jump to navigation

What you want to say –18 November 2020 November 18, 2020

Posted by guestposter in Uncategorized.
trackback


As always, following on Dr. X’s suggestion, it’s all yours, “announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose”, feel free.

Comments»

1. EWI - November 18, 2020

‘Way clear for Séamus Woulfe to start on Supreme Court early next year’ runs the headline in the Irish Times this morning, a paper which has disgraced itself again.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
2. Gearóid Clár - November 18, 2020

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/man-arrested-in-connection-with-1974-birmingham-bombings-1.4412634

“A man has been arrested in connection with the murders of 21 people in the 1974 pub bombings in Birmingham (…) West Midlands Police said officers from the West Midlands counter terrorism unit, working with colleagues from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), arrested a 65-year-old man at his home in Belfast on Wednesday.

The man was arrested under the Terrorism Act and a search of his home is being carried out.”

Like

Reply
3. sonofstan - November 18, 2020

Jesus.
Some demonstrators being interviewed on the Beeb attempting to ‘stop the steal’. One explains that the ‘endgame of the left is to normalise paedophilia’. Why did no one tell me?

Like

Reply
sonofstan - November 18, 2020

In Georgia, I should have said.

Like

Reply
NFB - November 18, 2020

That’s part and parcel of the QANON thing right? That Dems and leftists are all child traffickers and molesters?

Like

Reply
sonofstan - November 18, 2020

Yes, and the Royal family and the Rothschilds and probably George Soros.

Like

Reply
WorldbyStorm - November 18, 2020

I guess the thinking is it allows them to take a sort of ‘high ground’. Problem is it is so batshit crazy and stupid one would wonder how many people it puts off. It’s never a good look shouting that someone is that.

Like

WorldbyStorm - November 18, 2020

Of course it also neatly aligns with the sort of Protocols of the Elders of Zion lies as well. Quite some overlap.

Like

WorldbyStorm - November 18, 2020

Yes, that’s more or less it.

Like

Reply
WorldbyStorm - November 19, 2020

This is the go to line of a lot on the Trump right and closer to home the far right. It’s their way of trying to shut down conversations. Given the allegations against some on the Republican side, Roy Moore et al, the place where QAnon originated, the fact that Jeffrey and so on one has to feel that it is pure projection.

Like

Reply
CL - November 19, 2020

” Conspiracy theories provide people with a feeling of control when presented with troubling and disturbing information, calming our fears of the inevitable or unknown…
‘It’s just another way to deny reality and having to think about your own fragility in the world. It’s an escape for people who are not so tolerant of uncertainty.’…
Once-obscure conspiratorial ideas are now habitually deployed by national leaders like Trump and members of his outgoing administration, specifically to create further political tension….
Social media facilitates the spread of information, giving rise to viral formats like memes. Conspiracy theories are memetic — they mutate easily and take on new forms — which makes them a perfect fit for social media platforms….

Trump’s dedication to spreading unfounded or unscientific ideas is a huge reason conspiracy theories have gained such traction over the past decade….
Trump has a long history of promoting conspiracy theories, dating from well before his time in politics; in 2007, he claimed that vaccines cause autism. His political career arguably started when he began to spread the false “birther” conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the US. Conspiracy theories have consistently been key to galvanizing his pious voter base. His supporters’ fears over “illegal votes” currently serve as the foundation for Trump’s attempts to dispute his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden…..
People who have bought in often believe they can see patterns, codes, and symbols that the rest of us can’t — a false phenomenon called apophenia, which further validates their beliefs……
conspiracy theories seem to have shifted American society toward an ever-widening gap between belief and reality — one in which a consensus on what “normal” is seems further away than ever.”
https://www.vox.com/21558524/conspiracy-theories-2020-qanon-covid-conspiracies-why

Like

Reply
GearóidGaillimh - November 19, 2020

The Irish far-right have completely absorbed this stuff, the fact that the Sol-PBP TDs initiated the Sex Education Bill is enough for them to start off about it. Look at any of the videos of fash demos in Dublin and you’ll see them shouting incoherently about ‘paedos’ before too long.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
4. NFB - November 19, 2020

Norma Foley declares a “No Homework Day” for Irish schoolchildren. I know for a fact my 6th class teacher would have given us extra if that had happened when I was in school.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
5. CL - November 20, 2020

” a conspiracy on a scale so immense as to dwarf any previous such venture in the history of man.” – Senator Joseph McCarthy, 1951

Until now….

” President Donald Trump’s legal team escalated its false claims of election fraud Thursday to a full-blown, unsubstantiated allegation of a vast international conspiracy to fix the election for Joe Biden, featuring George Soros, Antifa, the media, and the dead Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez…..
They left few parties out of the incomprehensible plot they sketched, allegedly perpetrated by the likes of Germany, Cuba, China, leading technology and social media companies, two voting technology firms, Biden’s campaign, and local Democratic officials, especially in cities with mostly Black voters. “Globalist dictators, corporations, you name it,” Powell said. “Everybody is against us.”
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/11/giuliani-alleges-a-vast-international-conspiracy-to-steal-the-election-from-trump/

Sidney Powell’s “statement was a litany of unfounded allegations that appeared to have been lifted wholesale from the QAnon fever swamp…
This is how Powell began her statement at the press conference:

“What we are really dealing with here, and uncovering more by the day, is the massive influence of communist money through Venezuela, Cuba, and likely China in the interference with our elections here in the United States.”
https://www.vice.com/en/article/wx8n8w/trumps-lawyer-sidney-powell-is-hardcore-qanon

Like

Reply
sonofstan - November 20, 2020

I really hope Biden finds a way to lock these clowns up. No nonsense about unity and healing. The right don’t do martyrs the way we do, so once Trumpie’s in jail they’ll decide he’s a ‘loser’ and weak and forget about him.

Like

Reply
CL - November 20, 2020

“With Donald Trump hunkered down in the White House and his sycophants floating the idea of committing voter fraud, President-elect Joe Biden seems to be making a concerted effort not to fan the flames. According to NBC News, Biden is likely to discourage investigations into his predecessor, voicing “concerns that [they] would further divide a country he is trying to unite and risk making every day of his presidency about Trump.” This reportedly came from several sources with knowledge of the matter, with one Biden adviser saying, “He’s going to be more oriented toward fixing the problems and moving forward than prosecuting them.”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/11/biden-would-reportedly-prefer-not-to-investigate-trumps-many-crimes

“No American President has ever been charged with a criminal offense. But, as Donald Trump fights to hold on to the White House, he and those around him surely know that if he loses—an outcome that nobody should count on—the presumption of immunity that attends the Presidency will vanish. Given that more than a dozen investigations and civil suits involving Trump are currently under way, he could be looking at an endgame even more perilous than the one confronted by Nixon.”- Jane Mayer.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/09/why-trump-cant-afford-to-lose

https://www.salon.com/2020/11/19/are-you-sure-trumps-plan-to-steal-the-election-has-failed-you-shouldnt-be/

“As Mr. Trump’s legal efforts to prove widespread fraud during the election have sputtered almost to a halt, he and his allies have shifted to a different strategy, based on the dubious belief that if a state’s board of elections fails to certify its results, Republican legislatures could then appoint pro-Trump electors in states that Mr. Biden won, tipping the Electoral College in the president’s favor when it meets on Dec. 14.” -NYT.

Like

Reply
WorldbyStorm - November 20, 2020

There’s an element of craziness about so much of this, but also purpose – presumably Trump is finished, but in whipping up this now they make it more difficult for Democrats or anyone else in future contests particuarly if winning margins are lesser. It legitimises, to an extent, future illegitimate behaviours. If I were Biden the very first thing I would do would be where possible to strengthen US electoral and oversight institutions.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
CL - November 20, 2020

Yes. Some Republicans are worried.
” “But the sheer nuttiness surrounding the current mess is becoming deeply destructive.”-Peggy Noonan
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/526876-peggy-noonan-bogus-dispute-by-trump-doing-real-damage

Liked by 1 person

WorldbyStorm - November 20, 2020

It’s interesting. Near enough the whole of the security hawk Republican contingent decamped years back during the Trump Presidency. I’m genuinely bemused by some conservatives who’ve stayed on board – I guess winning was and is the key. But perhaps the support for Trump is flaking around the edges a bit. Did you see the moment in the week was when Harris arrived in the Senate and all those Republican Senators who are either still with Trump or saying nothing raced across to welcome her. For a demonstration of the reality it was hard to beat.

Like

CL - November 20, 2020

“When Kamala Harris returned to the Senate this week for the first time as vice president-elect, her Republican colleagues offered their congratulations and Sen. Lindsey Graham greeted her with a fist bump.Yes, once Trump

It was a sign that many Republicans have privately acknowledged what they refuse to say openly: Democrat Joe Biden and Harris won the election and will take office in January.

The GOP’s public silence on the reality of Biden’s victory amounts to tacit approval of Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud. That has significant repercussions, delaying the transition during a deadly pandemic, sowing public doubt and endangering Biden’s ability to lead the portion of the country that may question his legitimacy”
https://apnews.com/article/gop-accept-trump-defeat-not-in-public-0bcee7a939cc28ab5b0c8f41b9abbb8d

Once Trump is out of power the Republican party may become a little braver, but to the extent that Trump continues to demagogue the base they will be wary.

Like

WorldbyStorm - November 21, 2020

A depressing prospect and an anti-democratic pandering

Like

6. crocodileshoes - November 20, 2020

What I want to say is that I want everyone else to stop saying ‘In terms of…’. After a few days of prolonged exposure to current affairs radio/tv, I now can’t hear what anybody is actually saying, because I’m distracted by the truly astounding overuse of this phrase. A letter writer to the Irish Times recently commented that Micheal Martin can’t get through a sentence without using it and Oliver Callan has inserted it into his Martin impression like Mario Rosenstock did with ‘in fact eh..’ and Bertie Ahern.
Martin is relatively sparing in his use compared to some. There was a Maynooth academic on Primetime who was into double figures within a couple of minutes; George Lee used it four times in one sentence; Sarah McInerney includes it in every question.
It’s got to the stage where it’s used even when totally redundant. ‘In terms of vaccines’, asked a current affairs broadcaster, last week, ‘when do you expect one to be available?’ Why not just ‘When do you expect a vaccine to be available?’
A few years ago it was ‘going forward’ and ‘the reality is’. 2020’s second worst plague is ‘in terms of…’.

Liked by 2 people

Reply
Bartholomew - November 20, 2020

It’s not completely new – I remember decades ago watching an Ireland-Scotland rugby match and the TV commentator saying ‘Paul Dean is putting the ball all over Murrayfield in terms of kicks’.
What I hear on the radio at the moment is every answer to an interviewer’s question beginning with ‘I suppose’.
‘Tell us what your organisation does.’
‘Well, I suppose we work with people who are in debt to help them…’

Liked by 1 person

Reply
sonofstan - November 20, 2020

My bugbear is starting sentences with ‘so’
‘Do you think Priti Patel should be sacked?’
‘So: it’s clear that she may have had a case to answer but blah blah….’

Liked by 1 person

Reply
crocodileshoes - November 20, 2020

Particularly scientists. BBC’s Today usually interviews a scientist at around 7.50 and they all begin every answer with ‘so’. Are they taught it in media training or something?

Liked by 1 person

Reply
WorldbyStorm - November 20, 2020

I used to think these were personal idiosyncrasies – sort of placeholders for people collecting their thoughts – but clearly not.

Like

Reply
Liberius - November 21, 2020

A few years ago it was ‘going forward’

When asked a pointless question I’ve occasionally responded with a meaningless answer “going forward with matters vis-a-vis a pecuniary nature” deliberately; it does get noticed that I’m taking the piss.

On a related tangent my mother has a strong loathing for the phrase “boots on the ground” which has probably been fostered by excessive consumption of news channels during the early to mid 2000s.

For my part due to excessive consumption of sports commentary I’ve developed a strong dislike for the phrase “lost half a yard of pace” in football, surely that’s a measure of distance and not speed?!

Like

Reply
6to5against - November 21, 2020

So, this is a truly petty complaint in terms of the discussion at hand but I suppose that’s sort of the territory we’re in here, and my personal bugbear is historians talking in the present tense, particularly when discussing events from a century or more in the past.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
Tomboktu - November 21, 2020

One of the legitimate uses of “going forward”

Like

Reply
7. Paul Culloty - November 21, 2020

The American-based invitation-only quiz league “Learned League” had the following question yesterday :

“Name the revolutionary socialist writer and orator who took part in the 1905 Russian Revolution and advocated for a mass strike as the instrument of proletarian insurgency, before founding the Spartacist League and the German Communist Party in Berlin”.

Admittedly, a clue about being a homophone for a European country followed, but a healthy 61% answer rate in my particular section.

Like

Reply
8. CL - November 22, 2020

” “Where’s My Roy Cohn?”- Trump

“He made his legal and political career,” in the estimation of the British historian Eric Hobsbawm, “in a milieu where money and power override rules and law—indeed where the ability to get, and get away with, what lesser citizens cannot, is what proves membership of an elite.”…
Trump found him irresistible….

Cohn imparted an M.O. that’s been on searing display throughout Trump’s ascent, his divisive, captivating campaign, and his fraught, unprecedented presidency. Deflect and distract, never give in, never admit fault, lie and attack, lie and attack, publicity no matter what, win no matter what, all underpinned by a deep, prove-me-wrong belief in the power of chaos and fear.”
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/09/19/roy-cohn-donald-trump-documentary-228144

“A federal judge in Pennsylvania eviscerated President Donald Trump’s attempt to throw out millions of votes Saturday, dismissing his campaign’s lawsuit with a withering opinion that described a dearth of proof to justify the drastic demand…..

In a statement signed by Giuliani and campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis, the Trump campaign pledged to appeal Brann’s ruling, adding: “Today’s decision turns out to help us in our strategy to get expeditiously to the U.S. Supreme Court. Although we fully disagree with this opinion, we’re thankful to the Obama-appointed judge for making this anticipated decision quickly, rather than simply trying to run out the clock.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/21/federal-judge-tosses-trump-suit-over-pennsylvania-election-results-439010

“President Donald Trump made explicit Saturday the strategy his legal team has been hinting at for days: He wants Republican-led legislatures to overturn election results in states that Joe Biden won.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/21/trump-state-legislatures-overturn-election-results-439031

Trump’s strategy of tension proceeds, but Rudy Giuliani is no Roy Cohn.

Liked by 2 people

Reply
9. Tomboktu - November 22, 2020

Liked by 1 person

Reply
10. Tomboktu - November 22, 2020

Like

Reply
CL - November 22, 2020

William R. Rhodes was” appointed as Senior Vice Chairman of Citigroup, Inc., a position that he held until his retirement in 2010. In March 2003, he became Chairman and later added responsibility and title of President of Citicorp, and Citibank, N.A., positions that he held until 2009. Mr. Rhodes announced his formal retirement from Citigroup on April 30, 2010 after more than 53 years….
The William R. Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance at Brown University was established in 2007 with the generous support of William R. Rhodes.-Wiki

“During the 2008 credit crisis, a struggling Citigroup had to be bailed out by the federal government, which ignored calls for its breakup and aside from some multi-million-dollar regulatory settlements did little to curb its aggressive practices. In 2015 it pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of currency market manipulation but was allowed to continue business as usual…

During the 1970s, Citi and the other big banks based in the New York City pressured the municipal government to adopt harsh austerity policies to deal with a fiscal crisis….
In 1981 Citi paid $500,000 to settle usury charges brought by the New York State attorney general.
In 1991 Citi got a $590 million capital infusion from Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal and another $600 million from the sale of preferred stock to a group of several dozen institutional investors. An August 20, 1991 article in Financial World entitled “Too Big to Fail” described Citi as “a deeply troubled institution.”…

In 1981 … Ralph Nader and other public interest activists, launched Citiwatch to monitor the bank’s practices with regard to employee rights, community reinvestment, pension investments and loans to repressive governments ”
https://www.corp-research.org/citigroup

Like

Reply
CL - November 22, 2020

In 2020 Mark Blyth, Director of the William R. Rhodes Center for Internationl Economics and Finance, has podcast on ‘How Fraud Explains the Ecoomy’.

Like

Reply
Tomboktu - November 22, 2020

It is an interesting listen.

Like

Reply
CL - November 22, 2020

” Citigroup is back in the headlines as the result of a new settlement with the Justice Department over its mortgage fraud, reportedly for the sum of $7 billion. This deal is being trumpeted as a major win for the American people. It’s not. The money’s not enough (and some of it probably won’t be paid out), the wrong people are paying, and there will be no prosecutions for criminal behavior.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/citigroups-7-billion-frau_b_5576495

Citigroup ” has a sordid history of predatory profiteering and criminal activity, not unlike all the other large banks….
In 2005, Citigroup paid a $2 billion settlement to Enron investors who had filed a class-action lawsuit against the bank for helping Enron hide billions of dollars in debt….
A 2005 report by Citigroup created the term ‘plutonomy’ to describe the modern state capitalist system in which there is only the rich “and everyone else”; an economy in which the rich increasingly become the consuming class, driven to a significant degree by “disruptive technology-driven productivity gains, creative financial innovation, [and] capitalist friendly cooperative governments.”….
In 2011, Citigroup paid a $285 million settlement with the SEC for defrauding investors. In 2012, the bank paid another settlement of $590 million for defrauding investors, though it made sure not to admit guilt as the payment was “solely to [eliminate the uncertainties…

In sum, Citigroup’s fraudulent lifestyle – with its increased quarterly profits – is one more example of how the institutions of the financial system function as criminal conglomerates on a scale far surpassing any Mafia on record….
William R. Rhodes, another Citigroup board member, serves as a senior advise to Citi and is president and CEO of William R. Rhodes Global Advisors….
and a member of the board of overseers of the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.”
http://www.occupy.com/article/global-power-project-part-7-banking-influence-citigroup#sthash.pGeMlcLZ.dpbs

‘Dan Davies ….explains how fraud has shaped the entire development of the modern world economy.’

” A $10-million gift from Brown alumnus and trustee emeritus William R. Rhodes will fund a new professorship and Center for International Economics to expand the University’s teaching and research in international trade and finance….
William R. Rhodes is senior vice chairman of Citigroup Inc.; chairman, president and CEO of Citicorp Holdings Inc.; and chairman, president, and CEO of Citibank,”
https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2006-07/06-106.html

Liked by 2 people

11. CL - November 23, 2020

On this day in 1867 the Manchester Martyrs were executed.

“The Fenian trial in Manchester aroused a storm of protest in Ireland and England. On the insistence of Marx, the General Council of the International began, on November 19, a discussion on the Irish question during which the leaders of the international proletarian organisation expressed their solidarity with the struggle of the Irish people for independence”-

“The Political Executions at Manchester remind us of the fate of John Brown at Harpers Ferry. They open a new period in the struggle between Ireland and England.”- Karl Marx

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/iwma/documents/1867/fenians.

-Friedrich Engels, Marx’s collaborator, said they had: “accomplished the final act of separation between England and Ireland. The only thing the Fenians had lacked were martyrs. They have been provided with these.”-
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/breaking-the-silence-on-the-manchester-martyrs-1.2012001

Speaking in the House of Commons ten years later, Parnell told the House: “I wish to say as directly as I can that I do not believe, and never shall believe, that any murder was committed in Manchester.”
wiki/Manchester_Martyrs

‘On its colonies the sun never set, but the blood never dried’
– Ernest Jones, Chartist, Defense Counsel to the Manchester Martyrs.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
terrymdunne - November 24, 2020

I wonder if Jones was the person who originated that phrase?

More on Jones here –

https://jacobinmag.com/2019/01/karl-marx-anti-colonialism-ernest-jones

Like

Reply
12. Joe - November 23, 2020

Can’t find Signs of Hope so I’ll put this here.
I live near St Vincent’s Secondary School. It’s a former CBS all boys secondary. Now not CBS but Edmund Rice Schools Trust (ERST) which all the CBS’s morphed into sometime in the noughties I think.
Anyway I’m friends with Vincent’s Secondary on Facebook. And the week before last they had an LGBTI+ Awareness Week. All kinds of posts on Facebook about stuff they did in the school around LGBTI+ awareness. And I thought that’s pretty cool.
Then yesterday I was walking past St Paul’s Secondary on Brunswick St – another ERST, formerly CBS, all boys secondary. Known to all as Brunner. And Brunner had the Rainbow Flag flying proudly on one of the official flagpoles at the front of the school.
I’m guessing that it was probably LGBTI+ Awareness Week in ERST schools all around the country. I hope so anyway.
I think that’s just super cool. On so many levels. Hats off to all concerned.

Liked by 3 people

Reply
13. CL - November 24, 2020

Former mayor of NYC, David Dinkins, has died at age of 93.
His wife of 67 years, Joyce, died last month.

Feb 10, 1992.
-Mayor David N. Dinkins traveled to Pennsylvania yesterday to visit Joseph Doherty, the former Irish Republican Army member imprisoned in a Federal prison in Lewisburg, to show support for Mr. Doherty, who is facing deportation to Great Britain.-NYT.

“In 1990, the New York City Council renamed the intersection of Pearl and Park South Streets in Lower Manhattan “Joseph Doherty Corner.”
https://wp.nyu.edu/specialcollections/2015/03/

‘George Harrison (2 May 1915 – 6 October 2004) was a gun runner for the Provisional Irish Republican Army from the 1950s until 1981….
He also took a number of controversial stances within the broader Irish-American community within New York City, including outspoken support for former Mayor David Dinkins, support for the inclusion of LGBT marchers in the New York Saint Patrick’s Day Parade[6] and his open defiance of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.’- Wiki

“DSA has served as a signaling device for some Democrats — including black politicians from major American cities — to distinguish themselves from the party’s centrist wing. Brooklyn’s Rep. Major Owens (D-NY) and David Dinkins, who served as mayor of New York City in the early 1990s, were both DSA members.”
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/8/5/15930786/dsa-socialists-convention-national

“President Clinton has refused to approve a visa for the leader of the political wing of the I.R.A. to visit New York, citing a law that excludes terrorists from entering the United States, The Irish Times reported today.
In a letter to Mayor David N. Dinkins, who had sought permission to invite Gerry Adams to New York at the urging of pro-I.R.A. Irish-Americans, Mr. Clinton said “credible evidence exists that Adams remains involved at the highest level in devising strategy” for the I.R.A.
The letter was published on the front page of The Irish Times today.”-
NYT, Nov 12, 1993

-In 1974 City Council president Paul O’Dwyer and Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton, among others, enabled Dinkins to be elected to the city clerk position. Dinkins held the city clerk’s position for ten years. During those years Dinkins ran for Manhattan Borough President three times, finally winning in 1985. In 1989, after one term as Manhattan Borough President, Dinkins ran in the Democratic mayoral primary. He defeated Ed Koch who was seeking a fourth term and went on to defeat Republican Rudolph Giuliani by two percentage points in the 1989 general election.-
https://www.citylandnyc.org/the-dinkins-autobiography-filling-in-a-missing-chapter/

Like

Reply
14. Tomboktu - November 24, 2020

Did you really say “apartheid”? Keep digging, senator, keep digging

Spot on:

Like

Reply
15. Tomboktu - November 24, 2020

Leave a reply to WorldbyStorm Cancel reply