Sim-O

Electronic Intifada:

During her sixth visit to Israel since last November’s Annapolis summit, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice complained that the thousands of new housing units, built in Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land were damaging the peace talks with Palestinians. Meanwhile, at a joint press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Luxembourg, the same day, Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, announced that the EU had decided to upgrade its political and economic relations with Israel. Rupel, who chaired the EU-Israel Association Council meeting, the body overseeing the relationship, stated that the EU and Israel are “elevating” their relations to a new level of “more intense, more fruitful, more influential cooperation.” Israel has now been granted the highest level of relations available to a non-member state

Any chance of some consistency from the members of ‘The Quartet’? On the one hand Israel is getting a complaint, about putting ‘facts on the ground’ in the occupied Palestine, and on the other, being rewarded for the continued oppression of the Palestinians with more and better relations.

As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words.

Gordon Brown:

we have given people new rights to protest outside Parliament

It’s a bit early for revising history, isn’t it?
We’re all doomed. When the PM has the balls to make a claim like that, and he wouldn’t if he didn’t think he was going to get a way with it, we’re all fucked.
Unless there is a monumental fuck up, and Gordon hasn’t had an easy ride so far so it would have to be immense, we’re stuck with him for two more years.

But what happens then? More of the same but possibly blue rather than red. Why can’t these fuckers just play it straight? Is it all about their careers now? They lie, they embezzle, they defraud, they pander to which ever cunt has the most money. And what do we get out of it? Fucked if I know. But what ever it is, it ain’t good enough.

But if there is a way of not repeating this fucking cycle of excitement at a new and promising government only to be let down by them being just as shite as the previous lot ad nauseum, then please, I’m all ears.

I had Radio 4 on the wireless on the way to picking my daughter up from her afterschool club yesterday. It was Beyond Belief and there was a it about the monarchy and how it is maybe a bit wrong that we couldn’t have a monarch of a different religion to Protestantism, or even a secular monarch. And then it occurred to me. I’m a republican. Not a Republican, but a republican.

I’d never given it much thought and never connected the two things, my athiesm and my ever-so slight affection of the monarchy.
I don’t believe in god, in an all powerful being that knows all and is either controlling us, like a Big Brother director or just sitting back watching like a BB viewer. There is no such thing as reincarnation and karma is, once looked at, rubbish. That’s not to say there aren’t things we cannot explain, just that we cannot explain them yet.

I quite like the monarchy. I think the Queen does a good job of erm, representing us when she visits abroad and she hasn’t poot a foot wrong for many a year. and on the whole they’re ok (putting aside the civil list, which is a different mattter).

But can we have a secular monarchy? I don’t think so.

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I tried posting some pictures I took whilst on a secret mission at the weekend.

Due to technical issues, it’s all gone wrong and I can’t be arsed now. Maybe later.

But thanx to Tim, D-Notice and Davide for a good afternoon. Most enjoyable.

Proper posts about it from Tim, and Davide.

Guardian:

A further batch of secret government files have been found on a train, it was reported tonight.

The Independent on Sunday newspaper said that the papers, which were handed in to it, covered the UK’s policies on fighting global terrorist funding, drugs trafficking and money laundering.

The paper said that they were discovered on a train bound for London’s Waterloo station on Wednesday.

*throws hands up in disbelief*

Watch this video of Israeli settlers beating up a Palestinain woman for shepherding her sheep too near to a settlement and thereby implicitly refusing to concede her land to them.

Colonialism at it’s best, eh?

Via Lenin

Luke Akehurst:

Maybe instead of Labour fielding a candidate in Haltemprice & Howden we should find a Martin Bell type candidate – preferably a recently retired senior police officer, or a survivor or relative of a victim of a terrorist attack, to run under the following 5 word candidate description: “Independent – for detaining terrorism suspects”.

mmm. nuff said in the comments really.
Rachel North:

I expect terrorists to attack our freedoms and our democracy by using fear and terror to hurt us. I was right there, seven feet away from a 19 year old suicide bomber in my carriage on 7/7 and lucky to escape with my life when he killed 26 fellow passengers.

I object vehemently to your assumption that victims of terrorism can be waved about to us as a bloodied figleaf to cover up a naked desire to be seen to be tough on terror for entirely politcal purposes, I object to being used as a political football, and if ‘for the victims’ is going to be invoked for this kind of liberty-trashing fearmongering, then this ‘victim’ (hate that word)is going to shout right back that those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.

It is what I said in the Sunday Times and the Guardian when it was 50+ days being mooted

and I will go on saying it.

Please don’t assume being blown up makes everyone agree with the Sun.

To which Luke replies:

I think Rachel’s position just goes to show that experiencing something first hand doesn’t necessarily lead you to come to the right conclusions about how to deal with it.

I disagree with her stance but at least it’s more sincerely held than that of most Tory MPs who just saw this issue as a cheap chance to inflict a defeat on Gordon Brown.

I simply do not understand why the “civil liberties” of people suspected of terrorism would be considered of more value than the civil liberty of the rest of us to go about our lives safely.

Luke, the key word here, and is what most people forget, is ‘suspected’. You are probably not going to be affected by this extention to precharge detention, either by being (not) blown up or by being hauled into a cell and kept in the dark for six weeks while your life goes down the shitter, but plenty of innocent people will be.

I guess they’ll just be collatoral damage in another war.

Via Justin, again.

Rachel North quoting the FT

The Sun, the principal media cheerleader for Gordon Brown’s contentious 42-days detention proposals, was outraged by David Davis’s resignation. A characteristically unrestrained leader in the tabloid yesterday, headlined “Crazy Davis”, fulminated against the former shadow home secretary’s “shabby act of treachery” and “petty grandstanding”.

Ms Wade and her team had on Thursday afternoon already been discussing a cunning plan to convert this print attack into a full-blown campaign battle, by approaching Rachel North, one of the survivors of the July 7 bombings, to stand against Mr Davis.
As journalists and politicians – including senior Tories but not Mr Cameron – mingled and gossiped at Ms Wade’s party, the idea gathered momentum. Mr Murdoch was among those captivated by the concept of a Sun campaign…’

Via Justin

Does no fucker answer emails, that are obviously not spam and have a very serious purpose, anymore?