Stef's Blog - a native London Southlander and unrepentant 'Conspiraloon™' who doesn't trust anyone, not even himself. Sometimes I take pictures. I also enjoy swearing immensely and think much faster than I can type, so each post comes guaranteed to include at last one confusing typo. OK?
I've just popped a Sky News report on the recently released CCTV footage of JCdM at Stockwell Station onto Youtube
I didn't ask Rupert for permission beforehand so it might not stay up for very long
If you look very carefully at the footage it is clear that JCdM could easily have been carrying an invisible suicide bomb and that police and media accounts of the events leading up to his shooting were 100% accurate.
My spooky psychic powers are working overtime again and telling me that it's almost time to be told to put the events at Stockwell behind us and move on. There have been two independent investigations and a court case and any further investigation would be both costly and pointless . Also, think about the distress caused to the bereaved family by endlessly re-examining the tragic events over and over again, etc etc...
And in related developments in the ongoing War on Terror, that Intellectual Colossus, Purveyor of Truth™ and nominal head of the Metropolitan Police Sir Ian Blair has recently gone on the record to say...
"The number of the conspiracies, the number of conspirators within those conspiracies and the magnitude of the ambition, in terms of destruction and loss of life, is mounting; has continued to mount, is increasing year by year"
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Everyone at Northern Rock continues to work hard to ensure our customers enjoy a high standard of service and we thank you for your confidence in us.
That report I link to in my previous post about the risk of the UK becoming a Dystopian surveillance state gets especially hung-up on the fact that many of the increased powers being taken by the state are, in turn, delegated to private companies
I share the authors’ seemingly out-dated view that there are some things that money can’t buy and therefore probably best not left to profit making entities to manage
People who serve in armies generally don’t carry that stigma and are usually accorded respect by most people.
That respect comes from the belief that those soldiers serve for something more than financial reward and have undertaken to risk their lives to protect the rest of us whilst we sleep peacefully in our beds
And even when our soldiers are stuck into some shitty, questionable situations by our politicians we still want to believe that our soldiers will do their honourable best to deal with those shitty, questionable situations
I think most of our soldiers want to believe that too
Which gets me onto a story someone emailed me (thanks AF)…
The US military initially told Durkin’s family that she died in action but now isn’t quite so sure.
The fact that Durkin was working as a finance clerk, had recently told family members that she had discovered something untoward and had urged them to press for an investigation in the event of her death does raise one or two questions
As does the fact that the list of US and UK soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq who have either a) been murdered, or b) so appalled by the immorality of corporate kleptowar that they’ve killed themselves, is beginning to stack up…
A devout Catholic, father of three and a specialist in military ethics. Apparently he was so disgusted with the corruption of the mercenary contractor company he was liaising with and the reluctance of his superiors to deal with it that he shot himself in the head a month before he was due to return home. His suicide note read ‘I am sullied no more’
A high profile recruit to the US armed forces who gave up a lucrative football career to serve his country. He was killed in action in Afghanistan and awarded a nice shiny posthumous medal for bravery in combat. His family later discovered that the medal citation was a pack of lies, that Tillman was shot in the face at close range with an American rifle and that evidence was deliberately destroyed immediately after his death. They’re not best pleased…
Apparently, Corporal Tillman was planning to return home and say one or two negative things about the war at the end of his tour...
I’m not putting forward any cleverly insightful conclusions about these stories. However, a little Googling of these people’s names and some reading up on the circumstances surrounding their deaths paints a picture of a totally fucked up mess, in Afghanistan and Iraq. A fucked up, immoral mess that’s killing people who are trying to do their best and killing those people in more ways than the bastards behind these wars want us to think about
“It is a chilling, dystopian account of what Britain will look like 10 years from now: a world in which Fortress Britain uses fleets of tiny spy-planes to watch its citizens, of Minority Report-style pre-emptive justice, of an underclass trapped in sink-estate ghettos under constant state surveillance, of worker drones forced to take on the lifestyle and values of the mega-corporation they work for, and of the super-rich hiding out in gated communities constantly monitored by cameras and private security guards.
This Orwellian vision of the future was compiled on the orders of the UK's information commissioner - the independent watchdog meant to guard against government and private companies invading the privacy of British citizens and exploiting the masses of information currently held on each and every one of us - by the Surveillance Studies Network, a group of academics…”
It’s worth a read and the report it quotes from is nowhere near as sensationalist, either in its predictions or timescales, as it could have been
My own take on this subject is that sooner or later we’re going to reach a tipping point with all these cameras and databases. Once that tipping point is reached a significant number of people are going to discover a new found sense of purpose in this soulless, consumerist prison of a society which corporations are creating around us.
and that purpose will be to fuck those corporations' precious little cameras and databases up
The shocking delusion and warped ideology of suicide bombers are brought into sharp focus by former CIA agent Robert Baer in the third instalment of his exemplary series. He talks to two failed suicide bombers in Afghanistan (though we're not told why their plan didn't succeed). Little more than boys, these 17-year-olds are naive enough to believe that God would detonate their explosive vests, rather than the more prosaic explanation of a remotely operated device. The pair were even promised that virgins would wait at the bomb site to lead them to paradise. Baer visits Israel, where the government built a $1.5 billion wall aimed at stopping Palestinian suicide bombers, and offers his own ideas about how self-radicalising young people can be turned away from this murderous path.
It's great to see the major television networks doing their warm up acts for Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week later on in the month
It's just as well everything is so quiet in the Middle East at the moment, otherwise paranoid cynics might start thinking people are being softened up for something
...again
And, as I’ve said a few times before, I think it’s absolutely brilliant how these shows frequently turn to the Israelis for advice on how to deal with terrorism. They’ve only been at if for about 60 years and starting to show some real progress now that they’ve hit upon a winning formula of building enormous great fucking walls all over the place, blanketing the country with checkpoints, demolishing entire neighbourhoods and engaging in perpetual low level conflict with their neighbours
Yup, we’ve got a lot to learn from those guys and the sooner we start taking a leaf or two out of their book the better
though it is a bit of a shame how these TV shows don’t actually explain that suicide bombing started as a tactic to use against militarily superior foes, rather than as an ideology
And nor do these programs get round to explaining why it is that we’re supposed to think that suicide bombs are somehow scarier or more dangerous than other kinds of bombs...
Do suicide bombs somehow hurt more than, say, IRA bombs (the threat of which we somehow managed to live with without being encouraged by our establishment to shit our pants on a daily basis) because the guys carrying them blow up with them?
(I've actually heard a couple of senior Metropolitan Police officers explain that the difference between IRA and Islamic terror attacks is that the Islamic terror attacks are planned to cause maximum loss of life in a way that IRA bombs weren't. That would be non-lethal IRA bombs like the one that went off in Omagh...
Are suicide bombs more horrific than 2,500lbs of laser guided, high fragmentation unpleasantness dropped from a plane piloted by someone who doesn't kill himself in the process?
Would ‘suicide’ bombs still hurt more if the guys carrying them did not know they were carrying them?
Or, more to the point…
Why do supposedly responsible and thoughtful television companies make documentaries that claim to explain suicide bombing but restrict themselves to spouting agenda-laden bollocks instead
I can’t speak for the rest of the country but it’s turning out to be a rubbish year for mushrooms, especially porcini, in South East England
Photograph of porcini in action - NOT taken this year
Though, having said that, there’s a least one person who seems to be getting his hands on adequate quantities of his favourite edible funghi…
and in case anyone is a) interested and b) missed it, David Shayler has set up his own Youtube TV Channel - ‘Shayler TV’
Episode 1 (in all its excrutiating messianic glory)…
I find it difficult to be totally scathing about someone who is advocating universal compassion and understanding but that’s not the stuff I have a problem with
I’ve linked and referred people to Wikipedia a lot over the last few years and, even though I’ll probably continue to do so in a limited way, I’m going to consciously cut down on my implied support for what is increasingly turning out to be a bag of old shite
My 'favourite' recent example of Wikipedia’s shiteness is its entry on the anthrax attacks that took place immediately after 9/11. Anyone who has read around the subject will be aware that the anthrax in question came from a US military lab and that the FBI investigation into the attacks dropped off the media radar rather quickly once the source of the anthrax was established. Anyone doing some reading will also be aware that a guy called Philip Zack has one or two questions to answer about the goings on in that particular lab
"Death to Zionist-loving American Pigs!! Yours Sincerely, A. Muslim ( PS If undelivered please return to Fort Detrick, Maryland) "
Given all that it seems only fair that Wikipedia’s entry on Operation Mockingbird (the name given to the Central Intelligence Agency operation to influence domestic and foreign media) is currently itself under threat of the axe...
If Winston Smith were a real person he'd feel right at home with Wikipedia
Because, as we all know, in spite of all those ex-spooks who claim that 90%+ of intelligence operations are about planting information rather than gathering intelligence, our intelligence services wouldn’t dream of covertly influencing the media in any way at all
Yes, I know this guy is obsessed but his work, and the way he goes about his work, pleasures me immensely
and top marks to him for pointing out to a couple of our policemen that, whether they are happy about it or not, their uniforms are plastered with Masonic symbolism...
This electronic All Seeing Eye appears to have a policeman in a silly hat attached to it
A honorary lifetime Conspiraloon™ Alliance membership is winging his way because, as we all know, being the servant of a fruity little secret club is not insane but pointing out that other people are is
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edit: and whilst on the subject of police logos, I noticed that a member of the public has thoughtfully submitted their own suggestion for a new Metropolitan Police motto on a sign on the Brixton Road today; written in Latin, no less, to give it that extra touch of class...
Sarcasm aside, I think it's great that our police put up notices all round South London to remind people that they are actually operating here
Unlike the ‘Little Englanders’ I referred to in my earlier post I personally doubt very much if an organisation like Common Purpose could ever be the all powerful demon they think it to be
What it could very easily be is part of that network of unaccountable, droid-nurturing lobby groups and think thanks which now envelops the political process and has replaced ideology and conviction with 'glittering generalities'
I have a particularly big problem with the Fascistic (that word again) blurring of the conceptual lines between a public service such as the police or prison service and privately owned companies - a blurring process which organisations like Common Purpose help to promote
Maybe I am prisoner of my personal political ideology but I believe that there is a big difference between running a supermarket and running a police force
There are some services that are arguably best run as monopolies – water supply is the first that comes to mind. Unless that is someone can make a compelling case for laying two competing sets of pipes in our towns and cities
And giving monopolies on essential services over to private ownership is rarely a good idea
There are other services which potentially could compete with each other but it is probably best if they don’t – I’d suggest that having two different police forces or armies competing with each other on the high street would be insane
Another point to consider is that many of our public services exist because we, as citizens, give up our rights to act for ourselves on the understanding that certain activities, such as dispensing justice, might be better achieved collectively
"You know I am no stranger. I know rules are a bore. But just to keep you from danger I am the Law"
But what happens when the politicians we have given up our freedom of action to hand those powers over to privately controlled corporations? Is a policeman still a public servant if he works for a privately controlled company?
...or thinks, acts and talks like he's working for a privately controlled company?
Would that make someone like Jean Charles de Menezes a dissatisfied customer?
Mentioning JCdM is not quite as gratuitous as it might seem, as the person who gave the order for him to be shot in the face is a Common Purpose graduate
And no, I am not implying that Common Purpose style leadership training turns people in psycho killers but if I had been the person who paid for that particular graduate’s leadership course I’d be looking for my money back...
That’s one story that hasn’t made it’s way onto the Common Purpose graduate case history webpage
It makes much more sense to think about these kind of leadership courses not so much as being about training as being part of a selection process. You can’t turn someone into a leader in a couple of weeks. You can however identify the kind of people your system of control is based on and equip them with the language they need to be identifiable to each other
... a way of looking at things which can help make sense of the fact that the person in command of the Stockwell operation was promoted to even higher office shortly after presiding over what was, even by official accounts, a murderous fuck up
Competence and preferment do not necessarily go hand in hand in our system of governance. There are other qualities much higher on the list of selection criteria
Given the increased blurring of the distinction between public service and private enterprise, it seems only appropriate that the only court case to be heard as the result of JCdM’s execution is being held under Health and Safety at work legislation. Even though I doubt very much if anyone will be held accountable as a result of the case it has at least forced the papers to report a curious incident which happened immediately after JCdM was shot...
Aside from a press statement issued by the driver’s union the following day, the news that the police (sic.) chased the train driver down a tunnel and jammed a gun in his face has not been investigated by any of the mainstream media. Come to think of I don't even think the press release was reported at the time
The significance of this story is, to my mind anyway, that if the police had followed an alleged suspect suicide bomber all the way from his home to Stockwell station why on earth would they feel the need to start running around pointing guns at other people, especially the driver of the fucking train?
And as for the $64,000 question – ‘Why did the police think a guy in thin clothing, carrying no bags, was a suicide bomber in the first place?’ – well, forget it…
The official story continues to make no sense – big time
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PS - The Antagonist appears to be in the process of resuscitating 'Anything that defies my sense of reason' - a blog that has frequently touched on the events of July 2005 and their consequences, as well as all sorts of other bits and bobs. I'm glad to see it breathing again
Just to clarify a couple of points from that last post...
My suggestion that people with contrasting ’Left’ and ‘Right’ Wing views might have a common enemy and their own common purpose is not the same thing as suggesting that racism, xenophobia or Hate in general is something that people can overlook.
However, I do find it fascinating how people’s opposition to something like expansion of the role of the EU for example is framed and shaped by their political views
Those with right-leaning beliefs who oppose the EU may do so on the basis that it impinges on national sovereignty
Those with left leaning beliefs who oppose the EU may do so on the basis that it is undemocratic and initiatives such as a common currency make it much easier for corporations to shift capital and jobs from place to place, playing one group of workers against the other
The underlying causes for their rejection of the EU as it stands are essentially very similar – a fear of unrepresentative elitist hegemony – but that shared concern is obscured by some of the baggage associated with Left and Ring Wing belief systems
…and the language people use
When I think about the possible negative impact of the EU my concern is that it may become a fully Fascist entity - a seamless integration of industry and government, controlled by an unaccountable few
Yet other people, more Right Wing people, chuck terms like ‘Communist’ and ‘Marxist’ around when talking about the EU
So, is the EU really all things to all people - Communist, Marxist and Fascist - or is the language we use letting us down?
I am not discounting the fact that there are fundamental differences between people with Left and Right Wing views of how the world should work but I do believe that flexibility of thought is constrained by mass media promotion of restrictive terminology and pre-packaged ideology
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'What happened at Stockwell' - courtesy of the BBC
