Brexit, for once some facts.

[oldgroaner]

Classic Slapstick in the Commons and Daily Mail
"
Theresa May WINS crushing late night victory in vote on Syria air strikes as Labour MPs desert the Commons and fail to take part in the ballot despite the party securing the debate in the first place

• Theresa May is delivering a passionate defence of UK military action in Syria
• Insisted the strikes on Bashar Assad's forces were carried out in national interest
• Said use of chemical weapons cannot be allowed to become normal anywhere
• Jeremy Corbyn has branded the strikes against Assad's chemical capacity illegal

The Government won the late night stunt division 314 to 36 - a majority of 278.

Labour declined to take part in the vote - which was legally meaningless - but Mrs May returned to the Despatch Box at 10.49pm to restate the Government case.

This is a Crushing Victory? rather like the one we'll get in Syria?

 

[oldgroaner]

In the Independent
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-chemical-attack-gas-douma-robert-fisk-ghouta-damascus-a8307726.html

"
It was a short walk to Dr Rahaibani. From the door of his subterranean clinic – “Point 200”, it is called, in the weird geology of this partly-underground city – is a corridor leading downhill where he showed me his lowly hospital and the few beds where a small girl was crying as nurses treated a cut above her eye.

“I was with my family in the basement of my home three hundred metres from here on the night but all the doctors know what happened. There was a lot of shelling [by government forces] and aircraft were always over Douma at night – but on this night, there was wind and huge dust clouds began to come into the basements and cellars where people lived. People began to arrive here suffering from hypoxia, oxygen loss. Then someone at the door, a “White Helmet”, shouted “Gas!”, and a panic began. People started throwing water over each other. Yes, the video was filmed here, it is genuine, but what you see are people suffering from hypoxia – not gas poisoning.”

True or False? My take is this sounds true

 

[oldgroaner]

Another confusion.

Legal and the right thing for Britain. In our national interest.
Or on humanitarian grounds for the protection of those in Syria?

Of course, these are not wholly incompatible. But the justification used swings between them depending on who the target audience is.

Neither the strikes are intended to serve the following purpose

1. To curry favour with the Electorate
2. To curry favour with Trump
3. to disract attention from something/many things up that are going badly wrong here
4. To use up obsolete ordnance and promote further investment in our armed forces.

Basically the strikes serve the agenda of the paymasters of our Government

 

[oldtom]

Have we won this war.........or hasn't it really started yet? Just as OG has reported, Robert Fisk is much closer to the centre of recent action in Syria than most armchair journalists. Craig Murray has written in support of Fisk's reports:

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/04/robert-fisk-reports-head-of-douma-clinic-denies-chemical-weapons-attack/

Tom

 

[Woosh]

This is a Crushing Victory? rather like the one we'll get in Syria?

yes, we bombed a deserted building and achieved all our objectives.

the main stream media is now the real battle ground for propaganda.

 

[oldgroaner]

The Telegraph are trying to make out we are living under a terrible threat from Russia
"
Cyber attackHow Russia would wage war on Britain"

Forgetting of course there are other contenders

1. Communist China "Huawei, Seen as Possible Spy Threat (From the Washington Post)
2. North Korea
3. ISIS
4. Iran

 

[oldgroaner]

yes, we bombed a deserted building and achieved all our objectives.

the main stream media is now the real battle ground for propaganda.

On the assumption of course that our obsolete "Storm Shadow" (AKA Penny Bangers tossed in to support Trump) Cruise missiles were not shot down.

 

[Woosh]

The Telegraph are trying to make out we are living under a terrible threat from Russia
"
Cyber attackHow Russia would wage war on Britain"

Forgetting of course there are other contenders

1. Communist China "Huawei, Seen as Possible Spy Threat (From the Washington Post)
2. North Korea
3. ISIS
4. Iran

Recipe from past politicians' cookbook: this is how to gain support from the wavering voters: attack a minority or foreign suspect.
Hitler used it before. DT still uses it.

 

[oldgroaner]

let's see what a History Book would make or our situation (if a truthful one existed, but it doesn't.)
This last five years will be recorded as the start of the Western World moving away from bothering to present the rulers hiding behind a rather loosely applied illusion of democracy, which is in fact rule by an Elite that relied on hoodwinking the populace into cementing them in place.

Into the era of the rule of Corporate Power, where Governments are literally bought and sold by Corporations so that no laws can be implemented by mere Governents that might infringe on profits.

Sophisticated psychological warfare techniques have been employed on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure "Useful idiots" that the corporations can direct are in place and are popularised by the quite incredibly amateur employment of doing the well tried Fascist "Give the plebs an external threat and play on their patriotism, and they'll follow you anywhere.

Both Trump's election and the Brexit Vote referendum are examples of this new approach where the bigger the lie, the more likely the press can sell it to the public.

And this ludicrously bungled "Deadly Nerve Agent" attack ( that wasn't)
And could well have been locally obtained, has now been followed by sending half a dozen geriatric Tornados to Someone elses Firework display with a handfull of equally outdated weapons just to grab some Kudos

Bloody hell, this is the equivalent of Mussolini sending his biplanes over during the battle of Britain to the entertainment of the RAF, who couldn't believe their luck!

Now we are being told Russia will wage Cyber warfare on us.
And we see no irony in boasting about doing the very same thing to our enemies, yet say if it is done to us, it isn't cricket?

Has anyone in authority given a thought to what we can do about it if they do?
Of course, Scaring the public has to have some purpose

I shall reveal the Cunning plan

Since GCHQ have revealed what a great job they did "nobbling" ISIS TM will announce that we are investing huge sums in improving their technology (and incidentally power over us) and then we will get a veritable blizzard of Claims like "Russia Spy Dat theft of State Secrets plot foiled" or "Moscow's attempt to damage the NHS Slapped Down by GCHQ!"

And up will shoot her popularity among the slower thinking among the Voters

From this government's point of view it is handy to divert attention from the unfolding disaster of Brexit and that's about all.

 

[Woosh]

Has anyone in authority given a thought to what we can do about it if they do?

I wouldn't worry too much about threats of cyber wars.
There is not much an ordinary citizen can do, other than ignoring the whole thing.
They have been at it for many years, from selling cheap wifi gears (cameras, alarm systems etc) to giving free 'anti-virus' and obliging browsers to use only SSL certificates where government agencies can hack in the key stores, to a little less direct means such as free email accounts and mega social media companies like FB, google, Microsoft, etc
They already can do as they like. It is possibly the real threat of mutual total destruction that keep them away from elevating this cold war any higher.

 

[oldgroaner]

I wouldn't worry too much about threats of cyber wars.
There is not much an ordinary citizen can do, other than ignoring the whole thing.
They have been at it for many years, from selling cheap wifi gears (cameras, alarm systems etc) to giving free 'anti-virus' and obliging browsers to use only SSL certificates where government agencies can hack in the key stores, to a little less direct means such as free email accounts and mega social media companies like FB, google, Microsoft, etc
They already can do as they like. It is possibly the real threat of mutual total destruction that keep them away from elevating this cold war any higher.

I did point out that it's a con!

 

[Woosh]

I did point out that it's a con!

you don't have to be slow thinking to buy in the propaganda.
If they repeat it often enough - everyone will eventually fall for it, just a matter of time.
The only real defense is to stay away from the television set.
Even Radio 4 is not safe.

 

[Woosh]

TM may find herself in hot water soon:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/17/home-office-destroyed-windrush-landing-cards-says-ex-staffer

 

[oyster]

Communist China "Huawei, Seen as Possible Spy Threat

I know! I'll make sure my next computer/phone/router/door bell/car are all made in Britain with British chips, British software, British spyware...

 

[oldgroaner]

I know! I'll make sure my next computer/phone/router/door bell/car are all made in Britain with British chips, British software, British spyware...

I hope you're not in too much of a rush.......

 

[tillson]

TM may find herself in hot water soon:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/17/home-office-destroyed-windrush-landing-cards-says-ex-staffer

.......and another Theresa May triumph.

 

[oldtom]

.......and another Theresa May triumph.

Yes, as a Home Secretary in charge of a department responsible for immigration matters, she did sweet FA about curbing immigration, checking who had come in and who had gone out. To be absolutely fair to her though, neither did she take responsibility for law and order; indeed, she slashed the numbers of front-line police officers - the ones who actually make a difference but have to spend much of their time in cars or report writing and sitting around in court waiting rooms to give evidence and be cross-examined by expert defence barristers on million pound+ salaries.

I shudder at the thought that so many members of the British public can be so apathetic about a situation where a politician, failed in high office, can be further elevated to the most important job in politics where she has continued to demonstrate her unfitness for any kind of management role.

Clearly, the propaganda machinery has done its job. God help us all!

Tom

 

[oldtom]

So, even though the UK government has previous for selling chemical materials to other countries, May and her acolytes decide to ignore democracy and order a bombing mission on a trumped-up (excuse the pun), charge that a chemical weapon attack took place in Syria.

The attached piece from web blogger, Thomas G Clark, explains how that bombing raid was so wrong but worse, illustrates how dangerous it is that an imbecillic politician can be allowed to ignore both democratic conventions and public opinion.

This incompetent Prime Minister is more dangerous than Thatcher!

https://anotherangryvoice.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/theresa-may-has-sidelined-and.html

Tom

 

[oldtom]

"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach."

Aldous Huxley



Tom

 

[flecc]

I know! I'll make sure my next computer/phone/router/door bell/car are all made in Britain with British chips, British software, British spyware...

By the time we get there, they'll all be powered from our fleet of Chinese built nuclear power stations.
.