大象传媒

What A Bomb Sight .. Thats what A Bomb Sight does Aims Bombs

2 Be Honest not Really Interested on The Clowns debate in the commons

Not Interested in the nu lords debate in the lords Either

EviDence .. Both sides of the "house" are more than Completly Useless

Waste of Money Time Fresh Air etc .. Why dont you debate on how to close the Midden Down

Now That Gets My Vote .. I can buy The Matches .. Make Toast

Look forward to watching Jeremy debate the latest conflict :)

WHY 'OF COURSE' LIBYA?

We are constantly reminded (rightly or wrongly) that this, British, supposed beacon of democratic virtue, is founded on Christian precepts.

In reality Britain, in the Age of Perversity, is corrupt in every department. (e.g. Today we have confirmation of (what we all knew) ENERGY SUPPLY, AND ITS OVERSIGHT, ARE CORRUPT).

Only a deeply venal government (and governance) would have the sheer, crass gall to wag an invasive, destructive finger at Johnnie Foreigner, while home-rot is rampant.

MOTE AND BEAM TIME NEWSYNIGHTY. Let's have a full and frank expos茅 of ALL Britain鈥檚 iniquities. And if the theme of 'oppressed peoples' takes your fancy, START WITH THE CHAGOSSIANS:

.



We are a global disgrace. IT WOULD SEEM FROM CHOICE!

Stephanie Flanders' piece about the IFS Report on Living Standards during the recession deserves a good airing ahead of the budget and the impending OBR analysis of it.

/blogs/thereporters/stephanieflanders/

The analysis shows living standards have fallen significantly for the first time since the 1960s and that on current policies they will continue to do so.

As the budget is supposed to be about growth, the IFS report shows that with incomes so heavily squeezed, unless there are are major developments in investment and exports, IMHO the UK economy will go into recession - and the prospect of falling tax receipts and rising welfare bills would then set the UK on the same disasterous path as the Eire economy, and/or the depression in the Japanese economy, which has lasted for a decade.

PLEASE can NN plan to get Robert Chote from the OBR in to press him HARD on the the OBR's anaylsis, because they got it badly wrong in November last year and many of their predictions paint IMHO an impossibly rosy picture that flies in the face of solid evidence such as the IFS Report.

WHERE are the 2m+ new private sector jobs going to come from?

WHERE is the 拢600 Bn of new investment going to go?

HOW are exports going to rise by a third?

If these projections are as wrong as I think they are, the OBR will have played second fiddle to GO as the economy has been allowed to burn itself to ashes, just as Eire did bby slashing and burning their public sector.

GO's claims that the OBR, OECD and IMF all support his policies, yet this seems to be much more about political, not economic goals of reducing the size of the public sector, not running policy towards full employment and maintaining living standards, and when you remember that the excessive borrowing was to prop up the banks, one begins to question their motives and commitment to a realistic and objective assessment of where these policies are really leading....

Mark Thompson could fall under a bus today. Michael Crick could join the Army today. Kirsy Wark could get attacked by a rotweiller today. Osama bin Laden might convert to Buddhissm today. Gadaffi could get hit by a coalition bomb today. Everything's possible. Please don't dig yourselves into a semantic hole just because some moron on a breakfast programme with a shaky grasp of the English language got all hysterical about the word 'could'. Its very boring.

Sorry! ............

What?

Q .... will of course be the Libya conflict. unQ


Why?


Has the rest of the planet gone into some form of total inactivity out of respect for the North African chaos? (Boys with guns shooting blindly into the air - seemingly solely for the benefit of the media - yet disregarding the basic principle of gravity i.e. What goes up ......!)

Or is it the case that there is absolutely nothing, not one single issue of any consequence whatsoever, going on anywhere else in the world!

A good day to bury everything .......... ?

But to whose gain, benefit and advantage?


鈥淟ead, don鈥檛 follow!鈥�

Seemingly not on today鈥檚 agenda ......Folks!

Energy Scandal
Ofcom is part of the problem. Why is the public paying 200billion through their bills if this is a free market? Privatise the profit socialise the investment? its am old boys racket. The whole point of privatisation was they would put in risk capital. But it is the public through OFCOM [that seems out of control] when reports say they are almost boasting how much they are loading onto the bills for their pet projects?

is this a free market? then why are we investing without democratic oversight and referral to competitive law? if it is not why is someone getting profit for no risk?

the energy market and OFCOM is theft on a national scale.

WHEN ARE GROUND TROOPS, PERMITTED GROUND TROOPS?

When they are NOT AN 'OCCUPYING FORCE' (Weasel Dave in the Commons today).
It is now clear that, under Resolution 1973, we CAN invade - assuming we can find any more squaddies. But we must be sure not to OCCUPY.

"Move along now please - nothing to occupy here."

WE HAVE NOT GOT OURSELVES ANOTHER ONE 鈥� WE HAVE GOT OURSELVES AN IDENTICAL UNIT.

Cycling person #7

You must have realised by now that everything the government messes with is designed to provide a welfare state for the Banks and their stock market parasites, not do things in the true interest of the British people. It would appear that the stock market parasites ( particularly Wall St ) love the No-Fly zone over Libya as interpreted so far, seem to have forgot all about Japan. Perhaps someone should ask the question that seeing that Osborne claims we are skint how can we afford to burn cruise missiles at 300k+ a throw, plus all the extra fuel etc involved. Perhaps all part of the plan to reward the oil and food speculators and their Banks ?

have to agree, tonight sounds like a missable one.

EVEN if we are given a plausible "end game" by some respondant, there is little chance it would be held to. WHAT are the "allies" various aims? What are their main aims?

as Old Ben (watched last thurs NN today) said, - In fact he said almost everything needing saying.

of interest though, as the American woman's comment of Ghaddafi's Peace Offer - i hadn't heard of it, so i went looking:




seems some 'rebel leaders' were more interested in ramping up the struggle though. Bet it was those 'rebel generals' rather than the normal people...

On Libya/NN tonight.

I will be very surprised if anything that we don't already know comes out of tonight's programme. But that's just the way it is.

The politicians (or ex) and military (or ex) personnel will be asked about oil and regime change. They won't give a straight answer - because they can't. In truth I am not sure why we expect it. It seems to be just because we have 'instant' news that we have this expectation. Some time in the past 25 - 30 years, politicians have become more wiley, reporters more determined to catch them out. Chicken and egg. So the Politicians take lessons in evasion and there are few tools left to wheedle out the sweet meet in the claws. Bring teeth, gnarling and finger jabbing doesn't seem to do it anymore. Politicians are winning.

End games and exit strategies will be considered. Suggestions of meddling middle men and power juggling generals on both sides but there will be no useful answers. Come to think of it, I am not sure what a useful question looks like.

We will be none the wiser at the end than we are at the start, cling doggedly to our own opinions of the people and the lines spun but is that a good enough reason to NOT discuss it in the first place?

Still, I shall tune in hopefully.

An attempt at a rational - or rationalised (You decide!) - comparison of Leaders and Leadership .....

Our story begins with ......

The 鈥渨ar to end all wars鈥� ....

A disgruntled member of the Schickelgr眉ber family decides that running messages and getting gassed leaves one ending up as a junior NCO with a second class gong and - let鈥檚 face it head on - all he really wanted was 鈥� respec鈥�, my man 鈥�!

So .... he goes all political, creates a plausible image, alters his looks and plays the game, yet all the while behind the scenes making up new rules to suit his thousand year fixed term agenda. Hey, the financial system had melted down, something needed to be done! Seeing himself more of a 鈥榯hinker鈥� than a 鈥榙oer, he endows his cronies with free rein to change the world! 鈥� D鈥檡az own fing man, we鈥檚鈥檃wl in dis t鈥檊eva bro! And call me Ade! Ja?鈥� may well have been his mantra. Perhaps he also emphasised that all that everybody really needed was change? He even managed to convince others that a new 鈥榲ision鈥� was an inevitable necessity! Were they of like-minded ambition or was it just the prospect of draconian power that appealed?

Boy! Did the masses have any real understanding of what they were letting themselves in for and the changes that were gonna come? But they were all easily convinced that what they already had wasn鈥檛 as good as what they told were gonna get! Hey, 鈥楤elief鈥� is a powerful weapon, my man! But nowhere near as powerful as society working toward the same goal! Everyone - selected - working together in the nation鈥檚 best interests! Well, what more could anyone ask for!

The public, not so different from anywhere else, thought - perhaps whilst looking thru鈥� flamboyant spectacles - that all was going to be better than it was before. Everywhere they turned the media was saying how bad it all had been and how great it was all going to be! Where could it all go wrong?

Munitions not plough-shares was the way to go! Plus they liked the logo! (Thought: Were Native Americans ever declared 鈥樷�榰ndesirables鈥�? )

Then the blitzkrieg began with everything - just absolutely, completely and totally everything - having to be done as quickly as possible. There was no time to waste were catastrophe to be avoided! Ade had made big promises to society and he alone knew what was best!

Without warning Ade began to consider that all his like minded compatriots were doing things that weren鈥檛 quite working out the way that he intended! Aha, he thought, make a few personnel changes, it was time to do it his way!

Blinded by his own image, and not helped by his entourage, Ade could not to see the reality. Sure, he could 鈥榯alk the talk鈥� - all those speeches had really got them going, hadn鈥檛 they - but actually leading ..... Well! Too late Ade鈥檚 compadres started to waiver but underneath it all they knew that if they jumped ship they would only have an ignominious existence in some other place of little consequence. A few coup鈥檇 but the ..... de grace was inevitably undertaken by the use of some P38鈥檚, not P45鈥檚鈥�.

Ade grew more and more distant from the reality of the horrors the people endured. His last option was to hunker-down in the bunker.

So it was that the the fifth year of the decade brought a just end to the ideological catastrophe that Ade had devoutly believed to be omnipotent .... A last stand quickly followed by a one way 鈥榡ourney鈥�! ..... It was over!

So it was to become an inescapable quirk of history that those that had endured and survived the savage demise of their nation were left to pick up the pieces and rebuild a once proud and honourable country.

Their task was not to be an easy one!



Fast forward to today and move several hundred miles west ......




And ..... Oh yes!

Already the comment has been made that 鈥� ..... this is a major victory for the PM .....鈥� (aka Top Con.)

Imvho ...... Not so!

Too hesitant, too slow and sadly far too late!

Let no one, especially the political hacks, state that this is Top Con鈥檚 鈥淔alklands Moment鈥�! It is not! It is a small maneuver in a protracted confrontation which, arguably, was very effectively sidestepped by the announcement of the ceasefire! (AKA Option to consolidate, reinforce, isolate and destroy!)

The Con-alition has opened Pandora鈥檚 Box and entered into a protracted game of political, ideological and tactical 鈥榗hess鈥� for which one contestant - perhaps even both/all players - has/have no concept of 鈥榯he rules鈥�!

And as for Oh-boy ... Ma! ....... Isn鈥檛 鈥淒riving without due care and attention.鈥� a felony? (Or perhaps 鈥楬is-shell鈥� doesn鈥檛 fancy the thought of moving in the foreseeable future?)

If 鈥榯his鈥� is anyones 鈥淔alklands Moment鈥� then full 鈥榗redit鈥� - imho - must surely be given to Sarcastic-yet-not-at-all-dozy


And ..... Oh yes!

Those that abstained .....

Backing both horses in a two horse race/marathon?

Who will protect the British public from deficit and banking terrorism by their own Govt?

Same for the American public

'Our interest' isn't my 'interest' is it yours ?

Assad blockades disaffected Syrian areas to contain spreading protests

US Military Expert claims that Gaddafi could still cling onto power...

Gaddafi and his family are an indirect target of the 'UN 1973 resolution coalition' ... because the Gaddafi's make themselves a target as being the head of a private army and security force linked directly with a repressive communications/censored media centre.

Even Saddam Hussein had a proper govt and separate military command structure as controlled by the 'Bathhists'?

The question is one of semantics ... so long as the Coalition force does not target the Gaddafi's directly and personally ... then ostensibly, there is no breach of 1973. But, of course it is possible that the Gaddafi's could get injured or killed by their own Gaddafi hands on security paranoia ... as 'unintended collateral or indirect damage' to e.g. and allied air strike.

It is impossible for the Coalition to guarantee the safety of someone like Gaddafi while he operates the way that he does - as he is too close to the killing machine that he has assembled to terrorise the people of Libya and possibly beyond.

The allies/Coalition need to choose their words more carefully (and avoid media frenzy over mischief headlines) and if Gaddafi chooses to put himself in harm鈥檚 way through his own 'despot hands on paranoid behaviour' ... so be it ... then that his surely his own decision. The confusion over Coalition policy is as much down to an absence of clear leadership and perhaps a 'Council' needs to be established with carefully chosen leaders and also a spokesperson be appointed ... perhaps even a woman? (Shock horror?)

Better still, the allies/Arab league should send Gaddaffi a warning over this and offer his safe passage ... all the way to the 'The Hague' (and that's not William, BTW).

The problem for the Coalition is that there is no new leadership capable of representing Libya and being acceptable to the majority of Libyan people ... that is where the focus is needed now that Gaddafi's mobile military threat has been effectively neutralised or eliminated.

I should like Newsnight to ask, on the subject of Libya and the UN Resolution, whether rebels armed to the teeth with machine guns, rifles and possibly tanks and other heavy armaments, will be classified as "civilians" requiring protection. If not so classified, can Gaddafi's forces defend themselves (if they choose to) without themselves being attacked by the coalition?

I must be getting old...I only listen to Tony Benn and Jeremy Paxman these days, the only one's to keep me awake....

544/650 MP voted to support the military action today.

84%

Not bad eh Barrie !!!

Bet there were lots of solemn handshakes after the vote.

Solidarity in the house.

but what about in their own country.


How do we vote.


They have the technology to ask us on a daily basis if they so wished.

What makes me most cross about the prescribed agenda of the programme (see the above 'tonight we will......') is the cutting off of serious and interesting exchanges of views in order to fit in all of the other lined up elements.

good post from Nick robinsons blog as below

1).

The French were vehemently apposed to the Iraq war but they are in this one up to the hilt. So what is different for the French? Understand that and you will understand why it is different.


Later response

Why, I think you could be TOTAL-ly right.


The tide is going out again but this time the politicians are the ones swimming with no trunks on.

Verity Murphy.

poor Paxo, arguing with Alistair Burt MP is like pounding water with a mortar. ;)

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

ENERGY SWINDLES PROBED WITH COLOURED BLOBS AND PLINKY-PLONK MUSACK

Why Newsynighty? Do you even know?

OH LOOK! THE BLOG HAS BEEN 'REFRESHED'. IS IT MORE EDGY?

Why Newsynighty? Do you even know?

7.

i meant ofgem not ofcom.

Excellent interview by Jeremy with Bernard-Henri Levy & Abdel Bari-Atwan on the Libyan crisis tonight. Particularly loved the fact that when Bari-Atwan started bleating on about Hamas being an elected government, Levy pointed out that Hitler was also a democratically elected too :p. Also on top form with Burt and an interesting interview with Alsaidi & Hill.

Liked the report on energy companies tonight. Very interesting from my Irish perspective where we think having 2.5 utilities is competition. Perhaps we need to think on.

WHEN THE NAME OF THE GAME IS GLOBOPOLY (#20)

If I am right, then the nature of selection for Westminster means that they are almost clones. The business of killing cheap, expendable foreigners, with the magnificent British war machine, LIFTS THEIR IMPOVERISHED HEARTS.

WESTMINSTER REVELS IN JINGOISTIC CLOBBERING OF THOSE WHO CAN BE TROUNCED CONSUMMATELY, WITH NO MEASURABLE COME-BACK.

The TELLING test of Britain, was when China APPLYING THE BRITISH PROTOCOL annexed (took back) Tibet, against the will of its people. We were supine.

How ironic (how Freudian) that Every Westminster MP accepts the unearned title of HONOURABLE, when in truth, we are DISHONOURED, globally, over centuries, and show no sign of erasing our dirty game.

Susan rice, Samanth power and Hilary Clinton.
What have these three women all got in common?

They all convinced Obuma to nod-in the Libya no fly zone and going against his own military advisors.
Women!

DON'T BLAME WOMEN KEV (#31)

These are WOE-MEN. They bring nothing but woe to themselves, to men, and to mankind. This is why Westminster, well stocked, is unchanged. Indeed, the 'convert' is always more zealous than the regular adherent.

The world is in a far greater mess than any Westminster cipher is equipped to grasp. When you try to enlighten Flat Earthers, who do not understand 'flat' nor 'earth', the end is nigh.

The more science discovers of animal/human development, the less we apply it to our lives. Left to itself, the human-substrate-Ape would procreate, not long after 鈥榬ipening鈥�, producing a viable replacement, going forward. The grafting of a cerebral overlay would continue - hopefully with a bit more wisdom! But the Age of Perversity has overridden Ape-lust; now late pregnancy is accelerating, with complications. Further, schooling and clever kit is messing with minds.

I suspect we never even noticed the tipping point as we passed it.

No 20 .. They Would Never Let Us Have that. .. It would show what they really are.

Obsolete, Past their Sell by Date, Irrelevent, Not Fit For Purpose,USELESS. SEE State of Country

24 Dont Knock TB its Not The Laft/Left thing 2 Do

Ok So I Lied, I did watch some of the debate yesterday, BUT only 2 Prove to Myself I'd be better off Doing Anything/Something Else .. I Was Right.

13 AbStained/Voted against ? Lucky/Unlucky for who/what .. With politicians its All BAD Luck

as far as I could see only 1 MP Mentioned PC Fletcher, Sod Diplomacy we should have gone in there then.

Spinminster/Twistminster/westminister Justice for All .. Who came out with that Joke

And Now They Will TAX Fresh Air Again .. GEE Four For You .. NO G4 for Them

SEE OH 2 Imissing/Omissions I dont suppose anybody Measured The Amount of Bad Wind coming out of parliment yesterday .. Should be a law against it, or at the very least TAX politicians till they take home Less than a Traffic WAR den. eh

traffic wardens might make a better job of running the place .. Parkawayoh

The Libya no-fly zone mission runs down. Just 6 warplanes aloft

The $ is looking precarious

Watch out down there

One for brossen



I think you'll love this line!

He said exciting developments in the renewable and low carbon energy markets in particular offer an exceptional opportunity for both UK-based and foreign investors.

37 Time 2 Grease Up The Tiger Moths Again .. I believe they were used in The Midden East 1920's ish

38 No Worries I have me Skidlid

Elephants Rule .. Pc E Fletcher I Remember We were Jumping up and Down Regarding The Cowardly Deed, We Should have gone in There and Dragged the Useless *&^% Out and Gave him the same.

I wonder what baby nulabour prawns were SAYING .. Prawns like Them Can Never Do .. Apart from Bad Smelly Wind

/news/business-12816898

Yeah so much for austerity, Arnold Schwarzenegger thought he should do the same and ended up with more debt.

No governor on the engine = gone wrong nociception = major headache for the public.

Its the medication stupid and their not going to stop it unless you the public work out whats going on and take control .

First you have to take your head out of the sand and look beyond your own needs to understand.

if the un mandate is to protect civilians then removing gaddafi would be the quickest and safest way to do that? or is the expectation he will reform? does the doctor remove the cause or just the symptom?

No Free Market in Energy

if there is no moral hazard of companies going bust and thus supply constriction then there is no free market. so its just a government subsidy industry. so might as well
co operatise it?

The 'investment' the regulator demands of the companies which they put on the bills has a 6% minimum profit. 6% of 200 billlion is?

so by trying to scare us the govt are saying ther eis no free market. which makes it what? cartel? oligarchic? extortion?

nice NN finally been looking at those charts i kept posting.

@ Jaunty #43. Here's a link to UN Resolution 1973 (2011)

The aim is to "not result in the occupation of 鈥渙ne inch鈥� of Libyan territory by foreign forces." Nor does it state that the UN are endorsing a regime change.

44 the 'regime change' of massacring civilians is implied?

if gaddafi and his sons were dead or exiled would it go on?