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Name 10 Books That Have Stayed With You In Some Way

29/8/2014

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I have been challenged to list ten books that have stayed with me over the years. They do not have to be the most important books I ever read, just ten books that I would say have have been firm favourites that I return to over the years.

I am posting this here as something a bit lighter than my usual doom and gloom world events type posts, hey its not my fault, the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

Anyway I was challenged to this by one Pete Sutton who edits some of my fiction and enjoys torturing writers.

In no particular order, just as they came to mind.
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The Dumarest Saga. 

This is the series of books that got me started with reading Sci Fi and set my love for the sort of Sci Fi games that I love, games like Traveller. Star wars is OK but at heart I am a Traveller and that came from this series of books when I was a very young reader.

A man lost in a universe of worlds both marvellously advanced and horribly primitive, trying to return home to a place everyone else does not believe exists.




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The Triffids. 

Another early starter that shaped my love of stories, horror and adventure. Before the rise of the zombie holocaust it was killer plants. Humanity bought low by the contents of their gardens.

The very epitome of Natures revenge against mankind. Plus walking killer plants and the ragged survivors having to flee again and again from man eating vegetables.

With Zombies who can see the dead walking, the fallen rise against the living. But with the Triffids humans were food, the plants were not hunting us because of any emotion, they were being driven as most zombies of the time were by radiation or infection.

The plants were hunting humans, just because we were food to them. As a youngster I found that frightening, the utter indifference of the Triffid that could grow in your flower bed and then walk across the garden to eat you.


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At the mountains of madness. 

Another formative book, there may be a pattern forming here. All the books I loved as a child entering the world of reading books are basicly strange, wierd, insane or end of the world. Still I can honestly say my early reading had absolutely no effect on how I turned out. Honest!

Lovecraft. Madness. The understanding that reality is an optional extra. Things beyond our understanding, things that would drive us mad if we understood them.

In a way the perfect fiction for the time as science raced ahead and people were left far behind, darkness and despair everywhere unless you are blind to the real world.



"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn"



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The Deeds of Paksenarrion. 

I first read this when it was a trilogy, Sheepfarmer's Daughter, Divided Allegiance and Oath of Gold. Fantasy both high and low, a Hero drawn from the most humble ranks who rises to greatness, shapes kingdoms and brings light to the darkness.

This story could have been an epic D&D campaign including as it did the formative years of Paks who escaped an arranged marriage on the sheep farm then as a mercenary, adventure and finally paladin adventured and quested across the world.

I go back and read these every couple of years. Not my earliest fantasy but a story that, to me, is the sort of fantasy I love.




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Red Storm Rising. 

From the 80s and a tale of the cold war that could have been. Very much biased towards the US but it is the way in which war happens in slow steady steps that inevitably lead to confrontation.

The inevitability of war based on leaders doing things they thought they could control resonated with me and still does to this day as I see the same mistakes made again and again leading to the same results every time.

Not a deep book but an old favourite and one I return to often.







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The Forever War

The ultimate futility of war and its effect on those who fight it. The soldiers who go to war and return to find their great grandchildren going out to fight in the next war.

A good concept and mix of science, human story and action.

Another that has stayed with me.







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Lord of the Rings

What, it’s the Lord of the Rings. The books not the movies.

Epic fantasy, mighty heroes, courage and strength in the weakest of people, a dark and terrible enemy, a campaign across the varied realms of the world. A rich tapestry of kings and kingdoms and cities and caves.

What more is there to say. I have multiple versions of the books in boxes or on shelves, some to read once a year, others to collect and keep safe.

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The Tar-Aiym Krang

First book I ever read by this writer but it led to every other book he has written, classic adventure Sci Fi and following the standard rise to power of the young hero selected by fate or destiny.

Easy to read and get into, fairly plausible science. While I don’t read these frequently I do return to them every few years and start with the very first then go through the entire series in a book a night until I am done. With such a long series doing this keeps each story fresh for the next.



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Mindstar rising

Another dark future novel where the hero isn’t really a hero. A ex soldier, mercenary and revolutionary struggling to survive in a near future dystopia. Gritty, dark and rough. An all too believable world where life is cheap and hope is a dream.

Over the three books of the set the hero comes into contact with, works for and befriends a girl who rises to become one of the most powerful business leaders of Britain and in the process works to protect friends and family and fight for what is important.

I return to this series every few years. 






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Magician

Much as several of my friends discovered this author by reading this book, so did I. This book was a doorway that lead me to the rest of his novels and stories over the years.

Good traditional fantasy, swinging swords, flashing spells, dark threats and rousing victories. With a variety if characters across the books. A good book which led to many others.




Not a deep and psychological assessment of my life as determined by my reading habits. Just a simple list of books that have stayed with me over the years, books that I remember fondly and most that I go back to again and again for a good read.














































































































































































































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Peace For Our Time. Again.

29/8/2014

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As I write this it is 29th August, a month and a day from the signing of a historic agreement that, in hindsight, demonstrated the weakness of the West and set the stage for a death and destruction on a scale never seen before.

Now as I look at the sudden change of events in the Ukraine I am reminded of that day so long ago, of the weakness and utter failure to understand events and of the desire to avoid confrontation among the powers that lead to the signing of that agreement. Britain’s prime minister was then able to stand on the tarmac beside his aircraft and wave that piece of paper in the air and speak those historic words. And we all know what happened next.

In the space of a few days the situation in the Ukraine has turned upside down and as a result we are now seeing that the leaders of the West are, in fact, not in control or that Russia is not a toothless old bear. I have said this before in my posts on the Ukraine that the West is deliberately provoking Russia while acting as if the old bear is powerless and will just sit there and accept the beating. The economic sanctions were just a way of punishing Russia for daring to not lie there and accept the blows.


Now we have a burst of stories that are, I believe, the signs that the whole mess has finally moved out of the control of the Idiots who lead the west and is now moving of its own momentum. Nato and the west are powerless to do anything, I covered why in detail here. Start reading after the picture of the Russian soldiers at a MacDonald s towards the bottom. 

Firstly reports that Russia has in fact, deployed its military into the Ukraine. Now we have been hearing reports about Russian troops and vehicles in the Ukraine for weeks, Kiev was saying it had smashed a Russian tank column just days ago. NATO and western leaders have been condemning these mini invasions by Russia. But there has not been a shred of proof. So many reports, so many accusations. If every claim by Kiev was true there would be tens of thousands of Russian Troops in the Ukraine.

Now we suddenly have NATO satellite pictures as proof, now we have evidence. To my mind this means we are finally seeing a real deployment of Russian troops. All the previous claims and accusations have been lies designed to ramp up the pressure against Russia and to make the western case for intervention.

So when Putin finally acts and really does what he has been accused of so often the west is faced with the reality of their previous lies. Satellite pictures, Russian tanks on the ground. And they are afraid, really afraid, because the game is now real and they are NOT in control any more.


Next we have news coming out now that the Separatists have agreed to open a corridor through areas they control to allow Kiev loyalist soldiers to retreat, these soldiers would seem to have been isolated and surrounded and are now facing defeat and death. So the separatists have kindly agreed to allow them to leave, no doubt without weapons or armoured vehicles and I suspect the separatists will have huge grins on their faces.

This tells me that where Kiev was attacking and surrounding the separatist areas they are no longer the ones doing so. Now it is Kiev that faces its troops being besieged. That the separatists are willing to allow the troops to withdraw rather than be killed or taken prisoner tells me that Propaganda and Soft Power is being used carefully and well.

The separatists can say to the world that they are civilised, that they allow Kievs troops to retreat whereas it is Kiev that is bombing its own cities, destroying schools and making its own people homeless, hungry refugees.


Next The second front we are hearing about. Given the news above it is clearly working well if it is already forcing Kiev units to retreat or surrender. But it is where this second front is happening that is interesting. As I mentioned yesterday it is in the south, along the coast and pushing west which takes it away from separatist controlled areas. As some of the talking heads are beginning to notice, this Russian thrust is not best positioned to link up with the separatists in Donetsk but is acting as if it is heading for the Crimean peninsula.


Finally the way that western leaders are talking has changed. Suddenly they are not talking about Invasions, they are talking about incursions. Big difference. All the previous rhetoric about harsh punishments for Russia invading the Ukraine is gone. Now the word being used is ‘incursion’, after all an invasion is something big and serious, the sort of thing people would have to pay attention to. An incursion is a diplomatic thing, sorry our maps are not good, we wandered a few hundred miles into your country.

Another clear sign is the Russian Representative in the UN mocking the west, because it is clear that the west, for all its strong words, can do nothing. Nato and the West have played with this situation for months, using it to serve their own aims. Well now ‘them birds have come home to roost boys’ and suddenly the bird shit is falling on Obama and Cameron and the rest.


This bit is picture heavy but I’m trying to explain things which could happen so please bear with me. Also I don't have access to any decent software here so its paint for drawing on the maps. 
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Firstly let us look at what is approximately the regions controlled by or contested by the separatists.

It is primarily the main cities of Luhansk and Donetsk with towns and smaller cities either being fought over or claimed by one side or the other.







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Now look at the same map.

The red to the south is the so called second front, the push that apparently consists of Russian troops and tanks alongside the separatist forces.

As of last night its not a huge land grab but look at where it is going, not towards the separatist region.

Also look at the blue  circle. This is nominally under the control of Kiev but it is looking like a box with the separatists and Russians almost surrounding it.

As of yet I haven't seen a confirmation of where the 7,000+ Kiev soldiers are being allowed to retreat from other than it may be to the south, but if it is from the blue area or close by this would mean that Kiev is effectively abandoning this whole region. 

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Now it comes down to what Russia is doing.

If this is a push to relieve pressure on the separatists there is little need for them to keep going down the coast.

On the other hand if this second front keeps going along the coast following the road to the Crimean peninsula then that thin strip in the picture above becomes far behind the lines and a new boundary is suggested, in order to avoid being trapped in a salient Kiev would need to withdraw west of the blue line.

Given reports that the separatists are allowing disarmed Kiev troops to retreat from the south this may already be happening.

This opens Donetsk and large separatist areas to uncontested control by the separatists.



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Looking at the larger area the region in blue is roughly the separatist area.

If Russia is intending to establish a land bridge to the Crimean peninsula they would need to occupy the red area.

Take it over by military force OR be given in by treaty and agreement.





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Now given that Kiev is already pulling its troops out of the areas where they are being surrounded a Russian land corridor would mean that the region shown here in blue would be either Russian or pro Russian. 

Much of the Donetsk region, most of the Frackable gas, the industrial areas and much of the Russian speaking population either there or able to move given that many thousands of them are now refugees from the fighting.

The area may well be larger that this, to include the north of the basin and its Russian speakers as well.




That's the end of the maps and my poor paint program.
Now in a day or so the Russians and separatists seem to have captured the red area in the first picture.


If Kiev continues to retreat then the red area of the second picture will be a few days more, particularly if the Ukrainian army is surrendering and abandoning weapons and vehicles which can then be used by the separatists/

Without serious resistance the road to the Crimea would take perhaps two weeks, much longer if they meet serious resistance, but then the Russians don't need to actually fight all the way to the peninsula. they just need to demonstrate they have the will and the might to do so.

Which brings me to 'Peace for our Time'.


In the early hours of the 30th of September 1938 an agreement was signed turning the Sudetenland over to Germany. The German claim was that the inhabitants were German speakers and German citizens and this gave German the right to claim the land. Czechoslovakia was carved up by the powers of the day and told if it wanted to refuse the agreement it would be left to fight alone.

So The Czech nation was carved up and there was no outbreak of war that Britain, France and the US could not fight. 'Peace for our Time'.


This morning we are hearing incursion NOT invasion, we are hearing talk of consequences that are if anything more mild that we have been hearing over the last few weeks. Russia has actually done what it has been accused of doing for months, sending troops and tanks into the Ukraine.

Now, suddenly, our leaders are forced to realise they do not control the situation, Russia is not a toothless old bear and they, NATO, the US, the UK and the rest, are a very long way away. All the threats are empty, those troops cuts that have carved such chunks out of Britain's armed forces now look like suicidal stupidity.

Putin is a nasty piece of work but rather than face him from a position of strength the leaders of the western world, our leaders, have played a game which they thought they controlled. Putin is a master of Soft Power as he has demonstrated time and again making western leaders look like fools in the process. Now he is demonstrating that he also wields Hard Power with the same skill.


So where are we heading. If Kiev continues to withdraw from a battle it cannot win and Russia continues to advance confident that NATO cannot and will not directly oppose them we are looking at meetings and agreements and treaties. A peace deal to stop the fighting, the Ukraine carved up like a turkey with Kiev either being abandoned or forced to comply.

The West cannot fight, will not fight. Not for the Ukraine. So there will be talk, behind the scenes and then publicly. Russia will get what it wants and the West will be left powerless on the sidelines. The EU WILL NOT fight Russia regardless of US pressure. The EU is too tightly connected to its huge neighbour. Western power in the 21st century is a tiny fraction of what it once was and the EU leaders are fully aware of this fact. 

At some point the leaders of the EU may accept this fact, the leaders of the UK may accept this fact and we may start looking to trade and deal with people as our own nation not a state of the Federal weakness of Europe. But until they start acting like this the West will continue to play these hugely dangerous games putting all of us at risk, it is now down to Russia to stop attacking or to take what it wants and not drive to Kiev or the polish border. Having pushed and provoked to create this situation. Europe not going to war is now dependent on Putin being sensible. Oh how we live in truly strange times.


So it is now looking like Russia will be appeased, the Ukraine will be carved up and once again we will have 'Peace for our Time'.



We all know how well that worked the last time.





Update. As of publishing this blog I am now seeing a subtle change of words, comments that Putin is not sane and that NATO membership for the Ukraine is not being discussed. More signs of covering up weakness, more signs that would lead to a negotiated peace and appeasement.


























































































































































































































































































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The Russians are Invading. NATO Will Save Us Because NATO Are The Good Guys. Right?

28/8/2014

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Reports are in the news today of an attack launched by the separatists in the South Eastern Ukraine. They are reported to have taken the town of Novoazovsk and to either be attacking or to have captured the port city of Mariupol. They are also reported to be controlling a swath of land from the coast  inland and may in fact now control much of the South east of the Donetsk region.

Kiev loyalist forces are reported to have run away, that is withdrawn, when they came under attack leaving the separatists to take over the area. This region has, prior to now, been spared much of the fighting as Kiev has been concentrating its attacks on the main separatist areas and the cities to the north.

If they have taken the port the separatists will be about a quarter of the way towards establishing a land link between the Crimea and Russia which would allow then to then push north and break the siege of Donetsk at the same time as giving Putin a much needed land supply route to the Crimea.


Kiev is today screaming that they are facing a full blown invasion. Given that the Kiev regime have been screaming this for weeks and have failed to provide a shred of proof I will wait till we have some evidence but if it hasn't happened yet it will soon.

Kiev and by extension the EU are deliberately provoking this situation, on the day that the Kiev and Russian leaders met to discuss ending the fighting Kiev was busy bombing civilian areas in the separatist region. Pictures of destroyed schools and houses may not be filling our front pages but you can bet Russian speaking school children having their schools destroyed by Kiev IS making the front pages across the borders.

Rather than acting to defuse the situation this is in fact making a full blown intervention by Russia more likely, we are looking at a multinational war and one that could very quickly become a NATO / Russia one as our tanks face their tanks across the polish border.



Are Russian military units directly involved now, I don’t know. I will wait for evidence and frankly one picture of a T72 model that has not been exported outside of Russia is not proof, a few regiments of such tanks is clear proof but by then it will be too late





The separatists have been heavily reinforced, fresh and rested troops, new volunteers trained over the border or close to the border in separatist areas. The force that is rolling up the coast almost certainly was hiding somewhere on or over the Russia border. But as to a full blown deployment of Russia, that hasn’t happened yet. But it will happen and probably soon.


The Russians say they have not officially sent troops may well be right, a serious Russian intervention would be a few divisions and Kiev would not be screaming, they would be on the first flight to Europe with suitcases full of cash. 

Is this the same sort of situation as Obama and Cameron saying their are no boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria because special forces don't count?

The separatists say it is large numbers of volunteers who arrived with some equipment or vehicles, in the west this would be unlikely but Russia with its long history of conscription has millions of ex soldiers and given the reputation the Russia army has for, ahem, misplacing military equipment that ends up being sold elsewhere, the fact that the closest Russian forces may have let a few armoured vehicles wander off is fairly likely.

Or this may be a limited operation by Putin to outflank the ring of Kiev forces closing in on the separatists with a mechanized regiment or a reinforced battalion sized force supporting the separatists, or a land grab to establish a road to the Crimea, or it may just be a whole load of soldiers who are fed up of standing by while they receive daily reports of Russian citizens being bombed and shelled and shot.

What is it Israel calls it when they launch attacks against rebels and hit schools or hospitals instead, oh yes, precision attacks. Well Kiev seems to be using a lot of them but while Gaza was all over our media the cities in the east seem to be ignored.

Is it any wonder that ethnic Russians are flocking to fight with the separatists when what they see as Ethnic cleansing is going on.

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The thing is that as Kiev and the West continue to launch attacks on the civilian population of the Russian speaking east and continue to launch what the Russia people are told are unwarranted attacks on the Russian economy the pressure on Putin to act grows and grows.


Not in the form of force but in a way that he is more affected by. His reputation and image as hard man and forceful leader will be questioned if he stands back and does nothing for much longer. 

All it will take is a trigger event; pictures of the bodies of dead Russian children being carried out of a school destroyed by Kiev will do it.




At that point Putin's own propaganda will have reached the point where the demands for action will become self sustaining and Putin will either have to run to keep up with the tide of opinion OR hold back and risk his reputation and therefore weaken his control a little. I don’t see him thinking too long over that one given that he already has what amounts to several mechanised divisions close enough to the border with Ukraine to be rolling in hours.

I can see this, I doubt that NATO and the leaders of the west cannot see the same and yet they keep pushing, keep provoking. They keep prodding the bear in its cave.


The EU could stop much of the fighting overnight by pulling back the Kiev army and stopping the bombardment of civilian areas, cities, schools and people’s homes. Right now the Kiev government is being paid for by multibillion Dollar / Euro loans. Want to stop the fighting, threaten to shut down the country by stopping the money. Force the Kiev army back into defensive mode and then try that old thing called diplomacy again.

If the separatists attack the Kiev forces then there is fighting but pulling back and stopping the shelling and the bombing and stopping the huge refugee crisis from growing in size and area while at least trying to talk cannot be a bad thing.

Instead I am seeing reports now that NATO is planning for and calling for the finances to set up large high capacity military bases in the east to ‘allow force projection into the affected area to enable a robust response to Russian expansionism’.

In English that means bases in the east of Poland that would place the entirety of the Ukraine right up to the Russian border in range of NATO military strikes. I can just see that one helping to defuse the situation in Russia



Putin is still winning this, in many ways his position is being made stronger by the fact that he is almost single handily standing against the Western World’s assault on Russia and its people.

The Ukraine as the birthplace of the Rus people has a strong historic and cultural image to the ethnic Russian population, by repeatedly attacking that region, by threatening it and by directly attacking the Russian economy and by extension the Russia people for daring to object to a civil war in that area the west is strengthening anti western feeling.

Putin’s hold on power is being made stronger because his people see him as standing against the threat of the west and NATO. Once again we see the rallying cries of the last century, ‘The Russians Are Coming’ and ‘The Fascists Are Coming’. Each side moving its military and economic power in response to the other side’s movements that are in response to the last movement by the first side.

A self sustaining spiral that leads to inevitable direct confrontation.


Putin is a power hungry Tyrannical show off and no friend of democracy or human rights, but the sad thing in this situation is that he is NOT the worst bad guy in this whole situation.

How sad is that. Men women and children are dying and just like British politics we are reduced to deciding who is the least guilty of the death and destruction. Take a bow Obama and the EU, you are as guilty or more guilty of this and yet you continue to throw petrol on the raging fire that is the Ukrainian civil war.

Just who exactly is trying to stop the fighting, I mean really doing everything the can to bring peace, not sound bites, not empty gestures, who is actually using their every resource to stop the fighting.

I cannot see anyone on either side.

It does not matter who wins this civil war. The damage has been done. The hatred will last for a generation or more. It will not matter that the separatist movement started it, the Kiev government has spent weeks bombing their own people and their own cities.

The fallout from this will make the sectarian hatred in somewhere like Northern Ireland look like an argument over the cakes at a teddy bear picnic.

You cannot roll over your own people and bomb your own cities and expect people to forgive and forget. This is a full blown civil war and the Kiev regime is doing as much as it possibly can to stoke the hatred in the region. This has long since turned into a Russian speaking verses western leaning war and as they work to marginalise anyone who fits into the other camp they simply stoke the fires of anger and make response from across the border more likely.


Hello children, sorry we blew up your school when we bombed your city and made you all homeless and hungry. But don’t worry, those nice people at the IMF and the EU have provided money so we can rebuild your school and homes and all they want in return is to be repaid with interest, oh and control of our economy, the overthrow of our democratic process as they assign us leaders rather than let us vote for them, oh and they want our gas at a very reasonable price drilled up by Eu companies and no environmental objections from us.

Are we not lucky to have such good friends owning our country now.



This is not going to be easily forgotten by those on either side, the fact that pro western Militias from the western Ukraine are fighting the pro Russian forces in the east of that ex nation simply makes the whole situation worse. Such bloody hatred is not forgotten or forgiven overnight or even over a few years.

Is Kiev going to maintain order in the Russian speaking east as a police state for the next few decades, are we going to see a new terrorist campaign begin as people find themselves part of a nation that beat them in a civil war and now rules them.

Violence will not end the fighting, at best it will create the hatred and fear and anger that will erupt again in a year or two as the region again rises against the Tyrannts who bombed their cities. At worst it will continue to escalate until the whole of Europe is involved.


Is there anyone trying to stop this before it escalates to the point where it cannot be stopped?



Anyone listening, anyone out there?
































































































































































































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When You Count the Victims By the Thousands, Just Who is To Blame?

27/8/2014

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Apologies in advance, I just got in from a crap day and I am faced with Rotherham. There is some swearing later in this article. Nothing fancy in this post, this is a rant to get it off my chest.



I’m sure you have all heard about the truly appalling situation that took place in Rotherham. So many victims, so many years. Yet no one is to blame. No one is at fault. No one is accountable

How does this come to pass, how is it that hundreds of social services, police, council members and others turned a blind eye to this year after year after year.

Normally I try to let people form their own opinions, today I’m going to give you mine.

Where does the blame for this lie, who is guilty. We are, we as a nation are. Every man and woman who continues to sut quietly and turn a blind eye to corruption, abuse, bribery, criminal act after criminal act and more. Every one of us who says its just political correctness, shrug and walk away. Every one of us who stands back and lets our politicians drag the entire nation, our entire society from the Britain of my childhood into the stinking morass that it is today.


A nation where the political leadership is honest, fair and just, where the leaders and people in power hold to honour and integrity, where those in authority are worthy of the power they are entrusted with, such a nation is very unlikely to become corrupt.

Any sign of corruption, of abuse, of social destruction, these would be noticed and stopped. Because those in power are not like that and do not want to let things like that happen.

But in a nation where it is the politicians who are corrupt and lack honour, where it is the leaders who are the criminals, where those in power are the abusers, such a nation with inevitably become corrupt and cruel as those who lead provide an example and not only prevent corruption lower down but actually encourage it.

Many in the press and the media are loudly demanding people be punished and individuals are busy proclaiming how it was not their fault, it was the system. A systemic failure. But where does the system come from, who impose it upon us.


That would be our leaders, our politicians.


Can anyone honestly blame a social services oik for refusing to investigate a report from a twelve year old that she is being raped by grown men on a regular basis when the that person will be punished more for highlighting a Pakistani or a Muslim for such an act than the rapist would be punished for committing the act.

The police, the social services, children’s support groups. All received reports, all were contacted and asked for help. They all passed these reports up. And this is where the wall stood.

The wall that block all investigations where the abuser was a minority or a politician or went to the right school or knew the right people. The wall that existed AND STILL EXISTS across our society today. The wall that our leaders and politicians continue to maintain, protecting their own regardless of the consequences to the victims.

Where did the abomination that is political correctness come from, where did diversity and multi culturalism come from. Where did our society get the idea, no not the idea, the official enforcement, of the situation where a persons ethic background, culture or skin colour made then immune to British law and cultural standards.

Where did we get to the point where the very laws that exist to protect us cease to apply if the aggressor is protected by some political view or another.


The clue is in the Title. POLITICAL correctness.


No one dared to speak because the rapists were Pakistani, no one dared to investigate because the terrorists were Muslim, no one dared to enforce the law because the abusers were Politicians and MPS.

No one dared to challenge Cyril Smith because he was a powerful MP, no one dared to speak out against senior politicians who were members of an organisation called The Paedophile Information Exchange, many MPs and politicians actively covered up the mass abuse of young boys and girls by MPs just because the abusers were MPS. Any attempt to investigate this organisation and its membership is denied and blocked by senior MPs on all sides because many of them were guilty or associated with them.


Is it any wonder that Rotherham turned a blind eye. How many other councils have done the same. What do they do, who do they go to, social services and police managers see that their leaders and the politicians themselves are doing exactly the same thing or covering up for colleagues who are doing it. So how can we expect those managers to act when they would be going against the very government and political structure. There is no higher authority to appeal to when the MPS in your own government are covering up the abuse carried out by MPS.

The names of celebrities who behaved inappropriately decades ago and are now being tried and punished are in the news frequently. Where are the names of the politicians who are guilty of the same crimes, where are the arrests, where are the trials. A number of high profile celebrities are accused and punished in the full light of the media, a number of MPS and retired ministers are accused and the whole thing is silenced.


The corruption starts at the top and works its way down.


When people ask why young British men join terrorist organisations to fight what they see as corruption and tyranny we are asked why the cast aside British values. What British values. Our political leaders are amongst the most corrupt and criminal in our society, they enforce policies where  it is actually wrong to try and encourage people living here to adopt British values and become part of the British culture.

Come from some third world shit hole where abuse and crime is rampant and human rights are a joke, hey, continue to act that way here because no one will stop you, you are an ethnic minority.

Fair play, honesty, what quaint old fashioned ideas, our politicians don’t bother with that sort of thing anymore so those who do still follow those old British ideas are a steadily shrinking group.

People rightly want this to be resolved and to not happen again.


BLOODY RIGHT.


But to prevent this from repeating endlessly we need to deal with the cause and not the side effects, We need to deal with the people who are truly creating the attitude that says turning a blind eye is acceptable, we need to deal with the people who have imposed political correctness on us and who have worked so hard to make corruption, greed, dishonesty and every form of crime so acceptable.

If we want to stop this happening again the first people we need to haul before the spot lights, drag into the courts, try and if found guilty drop into the darkest, most unpleasant prison in the land, are the politicians who are guilty of the same crimes and the politicians who are guilty of actively covering up such crimes.

The system is at fault, so we need to fix the system, not with tweaks and with sound bikes and a bunch of American business speak changes to policy.

We need to shake up the whole thing.

You cannot treat a victim for poison while the snake is still biting him, in the case of our society that victim is us and the snake is far too many of our politicians.


Want to stop this happening again, put the fear of honest investigation, honest trial and honest punishment into the black hearts of the corrupt, self serving and abusive bastards that are our politicians.




Only once our leaders are honest and fair can we prevent this from happening again.

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How long Till ISIS / IS Have an Air Force to go With Their Battalions of Tanks, Armoured Vehicles and Artillery.

25/8/2014

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Tabqa Air Force Base, Syria.

Overrun by IS forces.









Image stolen from the Daily Mail.





In Syria another military position held by the army has now been overrun by the forces of ISIS / IS. This was the last of the big military bases in the region and had been surrounded and under attack for some time.

Casualty reports vary but hundreds seem to have died on both sides. The army withdrew as many of its soldiers as possible, the rest died or deserted, though since IS are taking few prisoners they mostly died.

In the confusion the soldiers do not seem to have done anything to deny the facilities of the base to IS, as a result the Islamic State now has control not only of a functioning airfield and military base but has also their hands on significant quantities of munitions, fuel and stores. Not to mention yet more tanks and armoured vehicles that will be used against the Assad forces, the Iraqi forces and the Kurds.


This is not the first base to fall and I doubt it will be the last, Assad is slowly losing ground in this war, in fact it is only through the support of nations like Iran and Russia that he is still going.

A year and more ago the west was drawing up plans to overthrow Assad by bombing his forces and allowing the rebels to win. Oh how a year has changed events. Now we are facing a situation where Assad falling will be a significant disaster for the region.

Apart from the inevitable slaughter that will happen when the defenceless Shia and Alawite populations (and Christians) end up at the mercy of IS fanatics and murderers, we will have the situation where IS will gain additional resources, more looted weapons and vehicles, and worst of all they will have defeated a hated enemy, conquered his country and will draw new and fanatical recruits to their ranks by the tens of thousands.


Tabqa base in eastern Syria has been mostly or completely overrun, completing IS control of the entire region and giving them another base with which they can stage attacks against the remaining Assad strongholds.

Not to mention more Russian built tanks that can be used to supplement the significant numbers of US built armoured vehicles that are being used to fight Iraqi and Kurdish fighters in Iraq.

Another squadron of Russian aircraft has been added to the IS military.

In fact I am a little surprised the IS is not using these aircraft by now, they have three or four squadrons of MIG 21 aircraft by now along with several squadrons of Mi8 transport helicopters that can be used as gunships. All of these are fairly standard in many Middle Eastern and European nations, they are designed to be rugged and easy to repair, after all they were designed for Soviet era conscripts to use and maintain.

IS has no shortage of funds to buy spare parts, they have vast quantities of fuel. The only thing they realistically lack is pilots. But given that there are a number of nations with air forces who fly these aircraft I find it a little odd they have not managed to recruit a few defecting pilots.

Or perhaps they are training pilots, after all IS is only a few months old at this point and is functioning as a well organised terror state in many other ways. Given their use of propaganda and technology they are well organised somewhere behind the scenes, the lack of air power given the number of aircraft and helicopters is odd but may be something that will change in the future.


The US is currently trying to provide missiles for the Kurds and Iraqis, the UK and France are also providing more conventional weapons. But as soon as the first IS air strike happens the cries for weapons will become strident screams.

Will the West hand over ground to air weapons in the same way that they did to the Taliban for use against Soviet helicopters, and then have to chase them down as some were sold to terrorist groups outside of Afghanistan?

Will the US or the UN or NATO try to establish some form of no fly zone to prevent IS from using its squadrons of aircraft and helicopters. This would require an extensive logistics operation, military airfields close by and active cooperation with Assad. The Syrian air defences are Russian, fairly modern and would pose a threat to any western aircraft launching operations against IS.

The US is not going to be happy to send bombing raids after IS forces only to have them fired at or shot down by Assads missiles. But unless the West steps in IS are going to develop an air force at some point and that will change the situation yet again.


Oh one more thing. Military Airfields, western or Russian, tend to be well guarded against attacks and the most likely type of attack an airbase is subject to is from the air. They tend to be behind the fighting, away from ground warfare and therefore only reachable by enemy air attack. So they come with extensive ground to air defences.

Tabqa base will be no different. No one is saying exactly what was captured when the base was overrun but I suspect that it will have included air defence units, both cannon, machine guns and missiles along with those reported extensive stocks of ammunition.

Those US bombing runs that are helping to hold IS forces in place may get a bit more dangerous in about a weeks’ time as IS is able to bring these anti aircraft weapons on line and move them into Iraq.

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Again these are Russian built systems, tough, easy to use, easy to learn and trained crewmen are all across the middle east so IS should have no difficulty with finding people who have joined them and can train others how to shoot down aircraft.

They may not be as technologically advanced as most Western systems, but they are still frighteningly effective, after all Turkey used NATO standards and Syria still shot one of their aircraft down.


If the US slows its airstrikes over concern for ground based anti aircraft attacks IS will resume its advances, at present the only thing that has enabled the Kurds to hold or to make limited counterattacks is the airstrikes and the massive confidence boost that the US is now helping them. 

If the airstrikes stop, or worse IS move more of those captured tanks into Iraq the Kurds are unlikely to hold. They may be motivated and willing to fight but they are significantly out equipped in this war.

Reports of Kurdish fighters having to buy their own ammunition do nothing to dispel the gloom over the difference between the two forces.


What happens next?


Well the situation is slowly getting worse. Not just in military terms but in the far more damaging areas of perception and reputation.

The west has demonstrating again and again that it is happy to meddle and overthrow governments here and dictators there but the massive deployments of force we saw crushing Saddam are a thing of the past.

This is seen and understood.


The west may create chaos but it is very reluctant to clean up its own mess afterwards. Groups that thrive in this chaos can rise to prominence with little fear of opposition from the west which is war weary, fed up of its own warmongering political class and increasingly looking at budgets and costs to limit involvements.

The west always seems to find the money to bomb some government out of existence but helping to establish a stable and peaceful nation afterwards, nope.

So the likes of IS are able to thrive and grow, Each victory increases their reputation and brings more recruits and more support. They are getting rich by selling Syrian and Iraqi oil to middle men who promptly sell the black gold to the west. Western money is buying weapons and vehicles that end up being used by IS forces to expand yet more.

Each day that passes makes the perception of IS strength greater and makes the perception of western weakness more widespread. The situation in the Ukraine adds to this, it is not Russia that is seen as a toothless old bear, it is the US and the western powers who are now seen as the old lions, to feeble to do anything.

The possibility exists that the Islamic State will become permanent simply because the west is not prepared to clean up its own mess. Boko Haram in Africa have already claimed that they are now an Islamic state, others will follow the example of IS, the Far East will be next.

If Assad falls Syria will either become a part of a permanent Islamic State or collapse into the same chaos as Libya. Either way will be a blood bath. If the Kurdish state falls IS will be on the borders of Turkey. If the remains of Iraq fall IS will be facing Iran. IS is a crusader state, a Jihad of conquest, it is run publicly by fanatics who are following the word of god to carve out an Islamic state and they will slaughter anyone who gets in the way.

Once they have beaten their current enemies the Islamic state will look for new enemies, top of that list will be Iran and Turkey with the Lebanon being a light snack and then Jordan and Saudi Arabia will be next to be converted or else.


The west did much to created this mess and now has no options left but to arm those fighting against IS. Assad will become an ally, Iraq and the Kurdish state will be the more or less permanent front lines. Thousands of fanatics and jihadists will be drawn there, to fight and to die and to learn how to spread terror.

If the west does nothing, does not arm those fighting IS, then they will fall and the Islamic state will spread and grow.


NATO may be huffing and puffing about the Russian brick outhouse but that is just hot air, Turkey is a NATO member. If nothing is done, a year or two from now IS could be attacking Turkey and NATO would have no option but to react, Article five leaves no grounds for confusion, an attack on any NATO member is an attack on ALL NATO members.

A few years from now NATO could be at war in the south.


Will it come to that, perhaps, perhaps not. Things change and politicians change as often as the wind. Last year the West was all for bombing Assad so the rebels could take over Syria, now many of those rebels are IS and we may well end up allied with Assad against them.

Politics makes strange bed fellows, unfortunately those politicians seldom bother to think beyond the now to consider the implications of what they do. There is no simple solution. This war will continue for a decade and the hatred will last two generations.

The west is reduced to deciding what does the least harm, we have destroyed our own peaceful options and reduced the situation to how many or how few fight and die.


We made this mess worse and now we find ourselves unwilling to clean up after ourselves.



My how the mighty have fallen.
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The Cracks in the EU are Getting Too Big to Paper Over.

25/8/2014

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There is an axe job going on in France, not the semi polite cabinet reshuffle that Cameron had a short while ago. This is not about kicking out the old blokes and getting a few token women in for the elections. No France is looking at a full blown axe murder spree with bodies everywhere.


French Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg has been saying the France will no longer “Be Pushed Around” by Germany. He added that Germany is "trapped by the austerity policy she has imposed on all of Europe."



The minister is well known in France for being outspoken when it comes to opposing austerity and supporting growth but he has generally be tolerated as a lone voice.

Now he has now been accused of crossing a line and daring to criticise both the French president and Germany. He does not seem to be alone either. The French education minister Benoit Hamon has joined in the criticism though Benoit seems to have had the frighteners put on him as he has now changed his tune.

A third minister, Aurélie Filipetti, had the audacity to wish the two rebels “ A Good Day” on twitter, gossip says she is for the chop as well. It doesn't take much in politics these days to blot your copy book and get sacked, say the wrong thing, be the wrong age and you’re gone.


End result of this Gaulish goings on. France doesn't have a government. If only it were that easy to get rid of a useless British one in the same way.

Anyway the French President has ordered the French Prime Minister to form a new government out of the disparate pack of French political parties, should be fun.

The current French government, wait, it’s the previous one as of today,  OK the most recent government came to power making promises to reduce unemployment and bring in a whole list of leftist popular policies despite a surge in the political right in the country. Having completely failed to lower unemployment (it is still climbing), having failed to reduce the deficit (it is still climbing) and facing a lack of popularity (also still dropping) the French government is now no more.

Assembling a new coalition from the fractious and argumentative left, centre and right of French politics is going to be entertaining to watch but this has larger implications than just the French having a bad week.

The big point of contention here is German austerity. Frau Merkel's ongoing and highly unpopular drive to trim government spending and rein in European nations economies. But this isn't little Greece or Spain or Italy. This isn't the Republic of Ireland. This is France being told how to run its economy by the Boche. WHich may not be such a bad thing if you take a look at the mess that is the French economy, but still no one likes the Germans telling them how to live their lives.

What happens now has implications for Britain and for the EU as a whole.


The French prime minister could bring together a broad group representing all sides of French politics, a government that would be almost non functional in terms of internal cooperation but the only way to get the country moving again. Such a government would contain as many euro skeptics, anti austerity campaigners and Merkel haters as we have here in Britain.

While the French Prime Minister and bureaucracy will probably continue to slavishly follow EU policy it does present the prime minister with an opportunity. After all Germany has been happily ignoring Cameron’s attempts to change things to placate the British anti EU voices, will it be as easy to ignore a French government in the same situation.


The French prime minister could find enough support from the growing power of the Right to overcome what seems to be a steady fragmentation of the political left. This could result in a slim majority or even a minority government heavily indebted to the Right and Far Right, a situation that Marion Anne Perrine Le Pen will almost certainly be able to exploit.

Don't think of a government coalition including UKIP, think of one with the EDL and BNP.

Or the French prime minister could end up with a government that is imposed on him by the EU and Germany. The sort of government that is going to continue to obey German orders, continue to impose German austerity and end up about as representative of French democracy as the Eurocrats who were imposed on Greece.

In fact if this is what happens I believe the French have the perfect venue for signing such a government into existence, a railway carriage with a long history of such meetings which I remember is well maintained as a tourist attraction.

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How does this affect the UK?

Well a French government with a strong anti Euro voice actually strengthens Cameron’s position on reducing EU powers and claiming authority back (or at least his token attempts to do this). He would be rightly able to point out that the second AND third strongest economies in Europe are now suffering from vocal and growing EU opposition. If Germany could be convinced to care about the fact that France has joined the UK in having to deal with rebellions then maybe, just maybe, the ever growing Totalitarianism of the EU super state could be put on hold or slowed down.

This would, bizarrely, make Cameron’s position stronger and allow him to wriggle out of his promise of a referendum in a few years. He could point out that the EU is finally listening and that the UK and France were getting back powers. No need for a vote on leaving the EU, I have fixed everything so you proles go back to sleep.


Of course if Germans goose steps all over the French and we have a pro EU, Pro Germany, Pro Austerity government forced into power by means fair or foul then the anti EU voices in the UK get stronger. They will have a perfect example of just why the UK should get the hell out of the EU. It is one thing to overthrow the democratic government of Greece. After all Greece is some little tourist stop on the med, does good food, not anything to worry about.

France on the other hand is much larger, much closer and much more like Britain. If Germany and the EU can overthrow the process of democracy and impose a government on France, well they could do the same to Britain.


So the events of the last few days may just be fun and games and French politics. But the problem is that we are all part of the same big, dysfunctional EU family these days and we all have to deal with the same overbearing and bullying matron Aunt. 



The French may be those annoying cousins across the channel but if Aunty beats them up, well, we are next.

































































































































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US Threatens Russia for Feeding the Hungry.

23/8/2014

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Yesterday Putin apparently got fed up with all the delays and pointlessly petty prevarication. He ordered the white trucks to roll and they did. Into the Ukraine. Over the last twelve hours there has been a chorus of condemnation.

Kiev has been screaming it’s an invasion. The US has been condemning it and making threats.

These are some of the comments being made:


The U.S. called a "flagrant violation of Ukraine's sovereignty."

Ukraine alleged that the trucks were actually carrying weapons for the Moscow-allied rebels and said it was under "direct invasion."

Ben Rhodes, President Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser, told reporters in Washington that the "humanitarian" convoy was illegal because it was sent without the approval of Kiev and in violation of agreements that the International Committee of the Red Cross had to be involved in the delivery of any humanitarian assistance. "The ICRC is not part of this delivery. The government of Ukraine did not give agreement for this convoy to move within their borders."

NATO's secretary-general condemned Russia for sending in a "so-called humanitarian convoy." Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia committed "a blatant breach" of its international commitments and "a further violation of Ukraine's sovereignty."


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Funny thing, all these people and organisations so loudly complaining about Russia sending a convoy of food to feed people going hungry when I haven’t seen a single reported comment from any of them about that fact that tens of thousands of people are homeless and hungry because of attacks by Kiev.

Funny thing, all these people and organisations so loudly complaining about Russia violating the Ukrainian border (which Kiev doesn’t even control) when the US is now declaring that it no longer recognises the Iraq / Syria border and that it will freely launch attacks against ISIS in Syria.

Funny thing, all these people and organisations so loudly complaining about Russia blatantly violating international law. Is it not against international law to boom, rocket and shell people’s homes, to make them refugees and to drive them away from fighting to go hungry and cold?

Funny thing, all these people and organisations so loudly complaining about Russia sending food and water and baby food, just how much food and water and baby food has NATO or the EU or the US sent into the region. When the west has the resources to fly Aid to the Middle East how has it failed to notice a refugee crisis in Eastern Europe?


All the comments about the convoy being packed full of weapons.


















Western reporters were told they could pick any lorry they wanted and the covers would be pulled aside so they could examine the contents, Ukrainian border police have inspected the contents of the lorries. All anyone has found is food and water and medical supplies and baby food.

But still Kiev would not let them enter the country, a part of the country not even controlled by them anyway. A political fiction that Russia was politely accepting.


The Red Cross said they would not accompany the convoy unless they could guarantee its safety, something which was not possible. Exactly who is threatening the convoy and the area across which it would travel, that would be Kiev. So by refusing to let the convoy go unless it was under Red Cross control and them blocking the Red Cross from going in we have a political stalemate.


Then of course there are all the comments about the trucks being some sneaky attempt to get Russian soldiers into the country. As if Russia needs a bunch of white painted trucks to get troops into the country across a long stretch of border that Kiev does not control. After all we keep hearing Kiev and NATO say that Russia is bringing weapons and tanks across the border all the time, but so secretly that there is not a single picture. So why would Putin use big, white trucks, in front of the worlds media, to bring combat troops across the border.

Take a look at the pictures below, these are the men driving the trucks, the men that are apparently such a threat that Kiev refuses to allow the convoy to enter the country. Lean mean killers, the lot of them. Clearly Elite Special Forces at the peak of physical fitness. 

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Yes I am being sarcastic. 

You only have to look at the drivers to see they are not anywhere near being fit and trim. I'm sure many if not all of these men are soldiers or work for some branch of the military, but they are hardly front line combat troops, they are logistics and support, they drive lorries.

Again I ask why so much fear, if Russia wanted to send troops into the Ukraine why on earth do it in white painted trucks when they can easily stroll across unobserved sections of the border at night.


Kiev has said it will not fire on the convoy, Well that's terribly decent of you chaps, most kind. Is there any possibility your newly found Humanitarian concerns could extend to not bombing and shelling  people and forcing them to flee so they need that humanitarian aid in the first place?

Ben Rhodes deputy national security adviser also , told reporters, "Russia should take the opportunity to remove this convoy from within Ukraine. If they don't, they will face additional costs and consequences from the United States and our partners in the international community."

Seriously. The US is threatening more Sanctions on Russia for giving Food to people who are going hungry. Has giving clean water to the thirsty now become a crime in the eyes of the Obama administration, or is it now an American thing. Does the US now make threats to people trying to give baby food to hungry babies?


Does anyone have a shred of evidence that this is a Russian plot or trick? Has anyone found a single thing to prove all of these rumours and claims and reports? Does anyone have so much as one REAL reason why food and water should be held back from those in need?

If it were ISIS bombing these people would there be the slightest hesitation in allowing the Aid to go in. If these were French or German lorries would there be delays?

So why is it acceptable to play these bloody stupid political and propaganda games when people are suffering? 

Just because it is an EU / US ally state (or servant given that western money is now paying for the Kiev government to exist) that is creating the refugees and Russia trying to feed them is no justification for people being made to suffer needlessly.



This New World of ours, it is neither Brave nor Ordered. It is just as petty and cruel and self serving as the Old World.
































































































































































































































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Can You Tell the Good Guys From the Bad Guys?

21/8/2014

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Just a quick post today, a bit shorter than usual as I am busy with other things.

Moving away from the events in Amerika (yes I deliberately spelt it that way) I have been looking at news from various places. Something that always occurs to me is that the news is often so very similar, differing only in who the good guys are and who the bad guys are.


The following scenario’s have taken place or are taking place in various parts of the world. What I have done is removed any reference to names, places or nationalities.

Read them through; see if you can identify which each report refers to. Notice that the wording is very similar but some of these reports are listed in our news and reported by our leaders as being good things and some are said to be bad things.


Can you tell the difference?

Notes at the bottom list what each event refers to.



1A. Unofficial and official requests for addition munitions have been received by CENSORED. Due to the tempo of the military action by CENSORED, supplies of rockets, missiles and bombs have been reduced significantly. These requests have been agreed and CENSORED has made available the requested munitions along with bringing in additional stockpiles.


1B. Unofficial and official requests for addition munitions have been received by CENSORED. As a result of military action over the last few weeks the forces of CENSORED are reporting that reserves of munitions are running low and that they lack rockets, missiles and munitions to fight the superior forces of CENSORED. These requests have already been agreed to by CENSORED and CENSORED who are both making preparations to ship in stockpiles of weapons and munitions.


1C. Unofficial and official requests for addition munitions have been received by CENSORED. Despite numerous reports that this request has been met all evidence presented so far has been disproved and CENSORED officially denies that it is meeting this request.


1D. Unofficial and official requests for addition munitions have been received by CENSORED. Losses of equipment and weapons against CENSORED have been high and they are now reporting they lack the means to continue fighting against the forces of CENSORED who have been significantly strengthen by captured and purchased weapons and equipment. CENSORED have agreed to this and are increasing production of CENSORED specifically to mean this request.




2A. CENSORED provided extensive support in the form of finances, training by covert operatives and the direct and indirect provision of weapons. In addition other nations such as CENSORED and CENSORED have been providing funding to support the forces fighting CENSORED in CENSORED.


2B. The forces involved in the fighting against CENSORED have been receiving extensive support from CENSORED along with a number of nations in CENSORED and CENSORED. This has taken the form of both direct and indirct financial aid, training, weapons and other equipment and intelligence gathered by CENSORED via CENSORED. Direct intervention against CENSORED was considered but ultimately not carried out, support for indigenous forces on the ground was not affected by CENSORED and continues.


2C. Subsequent to the overthrow of CENSORED, forces loyal to the new administration have received extensive military aid in the form of weapons and equipment by CENSORED. Training in this new equipment and general military training for soldiers has been provided by CENSORED.


2D. Subsequent to the overthrow of CENSORED, forces in opposition to the new regime have been rumoured to have been receiving weapons and training by CENSORED. Reports and evidence of this have been either disproved or have not been proved to be accurate.




3A. The aircraft, with 290 people on board including 70 children was shot down by a ground to air missile fired by CENSORED. Initially the incident was denied, subsequently it has been called a misidentification. CENSORED awarded with medals. No official apology has ever been offered though some compensation has been paid.


3B. The aircraft, with 298 people on board including 80 children was shot down with a ground to air missile. Initial blame was directed at CENSORED along with significant initial evidence which has subsequently been discredited. CENSORED are still being blamed despite the lack of any evidence to that effect and ignoring a significant volume of missing data and evidence implicating CENSORED as being the real guilty party.      

   


4A. Attacks by CENSORED resulted in the sinking of the vessel which was struck multiple times by surface to surface and air to surface weapons. 34 members of the ship’s crew were killed in this incident. The report was blamed on a mistaken identification of the vessel and compensation has been paid by CENSORED to CENSORED. Numerous reports exist that question the official story and claim this was a deliberate attack.


4B. The attack, launched by CENSORED left the vessel significantly damage but not in danger of sinking. 17 members of the ship’s crew were killed in this incident. CENSORED has claimed responsibility for the attack, no other agency has been blamed.



























1A. Israel using up stores of munitions during Gaza assault has request US make available stockpiles of bombs and missiles for use by IDF

1B. Kurds request weapons and munitions from the west in order to fight ISIS / IS, France and the UK have agreed to provide such and are now investigating ways of doing so.

1C. Ukrainian separatists fighting Kiev regime, requesting weapons and munitions from Russia to protect themselves and separatist areas from Kiev loyalist attacks.

1D. Iraq requesting additional weapons and munitions from US to fight ISIS / IS. US factory that makes Hellfire missiles now working extra shifts to meet demand for weapons to be used against ex US vehicles now in hands of ISIS / IS and against strong points and structures held by same.


2A. The Taliban fighting against Russia during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

2B. The anti Assad forces being armed, trained and equipped by the US and nations of the EU and middle east. Direct intervention was blocked by the UK parliament voting to not bomb Assad forces. Anti Assad forces as of 2012 that were recipients of this support included units that subsequently make up ISIS / IS.

2C. Post Saddam Iraq government trained and armed by US.

2D. Ukrainian separatists rumoured and reported to have 1200 soldiers trained and armed in Russia.


3A. Iranian flight IR 655 shot down by the USS Vincennes, July 3rd 1988.

3B. MH17 shot down 17th July 2014.


4A. USS Liberty sunk by aircraft and missile boats of the IDF, incident was reported to be a mistaken identity of the ship. Israeli forces reported they thought the ship was Egyptian.

4B. USS Cole incident, ship was extensively damaged by a suicide bomb carried on a speedboat. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility.




So who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? 



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Logic and Tax Law is no Defence When the Pitchfork Wielding Mob Comes For You 

19/8/2014

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A few days ago I found something that I thought interesting and so I posted it on Facebook. A good friend of mine, Hoz Shafiei, reposted it and in response one of his friends posted a rebuttal from Forbes Magazine. What I found interesting was the way in which the Forbes article responded and in which the author of the Article both used his response as a way to throw a few sly insults and that the response completely missed the point.

Take a minute to read both the original article and the response.


The original article by a rather rich man called Nick Hanauer is here.

There is also a Youtube TED talk by Nick Hanauer covering the same subject, Google for the link I’m not doing everything for you.


The Forbes response written by a man called Tim Worstall is here. Some of this response refers to the video talk rather than the article as the video went into more detail.


Now I found the original article interesting, but far more interesting is the response from Forbes.

Forbes magazine can be considered to be a rich man’s journal, you hardly see it in the corner news agents and I doubt you will find too many people reading it in the lower 50% of the income range, or the lower 75% for that matter.

Likewise Tim Worstall is a Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute in London and a writer on Economics, Finance and public policy for a number of newspapers and magazines from the Times and Wall Street Journal down to the more plebeian rags such as the Guardian.

Reading the way that he replies and then attacks Nick Hanauers comments with his own flawless economic comments and Keynesian logic I can see Tim is a Banker at heart. Steeped in economics and finance and marketing and rules and logic, he lives and thinks a world of numbers where people are just more numbers.





His response to Nick Hanauers article shows very clearly not just his own thinking but the thinking, the attitude, the automatic response of our political and economic classes. 




THEY DON'T GET IT!




The utter detachment and isolation which is clear to see in the Forbes article is both disappointing and frightening, disappointing because Tim is the sort of person that our politicians go to for advice, frightening because the more Tim speaks and the more he attacks the situation the more he helps to bring about the very revolution that Nick speaks of.

People are not numbers, they are living beings, humans, full of hopes and dreams and fears and worries. When you reduce humans to numbers and wipe away their concerns and worries and fears you send them a very clear message. If you treat them as numbers, then you value them as much as you value numbers.

People see this.


The situation is not about tax and Keynesian logic and careful calculations.

It doesn't matter that the rich man who earns a thousand times as much as the peasant pays two thousand times as much tax.

It doesn't matter a government or economic system benefits more from one billionaire than it does from a thousand poor people.

It doesn't matter what the accountants and bankers and the economists and the politicians say when they sit there in their suits and shirts worth several months wages to the average peasant.


People will not demonstrate and riot and rebel because of Keynesian logic or the tax system, people DO NOT care that Mr. Billionaire pays twice as much tax as a thousand peasants and commoners and proles.

What people care about is food on their tables, a roof over their heads, clothes on their backs. Paying the electricity and gas and water bills. People care about being able to do more than just exist, people want to do more than just survive.

When one man earns the same as a thousand it does not matter that he pays the tax of two thousand people. 

What matters to that one thousand people is that they have to go to food banks to feed their children, what matters is the threatening letters about overdue utility bills, what matters is overdue rent and debt collectors and the risk of being cut off from services. 


People who are facing loss of desperately needed benefits because the DWP has changed paperwork or policy do not care how much or how little tax is fair.

People who have been sanctioned and now face homelessness and hunger because they made the slightest mistake and fell afoul of a deliberate policy to sanction hundreds of thousands of people to get the JSA numbers down are not concerned with the logic of economics and market forces.

People care about going hungry, people care about reaching the end of month with something other than an empty bank account or being in the overdraft as usual.

People do not take up torches and pitchforks because they disagree with economic logic. They do so because they believe they are the victims of an uncaring system that treats them as numbers.
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People demonstrate and riot and overthrow governments because all those politicians and economists and bankers who have never had to worry about going homeless or hungry have stopped treating them as humans and started treating them as statistics.






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But hey, don't worry.

When your logic and economics and Keynesian facts don't impress the people going hungry.


You still have these guys to keep the peasants in line.





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Or a few of these, give those revolting peons a good wash, they clearly need it. 


Smelly peasants daring to ask for a decent wage or standard of living.



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Or if things get too bad and those dammed peasants actually dare to revolt you always have these.













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But just remember, historically, the end result of this chain of events leads here.









The point here is not that one man earns the same as a thousand others, the point is not that 1% of the population control hold and control as much wealth as the lowest 55% o the population. 

The real problem is when those thousand people do not earn enough to leave them living stable and economically safe lives since there is no money left for them. The problem is that 55% of the population struggle and scrimp and save and budget to make their income match their cost of living to a degree that the 1% cannot understand.


This is not about a few people earning too much.

This is not about taxing the rich or how much the government makes from Income tax.

This is not about class envy or soak the rich or inequality at the top.

This is about hunger and suffering and poverty at the bottom.


The fact is this problem is really big. 

The fact is that this problem is big enough to lead to riot and revolution.

The fact is that Tim Worall and Forbes magazine utterly fail to see that just shows us how big the problem is.


So how big is this problem?




It’s so big that our leaders apparently cannot even see it.




















































































































































































































































0 Comments

When your Police Become a Hammer, Your Citizens Become Nails.

16/8/2014

1 Comment

 
Following on from my earlier post When Did the War on Crime Become an Actual War?

A friend sent me the following cartoon by an artist called Tom Tomorrow.

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I commented yesterday on the increased militancy of the Police. The United states leading the way but the UK not far behind. 

The recent events in Ferguson have clearly highlighted the amount of military style equipment now being used by the police, in fact on various social media sites US military veterans have been reporting that they went into battle in Iraq or Afghanistan wearing less body armour and carrying less weapons or equipment.

Yesterday I drew a comparison between a US police sniper and a US marine Sniper. There is also a difference I did not mention, that of training and discipline. 

The US Marine sniper is the result of months of basic training and discipline followed by more months of specialist training to be a sniper. The police officer may have have passed a two week gun training course and been assigned as a sniper because he is a better shot that the others. SWAT teams undergo extensive training that the regular police do not, but in the US regular police have the same equipment and weapons as the SWAT teams do.

But that is America, they have guns over there. The British police don't walk around looking like extras from a ROBOCOP movie, do they.
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Well OK but the British police don't have fleets of armoured that they bring out to threaten unarmed protesters with do they.
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Erm, OK, so maybe there are a few armoured vheicles in the British Police. Incidentally those menacing looking Black armoured vehicles were parked just behind the Ealing and Croydon riots ready to move in if they were needed.


Here is a truly old fashioned and wonderful view of the British Bobby.
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Britain has an idiosyncratic – in fact unique – policing system that is a triumph of western civilization and the envy of the world. 


The light touch is its trademark, the unarmed bobby its symbol.


Britain’s streets have for decades been orderly by western standards. It was the kind of order that ruled in the household — paternal and protective, not sadistic and authoritarian...


The British police, popularly known as “bobbies,” wear a uniform that is nonmilitary in appearance. Their only regular weapon is a short, wooden truncheon, which they keep out of sight and may not employ except in self-defense or to restore order. Police on a dangerous mission may carry firearms for that specific occasion.

Umanath kakodker, blogger 

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The G20 protests, anyone see any weapons on the protesters being threatened by police with batons?

Both situations are the police dealing with unarmed people trying to go somewhere and the police stopping them.

Separated by a few years but by a very different attitude to training and equipment.


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The reality of the situation is that whenever you train and equip someone to deal with a problem they look for that problem to solve, because that is how they have been trained and equipped. 


Police forces are equipped to deal with a type of threat that is either non existent or very rare. How many police officers are actually stabbed each year, yet every constable now wears stab proof vests. So if someone feels threatened by the police they know a knife does no good, they need a club or a hammer or something heavier. The simple fact that the police are expecting to be stabbed tells people the police expect them to be armed and everyone acts accordingly.


Police forces given shields and trained to form shield walls do this even when faced with unarmed and non violent protesters, why, because that is the way they have been trained to act when at a civil disturbance. It no longer matters if the crowd are throwing stones, petrol bombs or just words. They are trained to form lines and equipped with shields.


Tasers, tear gas, pepper sprays. They have them, they are trained to use them to solve certain problems, the sort of problems that can only be solved with a burst of pepper spray in the face. But over time more and more problems come to resemble those that require pepper spray or a taser.


Bullet proof vehicles, exactly how often do the British police come under weapon fire. But they have them and so they use them, if you have a big intimidating military vehicle with blue lights on top or a mini metro with blue lights on top which one do you use more and more often when facing people you want to intimidate. I'll give you a clue, its not the mini. People tend not to bring petrol bombs when faced by police in a mini metro.


Police with firearms are trained to deal with armed opponents, after all if the people they face are unarmed why would the police need automatic weapons. So when the armed police are deployed it is because someone somewhere thinks they will be needed to face an armed opponent. Everyone becomes an armed suspect, because that is how the police have been trained to respond.



Look at the way this policeman is dressed and equipped. What do you think is going through his mind as he stands there, his riot training fresh in his mind and with the weight of his armour dragging him down. Do you think he is expecting to be showered with flowers by dancing women, do you think he is expecting a peaceful and non violent demonstration?

Does he think the people he is going to meet are NOT going to attack him?

Or is he standing there, trained to deal with violent mobs, wearing armour to prevent him being stabbed, with a shield to protect himself from thrown objects, with armour to protect himself from armed thugs and criminals and therefore expecting all of that to happen.

When I wear that much armour on a reenactment or LARP battlefield I am damn well expecting to be attacked and I am ready to attack right back, in fact I am expecting to be attacked and ready to get in the first blow. 

Do you think this officer will be thinking the same thing when he turns up, dressed like this, to face a demonstration. 

Look at the faces, the body language and the attitudes of the police in the next few pictures. What is going through their minds? Look at the demonstrators, what do you imagine is going through their minds?

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I picked these pictures from a Google Image search, many of the pictures I found were like this, very few showed police beating beaten up or hurt. Google bias perhaps.

Police officers trained and equipped for violence, expecting to face violence, acting as if they were in a violent situation. Where exactly is the violence coming from?

I asked you to look at the faces, look at the body language. What did you see? Look at the picture just above, what do you see? 

I see the same faces and the same body language that I face on a battlefield at a particularly aggressive reenactment or LARP  battle event, only without the restraint and care for others I expect to see. If I see someone at an event putting in blows like this, hitting people who are armoured and expecting the attack, I would still make a note to talk to the attackers about a little more care to avoid hurting people. But these pictures are not reenactment or fantasy role play, they are real battles in real streets involving real police and real victims.


There are situations, from time to time, where the Police need to use force to maintain Law and Order and to protect the Public. There are rare occasions, at least here in the UK, where the police face knives or guns. I fully support the police having the equipment and training they need to face such threats, when they are genuinely facing such a threat.

But if the police are trained and equipped to face knives and guns and violence every day that is exactly what they will expect and if they are trained and equipped to expect everyone they meet to be a threat then that is how they will treat people.

I don't want Britain to be like America, I don't want the British Police to respond to events like the police in Ferguson did. I don't want armed police on the streets. I don't want to live in fear of heavily armed men and women in uniform who treat me as a threat without having any idea if I even am a threat. I don't want to have our police treating the population as something they need to defend themselves from.


There is an old saying, an ancient wisdom sort of thing. It goes, 'If your only tool is a hammer then everything begins to look like a nail'.



The problem is that if you train your Police to be Hammers, your citizens start to look like nails and we know what happens next.
























































































































































































1 Comment
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