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Category Archives: Uncategorized

The USA: “no way out but war”

24 May

MintPress News yesterday: searing words from America and about America by Presbyterian Minister, Chris Hedges: The United States, as the near unanimous vote to provide nearly $40 billion in aid to Ukraine illustrates, is trapped in the death spiral of … Read More »

Uncategorized 8 Comments

On and on and on …

16 May

G’day world! I’ve been quoting Caitlin Johnstone so often of late that the steel city keyboard’s picked up an Ozzie twang. Fair dinkum though. She’ll be right, mate. I’ve said nothing of Shireeen Abu Akleh, the 51-year-old Palestinian-American of whom, … Read More »

middle east, ukraine war, Uncategorized, usa Leave a comment

Sanctions: America’s Greek Tragedy

9 Mar

Simply put, the USA has won the propaganda war, while Russia is winning the war itself. Melkularanga Bhadrakumar (former Indian Ambassador) Moscow and Beijing have formed a mutually beneficial “tandem” based on their respective strengths; Russia as a major military … Read More »

Uncategorized 20 Comments

Russia’s recognition of the LDNR

23 Feb

People of Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) celebrate after Russia recognizes it as an independent state on February 21 Those who get their misinformation from Guardian and BBC might be forgiven their oblivion to the fact of Ukraine having seen eight … Read More »

Uncategorized 1 Comment

Damn lies and daft stats on Hong Kong

8 Dec

Just before discovering Daniel Dumbrill, who last week debated a US journalist on Xinjiang, I came across another Hong Kong blogger. This too was in the context of the crass ignorance (if we feel charitable) or gross mendacity (if we … Read More »

Uncategorized 1 Comment

Politics and language

13 Oct

Every once in a while a discussion below the line on this site prompts an above the line post. This one came easy since it required no further work. The exchange is between Chet and me, apropos my post, Where’s … Read More »

Uncategorized 14 Comments

Craig Murray: Assange Hearing Day 2

26 Feb

See also, Craig Murray: Assange Hearing Day 1 This afternoon Julian’s Spanish lawyer, Baltasar Garzon, left court to return to Madrid. On the way out he naturally stopped to shake hands with his client, proffering his fingers through the narrow … Read More »

Uncategorized 2 Comments

Global warming: the USA weaponises oil

7 Aug

My post yesterday, Three short reads on empire hot spots, would have been expanded to four had Michael Hudson’s CounterPunch piece not come out just hours after I’d posted. It dovetails neatly with Three Short Reads. As marxists go, and … Read More »

Uncategorized Leave a comment

Hopkins on the gilets jaunes

13 Dec

No, not Katie but C J, the Hopkins who writes wickedly satiric pieces in CounterPunch. Try his t-in-c denunciation of the League of Assad loving conspiracists … of those crypto-fascists who fail to see verbal attacks on global elites and … Read More »

europe, Uncategorized 5 Comments

Venezeula in the media

4 Sep

Good article today by Ricardo Vaz.  Writing in CounterPunch, Vaz shows how poorly informed we are by Guardian, BBC, Washington Post and NYT. Actually, ‘poorly informed’ is misleading, implying as it does mere incompetence and ignorance when, as Vaz’s title … Read More »

latin america, media, Uncategorized Leave a comment

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tune for the day

From London rooftop, 1969, to Glastonbury Pyramid Stage, 2022 … Paul is virtually reunited with his long lost bandmate and fellow tunesmith for I’ve got a feeling

last 350 posts (most recent first)

  • Two big errors about Russia
  • Good Luck To You, Leo Grande
  • Anyone (not Russian) for tennis?
  • Getting real about Ukraine
  • The invisibility of empire
  • Priti Patel and the power of lies
  • What price US nukes? $80k a minute!
  • The barbarism of dying empires
  • Understanding empire, from “i.e.” to “e.g.”
  • On war crimes in Ukraine
  • Who am I? (And why write?)
  • Who beat the drums for Dear Prudence?
  • On media manufactured monsters
  • Let’s give Ukraine’s fascists a makeover!
  • Rye v Hastings? Dickens v Tressell?
  • Meditation for the politico
  • A little more on the US war machine
  • “The wrong direction at maximum speed”
  • The USA: “no way out but war”
  • Power is at war with truth
  • On and on and on …
  • Why the times they are a-changing
  • “Left” Democrats vote to prolong war!
  • Ukraine: “the global south must act”
  • Starmer, Nato and the death of truth
  • As we hydroplane towards WW3 …
  • Is Team Biden the worst ever?
  • Tucker Carlson on ‘disinformation’
  • Oh my giddy AUMF!
  • “Zelensky good … Putin baad …”
  • Red-lines real … red lines reductive
  • What about those too tired to have sex?
  • We need to talk about pacificism
  • Ukraine and the death-logic of escalation
  • Ukraine in La La Land
  • Easter offerings
  • Caitlin’s love letter to draft dodgers
  • India in the dock for empire disobedience
  • Ursula weeps for Ukraine
  • Red Star Belgrade v Media Amnesia
  • Ukraine: “turning brains to soup”
  • Ukraine: a military assessment
  • Sakwa: “Paul Mason wrong on Ukraine”
  • Peace in Ukraine? Zelensky has zero say
  • Is Russia losing the information war?
  • The day John Pilger met the CIA Boss
  • Britain is a crime scene
  • The US wants this war to go on and on
  • No matter what the risks to us all …
  • Yes, we are being lied to. Massively.
  • Defending democracy in Ukraine?!?
  • Ukraine: the Far Left is almost right
  • Observations on the week so far …
  • Yesterday in and around Lathkill Dale
  • This ain’t Putin’s price hike
  • No, I’m not telling you what to think!
  • Dark Side of the Mood Music
  • Pentagon bioweapons in Ukraine
  • Carbon dating …
  • Ukraine: why bomb a hospital?
  • Ukraine on fire
  • Yes, Ukraine is in the grip of Nazis!
  • Sanctions: America’s Greek Tragedy
  • US Colonel McGregor: “Zelensky no hero”
  • The real purpose of sanctions on Russia?
  • Cook on Monbiot on Ukraine
  • Media double standards over Ukraine
  • Is this Russian propaganda?
  • A calmer panorama in the English Lakes
  • The most important question in the world
  • Ukraine through the eye of a UK diplomat
  • Ukraine: what does Mr Putin have to say?
  • Diana Johnstone on Russia bear baiting
  • Ukraine: the elephants in the room
  • Russia Today
  • Kiev shelled: Zelensky calls martial law
  • Media Lens on Guardian on Ukraine
  • Russia’s recognition of the LDNR
  • Vladimir Putin on what’s bothering Russia
  • Alice Walker on Julian Assange
  • “Why Russia wants Ukraine”
  • The royaling boil of Martin’s kettle
  • Useful Useless idiot 76423: Richard Engel
  • Russia’s gonna invade Ukraine for sure!
  • Caitlin on The Official Story
  • Can Europe break free of a dying Empire?
  • The view from Langley, Virginia
  • An inaccurate, biased Amnesty report?
  • Whose bass guitar gently wept?
  • The weirdness of BoJo’s Savilegate
  • Mini-break on the Yorkshire coast
  • “We have evidence” is not evidence!
  • Ukraine: has Washington already lost?
  • Ukraine: maps, history, duff reasoning ..
  • Ukraine: the madness of Empire’s critics
  • Is a nuclear war in Europe probable?
  • Is humanity doomed?
  • Ukraine and the West’s lies
  • Monolithic control at the Guardian?
  • They tried to bury us …
  • Agonising over Auntie
  • Eurasia’s rise is unstoppable
  • Getting real on the US-NATO-Russia talks
  • Mini Gems good – Midget Gems baad!
  • Kazakhstan tests China non interference
  • Mike on Mingus
  • Do dolphins flick the bean?
  • Yes, Kazakhstan is a (failed) US coup!
  • Planting flowers for 2022
  • Caesar salad
  • Kazakhstan: why is the steppe on fire?
  • Battle of the mutes
  • Far-left Sinophobia: an infantile disorder
  • Talking down China’s economy
  • Caitlin calls it right on web censorship
  • Happy new year to The Free World?
  • Sinophobia – but at what cost?
  • The obvious has been made unspeakable
  • CounterPunch on US foreign policy
  • Ukraine and Georgia are Russia’s red lines
  • Assange? China? It’s not rocket science!
  • My date with Sister Scope
  • A third Ukraine read
  • Dear Guardian Media Group …
  • A murderous state speaks of human rights
  • Damn lies and daft stats on Hong Kong
  • Two short reads on the Ukraine crisis
  • Frankly I couldn’t give a damn …
  • Xinjiang debated
  • Priti’s Police Bill – why now?
  • Sunlit but wintry: Woollaton today
  • Another winter comes to Attenborough
  • Are we sleepwalking to Armageddon?
  • Snowfall on the Soar
  • Margaret Mead and that femur …
  • Sri Lanka and the ‘debt trap’ slur
  • Kyle Rittenhouse and the outrage industry
  • Roddis v Sheffield Hallam Part 10
  • That’s rich!
  • Roddis v Sheffield Hallam Part 9
  • The Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect
  • Another FB China debate
  • Julian’s mother speaks
  • Attenborough in peace
  • More from the (Face) Book of Wisdom
  • The unaccountable power of Bill Gates
  • Selfishness in 4 easy steps
  • The Atlantic: “the bad guys are winning”
  • Attenborough in November
  • IDS and sleaze: the view from Hong Kong
  • Syria’s My Lai is why Julian matters!
  • China’s carbon footprint
  • Facebook and the whistleblower
  • Lest we forget …
  • “I am ashamed of Israel”
  • Ten second guide to Owen Paterson
  • Human rights weaponised
  • Another US academic on Taiwan
  • What a Bezos!
  • Exchanges with my Guernsey freeholder
  • Julian: a year and a day on
  • Dark side of the state: Waters on Assange
  • The myth of independent media
  • Turkey arrests Syrian banana eaters
  • Meet the Otters
  • Three autumn reads
  • In praise of Insulate Britain
  • Fake news on Dune epic in China cinemas
  • It was twenty years ago today …
  • 38 years ago today
  • Demo for Julian: my day in pictures
  • A Guardian study in propaganda
  • Adam Smith on enlightened self interest
  • It’s all a question of balance
  • Talking WW3 Blues – again …
  • Those nights in Tiananmen Square …
  • Mother takes sons to see dad …
  • Who wants a war with China over Taiwan?
  • Support Julian – two October dates
  • Nobel Prize for fearless journalism …
  • The Pandora Papers: controlled dissent?
  • More crap thinking on Covid
  • China is bad!
  • Says Rosa …
  • Brexit, Dali and cognitive dissonance
  • We need to talk about Kim
  • Salt to King’s Bromley the slow way
  • “Israel was born in sin”
  • Salisbury – the Third Man!
  • An open letter: isn’t China “just as bad”?
  • Freud’s narcissism of small differences
  • Xinjiang now a top tourist draw
  • Help!
  • Nuclear subs go down under
  • Sometimes it’s the little things …
  • Sinophobia – two new reads
  • King’s Bromley to Sawley by slow boat
  • BBC admits to flawed Syria documentary
  • Sunak’s NI charge to fund the NHS
  • Meanwhile, on Uncle Sam’s doorstep …
  • If my posts don’t piss people off …
  • Israel is an apartheid state
  • Those eco-friendly berserkers
  • Ruled by crooks, governed by liars
  • Blowback: Taliban target US shadow army
  • Is Tony Blair insane?
  • Who remembers “press button A”?
  • Engels on the ‘graveyard of empires’
  • Did China abandon socialism?
  • Pear Jam Miles
  • What about the squaddies in Afghanistan?
  • Panda cub won’t take a hint
  • Flee Kabul for just $6.5k
  • Covid’s boost to Big Pharma
  • Who checks the ‘fact checkers’?
  • Xinjiang and the square root of FA
  • Britain’s haven for litigatory bullies
  • Until you realise …
  • What about the Afghan women?
  • Julian Assange on Afghanistan
  • Burgers & the Battle of the Fractions
  • Afghanistan: who bears the costs?
  • Great ironies of history #61,836
  • “Kenny go home!”
  • Two new reads on Afghanistan
  • Correspondence with a friend
  • Think tanks for warfare
  • Julian: yesterday’s High Court ruling
  • Santuario Madonna della Corona
  • 76 years ago today
  • Electric kettles and cars
  • Richard Murphy’s transitional demands
  • 75 years ago today
  • It’s raining snakes!
  • Caitlin on Covid
  • This morning on Stanage Edge
  • Sheffield Labour Party on GC beliefs
  • What does China want?
  • Richard Murphy’s peaceful revolution
  • Craig Murray: jail time begins on Sunday
  • Good advice from a librarian
  • I’m backing a hero!
  • Say what you like about Tricky Dickie …
  • “I was a US sniper in Iraq”
  • Watch out Boris: Priti is after you!
  • Another whistle-blower pays the price
  • The level of ‘debate’ on China
  • NATO Expansion map Mark II
  • The despot of Damascus
  • A glimpse of Norfolk
  • But everyone knew her as Nancy
  • Speaking of roads …
  • The England moment I’ll remember
  • China Rising: humanity’s best hope?
  • Left-wing communism: infantile disorder
  • Dark Side of the Media
  • Afghanistan’s Saigon moment
  • A word on the ‘deplorables’
  • Death of a war criminal; lies on Assange
  • Media silence as Assange lies exposed
  • Reading the middle east: part 2
  • Those who looked the other way
  • US bombs darkies in self defence (again)
  • Hancock gently rebuked by Pie
  • Reading the middle east: part 1
  • Pentagon embraces Critical Race Theory!
  • Black Ops in the Black Sea
  • Eighty-two minutes with Russia’s leader
  • Propaganda? Not in the West!
  • Priti Patel’s threat to British journalists
  • US slaughters its first amendment
  • With Bibi gone, moderation is restored!
  • Rare footage: mother wrench feeds chicks
  • Biden-Putin Summit: rhetoric & realpolitik
  • When exposing a crime …
  • Pissing in morse code
  • Maya Forstater wins on appeal!
  • The late great Michael Hudson!!!
  • On Richmond Hill
  • Why I bang on about the trans thing
  • Transphobia? It’s time the woke woke up!
  • Lakelandscapes
  • Belarus: the view below the line
  • Belarus: the plot thickens
  • Belarus: pot, kettle, black
  • Water skiers on Spring Lakes
  • East Sussex this week
  • Murphy’s law
  • Sheffield shows Solidarity with Palestine
  • Attenborough this week
  • Missing pieces: the trial of Craig Murray
  • Government guideline No. 69
  • Not all snakes are venomous …
  • US rockets good, China rockets baad!
  • Thus spake Blinken
  • Britain decides!
  • Women who lift too much
  • Homs today
  • Sinophobia, and revenge porn monetised
  • What if there really is a God?
  • Pig farming, Profits & the War on Terror
  • Wising up to fibs great and small
  • Top dog
  • Assange and Navalny compared
  • Three China reads: 3, Global reach
  • Helen McCrory
  • Every day is Independence Day!
  • Big cats
  • Three China reads: 2, Democracy
  • Three China reads: 1, the Uighurs
  • Russia’s record of aggression
  • Syria Ten Years On
  • Malcolm X on the media
  • Meanwhile, down in Mozambique …
  • Former US Senator on Syria
  • Magpies nesting
  • Magpies, jackals and animal altruism
  • Nottingham Kill the Bill Protest
  • My March reads
  • Afghanistan for Afghans? Are you nuts?
  • Cui bono? – notes on the Bristol riots
  • “Hate crime”, Orwell and class struggle
  • Clapham Common: policing protest
  • Meanwhile on Clapham Common
  • Her name was Sarah
  • Reclaiming These Streets
  • Russell Brand on royalty and power
  • Sloe progress
  • Red Rosa
  • Me and my doubts
  • Caitlin J on the Democrats
  • Flowers for Algernon?
  • Please wake up
  • Journalists: are they hypocritical cowards?
  • Power just loves identity politics!
  • The United States of (Capitalist) Misery
  • My February reads
  • US bombs Syria and claims self defence
  • Great tits of Attenborough
  • Why are ‘we’ the good guys?
  • Critical thinking on China and the Uyghurs
  • Europe’s growing dilemma
  • Washington’s Wuhan laboratory lie
  • Jonathan Cook on Israel and the Guardian
  • The squeak came off!
  • No-Platforming and the so-called Left
  • If you can’t hide the crime …
  • CV-19 and the Great Reset
  • Dodgy sums on Scottish Independence
  • Scary extremists in the US military!
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