British Prime Minister Gordon Brown - Child Prodigy Of Renown ...

Bloody brilliant! Not.

Blogger's been buggering us about all afternoon as we've tried to write about child prodigy Gordon Brown.

So, let's see if this pic and link are 'disappeared' - as all our copy has been - several sodding times.

For further enlightenment, bright-spark-Brown-wise, see some startling stuff at this link.

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This Young (53 year old) Yank; John Edwards; 2008 Democratic Presidential Candidate ...

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Well, well, well.

Who ever would have thought it, eh?





John Edwards certainly seems like he's not only a man who 'gets it' - but is also a man who's not scared to say it how he sees it - straight out.

(We wonder who that reminds us of?)

Seriously, we can't speak for you, but this is the sort of (loud & clear) stuff we personally, positively love to hear.



And as if that weren't enough, he's also a man who 'looks the part'.

Is this 'presidential' enough?



Here's a website of his. See what you think.

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An Anniversary Article - About Another Infamous US War ...

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Here's a headline from 42 years ago today: 28th July 1965:

US orders 50,000 troops to Vietnam

President Johnson has committed a further 50,000 US troops to the conflict in Vietnam.

Monthly draft calls will increase from 17,000 to 35,000 - the highest level since the Korean War, when between 50,000 and 80,000 men were called up each month.

It will take the US force in Vietnam up to 125,000 but officials say at this stage demands should be met by conscription, without calling upon the reserves.

Speaking in a televised address from the White House President Johnson said: "We do not want an expanding struggle with consequences no one can foresee."

"Nor will we bluster, bully or flaunt our power. But we will not surrender, nor will we retreat," he continued.

Read the rest of that BBC Viet Nam report - and much more.

Then maybe you'd like to look at a few photographs of some of the players involved - to varying degrees - in that particular American war crime.

Here's JFK and LBJ.



Here's Colin Powell.


Wanna see some more?



Enough, already.

Too many bloody awful nightmarish memories for us; of mass murder, madness, mayhem, misery and much, much more.



Old habits die hard, don't they?

Eh?



Find some fitting words of your own for our final photo.

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Gordon Brown To Meet George Bush At Camp David ...

So Gordon and George are going to get together at Camp David, eh?

Oh, to be a fly on the wall, eh?

Here's what today's Guardian has to say on the subject.

Brown to meet Bush at Camp David

Matthew Tempest, political correspondent
Thursday July 26, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

Gordon Brown will meet the US president, George Bush, for their first formal face-to-face summit at the weekend.

The prime minister will see Mr Bush at the presidential retreat of Camp David in Maryland on Sunday night, before heading to New York to give an address to the United Nations.

(snip)

Two weeks ago one of Mr Brown's most trusted proteges, the trade and development secretary, Douglas Alexander, made a speech in Washington pointedly calling for the US to "recognise the importance of a rules-based international system".

"We need to demonstrate by our deeds, words and our actions that we are internationalist, not isolationist, multilateralist, not unilateralist, active and not passive, and driven by core values, consistently applied, not special interests," he said.

In addition, Mr Brown has appointed the former deputy UN general secretary and Iraq war-sceptic, Mark Malloch Brown to his foreign affairs team.

Lord Malloch-Brown has described himself as "proud to be an anti-neo con" ...

Read the rest of the report right here.

Then, be sure to see this Comment Is Free section 'special'. And make sure you have your own say too.

What do you think Brown and Bush will say to each other?

What do you think other (regular), regular Guardian readers have already said?

And maybe more importantly, what would you want them to say?

Get your own two cents worth in, through this the link.

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US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales Condemns Bush Presidency By Omission

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was back in a familiar place Tuesday, on Capitol Hill testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Alberto Gonzales is the Attorney General of The United States of America.

He's the official appointee to the office of the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the current American administration.

President George W. Bush still insists on not firing him.

In God's name -- why?

Watch this and weep; for the whole wide world.



How can anyone either in America or indeed the whole wide world trust anything that comes out of any member of this current criminal maladminitration's mouth?

Including any of the reasons given for invasions, wars and occupations of other sovereign nations.

Including any reasons given for asking young Americans to go abroad and give their lives. And, to take the lives of innocent others.

Talk about tissues of lies.

Quite clearly, Lewis Carroll's Alice was much more believable.

And while the American people themselves continue to sit idly by and not (by fair means or foul), bring a halt to this ongoing criminal venture - can they honestly claim to be innocent of high crimes themselves?

Aren't they all accessories?

At the very least, should they be at all suprised if that's how they're viewed across much of the planet?

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England Today;Floods, Floods And Still More Floods ...

Few words today -- other than to say that much of England is still submerged.

Let the photos speak for themselves.








No global warming, eh?

No climate change, eh?

Bollix.

Floods or no floods, none of us are THAT wet behind the ears.

Catch up on this UK catastrophe at the BBC site -- where there's absolutely no shortage of words -- nor pictures -- nor videos -- nor links.

And, according to the Meteorological Office forecasts we're still far from finished with floods.

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Why The White House Should Have Read T.E. Lawrence ...

Shown below is Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888–1935) aka Lawrence of Arabia.


Shown below is a snip (or two), from a recent piece written for 'The Independent' by media hero, Robert Fisk.

Robert Fisk: TE Lawrence had it right about Iraq

'Rebellions can be made by 2 per cent active and 98 per cent passively sympathetic'

Published: 14 July 2007

Back in 1929, Lawrence of Arabia wrote the entry for "Guerrilla" in the 14th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. It is a chilling read - and here I thank one of my favourite readers, Peter Metcalfe of Stevenage, for sending me TE's remarkable article - because it contains so ghastly a message to the American armies in Iraq.

Writing of the Arab resistance to Turkish occupation in the 1914-18 war, he asks of the insurgents (in Iraq and elsewhere): "... suppose they were an influence, a thing invulnerable, intangible, without front or back, drifting about like a gas? Armies were like plants, immobile as a whole, firm-rooted, nourished through long stems to the head. The Arabs might be a vapour..."

How typical of Lawrence to use the horror of gas warfare as a metaphor for insurgency. To control the land they occupied, he continued, the Turks "would have need of a fortified post every four square miles, and a post could not be less than 20 men. The Turks would need 600,000 men to meet the combined ill wills of all the local Arab people. They had 100,000 men available."

Now who does that remind you of? The "fortified post every four square miles" is the ghostly future echo of George W Bush's absurd "surge". The Americans need 600,000 men to meet the combined ill will of the Iraqi people, and they have only 150,000 available.

(snip)

So we are going to have yet another war in the Middle East, this time against Hamas - democratically elected, of course, but only as a result of what Pipes calls "the Bush administration's heedless rush to Palestinian elections"? It's good to see that the late Tony Blair is already being dubbed a "savant". But shouldn't Pipes, too, read Lawrence? For insurgency is a more powerful "vapour" than that which comes from the mouths of illusionists.

Never mind Pipes -- shouldn't someone in the White House and someone in the Pentagon have read Lawrence too?

Before their Iraq bloodbath blunder?!

Read all of Robert Fisk's excellent article right here.

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Every American Needs To Know About Richistan ...

How we wish we could write as well as this man can.

But since we know full well that we can't - we won't try.

Better by far, we believe, that we tempt you with teasers & tasters to find out for yourselves the merit of this man's works.

Welcome to Richistan, USA

The American Dream of riches for all is turning into a nightmare of inequality.

But a backlash is brewing, reports Paul Harris in New York

Sunday July 22, 2007 -- 'The Observer'

That's some special header, eh?

Right then; read on.

... America's super-rich have returned to the days of the Roaring Twenties. As the rest of the country struggles to get by, a huge bubble of multi-millionaires lives almost in a parallel world.

The rich now live in their own world of private education, private health care and gated mansions. They have their own schools and their own banks. They even travel apart - creating a booming industry of private jets and yachts. Their world now has a name, thanks to a new book by Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Frank which has dubbed it 'Richistan'.

There every dream can come true. But for the American Dream itself - which promises everyone can join the elite - the emergence of Richistan is a mixed blessing. 'We in America are heading towards 'developing nation' levels of inequality. We would become like Brazil.

What does that say about us? What does that say about America?' Frank said.

(snip)

Even some of the most wealthy - like Gates and Buffett - have spoken openly of the needs to address the massive 'inequality gap' that they have come to exemplify.

In effect, some of the very richest Americans are calling for themselves to be taxed. In a speech last month Buffett - the third richest man in the world - pointed out that his tax rate was 17.7 per cent of his income while his secretary was taxed at 30 per cent.

'Many of the new super-rich are looking long term at the world and they see a collapsing US education system and health-care system and the disappearance of the middle class and they realise: this is bad for everybody,' said Frank.

(snip)

Have we hooked you yet?

We hope so.

Read all of this (ominous?) article.

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Special Envoy Blair's Middle East Masquerade; Fluff, Bluff, Bluster And Betrayal ...

Look at Tony Blair looking as pleased as Punch with himself.

Could even the proverbial dog of 'two dicks' fame come across as so obviously, self servingly, smarmy and cocky?

Shorter Tony Blair (as we see it): A legend in his mind.


The truth is that toadying Tony is still as stupidly naive as he ever was, as far as anything remotely connected to the current American maladministration crew is concerned.

Witness a little of what 'The Telegraph' tells us today.

Tony Blair was told by the United States yesterday that he had no authority to tackle political negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians as he spent his first full day as special envoy to the Middle East.

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, insisted that America would retain leadership of the "political track" while Mr Blair would work on raising funds for the Palestinians, as well as building their economy and infrastructure.

It was the clearest account yet of the former prime minister's role in the Middle East on behalf of the international Quartet - the European Union, United Nations, the United States and Russia. He will be more an envoy to the Palestinians than a peace envoy.

"I think his mandate was made clear by the Quartet when they issued the statement," said Miss Rice.

"There is also a political track that for a variety of reasons the United States is committed to lead in co-ordination with the Quartet."

Talk about being taken for (yet another), ride. Huh. With friends such as Tony's who the hell needs enemies?

Read the rest of today's'Telegraph expose'.

Sharif Hikmit Nashashibi, chairman of Arab Media Watch, certainly seems to have 'em all sussed out.

... speaking to Al Jazeera, [Nashashibi] said Blair had offered only "five minutes of fluff and generalisations".

"There was no real meat to what he was saying," he said. "It's typical Blair."

He said the Quartet itself had done "next to nothing" to work towards a solution.

"They talk a lot, they come out with generalisations, they portray the conflict as one of two equal sides but on the ground they have achieved next to nothing.

And they've appointed an envoy that will continue that level of success."

Read the rest of the relevant 'Al Jazeera-English' report.

So -- the Blair 'bottom line'?

He's been made BushCo's 'bag-man' in the Middle East.


We wonder whether or not he was first made something else?

Such as some sort of offer he couldn't refuse?

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Dirty Dick Cheney To Take Charge ...

Bush to cede power to VP during colonoscopy

Okay, first have your laugh at the bum's expense.


Then when you're all done giggling ... read the relevant report.


Can you imagine how much worse things COULD be? If?

Understand what we're saying?

Phew. Perish the thought.

So, get well soon, Dubya. Real soon.

(Jeeze. Who thought they'd ever see us write something like that last line?)

Britain's Close Encounter With Russian 'Bear Bombers' ...

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It's a good job that we (sometimes) believe a bit more in 'coincidence theories' rather than 'conspiracy theories', otherwise we might just be labeling the Russian military as a load of liars.


Coming so hot on the heels of Russia's recent and very public threat to 'respond' to the UK's expulsion of some of their diplomats -- ain't this an absolutely amazing coincidence?

How's this for a headline from The (London) Times, yesterday?

RAF scrambles to intercept Russian bombers

Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor - 18th July 2007

Yep, you read that right.

Read on.

RAF fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian strategic bombers heading for British airspace yesterday, as the spirit of the Cold War returned to the North Atlantic once again.

The incident, described as rare by the RAF, served as a telling metaphor for the stand-off between London and Moscow over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.

(snip)

There was no evidence to suggest that the incident was connected with the diplomatic row over the extradition of Andrei Lugovoy, the main suspect in the murder of Litvinenko.

Nawhr, of course not. There couldn't possibly be, could there?

Complete coincidence, isn't it?

Read the rest of this 'Times' report right here.

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UK-Russia Diplomatic Relations Rift Escalates With Expulsions ..

A storm in a tea cup?

Or a sign of some more serious stuff, as yet still to surface?

"Russia warns UK over expulsions

The Kremlin has warned Britain it faces "serious consequences" after expelling four Russian diplomats from the UK.

The move followed Moscow's refusal to hand over the former KGB agent accused of murdering Alexander Litvinenko in London last year.

Suspect Andrei Lugovoi, who denies involvement, claimed the charges against him had a "political subtext".

But Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Britain would make "no apologies" for expelling the four Russians.

Mr Brown said that because "there is no forthcoming co-operation, then action has to be taken".

The [British] Foreign Office has not named the four Russian diplomats, but the BBC understands they are intelligence officers."

Shown above is murder victim Alexander Litvinenko

Another Russian spook Andrei Lugovoi, (shown below) had allegedly slipped some sort of (lethal), radioactive isotope into Litvinenko's drink.



Could 'Cold War' be making a comeback? At any rate, as far as (already rapidly cooling), UK/Russia diplomatic relations are concerned?

Get the BBC's latest reports/analysis/explanations/etc, right here (including video link to the victim's public accusation(s) and identification of his killer), then see what you think yourself.

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Boris Johnson? Mayor Of London? Argh ...

W.T.F?




We don't bloody well believe it.




Surely they're not bloody serious?




Now we're convinced;the world has indeed gone stark, staring, raving, bloody bonkers.





Make this bloody barmpot Mayor of London?!




Boris-bloody-Johnson?!


Argh ..........

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Israel's Plan To Attack Iran Is Cleared (in your name and ours), By US And Europe

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We're late again.



It took us four full days to find the following frightening press release/report in 'Israel Today'.

Headline News

Wednesday, July 11, 2007 by Staff Writer

Lieberman: US will back Israeli strike on Iran

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday that he received the tacit blessing of Europe and the United States for an Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

“If we start military operations against Iran alone, then Europe and the US will support us,” Lieberman told Army Radio following a meeting earlier in the week with NATO and European Union officials.

Seeing is believing so they say -- so see it for yourself. (1)

Then ensure you also see this, from the same Israeli source. (2)

Make no mistake, it's coming. Israel WILL launch a preemptive attack against Iran. And almost certainly, sooner rather than later.

And by the way, before anyone bothers (again) to begin emailing us (again) to attempt to intimidate us (again), we want to tell them right here & now - save you sodding time and energy you stupid schmucks, since such semi-scare-tactic-shite cuts no ice at all; leastwise, it definitely doesn't with us.

Nor do any corny old accusations that we're anti-Semitic -- simply because we (and many, many others), know for certain that we're not.

One more thing -- derision is no stranger to us -- so those choosing to laugh can laugh as loud as they like. But believe us ... we'll have the last one.

Which leads us nicely into ...

... talking of 'last' -- for information on further Israeli 'incentives' -- such as a 'buy-out plan' for Iranian Jews - get right on over to Gert's Blog.

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Where Would We Be If It Weren't For Bush & Blair?

Thanks a bunch, boys.

Ya bums.

Here's another fine mess you've gotten us into.

Kremlin tears up arms pact with Nato

Russia suspends arms control pact

Russia sends warning to the West

(That's another one we 'owe you'.)

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UK-US Special Relationship; Recent Surprising Revelations ...

By jingo, Gordo, you've actually managed make us wonder whether there may be at least a tiny bit of truth in the slogan so prominently emblazoned across the background in your photo shown below.





When we initially learned that one of the first cabinet ministers you appointed was Jack Straw, we thought 'hmm'.

Especially, since Straw was so unceremoniously sacked by your pathetic predecessor, Blair - widely believed, btw, to have been at the behest of his best bosom buddy, Dumbya - so soon after Condoleezza Rice came calling on Jack.

And, so soon after she reported to her master how she absolutely couldn't believe the massive number of Muslims in his parliamentary constituency.

Incidentally, can anyone enlighten us as to the current wheres, whats, whys and whens with regard to creepy Condi?

Regardless - preamble ends.

'Cut to the chase' time has come.

The subtle shift in British foreign policy

Analysis -- By Paul Reynolds

World Affairs correspondent BBC News website

A speech in Washington by the British cabinet minister Douglas Alexander is part of a distancing of the new British government from the Bush administration, but there will not be a decisive break.

There was another instance of the distancing on Saturday when a new foreign office minister Mark Malloch Brown, a critic of US policy when he was at the UN, said that the US and UK would no longer be "joined at the hip".

The Prime Minister Gordon Brown reacted by trying to stop the impression of a break with the US. Cabinet ministers have been reminded of the importance of the relationship.

However, it is difficult not to conclude that there is a change of atmosphere.

Read the rest of this report right here.

Then when you're done with that one, there's this one.

US and UK 'no longer inseparable'

Lord Malloch Brown wants a more impartial foreign policy

One of Gordon Brown's new ministers has said the UK and the United States would no longer be "joined at the hip" on foreign policy.

Lord Mark Malloch Brown told the Daily Telegraph it was time for a more "impartial" foreign policy and to build relationships with European leaders.

Some analysts may consider the Foreign Office minister's remarks evidence of Labour distancing itself from the US.

Earlier, Downing Street denied another minister had criticised the US.

International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander warned in a speech against unilateralism and called for an "internationalist approach" to global problems.

Lord Malloch Brown's newspaper interview was his first since being appointed Foreign Office minister.

See this full story for yourself.

Well, whadaya know?

And, whadaya think?

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'Realpolitik' Ruling America : As Always?

We wonder.

Will anything be any different - this time?

Will any genuine outrage finally come out of the closet?

If so, from whom? And when? And in what form? And with what seriousness and/or strength? And how sustained do you personally suppose any such show of public protest should be?

Maybe much more to the point, if none at all, in God's name, why?

Wondering what we're talking about? Well, in case you haven't heard yet ... here's what.

Kucinich Camp Outraged by 'Overheard' Plans of Clinton and Edwards to Eliminate Candidates from Future Presidential Debates

How's that for a headline?

Read on. Albeit at your own risk. Since any (maybe even all), hope(s) you have ever harboured may disappear in an instant - in fact, in that fabled 'poof!'.

DETROIT, July 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Top campaign officials for Ohio Congressman and Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich tonight expressed outrage that rival candidates Hillary Clinton and John Edwards were overheard collaborating on a strategy to eliminate other Democratic candidates from future debates and forums.

According to the Associated Press, Fox News Channel microphones picked up Clinton and Edwards on stage discussing their desire to limit future joint appearances to exclude some rivals lower in the crowded field.

"We should try to have a more serious and a smaller group," Edwards said into Clinton's ear following a Presidential Forum in Detroit hosted by the NAACP on Thursday.

Clinton agreed with Edwards, according to print reports and video footage of the exchange. "We've got to cut the number. ...

Read the rest of this jaw-dropping report right here.

Back to business as usual?

Well, we don't know about you, but we sincerely believe that just about sums it up.

In America, 'Realpolitik' rules.

Moreover, it appears to us that it always has and, that it always will.

Unless, of course ...... ?

You tell us.

See For Yourself ... 'Sicko' ... And ... Cheney ...

Today we're taking on the role of go-between.

First, we want to pass this on, from Tom at Current Era.

Sicko : The Full Movie Online

Michael Moore said that he wants people to see his new movie. Here it is. He does highly recommend seeing it on the big screen as well as I do. If you like it, please grab some friends and family and go see it together the way it was supposed to be seen.

I put this up for people that would not go watch it otherwise and as a promotion for the movie so that people would be inspired to take others to watch it at the theater.

This is the full movie.

If I am asked to take it down, of course I will, but for now, thank you Michael Moore for realizing getting the message out is the most important thing.

Click here to watch...broadband required....http://currentera.com/blog/?p=1735

Next we want you watch this video evidence of (just a few of), Dick Cheney's patently impeachable offences.

Impeach Dick Cheney

P.S. There's also a petition with an option of signing at this second site.

Barmy Old Brit Bint Weds Bin Laden ...

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No, we're not kidding.

Nor have we cracked up, nor gone crazy.

That header you read is for real.

The crazy old cow shown below (twice, in case you don't believe it the first time), has married Bin Laden.

Omar, that is, - not Osama.

Omar's Osama's son.

See?

As if it makes any damned difference, eh?

Councillor weds Bin Laden's son

Jane met Bin Laden's son while horse riding around the Pyramids

A 51-year-old parish councillor from Cheshire has married a son of the world's most notorious terrorist.

Jane Felix-Browne, from Moulton, near Northwich, married Omar Osama Bin Laden, 27, after romance blossomed during a holiday in Egypt.

The grandmother, who declined to take her husband's surname, says she does not care about his family background, stating she married for love.

When you pick yourself up off the floor, sit yourself down -- then read the rest of this report.

Un-bloody-believable.

Awrh, stuff it! We're sodding off as soon as poss to seek sanctuary somewhere where we can lay down for a while -- preferably, somewhere in a (deeply) darkened, soundproofed room.

Temporarily, at least.

(Talk about crazier and crazier.)

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Dirty Dick Cheney In The Dog Whore House?

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Uh, oh!

Well, well, well.

Will dirty old man, Dick Cheney, finally be f*cked off ... sometime soon?

Has he eventually been caught dead to rights -- with his kinky kecks down around his ankles, so to speak?

Is this the last of his smoking guns?



Well, we admit we ain't sure for certain ...... just yet.

Hop straight across to Kos's place, where it seems a surfeit of dirty Dick dirt has just been dug up and is being actively discussed -- as we type.

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Iraq-Iran; Latest Revelation: We Smell A Rat, and Something Distinctly Fishy

Paranoia?

Perhaps.

But probably not.

Something certainly smells fishy to us.

Not to mention an overwhelming whiff of a fowl (but familiar), aroma -- of rat.

As always though, time alone will tell.

Someone sent us a (seemingly, super-sinister) story yesterday - very recently run by Al-Jazeera English.

See for yourself what it says.

Then see what you think.

Here's a small snippet of said story:

Al-Qaeda threatens war against Iran

US forces had claimed to have killed al-Juburi,
also known as Abu Omar al-Baghdadi [AFP]

The leader of an al-Qaeda umbrella group in Iraq, who was thought to have been killed by US forces, has threatened to wage war against Iran unless it stops supporting Shias in Iraq within two months.

Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State in Iraq, said his Sunni fighters have been preparing to wage a battle against Shia-dominated Iran.

Al-Baghdadi made the announcement in an audiotape that was posted on a web site commonly used by armed groups.

Read the rest of this really alarming report right here.

Remember an old adage about there being 'more than one way of skinning a rabbit'?


Remember the infamous Iran Contra Affair?

Remember the odious, obnoxious Colonel Oliver North?

Deja vous, anyone?

Same old, same old, anyone?



Black (helicopter) ops, anyone?
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George W. Bush - The World's Most Dangerous Dope

A fit and proper President of the USA?

A competent Commander in Chief of the planet's most powerful military?

The fellow with his finger on the button?















Heaven help us all. If it wasn't so frightening it would be funny -- but even then, only in a 'sick joke' sort of way.



A bloody good question; how, indeed.

*(Cross posted at Proudly Presents.)