麻豆社

Alternative analysis of what's really going on in the US and the wider world.

RE TUITION FEES VOTE

CONTAGION is what THEY are really afraid of...

Students' power is limited. But their anger and revolt can prove contagious

'A British MP whose parliamentary aide was arrested over claims she is a Russian spy has challenged the security services to "prove their point now".'

Perhaps LibDem MP Mike Hancock should himself be asked to prove the point on what essential qualifications his foreign parliamentary aide possessed that could not have been met by the employment of a Brit or European.

'The country you once knew and thought you understood is dead. Get it into your head. Stolen from right under your nose because you were too sedentary or stupid to want to do anything about it. You didn't want to make a fuss, or cause a stir. We are in new territory now. A whole new world. Not a brave one unfortunately, but one as ugly and corrupt and lacking in moral justice as can be.'

/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2010/12/varley_and_letwin_negotiate_tr_1.html?postId=103882285

#4 Thanks for the link DJ, I think that person is about right.

Especially these words....

You are now living in a third world banana republic.

I totally agree with that statement, we have no moral credibility anymore.

What are you going to do about it?

And there's the rub, what can we do about it? We are not even allowed to say what we think anymore, if you do you're obliterated.

I don't like voilence, but mass demonstration seems to be the only way any politician takes any notice of the voters. Pity it needs children to lead the way!

talking of foreign states in government. The middle east advisers desk in the FO seems owned by pro israelis?

There are organisations in the uk misleading brits that its ok to serve in the idf.

so if the kremlin or anyone else should give their spies a pro israeli background then they would become 'untouchable' in the uk?

has the uk govt asked israel of the names of all uk citizens who are or have served in the idf etc? Or is there apartheid regarding over which criminals get prosecuted?

and what bright spark allowed an ex PRC military officer to install all the BT exchanges?

the guardian class is asleep. no longer recognising their responsibilities or duties to defending the british people yet they roll over to have their tummies tickled when expenses are mentioned?

The LibDems look set to split to me - Clegg et al now have their snouts firmly in the libertarian Tory trough - whilst their Party is heading for cruxifiction over local government spending cuts and student fees at the polls - it's not just the students - it's their parents and families too that are going for LibDem blood - throw in all those worthies in local councils and their community services being savaged - political suicide is a gross understatement.

I know political parties are loose coalitions, but would someone explain to me how the LibDems can possibly square their manifesto and party policies with the coalition programme in government?

If the economy goes over a cliff in the new year with the public sector job loses, I'd give it weeks at best.

HE WOULD SAY THAT WOULDN'T HE!

I heard Paddy Ashdown explaining (again) how forming a coalition, nullifies pledges. Is that how men can dump their wives, when they go off with the secretary (or researcher)?

Paddy says: "The students aren't listening'. That's a change from: "We are failing to get our message across", but every bit as weasely. I suppose he dare not say: "They don't understand", that would mean stupid people vote LibDem! What a disingenuous fellow he is. Crafty Clegg has really set the bar low for his followers. Even Vince Cable has proved a champion of Limbo. And it looks as if that is where they are all going.

SPOILPARTYGAMES

WHAT ARE YO GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? (#5)

Each party pre-chooses their rosette stand (under AV they are all still pre-chosen) and you then get to choose from a choice of rosettes. The stand whose rosette gets the most votes, is delivered to Parliament, becoming INSTANTLY honourable, expensive and BEYOND YOUR COMMAND.

The way to defeat this iniquity is clear: vote independent. Better still, long before the next election, identify individuals of integrity and lean on them to stand as INDEPENDENTS, then vote for them.

In short: SPOILPARTYGAMES.

i can't see the problem with an negotiated power sharing agreement if that is what the electorate has decided? its all a bit vestal virgin to think every comma in a manifesto is holy scripture? A manifesto is a campaigning pamphlet of what thye would do if they won. no one won? So why do people assume the manifesto is still relevant?

as for one lib dem didn't lenin use the term 'useful idiot'?

mps employing migrant labour

is the uk so short of 'talent' mps prefer non british staff?

RUN THAT PAST ME AGAIN JAUNTY (#10)

I hope you only use a debit card Jaunty. I can't see anyone accepting Jaunty cheques on that basis! (:o)

Of course a manifesto is not Holy Scripture - more 'false witness' - but a signature is binding - isn't it? More so if witnessed? Or does the Clegg Protocol (supported by Paddy as at #8) stand?

'There's a joke doing the rounds on Twitter these days. '

Ah, oldies but Goldies. Is that where Mr. Marr got his one (the one during his Sunday show, not the one he copied off Mr. Naughtie today) too? One understands that the feeds of certain carefully selected sources within the bubble is where most 'news' stories comes from. Might explain the awesome interview later in the day, when hearing what one wanted to hear rather put professional objectivity to one side.

At least we can rely on the professional humourists at the 麻豆社 ply the jokesters trade equally across all political hues... er... can't we?

Exits, stage... wear else... left.

SIR HUMPHREY STALKS THE LIBDEM LAND

Paddy Ashdown - has praised Nick Clegg's "bravery".

Sir Humphrey used 'courageous' but the meaning is the same - FOOLHARDY.

Is Paddy doing a DeGaulle?

"JULIAN ASSANGE HAS BEEN ISSUED WITH A WARRANT FOR HIS ARREST".

Who was that bloke? Julian Assange. Wasn't that the name on the warrant?

Doh!

Speaking of the 'news', any comment from, or about, the delightful Ms. Kuenssberg in the offing?

You know, to offer a woman's perspective?

Or are the girls planning their own tee-hee shock & awe? Maybe a wardrobe malfunction a la Janet Jackson?

My boys do need role models, and those footyballers just aren't cutting it on the 'well 'ard' front what with those cute scarves.

And if you can't rely on the 麻豆社, well, who can you rely upon?

CONFIRMATION OF PASSENGER BOOKINGS:

MR. SIMON HUGHES - A STANDARD FIVE SEATER LONDON TAXI TO CONVEY ENTIRE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT PARLIAMENTARY PARTY TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE NEXT PARLIAMENT AFTER THE GENERAL ELECTION.

(NB - if less than five passengers, a discount will be given.)

LIMOUSINE BOOKINGS:

LORD CLEGG OF VOLT FACE, TORY PEER TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS.
LORD CABLE OF BAY TRAY AL, TORY PEER TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS.

Remainder of Liberal Democrat ex-MPs to Dust Bin of His Tory.

indignantindegene (3)
"Perhaps LibDem MP Mike Hancock should himself be asked to prove the point on what essential qualifications his foreign parliamentary aide possessed that could not have been met by the employment of a Brit or European."
I've been diligently reading the new 2010 Equality Act, all 239 pages of it. It's enough to keep lots of people in the Public Sector exceptionally busy, so busy in fact that they surely won't have much time left to think about much else. This, and the Freedom of Information Act are sure to keep them on their toes, tied in knots, etc. That's one way to help private business, I guess? Who wants to go into public service anymore?


/news/business-11453052

ecolizzy (5)
"And there's the rub, what can we do about it? We are not even allowed to say what we think anymore, if you do you're obliterated. I don't like violence, but mass demonstration seems to be the only way any politician takes any notice of the voters. Pity it needs children to lead the way!"
Best of luck ecolizzy. You have my support, but don't hold out much hope.
I read the Adam Curtis piece on 'Nudge' (referenced in respect to Friday's NN piece). Like the NN section on Friday's programme, it left me gob-smacked, and I felt completed to comment. But as I did so, I felt a sense of futility, as if 麻豆社 journalists like Curtis get matters so fundamentally wrong, really, one has to ask, what is the point? Reality doesn't seem to matter much anymore, what they appear to be after is just a story.
If they can't tell the difference between fact and fiction anymore, it's a waste of time commenting.

Perhaps any Newsnight presenters prospectively covering the Cancun summit should bear the articles on this link in mind.

Ecolizzy.
Did you watch The 麻豆社-2 series "The American Dream"?
About 10-15 mins into part 2 there is a piece on Lt Col Alexander Jefferson US Air Force Retired. A Black pilot during WWII. What he says about how he was treated by the Germans once captured is worth noting, as is what he says about how he was treated back home after the war and before.
The fact that so few can add up the facts does not bode well.

Some while back the 鈥楾oday鈥� programme broadcast the - then - recently discovered earliest known recording of the human voice. Sadly, rather than it being an highly intellectual monologue it was more reminiscent of an electric sowing machine with a fluctuating power supply. Consequently the Broadcaster - normally ultra-professional - just couldn鈥檛 hack it and suffered a hysteria like fit of attempted - but failed - highly suppressed laughter and giggles. The entire episode is occasionally wheeled out as an example of just how 鈥榣ive鈥� broadcasts sometime just don鈥檛 follow the script. It just happens to be one of those 鈥榤oments鈥� where, even it if you鈥檝e heard it several times before, will still raise a smile.

So should it be with today鈥檚 鈥楾oday鈥� gaff!

Although that is - sadly - not likely to be the case!

The Presenter - name redacted to protect his well-earnt reputation - produced a spoonerism stroke slip of the tongue stroke parapraxism that will get the 鈥淒isgusted from Dagenham鈥� brigade 鈥榖oiling鈥� under the collar .... but ...... So what!

The team generally handled it well .... after the event!

The real 鈥榮hock鈥� of the episode was the way the presenter reacted upon realising that he had used a term that may well have originated from - perhaps explaining why the course still gets applicants? - Ancient Norse!

He - not entirely surprisingly - went to pieces!

A listener could easily have thought that he was - with razor blade hovering over his wrist - choking to death!

One could easily imagine the Presenter visualising his long career going down the pan under a barrage of - whilst guzzling the third bottle of champers of the day - ultra right-wing Bah-humbugs pontificating stroke spouting on about the Beeb鈥檚 irresponsible contribution to the moral collapse of society!

You have to feel sorry for the poor clod of earth!

Yet two good things come from the whole episode .....

The admirable solidarity shown by the presenter in the following programme (One cannot be entirely sure that the 鈥榮lip of the tongue鈥� from the Newscaster in the One O鈥檆lock corporation bulletin - no relation to the earlier 鈥榮ubject鈥� - was an episode of 鈥淚 am Spartacus!鈥� or a genuine Freudian slip!) and ....

The revelation that ..... Yes! ......

The Beeb actually does employ real people ....

Just like us!



Ironically C4 are now covering the story .....

Shock! Horror! Probe!

You won鈥檛 be able to catch it on the iPlayer!

But will it make Hansard?



It鈥檚 just a word!

Get over it!

Oops!

Maybe 鈥榦ne鈥� should read the 鈥榖lurb鈥� before 'posting' the 鈥榮weat sodden鈥� offering!

Apo鈥檚 due!!


Incidentally ... Not really .....

Where鈥檚 the item 鈥榯railed鈥� in today鈥檚 鈥淧M鈥� programme?


And .... Oh yes! ....

The Lib Dims current 鈥榯heory鈥� - beware it might change in the next few minutes! - is to 鈥榬un with it鈥� and hope that the electorate will 鈥榝orget鈥�!

If there is any justice - left - in the world only two words should apply ....

Fat chance!

Disappointed that Emily will not be interviewing Jeremy Hunt about the ongoing British Council/Education UK
scandal given the role played by Mr Hunt's firm Hotcourses in the development of this failing website that has
enjoyed 10 years of Whitehall protection and taxpayers' money being thrown at it without success. Now that
the organisation itself is admitting that this state-subsidised university course finder is flawed and is giving
refunds to subscribers, surely we need both a proper enquiry and for investigation of the political scandal. I
want to know, for example, why British Council managed to avoid Hunt's quango axe despite such failures?

If Hunt is not available, what about Gove at Education, Haig at FCO or Maude at The Cabinet Office -or any other four-letter Minister for that matter?

Allegedly by the man NN dare not get on their programme !

Pity Julian Assange. His defence should be "Please don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger." With all the big guns aimed at him, he needs as much help as he can get.
John de Ronde

On NN discussion tonight...

Olly Grender (Jewish)
Daniel Finkelstein (Jewish)
Peter Hymen (Jewish)
Emily Maitliss (Jewish)


All on NN talking about British politics. What are the chances of that on a maintstream UK political TV programme? It's the equivalent of four Chinese origin persons talking about the same subject! How odd would that look?


Also, all of them expressively talked 'with-their-hands'....did anyone elese notice that?.....it was very pronounced. Almost like a group emulation thing.

Bizarre!

What a crazy stunt, singing!!!! Hallelujah : )

THE ICEBERG PLOY (#22)

Remember the allowances 'revelations' at Westminster? Hurrah! WE got to know their guilty secrets - or did we? I think all we got was the tip of the iceberg. What is more, I get the same feeling about these Wikileaks. A big 'please don't throw me into the briar patch' fuss, to convince us WE REALLY ARE FINDING OUT STUFF. Meanwhile, the other nine-tenths of state skulduggery remain hidden, with everyone looking the wrong way.

why would arrest the assistant to the MP now? i thought followed such people so they would lead to fellow travellers?
obviously an enigma inside a puzzle

And as I'm in a musical mood I'm pleased Susan Philipsz won the Turner Prize. I don't usually like this type of "installation" or whatever, but having experienced one it's quite mystical, that, and I like Tim Buckley.





I'll get me coat!

the documents released by wikileaks this week are NOT high security risks. Even the new released documents showing what the US military community think are the sites with most 'US national security' ratings. They are assuredly well guarded, - and in the vast majority of cases, what they were and where they were was completely in the public domain; if somewhat hidden.

to put it bluntly, any militants who wanted to know any of this information wold already have known it.

the ACTUAL difference it makes is that these matters and places are now in the hands of *normal* citizens, who may be a little horrified, or just concerned. That is why Julian Assange is being hounded - not because they are afraid of Muslim suicide bombers, but more like normal people turning up, like the 'Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp'.

this scares 'the Powers that be'.

as for his supposed extradition, could there possibly BE more of a farce?? The Swedish Govt has surely just committed collective political insanity, and they will lose dramatically in the next election, i expect, alongside other issues. David Camoron will gain enormous political standing for standing up for free speech when he refuses the extradition, - and enormously more if he gives Julian Assange official 'refugee from political oppression' status, allowing him to work freely within the UK - as a temporary UK citizen, who can write and communicate as freely anyone.

or... we extradite him, *no-one* is surprised at the moral cowardice within this coalition Administration, and an opportunity with very little actual cost, and very much long-term gain, has flown by.

David: do the right thing?

to extradite Mr Assange, for what cold not POSSIBLY be more obviously political reasons with the US clearly behind this move from Interpol, for an alleged crime the Swedish judicial Authorities had swiftly debunked months ago, would be the final straw for many English and British voters already irritated by the cuts.

i guess it requires bravery whichever path PM Cameron chooses.

FOR BRAVERY LOOK NO FARTHER THAN CALAMITY CLEGG - SAYS POTTY PADDY (#35)

Relax Mork. Nick is THAT CLOSE to Dave - remember? Nick has courage to spare, so Dave will not flinch from his duty here.

Anyway - come on - how would the USA get even one woman to falsely testify against Assange, LET ALONE TWO? This isn't Hollywood - is it?

More failure from the thirteen years of Labour government



tab proved right again, dumbing down is the only thing we are good at here now. And no wonder the eastern block immigrants are employed before the british.

THE SYMPTOMS ARE VISIBLE, BUT HAVE WE THE RIGHT DIAGNOSIS? (#37)

Hi Lizzy. Tab was always so insistent that we humans simply react to stimuli, according to our programming. By my observation, Tab was programmed to diagnose our decline in terms of IQ and insidious intent ('by others'). but was he right?

Did Rome 'fall' because of a plot by 'others', dumbing their schooling?
I suggest that The Ape Confused by Language is simply not designed to cope with excessively complex life, as present in 'Roman times', and now. We just can't DO global, multicultural GROWTH-fixated, existence. Confronted with such, the cycle is one of accelerating 'advance' followed by collapse. (Why does the Tower of Babel come to mind?)

Different parts of the globe are always at different points in the cycle. Those untouched by our dis-ease, remain in stasis (e.g. in deep Amazon forest) those more recently 'contaminated', strive to catch up (the Poles still have a 'Victorian' work ethic). It should come as no surprise, that schooling is more effective in countries that are not as far down the pan as us - yet

With religions, I see the same picture. Ours has gone to mush, but the Muslims will need more time to achieve collapse, possibly because they started later? Even Judaism - uniquely configured to fend of dilution and decay - is on a downward slide. Tab might differ - or he might see the irony. (:o)

Or is it me?

wikileaks

the charge is sexual assault yet everyone talked about secrecy as if everyone accepted these were trumped up charges with the secrecy agenda behind them?

No Discussion about undercover Foreign Spies in British Life?

Too close to home?

Climate Cults

Climate Change meetings have to be in hot countries now to keep the fantasy alive? pretty hard to keep those fantasies alive if the meeting was in frozen Edinburgh?

Julien needs a Max Clifford...

Mindys_Housemate (34)
"the ACTUAL difference it makes is that these matters and places are now in the hands of *normal* citizens, who may be a little horrified, or just concerned. That is why Julian Assange is being hounded - not because they are afraid of Muslim suicide bombers, but more like normal people turning up, like the 'Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp'."
Or, looked at from another perspective, controlled release (leakage) of these essentially mundane data enables the US and allied governments to make more public their aim to control, i.e. censor the web on grounds of collective national security. That is, the military and civil laws against leaking any material by government employees are best tested and elaborated by releasing lots of material which whilst de facto innocuous is still de jure an illegal act.
Your points about the other political dimensions are well taken. Assange's arrest and extradition could just be a ploy to protect him from the big bad Americans and their allies of course. Not that his arrest itself will make much difference if the above is the agenda.
What surprises me more is that with so many students of the social sciences these days, it is most odd that very few seem to be keen to test what they observe against what should be expected by chance. This is so fundamental that I find this extremely odd that it isn't done given what should be obvious.. A few people have remarked upon this in these blogs, but very little seems to come from it.

barriesingleton (38)
"I suggest that The Ape Confused by Language is simply not designed to cope with excessively complex life, as present in'Roman times', and now."
I'm speculating, but perhaps Tab would just say you've translated something which you've only partially understood (researched?) into your own words, and then confused what you think, with what you haven't fully understood (researched)?
Forgive me, but to me, you seem to be saying much the same thing, but in more vague (i.e your own prosaic) words.
As I see it, it's much the same phenomenon with that 'Nudge' material which was shown on Newsnight on Friday night. The author there (who seemed rather pleased to be noticed) essentially seems to have expropriated the work of other groups of researchers in Behavioural Economics, translated it into more popular, acceptable, "Paternalistic Libertarian" language, and staked a claim for originality. It's a most odd way to go about being original, but has become very popular in our times. Do they even know they are doing it I ask?
More oddly, we now seem to teach such behaviour in our schools - put it into your own words they are told (their own words being taught in another subject area no doubt?), and we then decry the same behaviour (as plagiarism) too. We clearly live in very mixed up, and very confusing times.
So, it's something to do with being apes and something to do with language no doubt, but what, precisely? Perhaps you'd care to translate after doing some research? There may be a prize in it, although, not everyone goes for prizes, although it has become endemic in our fame and blame based culture. Isn't that how one treats children?
/news/world-11879731.

DebtJuggler (29)
"All on NN talking about British politics. What are the chances of that on a maintstream UK political TV programme? It's the equivalent of four Chinese origin persons talking about the same subject! How odd would that look?"
Is that true of Olly?
Still, the statistics are indeed remarkable, especially given the many other guests and issues covered by the programme these days. It's the sort of thing which one might have thought would violate enough expectations to demand rational explanation.
One the other hand, maybe someone is just pulling all our legs? Maybe this is a big national wind-up? Maybe it's done to annoy the Iranians or invite terrorist attacks etc surely?

AND TO HELL WITH BURGUNDY (#43)

You are freely forgiven C de B. But to forgive, sadly, is not to understand. Your syntax, as ever, have a strange quality, such that: just as I think I am following the sense, it veers off. Do you re-read what you write, from the recipient's - perhaps limited - standpoint?

I get the impression that you are not taken with the conclusions I have drawn from a life of observation and deduction? You seem to feel I should have spent more time being told what to think by others. This would only be worthwhile if the 'others' had observed and deduced to a higher standard than I; but what yardstick do I use for such comparison? Theirs?

The link did not connect.

barriesingleton (44)
"Your syntax, as ever, have a strange quality, such that: just as I think I am following the sense, it veers off. Do you re-read what you write, from the recipient's - perhaps limited - standpoint? "
I do indeed - but I write in order to make others think a little differently to how I imagine they naturally think. How most people naturally think tends to hide much from them in my experience, and accounts for much effective deception.
"I get the impression that you are not taken with the conclusions I have drawn from a life of observation and deduction? You seem to feel I should have spent more time being told what to think by others."
Indeed What would be the point of communication if that were not so?
"This would only be worthwhile if the 'others' had observed and deduced to a higher standard than I; but what yardstick do I use for such comparison? Theirs?"
The cost is effort, but even the oldest and ablest of us never live long enough to absorb all that's known and documented.
"The link did not connect."
Remove the full stop (and forward slash) at the end of the link.

"The link did not connect."
Education can only do so much.