, was developed under this loathsome despot. He wasn’t very popular I think and because of this got several newspaper editors to develop a media strategy that would serve his ambitions. This strategy morphed from an ad hoc response in France to the wider imperial milieu, where all the imperial powers realised the financial and political advantages of despising an out group with marked physical differences – photos were becoming popular and the propagandised societies were fertile ground for such imagery. If you look what these empires did to Africa and Africans in the 19th century, racist rhetoric was very profitable and very genocidal
Gareth, let’s see: the complete destruction of almost every hospital, school, university, cultural site; no water, electricity, and little of anything else. And, if it weren’t for outsiders, such as UNRWA and a few much smaller outfits, there would be no food at all. So, what would you call it? Would you tell UNRWA to stay back and see how many people died, first? Would you wait until everyone was dead before labelling it a genocide? That’s exactly what the US and UK did over the Rwandan Genocide. “MY BAD!” said America and Britain, after the killing had ended. Tony Blair promised that Parliament would NEVER allow a genocide to happen again. OOPS!
Try to keep up; you’re way behind everyone else. That said, I don’t like George Galloway one bit – a self-serving and opportunistic politician, if ever there was one. He once said that if he had to live on a politician’s salary alone, he’d be poor. He also fawned all over Saddam Hussein in a grotesque display of obsequiousness.
Some might say that George G and Nigel F are two cheeks of the same arse.
Personally, I think it’s a bad move on Mr Murray’s part to get involved in the political shitshow. It devalues his brand and gives ammunition to his enemies. Independence doesn’t have to mean compromise.
The job is done with the “tools”at hand not the “tools” of an ideal – always, in my experience Stevie Boy
I think we are in crisis/massive change. Mr Murray’s ethical stance, enriched with his experience, persuades me that his voice deserves amplification, by whatever means possible
I’m sorry – it is this blog that has made me think differently about Scottish Independence ie from ignorant indifference to awareness of the basic issues. I am surprised by how subtle the debate is amongst the pro-Independence voices and have developed respect for those who can discuss the nuance, like Mr Murray (and I have found several others).
But ok, maybe you are right about “the filth and the fury” of the “political shitshow” but if not now, when? If not him, who?
“I don’t like George Galloway one bit – a self-serving and opportunistic politician,”
At least he’s not Keir Starmer.
HERR Starmer is a Nazi. Galloway has no way to bring the guy down. Galloway is just tinkering on the sidelines enriching himself.
The public can see what’s going on in Gaza. If they vote Labour or Conservative, they are no better themselves – that’s the reality! If ever there was a time to end the two-party system, it’s now (wouldn’t vote for the Liberal Democrats, though). Fascism didn’t pan out for Nazi Germany and it’s not going to pan out for Britain, the U.S. or Europe generally, either.
“ if he had to live on a politician’s salary alone, he’d be poor. He also fawned all over Saddam Hussein”
Yawn Karen
Galloway did not supply poison gas production facilities to S Hussein – which S. Hussein then used on Iran
You don’t mind fawning if you can’t see it eh?
Thatcher, Reagan, Rumsfeld and many hundreds of other “top people”all fawned on S. Hussein and gave him gazillions in cash and tons of killer weapons
I detect the odour of hypocrisy – one rule for “us” and one rule for “them” eh Karen?
I said he is a self-serving, opportunistic politician. He’s NOT going to stop the genocide in Gaza; he’s not going to change anything for the better, EXCEPT HIS LIFE. You detect someone who isn’t interested in playing politics and has no stake in any of this.
If you are a real person, ask yourself why any fact about George Galloway in relationship to S. Hussein, is in anyway memorable – as opposed to who tooled him up, who financed him.
It seems to me the line on Galloway, minimally in a good faith context is ambivalence. Lauding Hussein, going in convoys in Gaza, making himself a big beast in Brit politics, and many, many other things is a completely different moral realm as making the S. Hussein guy
Take a look at a vid or some photos of S. Hussein’s use of poison gas in Halabja, a Kurdish town. As I recall British and West German engineering and chemical companies supplied the products and materials and the engineering know-how to produce and maintain these weapons. Surely these sort of facts are more relevant than Galloway’s activities, whatever their motive, whatever their nature.
It is easy to say – “I don’t like him, what would he do if he had power etc, etc?” but he hasn’t had any power other than symbolic power. He didn’t sell the gas and really this a terrible thing to say about anyone but could he any worse than this? Unless he started marching round in jack boots or selling the NHS to the rich, as both wings of the Uniparty want (I think he and the Workers Party oppose this), I follow the old Scottish proverb and “suck it and see”
With views like that you are also a genocide enabler.
“Most children under five in Gaza are spending entire days without eating anything at all.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/02/children-die-malnutrition-rafah-famine-gaza-israeli-troops-aid-strip
The British political class stands in lockstep behind this.
“The British political class stands in lockstep behind this.”
More like Goose Stepping from the front.
Children die of malnutrition as Rafah operation heightens threat of famine in Gaza
Disgusting.
Reading history books about bygone wars, I am often surprised or rather shocked how people could have supported this or that act, I then think – they somehow simply did not know better but looking past year, it is like mankind have not learned a iota. People are as stupid, as ignorant, as inhumanely vicious as their forefathers.
In future history books the legacy of the west will read how they actively supported the famine of kids.
Indeed. And any western politician that does break ranks – like George Galloway or this Irish senator – is branded a fanatical extremist.
https://x.com/21WIRE/status/1797860062867980791
When George Galloway was elected to Parliament it was portrayed in the UK as a terrifying national emergency by the genocidal political and media class.
Our host may be officially launching his campaign for the Workers Party in Blackburn today, but elsewhere other candidates have already done so. For example, here’s a photo from the venture capitalist Labour candidate Praful Nargund’s recent campaign launch in Islington North, where he roped along fellow multi-millionaire Lady Nugee:
https://x.com/prafulnargund/status/1796285680542474309
Now according to the last census, white people almost constituted a minority throughout the whole of Greater London in 2021, so must surely not be in a large majority in northern Islington in 2024 – but I’d put folding money on there being more people of colour in the Islington chapters of Reform UK and the EDL than there are in that photo. Maybe they were all at Corbyn’s campaign launch. But it gets worse: Take a close at the back rows – yep, Labour staffers are actually (badly) photoshopping exclusively white people into their campaign material in multi-culti London. If Labour keep doing stuff like this, I reckon that Jezza’s got more than half a chance of retaining his seat.
I watched Jeremy Corbyn’s launch on You Tube in a small community centre that could probably have been filled four or five times over. He received endorsements from lots of local “ethnic” communities as well as people who were defending the NHS. His speech was a brilliant synthesis of national and local issues. The reports since have been wholly positive for Corbyn and depressing for the official Labour quasi Tory candidate. Not sure what odds the bookies are offering but pretty short on Corbyn I would think.
Thanks for your reply Crispa. Just checked the odds on Corbyn (should have checked them before writing my previous comment). He’s currently 2/5 on with BetFred and 4/9 on with Bet365 – so definitely a strong favourite in Islington North. Good to know. Now that he’s standing after all, Farage is 4/7 on in Clacton with BetFred
This is an interesting 15 min. interview with investigative reporter Lee Fang.
He speaks about censorship of speech re: Israel/woke/ Ukraine.
https://www.leefang.com/p/the-end-of-woke-and-anti-woke
It is interesting because he obviously understands certain issues well, others (Israel) not at all.
Which shows you one present problem of online free journalism – you cannot develope expertise on many subjects but are forced to cover everything.
One point he makes, today´s students under fire a few years back were allegedly the ones on the offensive as woke fighters.
However I don´t know what to think about the anti-woke argument before Covid came. I usually thought that this was a result of neoliberal/conservative elites instrumentalizing the “fear” of woke rhetoric and to picture THEM as danger which frankly is a joke if you look into the true nature of the US penal system, prison industrial complex, the general conduct of business-making, power of banks and private companies, the atomisation of society, and into those parts of US society who truly hold power.
To wave the “fear-woke” flag was not by small measure a diversion campaign pushed by those powerful groups. To picture those young people as THE danger was a laughable exaggeration.
I am not on campus and surely not everything made sense there but neither did everything in 1968.
And look who was in power before BLM and who now? Nothing changed there. Naturally.
Woke as in awake or aware is a strange insult, as if having compassion and empathy for people outside of one’s immediate social class was to be disapproved of. Oh well.
Jacobin has a piece on France and how the Left is divided, while the Right is not.
https://jacobin.com/2024/06/france-far-right-divided-left
Among other reasons the article identifies Gaza as one:
“(…)
In essence, there are opposed sides. One, represented in the Parti Socialiste and the Greens, speaks in almost complete support for Israel’s response to October 7, even as it condemns Benjamin Netanyahu’s own crimes. In contrast, the France Insoumise line focuses on the ultimate causes of this conflict, in Israeli colonization. France Insoumise also offers its own distinct reading of the latest events. For instance, it refers to the October 7 attacks as “war crimes” rather than “terrorism,” to remind its audience that these events are part of a long colonial conflict, which provided the context in which Hamas unfortunately emerged. Clearly, such approaches are open to debate: but what followed was not debate, but invective about France Insoumise’s “ambiguities” and even its supposed “antisemitism.”
(…)”
Another interesting issue often overlooked in its significance: Identity politics from the “Left” has long been reckognized as a weakness, used by the very Right – in winning over voters – that has been onto identity ever since.
(Not sure if the Left ever understood this in its true scale and what would hit them. “Identity-think” has always been a right-wing/fascist tradition.)
“(…)
This cleansing of its image is based on several factors. One is the broad polarization of French political debate around the far right’s chosen talking points in recent years, also thanks to the government itself. Since the start of Macron’s second term in office in 2022, and even before that, the debates relayed by the media have largely focused on issues of immigration and identity. This has allowed Rassemblement National rhetoric to be echoed far and wide — and created a space conducive to an ever more right-wing realignment of French politics.
(…)”
The result is obvious, working class switching sides increasingly again:
“(…)
The Rassemblement National electorate is commonly said to be based in the working classes, with significant blue-collar support in small-town France in particular. Still, its latest sociological shift seems to be refining its strategy for winning power. Indeed, the 2022 election and various opinion polls show an opening-up of certain more middle-class categories to Le Pen’s charms. This is surely worrying at a time when the far right is seeking to de-demonize its image at all costs.
(…)”
The final paragraph doesn´t convey the feeling that the Left really “gets” it:
“(…)
Faced with Le Pen’s rise, several recent works have proposed to analyze her base. This includes a major 2023 study by economists Thomas Piketty and Julia Cagé, theorizing the idea that “sociospatial class” division (hence the large far-right vote in low-income small towns) is more decisive than simple racism. The work of Thibault Lhonneur and Axel Bruneau reminds us of the importance of social issues in the areas where the Rassemblement National scores best. Still, other studies — notably the ones stemming from the thesis of Félicien Faury, who highlights the centrality of immigration to the Le Pen electorate — points to the cultural battle that needs waging.
Left-wing unity may not be an end in itself. Yet, the current climate of intense recriminations and polemics aimed at demonizing other left-wingers is surely not helping. As the far right continues its march toward power, everyone on the Left agrees that curtailing its rise is urgently necessary. What they’re not doing is finding ways to make that happen fast.
(…)”.
The latest turn by Le Pen towards the US is of course preparation for her running in 2027. For that to succeed she needs the French media moguls on her side.
(I still remember the talk of a Corbyn-Mélenchon alliance which was not that long ago…)
That Jacobin article looks like a standard panic piece in a left-wing journal over the rise of the far right, something which you in Germany perhaps know more about than others. It fails to remark on the difference in voting pattern between European elections and national elections, such that EU elections have very little bearing on what the following nationals will do.
The fact is that Le Pen gives the impression of being tired out; her best chance was in 2017 and it didn’t work. She hasn’t done better since. There is the new RN charmer Jordan Bardella; I watched him in a TV debate, and all he seemed to do was to insist on talking over the Macronite representative’s attempts to speak (very common on French TV). The author of the article is a supporter of Mélenchon, who increasingly is also looking past his best, like his friend Corbyn. The new socialist personality who incidentally doesn’t get much of a mention is Rafael Glucksmann. He talks very well, but I haven’t been able to decide yet whether he is supportable or not.
True, Jacobin is of course a Mélenchon publication (which need not mean its texts are bad). I remember there used to be a lot about him, much more than in recent times. I don’t know why.
I don´t know French politics well. So it’s interesting to get your insight.
And yes not all of the Jacobin stuff is high-quality, too much published.
So it is solely an article intended for the EU-election.
That the French have different voting patterns there came to my mind immediately.
That they even used to tell you on German TV news (when I was watching which I don’t any more.)
Re: ‘The fact is that Le Pen gives the impression of being tired out; her best chance was in 2017 and it didn’t work. She hasn’t done better since.’
Second round share of the vote for Marine Le Pen in French Presidential elections:
2017 – 33.9%
2022 – 41.5%
She’s only 55 – my money’s on her becoming president in 2027.
More broadly, Continental Europe has huge issues with the far-right, which in the coming years will only get worse.
Does not matter – she has sold out to the Uniparty. Do you know what she is offering to the French electorate? Her father was a clear racist yet she is drawn back from the sort of rhetoric her mad, bad dad spouted – Action Francaise for the chattering classes, yuk
If she becomes French leader there will be no change in French policies – except to expect an expansion of the French police state, directed against “yellow vests” and Muslims
L.A.
“my money’s on her becoming president in 2027”
Whether tired or not, I would agree.
will
“If she becomes French leader there will be no change in French policies – except to expect an expansion of the French police state, directed against “yellow vests” and Muslims”
Most likely. In how far Muslims will be targeted in contrast to poor French is a separate question however. (I am thinking of the Muslim money-class of course)
Laguerre
Any suggestions for 2027?
p.s. Interview with Jeremy Corbyn on Jacobin (sry but it´s brand new)
“Jeremy Corbyn was recently expelled from the Labour Party when he announced he was running for reelection to Parliament as an independent. He talked to us about his long career as an MP and why he expects to win this July”
https://jacobin.com/2024/06/jeremy-corbyn-independent-parliament-election
Thanks for your reply Will. The National Front/Rally may have moderated their policies in recent years, but MLP has not sold out to the ‘Uniparty’. She’ll be offering French voters lots of unaffordable freebies – despite French state pensions of circa 20,000 euros a year already being unaffordable. When this inevitably leads to a Greece 2011-style situation, she’ll fall back on the far-right stand-bys of blaming immigrants and ‘leftists’.
There’ll probably be a few changes to international policy as well. For example, whilst the NF no longer want out of the EU (they need the subsidies), they’ve said that French law will take supremacy to EU law. They’ll also be taking a far more pro-Russian position, and it’ll be back to the old days of France being half-in, half out of NATO. There won’t be much action taken against the yellow vests (most of whom are NF supporters), but yes, expect quite a lot against Muslims/immigrants.
Forgive me if I don’t agree with your take on French politics
What is unaffordable is the wealthy, vampiric in their nature – sort them out and bob’s your uncle.
France might benefit if they constrained their military fantasies. Spending loads of money on the military is not funny nor is tax breaks for wealthy
You never say nothing about the wealthy destroying society after society, millions off dead people just for a few dollars more – your take seems hypocritical and harsh to me
Thanks for reply Will. The wealthy can afford to pay for themselves – and most of them are perfectly able to leave the country taking their substantial tax contributions with them. France spends less than 2% of its GDP on the military – currently not quite meeting its NATO commitments. The only wealthy people who can legitimately be said to have killed millions this century in pursuit of a few (millions of) dollars more, are some of those who work for EcoHealth, Pfizer & Moderna.
You know, Raytheon and GEC shareholders and all the rest of the hogs rolling in the mud. Have made TRILLIONS since the first Gulf War and killed many millions? Take a look at the dividend payments in the last 25 years. Their time is coming to an end. The only uncertainty is whether they kill us all before that happens.
So go on defend people like T May’s husband, who make money while he is asleep as Israel burns the displaced alive in their tents using weapons supplied by Merchants of Death like him
The cataclysm of WW1and WW2, Korea, Vietnam etc etc ad nauseum made some tiny group of scummy vermin tons of cash and they want more – not caring who gets killed, or how many.
So you put bald lies up here – why? Do you have shares in these devils? Or do you see a future you joining the club lol?
What would you be willing to do to join that club?
Thanks for your reply Will. Since the Gulf War, Western defence companies (many of whom generate much of their profits from civil aerospace) have paid out substantially less than a trillion dollars in dividends. Last year, US-listed ones paid out just over $10 billion. Over the last 30 years, Western-made weapons have killed far fewer than a million people in wars – with aerial bombs & missiles killing fewer than half a million. In contrast, EcoHealth, which was almost certainly responsible for the pandemic, will have killed over 20 million – though many millions of those only died due to the activities of Pfizer & Moderna in suppressing life-saving, but unpatentable, treatments for Covid. FYI I don’t knowingly tell lies, don’t hold shares in defence companies, and I don’t join clubs.
So you are ok with killing brown people for money?
Good for you!
LA takes the conventional panicked view that in continental Europe , but not of course at home in Britain (though Farage has just done his U-turn to make a comeback), the far right is about to sweep to power, and then cites irrelevant data from the second round of French presidential voting, when Macron won by a mile anyway. French voting doesn’t work that way. The second round is meaningless. And AG follows on because that is what he wants to see.
Le Pen’s failure is that she doesn’t have a party behind her which is capable of government or agrees with her, as she’s basically a sensible woman, and the party is not. In my view the real problem is the failure of the current generation of leadership, in France as elsewhere in the EU. They’ve taken us to war on behalf of America (not on our own behalf), with the inevitable negative consequences for the economy. Policy-making is not easy in the wake of covid. But it is not obvious that the far right is going to end up being the beneficiary. It could be anyone who looks convincing. The French economy is not actually doing badly, though there is some mismanagement, such as the 2024 Olympics. I’m not convinced that the French are going to go for an extreme solution. Someone could easily emerge from the woodwork. I always thought highly of Edouard Philippe, who was Macron’s PM in the first term.
I do not fear anything concerning Le Pen. Or the so-called right. (For me 90% out there are right. But that’s my private assessment. Most of German SPD is right too by that measure, most of the GREEN Party, the FDP, the Union, the AfD. Did I forget anyone? Essentially only right parties are left, with the Left in dissolution. And the new Wagenknecht Alliance is not even a proper party yet.)
What I agreed with is the idea that 2027 when Macron is out Le Pen’s time might have come.
Since you mention it:
“she doesn’t have a party behind her”
I didn’t know that. Still she is the party leader. Are there factions or is it the lack of a rival who might be better?
“I always thought highly of Edouard Philippe, who was Macron’s PM in the first term.”
Edouard Philippe is the “solution” I heard most of. But that’s German press.
How does that play out in reality?
“the real problem is the failure of the current generation of leadership, in France as elsewhere in the EU.”
Perhaps this failure is due to covert intervention by american interests promoting sub-standard but controllable leadership.
AG
“Edouard Philippe is the “solution” I heard most of. But that’s German press. How does that play out in reality?”
It’s not known that he wants to move back into national politics (from being city mayor).
“she doesn’t have a party behind her”
Your quotation missed out the defining relative clause: “a party behind her which is capable of government or agrees with her”. Listen to Jordan Bardella, who is the new flash figure from the party. You can decide from that where the RN is going. Her niece Marion Maréchal-Le Pen was the previous flash figure, but she seems to have disappeared (though still candidate for MEP).
JC
“Perhaps this failure is due to covert intervention by american interests promoting sub-standard but controllable leadership.”
It certainly is partly. The question is why European leadership did not stand up for European interests as the previous generation did in the time of Brexit.
Thanks for your reply Laguerre.
Re: ‘The second round is meaningless.’
Au contraire. The second round allows French voters to decide who will be the President of France.
Re: ‘They’ve taken us to war on behalf of America.’
Are you referring to the War in Ukraine? If so, I can inform you that, compared to other European nations, France has barely done anything to help the Ukrainian cause besides lending them a few CAESAR howitzers.
Re: ‘The French economy isn’t doing that badly’
French real GDP growth was 0.9% in 2023. It’s predicted to be 0.75% in 2024. Better than the UK (which is still recovering from Brexit), but hardly ‘trente glorieuses annees’ stuff. If you strip out the 2020, 2021 Covid years, it was on average around 2% annually between 2017 & 2022, but MLP still increased her vote share by over 20%.
P.S. Farage and Reform UK of the populist right, not the far-right.
LA
“Re: ‘The second round is meaningless.’
Au contraire.”
I meant that it tells you nothing about the politics; that was already decided in the first round, as you will know, if you know anything about French politics.
“France has barely done anything to help the Ukrainian cause”
More ignorance. French troops are on the ground, according to all reports, though not announced. That’s not nothing.
“Re: ‘The French economy isn’t doing that badly’”
I’m talking about what people think, not what the formal figures you can get off the internet are. And how they’re likely to vote in consequence.
“P.S. Farage and Reform UK of the populist right, not the far-right.”
You could have fooled me. Says something about your own political views, more than about Farage.
I remember a speech when Farage used the term “BongoBongo land” attempting to bring to mind all our imperial yesterdays.
He was referring to African migrants, fleeing their countries because of malign Western interventions, yet still blamed the victims.
Thanks for your reply Laguerre.
Re: ‘I meant that it tells you nothing about the politics; that was already decided in the first round’
In 2022, MLP received a larger share of the vote in the first round than in 2017 (23.2% vs 21.3%), even though she had to contend with Eric Zemmour who got 7%.
Re: ‘According to all reports, French troops are already in Ukraine’
Should read: ‘According to Russian sources, who also claimed that Russia had no plans to invade Ukraine…etc.’ Fixed it for you.
Re: ‘I’m talking about what people think, not what the formal figures you can get off the internet are.’
Translation: ‘Facts & figures don’t matter – only my feelings and what people close to me say matters.’
MLP is currently running neck and neck with Edouard Philippe, and slightly ahead of current PM Gabriel Attal, in polling.
Re: ‘Says something about your own political views, more than about Farage.’
The term ‘far-right’ has a specific meaning in politics – it’s chiefly characterised by ethnic nationalism. Farage has never called for any repatriations, or restrictions for immigrants based on ethnicity.
FAO Will: It was former UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom who used the term ‘Bongo-Bongo-land’.
“FAO Will It was former UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom who used the term ‘Bongo-Bongo-land’”
That says it all about you – you are a mental imperialist
Guess what? I ACTUALLY heard him say it, you know in real life, from his own lips! I was so fascinated by seeing him say this, I wrote for several days, mapping out the intensions and extensions of the phrase “Bongo Bongo Land”. But you claim I am mistaken?
Though just an amateur, I enjoy deep grammatical analysis, finding an element of relaxation in this rather arcane and abstruse activity. It is not something I am proud of but at the same time I refuse to feel shame
As for your understanding of “far right”, you focus on the linguistic implications, which is ok as far as it goes but there is a lot more to unpack here than your definition offers.
It is very amusing when entities on the Internet try to question one’s memories. I don’t know why they do this but they are on to plums for sure.
Laguerre
thx.
Made me look up that niece of MLP who I had totally forgotten about.
Wiki says she has married a second time, now an Italian MEP for Fratelli d’Italia.
She has enough time. Wouldn´t be surprised if she turned up again in a couple of years with the election argument on her side of having brought up children.
As the predictions for the EU go in Germany, the Conservatives again will win.
Depending on whether we will still be around and how the war in Ukraine developes and some other contingencies the Conservatives might win the national German election in 2025, as well. And I see no reason why this should not be followed by another substantial right-wing shift (re: parties and policies) and alliances between the corresponing parties across major European countries with the Left crippled.
With that INMHO it doesn´t matter what the names of the Prime Ministers, or Chancellors or Presidents are.
So the only thing to be done is follow Craig´s path from bottom to top and organize and start building a lively resistance.
Thanks for your reply Will. Can I ask when and where you heard him say it?
Sticking with Farage, specifically today’s attempt by a ‘local’ to give him a free drink:- Things that make you go ummm:
https://x.com/SalfordMe2023/status/1798032135972081805
Do Reform UK really take the burghers of Clacton for fools? Looks like it.
No I don’t think so. I am happy and secure in my own mind – you just carry on pumping wiki slurry and the spreading the dross your fav, Rupert Murdoch secretes
Farage is a designer disease. The symptoms of such a disease are only memorable when they threaten the host as “Bongo Bongo Land” does. The where and when of such symptoms are irrelevant to me – I just note their severity and move on
Thanks for your reply Will. I’ll file that under ‘Things that never happened’ then. Not a fan of Davros, though I wish him well as he embarks on his latest marriage at the age of 93. Fifth time lucky?
It now appears that the girl who threw a milkshake over Farage in Clacton wasn’t Emily Hewertson, the girlfriend of Reform UK’s press officer – even though the resemblance is uncanny. Apologies for the erroneous insinuation. (Unlike everyone else on this thread, I’m willing to apologise when I get things wrong.)
LA
“The term ‘far-right’ has a specific meaning in politics – it’s chiefly characterised by ethnic nationalism. ”
It may have that specific meaning for you, not for others, as the expression doesn’t limit itself in English in that way.
I find it very surprising that as an internet reader, you find yourself free to tell a witness on the ground that they’re wrong. Not many people are that “courageous”. Normally, actually being aware on the ground is better than misunderstanding polling and hanging onto outdated political figures. But of course I wouldn’t contest a super-expert like your good self.
Thanks for your reply Laguerre. I’m afraid that terms in the English language do limit themselves in that way, otherwise English law would be rendered meaningless. Somebody who wants to see taxes set at around 5% as a proportion of UK GDP in order to fund law & order and defence only, as well as British companies being allowed to bring over anyone in the world to work for them on pitifully low wages, could be said to be on the extreme libertarian right, but they wouldn’t be ‘far-right’, and would have very little in common with people like Nick Griffin.
You wrote in a previous comment that MLP has not done better in French elections than in 2017, but she did do better in 2022 – so that was wrong, though there’s nothing ‘courageous’ about me telling you that. I never said that MLP was guaranteed to win the next Presidential election – and, of course, a lot can change in three years as we’ve seen in the UK – just that there is good chance that she will, as is backed up by current polling. If you know better, you could always put a bet on – as I used to tell people on here who were convinced that I was wrong and that Saint Nic would deliver another referendum on Scottish Independence in 2023 as promised.
The labels ‘left’ and ‘right’ are not helpful. They are used (maybe they always were) to divide the masses, to prevent them from seeing that a tiny minority owns most of the wealth and controls everything.
So many ‘left wing’ journalists who I admire (eg Jonathan Cook) obssess over this silly left/right division. By doing so, they play into the hands of the ‘other side’, who label them as ‘left’, ‘commies’, etc etc.
Another example: many on the ‘left’ opposed the lockdowns, and that was viewed by the ‘orthodox left’ as a ‘right wing’ position… how ridiculous. Truth is truth – it doesn’t need labels of ‘left’ or ‘right’. Until those outdated terms are abandoned, the many will continue to be easily divided by the few.
Constraining oneself to the comfort blanket of left/right or tory/labour just means you have given up on rational analysis of facts and assessment of alternative viewpoints. You’ve essentially given over your brain to the establishment who will tell you how to think and what to think. I tend to think of people who willingly place themselves in these boxes as a little subnormal.
Yes, unfortunately, many have indeed given over their brains to the establishment. It’s by design. I can’t put it any better than George Carlin:
“They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. Thats against their interests….”
It’s a mistake to treat left and right as the same as Tory-Liarbour, they are far-right and far-right and always have been.
“The labels ‘left’ and ‘right’ are not helpful. They are used (maybe they always were) to divide the masses, to prevent them from seeing that a tiny minority owns most of the wealth and controls everything.”
You could still use the term ‘left’ to mean on the side of the masses in the battle of masses v. tiny wealth controlling minority and ‘right’ to mean on the side of the tiny wealth controlling minority. If this was the original definition then latter changes of meaning could have been engineered to draw attention away from those issues.
I agree. It’s those later changes of meaning (with a fixation on ‘identity politics’ and other relative trivia) that have devalued the terms (‘left’ & ‘right’) to an extent that’s rendered them worthless. This allows the tiny minority to use ‘leftist’ (and ”the left’) as pejorative terms, which they do to great effect.
The ‘old left’, which many of us were familiar with, was a primarily working class movement and had strength because of it. Now that’s disappeared, watered down to nothing by stupid distractions like ‘identity politics’ and semantics, to the exclusion of what actually matters.
All this happened in the context of constant (and ongoing) propaganda and manipulation by the corporate-owned media.
That depiction of the left is itself corporate media propaganda and disinformation.
Look with clear eyes at the reality of western politics and you will see it is rightwingers who are permanently obsessed with identity politics; whether it be trans bollocks, Islamophobia, racism in general, or their endless antisemitism “crisis” scam.
The mass popular movement behind Jeremy Corbyn – the only left-wing leader there has been in modern Britain – was focused on rolling back austerity and neoliberal economics in general. Same with Sanders in the US, Melenchon in France, Syriza in Greece etc, etc.
The identity politics/ culture wars distraction characterises corporate-owned right-wing / ‘centrist’ parties because they know they have nothing to offer ordinary people in material and economic terms.
I agree, it’s the ‘right’, ie the corporate-owned media that have distorted the meaning of ‘left’. It’s a shame, but they have distorted it (and many have indeed bought into the distraction).
Is it fair to label those who objected to forced mass vacinations and draconian lockdowns as ‘right wingers’? I don’t think so – that’s what I’m trying to say: whatever the historical meanings or reasons, by labelling one group as ‘right’ and another as ‘left’, you’re automatically dividing them and assuming they can have nothing incommon (when the common enemy is the corporate-owned media, owners of vast wealth, corrupt politicians etc.)
Yes, that period seems pretty distant now but I do remember how anyone questioning mandatory vaccination was labelled a rightwing conspiracist. Some were, but many weren’t. If I recall correctly Craig, Max Blumenthal, even Corbyn himself were among those who questioned mandatory vaccination.
Yes, it does seem like a long time ago… I just don’t trust the authorities, whichever ‘wing’ they purport to be on,
‘Left’ and ‘right’ are superficially useful as a shorthand – people will usually know what you mean – but really it’s lazy, and prevents things being debated on their merits.
Ignored by the UK press:
Hundreds of civil servants have written to David Cameron urging the UK government to publish its legal advice on supporting Israel.
Some staff are even rejecting requests to work due to concerns of complicity in war crimes.
Gaza: revolt in the Foreign Office
https://www.declassifieduk.org/gaza-revolt-in-the-foreign-office/
I THINK – I WONDER – THEN I WONDER HOW TO THINK.
It is not the first time that Netanyahu has been invited to address a joint session of Congress. However, it is the first time:-
i) He finds himself globally condemned.
ii) Facing a case against Israel brought by South Africa before the ICJ.
iii) Facing warrants forthcoming from the ICC; and
iv) Facing domestic charges for corruption in the state of Israel.
Now, add just the foregoing four facts together and tell me whether when House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), all rally behind Benjamin Netanyahu to give a joint address to the US Congress – what integrity, credibility and/or substance is left in Uncle Sam’s claim(s) to be the great defender of freedom, justice, the rule of law and human rights?
When over 36,000 mainly civilians have been constantly bombed for about 8 months – then what rule of law?
When the context of over 70 years of oppression and occupation is factored in – then what justice?
When almost 10,000 Palestinians languish in Israeli prison with no charge, no lawyer, no possible trial date – what rule of law?
Where does the human rights and defence thereof by the US reside when the overwhelming evidence demonstrates that not even relative to its professed concerns about Israeli excesses will the US exercise available power and legal executive authority promptly to bring this on-going genocide to an immediate end?
I wonder.
The ‘hypocrisy’ is a public display and confirmation of who holds the power in the USA. And, it’s not the american people !!
Courtenay .. “When the context of over 70 years of oppression and occupation is factored in – then what justice?
What has justice got to do with it, when an election must be won, and how to do that is the Israel lobby control of Congress.
Here is the late Uri Avnery explaining how Congress is controlled.
IT WAS all rather disgusting.
There they were, the members of the highest legislative bodies of the world’s only superpower, flying up and down like so many yo-yos, applauding wildly, every few minutes or seconds, the most outrageous lies and distortions of Binyamin Netanyahu.
It was worse than the Syrian parliament during a speech by Bashar Assad, where anyone not applauding could find himself in prison. Or Stalin’s Supreme Soviet, when showing less than sufficient respect could have meant death.
What the American Senators and Congressmen feared was a fate worse than death. Anyone remaining seated or not applauding wildly enough could have been caught on camera – and that amounts to political suicide. It was enough for one single congressman to rise and applaud, and all the others had to follow suit. Who would dare not to?
The sight of these hundreds of parliamentarians jumping up and clapping their hands, again and again and again and again, with the Leader graciously acknowledging with a movement of his hand, was reminiscent of other regimes. Only this time it was not the local dictator who compelled this adulation, but a foreign one. http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1306359471
It isn’t a lobby, it’s a proxy, the legislature resembles a dog eating its vomit because it is expedient for the executive for it to be so. The zionist antisemites are a means to an end with the elegant cynicism of false allegations of antisemitism to shut dissidents up and give lackeys a false alibi.
Funny harry I watched a speech delivered by Assad recently. It was nothing like Avnery described.
Maybe it was a picked audience but there was not much clapping, organised or otherwise. The speech would have put any major political figure in America, Britain , Israel, France ,Germany, Italy ,Canada etc to shame for it’s logical rigour and humanity.
Mr Murray put a speech by Andrew Feinstein up here recently. I was unmade for the couple of minutes it took for me to realise a (prospective) politician was not abusing me, insulting my intelligence etc etc but just wished to communicate with me. After that, I actually enjoyed having to work to keep up with the subtlety and drive of his vision. If I had been in a hall listening, observers would have seen me seal-clapping, not because I am an idiot or a Feinstein shill but because I felt in speaking to me, he was speaking for me
I don’t know enough about Syrian politics to form an opinion on the factual claims in Assad’s speech but his rhetorical behaviour was streets ahead of our bought and paid-for Pols
Will Moon, you are correct: Assad had then and does now have the respect of the vast number of Syrians. I remember Professor Jeffrey Sachs explaining to a MSM panel how the CIA had tried to regime-change Syria; it was a treat to watch the assembled panel’s reaction to the home truths Sachs put forward. You could almost hear them say, we will not invite this guy again. The CIA operation was called ‘Timber Sycamore’ here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_Sycamore
Harry Law,
It is pretty evident that Zionist money has the US Congress bought and paid for.
Here is an interesting review about the Israel/ U.S. congressional dominance relationship.
Seems thar I forgot to post the link:-
https://electronicintifada.net/content/incomplete-revolution/45971
Thanks AG.
(Difficult to reply to messages directly on the forum after 2 or 3 replies.)
Re your link to analysis of French and English reluctance to join an anti Nazi alliance with the USSR, the unprovoked Soviet invasion of Finland raised understandable skepticism about Stalin’s reliability as an ally.
As did the subsequent unprovoked Soviet invasion of Poland and the Baltics.
Not to mention the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact alliance between the USSR and Hitler.
In fact the USSR attempted to invade Poland as early as 1920.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_(1920)
An untrustworthy ally, to put it mildly.
The English & French invaded Soviet Russia on the side of the White Guards, so that bad-blood cuts both ways.
Finland was a former part of the Russian Empire, which had driven out or killed local Communist forces and was hardly a friendly neighbor.
The Baltics were proto-fascist states, that were getting cozy with the Germans. Until Adolf threw them under the bus.
To state that Polish-Soviet war as unprovoked is laughably untrue. Given the Poles actually started the war by seizing half of Belarus and trying to conquer Ukraine.
The M-R Pact also wasn’t an alliance, any more than the pact Stalin signed with the Japanese. The Soviets were clearly playing for time. Whilst not expecting France to lose a war in six weeks, because no-one at the time did.
“no-one at the time did”
Urban Fox as time washes over the Fall of France and it’s incredible six week timeline and phantasmagorical outcome, do you have any doubts regarding this story?
I have certainly been thinking about the advantage for Germany’s Drang Nach Osten, if this included the GDP of Europe – the end of the Third Republic gave them a free hand on the continent and with the push east no two-front war for a couple of years – a dream only a successful execution of the Schiflein Plan could have realised for the Kaiser’s armies in WW1.
AG mentioned recently that the phrase “rather Hitler than Blum” was a phrase in use by certain higher stratas of society.
The invasion of the USSR in 1941 was to escape the increasing dependency of Germany on the USSR for commodities like food, oil and coal. The sensation of the Allied defeat in 1940 overshadows the German strategic failure.
Squeeth the invasion was long in gestation.
Your point is a fair one but any “cassus belli” could be conjured.
Mein Kampf was an advert/ announcement directed at the super wealthy, I doubt Hitler even wrote it – interested oligarchs could “invest” in the project both spiritually and materially from studying “the prospectus”. I suspect Hess, Haushofer and the Aufbau (Vengeful Russian White counter-revolutionaries who provided the intellectual stuffing for the Nazi strawman) wrote the main body of the text by committee. That is why the prose is almost unreadable.
Hitler promised profitable carnage and more importantly, profitable dominion, in the East and the wealthy loved him and Mussolini dearly. It is hard to imagine a reactionary political movement being able to offer this rate of return for destroying the realm of the Tsar don’t you think? Lloyd George had several geopolitical orgasms in the Establishment press describing how great this Austrian was in the 1930’s. The Governor of the Bank of England, Montagu Norman personally and publicly vouched for the first issue of Nazi debentures offered in London in 1934.
I have read Mein Kampf. Because I was reading it to see how Hitler used the word “Weltanschauung”, I read it in the original German.
I’ve always read that the German of ” Mein Kampf” is terrible, barely readable. So I was surprised to discover that the German of “Mein Kampf” is not bad at all. Now, I’m not a native speaker of German, so no doubt I missed a lot reading it in German. But I now suspect that the standard opinion nowadays that “Mein Kampf” is written in terrible German is just a survival from wartime propaganda.
Opinions on prose are just that – opinions
Unlike you, I have read it in English – in several versions. I’m aware of the problems related to translation of literature to some degree
I was once chatting to a Classics Professor. She moved the topic to “The Iliad” and began to explain how the elasticity of intension, (which I am sure you know is the sum of the attributes contained in a term)is forever the enemy of any erstwhile translator. I wasn’t following her so she demonstrated by taking a key passage from Homer’s epic and showed me a dozen translations over six hundred years of historical time, ending in Hammond’s fairly recent translation
Would you say you found it a good read with flowing prose in the original German or I am reading to much into your statement?
You may well be right in your assertion that “wartime propaganda” has done for the Fuhrer’s literary reputation. It is a tragedy when artists are scorned and their writing abilities downgraded by ideological considerations, don’t you think? However, the future Fuhrer had already experienced disappointment in his artistic endeavours being rejected in his applications to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He described these rejections as a “bolt from the blue”
I accept you linguistic opinion and file it for future reference. You are the first voice that I have come across who wishes to redeem the literary reputation of this man. This too will be filed for future reference. I hope that makes my statement regarding the prose in Mein Kampf clearer for you
With that out of the way, do you have opinion about any of the other points I make?
Not sure what your point is here Lysias
Urban Fox
Small countries like the Baltics and Finland were between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.
Caught between the brutal and expansionist USSR and the even more brutal and expansionist Hitler regime.
You seem to condone Stalin’s invasions of the above countries and his despicable betrayal of Poland.
While of course no doubt rightly condemning Hitler’s breach of the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact. (You’re correct of course, it was a non aggression pact, not an alliance. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact)
It does rather appear that in your eyes Stalin could do no wrong and that his neighbours were at his disposal.
A tankie’s view of history?
Betrayal of Poland? Wasn’t that the Poland that Invaded Russia in 1919-1921? Wasn’t that the Poland that was reinforced by the French to snatch a limited victory at the Battle of Warsaw and rob western Belarus and western Ukraine? Why would any Russian regime forbear to regain those territories after the British and French had broken the popular front the year before and allied with Hitler over Czechoslovakia? The same goes for the Baltics, they had been part of the Tsarist empire so re-incorporating them and part of Finland was the logic of socialism in one country and militarily sensible.
“Socialism in one country” meant occupy all your neighbours?
Seems perfectly reasonable tankie logic.
Capitalism in one country led to Britain occupying a third of the globe or some such monstrous fraction
Seems like perfectly reasonable gigaped logic to me
ps only NATO and their extended network of killers, grifters and torturers use the term “tankie”, just in case you don’t know
JK redux
You might attempt to operate more carefully and weighed with the term “socialist”.
First remember it’s way older than the suppressive USSR one would most likely usually refer to.
Second the countries that practiced socialism or parts of it are vast in numbers with very different outcomes.
Even in Russia if you look at the post-1917 situation, that was one that developed and changed constantly.
Were it so easy there would not have been countless British intellectuals e.g. who have tried to come to terms with the contradictions of Russia and what had happened there and the entire history of that one example.
And you would not have countless scholarly magazines and academic research into the socialist idea. (Unlike with fascist or far-right phenomena.) Which is because “socialism” still is and always will be regarded as a promise for a better future and connected with hope.
And just because some entities used the label “socialist” or “communist” themselves or were labeled as such, didn´t mean they in fact had anything much to do with the ideals those terms genuinely are standing for.
As history goes, capitalist, often free societies, were the number one perpetrator of genocidal policies towards other societies.
If you say “occupy all your neighbours” who or what are you referring to? And for what reason?
John, you talk about betrayal and untrustworthy allies, but your presentation of events is somewhat… skewed.
Let me bring some historical context.
Finland was the last of the Baltic countries after Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, with which the USSR concluded non-aggression pacts. In the case of Finland, this happened on January 21, 1932. Later, in April 1934, the agreement was extended until the end of 1945. With this treaty, the USSR tried to secure its northern borders.
According to this agreement, in the event of an incident on the border, the USSR must withdraw troops up to the city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).
And just such an incident happened in 1939, who would have thunk, what a surprise!
If you think that the Finns fought for independence, then this is only partially true. Like many other collaborators, the Finns also had nationalistic ideas about a Greater Finland from sea to sea, or rather from Dvina to Dvina, meaning the Northern Dvina River in Russia and the Western Dvina in Latvia.
And like many collaborating regimes, they believed that if the name of their country contained the word “Independent” (which Hitler may consider quite cheap a price) then they must join Hitler’s Coalition.
So the Finns fought on the side of Hitler, and they took part in the siege of Leningrad, and where is the agreement of 1932?
Tell me more about betrayal.
—
I’ve got a feeling … what if you’re lazy and simply provoke me to do Wiki short summary for you?
Don’t be shy to admit if this is the case. I don’t mind really. I have breaks while the silver is bleaching so I’m just happy to delve into history – it’s fascinating and educational.
About Finland.
Did you know that this land was a province of Sweden for a long time? In 1155, the Swedish king began a crusade to the lands inhabited by Finns and Karelians, conquered them and ruled there for 650 years.
In 1700 he wanted to occupy the Baltic lands and dominate the Baltic Sea, so the Great Northern War (sounds like a word from the Game of Thrones to me) happened, Sweden against Russia, Saxony, Poland and the Danes and Norgs. Sweden was defeated, part of Karelia went to Russia.
40 years later the Swedes attempted revenge, but only lost more lands. The Russian Empress promised independence to the Finns, urging them not to fight on the side of the Swedes.
In 1808, the new Russian Emperor Alexander made Finland an autonomous Grand Duchy.
But the next Russian Tsar Nicholas II began a policy of Russification there and abolished autonomy. Frankly speaking, that Tsar was so bad that the Russians themselves got rid of him, abolishing the monarchy here forever 🙂 So in 1917 Finland became independent, and we got busy with our revolutions, civil wars and other very important things, like making Independent Republics and trying to create a Union of them (naively hoping that now that we have no nasty monarchs, the Finnish people will be more friendly to the Russian people).
However, with the rise of Hitler, the Finns preferred the fairy tale of independence and were ready to throw any number of Russians into the furnace of this idea. While for the Russians it was a matter of survival.
Why do I say “fairy tale” because I don’t believe for a minute that the Finns were so naive as to sincerely believe that they would gain independence in Hitler’s Reich. They were under the Swedes, they were under the Russians, and they were under Hitler, although even a dog would have already learned the pattern by that time.
Also, they are now in the EU, so, they don’t mind Unions in principle, they just don’t like it be unions with Russians (while they don’t mind unions with Swedes).
After all, I don’t care what they like or dislike, those events happened so long ago that I doubt there are any survivors today. What I see is simply hatred, unconscious innate hatred. Like, you know, some people don’t like Jews because those are Jews.
“Caught between the brutal and expansionist USSR and the even more brutal and expansionist Hitler regime.”
You forgot brutal and expansionist Britain, France, America etc and of course Britain’s recently ditched ally, Japan. The Brits used poison gas on men riding camels in the 1920’s and lo and behold Italy did the same in Africa in 1931
The odd thing is I have noticed in several recently published history books that this gassing done by the Italians is prominently featured but not where they got the idea from or off whom
If you wish to understand the brutality of the Brits in a single image, just consider the Bengal Famine. The food stolen from Bengal was slated for ‘the troops” but was allowed to spoil and no one got the benefit of it but millions died in Bengal as a result of this iniquitous appropriation.
Did the British really use gas or was that one of Winston’s more bloodthirsty proposals? The Italians used gas in the Italian war against Ethiopia but that was 1935-1937.
Ossowitz
Germans used gas against Russians in 1915. Chlorine and bromine.
It was Russia then, now it’s Poland. Twierdza Osowiec.
The land came under the protection of the Russian monarchical crown in 1795, when the state of the unfortunate Poles was divided for the third time.
Thus, Russia acquired the Courland province (now Latvia), the Vilna province (from the name Vilnius, now the land of Belarus and Lithuania), and the Grodno province (now this territory belongs to Belarus, Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania).
The amazing historical cycle of ownership of the land. Looks like people bother a lot who is their current king 🙂
I personally would prefer that no one gets gassed for this ridiculous reason.
Squeeth check the post-WW1 period in the Middle East. Particularly, the RAF, who dropped poison gas on various camel-riding insurgents. As I recall there was a lot of chatter in 1921 and onwards where RAF boosters crowed about how cheap it was to use poison gas as a method of Imperial policing. That winsome war shill, Winston Churchill was cock-a-hoop about these developments
If you can’t find anything, I will dig out some references
ps The poison gas reference is from Graziani’s campaign in Libya to quell freedom fighter Omar Mukhtar’s rebellion, which began in 1930 or thereabouts.
According to Tariq Ali’s recent book on Churchill, the Bengal Famine killed more than 5 million.
Raul Hilberg put the death toll from the Holocaust at 5.1 million plus or minus 200,000.
I trust the Assange legal team will reference Scott Ritter having his passport seized at JFK to prevent exercise of First Amendment freedoms as a US National!
It is remarkable that the rule of impartial law is eroded so blatantly in USA and it would be unconscionable for Britain to subject anyone to such capricious executive power and such compromised legal process.
Hello Paul, I think that perhaps the US ptb were somewhat rattled by the popularity of ex CIA applicant and media celebrity Tucker Carlson’s interview with Mr Putin, supposedly viewed by a billion people, and were not happy to have their narrative disturbed. From what I understand ex US Marine and UNSC Weapons Inspector Mr Ritter intended to attend the economic summit in St Petersburg, and also the SCO summit in Kazan. His extensive itinerary was also intended to include reportage from 23 Russian cities from the far East to its Western borders. From what I’ve read, he was removed from an Istanbul bound flight, along with his luggage and had his Passport seized by Customs/Border security officers under orders of the State Department. As yet, from what I understand no reasons nor comments have been made regarding this apparent detention and obstruction to freely travel of this US Citizen and former insider. In retrospect it might not have been too wise of Scott to announce his plans in advance, but just slip away quietly, if indeed that was possible. On reflection probably not. Maybe it was for his own protection, as he recently reported various Ukie elements had him on their kill lists. If the latter is the case, then I truly didn’t realise how kind, considerate and caring the US Government can be with regards to their own.
Maybe the US thought it would be a good idea to have Scott Ritter around to provide some balanced reporting for when Bibi jets in to give Congress their latest orders ?
this may be the most emblematic event in the history of the US empire. one that is going to be recalled for decades.
mask completely off.
will be interesting to see how the Tisdales and Masons attempt to spin it.
a wanted war criminal dictating to Congress at the height of a genocide, and receiving multiple Uniparty standing ovations.
Was Fico on those kill lists?
The Duran has this new conversation on the UK election with a Neema Parvini, from a Buckingham University (well I know neither obviously so you can judge this better than me):
https://theduran.com/uk-elections-and-democracy-erosion-w-dr-neema-parvini-live/
p.s. does it make any sense to get Craig onto The Duran or would it hurt the campaign?
“AJK court rejects poet Ahmed Farhad’s bail petition”
https://www.dawn.com/news/1837846/ajk-court-rejects-poet-ahmed-farhads-bail-petition
ISI ‘magic’ in action.
A new UnHerd/Focaldata poll out today reveals that 54 percent of Britons aged 18-24 agree with the statement: “The state of Israel should not exist.”
https://unherd.com/newsroom/majority-of-young-britons-think-israel-should-not-exist/
Perhaps Starmer and Lammy can reach the youth and turn it around for Isaac Herzog, Sir Trevor Chinn and co.
Israel have only been a plague for jews. There are more jews living outside of Israel than inside and that with no problem whatsoever. There are muslims, jews, arabs that are friends, colleagues throughout the world living side by side in peace. The only factor that time and time again that wreck that harmony is the actions that Israel take.
Don’t worry Israel and Ukraine are joined at the hip in their leap into the abyss.
It’s only a matter of which one goes first.
Ansar Allah claimed that super aircraft carrier and its group couldn’t defend against a missile hit. There is a video that seems to show quite a big hit.
The Red Sea is closed now to not just the illegal Apartheid Entity but its gangster hoodlums with their ‘protection’ racket.
Putin just announced that any supply of more lethal weapons will be met by more lethal supplies to other such theatres.
That is a proof if anyone wants it that this is a global conflict (us in the West are insulated from that by the mass media) and the doomed Empire is realising that wet dream superiority and Rules Based Order only they decide is not actually as robust as they believed. They aren’t writing history, they are subject to it. They can only think of escalating as they have no reverse gear.
SPIEF is where it’s at. The G7 heads even further into oblivion. Ukronazis can’t get the global south behind them. The Chinese are ever more direct in their warnings, the BRICS and SCO are now a fully fledged mutual security majority of the world leading nations. The current Collective Waste fake democratic ’elections’ are mere deckchair shuffling.
The daily horrific death and terror of the poor Palestinians is not going to be forgotten and justice will be delivered upon the perpetrators, part of which is the end of I****L.
Ever wonder who you are actually voting for ? Well consider this:
“Some 180 of Britain’s 650 MPs in the last parliament accepted funding from pro-Israel lobby groups or individuals during their political career.
The total value of the donations from pro-Israel groups, individuals, and Israeli state institutions amounts to over one million pounds.
Between them, the politicians made over 240 paid-for trips to Israel, at a cost of over half a million pounds. Remarkably, fifteen MPs have accepted funding to travel to Israel amid the Gaza genocide.
No MPs from the Scottish National Party, Sinn Fein, Plaid Cymru, SDLP, Alba, Greens, Alliance or Workers Party received hospitality or funding from the lobby.
The full list of MPs can be accessed at the foot of this article.”
https://www.declassifieduk.org/israel-lobby-funded-a-quarter-of-british-mps/
Stevie Boy.
Well here in Scotland we’re voting on nothing, for there was no union to begin with.
https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2024/06/02/fictional-kingdom-fraudulent-state-2/
Our parliamentarians and lords in 1707 couldn’t giveaway what didn’t belong to them namely the sovereignty of the people of Scotland, nor could any monarch take it away for via the Claim of Right they answered to the people. You see in England the monarch is sovereign whereas in Scotland its the people.
So if there was no union and we know that there wasn’t one, there couldn’t have been a “British parliament or a UK crown, for the crown of Scotland which exists and the crown of England are utterly incompatible.
No monarchs since 1707 have sworn the oath of the Claim of Right they cannot swear it, for the Claim of Rights doesn’t allow for Scottish assets in whatever form they take oil/gas land etc to be taken from Scots or Scotland.
Incidentally the the Scottish crown jewels, are older than England’s and Scotland is also the elder of the two countries, in this never existed union that is kept afloat via lies, deceit, smoke and mirrors, aided and abetted by House Jock Scottish politicians and the foreign media.
The GE is an English election for English folk in an English parliament
Some good stuff there Republic of Scotland, thanks
One quibble
“The GE is an English election for English folk in an English parliament”
This might be true but Scotland’s fate as a country is deeply bound to the coming election. If the Uniparty (and I include the current SNP in this Uniparty) suffers a reverse, it will grow my hope that political change is possible.
Hope does not endure, does not abide, it either grows and flowers or is extinguished
All my life I have never felt hope – Thatcher and Blair took that from me, now it stirs deep within
You’re welcome, Will. On hope, always remember, Will, that even though the cause looks down right now, and with what the SNP has done, that around 50% of Scots still want to see an indy Scotland – which I think is remarkable.
If one have to in effect bribe politicians to vote a certain way you know that the foundation for the pro-israeli line in the west is terribly weak to say the least, if pro-israeli groups would not be allowed to influence and bribe western politicians like this, there would be peace in a minute in Palestine
Just the other day, New York Times exposed how proisrael tried to influence social media with bots and trolls:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/forums/topic/breaking-news-gaza-only/page/22/#post-98523
Apparently some “foreign meddling” is ok according to the west. Of course the West do not even benefit one iota from israel commit these crimes. But again, with money you can buy everything apparently.
Jack, have you noticed that they use ‘indefinite’ words like bots, trolls, corruption, foreign meddling, etc. As if it were some kind of natural phenomenon. Out of nowhere. Like saying the sun shines, the wind blows…
While those things are made by men!
I also hate reading “expert opinion” with no author’s name in the article. People hide under the media title!
“Each accident has a first name, last name and position” (c) Kaganovitch
We should always ask: Who Did It?
Tatyana
I think the accusations are made solely to tarnish the right-wing populists across Europe. European politicians who claim we in Europe collectively are ‘under attack’ and suffering a tidal wave of [Russian] bots and disinfo, imho, they don’t really believe it themselves. Hell, there is never any supporting evidence presented alongside their allegations. The allegations are useful though, to tarnish the European populist right-wing. Like the AfD et al. So they are constantly being restated.
@all
I’ve just been looking at this tonight: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/06/05/reform-uk-just-two-points-behind-tories-in-new-poll/
This is surprising to me, as I didn’t think Farage would gain such traction so quickly. It will be scaring the UK establishment, certainly, if this trend continues. Farage has in the past praised Putin, and I’d expect that to be dragged out by the media, Farage has previously said Putin was the world leader he most admired as an operator.
https://www.indy100.com/politics/nigel-farage-vladimir-putin-praise
Labour’s support has dipped too. If this continues it has the potential to make things very interesting, as the 2019 Tory switchers aren’t sold on Starmer.
yeah that does sound entertaining
TATYANA
Absolutely.
And to expand that: In Germany and basically all EU the media take ANY statement of Secret Intelligence services as the truth!
It´s incredible. The intelligence reports are 100% written in subjunctive as far as Russia is concerned and her threat to Europe.
i.e. there is no threat.
But never mind. While the services originally issue reports carefully littering everything with “possible” “may be” “perhaps” “it seems” and so on – papers from that draw “IS” “WILL” “PLANNING TO” etc.
Of instead concluding correctly that there most likely is nothing. To say the least.
Just think, every Labour candidate, and certainly all new candidates, have had their historic social media output scrutinised with a fine-tooth comb. Some of this stuff that’s been used against candidates goes back decades and involves minor infractions. But any minor infraction, such as daring to criticise those that cannot be criticised, and you can’t stand.
In Luke Akehurst, the Israeli state had an one of the best “insiders” in the business, this according to alleged Mossad spy, Shai Masot. Luke was on the NEC – Labour’s executive committee, in a role that also involved disciplinary matters and disputes. Labour candidates may as well have had to submit their nominations to Tel Aviv. We’ve got MI6 and MI5 prattling on, issuing warnings about potential Russian/Chinese interference in the election, e.g. scary memes perhaps? While a foreign state, effectively, gets to vet and veto who can and can’t sit on the next govt’s benches. Talk about messed up priorities.
Starmer talked of uprooting non-existent antisemitism, but he interprets any criticism of Israel as antisemitism because he’s intellectually lazy. How is a parliamentary party in which none of possibly (based on polling) 450+ Labour MPs criticise Israel, remotely representative of the British people?
Stopping foreign interference, should mean stopping all foreign interference.
Where Olive Trees Weep
https://whereolivetreesweep.com
Trailer for a documentary out later this month
This is great, Chris Hedges in a live Q&A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjeRNVZFmnk
Now saying he will do a project in Gaza about Gaza and for that is studying Arabic 7, 8 hours a day!
Even though he worked in the MidEast for 7 years, but 30 years ago.
Today it´s common that people do something there and tell you “ah I don´t know the language” which I find indescribable.
p.s. I had hoped Hedges could do a conversation with Craig on the election and the campaign.