Public opinion remains divided over the wisdom of bombing Syria. Much less so than the House of Commons, which this week allowed the red mist of ‘hitting evil hard’ to out-vote reasonable doubts over what military action can achieve without a lasting political solution in sight. Who benefits, besides the suppliers of Brimstone missiles atContinueContinue reading “Infra Digging”
Tag Archives: Terrorism
Unenlightening Europe
Quelle surprise! As we noted in September, France was an easy target for terror. So, ten days on from the Paris attacks, how’s the reaction unfolding?Canadian blogger Vlad Tepes sums up the polarisation:“The most important thing you can do when people you don’t know are murdered by Muslims in an act designed to promote theContinueContinue reading “Unenlightening Europe”
All Washed Up
Andrew Parker, the head of MI5, told BBC Radio 4 listeners today that the service could do with new surveillance powers to tackle the terrorist threat. That’s hardly surprising, according to the cynical view that you never let a good crisis go to waste. If necessary, you create one. We face a toxic combination. OnContinueContinue reading “All Washed Up”
Jeux Sans Frontières
Events in Paris this week have exposed Europe’s anxieties to the full. Let’s consider some of the possible reactions. On the far Right, and among the not-for-prophet movement generally, this is I-told-you-so time. Even those who disagree with the politics must find recent analysis strikingly prescient. And at least it’s an opportunity to highlight someContinueContinue reading “Jeux Sans Frontières”
Nuking Weymouth
According to financial analyst David Malone today, “2012 is going to be the year of unrest and repression.”A London establishment that has spent the last decade, and more, treading heavily on the world has now invited the world round for a spot of sport. And is getting worried. It might be a very good ideaContinueContinue reading “Nuking Weymouth”
The Infamous Five
In 1945, the Labour Party campaigned to destroy Beveridge’s ‘five giants’ of want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness. In 1997 and each subsequent election it tried the same trick, the latest pledges being to “secure the recovery”, “raise family living standards”, “build a high tech economy”, “protect frontline services”, and “strengthen fairness in communities”. AllContinueContinue reading “The Infamous Five”
Read All About It?
Candidates’ leaflets for the Witney constituency are now viewable here. As of today, two candidates – Aaron Barschak (Independent) and Howling Laud Hope (Monster Raving Loony) – seem not to have distributed any so how they plan to get votes is a mystery.These two, along with Joe Goldberg (Labour) and Nikolai Tolstoy (UKIP), are alsoContinueContinue reading “Read All About It?”
Organising Murder
“War is organised murder, and nothing else.”Harry PatchAnd so the extraordinary life of Harry Patch, the last Tommy of the First World War, has ended at his home in Wells. His years as a centenarian were spent as an eloquent spokesman for the Lost Generation of 1914-18, imparting what he could of experiences beyond theContinueContinue reading “Organising Murder”
Minding Our Own Business
“Peace is a coin which has two sides – one is the avoidance of the use of force and the other is the creation of conditions of justice. In the long run you cannot expect one without the other.”John Foster Dulles, 1956Dulles was not a man whose actions lived up to his words. Nor canContinueContinue reading “Minding Our Own Business”
All the World’s a Picnic
It was, of course, insensitive to allow a teddy bear to be named Mahomet. What self-respecting teddy would want to bear a name that remains mired in such controversy? But if Sudanese folk want to make themselves and their religion the world’s laughing-stock by over-reacting, then that’s their business.The questions which the Gillian Gibbons caseContinueContinue reading “All the World’s a Picnic”
Wessex Regionalists 