Thursday, 24 Thursday, 2008
- 24 Jan 08, 04:21 PM
Gordon Brown eventually called his behaviour over campaign donations "incompetence" but if Peter Hain didn't think that was enough to warrant his resignation, the decision of the Electoral Commission to hand his files to the police, has forced him to .
A little matter of a failure to account for 拢103,000 has ended his unbroken run since 1997 as a minister in Her Majesty's Government. But is the man most damaged by the dither and delay the Prime Minister himself?
Should he have acted as soon as Peter Hain announced he had not met his obligations over declarations of donations because he was too busy being a minister? Gordon Brown vacillated over calling a General Election, was panicked over inheritance tax, hesitated over Northern Rock, and today came the news that the much vaunted new CGT would be modified after all. Is the Great Helmsman having trouble at the wheel?
Tonight we'll be examining the fall of Peter Hain, and asking whether Gordon Brown has a grip on Government.
One rogue trader and France's second biggest bank, is down at least 拢3.5 billion. And this was purportedly a junior banker. Given this and the ongoing credit crunch which has rocked the world economy do these so-called "Masters of the Universe" have far too much power?
Also tonight, time is fast running out for War Crimes investigators who are still hunting .
Brian Barron reports on the last ditch efforts all around the globe to bring these old men and women to justice, and the mindset of both the hunters and the hunted.
He speaks to 92-year-old Vladas Zajanckauskas, the alleged Nazi war criminal who could soon be the oldest man to be deported for trial from the US. As a young soldier in Europe he was, according to the US Justice Department, part of the Nazi extermination squads. The Lithuanian grandfather claims he was a POW who was brutalised by the Germans. Should justice be done - no matter how old the defendant?
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Brown should have been more decisive? (On what particular issue? I hear you cry).
The reasons for hesitating over Hain (namely the discussion his actions would have caused surrounding Ms. Alexander and Harman) are perhaps understandable, but now the very same questions will be asked in addition to the loss of face over Peter Hain.
Cameron will be salivating at the thought of PMQs next week. Will he make the most of the open goal? find out here...
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PAUVRE GENS
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It certainly doesn't look good for Harriet Harman MP when her former
assistant when SHE was the Shadow
Chief Secretary (Yvette Cooper) is
now occupying that spot in Cabinet!
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Of course, none of this has any relevance to Harriet Harman or Wendy Alexander.
Because the amount is less.
[Copyright Nick Robinson]
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Your preview of the evening includes Hain, scandal, rogue and criminals all in the one sentence - how appropriate.
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Just to say thank you for highlighting the issue of Nazis evading justice. My Great Grand Aunt Irene Schindler nee Kollmann was killed at Trawniki following her deportation from Berlin on 2nd April 1942.
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UPDATE GUIDO - He didn't use the word "rocking horse". Wonder why?
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NAZI FUGITIVES & MIDDLE EAST POLITICS
Assertions, circumstantial snippets, logical confabulations of the inclusive and exclusive OR and nefarious quantification into classes. Frequent assertions that Jews XOR Bolsheviks XOR combatants. Did only 'Germans' and 'Soviets' die in the East in WWII? What were all those deaths at Belsen from AFTER the war when Britain ran the camp? Why did those occur?
This is not good reporting/commissioning from Newsnight. It's Israeli/USA political propaganda where anyone who suggests that the accusations are not well grounded isn't accepted as possibly making a sound legal and rational point, but as being guilty of 'denial' or some religious sin termed 'holocaust denial' or being an apologist for 'nazis' etc. This is propaganda designed make one hostile to anti-capitalism (the National Socialist manifesto pledged to abolish unearned income and speculation - i.e. it was a left wing, 'Stalinist' party, it was anti-Trotskyite/Bolshevik).
Instead of this booster injection of pro US free-market propaganda, in the interest of good investigative journalism, Newsnight could have done its viewers a far greater topical service by asking the Palestinian president:
about his 1980s PhD (and book) which he completed in Moscow under the direction of (to be PM) Primakov, and why the USSR went so quiet about 'the holocaust' after the IMT in 1947 (after which they supported the Arabs of course).
Primatov
Newsnight and its viewers should look more closely at the logic and the post war demographics, and try to appreciate that post-war European politics (especially 1945-7) were darker than many today understand.
/blogs/newsnight/2008/01/wednesday_9_january_2008.html
/blogs/newsnight/2008/01/wednesday_9_january_2008.html
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NAZI FUGITIVES & MIDDLE EAST POLITICS
Assertions, circumstantial snippets, logical confabulations of the inclusive and exclusive OR and nefarious quantification into classes. Frequent assertions that Jews XOR Bolsheviks XOR combatants. Did only 'Germans' and 'Soviets' die in the East in WWII? What were all those deaths at Belsen from AFTER the war when Britain ran the camp? Why did those occur?
This is not good reporting/commissioning from Newsnight. It's Israeli/USA political propaganda where anyone who suggests that the accusations are not well grounded isn't accepted as possibly making a sound legal and rational point, but as being guilty of 'denial' or some religious sin termed 'holocaust denial' or being an apologist for 'nazis' etc. This is propaganda designed make one hostile to anti-capitalism (the National Socialist manifesto pledged to abolish unearned income and speculation - i.e. it was a left wing, 'Stalinist' party, it was anti-Trotskyite/Bolshevik).
Instead of this booster injection of pro US free-market propaganda, in the interest of good investigative journalism, Newsnight could have done its viewers a far greater topical service by asking the Palestinian president:
about his 1980s PhD (and book) which he completed in Moscow under the direction of (to be PM) Primakov, and why the USSR went so quiet about 'the holocaust' after the IMT in 1947 (after which they supported the Arabs of course).
Primatov
Newsnight and its viewers should look more closely at the logic and the post war demographics, and try to appreciate that post-war European politics (especially 1945-7) were darker than many today understand.
/blogs/newsnight/2008/01/wednesday_9_january_2008.html
/blogs/newsnight/2008/01/wednesday_9_january_2008.html
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Just to say thank you for highlighting the issue of Nazis evading justice. My Great Grand Aunt Irene Schindler nee Kollmann was killed at Trawniki following her deportation from Berlin on 2nd April 1942.
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Blimey, O'Reilly! I think Paul Mason needs his underchunders adjusting too. There were clouds of steam coming out as he layed into the capitalist conspiracy from outside Soc Gen HQ!
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An excellent report on fugitive Nazis by Newsnight. An apathetic West has lost the taste for following these scum to the ends of the earth and to bring them to justice. I welcome any report on this subject as I have so many friends that were affected by this dark period of our history, if we cast it out, we will repeat it. Do not doubt it.
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So this is the blog we were being urged to read instead of Guido? What a let-down. Newsnight, before you can run a successful blog, you need to understand what blogging is.
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Hain and the Holocaust, now that is a combination of stories that put the misdemeaners of the former into perspective.
As I have blogged many times before I have not the slightest interest in so called "sleaze" cases which will be resolved after due process, Hain's collar being felt is one. Nazi attrocities however should never be forgotten.
The real story this week, over which I am concerned (and should all), is the economy and the pack of cards on which banks handle our money. Some "fat cats" benefitted from the largess of the French banking official. They "trousered" their windfall as they always do and will continue to do so, until Governmnet takes a closer look.
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Hain and the Holocaust, now that is a combination of stories that put the misdemeaners of the former into perspective.
As I have blogged many times before I have not the slightest interest in so called "sleaze" cases which will be resolved after due process, Hain's collar being felt is one. Nazi attrocities however should never be forgotten.
The real story this week, over which I am concerned (and should all), is the economy and the pack of cards on which banks handle our money. Some "fat cats" benefitted from the largess of the French banking official. They "trousered" their windfall as they always do and will continue to do so, until Governmnet takes a closer look.
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I can understand why you had Steve Richards on Newsnight because he had quite a bit to say on Haingate and said it well.
On the other hand, I am at a loss as to why you invited Paul Staines/Guido Fawkes onto the programme unless it was to fill a space on the sofa.
I note that both Iain Dale's Diary and Dizzy Thinks employed a diversionary tactic by raising the issue of the Morning Star featuring on the programme.
I think it was a bit rich for Guido to use the dithering donkey analogy when it was obvious to all concerned he made a complete ass of himself.
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HOODWINKED?
Time and time again one sees people pour scorn upon evil eugenicist 'Nazis', 'Socialists In One Country', 'Islamo-Fascists' etc, usually without giving a moments thought to how powerful the opposing 'Trotskyite', 'anarcho-capitalist', 'free-market' propaganda machine is, and how terrified its protagonists are of the former's anti-usury, pro-social politics taking hold given that their interests are critically dependent on unearned income and the markets etc.
Yet at the same time, many of those same people will find the odd rogue-trader or dodgy donor thoroughly reprehensible.
Since von Mises wrote his 'Planned Chaos' and Hayek his 'The Road To Serfdom' (attacks on Germany and Stalinist USSR), parties like Old Labour haven't really stood a chance against spin-doctors who vilify (and subvert) any hint of a centrally planned economy. Why? Basically, because non-government is much easier than government.
I suggest that all of those who accept the horror stories they've been fed since 1945 (and long before) look a little more critically into how the likes of 'Ted Grant' and 'Tony Cliff' etc helped to undermine socialism, whilst contributing to negative population growth in Europe through pushing Civil/Human Rights, as it does not work as it seems. They might like to consider how all the scare-mongering about totalitarian spying on one's neighbours etc can just be seen as manufactured paranoia by those without conscience who are keen to see the population at large abrogate social responsibility so their opportunism has even greater free rein. Such people are often psychopathic, and as Robert Hare said not too long ago, if he was looking for subjects outside of prisons, he'd look in the stock exchange - they don't see it that way of course - but then, ironically, psychopaths 'have something missing' .....and are, alas, untreatable ;-)
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I can understand why you had Steve Richards on Newsnight because he had quite a bit to say on Haingate and said it well.
On the other hand, I am at a loss as to why you invited Paul Staines/Guido Fawkes onto the programme unless it was to fill a space on the sofa.
I note that both Iain Dale's Diary and Dizzy Thinks employed a diversionary tactic by raising the issue of the Morning Star featuring on the programme.
I think it was a bit rich for Guido to use the dithering donkey analogy when it was obvious to all concerned he made a complete ass of himself.
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I can understand why you had Steve Richards on Newsnight because he had quite a bit to say on Haingate and said it well.
On the other hand, I am at a loss as to why you invited Paul Staines/Guido Fawkes onto the programme unless it was to fill a space on the sofa.
I note that both Iain Dale's Diary and Dizzy Thinks employed a diversionary tactic by raising the issue of the Morning Star featuring on the programme.
I think it was a bit rich for Guido to use the dithering donkey analogy when it was obvious to all concerned he made a complete ass of himself.
Complain about this post
HOODWINKED?
Time and time again one sees people pour scorn upon evil eugenicist 'Nazis', 'Socialists In One Country', 'Islamo-Fascists' etc, usually without giving a moments thought to how powerful the opposing 'Trotskyite', 'anarcho-capitalist', 'free-market' propaganda machine is, and how terrified its protagonists are of the former's anti-usury, pro-social politics taking hold given that their interests are critically dependent upon unearned income and the markets etc.
Yet at the same time, many of those very same people will find the odd rogue-trader or dodgy donor thoroughly reprehensible.
Since von Mises wrote his 'Planned Chaos' and Hayek 'The Road To Serfdom' (attacks on Germany and Stalinist USSR), parties like Old Labour haven't really stood a chance against spin-doctors who vilify (and subvert) any hint of a centrally planned economy. Why? Basically, because non-government is much easier than government.
I suggest that all of those who accept the horror stories they've been fed since 1945 (and long before) look a little more critically into how the likes of 'Ted Grant' and 'Tony Cliff' etc helped to undermine socialism, whilst contributing to negative population growth in Europe through pushing Civil/Human Rights, as it does not work as it seems. They might like to consider how all the scare-mongering about totalitarian spying on one's neighbours etc can just be seen as manufactured paranoia by those without conscience who are keen to see the population at large abrogate social responsibility so their opportunism has even greater free rein. Such people are often psychopathic, and as Robert Hare said not too long ago, if he was looking for subjects outside of prisons, he'd look in the stock exchange - they don't see it that way of course - but then, ironically, psychopaths 'have something missing' .....and are, alas, untreatable.
German lawyer for Z眉ndel charged with incitement
That decision, will certainly stop her from being difficult for a few years and no doubt send a clear signal to others (about which way to vote)
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Adrienne,
a couple of simple questions, to which I would like the courtesy of direct answers:
- do you believe that, during WWII, Nazi Germany had a policy, put in to effect, whereby large numbers (we'll get to a definition of 'large numbers' below) of Jews, homosexuals, Romany folk and others were systematically killed?
- if so, approximately how many (let's stick with Jews) do you think were killed?
Rather than posing a question or problematising the issue (as with your posts on pre- and post-war demographics) I'd be ever so grateful for a succinct and direct answer to both questions. If, as is clear, you have a problem with traditional accounts, what is your account? Specifically?
Regards,
Keith
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BELIEFS & INQUISITIONS
What is holocaust denial? If there is a specific, official number that died or were killed, and if one gives the wrong number, is one guilty of 'holocaust denial'? Surely if there is no legal definition asking for numbers is Kafkaesque? Today, we can't even get agreement on the number killed in Iraq, it varies from tens to hundreds of thousands to over a million. Are those who play down the numbers ipso facto apologists for the invasion of Iraq and the failure to find WMDs? Are those who take the upper estimate apologists for Saddam Hussein?
One thing's for sure:- the events of 1933-1945 are still used perniciously to some groups' advantage at the expense of others. Can anyone envisage HAMAS, Fatah, or even UKIP using 'the holocaust' positively in their campaigns? This tiny point of political bias has, as many have remarked, been systematically reinforced since the early Arab-Israeli wars ('the holocaust' became more salient in the 1960s), and the uncertainties have been exploited over recent decades. Along with anti-racism, anti-sexism and other tools in the political correctness arsenal it's become a weapon in what amounts to an undemocratic 'inquisition' which presses for international (see the SI of which New Labour is a member), rather than national socialism (the Old Labour it abandoned in order to get elected). Examined closely, New Labour is remarkably akin to a made-over Militant Tendency, which, despite professed ideological appearances, helped usher in Thatcher's Neo-conservative anarcho-capitalism in the late 1970s, and keep it in power until Blair took the reins in 1997.
If any of the WWII facts are still covered by the Official Secrets Act or one of the x Year Rules, again, political bias is served. This alone could account for some of the draconian legislation which has been passed in some EU states, and the high profile prosecutions and harsh sentences which we've seen handed out in recent times.
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Keith,
Just a mention that The Holocaust ain't the only episode of "Ethnic Cleansing" to be the subject of denial. There is also the Turkish slaughter of Armenians
and, of course, al Nakba:
Salaam/Shalom/Shanthi
ed
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COMPULSORY POLITICAL ORIENTATION?
Not 'The Road To Serfdom', but the glorious free-market/International Socialism by stealth instead?
Given that our politicians were not too eager to prevent Rwanda, Srebrenica or Darfur etc, might not such teaching and trips serve a more local interest perhaps?
And what *exactly* is compulsory?
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