Friday 4 June 2010

BP will be shorted into oblivion.

I am hoping that as many have suggested Cumbria will be left to come to terms with its tragedy whilst we try to learn any lessons that could be learned after the dust has settled and as many facts have been determined as possible.

But it is inevitable that the area will be known for the tragedy and possibly as they seem to be a very tight community their response to it.

On other tragedies it may be perception but younger mass murderers seem to be driven by emotion and relations with their peers whilst older ones seem to be driven by far more materialistic issues like tax bills with Bird and employment and tax in workplace killings in the US. Obviously they articulate their issues via violence but perhaps if the type of person likely to commit such offences can be identified then that link can be broken.

The Newsnight psychologist guest the other day seemed to suggest that these kinds of people cannot be identified in advance so perhaps its just wishful thinking.

Obviously those that revel in violence are more likely to make such links and it is no surprise to anybody who has heard some of the far right rants of the past on this page that many of the would be terrorists of the last decade have come from apparently isolated far right malcontents like Lewington (one time BNP member) and the ricin Aryan Strike Force guy the other week.

But then I suppose that that is possibly tagged as straight terrorism and is not in the same bracket as seemingly normal individuals who go on the rampage.

Looks like Hungary is in the spot-light now :-

https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aVeigkbS4nTU&pos=1

I would think most peoples gut feeling is that BP does not have a future as things stand with the bills and ongoing criminal investigation.

They may get broken up in the US and I am not sure anybody in the UK will be too worried beyond share->pension issues and redundancies should there be any.

But to me it underlines that whilst Obama is allowing exploration due to short-medium term energy and military security issues the UK should be moving as fast as possible into renewables and flee carbon.

I would hope that the UK would not open up the South Atlantic and that we would see viable and immediate investments in our energy infrastructure as most anticipate that nuclear won't arrive in time or on budget and that we may get stuck with waste disposal bill no matter how diligent the new government is.

I am surprised that after so many months the media has not fully identified who is running the English Defence League given most do not believe the puppet spokespeople they knock up are in fact the leaders.

If as many suspect there is the inevitable far right link as various documentaries have found hints of in terms of personnel and political allegiances and various comments and of course violence and thuggery then that will tell us a lot about intentions.

If there is a far right political connection then are they attempting to create an SA?

If so then recent Guardian reports, that I don't fully believe, that the EDL are claiming a lot of serving soldiers are participating are very worrying.

The immediate aim should be to reveal what the EDL really are rather than what they say they are and to inhibit any feed of naive participants who allow them mask what they are really aiming for politically.

https://m.cnbc.com/us_news/37506126/1

"Shares in French bank Societe Generale fell 6 percent on Friday, dragging markets down, with traders citing concerns over the bank's derivatives operations."

5

why do people think a defence league has become necessary? because of the extremist migration policy? extremism begets extremism? an idf creates a hamas, a mass migration policy creates an anti mass migration movement etc.

the edf is a symptom. we need to look at the causes.ie the nihilist philosophy of the govt that denies there is such a thing as Good or a society building science.

the labour migration policy is unhinged. its not linked to jobs, house building infrastructure or anything elese. apparently these all these just drop out the sky and no account needs to be taken of them. to keep migration in the millions while millions are not working shows the lack of a society building plan.

DAVE BRINGS COMFORT THROUGH CLAPTRAP

Politicians should leave the business of comforting the people to the Royals. They do not feel the need to build their future or protect their posterior by wittering. What came out of Dave's mouth was ill rehearsed and incongruous.

He said people would need to grieve, then go numb and then ask questions. Is that the right sequence? If he runs the country with similar competence, we are in for a bad time.

Nick'll fix it.

LIFE GOES ON ................ IF YOU LET IT

'How do communities come together to cope with terrible events like those which took place this week in Cumbria?'

Almost certainly BETTER without the intrusion of politicians, media, camera's, endless floral 'tributes' wannabee pseudo psychologists and most of the real ones and hangers on seeking their moment or two of 'fame'

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can we just leave the REAL people still standing in this tragedy, their friends and families alone to grieve, to talk, to come to terms and to return to some semblance of 'normal' life as soon as possible without the ensuent constant maudlin and picking over of the media and the Public. It is THEIR tragedy, NOT ours.

And yes, in the midst of tragedy, people will go to work, do the washing, lose their temper with loved ones, buy a lottery ticket, go to the pub......

We (the media leading the GBP) Must learn to stop turning people or communities who have been subjected to suffering and loss into life long victims or freak show exhibits.

LIFE GOES ON, because it MUST!

I have ‘Tell me it’s not True....’ from Blood Brothers running incessantly through my head.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Dianne Abbott: "claimed Charles Clarke, the former MP who she said had been responsible for setting the threshold when he worked for Neil Kinnock, had "boasted" to her that the system in place was to "block the left". This posed the danger of strangling party democracy, she said."

Interesting that the broad and full Labour dialogue over policy will as she claims be conducted largely by Mrs. Milibands boys.

Moreover if Labour are not going to change their spots - or cannot - and the myth of mass defections from the Lib Dems remain myths then where has Labour got to go?

Things can only get worse!

If the coalition prospers and the Tories start to take not of some polls suggesting a huge majority want real reform of the voting system to PR what if the Lib Dems and Tories cooperate at the next general election?

The Tories are not the nasty party that they once were and it is likely under PR that the popular vote may not change that significantly.

Majority government is better where it is based on a popular vote and the Lib Dems are distinct from the Tories - so neither really threatens the others identity.

Cooperation and concern for the national interest as opposed to internal party fiefdoms as we saw under Labour are the way forward.

But even if the coalition does suffer under the strain of the debt mountain Labour created people will always remember who was responsible for the life on credit that we built and the lax financial regulation that brought it all down.

Some head case was ranting on about the joys of the Wilhelm Reich Orgone Energy Accumulator (snake oil sex box apparently) that led to his imprisonment and it reminded me of a modern day analogy:

Where are we with the excellent Newsnight report on the coat hanger bomb detectors that we were exporting around the world?

Is the coalition going to push on investigations and remedial actions and will it all throw light on previous ministers?

Link From Stacy Herbert of Max Keiser :-

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/7801868/If-the-European-climate-turns-nasty-the-ECB-could-suffer-from-exposure.html

This is one more reason why central banks will eventually go nuclear ending in hyperinflation.

Why are they allowing the oil leak to go on - is it deflationary ? I just dont buy that it couldn't be stopped by now due to technical difficulty or that the US military aren't boned up to the job.

NAILED (#9)

Bravo BYT. I agree totally, But we are, nevertheless, doomed to banality. Last night 'This Week' began with a package with 'Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos', edgily shot (wall-shadow, slow pan) with musical backing and stills: doctored to be part B&W part colour (flowers). I could not stomach it. I have never switched off before. If 'psychologist' are party to such banality, no wonder we are all bonkers. She would do well to investigate the sort of technicians who compile these packages.

It would appear that they no longer know what they do. 'Down' is the only way.

#9

BYT

i'm 100% sure that somebody who"s attached himself to NN with the same initials as the killer and who's also trying to fight over a will has been insisting for.the story to be continued on the programme.

Re: freaks

He's also involved in trying to turn into one and although I am in real control over the situation, I sometimes let myself go tallking so that strangers could hear me, etc. Where it really matters I talk to people directly explaining things with considerable success.

mim

Apologies for repeating myself if #10 (eventually) gets through the "consideration" process.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/7800471/UK-hits-JP-Morgan-with-record-33.3m-fine.html

The fine given to JP Morgan was levied for failing to put client account balances into accounts separate from the banks own funds, and they admit to doing this from 2002 to 2009.

Max Keiser made an accusation a few weeks back that big banks retroactively allocate losing trades to their clients, and keep the winning trades for their own proprietary trading desks:

https://www.zerohedge.com/article/max-keiser-big-banks-allocate-losing-trades-clients-keep-winning-trades-themselves

Although a serious accusation, there is some informative comments by posters on the Zerohedge site. One is anecdotal "duh, call the order to the floor and follow up with the tickets with account numbers later. We used to do it all the time.", whilst others provide statistical methods for ascertaining the credibility of this claim, e.g. "look at profitable trading days for the banks at 100% of the time (suspicious by itself), and compare with the stop-outs and failures associated with 'recommendations' by the firms for their clients."

A serious accusation warrants serious investigation.

OH GOOD - LET'S TALK TO A BISHOP - THAT SHOULD THROW SOME LIGHT!

Are we going to do 'good and evil'? Possession? Should discarnate spirits be on a data-base? Do you not remember the wisdom of Sir Humphrey? He made it plain that bishops run the POWER STRUCTURE of the Church. they don't actually BELIEVE - that would get in the way of church management, and the bottom line.

Is this the beginning of the end :-

https://baselinescenario.com/2010/06/04/french-connection-the-eurozone-crisis-worsens-sharply/

#17 Crikey Max your one smart guy - you invented this high frequency trading and the films futures stuff, no wonder you look like your going crazy on your show.

18

are you not emoting? the yapparrazzi would tut tut.

the media class is a very narrow section of humanity that attracts certain personality types with certain emotional needs? the average Scoop tends not to be the sharpest pencil in the box?

people get paid good money to yap yap yap at the public.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

seems the Cumbria massacre has managed to take Israel off the top news item slot. The suffering of 1,500,000 people in the latest 'Warsaw Ghetto' called Gaza, is as nothing compared to the media's desire to 'investigate' suffering, and pay whichever talking head agrees with their general slant to babble happily in front of a camera.

Linda Papadopoulos is the only one that has made any sense, so far.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

#23 addendum

When on ice, my movements, gestures or facial expressions illustrate either the emotional content of the music or lyrics of a song or an aria, or both in fact.

People don't tend to laugh at me at Queen's. On the contrary, they either smile or pay me compliments, even if they do not have the opportunity to hear the tunes I skate to.

mim

https://brossen99.livejournal.com/4666.html

PUT NOT YOUR TRUST IN DOCTORS (#220)

Papadopoulos said: "But we also know that men are much more likely to suffer from depression - much more likely to commit suicide."

It has been nagging me ever since I turned off that son et lumiere fest.
I suppose one right out of two isn't bad for a 'Dr'. She was WRONG about depression, that is disproportionately more part of the ladies tool-kit.

My wild guess is that his twin was always the family's favourite. An outside shot is a brain tumour.

MISSED!
Interesting #18 BS

I erroneously omitted clergy from my list of people the people of West Cumbria would be better without. However, I would be prepared to withhold judgement until after the delivery.

Having been rather too close to a devastating local tragedy last year, our local lady minister made a real difference to a substantial number of people who were affected. Some believers/churchgoers, other ranging from agnostic, atheist to downright argumentative and bloody minded deniers were helped to greater understanding and acceptance and a way to move forward by her messages - honest, sincere, open, flexible, non judgemental, supportive and understanding in an almost impossible situation. A religious leader able and willing to deliver the truth that faced everybody; truth, uncertainty and indisputable pain, grief and loss. There without question or expectation for the flock, including the fallen and the black sheep. A rare occurrence; a rare individual.

and

#26

Didn't see/hear Linda Papadopoulos, but...

Depression is an affliction of degrees. And if one buid=lds in figures of those seeking( and accepting) help, women come out top there also.

Men ARE more likely to commit suicide (carry through the threat – do it properly). Women more likely to go the ‘cry for help’ route. Fail by design or succeed by accident. This is I strongly believe closely linked to the fact that females will talk and react much more and sooner. These facts and stats born out by items such as men dying of curable cancers due to ignorance.

Men will hide for too long, then lash out irrationally largely because they are incapable or feel unable to openly deal with their issues and feelings. Sad but true. Percentage of men/women serial killers/rampage killers anyone?

#22 Gnuneo.

Why the surprise. It is human nature isn’t it, to feel most comfortable, closest to home and to environments we feel we CAN understand – then expound endlessly about what about it we simply cannot understand. We can do that only because there is a strong cultural link.

We have feelings of empathy, a sense of group belonging and understanding and can imagine we or those we know may have been involved. For all it is unbelievable, it IS a northern European mindset. Unlike out and out aggression, terrorism, and intolerable moral outrage half a world and a vast cultural chasm away.

BISHOP TO ............POPPY COC?

#18 BS

OK. YOU WERE RIGHT!!!! right. Bishop of Carlisle was Pompous, pious, God is all. No thought or concern for those affected who do not share your belief. I am sad but not surprised at that.

AH YES - BUT I AM TOO HUMBLE TO TAKE PLEASURE IN BEING RIGHT (#29)

I want Dave 'done' for wasting Police time. Are we witnessing Five Year Dave? Is he going to pop up every time a pensioner stubs a toe, and deliver this vacuous waffle? Is he another one who can't string two words of significance together, without a script (written by a faceless git)? We have Obama for that.

Did you catch the comment that Obama's 11 year old asked: "Did you fix the leak yet daddy?" The commentator seemed to think that level of naïveté was OK for eleven, but doesn't BO's daughter wonder why his suit is not messed up?

HUNGERFORD - CENTRE FOR UNDERSTANDING JUST HOW CRASS THE MEDIA ARE

You sent a reporter there. Priceless.

Good 'ole beeb

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/7798083/Half-of-recruits-to-BBCs-trainee-scheme-are-from-ethnic-minorities.html

I thought the Bishop of Carlisle was perfectly dreadful. But perhaps there are people who take comfort in strident certainty. I suppose all possible forms of comfort should be on offer.

OK so the Americans are understanding it and organising an awareness and motivation to move from the big banks Ask yourself why arnt we, why arnt the BBC educating the public and informing them of any alternative to "big" banking ? What part of 'naked short selling' and 'naked credit default swaps' dont the BBC get ? Why dont you take a closer look at Nos 17 on here as well.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/levana-layendecker/lets-break-up-the-big-ban_b_601021.html

https://www.democracyforamerica.com/activities/350?bubb

#27

It's good to hear, Brightyangthing, about rare individuals acting positively for the sake not only of particular individuals but for the good of a whole community - very encouraging and heartwarming.

Sadly, I have to agree with you about men finding it much more difficult to cope with emotional matters which must be, although it's the first time I've thought of it, the main reason for succumbing to depression. And once they engage in a battle for a female, rather than confronting the situation directly, they'll fight with one another terribly concerned about their pride trying to prove their masculinity, something you've mentioned previously, as if their social image was far more important than the woman they're figthing for, leaving her in the lurch even if she's already made it clear what her position is. They either mistrust her or cannot accept the truth.

Serial killers - the answer is rather obvious, isn't it?

mim

Brightyangthing

I can already feel it in my bones that I shall not be able to resist coming to the White City next week to do another 'freaky' show, particularly if surrounded by sws, with a full live description as it happens, to be followed with a more reflective commentary once back in my attic at my Philips laptop.

I hope the BBC are looking forward to it (^_^)(^_^)(^_^)(^_^)****

Re: crime & suicide

Serious crime is often committed for financial reasons as well and mixed with sexual obsession can lead to almost unspeakable consequences. It does seem, therefore, that the best way out of a situation like that is for the perpetrator/s to commit suicide rather face long term public humiliation and lengthy Court proceedings.

I hope my message is clear. You are being watched.

P.S. 'Can't wait' for the autobiography of the English Machiavelli to come out wondering whether he's going to mention and expand on the 'experiment' he talked about with a smear on his 'sweet' lips to Jeremy Paxman from the video 'window' a few months ago.

TWO EARS AND ONE MOUTH

#33 RicardianLesley

Indeed he was, as is so sadly and so often the case in senior churchmen and women on screen at such times. They come across as pompous and pious and speak in words that few recognise in deliberate thoughtful tones. They are so very far removed from the people they are supposedly serving. And yes, so certain. Certainty will be in short supply on the ground in these devastated communities.

They lack humility and any reality in terms of comprehension of the place of no faith that many of their audience largely inhabit. That audience have little truck with the pomp and ceremony and hear only empty words.

It is I think imperative that ministers in the small communities affected by this and other tragedies, offer a variety of opportunities to the needy in the population. Regardless of how many of the bums are regularly on their pews, those in ministry including elders and lay readers will have services, vigils, sacred music, candle masses but most importantly truly OPEN doors ready to listen responsively or talk in simple language, without answers or certainties to those who need such support. Churches can be the hub of communities way beyond an hour on a Sunday morning.

I pray that these men and women of God remember that often it is a place of quiet, of peace and of a willingness to listen, to hear the pain and confusion without feeling the necessity to fill the void with platitudes. Please let them recall that God gave most of them two ears and one mouth – it is often wise to use them in that proportion.

PRIME(IVAL) POLITICS. WHO’S NEEDING WHO?

#30 BS

Monarchs, Ministers (Prime) and Leaders (Political ) turning up to places of tragedy to show solidarity. They always do.

I feel a little sorry for them in our modern age when they really cannot win for trying. A bit of a lose lose situation for them isn’t it? Can’t do right for doing wrong. If they turn up and issue scripted platitudes (Dave, Tony, Bill, Barack......) they are lambasted for grabbing a headline/photo opportunity.

Stay away (remember the queen retreating into the estate of Balmoral to wrap her grandmotherly arms around cruelly suddenly motherless children) and be lambasted and virtually FORCED to deliver empty scripted and probably dishonest platitudes to the masses. (sheesh)

The wonderful GBP can't make up their minds on what constitutes the RIGHT thing to do.

DYSFUNCTIONALITY R US!

DID I HEAR A LOUD CRECHE? ANOTHER TRIUMPH FOR THE 'AGE OF FAIR'.

The lady who founded Fair Trade, announced in glowing terms on 'Today' that some Rwandan town has gained so much by FT it NOW HAS A CRECHE.

If creche is here, can crash be far behind?

Eric Kings latest interviews - one a multi-billionaire the other a hedge-fund manager who talks up 'shorting' just so long as that isn't 'naked' shorting Bill:-

https://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2010/6/5_Hugo_Salinas_Price.html

https://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2010/6/5_Bill_Laggner.html

Any of the seriousness of this sinking in yet ?

You gonna mint any real silver pounds Mr King ?

'THIN ICE' AND 'SINKING' IN (#41)

It's all of a piece flicks. You tell a juvenile, or an obsessive risk-taker, that the ice on which he skates is thin . . .

Try to tell a Westminster Party-clown we need to return to Mothers and nurture-for-life - not chreches, and moulding for Mammon . . .

As BYT says @ 39, "DYSFUNCTIONALITY R US" - and bloody proud of it we are, it seems. At least it explains Dave's vacuous babbling, while wasting Police time.

#42 - 'THIN ICE' AND 'SINKING' IN' - looks like that's how its gonna be.

#39

No, once one is in the public eye, one can never win approval for doing the right thing by everybody. Not only, that, one can be severely punished for it.

Here I am, truthful and faithful and then I am supposedly turned into some kind of prostitute, as per jj/gnu, etc. Having gone off him anyway in 1991 having discovered a higher form of love, whatever I do, I get persecuted for it. Is it because I'm only little and a foreigner, 'supposedly' with no friends to speak of?

The way I see it, the snag is that perhaps I do, in fact, have too many 'friends' who do not respect my freedom, independence, the right of choice and privacy of any sort whatsoever. History books are not likely to be kind to them.

I hope, BYT, you do have a lovely weekend. Is it sunny where you are? I could check on the internet but am very keen to go out ASAP. I can, however, easily check your response later on my iPhone once I'm being heated up by direct sunshine.

mim

Re: heat

Apparently my maternal great grandpa, the one of Swiss origins, adored drinking virtually boiling beaverages.

mim

Not great news I'm afraid :o(

Source: https://www.thejc.com/blogpost/did-newsnights-jeremy-paxman-break-bbcs-impartiality-rule

#44 a sequence

Ultimately, I do prefer knitting, snapping, dittying, gliding and twirling on my own to sleeping around.

Any objections?

mim

Brightyangthing

Yesterday I tried to imitate the rhythms of steam trains when skating to one of the tunes on my iPhone but will have to work on it a bit more.

mim

bye!!!!

#46

I've read it before, Mistress76uk, but isn't this particular Mr Cohen a Rabbi anyway, and has not the style of the action of the Israeli state against the aid ship been widely questioned by the world at large with even Turkey considering detaching themselves from them?

It is not only commendable for journalists to ask questions that bother a vast number of people but it is their duty, is it not?

mim

Brightyangthing

I have also been trying to imitate the movements of Japanese fighters but have not tried it yet on ice. If it's too busy at Queen's this afternoon, I'm planning to have a go at it tomorrow.

mim

But now the time has definitely come for me to push off.

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

FROM THE GENTILE GIST (Our 'Denigration Begins at Home' correspondent) (#46 link)

I would hate to be called 'anti-Israel', it would interfere with my full-blown crusade against annoying dogma, wherever, or however it manifests.
From what little I now of history, religions have come and gone proclaiming the most idiotic of 'truths'. The usual way of things was that old gave way to new as a consequence of displacement, invasion or the odd, persuasive, intruding missionary. In these respects, the Jews did, perhaps, break the 'rules'. On being displaced, and dispersed, they closed ranks and made quite sure that 'good Jewish boys' married 'good Jewish girls'. This is not the way to make friends - you must play nicely. Maybe it is time someone pointed that out to Mr Cohen of the Jewish Chronicle?

The BBC's Editorial Guidelines on Impartiality:

"In the global context, some controversial subjects such as national elections or referendums will obviously have varying degrees of global significance but will be of great sensitivity in that country or region in which they are taking place. We should always remember that much of the BBC's output is now available in most countries across the world.

We must ensure a wide range of significant views and perspectives are given due weight in the period during which a controversial subject is active. Opinion should be clearly distinguished from fact. When the issues involved are highly controversial and/or a decisive moment in the controversy is expected we will sometimes need to ensure that all of the main views are reflected in our output. This may mean featuring them in a single programme, or even a single item."

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/edguide/impariality/controversialsu.shtml

Can it be said that the above guidelines were NOT adhered to? I watched the Wednesday night show, and I certainly did not find this......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gQ_chZUMNw

Watching that video of the oil coming out its quite obvious that it going up in a fairly orderly way and it doesn't take a genius to realise that an up turned funnel just above it with pumping through a pipe to a ship would be the way to go.

You have to ask why wasn't this done sooner ? Now credit default swaps incentivise destruction and disaster - any correlation to look at ?
-----------------------
Also just watched The Daily Politics with Digby Jones talking about the banks. Dont think Digby understands that banks dont want to know about the real economy any more they are very high on derivatives along with their hands up politicians. The real economy is hard work and it takes too much time for them. Irwin M. Stelzer hit the nail on the head about the right kind of incentive. Financial people are motivated by incentive; they have no moral obligation in what they do, therefore this has to be made an incentive.

Very interesting:-

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7804922/BP-chief-Tony-Hayward-sold-shares-weeks-before-oil-spill.html

IMAGINARY CLOTH MILLS ARE BOOMING

"The World Economy is recovering faster than expected."

Hardly surprising, when all top positions are filled by naked Emperors, and the proles get more stupid by the day.

Oh - it's all going awfully well.

SHADES OF 9/11 (#55)

I make no allegation or endorsement but this is worth a reprise.

https://911research.wtc7.net/sept11/stockputs.html

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

#46: what a laugh, cohen hits all the regular buttons, even goes so far as to throw the dreaded 'anti-Semite' threat in paxman's direction.

what was wrong with the word "attack"? It WAS an "attack"! It was in International waters, nor has this blockade been agreed by the United Nations. It has no International legitimacy, and no basis in Law.

it is a sure sign of desperation that zionist 'engineers' like cohen are forced to fall back to bleating about the form of words used - they should be VERY careful, i very much doubt they would enjoy the BBC starting to equalise the language they use about the Palestine Occupation.


#52:

"On being displaced, and dispersed, they closed ranks and made quite sure that 'good Jewish boys' married 'good Jewish girls'. This is not the way to make friends - you must play nicely."

well, in their favour they are not the only groups to do that - and unlike these other groups, they do not murder those who break the 'rules'. See "Islamic Honour Killings", and Princess Diane.

btw, that meme has a long history - the ancient Samaritan sect in Israel also still follows it as well.


#53: this complaint doesn't have a snowballs chance of actually succeeding, it is merely yet another attempt to smear any brave Journalist who puts their head up and criticises Israel's acts. And as we all know, there are few braver than Jeremy. Let the Israelis take it to court - they will lose even what they hold now, and the court case would bring many revelations, i think. Perhaps it is time for the lies to end through such a mechanism?


#57: unfortunately i no longer have the link, but the first i had heard of that was that the then director and assistant director of the CIA were some of those who placed those calls. What was also of interest was that although such calls were obviously of SUPREME importance in discovering what was happening behind the scenes, the Bush Administration ORDERED that those trading calls were not to be investigated!!


#25: yes, to your points.

the Sellafield link seems to be very important, but it also seems astounding that so many of those he seemed to target were actually out following their routes!? I wonder if the police have checked his mobile yet for the last calls he made, did he know where his victims were going to be?

the timing of this was extraordinary, knocking Israel's illegal trade embargo and murder of peace activists off the news items. I shudder to imagine how the US/Sky networks are covering this terrible tragedy.

#27

It seems to me, Brightyangthing, whether a man or a woman, we, quite a lot of us, get depressed out pure frustration with either oneself or others, or both at the same time as a consequence of a breakdown in communication with those seemingly close to us.

I suppose I'm very lucky to have been born with an innate love of life, something apparently I used tell my mum when I was just a little girl which has probably been the saving grace in most nightmarish situations I've found myself at times or have been put through.

Once one identifies the main reasons of one's frustration and faith in oneself and one's ethics without worrying too much about one's image, I think one can be well on the way to full recovery.

mim

YOU ARE A STRANGE ONE GNU* - WHAT IS YOUR MOTIVATION? (#59)

Are we not discussing matters involving, and related to, the Jews? The fact that some small tribe of Eskimos might go 'viddy biddy bum' when singing, neither supports nor negates my point - does it?

*Deja vu - Gnu?

PS #17 link 2 Hawkeye. I watched and wondered (in both senses).

more on Gaza - this report on conditions there is from 3 YEARS ago; nothing has improved, in fact with the munitions Israel used on the assault, it is almost certain that matters within Gaza have actually gotten much worse. That is just too hard to imagine.

https://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2007/12/gaza-israel-fuel-medical


what are the peacemakers up against in Israel? We are constantly bombarded with claims that Hamas will never "make peace with Israel because land once Muslim will always be Muslim", despite articles i posted recently demonstrating that parliamentary Hamas had intended to do just precisely *that*.

as is so often the case, it is the opposite that is the truth. Here is the actual face of this 'religious/nationalistic war':

https://www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/09/israel-migron-palestinian

terrible errors and crimes have been committed by both sides in this conflict, and like ever, the first victim was truth. Until both sides can accept a solution that allows free movement of both Palestinians and Israelis, until the bantustanisation of Palestine is stopped, and the militarisation of Israel reversed, until ETHIC CLEANSING is prevented by the World Community, we will all hover on the edge of a nuclear precipice.

it was striking seeing some of the same 'blinkered views' expressed both in Israel, and also North Korea. It was also striking seeing Murdoch's creature McKenzie sweating as he attempted to pull the blood-stained rug of lies across QuestionTime's audience's faces, only to discover that it revealed more about himself and his Master than it did about the actual events in Gaza.

RAMBLINGS FROM THE SHRUBBERY - AND NOT A PYTHON IN SIGHT
Part 1

Mim

The garden beckoned early in the day and held me captive until thunder in the hills about an hour ago heralded the need for shelter. Virtually no signal either wireless or mobile bb so I have enjoyed a little light pruning, light weeding, light reading, light musing which had to be captured off line, a scant hour of scaring the horses and the neighbours children (tee hee) now dinner and a pleasant evening en famille follows.

You asked recently about special places to find solitude or peace. I am not good at totally relaxing but do find peace starts within and can be found almost anywhere. I do like to be near water, adn I do have favourite places – luckily many of them are within easy reach of home, and top of list are some secluded parts of the West Coast. I have an escape planned for a couple of weeks time. I shan’t be putting up coordinates or sending postcards!

Hope yours has been peaceful and fruitful.

#46 M76UK

There are lots of names for entry without invitation. They range from trespass, through violation to rape and pillage. I would have though ‘attack’ was a fairly mild and from what I understand fairly accurate description of events.

And as I think BS said, surely such challenges are the best of investigative journalism, NOT the worst.

A couple of newsy musings.

INNOCENT
It is always INNOCENT people who die in tragic circumstances according to the media isn’t it? I am sure they were not guilty of being in any way deserving of their end. So why emphasise the word. Unlucky, unfortunate or fateful may be more accurate.

Had the’ rampage’ taken place in a prison, would the blessed media, after all whose tools of trades are words/language state that the victims were guilty? Of...............?

TO ‘KNOW’ SOMEONE

There is always attendant at such times a plethora of people appearing on camera at what they think is a decent interval, people who claim to KNOW, the perpetrators of crimes. They worked with them, drank with them, lived near them.........

I live in a small tight knit active and supportive community and I am and have been for 20 years an active part of it at many levels. I know OF a large number of the people in my small tight knit rural community. I KNOW in any great detail (our lives are inter twined) very FEW of those number.

I do not imagine, in the event of my being any part of a tragedy that any of them would be too quick to claim on camera that they ‘KNEW Mrs Thing.

And any others making such claim would purely and simply be talking out
of their anal orifices .

#40 BS

A Creche (is that what one has in one’s Porche?)

Perhaps it is a voluntary crèche. One set of mothers caring for a small number of other mothers children on a rota in order to affect work. Remember in places such as Rwanda aids has already decimated the parental/grand parental communities and in order for anyone to work/produce, others must care for the little ones. Perhaps I am too trusting and hopeful.

But, I suspect as you enviously assume that this is a strictly financial arrangement and that the crèche in itself is seen as a money making opportunity – a business. This is surely where it all starts to go wrong and are most likely to spread/share the malaise.

Why does everything anyone does or needs have to have a monetary value and be earned/paid for.

Whatever happened to support for no reward because it is (come here Jaunty, this one’s for you) a GOOD thing to do. To fill a need because you have the capacity and desire to do so – not because what you get back from it and what you can in turn procure from that reward.

It’s the Economy, Stupid! It is a circle of exchange that leaves most of us devoid of true human compassion and empty of everything save more WANT. It is Wanton and it is Vicious.

The Review Show

Kirsty - 'How not to Duck them up'

I urge you to listen to her enunciation - as sharp and drawable as my pencil is always kept.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Leonardo_da_Vinci_052.jpg

Great art aint a lazy drip unless its a jack.

Great art is very intense and enunciated without those who have the power to give value.

#63

Good to hear, Brightyangthing, you've enjoyed being in and dealing with greenery today. I didn't go to lie on the green by the Horseman this afternoon but instead sat on the green wall of the Anglesea Arms sipping lemonade and listening to Susan Boyle. I also smoked one Windsor Blue mint cigarette from a green packet while now am sitting outside the green logoed Bucks cafe in Wandsworth.

Personnally, I do have the capacity to completely unwind and relax, achieving a kind form of nirvana, as long as I'm not harassed, something which is virtually impossible these days. Sometimes I simply ignore it but frequently resort to intense physical exercises as was the case this morning.

I also did a bit if ice skating with quite a few kids and young people there, some of.whom I already know. Four of them wore 'scary' tee shirts and I couldn't resist taking a couple of snaps of them.

I might get in touch later

mim

Great gag BYT. Point well taken re Rwanda plight. Bill Gates stole my first effort. I think Service Pack 3 is run by the CIA.

Two sides of the same coin.

In 1967, according to Robert Fisk in today's Independent, the number of Orthodox Jewish officers in the IDF was 2%; now it is over 20%. It is so common to describe Palestinians as "Arabashim", or "Ayrabs" in US Army parlance, that the term is used openly by both officers and men of the IDF.

The radicalisation of the IDF is in parallel with the radicalisation of Palestinian youth; both sides become more extreme as the impasse grows.

There is some light at the end of the (Rafah) tunnel, however. The polarisation of politics in Northern Ireland, with Nationalists moving to Sinn Feinn from the SDLP and the Unionist electorate deserting the Ulster Unionist party for the DUP preceeded the Good Friday Agreement.

At some stage and quite soon I believe, Obama will broker a rapprochement.

At the moment he has to rope, throw and brand an out-of-his-depth BP CEO.

And how is it that an ethnic/religious group so appallingly treated over the centuries can inflict such wilful pain, degradation and misery on another?

Are we all, ultimately, situationists?

Deepwater Horizon

Politically this disaster came at a embarrassing time for President Obama, just twenty days before he had made a policy speech saying there will need to be more drilling in the Gulf, and other areas. This I suspect has left the Obama administration somewhat exposed to criticism from even his own side and given political ammunition to his opponents.
As for BP , well at lest they have the tools to work at that depth.

Anyway, the whole truth will come out in the numerous investigations and the legal lawyering that will surly follow over the coming years.

Clean up -
Just out of curiosity, whatever happened to bioremediation ?

YOU CAN'T RATIONALISE THE IRRATIONAL

Obama has been heard to say he believes in a Two State Solution. So have many others. But that would be like the two states of a binary switching system: 1 or 0 aka yes or no, THEY CANNOT EXIST TOGETHER.

I keep asking the believers to draw a map of the two states - DONT FORGET JERUSALEM - and we can all have a good laugh. The trouble with god is, It is a universal default concept with a viceral power, BUT CULTURALLY MODIFIED.

Oh - it's all going to go awfully well!

RELAX! ADDENDUM.......
#65 Mim

I find it hard to close my mind down but I find many everyday activities are good for chilling.

Two I was partaking of this evening, simultaneously:

Cooking,especially providing a fine if simple repast for friends and/or family.
and
watching cricket (better live on a village green - with a beer perhaps - but the boys doing well in Old Trafford this afternoon was close.)

Of course, away from home is often easier without stimulus of tasks that need doing and physical activity (walking, swimming, cycling, sailing - when chance arises - playing tennis. Strangely I find some high adrenalin physical activities quite relaxing.

Tomorrow and the week ahead I have much cooking for oldest sprog's field trip. I shall be happy and relaxed.

Where is the Anglesea Arms? I seem to recognise the name. I don't know Wandsworth well - but once dined many years ago somewhere just off the bridge.

Max Keiser - why dont you have Richard Lindzen on and get at the global warming issue; would be hot.

ATTACK IS THE EASIEST FORM OF DEFENCE???

#67

Just like the driver who cuts YOU up, give YOU the finger. Seemples.

#66

I doubt it

#70

The Anglesea Arms is in Selwood Terrace in South Kensington. I would add a link but it may be considered commercial by the Mods. The details, however, are available on the internet. It's a very friendly place, quite smart but casual, with a few interesting paintings on the wall. One, apparently, is well known but I haven't found out yet who it's been painted by.

Re: relaxation. I agree with you that sport can be relaxing, as per 'healthy mind in a healthy body'. On may bike ride back I was thinking further about our exchange on the matter and thought that perhaps one of the reasons I have such 'freaky' strength in my body at my age is the fact that I am able to relax so well, not necessarily by lying down doing nothing, although it may be most enjoyable, particularly outside in the sun, but by feeling completely calm and absorbed by listening to music almost anywhere or by 'snapping' all kind of images on my cameras, including my own improvisations with either things that I find by chance or have at home, anything really fitting an idea or an emotion. More often than not, having someone to share these with is a stimulus for 'creating' them in the first place. I couldn't do it just for anybody. It has to be someone with enough sensitivity and hopefully appreciation.

mim

One other thing about the type of my creativity, particularly, when dancing. Although I've always done it since being very little, including moving around to music on tiptoes as some of my first steps, now having an audience, as well as somebody in mind while gliding and twirling, has given an extraordinary boost to the dimension of the improvisation and expression to my ice skating. It's the wing thing, Brightyangthing.

mim

Almost everything I do these days, Brightyangthing, is a form of communication with that person. Every sinew in my body, every synaps in my brain is constantly striving to reach that person, even when dancing on ice for the Queen or attempting to express an idea of, let's say, global proportions. As Leonard Cohen sings in 'If It Be Your Will' - 'to make us well'.

mim

"Cumbrian Floods and Murders."

It may seem absurd, but, in terms of our image abroad, some good can be said to have come from last year's Cumbrian floods and the recent shootings. Although the lost livelihoods and deaths are certainly tragedies for all concerned, the region that we have been exposed to is a welcome change from the locations of most newsworthy events and where our media and the world's media usually decamps to.

You may have noticed that, conspicuous by their absence, were the street scenes that foreign news crews - if not some of our own - undoubtedly relish flashing around the world, which can't help but add to the ugliness of the event: a forest of street signs; poorly-laid, multi-coloured tarmac; as many road markings as any stretch of road can bear; and so on. It does seem there are, incredibly, some areas of Britain where councils haven't succumbed to the metropolitan desire to outdo one-another in making everything as ugly as sin. I've been convinced for years that there exists a secret competition between councils to "uglify" the country, which this region appears to have escaped. Maybe the lack of demand for development stayed a little of the normally damaging hand of the councils, until an appreciation of the existing 'man-made' environment appreciated. Whatever the reasons may be, they are to be congratulated. In the more populated areas of the country, though, all hell has broken loose and you simply have to open your eyes to find the evidence.

In the name of road safety (for which read, 'pedestrian safety'), 'elf 'n' safety', revenue generation, government job creation and general lack of foresight, consider what has become of a typical British street: ugly shop-fronts and business premises, protruding to different degrees on to the pavement; pavements consisting of 10 types and colours of slabs and bricks; protection from the road by never-ending barriers; awful road markings, where some have migrated on to the kerb stones, and others, that you presume are supposed to be straight and with nice, crisp edges, instead zig-zag all over the place and look like they were applied by the process of, 'open tin of paint, pour onto road, move about the surface using a rolling pin'; not to say anything of the uniformity of everything, across the country. If you wish to see how things could look, go to Cumbria, it seems, or watch footage of any foreign country, be it part of a news item or travel programme, or watch an episode of Top Gear, when it features a film that was shot abroad. You'll wonder in slack-jawed amazement at the care that governments appear to have taken in protecting their region's appearance: spray-painted road markings, applied sparingly, in proportion to and designed specifically for the road junction, to give just one example. You can tell I have a particular hatred for road markings. Heaven knows what foreigners must think of Britain - a country so much wealthier than their own and yet with the appearance of constantly being short of the money needed to do something in a professional manner.

Oh, and let's be thankful for not exposing the world to more 'high-rise-estate' wastelands, decrepit 'council' semis (with litter-strewn-garden accompaniment) or another mind-numbingly dull, brick-box estate.

All in all, accepting the harrowing reasons for Cumbria being in the news again, the sights we have seen should be greatly appreciated as a change from what is normally shown around the world and a far cry from the 'exotic decrepitude' of London, as David Cronenberg was want to put it a few years ago.

Spelling mistake: "wont", not "want".

You spoke about light things and light activities earlier on, Brightyangthing, which seems to require to be able to live in the present rather than being constantly burdened by the past or over anxious about the future.

I've just done some search on the subject and have found a few quotes which speak volumes on the subject:

• William Shakespeare:

A light heart lives long.

• The Past is the textbook of tyrants; the Future the Bible of the Free. Those who are solely governed by the Past stand like Lot's wife, crystallized in the act of looking backward, and forever incapable of looking before. ~Herman Melville, White Jacket

• Blaise Pascal (1623-1662); French mathematician & philosopher
“ The present is never our goal: the past and present are our means: the future alone is our goal. Thus, we never live but we hope to live; and always hoping to be happy, it is inevitable that we will never be so.

• Mahatma Gandhi (Spiritual Leader, India)
"When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end they always fall. Think of it. Always."

• Opportunities fly by while we sit regretting the chances we have lost, and the happiness that comes to us we heed not, because of the happiness that is gone. ~Jerome K. Jerome, The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, 1889

Hope we have a pleasantly lit up Sunday tomorrow, BYT

mim

#79

And hopefully we'll find enough time throughout the forthcoming awake hours to share light, and even perhaps, momentous moments. The last couple of words seem like a tautology but methinks they aren't, with me, for instance, repeating silly or otherwise gestures while riding my bike. Numerous times during the day I willingly succumb to deep, dreamlike states of mind and body being at one as a whole.

mim

plural universes there may be, probably so - but it is in *this* one that we are right now. Problems are not insuperable, a new direction is all that is needed. Momentous movements?? *Every* moment is momentous, every moment is a series of acts, thoughts, feelings, states, if Mr Bird had had support at a critical moment, would his actions have not changed?

but there are also other "momentous moments", and i wish i had had more of them. They put a sparkle on Life, as they are intended to. :)

today has been... strange. Wondering about "momentous moments" as well. Read the New Testament yesterday, for the first time ever. (well, a summary! https://www.gutenberg.org/etext/31829%29 Knew little bits from different places, was amused to note how many of my snap judgements on those quotes were wrong when set against the surrounding passages. I've been told for over half my life i should read/have read that book, finally got around to it. Maybe the Qoran is next?

some of it is awesome, some of it awful.

explained a lot, in many ways.

as Portillo said, the medieval spin was bull,

but much was pure, my heart says.


momentous moments.

#81

mms can be amazing ones, lephemerally lighter than a swallow's feather or of the highest elegaic almost elevation while others marking the beginning of the end of a most unworthy 'enterprise' of the state order involving whole masses against one poor, well, strong actually. Wouldn't you agree? Physically, mentally and ethically to the point of attracting!!!!!****

#82.

Luck? Yes, of a tribal kind ****

Can't you see, gnu, the enomity of your crime?

You sholdn't have interfered in Mr Bird's life in the first place.

#84 addend

A huge part of the mobilisation of the strengths thatt I do seem to have stems from trying to undo the damage you've been so keen to do to Mr Bird, gnu sw. And don't expect me to thank you for anything, neither.

#81 'if Mr Bird had had support at a critical moment, would his actions have not changed?'

People who have debt problems dont usually seek help due to shame until the last moment - usually a court appearance. I think much more could be made of the fact that the Citizens Advice workers are REQUIRED to be NON - JUDGMENTAL in the interview room. Those who cant achieve this do not get to interview. Also anything that is said is confidential within the CAB bureau. Be interesting to know the CAB and debt help situation in Mr Birds area. Also its worthwhile saying that the CAB will only really deal with the facts and not emotional stuff although they are able to write on behalf and find local help relevant to a persons situation.

The whole debt problem is how the financial 'wizards' worked - it was incentivised every where, when you have a break down of a society via employment change, personal debt promoted by the elite all round (still happening) the reasons for such things happening, start to come into focus.

#86.

Oh, there must be a few mr birds then???

gnu

Are you still compus mentus?

It's truly dispicable of you to use.the.most vulnerable individuals, like the mentally disturbed & fatally sick homeless, in ordr to pass on your sw 'messages' to me.

https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10138911.stm

Ha ! interesting what the BBC are not telling people is that although the cold reduces the power out-put of the battery it helps increase the life.

THIS is the important one

NOW listen carefully

HEAT reduces the life of the battery and increases power output and the battery is VERY EXPENSIVE.

It needs to be cooled during a heat wave 24/7 to increase the life. Reduction in miles travelled over battery life is preferred unless you have money to waste. Also its just not green is it ?

So why only 6 months to keep the car ? were they afraid the battery would die at any longer time span or considerably loose its power keeping ability due to fluctuations in temperature ?

I know this stuff for a fact having a small solar powered set up with a deep cycle battery.

Lets have the balanced picture BBC !

Also there is a relationship between the battery life and 'cycle'

"A battery "cycle" is one complete discharge and recharge cycle. It is usually considered to be discharging from 100% to 20%, and then back to 100%. However, there are often ratings for other depth of discharge cycles, the most common ones are 10%, 20%, and 50%. You have to be careful when looking at ratings that list how many cycles a battery is rated for unless it also states how far down it is being discharged. For example, one of the widely advertised telephone type (float service) batteries have been advertised as having a 20-year life. If you look at the fine print, it has that rating only at 5% DOD - it is much less when used in an application where they are cycled deeper on a regular basis. Those same batteries are rated at less than 5 years if cycled to 50%. For example, most golf cart batteries are rated for about 550 cycles to 50% discharge - which equates to about 2 years."

Ref : https://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm

Lets have the balanced picture BBC

#89

You're very knowledgeable about the noughties, flicks, congratulations..

You still seem to have access to the websites, gnu, that I open frequently, indulging in the making the titles, etc, fitting your 'messaages' to me, little that it's going to be of any benefit or gain to you, little doggie.

#92 addendum

I've mentioned your wife, but one of the biggest victims in all this must be your daughter, jj, and my heart goes out to her.

Monika

the rogue state 'just havin a laugh'?

https://www.haaretz.com/culture/israeli-spoof-on-gaza-flotilla-clash-gets-nearly-1-million-hits-1.294467

Will they do a spoof one about the passports?

but the bbc doesn't like idf jokes [because they are reasonable people and great humanitarians?]

https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/31188/bbc-sorry-over-frankie-boyle-idf-joke

#94

it tkakes all sorts everywhere, jaunty, though evolutionary democratic progress moving with the spirit of any particular time, needs to be vigilant against abuse, offence and injustice.

M

#45 copperDolomite over on RP’s current blog wrote something that caught my eye...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2010/06/will_thiam_survive_at_pru.html

‘Dr David Owen has written two books you may find helpful:

1) The Hubris Syndrome: Bush, Blair and the Intoxication of Power
2) In Sickness and In Power: Illness in Heads of Government During the Last 100 Years’

The link below includes an extract from 'In Sickness and in Power: Illness in Heads of Government During the Last 100 Years' (in The Times)...

‘Lord Owen analyses Tony Blair's psyche’
https://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_extracts/article3558633.ece

‘He was starting to display excessive pride in his own judgments. Clinton’s aides mocked Blair’s Churchillian tone. One official who frequently saw him said: “Tony is doing too much, he’s overdoing it and he’s overplaying his hand.” One of Clinton’s aides suggested Blair “was sprinkling too much adrenaline on his cornflakes”.’


Now, which previous poster on this site used to cover much of the same subject matter???

#93:

"I've mentioned your wife, but one of the biggest victims in all this must be your daughter, jj, and my heart goes out to her.

Monika "

and gangy is my twin brother? :o

"#81

mms can be amazing ones, lephemerally lighter than a swallow's feather or of the highest elegaic almost elevation while others marking the beginning of the end of a most unworthy 'enterprise' of the state order involving whole masses against one poor, well, strong actually. Wouldn't you agree? Physically, mentally and ethically to the point of attracting!!!!!****"

lovely, wonderful, inspiring prose! xxx


#86: actually i meant emotional support, despite some of the more tabloid pop-psychologists gibberings, i doubt a few quid swung it for him. As mim said in #87. Whatever really went on i doubt we shall ever know, but it would be nice to think a well-timed hug could have changed matters dramatically. I am unfortunately reminded of the recent film-clip of the helicopter gunship pilots in Iraq though.


mim what does "sw" mean? If i am sending you subliminals, it WOULD be pleasant to know what they were!! ^_^ x

#94: the resources of the State of Israel are incredible, nobody provokes them without response.

an Israeli security minister a few weeks ago on NN deliberately made the pint that UK security forces were "excellent" in targeted assassinations, a meaningful threat if ever there was one.

but it DOES rather make a mockery of the whole "Hamas uses modern communications to win the 'hearts and minds' war though, doesn't it? What kind of future does Israel imagine to 'win' if it continues on its present course of slow ethnic cleansing? Do Israeli citizens ever ask themselves this? I'm certain *some* of them do.

Israel is the intended future of the whole West, controlled entirely by war-mongering neo-cons, carefully constructed media pushing only one viewpoint. I feel as sorry for them, as i do the good Germans under the 3rd Reich, and those in the West who believed that Iraq was a "threat" to us. To fall into a lie hurts the individual as much as the effects of that lie. Compassion is often the second victim of War.

looking at the media coming out of Israel, it would be hard to imagine there are some VERY strong organisations and individuals fighting for a just peace between them and the Palestinians. But they are there.

#94 JC...the first link was truly shocking. Even Goebbels would have been proud of such an arrangement.

Did you read this well reasoned piece by Robert Fisk earlier in the week?

Robert Fisk: Western leaders are too cowardly to help save lives in Gaza
https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-western-leaders-are-too-cowardly--to-help-save-lives-1987989.html

#96: juggler, interesting.

i have been moving on a different theme, mainly from the time of the Georgian invasion of South Ossetia, i have noticed the effects of psychological manipulation at both 'Salesman Conferences', and also evangelical speakers - *good* evangelical speakers.

both create the "inspired glow", in fact that is the intent. Both also reduce the functioning of the analytical mind, and are intended to bypass analysis for 'supreme confidence'. Chaplains in front of troops about to go into battle, same intended effect.

ok, all straight forward. Worth reading/ - or *definitely* watching if you can find the clip - the comments by the Georgian leader at the time of the conflict. He was facing, had deliberately antagonised, the second greatest military power on Earth - and he was STILL exultant!!

anyone remember this symbol, which show it was from, and what those who wore it could do?

https://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090611092330/babylon5/images/thumb/2/26/Psicorp_wiki-1.png/300px-Psicorp_wiki-1.png

--i am of course being *very* tongue-in-cheek there!!!! :D :D


ultimately, i would say the 'flaw' was not necessarily what Blair's mind-set was - after all such goal-direction is *necessary* in politics to get anything done (imagine if his 'Gawd' had told to him to end poverty and rebuild the UK's economic and social fabric, instead of to bounce of Unkle Georgie's lap!!). The flaw was the deliberate cutting out of the Cabinet as a decision making body (clare short mentioned this to some depth on QT), which reduced the ability of the others at the cabinet level to interject with some *reality* onto his 'messianic dreams'.

--also of note is that Ahmedinadjad also claimed that 'Gawd' spoke to him, and at the UN he said he saw "the Glow" over the audience at his first address. And we all know the fundamentalist horrors THAT guy brought upon the Iranian peoples.

my summary is that the mind-set discussed in your article is actually necessary, it is part of the normal range of human cognition (virtually everyone is running a narrative about themselves - the vast majority are running several narratives at once), the problems came because of the lack of democratic checks and balances. Also that the 'messianic' meme can be deliberately triggered by those who have trained in psychological manipulation (i gave a couple of examples above). Do bear in mind however that the term 'messiah' means different things to different people depending on previous socialisation.


also, random drug tests and regular psychological inspections might not be a bad thing for our political leaders... ;)