This is one of those stories that perhaps didn't receive as much coverage as it should have done due to the Manchester Evening News Arena (MENA) bombing.
James Comey is of course the former Director of America's FBI. In this role he oversaw all aspects of the FBI's operations including the Counter-Intelligence Division and the Hillary Clinton investigation although as an espionage investigation that should have been conducted by the Counter-Intelligence Division.
Whilst overseeing the Hillary Clinton investigation James Comey was contacted by the Counter-Intelligence Division. They claimed to have intercepted internal Russia intelligence service documents.
These documents claimed that Russian intelligence had been able to penetrate to the communications of both Hillary Clinton and then US Attorney General Loretta Lynch. They went on to claim that Lynch had done a deal with Clinton that she would obstruct the investigation into Clinton in order to stop it; "Going too far."
On receiving these Russian documents - before the Hillary Clinton investigation was complete - James Comey then decided that the FBI was not going to seek the prosecution of Hillary Clinton. He didn't want to be the person who spoilt this corrupt deal between Loretta Lynch and Hillary Clinton.
The thing is though the Russian documents were fake. They are the sort of thing that intelligence agencies circulate internally in the hope of catching out anyone who may be spying on them.
So it seems if there was Russian influence over the US election it took the form of James Comey being such a terrible detective that he failed to recognise a fake Russian document. Instead he took it as his instruction from Lynch and Clinton not to prosecute Hillary Clinton.
This story broke I think last Tuesday (23/5/17). On Friday (26/5/17) sources close to James Comey confirmed the story. However they claimed that Comey had known instantly that the documents were fake.
However neither Comey nor those sources have offered any explanation of why Comey failed to seek the prosecution of Hillary Clinton.
Also I can't help but notice that acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe who conducted the Hillary Clinton before obstructing the UK investigation into the MENA bombing has still not been fired.
19:25 on 31/5/17 (UK date).
Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Monday, 29 May 2017
State Sponsored Terrorism.
Last Monday (22/5/17) the Manchester Evening News Arena (MENA) in the UK city of Manchester came under terrorist attack.
This bombing occurred at the end of a concert by US popstar Ariana Grande which was part of her Dangerous Woman Tour (DWT). 22 civilians were killed in the attack and a further 59 wounded.
This attack was directed by the nation state of Qatar. By nation state I mean the ruling al-Thani family.
As I've mentioned in 2011 the UK saw an opportunity to get revenge in a long running feud with Libyan leader Muammer Qaddafi.
Using the revolutions in Libya's neighbours of Tunisia and Egypt as cover UK raised terrorist cells from the large Libyan ex-patriot community in and around Manchester. They then dispatched these terror cells to Libya to conduct terror attacks against the Libyan security services.
When the Libyan security services reacted to these terror attacks the UK used is as an excuse to launch conventional military operations against Libya under the guise of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) by falsely claiming a massacre was looming.
Obviously Qaddafi did not fall as quickly as Britain would have liked. So Britain sent Special Operations Forces (SOF's) to Tunisia and Libya to set up training camps to turn these terrorist cells into terrorist armies.
Eventually Qaddafi was overthrown in October of 2011. Since then the al-Thani family have been trying to seize control of Libya and its vast oil reserves.
Initially Qatar attempted to seize control through the 2012 elections. They did this by setting up two Islamist political parties both answerable to the al-Thani family; The Watan Party and the Justice & Construction Party.
In English the Watan Party's name translates as; "The Nation Party." However the name carries with it connotations of; "The Homeland Party" so either translation is considered valid. The colour scheme of the Watan Party's logo is the purple and white of the Qatari flag. During the campaign Watan made no secret of their links to Qatar.
At the election the threat of foreign interference was a big one. So the purpose of Watan so openly claiming to be the party of the Qatari nation was to drive Islamist voters into the arms of the Justice & Construction Party. The trick being to get them to think they were voting against foreign interference by voting for another Qatari controlled party.
Despite Qatar's efforts this plan failed. As expected Watan did not win any seats. However the Justice & Construction Party only won 17 seats putting them far below what was needed for a majority in the 200 seat Parliament.
Having failed to seize control of Libya through the democratic process the al-Thanis then set about making it impossible for the Libyan government to function.
Primarily they did this by mounting a series of sit-ins within the Parliamentary chamber preventing Parliament from sitting. This was the same tactic used by the US Democrat Party in response to the June 12th 2016 (12/6/16) terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, US.
The objective of preventing Parliament from sitting was to prevent Parliament from doing any work. The hope being that the lack of progress in bringing political reform to Libyan would stir up public anger forcing a fresh election in which the Qatari parties would do much better.
However even this failed. So in July 2014 Qatari backed militias simply overthrew the Libyan government by force. This caused what I would consider the legitimate Libyan government to flee Tripoli for the eastern city of Tobruk. The Qatari parties and militias then set up their own rival government in Tripoli.
What the international community should have done in response was to recognise the Islamists decision to withdraw from Libyan politics. They should have then backed the Libyan government to restore order to the country and the government to Tripoli by lifting the arms embargo on Libya. Qatar obviously just completely ignored that arms embargo.
However for some reason what the international community led by the United Nations (UN) did instead was force the Libyan government into a power-sharing Government of National Accord (GNA). This gave the Qatari backed Islamist parties far more power than they deserved with only 10% of the vote.
However despite the actions of the international community popular resistance to the Qatari backed Islamists has continued.
This popular resistance is particularly centred around the eastern city of Benghazi where it is led by Libyan General Khalifa Haftar. Recently Haftar has had growing contact with Russia amid rumours they may start formally backing him. When the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov was in the Mediterranean recently conducting airstrikes in Syria wasn't the only thing it was doing.
The dividing line between the Qatari Islamist forces in Tripoli in the west and Haftar's forces in Benghazi in the east is really the central coastal city of Sirte. This was long occupied by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In January 2017 the US conducted limited airstrikes against ISIL in Sirte. However this only seems to have had the effect of driving them further under Qatari protection in and around Tripoli and Misrata.
The Libyan Islamist Justice & Construction Party is obviously very closely linked to the Turkish Islamist Justice & Development Party (AKP). This is the party of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The two parties are linked through an organisation called the Muslim Brotherhood. Up until the start of May 2017 the Muslim Brotherhood were also linked to the Palestinian group Hamas. However Hamas have now ended their associated with the Muslim Brotherhood whom they now view as too extreme and detrimental to the Palestinian cause.
The Muslim Brotherhood also has a US branch which operates under the name of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). One of their most high profile representatives of late has been a woman by the name of Linda Sarsour. She was a leading figure in organising January's anti-Trump "Sister Marches."
ISIL are currently under a great deal of pressure in their traditional heartlands in Syria and Iraq.
The liberation of the Iraqi city of Mosul will not mean that ISIL have been ousted entirely from the country. However it will mean that they have been ousted from the last major population centre they control. Compared to liberating Mosul liberating the remaining areas such as Hawija from ISIL should be relatively easy.
Within Syria the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD) now more-or-less completely control the area north-east of the Euphrates River. Syrian forces now more-or-less completely control the area south-west of the Euphrates. This limits ISIL to a few small areas along the Euphrates River basin such as the cities of Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zour.
The remaining problem is this area designated; "Garvaghy Road." This stretches for 100km (60 miles) across from Azaz/Kilis in the west to the Euphrates in the east. In August 2016 Erdogan sent regular Turkish forces to invade and occupy the Garvaghy Road.
Erdogan's objective in doing this was twofold. Firstly it was to keep ISIL's supply lines with Turkey open. Secondly it was to provide ISIL with an escape route out of Syria and Iraq to Libya via Turkey.
With the SDF now just 3km (1.8 miles) away from Raqqa we are now really all sitting around waiting for US President Trump to give the order for Garvaghy Road to be sealed allowing ISIL to be annihilated.
What appears to be causing the delay is the knowledge that Erdogan will respond to the sealing of Garvaghy Road by launching attacks like the MENA bombing, the November 13th 2015 (13/11/15) Paris Massacres and the Orlando attack against the US.
So in order to protect US civilians President Trump seems to be delaying the sealing of Garvaghy Road until he can ban people from terror training camps in places like Syria, Iraq and Libya travelling to the US to conduct attacks.
Unfortunately Trump's attempts to protect the US public continue to be wholly unlawfully obstructed by the US Courts. These legal challenges are being brought and supported by CAIR and groups affiliated with them. I'm of the opinion that if they are going to continuing acting as enemy combatants they will have to be treated as such.
Recently the UK has been leading calls for Garvaghy Road to be sealed. If you know what to look for the announcement of the UK's June 8th (8/6/17) General Election was full of sarcastic references to Erdogan's failure to announce that he is pulling his forces out of Garvaghy Road.
So the purpose of the MENA attack was to intimidate the UK into ending its support for the sealing of Garvaghy Road. This will allow ISIL to re-group within Libya where the al-Thanis will use them to seize control of the country.
The UK was particularly vulnerable to attack because not only has it allowed the Libyan terrorists it trained in 2011 to return to the UK it's actually still paying many of them.
As I said closer to the time beyond the loss of life and damage to property the MENA attack was designed to exert considerable psychological pressure on the UK Establishment. The areas I listed at the time remain valid.
The MENA attack occurred two weeks before the General Election.
The attack obviously set out to highlight the Conservative government of former Prime Minister David Cameron's role as a war criminal and a state sponsor of terror. It also set out to highlight the damage former Prime Minister Cameron's government did to vital emergency services such as the National Health Service (NHS).
As such the attack attempted to swing the vote in favour of the rival Labour Party. That is because through accepting members such as Jo Cox and Naz Shah the Labour Party is consider a friend of Islamist extremists everywhere.
These day's even Hamas seem ashamed of any possible relationship they may have had with party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn's past support certainly seems to be hurting Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland.
According to polls prior to the MENA bombing the Labour Party need a massive swing in order to only do twice as badly as they did at the last election. Therefore I think even this bombing won't result in a Labour victory.
I certainly hope that the UK electorate is more intelligent then that. I for example will happily criticise the Conservative Party. However I will not do it because some terrorist scumbag is trying to trick me into doing it.
Even without the possibility of a Labour victory elections are extremely stressful times for politicians. Even the suggestion that a foreign power will engage in mass murder in order to fix the outcome of an election massively increases that stress.
The MENA bombing also occurred on the fourth anniversary of the May 22nd 2013 (22/5/13) killing of British Army Fusilier Lee Rigby in London. This is very much a pressure point for the UK intelligence services.
The killing of Lee Rigby was not a legitimate terrorist attack. Instead it is what a conspiracy theorist would describe as; "A False Flag Attack."
The Security Service MI5 were monitoring probably one individual who may have gone on to be an Islamist terrorist. However rather than intervening to stop him they simply nudged him into carrying out the type of attack they wanted. As a member of the British military Lee Rigby had agreed that Britain can take his life if they feel that is needed.
Despite being organised by MI5 the Lee Rigby killing has become a focal point for British Islamist terrorists allowing them to recruit more potential attackers. Just on May 19th (19/5/17) Manchester Crown Court jailed Darren Glennon for planning a Lee Rigby inspired attack. That was just the latest in what has become a conveyor belt of prosecutions in the UK.
On August 6th 2011 (6/8/11) I attended the wedding of my mothers. Or if you want to be pedantic their Civil Partnership. The family of UK government lawyers being married into certainly do know how to be pedantic.
At the time my mothers were living in east London very close to the site of the 2012 London Olympic Games. Olympic hosts are obviously obligated to protect the games from widespread disorder and at the time there was a growing, angry protest movement within London over the cost of the games.
So Britain used the opportunity of my mothers wedding to stage a small scale riot in Tottenham, London to promote discussion about the threat of urban disorder during the 2012 Olympics.
However Britain really misread the mood of the nation. What was intended as a single night of isolated rioting triggered a week of mass rioting up and down the country. At the time I seem to remember saying it was like the riots of the 1980's. Only all of them happening at the same time.
Although it was caused by arson rather than airstrikes across parts of particularly London the scale of property damage was on the sort of scale we're currently seeing in Mosul. Entire city blocks simply disappeared overnight.
In the midst of this chaos two young teenage girls how were taking part in the riots telephoned a live BBC news show. When asked to explain why they were rioting these drunk girls started quoting lyrics from the Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye West song; "Run This Town."
That in no small part is why I ended up getting married off to Rihanna. You may well remember the ceremony which was billed as the Closing Ceremony to the 2012 Para-Olympic Games.
The weekend before the Lee Rigby killing I attended another wedding. This time of my cousin who is a doctor and was marrying a doctor. So the wedding was absolutely packed with their fellow doctors. Including the doctors who went on to be the first responders at the Lee Rigby killing.
The Lee Rigby killing occurred some three weeks before the UK hosted the G8 Summit. With the Summit being hosted in Northern Ireland event security was certainly on the agenda. The Lee Rigby killing served to further bring the issue of security and other complex issues such as the 2011 riots onto the G8 agenda.
The way that a car was used in the killing was a reference to a very specific incident that showed ferocity of those riots. The riot police had formed up a line as they normally do. However rather than dispersing the rioters hijacked a car, stuck a brick on the gas pedal and basically fired it at the police line.
The Lee Rigby killing also put a huge amount of pressure on me personally during Rihanna's Diamonds World Tour (DWT) - the worst honeymoon in history.
As I've said the main objective of Rihanna's DWT was to cause her to suffer some sort of psychological breakdown/emergency whilst in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on October 19th 2013 (19/10/13).
For some reason that would serve as a US apology for Rihanna causing the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions in 2011. This apology was primarily directed at Qatar and Saudi Arabia. However it had to take place in the UAE neither Qatar nor Saudi Arabia would allow a woman to perform a concert in public.
However the premise of Rihanna's DWT was that a popstar would confuse the world with coded reference to political events. This is the same premise of the Eurovision Song Contest which is now in its 63rd year. So during the European leg of Rihanna's DWT in the summer of 2013 absolutely nothing of note happened.
So people like me got bored and went off and did other things. One of the things I did was help the Egyptian people overthrow the Muslim Brotherhood dictator Mohamed Morsi on July 3rd (3/67/13).
I think that was the moment I was able to claim 100% victory over the US and Rihana's DWT. Not only had they failed to deliver an apology to the likes of Qatar they'd actually ended up taking Egypt outside of Qatar's sphere of influence.
In the immediate aftermath of the MENA bombing Qatar started gloating about what they'd done. Qatar's state news agency released details of a speech their leader Shiekh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani had given to military academy graduates on Sunday (21/5/17).
The speech itself is something that only appeared in Arabic on a website very few people know exists for a period of around fours. It occurred while everybody's attention seemed to be on the MENA bombing. Therefore I too would like the opportunity to study its details.
However the main thrust of the speech is that Saudi Arabia had humiliated the Muslim world by hosting US President Trump on May 20th (20/5/17).
Qatar's position was that there was no point acknowledging President Trump because the US branch of the Muslim Brotherhood would soon succeed in ousting him and replacing him with a Qatari puppet. You may know her as Hillary Clinton.
The Qataris then almost immediately claimed that this incendiary speech as a fake that had been placed on their news agency website by hackers.
This is obviously a reference to the US branch of the Muslim Brotherhood attempts to use; "Russian Hacking" in their efforts to oust President Trump. As the Democrat National Committee (DNC) have shown; "We were hacked!" has become a convenient excuse for releasing information you don't officially want to admit you've released.
It also touched on the Ransomware that the UK launched to promote discussion about cybersecurity at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. Compared to what an actual cyberattack would do this was almost completely harmless.
The decryption keys were hidden in the root code of the virus itself. In the US TV Show "Person of Interest" Amy Acker plays a character called Samantha Groves who is commonly known by the nickname; "Root."
The name of the virus; "Wanna Cry" was a big joke at the expense of heartbroken US liberals who in their grief have been tricked into supporting the Muslim Brotherhood's attempts to oust President Trump.
In response to the speech Qatar's closest allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) immediately banned all Qatari news agencies from being broadcast. This included the most famous Qatari news agency Al Jazeera. Obviously though the trick is working out how genuine Qatar's allies are in their outrage.
It was the outrage over Tamim al-Thani's speech that prompted the Qatari backed militias in Tripoli to arrest the father and brother of the MENA bomber Salman Abedi. It also prompted the non-Qatari backed militias to rise up against the Qatari Occupation Government. Curiously the international community has now condemned that uprising.
Qatari news agencies were also blocked in Egypt. Since the revolution removing Morsi Egypt has had a long running problem with Qatari news agencies and Al Jazeera in particular. They act as the propaganda arm of the Muslim Brotherhood decrying the revolution as a coup, calling on Egyptians to take up arms against the government and celebrate ISIL attacks.
On Friday (26/5/17) Egypt was punished for daring to shutdown the Muslim Brotherhood's propaganda arm. The Muslim Brotherhood's armed wing attacked a bus carrying Egyptian Coptic Christians travelling to the Monastery of Saint Samuel killing 28. However Al Jazeera celebrated by claiming that many more had been killed.
In response Egypt conducted airstrikes against militia camps in and around Derna in Libya. This is largely symbolic but Egypt has long been promised that action will be taken in Libya ever since 21 Egyptian Copts were beheaded by ISIL in Sirte in February 2015.
Anyway I've been getting three days of earache for me to publish all this on the World Wide Web.
So I assume the UK is ready to deposit £30,000 of missing backpay into my account, designate Qatar a state sponsor of terrorism and issue arrest warrants for the al-Thani.
But maybe I'll just go back to the holes in my shoes and accept its only right I have to work much harder to cover up the failings of others.
17:10 on 29/5/17 (UK date).
This bombing occurred at the end of a concert by US popstar Ariana Grande which was part of her Dangerous Woman Tour (DWT). 22 civilians were killed in the attack and a further 59 wounded.
This attack was directed by the nation state of Qatar. By nation state I mean the ruling al-Thani family.
As I've mentioned in 2011 the UK saw an opportunity to get revenge in a long running feud with Libyan leader Muammer Qaddafi.
Using the revolutions in Libya's neighbours of Tunisia and Egypt as cover UK raised terrorist cells from the large Libyan ex-patriot community in and around Manchester. They then dispatched these terror cells to Libya to conduct terror attacks against the Libyan security services.
When the Libyan security services reacted to these terror attacks the UK used is as an excuse to launch conventional military operations against Libya under the guise of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) by falsely claiming a massacre was looming.
Obviously Qaddafi did not fall as quickly as Britain would have liked. So Britain sent Special Operations Forces (SOF's) to Tunisia and Libya to set up training camps to turn these terrorist cells into terrorist armies.
Eventually Qaddafi was overthrown in October of 2011. Since then the al-Thani family have been trying to seize control of Libya and its vast oil reserves.
Initially Qatar attempted to seize control through the 2012 elections. They did this by setting up two Islamist political parties both answerable to the al-Thani family; The Watan Party and the Justice & Construction Party.
In English the Watan Party's name translates as; "The Nation Party." However the name carries with it connotations of; "The Homeland Party" so either translation is considered valid. The colour scheme of the Watan Party's logo is the purple and white of the Qatari flag. During the campaign Watan made no secret of their links to Qatar.
At the election the threat of foreign interference was a big one. So the purpose of Watan so openly claiming to be the party of the Qatari nation was to drive Islamist voters into the arms of the Justice & Construction Party. The trick being to get them to think they were voting against foreign interference by voting for another Qatari controlled party.
Despite Qatar's efforts this plan failed. As expected Watan did not win any seats. However the Justice & Construction Party only won 17 seats putting them far below what was needed for a majority in the 200 seat Parliament.
Having failed to seize control of Libya through the democratic process the al-Thanis then set about making it impossible for the Libyan government to function.
Primarily they did this by mounting a series of sit-ins within the Parliamentary chamber preventing Parliament from sitting. This was the same tactic used by the US Democrat Party in response to the June 12th 2016 (12/6/16) terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, US.
The objective of preventing Parliament from sitting was to prevent Parliament from doing any work. The hope being that the lack of progress in bringing political reform to Libyan would stir up public anger forcing a fresh election in which the Qatari parties would do much better.
However even this failed. So in July 2014 Qatari backed militias simply overthrew the Libyan government by force. This caused what I would consider the legitimate Libyan government to flee Tripoli for the eastern city of Tobruk. The Qatari parties and militias then set up their own rival government in Tripoli.
What the international community should have done in response was to recognise the Islamists decision to withdraw from Libyan politics. They should have then backed the Libyan government to restore order to the country and the government to Tripoli by lifting the arms embargo on Libya. Qatar obviously just completely ignored that arms embargo.
However for some reason what the international community led by the United Nations (UN) did instead was force the Libyan government into a power-sharing Government of National Accord (GNA). This gave the Qatari backed Islamist parties far more power than they deserved with only 10% of the vote.
However despite the actions of the international community popular resistance to the Qatari backed Islamists has continued.
This popular resistance is particularly centred around the eastern city of Benghazi where it is led by Libyan General Khalifa Haftar. Recently Haftar has had growing contact with Russia amid rumours they may start formally backing him. When the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov was in the Mediterranean recently conducting airstrikes in Syria wasn't the only thing it was doing.
The dividing line between the Qatari Islamist forces in Tripoli in the west and Haftar's forces in Benghazi in the east is really the central coastal city of Sirte. This was long occupied by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In January 2017 the US conducted limited airstrikes against ISIL in Sirte. However this only seems to have had the effect of driving them further under Qatari protection in and around Tripoli and Misrata.
The Libyan Islamist Justice & Construction Party is obviously very closely linked to the Turkish Islamist Justice & Development Party (AKP). This is the party of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The two parties are linked through an organisation called the Muslim Brotherhood. Up until the start of May 2017 the Muslim Brotherhood were also linked to the Palestinian group Hamas. However Hamas have now ended their associated with the Muslim Brotherhood whom they now view as too extreme and detrimental to the Palestinian cause.
The Muslim Brotherhood also has a US branch which operates under the name of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). One of their most high profile representatives of late has been a woman by the name of Linda Sarsour. She was a leading figure in organising January's anti-Trump "Sister Marches."
ISIL are currently under a great deal of pressure in their traditional heartlands in Syria and Iraq.
The liberation of the Iraqi city of Mosul will not mean that ISIL have been ousted entirely from the country. However it will mean that they have been ousted from the last major population centre they control. Compared to liberating Mosul liberating the remaining areas such as Hawija from ISIL should be relatively easy.
Within Syria the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD) now more-or-less completely control the area north-east of the Euphrates River. Syrian forces now more-or-less completely control the area south-west of the Euphrates. This limits ISIL to a few small areas along the Euphrates River basin such as the cities of Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zour.
The remaining problem is this area designated; "Garvaghy Road." This stretches for 100km (60 miles) across from Azaz/Kilis in the west to the Euphrates in the east. In August 2016 Erdogan sent regular Turkish forces to invade and occupy the Garvaghy Road.
Erdogan's objective in doing this was twofold. Firstly it was to keep ISIL's supply lines with Turkey open. Secondly it was to provide ISIL with an escape route out of Syria and Iraq to Libya via Turkey.
With the SDF now just 3km (1.8 miles) away from Raqqa we are now really all sitting around waiting for US President Trump to give the order for Garvaghy Road to be sealed allowing ISIL to be annihilated.
What appears to be causing the delay is the knowledge that Erdogan will respond to the sealing of Garvaghy Road by launching attacks like the MENA bombing, the November 13th 2015 (13/11/15) Paris Massacres and the Orlando attack against the US.
So in order to protect US civilians President Trump seems to be delaying the sealing of Garvaghy Road until he can ban people from terror training camps in places like Syria, Iraq and Libya travelling to the US to conduct attacks.
Unfortunately Trump's attempts to protect the US public continue to be wholly unlawfully obstructed by the US Courts. These legal challenges are being brought and supported by CAIR and groups affiliated with them. I'm of the opinion that if they are going to continuing acting as enemy combatants they will have to be treated as such.
Recently the UK has been leading calls for Garvaghy Road to be sealed. If you know what to look for the announcement of the UK's June 8th (8/6/17) General Election was full of sarcastic references to Erdogan's failure to announce that he is pulling his forces out of Garvaghy Road.
So the purpose of the MENA attack was to intimidate the UK into ending its support for the sealing of Garvaghy Road. This will allow ISIL to re-group within Libya where the al-Thanis will use them to seize control of the country.
The UK was particularly vulnerable to attack because not only has it allowed the Libyan terrorists it trained in 2011 to return to the UK it's actually still paying many of them.
As I said closer to the time beyond the loss of life and damage to property the MENA attack was designed to exert considerable psychological pressure on the UK Establishment. The areas I listed at the time remain valid.
The MENA attack occurred two weeks before the General Election.
The attack obviously set out to highlight the Conservative government of former Prime Minister David Cameron's role as a war criminal and a state sponsor of terror. It also set out to highlight the damage former Prime Minister Cameron's government did to vital emergency services such as the National Health Service (NHS).
As such the attack attempted to swing the vote in favour of the rival Labour Party. That is because through accepting members such as Jo Cox and Naz Shah the Labour Party is consider a friend of Islamist extremists everywhere.
These day's even Hamas seem ashamed of any possible relationship they may have had with party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn's past support certainly seems to be hurting Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland.
According to polls prior to the MENA bombing the Labour Party need a massive swing in order to only do twice as badly as they did at the last election. Therefore I think even this bombing won't result in a Labour victory.
I certainly hope that the UK electorate is more intelligent then that. I for example will happily criticise the Conservative Party. However I will not do it because some terrorist scumbag is trying to trick me into doing it.
Even without the possibility of a Labour victory elections are extremely stressful times for politicians. Even the suggestion that a foreign power will engage in mass murder in order to fix the outcome of an election massively increases that stress.
The MENA bombing also occurred on the fourth anniversary of the May 22nd 2013 (22/5/13) killing of British Army Fusilier Lee Rigby in London. This is very much a pressure point for the UK intelligence services.
The killing of Lee Rigby was not a legitimate terrorist attack. Instead it is what a conspiracy theorist would describe as; "A False Flag Attack."
The Security Service MI5 were monitoring probably one individual who may have gone on to be an Islamist terrorist. However rather than intervening to stop him they simply nudged him into carrying out the type of attack they wanted. As a member of the British military Lee Rigby had agreed that Britain can take his life if they feel that is needed.
Despite being organised by MI5 the Lee Rigby killing has become a focal point for British Islamist terrorists allowing them to recruit more potential attackers. Just on May 19th (19/5/17) Manchester Crown Court jailed Darren Glennon for planning a Lee Rigby inspired attack. That was just the latest in what has become a conveyor belt of prosecutions in the UK.
On August 6th 2011 (6/8/11) I attended the wedding of my mothers. Or if you want to be pedantic their Civil Partnership. The family of UK government lawyers being married into certainly do know how to be pedantic.
At the time my mothers were living in east London very close to the site of the 2012 London Olympic Games. Olympic hosts are obviously obligated to protect the games from widespread disorder and at the time there was a growing, angry protest movement within London over the cost of the games.
So Britain used the opportunity of my mothers wedding to stage a small scale riot in Tottenham, London to promote discussion about the threat of urban disorder during the 2012 Olympics.
However Britain really misread the mood of the nation. What was intended as a single night of isolated rioting triggered a week of mass rioting up and down the country. At the time I seem to remember saying it was like the riots of the 1980's. Only all of them happening at the same time.
Although it was caused by arson rather than airstrikes across parts of particularly London the scale of property damage was on the sort of scale we're currently seeing in Mosul. Entire city blocks simply disappeared overnight.
In the midst of this chaos two young teenage girls how were taking part in the riots telephoned a live BBC news show. When asked to explain why they were rioting these drunk girls started quoting lyrics from the Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye West song; "Run This Town."
That in no small part is why I ended up getting married off to Rihanna. You may well remember the ceremony which was billed as the Closing Ceremony to the 2012 Para-Olympic Games.
The weekend before the Lee Rigby killing I attended another wedding. This time of my cousin who is a doctor and was marrying a doctor. So the wedding was absolutely packed with their fellow doctors. Including the doctors who went on to be the first responders at the Lee Rigby killing.
The Lee Rigby killing occurred some three weeks before the UK hosted the G8 Summit. With the Summit being hosted in Northern Ireland event security was certainly on the agenda. The Lee Rigby killing served to further bring the issue of security and other complex issues such as the 2011 riots onto the G8 agenda.
The way that a car was used in the killing was a reference to a very specific incident that showed ferocity of those riots. The riot police had formed up a line as they normally do. However rather than dispersing the rioters hijacked a car, stuck a brick on the gas pedal and basically fired it at the police line.
The Lee Rigby killing also put a huge amount of pressure on me personally during Rihanna's Diamonds World Tour (DWT) - the worst honeymoon in history.
As I've said the main objective of Rihanna's DWT was to cause her to suffer some sort of psychological breakdown/emergency whilst in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on October 19th 2013 (19/10/13).
For some reason that would serve as a US apology for Rihanna causing the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions in 2011. This apology was primarily directed at Qatar and Saudi Arabia. However it had to take place in the UAE neither Qatar nor Saudi Arabia would allow a woman to perform a concert in public.
However the premise of Rihanna's DWT was that a popstar would confuse the world with coded reference to political events. This is the same premise of the Eurovision Song Contest which is now in its 63rd year. So during the European leg of Rihanna's DWT in the summer of 2013 absolutely nothing of note happened.
So people like me got bored and went off and did other things. One of the things I did was help the Egyptian people overthrow the Muslim Brotherhood dictator Mohamed Morsi on July 3rd (3/67/13).
I think that was the moment I was able to claim 100% victory over the US and Rihana's DWT. Not only had they failed to deliver an apology to the likes of Qatar they'd actually ended up taking Egypt outside of Qatar's sphere of influence.
In the immediate aftermath of the MENA bombing Qatar started gloating about what they'd done. Qatar's state news agency released details of a speech their leader Shiekh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani had given to military academy graduates on Sunday (21/5/17).
The speech itself is something that only appeared in Arabic on a website very few people know exists for a period of around fours. It occurred while everybody's attention seemed to be on the MENA bombing. Therefore I too would like the opportunity to study its details.
However the main thrust of the speech is that Saudi Arabia had humiliated the Muslim world by hosting US President Trump on May 20th (20/5/17).
Qatar's position was that there was no point acknowledging President Trump because the US branch of the Muslim Brotherhood would soon succeed in ousting him and replacing him with a Qatari puppet. You may know her as Hillary Clinton.
The Qataris then almost immediately claimed that this incendiary speech as a fake that had been placed on their news agency website by hackers.
This is obviously a reference to the US branch of the Muslim Brotherhood attempts to use; "Russian Hacking" in their efforts to oust President Trump. As the Democrat National Committee (DNC) have shown; "We were hacked!" has become a convenient excuse for releasing information you don't officially want to admit you've released.
It also touched on the Ransomware that the UK launched to promote discussion about cybersecurity at the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. Compared to what an actual cyberattack would do this was almost completely harmless.
The decryption keys were hidden in the root code of the virus itself. In the US TV Show "Person of Interest" Amy Acker plays a character called Samantha Groves who is commonly known by the nickname; "Root."
The name of the virus; "Wanna Cry" was a big joke at the expense of heartbroken US liberals who in their grief have been tricked into supporting the Muslim Brotherhood's attempts to oust President Trump.
In response to the speech Qatar's closest allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) immediately banned all Qatari news agencies from being broadcast. This included the most famous Qatari news agency Al Jazeera. Obviously though the trick is working out how genuine Qatar's allies are in their outrage.
It was the outrage over Tamim al-Thani's speech that prompted the Qatari backed militias in Tripoli to arrest the father and brother of the MENA bomber Salman Abedi. It also prompted the non-Qatari backed militias to rise up against the Qatari Occupation Government. Curiously the international community has now condemned that uprising.
Qatari news agencies were also blocked in Egypt. Since the revolution removing Morsi Egypt has had a long running problem with Qatari news agencies and Al Jazeera in particular. They act as the propaganda arm of the Muslim Brotherhood decrying the revolution as a coup, calling on Egyptians to take up arms against the government and celebrate ISIL attacks.
On Friday (26/5/17) Egypt was punished for daring to shutdown the Muslim Brotherhood's propaganda arm. The Muslim Brotherhood's armed wing attacked a bus carrying Egyptian Coptic Christians travelling to the Monastery of Saint Samuel killing 28. However Al Jazeera celebrated by claiming that many more had been killed.
In response Egypt conducted airstrikes against militia camps in and around Derna in Libya. This is largely symbolic but Egypt has long been promised that action will be taken in Libya ever since 21 Egyptian Copts were beheaded by ISIL in Sirte in February 2015.
Anyway I've been getting three days of earache for me to publish all this on the World Wide Web.
So I assume the UK is ready to deposit £30,000 of missing backpay into my account, designate Qatar a state sponsor of terrorism and issue arrest warrants for the al-Thani.
But maybe I'll just go back to the holes in my shoes and accept its only right I have to work much harder to cover up the failings of others.
17:10 on 29/5/17 (UK date).
Sunday, 28 May 2017
Memorial Day Weekend.
The US appears to be experiencing something known as; "Memorial Day Weekend." This seems to be American for; "Bank Holiday Monday."
I gather though it is also somewhat similar to the UK festival known as; "Remembrance Sunday." Occurring in late November every year this is the day we mourn all those who fell. So you'll excuse me if I get all misty eyed.
Today (28/5/17) the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) have sent men - and in this case they are all men - into battle to liberate the last two remaining districts of Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
It has been a week where I feel I help more by providing local information rather than annoying foreigners. So I will have to try and catch up on that as it goes
However I do know that when you launch an operation such as this you do so knowing that some of the men you send out will not return home. Based on the 1st Battalion of the 9th Division of the US Marine Corp this could be as many of 9 out of every 10 of them.
Already today we know that 13 men will not be returning from Mosul.
I also know that the men who are being given these orders know that many of them will not return home. Yet they do it anyway.
So I'm sorry but it runs much deeper than;
"OMFG! You were stupid enough to give Beyonce money!?!"
I gather though it is also somewhat similar to the UK festival known as; "Remembrance Sunday." Occurring in late November every year this is the day we mourn all those who fell. So you'll excuse me if I get all misty eyed.
Today (28/5/17) the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) have sent men - and in this case they are all men - into battle to liberate the last two remaining districts of Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
It has been a week where I feel I help more by providing local information rather than annoying foreigners. So I will have to try and catch up on that as it goes
However I do know that when you launch an operation such as this you do so knowing that some of the men you send out will not return home. Based on the 1st Battalion of the 9th Division of the US Marine Corp this could be as many of 9 out of every 10 of them.
Already today we know that 13 men will not be returning from Mosul.
I also know that the men who are being given these orders know that many of them will not return home. Yet they do it anyway.
So I'm sorry but it runs much deeper than;
"OMFG! You were stupid enough to give Beyonce money!?!"
Thursday, 25 May 2017
The Washington Colander.
Since even before his inauguration unelected members of the US intelligence community and media have been waging a campaign against US President Donald Trump.
In the immediate term the objective of this campaign has been to bind President Trump to the failed, pro-terrorist policies of former US President Barack Obama. These are the same policies of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who voters rejected in favour of President Trump.
In the longer term the objective seems to be to oust President Trump entirely. A Coup de'tat.
As part of this campaign anonymous sources within the intelligence community - normally the FBI - will leak a benign piece of information about President Trump and Russia.
For example members of Trump's transition team met with the Russian Ambassador to the US - an example of the system of diplomatic relations between nations that has existed for hundreds of years functioning perfectly normally.
The media then intentionally use these benign pieces of information to try and whip their audiences into a paranoid frenzy.
On Monday (22/5/17) night the US broadcaster CNN faced a particular publish backlash. They took the editorial decision that it was more important to continue their anti-Trump campaign then to report on the unfolding terror attack in Manchester, UK.
You may remember that on May 15th (15/5/17) the Washington Post newspaper reported that President Trump had privately shared classified intelligence with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting on May 10th (10/5/17).
No information about the nature of this intelligence nor a source for the claim was provided. The following day the New York Times newspaper - again citing anonymous sources - claimed that the source of the intelligence had been Israel.
This sent the US media's anti-Trump campaign into hyperdrive. They claimed that this would end the US' intelligence sharing with the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - the "Five Eyes" - and that it would destroy the US' relationship with Israel because Trump had put the life of an Israeli spy in danger.
Israel of course was supremely relaxed about this. They weren't the source of the intelligence but it had been provided to them by one of the Five Eyes on the understanding it would be shared with Russia. After all if another Russian civilian aircraft is bombed it will likely be one of the ones flying tens of thousands of tourists between Russia and Israel.
It was only on the evening of the 16th that the New York Times figured out that condemning Trump for sharing intelligence in secret with Russia while at the same time demanding that intelligence be presented in open Court made them appear more than a little hypocritical.
So the New York Times rapidly tried changing the subject. Again citing anonymous sources they claimed that recently fired FBI Director James Comey had been keeping an almost daily diary of how much he hated President Trump. Weirdly they thought that harmed Trump rather than vindicating his decision to fire Comey.
On Tuesday (23/5/17) those anonymous sources were at work again. A source within the FBI leaked the identity of the Manchester bomber - Salem Abedi - to the broadcaster NBC. NBC then promptly broadcast that information globally.
This is an utterly appalling thing for the FBI to do. In fact it is so appalling that I can't even tell you the reason why it is so appalling.
I can though tell you another story that might help illustrate my point;
There is a blog and Twitter account called; "Mosul Eye" which currently has around 20,000 followers. This is operated by a resident of the Iraqi city of Mosul who was lucky enough not to be in Mosul when it was overrun by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the summer of 2014.
Mosul Eye's main objective has been to preserve Mosul's cultural heritage which ISIL have tried to destroy. Just today they've held an event at Mosul University library to allow people to donate books to replace the ones ISIL burned.
Back on April 20th (20/4/17) Mosul Eye arranged for a classical violinist to be smuggled into Mosul. This violinist performed at Jonah's Tomb allowing the music that ISIL had long banned to return to the city.
As the operation to liberate Mosul has been underway Mosul Eye have also Tweeted and live-blogged the events of the battle. This has included incredibly detailed information about the location of ISIL snipers. That information has allowed those snipers to be resolved by airstrikes from the US-led coalition - Combined Joint Task Force: Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR).
Obviously Mosul Eye is more of a librarian than a solider. So at times their tactical analysis has left a lot to be desired. However their local knowledge and local contacts has been absolutely vital in the liberation of Mosul. In short if they hadn't been doing their job I simply couldn't do mine.
The thing is though that Mosul Eye's immediate family - parents, siblings etc - have continued to live in Mosul under ISIL's rule. Specifically they lived in the 17 Tammuz neighbourhood which is one of the last to be liberated. Thankfully they were finally rescued on Saturday (20/5/17).
If Mosul Eye's identity had been revealed before then or even if information which allowed ISIL to connect the dots those family members would most likely be brutally murdered.
To give you an idea of how brutally it was through Mosul Eye that I found out that on Friday (19/5/17) had set fire to houses containing eight families in 17 Tammuz simply out of spite. The 23 members of those eight all Kurdish families were buried in a mass grave yesterday (24/5/17).
So although I feel we all owe them a great debt I do not know Mosul Eye's true identity. As I do not need to know their identity I'm still not sure that I want to know it.
Yesterday (24/5/17) the UK Home Secretary (Interior Minister) Amber Rudd publicly said that Britain was; "extremely irritated" by these FBI leak.
This is an example of that famous British understatement. To put it in more American terms Britain is "Absolutely F*cking Furious" at the FBI.
Personally I consider the FBI's leak to be a wilful attempt to obstruct the British investigation into the Manchester bombing. The only possible intention can be to allow any possible wider terror cell the freedom to conduct more attacks against the UK.
The FBI's response to this British criticism was to leak even more information.
Yesterday (24/5/17) evening the New York Times publish crime scene photographs of the Manchester bombing scene including crucial pieces of physical evidence. These had been provided by an anonymous FBI source.
Although the information revealed by the second FBI leak is not as sensitive the nature of the leak is much more serious.
While I think it's unlikely it is possible that NBC found out the bombers identity simply by overhearing a conversation by FBI agents.
I actually made a similar mistake just prior to US hostage Kayla Mueller being murdered by ISIL. Kayla Mueller's identity was being openly discussed in anti-ISIL circles. So I published it not realising it was a technically still a secret. In doing that I may well have contributed to her death.
However in the New York Times leak someone in the FBI has chosen to make copies of photographs and documents that are labelled as secret. They have then chosen to give those copies to someone without security clearance in the full knowledge they would be published globally.
In response to this second FBI leak the British is no longer sharing information about the Manchester bombing with the US under the Five Eyes agreement. It will though continue to share it with Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
I suspect that British Prime Minister Theresa May is currently making her position very clear to US President Trump at today's NATO Summit.
However I would be very surprised if the UK resumes intelligence sharing before acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe has been fired.
Personally I would also like to see McCabe, the FBI agents who leaked and the journalists and editors who published the leaked information prosecuted for terrorism offences.
The US response to the UK suspending intelligence sharing has been interesting.
Last night Greg Gianforte the Republican candidate in Montana's special Congressional election was cited by police for misdemeanour assault on a journalist. This assault is alleged to have taken place in the city of Bozeman - around 200km (120 miles) south of the Montana town of Manchester.
The journalist who is alleging the assault - Ben Jacobs - actually works for the British newspaper The Guardian. This was founded in the British city of Manchester in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian. Its local affiliate the Manchester Evening News sponsor the arena that was attacked.
Rather than reporting on the UK suspending intelligence sharing with the FBI the US media are currently united in disgust that an American could launch such a violent assault on the Guardians of Manchester.
It seem then we've finally found one thing the Democrats think should be discussed only in code.
16:20 on 25/5/17 (UK date).
In the immediate term the objective of this campaign has been to bind President Trump to the failed, pro-terrorist policies of former US President Barack Obama. These are the same policies of former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who voters rejected in favour of President Trump.
In the longer term the objective seems to be to oust President Trump entirely. A Coup de'tat.
As part of this campaign anonymous sources within the intelligence community - normally the FBI - will leak a benign piece of information about President Trump and Russia.
For example members of Trump's transition team met with the Russian Ambassador to the US - an example of the system of diplomatic relations between nations that has existed for hundreds of years functioning perfectly normally.
The media then intentionally use these benign pieces of information to try and whip their audiences into a paranoid frenzy.
On Monday (22/5/17) night the US broadcaster CNN faced a particular publish backlash. They took the editorial decision that it was more important to continue their anti-Trump campaign then to report on the unfolding terror attack in Manchester, UK.
You may remember that on May 15th (15/5/17) the Washington Post newspaper reported that President Trump had privately shared classified intelligence with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting on May 10th (10/5/17).
No information about the nature of this intelligence nor a source for the claim was provided. The following day the New York Times newspaper - again citing anonymous sources - claimed that the source of the intelligence had been Israel.
This sent the US media's anti-Trump campaign into hyperdrive. They claimed that this would end the US' intelligence sharing with the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - the "Five Eyes" - and that it would destroy the US' relationship with Israel because Trump had put the life of an Israeli spy in danger.
Israel of course was supremely relaxed about this. They weren't the source of the intelligence but it had been provided to them by one of the Five Eyes on the understanding it would be shared with Russia. After all if another Russian civilian aircraft is bombed it will likely be one of the ones flying tens of thousands of tourists between Russia and Israel.
It was only on the evening of the 16th that the New York Times figured out that condemning Trump for sharing intelligence in secret with Russia while at the same time demanding that intelligence be presented in open Court made them appear more than a little hypocritical.
So the New York Times rapidly tried changing the subject. Again citing anonymous sources they claimed that recently fired FBI Director James Comey had been keeping an almost daily diary of how much he hated President Trump. Weirdly they thought that harmed Trump rather than vindicating his decision to fire Comey.
On Tuesday (23/5/17) those anonymous sources were at work again. A source within the FBI leaked the identity of the Manchester bomber - Salem Abedi - to the broadcaster NBC. NBC then promptly broadcast that information globally.
This is an utterly appalling thing for the FBI to do. In fact it is so appalling that I can't even tell you the reason why it is so appalling.
I can though tell you another story that might help illustrate my point;
There is a blog and Twitter account called; "Mosul Eye" which currently has around 20,000 followers. This is operated by a resident of the Iraqi city of Mosul who was lucky enough not to be in Mosul when it was overrun by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the summer of 2014.
Mosul Eye's main objective has been to preserve Mosul's cultural heritage which ISIL have tried to destroy. Just today they've held an event at Mosul University library to allow people to donate books to replace the ones ISIL burned.
Back on April 20th (20/4/17) Mosul Eye arranged for a classical violinist to be smuggled into Mosul. This violinist performed at Jonah's Tomb allowing the music that ISIL had long banned to return to the city.
As the operation to liberate Mosul has been underway Mosul Eye have also Tweeted and live-blogged the events of the battle. This has included incredibly detailed information about the location of ISIL snipers. That information has allowed those snipers to be resolved by airstrikes from the US-led coalition - Combined Joint Task Force: Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR).
Obviously Mosul Eye is more of a librarian than a solider. So at times their tactical analysis has left a lot to be desired. However their local knowledge and local contacts has been absolutely vital in the liberation of Mosul. In short if they hadn't been doing their job I simply couldn't do mine.
The thing is though that Mosul Eye's immediate family - parents, siblings etc - have continued to live in Mosul under ISIL's rule. Specifically they lived in the 17 Tammuz neighbourhood which is one of the last to be liberated. Thankfully they were finally rescued on Saturday (20/5/17).
If Mosul Eye's identity had been revealed before then or even if information which allowed ISIL to connect the dots those family members would most likely be brutally murdered.
To give you an idea of how brutally it was through Mosul Eye that I found out that on Friday (19/5/17) had set fire to houses containing eight families in 17 Tammuz simply out of spite. The 23 members of those eight all Kurdish families were buried in a mass grave yesterday (24/5/17).
So although I feel we all owe them a great debt I do not know Mosul Eye's true identity. As I do not need to know their identity I'm still not sure that I want to know it.
Yesterday (24/5/17) the UK Home Secretary (Interior Minister) Amber Rudd publicly said that Britain was; "extremely irritated" by these FBI leak.
This is an example of that famous British understatement. To put it in more American terms Britain is "Absolutely F*cking Furious" at the FBI.
Personally I consider the FBI's leak to be a wilful attempt to obstruct the British investigation into the Manchester bombing. The only possible intention can be to allow any possible wider terror cell the freedom to conduct more attacks against the UK.
The FBI's response to this British criticism was to leak even more information.
Yesterday (24/5/17) evening the New York Times publish crime scene photographs of the Manchester bombing scene including crucial pieces of physical evidence. These had been provided by an anonymous FBI source.
Although the information revealed by the second FBI leak is not as sensitive the nature of the leak is much more serious.
While I think it's unlikely it is possible that NBC found out the bombers identity simply by overhearing a conversation by FBI agents.
I actually made a similar mistake just prior to US hostage Kayla Mueller being murdered by ISIL. Kayla Mueller's identity was being openly discussed in anti-ISIL circles. So I published it not realising it was a technically still a secret. In doing that I may well have contributed to her death.
However in the New York Times leak someone in the FBI has chosen to make copies of photographs and documents that are labelled as secret. They have then chosen to give those copies to someone without security clearance in the full knowledge they would be published globally.
In response to this second FBI leak the British is no longer sharing information about the Manchester bombing with the US under the Five Eyes agreement. It will though continue to share it with Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
I suspect that British Prime Minister Theresa May is currently making her position very clear to US President Trump at today's NATO Summit.
However I would be very surprised if the UK resumes intelligence sharing before acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe has been fired.
Personally I would also like to see McCabe, the FBI agents who leaked and the journalists and editors who published the leaked information prosecuted for terrorism offences.
The US response to the UK suspending intelligence sharing has been interesting.
Last night Greg Gianforte the Republican candidate in Montana's special Congressional election was cited by police for misdemeanour assault on a journalist. This assault is alleged to have taken place in the city of Bozeman - around 200km (120 miles) south of the Montana town of Manchester.
The journalist who is alleging the assault - Ben Jacobs - actually works for the British newspaper The Guardian. This was founded in the British city of Manchester in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian. Its local affiliate the Manchester Evening News sponsor the arena that was attacked.
Rather than reporting on the UK suspending intelligence sharing with the FBI the US media are currently united in disgust that an American could launch such a violent assault on the Guardians of Manchester.
It seem then we've finally found one thing the Democrats think should be discussed only in code.
16:20 on 25/5/17 (UK date).
Wednesday, 24 May 2017
Operation Temperer
As I'm already getting bored of saying on Monday (22/5/17) the UK city of Manchester came under terrorist attack. With 22 people killed and 59 wounded this was the second worst terror attack ever to hit the British mainland.
In response the British government have raised the terror threat level to critical. This is the most severe terror threat level and normally means that an attack is either imminent of underway. By changing the threat level the British has also been able to activate something called; "Operation Temperer." Although the British public already seem to have started referring to this as; "Operation Tempura."
Operation Temperer allows the British military to deployed in support of the British police. This is not as dramatic as it first sounds.
Britain obviously has a military to defend it in a time of war. However in a time of peace it falls to the police to defend the military when they're stationed in the UK. The Ministry of Defence actually has its own police force - the Ministry of Defence Police - specifically for this purpose.
Monday's (22/5/17) bomb attack occurred at the security perimeter of the Manchester Evening News Arena (MENA) on the outside of the perimeter. This makes it extremely hard to defend against. If you increase security checks such as bag searches at the perimeter it creates a bottleneck causing a large crowd to form outside of the perimeter. That actually increases the risk from this type of attack.
Following the November 13th 2015 (13/11/15) attack on the Stade de France stadium we faced a similar problem with the COP21 Summit that was also held in Paris, France later that month. Then there was talk of introducing a soft outer perimeter and a harder inner perimeter. People would smoothly pass through the outer perimeter after it only being established they had tickets to reach the inner perimeter.
However the MENA bombing occurred at the end of a concert as people were leaving. The only real solution I can think of to that problem is to do what they do at high-risk football matches. Remove people from the ground in sections and throw a mobile police cordon - "Kettle" - around the small groups as they're escorted to their trains/buses home.
Football hooligans clearly enjoy that. However if we have to go to those lengths for an Ariana Grande concert I kind of think it means the terrorists have won.
Therefore the only real way to secure a location like the MENA is to have armed police patrolling on the outside of the security perimeter. Unpleasant as it is if the need arises they will then shoot and kill any attacker before they have time to detonate their bomb.
The problem is that the British police are not routinely armed. The select few who are get assigned to protecting things like military bases and government and diplomatic buildings. Operation Temperer simply allows the military to protect their own bases - something they're more than capable of - meaning the armed police can then be redeployed to protect civilians.
One area where Operation Temperer will centre around is the Horse Guards Parade area of central London. This has the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street on one side and Buckingham Palace on the other. In the middle you have the parade ground of the Cavalry Guard. These days they use light tanks rather than horses.
In this area of London the military already work extremely closely with the military of security. However rather than being intimidating this actually one of London's main tourist attractions.
The people you see standing outside Buckingham Palace in silly red jackets and even sillier hats are actually some of the most elite soldiers in the British Army. They carry real assault rifles loaded with real bullets and real bayonets.
Yesterday (23/5/16) there were raids carried out in the Fallowfield area of Manchester by very heavily armed masked people wearing grey uniforms. It has been incorrectly claimed that these were members of the British Special Operations Forces (SOF) the Special Air Service (SAS). They not. They're members of London's Metropolitan Police's newly formed Counter-Terrorism Specialist Firearms Officers (CTSFO) unit.
However the SAS were deployed in London to end the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege. They've had a rapid response unit stationed in London ever since. They actually carried out the raid on the London apartment of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab after he'd attempted to carry out the 2009 bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Detroit, US.
I know this because I was driving through London's Blackwall tunnel when the SAS came tearing past. Let's just say that Abdulmutallab wasn't the only one who needed new underwear.
As to why the terrorist threat has been raised there are a number of good reasons.
Although I hate to say it one of these is that the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins of May 28th (28/5/17). Rather like the Christian holy month of Lent Ramadan is all about sacrifice, atoning for sins and getting yourself right with God. However for groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) this means blowing people up.
So although it's got nothing to do with what most Muslims would recognise as Ramadan the terrorist threat is higher during Ramadan.
Secondly the UK holds its General Election on June 8th (8/6/17). Yesterday I said that in carrying out the bombing ISIL were trying to force themselves onto the election agenda because they felt left out. However now I've had time for consideration I think they may have been attempting something more sophisticated then that.
As I will do in this post it is extremely easy to blame the Manchester bombing on the governing Conservative Party and in particular former Prime Minister David Cameron and his scumbag Chancellor (Finance Minister) George Osborne.
In the wake of the attack much of the British public have responded by praising the emergency services including Britain's cherish National Health Service (NHS) for their response. Yesterday I wrote about the need for close coordination between the health services, police services and schools to limit the psychological impact of the attack.
The Conservative government are not only starving those services of funding they are actively trying to destroy those vital links between them. For example they're pushing the idea of what are called; "Free Schools" specifically because they fall outside local authority control.
As such it is extremely difficult to discuss the Manchester bombing without it reading like an attack on the Conservative party.
Manchester and near-by Liverpool are traditional Labour Party strongholds. They certainly won't make any effort to avoid attacking the Conservative Party.
Therefore ISIL seem to be trying to swing the election in favour of the Labour Party.
That's because Labour have long had an unpleasantly close relationship with Muslim extremists. The Bradford West seat is particularly shameful to the party. As you may have heard the Labour MP there Naz Shah actively campaigns on a platform of anti-semitism, homophobia and misogyny.
The most high profile example is the resolution of Labour MP Jo Cox on June 16th 2016 (16/6/16). This should have triggered a counter-terrorism investigation over her material support for ISIL and other groups.
However the Labour Party stepped in and used political pressure to block the investigation. That is far from the first counter-terror investigation Labour have blocked and the party have still not disowned Jo Cox.
At the election the Labour Party themselves are defining success as equaling their worst election result which came in the 1930's. So even with ISIL's help I think it is highly unlikely that we will see a Labour government on June 9th (9/6/17).
Monday's (22/5/17) suicide bomber has since been identified as Salman Abedi - the 22 year old child of Libyan refugee parents. This makes the bombing very much an example Karma biting Britain on the arse.
Britain had a long running feud with former Libyan leader Muammer Qaddafi. I often talk about this Cold War of Resistance involving groups like the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Irish Republic groups such as the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). Qaddafi played a huge role in arming these groups and basically anyone who wanted arms. So the 1996 Manchester bombing was probably carried out using Libyan Semtex.
In the wake of the 2011 revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt Britain spied an opportunity to take revenge on Qaddafi. They dispatched covert terror cells to conduct attacks on the Libyan security services. When the Libyans acted against the British terror cells Britain used it as an excuse to launch a conventional military campaign which eventually killed Qaddafi.
This is the same tactic Hitler used in Czechoslovakia in 1938 and Bill Clinton used in Serbia in 1999.
These terror cells were largely raised from the large Libyan ex-patriot community living in and around Manchester. The joke at the time was you had more chance of hearing a Manchester accent in Misrata, Libya then in the home end at Manchester Utd match.
As such Manchester City football club have actually come to represent Islamist terrorists in England's rough around the edges football code. This sees West Ham represent gay men, Arsenal represent lesbians, Tottenham represent Jews etc.
Obviously Qaddafi did not fall as quickly as Britain would like. So Britain set up training camps to turn these terror cells into terror armies. When Qaddafi did fall those terror armies were scooped up by Turkey and poured into Syria via the Garvaghy Road where they became ISIL.
When it comes to Syria and Iraq Britain has a pretty good intelligence picture. They've got regular forces on the ground in Iraq acting as trainers and SOF's on the ground in Syria. There is also the vast air operation which guided by a huge intelligence gathering operation.
In contrast Libya is currently a madhouse. There are currently I think four governments and a huge range of militias. Amid the constantly shifting allegiances half the time I don't think these militias know who they're fighting, who they're allied with and where they are located.
So in contrast to Syria and Iraq Libya represents something of a huge intelligence black hole for Britain. Amid a range of competing regional actors it is also an extremely politically sensitive one.
Britain's security services seem to be basing their response to Monday's (22/5/17) Manchester bombing on the July 7th 2005 (7/7/05) Al Qaeda bombings.
Here Al Qaeda dispatched a bomb maker to arm several terror cells. It was sort of the A team that carried out the 7/7/05 bombings with the B team trying and failing to carry out a similar attack a week or so later. I think there may even have been C and D teams who were stopped before mounting their attacks.
Even at their most powerful Al Qaeda were always a small group that operated in the shadows. By contrast ISIL have been able to operate openly allowing them to train large numbers of fighters. As such they're likely to have many bomb makers making each one less valuable to the group.
So the reason that Britain haven't yet tracked down the bomb maker and the other terror cells may well be that they simply don't exist. Having being trained in Syria or Libya Abedi may well have been his own bomb maker.
However I have to say that I'm not so confident in that theory that I'm going to order everyone to stand down.
I do though think the raising of the terror threat is a precaution due to a lack of information rather than a reason to start panicking.
16:40 on 24/5/17 (UK date).
In response the British government have raised the terror threat level to critical. This is the most severe terror threat level and normally means that an attack is either imminent of underway. By changing the threat level the British has also been able to activate something called; "Operation Temperer." Although the British public already seem to have started referring to this as; "Operation Tempura."
Operation Temperer allows the British military to deployed in support of the British police. This is not as dramatic as it first sounds.
Britain obviously has a military to defend it in a time of war. However in a time of peace it falls to the police to defend the military when they're stationed in the UK. The Ministry of Defence actually has its own police force - the Ministry of Defence Police - specifically for this purpose.
Monday's (22/5/17) bomb attack occurred at the security perimeter of the Manchester Evening News Arena (MENA) on the outside of the perimeter. This makes it extremely hard to defend against. If you increase security checks such as bag searches at the perimeter it creates a bottleneck causing a large crowd to form outside of the perimeter. That actually increases the risk from this type of attack.
Following the November 13th 2015 (13/11/15) attack on the Stade de France stadium we faced a similar problem with the COP21 Summit that was also held in Paris, France later that month. Then there was talk of introducing a soft outer perimeter and a harder inner perimeter. People would smoothly pass through the outer perimeter after it only being established they had tickets to reach the inner perimeter.
However the MENA bombing occurred at the end of a concert as people were leaving. The only real solution I can think of to that problem is to do what they do at high-risk football matches. Remove people from the ground in sections and throw a mobile police cordon - "Kettle" - around the small groups as they're escorted to their trains/buses home.
Football hooligans clearly enjoy that. However if we have to go to those lengths for an Ariana Grande concert I kind of think it means the terrorists have won.
Therefore the only real way to secure a location like the MENA is to have armed police patrolling on the outside of the security perimeter. Unpleasant as it is if the need arises they will then shoot and kill any attacker before they have time to detonate their bomb.
The problem is that the British police are not routinely armed. The select few who are get assigned to protecting things like military bases and government and diplomatic buildings. Operation Temperer simply allows the military to protect their own bases - something they're more than capable of - meaning the armed police can then be redeployed to protect civilians.
One area where Operation Temperer will centre around is the Horse Guards Parade area of central London. This has the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street on one side and Buckingham Palace on the other. In the middle you have the parade ground of the Cavalry Guard. These days they use light tanks rather than horses.
In this area of London the military already work extremely closely with the military of security. However rather than being intimidating this actually one of London's main tourist attractions.
The people you see standing outside Buckingham Palace in silly red jackets and even sillier hats are actually some of the most elite soldiers in the British Army. They carry real assault rifles loaded with real bullets and real bayonets.
Yesterday (23/5/16) there were raids carried out in the Fallowfield area of Manchester by very heavily armed masked people wearing grey uniforms. It has been incorrectly claimed that these were members of the British Special Operations Forces (SOF) the Special Air Service (SAS). They not. They're members of London's Metropolitan Police's newly formed Counter-Terrorism Specialist Firearms Officers (CTSFO) unit.
However the SAS were deployed in London to end the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege. They've had a rapid response unit stationed in London ever since. They actually carried out the raid on the London apartment of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab after he'd attempted to carry out the 2009 bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Detroit, US.
I know this because I was driving through London's Blackwall tunnel when the SAS came tearing past. Let's just say that Abdulmutallab wasn't the only one who needed new underwear.
As to why the terrorist threat has been raised there are a number of good reasons.
Although I hate to say it one of these is that the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins of May 28th (28/5/17). Rather like the Christian holy month of Lent Ramadan is all about sacrifice, atoning for sins and getting yourself right with God. However for groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) this means blowing people up.
So although it's got nothing to do with what most Muslims would recognise as Ramadan the terrorist threat is higher during Ramadan.
Secondly the UK holds its General Election on June 8th (8/6/17). Yesterday I said that in carrying out the bombing ISIL were trying to force themselves onto the election agenda because they felt left out. However now I've had time for consideration I think they may have been attempting something more sophisticated then that.
As I will do in this post it is extremely easy to blame the Manchester bombing on the governing Conservative Party and in particular former Prime Minister David Cameron and his scumbag Chancellor (Finance Minister) George Osborne.
In the wake of the attack much of the British public have responded by praising the emergency services including Britain's cherish National Health Service (NHS) for their response. Yesterday I wrote about the need for close coordination between the health services, police services and schools to limit the psychological impact of the attack.
The Conservative government are not only starving those services of funding they are actively trying to destroy those vital links between them. For example they're pushing the idea of what are called; "Free Schools" specifically because they fall outside local authority control.
As such it is extremely difficult to discuss the Manchester bombing without it reading like an attack on the Conservative party.
Manchester and near-by Liverpool are traditional Labour Party strongholds. They certainly won't make any effort to avoid attacking the Conservative Party.
Therefore ISIL seem to be trying to swing the election in favour of the Labour Party.
That's because Labour have long had an unpleasantly close relationship with Muslim extremists. The Bradford West seat is particularly shameful to the party. As you may have heard the Labour MP there Naz Shah actively campaigns on a platform of anti-semitism, homophobia and misogyny.
The most high profile example is the resolution of Labour MP Jo Cox on June 16th 2016 (16/6/16). This should have triggered a counter-terrorism investigation over her material support for ISIL and other groups.
However the Labour Party stepped in and used political pressure to block the investigation. That is far from the first counter-terror investigation Labour have blocked and the party have still not disowned Jo Cox.
At the election the Labour Party themselves are defining success as equaling their worst election result which came in the 1930's. So even with ISIL's help I think it is highly unlikely that we will see a Labour government on June 9th (9/6/17).
Monday's (22/5/17) suicide bomber has since been identified as Salman Abedi - the 22 year old child of Libyan refugee parents. This makes the bombing very much an example Karma biting Britain on the arse.
Britain had a long running feud with former Libyan leader Muammer Qaddafi. I often talk about this Cold War of Resistance involving groups like the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Irish Republic groups such as the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). Qaddafi played a huge role in arming these groups and basically anyone who wanted arms. So the 1996 Manchester bombing was probably carried out using Libyan Semtex.
In the wake of the 2011 revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt Britain spied an opportunity to take revenge on Qaddafi. They dispatched covert terror cells to conduct attacks on the Libyan security services. When the Libyans acted against the British terror cells Britain used it as an excuse to launch a conventional military campaign which eventually killed Qaddafi.
This is the same tactic Hitler used in Czechoslovakia in 1938 and Bill Clinton used in Serbia in 1999.
These terror cells were largely raised from the large Libyan ex-patriot community living in and around Manchester. The joke at the time was you had more chance of hearing a Manchester accent in Misrata, Libya then in the home end at Manchester Utd match.
As such Manchester City football club have actually come to represent Islamist terrorists in England's rough around the edges football code. This sees West Ham represent gay men, Arsenal represent lesbians, Tottenham represent Jews etc.
Obviously Qaddafi did not fall as quickly as Britain would like. So Britain set up training camps to turn these terror cells into terror armies. When Qaddafi did fall those terror armies were scooped up by Turkey and poured into Syria via the Garvaghy Road where they became ISIL.
When it comes to Syria and Iraq Britain has a pretty good intelligence picture. They've got regular forces on the ground in Iraq acting as trainers and SOF's on the ground in Syria. There is also the vast air operation which guided by a huge intelligence gathering operation.
In contrast Libya is currently a madhouse. There are currently I think four governments and a huge range of militias. Amid the constantly shifting allegiances half the time I don't think these militias know who they're fighting, who they're allied with and where they are located.
So in contrast to Syria and Iraq Libya represents something of a huge intelligence black hole for Britain. Amid a range of competing regional actors it is also an extremely politically sensitive one.
Britain's security services seem to be basing their response to Monday's (22/5/17) Manchester bombing on the July 7th 2005 (7/7/05) Al Qaeda bombings.
Here Al Qaeda dispatched a bomb maker to arm several terror cells. It was sort of the A team that carried out the 7/7/05 bombings with the B team trying and failing to carry out a similar attack a week or so later. I think there may even have been C and D teams who were stopped before mounting their attacks.
Even at their most powerful Al Qaeda were always a small group that operated in the shadows. By contrast ISIL have been able to operate openly allowing them to train large numbers of fighters. As such they're likely to have many bomb makers making each one less valuable to the group.
So the reason that Britain haven't yet tracked down the bomb maker and the other terror cells may well be that they simply don't exist. Having being trained in Syria or Libya Abedi may well have been his own bomb maker.
However I have to say that I'm not so confident in that theory that I'm going to order everyone to stand down.
I do though think the raising of the terror threat is a precaution due to a lack of information rather than a reason to start panicking.
16:40 on 24/5/17 (UK date).
Tuesday, 23 May 2017
The Manchester Bombing. Pt.2
Yesterday (22/5/17) the Manchester Evening News Arena in the UK city of Manchester was attacked by an Islamist suicide bomber at the end of a concert by US popstar Ariana Grande. Fortunately the death toll remains at 22 with 59 wounded.
In writing about this earlier I said it was possibly inspired by my apparent expertise in the field of mental health. This expertise is now apparently so legendary that HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge has decided to muscle in for his share.
Proving that this could all be a horrible coincidence the first victim has been named. She was Georgina Callander an 18 year old studying for a vocational qualification in Health and Social Care.
This is a qualification that I myself hold. Or at least it would be if it wasn't controlled by the same people who control driving licenses and book-keeping qualifications.
It is physically possible that Georgina Callander was targeted by the attack for this specific purpose. However I think that is extremely unlikely.
One area of mental health that Britain is particularly interested in is traumatic stress. Or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Having watched the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for nearly three years now I can see why ex-soldiers such HRH Prince Harry are so interested in this topic.
Throughout the day I have watched various media commentators and politicians declare the Manchester bombing to be the most horrific thing they've ever seen.
I do not dispute that it was horrific but just on Friday (19/5/17) ISIL set fire to several houses burning eight families alive as they were being forced to flee Mosul's 17 Tammuz district. So sadly the Manchester bombing is only the most horrific thing I've seen in the last four days.
As the chaos from Manchester unfolded last night the former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage appeared on Fox News in the US. He said that this attack on children marked a new low.
Today (23/5/17) Vian Dakhil spoke at the at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Oslo, Norway. Vian Dakhil is a Yezidi Iraqi politician who was born in Mosul. She has worked tirelessly to help free the 7,000+ Yezidi women and girls who were kidnapped for sexual slavery when ISIL overran northern Iraq back in the summer of 2014.
So the brutal fact is that I have seen ISIL do far worse to girls far younger than the girls in Manchester. And be allowed to do it time and time again.
Amid all this horror I would very much like to share whatever expertise I have on psychological trauma and stress.
However there are still many people in this fight against ISIL. Although psychological matters are something you must take care of in battle your only option is to keep moving forward. After all the last thing anyone needs is a sentry going all wobbly.
Also I am acutely aware of how short of resources people caring for soldiers and civilians currently are.
In Iraq it's a battle to keep roofs over people's head and food in their bellys. In Syria the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD) have even less. For me to talk to these people about luxuries like trauma counselling feels like I'm mocking them for doing the best they can.
To make matters worse there is no simple treatment or magic pill I can hand out. If there was I'd be doing a Martin Shkreli, slapping a patent on it and selling it to you all at a 600% mark-up.
The sad fact is though that only you can live your life and you only you can experience your memories. All I can offer is vague management-speak and assorted gobbledygook.
However I think that at the root of every case of PTSD is a failure to process a traumatic experience.
Until you can take ownership of your memories you cannot discard them and leave them behind. So they will continue to haunt you in nightmares, flashbacks and panic attacks.
Therefore if you have experienced the Manchester bombing or any other traumatic experience my advice is to re-live every moment of it.
Every sight, every sound and every smell. Most importantly re-live every second of every emotion.
That moment you were terrified.
That moment you felt ashamed because you clambered over someone to save your own life.
That moment you felt powerless because you leaned over to help someone only to realise they were beyond help.
In terms of the best way to do this it really depends on each individual.
However I think the most common way that humans communicate is by talking. So simply talking about your experience can help. If you have trouble with that talking therapy with trained counsellor should subtly help guide you through the process.
I personally find it much easier to write than to talk. So for me it is much easier to write things down like in diary, witness statement or blog post. Sadly though I seem to have got so used to this now I've developed the skill to go off in a quiet room and just take care of it myself.
Very young children of course tend to express themselves through play and drawing. So it's probably best to leave them alone with some Lego or Crayons and be prepared to answer any questions they may have.
Talking about the Manchester bombing specifically I know that Britain is a first world nation.
So unless David Cameron has destroyed us all the schools the children attend along with the hospitals that treated them and police forces that helped identify them should be able to provide a package of coordinated after care.
I would take my lead from them.
20:50 on 23/5/17 (UK date).
In writing about this earlier I said it was possibly inspired by my apparent expertise in the field of mental health. This expertise is now apparently so legendary that HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge has decided to muscle in for his share.
Proving that this could all be a horrible coincidence the first victim has been named. She was Georgina Callander an 18 year old studying for a vocational qualification in Health and Social Care.
This is a qualification that I myself hold. Or at least it would be if it wasn't controlled by the same people who control driving licenses and book-keeping qualifications.
It is physically possible that Georgina Callander was targeted by the attack for this specific purpose. However I think that is extremely unlikely.
One area of mental health that Britain is particularly interested in is traumatic stress. Or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Having watched the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for nearly three years now I can see why ex-soldiers such HRH Prince Harry are so interested in this topic.
Throughout the day I have watched various media commentators and politicians declare the Manchester bombing to be the most horrific thing they've ever seen.
I do not dispute that it was horrific but just on Friday (19/5/17) ISIL set fire to several houses burning eight families alive as they were being forced to flee Mosul's 17 Tammuz district. So sadly the Manchester bombing is only the most horrific thing I've seen in the last four days.
As the chaos from Manchester unfolded last night the former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage appeared on Fox News in the US. He said that this attack on children marked a new low.
Today (23/5/17) Vian Dakhil spoke at the at the Oslo Freedom Forum in Oslo, Norway. Vian Dakhil is a Yezidi Iraqi politician who was born in Mosul. She has worked tirelessly to help free the 7,000+ Yezidi women and girls who were kidnapped for sexual slavery when ISIL overran northern Iraq back in the summer of 2014.
So the brutal fact is that I have seen ISIL do far worse to girls far younger than the girls in Manchester. And be allowed to do it time and time again.
Amid all this horror I would very much like to share whatever expertise I have on psychological trauma and stress.
However there are still many people in this fight against ISIL. Although psychological matters are something you must take care of in battle your only option is to keep moving forward. After all the last thing anyone needs is a sentry going all wobbly.
Also I am acutely aware of how short of resources people caring for soldiers and civilians currently are.
In Iraq it's a battle to keep roofs over people's head and food in their bellys. In Syria the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD) have even less. For me to talk to these people about luxuries like trauma counselling feels like I'm mocking them for doing the best they can.
To make matters worse there is no simple treatment or magic pill I can hand out. If there was I'd be doing a Martin Shkreli, slapping a patent on it and selling it to you all at a 600% mark-up.
The sad fact is though that only you can live your life and you only you can experience your memories. All I can offer is vague management-speak and assorted gobbledygook.
However I think that at the root of every case of PTSD is a failure to process a traumatic experience.
Until you can take ownership of your memories you cannot discard them and leave them behind. So they will continue to haunt you in nightmares, flashbacks and panic attacks.
Therefore if you have experienced the Manchester bombing or any other traumatic experience my advice is to re-live every moment of it.
Every sight, every sound and every smell. Most importantly re-live every second of every emotion.
That moment you were terrified.
That moment you felt ashamed because you clambered over someone to save your own life.
That moment you felt powerless because you leaned over to help someone only to realise they were beyond help.
In terms of the best way to do this it really depends on each individual.
However I think the most common way that humans communicate is by talking. So simply talking about your experience can help. If you have trouble with that talking therapy with trained counsellor should subtly help guide you through the process.
I personally find it much easier to write than to talk. So for me it is much easier to write things down like in diary, witness statement or blog post. Sadly though I seem to have got so used to this now I've developed the skill to go off in a quiet room and just take care of it myself.
Very young children of course tend to express themselves through play and drawing. So it's probably best to leave them alone with some Lego or Crayons and be prepared to answer any questions they may have.
Talking about the Manchester bombing specifically I know that Britain is a first world nation.
So unless David Cameron has destroyed us all the schools the children attend along with the hospitals that treated them and police forces that helped identify them should be able to provide a package of coordinated after care.
I would take my lead from them.
20:50 on 23/5/17 (UK date).
The Manchester Bombing.
No I'm not talking about the December 1992 bombing in Parsonage Gardens. Nor am I talking about the June 1996 bombing on Corporation Street.
Instead I'm talking about events last night (22/5/17) at the Manchester Evening News (MEN) Arena during a concert by US popstar Ariana Grande. At around 21:35 (22:35 local) an explosion occurred either in or directly outside the public foyer of the building. So far this has killed 22 civilians and wounded 59. Many of them young children.
Statistically when an explosion occurs at a music venue it is far more likely an accident caused by cooking/compressed gas cylinders in one of the venue's many refreshment stands. However police are currently working under the theory that this was a terrorist attack and that it was caused by a suicide bomber detonating an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) carried in a rucksack.
This appears to be similar to events of July 24th 2016 (24/7/16) in Ansbach, Bavaria, Germany. Here a 27 year old Syrian man carrying an IED in a rucksack attempted to enter the Ansbach Open Music Festival. Having been denied entry he detonated his device outside the near-by Eugene's Wine Bar wounding fifteen.
The Ansbach bombing was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In the last few minutes last night's bombing in Manchester has also been claimed by ISIL.
As to why ISIL would want to carry out such an attack the answer is quite simple. They are currently under intense pressure both in Syria and Iraq.
What I would have liked to have spent today doing is giving you an update on just how close to defeat ISIL are in the Iraqi city of Mosul. They are currently restricted to just the Zanjili and Old City districts of the city.
On Saturday (20/5/17) the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Force (CTF/Golden Division) actually announced they'd ended their offensive operations within Mosul. Their mission is now complete and it falls to the combined Rapid Reaction Force and the Iraqi Federal Police to complete the liberation of the remaining two districts.
On May 10th (10/5/17) ISIL lost control of the Syrian town of Tabqa and the important Tabqa Dam to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD). Last Thursday (18/5/17) ISIL launched a desperate offensive to capture towns and villages in Syria's Hama province from Syrian force. This was quickly repelled with ISIL being forced back the following day.
On May 3rd (3/5/17) and May 5th (5/5/17) the latest round of meetings in the Astana Process on Syria took place. Resulting the creation of deconfliction zones this is a complex issue I need to deal with separately. On May 16th (16/5/17) through to May 20th (20/5/17) the latest round of meetings in the Geneva Process on Syria took place. This made very little progress with many factions of the opposition to the Syrian government walking out.
May 7th (7/5/17) through to May 13th (13/5/17) of course saw what would normally be described as the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. With just three notable exceptions this saw European nations line behind Russia in opposition to ISIL. A reversal of the tone of the previous several years.
The contest was actually very nearly won by Italy with their song in support of the SDF and the vast de facto Safe-Haven designated; "Shangri-La" that they've created within Syria. What stopped Italy winning seems to be a concern that such a clear signal would provoke a violent response. The 2016 Song Contest was marred by the suspected bombing on May 19th (19/5/16) of Egyptair flight MS804 from France to Egypt.
Faced with these mounting defeats and humiliations it has become very important for ISIL to put on a show of strength to demonstrate that they can still project their power.
There seem to be a number of reasons why Britain was chosen for this show of force.
Firstly Britain has quite a large Muslim population. These tend to be the children and grandchildren of immigrants primarily from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Many of them follow the Deobandi or Wahabbist form of Sunni Islam. This makes them particularly vulnerable to radicalisation by groups such as ISIL and Al Qeada.
May 22nd 2017 (22/5/17) actually marks the fourth anniversary of the May 22nd 2013 (22/5/13) murder of British Army Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, London. This is still celebrated by British Islamist extremists with plots to emulate it being foiled on a seemingly weekly basis.
Also Britain is currently in the grips of a campaign for a General Election on June 8th (8/5/17). In part this seems to have been scheduled for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in reference to Turkish President/Prime Minister/Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decision to hold Turkey's April 16th (16/4/17) constitutional referendum on Easter Sunday - the Christian equivalent of Eid Mubarak - during Jewish Passover.
Within the British election campaign the only references to terrorism have been whether Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was linked to the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) who carried out the 1992 and 1996 Manchester bombings. This lack of attention has clearly hurt ISIL's feelings.
The fact that it was a concert venue that was attacked seems a clear and threatening reference to the Eurovision Song Contest. The fact it was an Ariana Grande concert may merely reflect the fact she had the misfortune to be playing at the venue on the Lee Rigby anniversary.
However Ariana Grande is a popstar that has always troubled me. Despite being 23 years old she has the same pubescent body of the 12/13 year old girls who make up much of her fanbase. This type of stunted growth is often an indicator of childhood malnourishment. As we know Ariana Grande didn't grow up in extreme poverty that would suggest some form of mental illness/eating disorder such as Anorexia.
Due to my work in mental health rehabilitation this is a topic I am all too familiar with. In fact through the Duke of Cambridge/Prince William's "Heads Together" campaign the UK seem to be boasting that my experience will make them World leaders on mental health issues.
I was forced to discuss this following the airing of the third episode of the fourth season - "The Final Problem" - of the UK TV show "Sherlock." ISIL responded to the first episode of that season -"The Six Thatchers" - by conducting terror attacks against the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Samarra. The episode referenced the short-story on the power of fate; "Appointment in Samarra."
ISIL's interest seemed particularly piqued by the fact this season of Sherlock was being broadcast in Russia at exactly the same time it was being first broadcast in the UK. Apart from teaching Twitter users the Russian spelling of Sherlock this certainly hinted at a warming of the relationship between the UK and Russia.
The Russians seemed to respond by leaking the Final Problem episode on the Internet the day before its scheduled broadcast. In yet another "Russian Hacking Scandal."
The tour in which Ariana Grande was performing as part of is called the; "Dangerous Woman Tour." I don't think anyone is going to dispute that description of Ariana Grande today.
Not only does it share the promoter - Live Nation - but Ariana Grande's DWT also shares an acronym with Rihanna's 2013 Diamonds World Tour (DWT). That sucked up almost an entire year of my life so involved many things. For example the April 15th 2013 (15/4/13) Boston Marathon bombings and their implicit threat to Russia.
However the main objective of the tour was to drive Rihanna into some sort of psychotic breakdown/mental health emergency while in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on October 19th 2013 (19/10/13).
This was supposed to serve as a US apology to the Gulf Monarchies for causing the Arab Spring. Apparently the Arab Spring was not caused by a young, educated population yearning for secular democracy or demographic pressures such as high unemployment. Instead it was all the result of Rihanna appearing alongside Jay Z and Kanye West in the 2009 song; "Run This Town."
I don't remember saying that the Diamonds World Tour made much sense. Particularly the bit where the Americans thought it would befuddle the European nations who compete in the Eurovision Song Contest every damn year.
Finally the city of Manchester is home to Manchester United football club. If not their fans.
Tomorrow (24/5/17) Manchester Utd will play the Dutch side Ajax in the Europa League cup final. This match will be played in Stockholm, Sweden.
A few hours before the Manchester explosion Swedish authorities were forced to shutdown Landvetter airport near Gothenburg. They'd discovered a suspicious bag that tested positive for explosive residue. Fortunately that bag has since been found not to contain a bomb.
The US has recently introduced a ban on laptop computers being carried in cabin luggage on civilian flights. This is because the explosive residue tests applied to cabin luggage are significantly less accurate than the explosive residue tests applied to hold luggage.
This Saturday (27/5/17) sees the Scottish and English FA Cup Finals being played at Glasgow's Hampden Park and London's Wembley Stadium respectively. This marks the end of the domestic league season.
Next Saturday (3/6/17) sees the Champions League Final being played at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. This marks the end of the European football season.
So aside from the immediate damage and loss of life last night's Manchester bombing does seem intend to give the British Establishment a lot of headaches.
09:30 on 23/5/17 (UK date).
Instead I'm talking about events last night (22/5/17) at the Manchester Evening News (MEN) Arena during a concert by US popstar Ariana Grande. At around 21:35 (22:35 local) an explosion occurred either in or directly outside the public foyer of the building. So far this has killed 22 civilians and wounded 59. Many of them young children.
Statistically when an explosion occurs at a music venue it is far more likely an accident caused by cooking/compressed gas cylinders in one of the venue's many refreshment stands. However police are currently working under the theory that this was a terrorist attack and that it was caused by a suicide bomber detonating an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) carried in a rucksack.
This appears to be similar to events of July 24th 2016 (24/7/16) in Ansbach, Bavaria, Germany. Here a 27 year old Syrian man carrying an IED in a rucksack attempted to enter the Ansbach Open Music Festival. Having been denied entry he detonated his device outside the near-by Eugene's Wine Bar wounding fifteen.
The Ansbach bombing was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In the last few minutes last night's bombing in Manchester has also been claimed by ISIL.
As to why ISIL would want to carry out such an attack the answer is quite simple. They are currently under intense pressure both in Syria and Iraq.
What I would have liked to have spent today doing is giving you an update on just how close to defeat ISIL are in the Iraqi city of Mosul. They are currently restricted to just the Zanjili and Old City districts of the city.
On Saturday (20/5/17) the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Force (CTF/Golden Division) actually announced they'd ended their offensive operations within Mosul. Their mission is now complete and it falls to the combined Rapid Reaction Force and the Iraqi Federal Police to complete the liberation of the remaining two districts.
On May 10th (10/5/17) ISIL lost control of the Syrian town of Tabqa and the important Tabqa Dam to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD). Last Thursday (18/5/17) ISIL launched a desperate offensive to capture towns and villages in Syria's Hama province from Syrian force. This was quickly repelled with ISIL being forced back the following day.
On May 3rd (3/5/17) and May 5th (5/5/17) the latest round of meetings in the Astana Process on Syria took place. Resulting the creation of deconfliction zones this is a complex issue I need to deal with separately. On May 16th (16/5/17) through to May 20th (20/5/17) the latest round of meetings in the Geneva Process on Syria took place. This made very little progress with many factions of the opposition to the Syrian government walking out.
May 7th (7/5/17) through to May 13th (13/5/17) of course saw what would normally be described as the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. With just three notable exceptions this saw European nations line behind Russia in opposition to ISIL. A reversal of the tone of the previous several years.
The contest was actually very nearly won by Italy with their song in support of the SDF and the vast de facto Safe-Haven designated; "Shangri-La" that they've created within Syria. What stopped Italy winning seems to be a concern that such a clear signal would provoke a violent response. The 2016 Song Contest was marred by the suspected bombing on May 19th (19/5/16) of Egyptair flight MS804 from France to Egypt.
Faced with these mounting defeats and humiliations it has become very important for ISIL to put on a show of strength to demonstrate that they can still project their power.
There seem to be a number of reasons why Britain was chosen for this show of force.
Firstly Britain has quite a large Muslim population. These tend to be the children and grandchildren of immigrants primarily from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Many of them follow the Deobandi or Wahabbist form of Sunni Islam. This makes them particularly vulnerable to radicalisation by groups such as ISIL and Al Qeada.
May 22nd 2017 (22/5/17) actually marks the fourth anniversary of the May 22nd 2013 (22/5/13) murder of British Army Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, London. This is still celebrated by British Islamist extremists with plots to emulate it being foiled on a seemingly weekly basis.
Also Britain is currently in the grips of a campaign for a General Election on June 8th (8/5/17). In part this seems to have been scheduled for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in reference to Turkish President/Prime Minister/Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decision to hold Turkey's April 16th (16/4/17) constitutional referendum on Easter Sunday - the Christian equivalent of Eid Mubarak - during Jewish Passover.
Within the British election campaign the only references to terrorism have been whether Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was linked to the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) who carried out the 1992 and 1996 Manchester bombings. This lack of attention has clearly hurt ISIL's feelings.
The fact that it was a concert venue that was attacked seems a clear and threatening reference to the Eurovision Song Contest. The fact it was an Ariana Grande concert may merely reflect the fact she had the misfortune to be playing at the venue on the Lee Rigby anniversary.
However Ariana Grande is a popstar that has always troubled me. Despite being 23 years old she has the same pubescent body of the 12/13 year old girls who make up much of her fanbase. This type of stunted growth is often an indicator of childhood malnourishment. As we know Ariana Grande didn't grow up in extreme poverty that would suggest some form of mental illness/eating disorder such as Anorexia.
Due to my work in mental health rehabilitation this is a topic I am all too familiar with. In fact through the Duke of Cambridge/Prince William's "Heads Together" campaign the UK seem to be boasting that my experience will make them World leaders on mental health issues.
I was forced to discuss this following the airing of the third episode of the fourth season - "The Final Problem" - of the UK TV show "Sherlock." ISIL responded to the first episode of that season -"The Six Thatchers" - by conducting terror attacks against the Iraqi cities of Baghdad and Samarra. The episode referenced the short-story on the power of fate; "Appointment in Samarra."
ISIL's interest seemed particularly piqued by the fact this season of Sherlock was being broadcast in Russia at exactly the same time it was being first broadcast in the UK. Apart from teaching Twitter users the Russian spelling of Sherlock this certainly hinted at a warming of the relationship between the UK and Russia.
The Russians seemed to respond by leaking the Final Problem episode on the Internet the day before its scheduled broadcast. In yet another "Russian Hacking Scandal."
The tour in which Ariana Grande was performing as part of is called the; "Dangerous Woman Tour." I don't think anyone is going to dispute that description of Ariana Grande today.
Not only does it share the promoter - Live Nation - but Ariana Grande's DWT also shares an acronym with Rihanna's 2013 Diamonds World Tour (DWT). That sucked up almost an entire year of my life so involved many things. For example the April 15th 2013 (15/4/13) Boston Marathon bombings and their implicit threat to Russia.
However the main objective of the tour was to drive Rihanna into some sort of psychotic breakdown/mental health emergency while in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on October 19th 2013 (19/10/13).
This was supposed to serve as a US apology to the Gulf Monarchies for causing the Arab Spring. Apparently the Arab Spring was not caused by a young, educated population yearning for secular democracy or demographic pressures such as high unemployment. Instead it was all the result of Rihanna appearing alongside Jay Z and Kanye West in the 2009 song; "Run This Town."
I don't remember saying that the Diamonds World Tour made much sense. Particularly the bit where the Americans thought it would befuddle the European nations who compete in the Eurovision Song Contest every damn year.
Finally the city of Manchester is home to Manchester United football club. If not their fans.
Tomorrow (24/5/17) Manchester Utd will play the Dutch side Ajax in the Europa League cup final. This match will be played in Stockholm, Sweden.
A few hours before the Manchester explosion Swedish authorities were forced to shutdown Landvetter airport near Gothenburg. They'd discovered a suspicious bag that tested positive for explosive residue. Fortunately that bag has since been found not to contain a bomb.
The US has recently introduced a ban on laptop computers being carried in cabin luggage on civilian flights. This is because the explosive residue tests applied to cabin luggage are significantly less accurate than the explosive residue tests applied to hold luggage.
This Saturday (27/5/17) sees the Scottish and English FA Cup Finals being played at Glasgow's Hampden Park and London's Wembley Stadium respectively. This marks the end of the domestic league season.
Next Saturday (3/6/17) sees the Champions League Final being played at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. This marks the end of the European football season.
So aside from the immediate damage and loss of life last night's Manchester bombing does seem intend to give the British Establishment a lot of headaches.
09:30 on 23/5/17 (UK date).
Monday, 22 May 2017
The Still Not Worthy of the Name 2017: Prize Giving.
This should be read as a continuation of all the posts on this thread of which Part 6 is just the most recent; http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/the-still-not-worthy-of-name-2017-pt6.html
First Place: This year this prize went to Portugal.
As I've said the Eurovision Song Contest is staged by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). However it is far from the only thing the EBU do.
One of the other big things that the EBU did in 2016 was a deal with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). This saw footage of the 2016 Para-Olympic games held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil made available to all 107 members and associate members of the EBU. As a result the 2016 Para-Olympics were the most watched Para-Olympics in history.
This obviously meant that Brazil were very interested in the 2017 Song Contest. So much so that in October 2016 the EBU changed the rules for the Song Contest to allow associate members like Brazil to compete alongside full members.
Personally I can't say that I agree with this. Australia had to show long term commitment to the contest by serving as an observer nation without competing for some 40 years before being allowed to compete.
Even with this rule change the 2017 contest still came a little too soon for Brazil to compete. So they instead put pressure on their old colonial master Portugal to compete on their behalf. It is unlikely that Portugal were too pleased with this.
Portugal of course was one of the EU nations hardest hit by the 2008 economic crisis forcing them into an EU bailout in 2010. This led to them declining to participate in the Song Contest in 2013 and 2016. Even I think that if it is a choice between closing a hospital and competing in the Song Contest it is best to keep the hospital open.
Portugal however did return this year. Their song was sung in Brazil and Portugal's shared language Portuguese and was entitled; "Amar Pelos Dios (For the Both of Us.)"
It was sung by Salvador Sobral whose own story rather reflects Portugal's story within the Song Contest. Salvador Sobral first rose to fame on the 2009 season of Portuguese Idol (Idolos). However being unable to cope with fame he left the business before returning triumphantly in 2016.
During his time in the wilderness Salvador Sobral fell into depression, alcoholism and some pretty serious drug abuse. This left him in extremely poor health. With him currently awaiting a heart transplant you could almost say that much like Europe he desperately needs a change of heart.
As such everything about Portugal's entry this year screamed disability and the Para-Olympics.
The 2017 contest marks the first time that a country has been excluded from the competition. The hosts Shamali Province refused Russian singer Yulia Samoylova entry to the country to allow her to perform. This is why I refuse to recognise the 2017 contest as an official Eurovision Song Contest.
The reason why Shamali Province refused Yulia Samoylova entry is that suffering from spinal muscular atrophy she is confined to a wheelchair and performed at the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Winter Para-Olympic games held in Sochi, Russia.
Shamali Province was created by the US during the Sochi Olympics as a way to put pressure on Russia over their opposition to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). As such they find any reference to the Sochi Olympics extremely embarrassing because it completely delegitimises their claim to be a nation state.
Through Portugal's victory participants at the 2017 contest provided Shamali Province with the clearest reminder they could of the Sochi Olympics in the absence of Yulia Samoylova.
This put Portugal in a bit of a difficult situation. Although they've reached a point where they feel they can once again afford to participate in the Song Contest they're not yet sure they can afford to host the 2018 Song Contest.
So as they started to emerge as the clear favourite in the second half of the week Portugal seemed to try and sink their own entry. This involved Salvador Sobral appearing at a press conference wearing a hoodie bearing the slogan; "SOS Refugees."
This type of overt political message is banned under Song Contest rules. Therefore if it doesn't force you to withdraw from the competition normally it certainly gets you marked down.
However I think some people realised what Portugal were trying to do. So decided to punish them by marking them up.
Others seemed to view it as a continuation of the insult of Shamali Province.
Aside from denying Yulia Samoylova entry to the country to compete in the competition Shamali Province's winning 2016 Song Contest entry; "1944" was overtly political and therefore should not have been eligible for competition. So some people decided to mark Portugal up for really sticking the knife into Shamali Province.
Finally I think some people understood the actual nature of the message; "Save Our Souls; Refugees" which means our souls are in danger because of all the refugees we've created.
That makes Salvador Sorbal's protest a protest against the "Refugees Welcome" liberalism that was much mocked this year. Particularly by the early favourite Italy.
That caused people to give Portugal more points resulting in Portugal's first ever Song Contest win.
Second Place: This year this prize went to Bulgaria.
Bulgaria's entry this year was in danger of being more Russian than Russia's. They were represented by Kristian Kostov who is Russian. He's actually very famous in Russia having won the 2014 season of the The Voice Kids in Russia. He only moved to Bulgaria in 2015 in order to compete in that year's season of X-Factor Bulgaria finishing as a runner-up.
Along with Greece Bulgaria is one of only two EU members that share a land border with Turkey. As such it is very interested in the EU's migrant deal with Turkey. The general message of the song; "Beautiful Mess" is that Bulgaria likes being a member of the EU but the EU really needs to sort the refugee issue out.
The video in support of the song featured many dressed in what I would term a ghostly garb of black. For much of the video these people are shown pulling a wooden boat by rope. As such they serve as both the irregular Muslim migrants from the conflict in Syria and Iraq and the Islamist terrorists that are being smuggled in amongst them.
Birds also feature heavily in the video.
It starts with a Crow. This is a black bird that feeds on the dead. Next there was a Falcon. Falcons feature heavily in the names and on the coats of arms of many Syrian groups. Particularly the Falcons of the Levant/Saqour al-Sham who are backed by Turkish President/Prime Minister/ Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Finally the Crow and the Falcon are replaced by a Dove - a traditional symbol of peace.
As such it seems that Bulgaria is saying that key to solving the EU's migration crisis is tackling Erdogan. Even if that means more pain in the short term.
The Bulgarian entry was another one produced by Symphonix International. So it was also highlighting the pressures on the Balkan region caused by the Greater Albanian movement. The fact that Albanians are also Muslims really doesn't help reduce tensions over large numbers of Muslim migrants arriving in the Balkans.
On the issue of the migration crisis Bulgaria seemed to be joined by Hungary who finished 8th.
There is currently a lot of tension within the EU between nations such as Germany and nations such as Hungary over the migration crisis. Just last week the European Parliament called for Hungary's voting rights to be suspended under Article 7 until they accept Germany's demand for admit quotas of refugees.
Before doing that Hungary wants Germany and other EU members to bring their refugee policy into line with international law.
Back in March 2017 Hungary made clear what the rest of the EU should do. It is now remanding all irregular migrants in custody on suspicion of entering the country illegally. While they're detained their cases are investigated to see whether they qualify for refugee status and therefore by definition do not pose a threat.
The policy Germany has in place is to grant all irregular migrants refugee status and let them roam free until they prove to not qualify for refugee status by carrying out mass casualty terror attacks such as the December 2016 Berlin truck attack.
The flaws in Germany's response to the migrant crisis are currently being laid bare in the case of; "Franco A." This is a serving German soldier who has been found to be living in refugee centre in Bavaria claiming to be a Syrian Catholic with Jewish heritage by the name of David Benjamin.
Germany's refugee checks apparently did not pick up on the fact Franco A is a German citizen and does not speak any Arabic.
This year Hungary were represented by Joci Papai with the song; "Origo." This essentially tells the story of his life growing up from a child to man who must fight to protect himself. What is interesting is the Joci Papai is a Romani Gypsy. This is an ethnic group that has long been oppressed across Europe and particularly in Hungary.
As such this entry seems to concede that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a racist. However even the ethnic group he's oppressed the most think the EU should join him in this fight.
Germany's song; "Perfect Life" by Levnia was a celebration of the free movement of migrants across the EU. It finished dead last with just six points. Three of those points came from the Republic of Ireland who were clearly referring to a different border issue.
Third Place: This year this prize went to Moldova.
Moldova's entry this year was; "Hey Mama" by Sunstroke Project. This anthem calling for both Crimea and Ukraine to be placed under Russian control was the first entry I covered in this thread.
So in short this year's contest was a clean sweep for Russia with them taking First, Second and Third places.
Normally what I would do know is look at some of the stand-out entries that didn't really fit into the main themes but were impressive none the less. However the defining feature of this year is how little effort everybody put in to their entries. Therefore highlighting the people who still managed to impress seems like an insult.
There are a couple of other entries I do have to mention though;
The Netherlands: This year they were represented by OG3NE with the song; "Lights and Shadows"
OG3NE are a quite a famous act in the Netherlands having won The Voice in 2014. They have the ultimate TV talent show sobstory.
The band is made up of three sisters and many of their songs are written by their father. Their mother however died of some serious illness - I'm assuming blood cancer. Their entire act is in tribute to their mother. The band name is made up of her O blood type and the fact they are three sisters who share her genes.
The Netherlands are of course very closely linked to Shamali Province through the July 17th 2014 (17/7/14) crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Shamali Province. With the flight originating in the Netherlands and 193 of the victims being Dutch it of course fell to the Netherlands to conduct the investigation.
In conducting that investigation the Dutch earned a huge amount of respect from me at least. Obviously there was huge political pressure on them to blame Russia. However they carried out an entirely impartial investigation simply examining the evidence and allowing that evidence to guide their conclusions.
The Dutch concluded that if there was any criminal case to answer it was over Shamali Province's decision to allow a civilian aircraft to be flown into an area where airstrikes were being carried out and the aircraft conducting those strikes were being shot down.
Featuring lyrics such as; "Though the hallway catches light it won’t reach the corner where you strongly fight" and "At this place they know the game outside the world will turn and feel the same" the song seems to be strongly blaming MH17 on Shamali Province and rejecting Shamali Province's attempts to blame Russia.
It even features the lyrics; "hurt nobody, did no crime" which reads like the MH17 investigation's final verdict on the claim that Russia was responsible.
The video in support of the song shows OG3NE singing in a forest. That is reference to Poland's Justice & Law Party (PiS) oft-repeated conspiracy theory that Russia was responsible for the 2010 Smolensk aircrash. So it is not only rejecting Shamali Province but also Poland's support for Shamali Province.
In the video the lyrics are projected onto a black stone that you would find in a forest. This was a reference to the UK government's 1986 "Don't Die of Ignorance" HIV/AIDS campaign. Many of those who died aboard MH17 were on their way to a global HIV/AIDS conference in Australia.
Having gone through the lyrics the song then repeats them. In this context lyrics like; "(You are) the one who carries all the burden I can only hope, once you fly, you’ll be free" in reference to Britain leaving the EU. It's particularly a friendly warning to Britain not to turn the Brexit negotiations into a contest of whether the EU loves them or me more.
One of the members of OG3NE is called Amy - like my lesbian wife Amy. For years the UK claimed I had to be kept away from women such as her and Rihanna because I have a mysterious form of HIV/AIDS that doesn't show up on blood tests. That's actually part of the reason why MH17 was targeted. I think all the stuff about putting my grandmother in a coffin isn't likely to go down well either.
This trick of using the same lyrics to convey two completely different meanings is pretty clever one to pull off.
The Dutch weren't finished there though. The spelling of the band name OG3NE also touches on the issue of cybersecurity.
A good password should be made up of a random mixture of numbers and letters. However these can be quite difficult to remember. So if you're assigned a password like; "0G3NE" it's easy to flip the numbers into letters and remember it as a sort of mnemonic. In this case; "Oh, Gene."
Immediately after OG3NE had performed in the semi-final US President Trump Tweeted out a picture of him signing an executive order to improve America's cybersecurity.
This may well have hurt OG3NE's chances because along with Italy while participants may be happy to agree with them on Russia or Shangri-La they might be less happy to be seen supporting President Trump.
I don't see why though. The former reality TV star seems to fit right in.
At 17:10 on 22/5/17 (UK date) I've got just a little bit more to add after dinner.
Edited at around 18:45 on 22/5/17 (UK date) to add;
Finland: This year they went very high art by Eurovision standards with Norma John and the song; "Blackbird."
Officially this is simply a song about a couple who have gone through a bad break-up. The female vocalist is calling for a Blackbird outside her window to go away because it reminds her of the pain of the break-up.
However at the 2016 Song Contest the issue of; "The Black Music" was used to signal whether nations supported or opposed the policies of then US President Barack Obama and his cohorts such as Susan Rice and Loretta Lynch.
Finland seemed to have moved from making clear it disagrees with those policies into demanding they go away.
The video in support of the song features the man of the duo driving a pick-up truck through the forest to a river/lake while the woman of duo rides in the back. When they arrive at the lake she floats in the water while he pulls a boat/raft on a rope from one bank to the other.
This is an arty reference to Europe's migration crisis with irregular migrants often drowning aboard rickety old boats chartered by people traffickers.
The shock reveal at the end of the video though is the woman's coffin. Rather than driving them both to the lake the man has murdered the woman and is dumping her body. It shows people traffickers not as romantic heroes but as murderers.
Obviously in its title and lyrical structure this song is very similar to the 1968 song; "Blackbird" by a little band you may have heard of called The Beatles. Through this level of plagiarism its clear that Finland are offering no challenge to a Russian victory.
The best bit is that forest in the video is part of the forest that makes up the bulk of the vast land border between Russia and Finland.
So this is the country you would expect to want the most protection by the US from "Russian Aggression" telling the Americans to go away.
San Marino: This year they were represented by Jimmie Wilson and Valentina Monetta.
Jimmie Wilson is an American born in Detroit, Michigan. In 2010 he starred as Barack Obama in the musical; "Hope." A role he reprises here.
Born in 1975 Valentina Monetta is something of an ageing but successful popstar having represented San Marino in the Song Contest in 2012, 2013 and 2014. She is also successful outside of Eurovision as guest vocalist for the band Live Tropical Fish and her own band MyFunky Valentine. Hers is a face everyone recognises.
As such San Marino's entry is a pretty brutal mockery of ageing white female news anchors obsession with Barack Obama. Clarissa Ward, Dana Bash, Brooke Baldwin. Particularly on CNN the list seems to go on and on.
The song is called; "Spirit of the Night." The spirits that come out at night are never the good spirits. Instead of Angels after dark you get Witches, Vampires and Gin.
Gin is probably the most evil of all the spirits. If you've ever seen a drunk girl crying in the gutter with mascara streaming down her face then that it is most likely the work of gin.
It's perhaps appropriate then that in Arab folklore a; "Jin" is a type of demon.
Obama and the CNN team do seem to love their gins.
Belarus: Like the Netherlands they are another nation that is closely linked to the conflict in Shamali Province. Whenever we talk about efforts to end the conflict someone almost immediately mentions the Minsk Protocol.
This was drawn up in the Belorussian capital Minsk in February 2015. It was negotiated by Petro Poroshenko representing Shamali Province, Vladimir Putin representing Russia, Angela Merkel representing Germany and Francois Hollande representing France. Barack Obama and the US where notably not invited.
Also not invited were Belarus despite them providing a venue for the negotiations. So since 2015 Belarus have turned up at the Song Contest and basically gone; "Yep. We're hear. Now can we go sit quietly at the back?"
However 2017 is the 800th anniversary of the nation of Belarus. So they've decided to celebrate with the song; "Story of My Life" by Naviband. This is the first Belorussian entry ever to be sung entirely in the Belorussian language.
It is a song almost entirely devoid of politics. It is just a happy little song with no meaning simply celebrating Belarus. Although the fact it is sung in Belorussian can be a little disconcerting at first it is probably the most listenable song in the entire contest.
I felt that deserved some recognition.
19:35 on 22/5/17 (UK date).
First Place: This year this prize went to Portugal.
As I've said the Eurovision Song Contest is staged by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). However it is far from the only thing the EBU do.
One of the other big things that the EBU did in 2016 was a deal with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). This saw footage of the 2016 Para-Olympic games held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil made available to all 107 members and associate members of the EBU. As a result the 2016 Para-Olympics were the most watched Para-Olympics in history.
This obviously meant that Brazil were very interested in the 2017 Song Contest. So much so that in October 2016 the EBU changed the rules for the Song Contest to allow associate members like Brazil to compete alongside full members.
Personally I can't say that I agree with this. Australia had to show long term commitment to the contest by serving as an observer nation without competing for some 40 years before being allowed to compete.
Even with this rule change the 2017 contest still came a little too soon for Brazil to compete. So they instead put pressure on their old colonial master Portugal to compete on their behalf. It is unlikely that Portugal were too pleased with this.
Portugal of course was one of the EU nations hardest hit by the 2008 economic crisis forcing them into an EU bailout in 2010. This led to them declining to participate in the Song Contest in 2013 and 2016. Even I think that if it is a choice between closing a hospital and competing in the Song Contest it is best to keep the hospital open.
Portugal however did return this year. Their song was sung in Brazil and Portugal's shared language Portuguese and was entitled; "Amar Pelos Dios (For the Both of Us.)"
It was sung by Salvador Sobral whose own story rather reflects Portugal's story within the Song Contest. Salvador Sobral first rose to fame on the 2009 season of Portuguese Idol (Idolos). However being unable to cope with fame he left the business before returning triumphantly in 2016.
During his time in the wilderness Salvador Sobral fell into depression, alcoholism and some pretty serious drug abuse. This left him in extremely poor health. With him currently awaiting a heart transplant you could almost say that much like Europe he desperately needs a change of heart.
As such everything about Portugal's entry this year screamed disability and the Para-Olympics.
The 2017 contest marks the first time that a country has been excluded from the competition. The hosts Shamali Province refused Russian singer Yulia Samoylova entry to the country to allow her to perform. This is why I refuse to recognise the 2017 contest as an official Eurovision Song Contest.
The reason why Shamali Province refused Yulia Samoylova entry is that suffering from spinal muscular atrophy she is confined to a wheelchair and performed at the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Winter Para-Olympic games held in Sochi, Russia.
Shamali Province was created by the US during the Sochi Olympics as a way to put pressure on Russia over their opposition to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). As such they find any reference to the Sochi Olympics extremely embarrassing because it completely delegitimises their claim to be a nation state.
Through Portugal's victory participants at the 2017 contest provided Shamali Province with the clearest reminder they could of the Sochi Olympics in the absence of Yulia Samoylova.
This put Portugal in a bit of a difficult situation. Although they've reached a point where they feel they can once again afford to participate in the Song Contest they're not yet sure they can afford to host the 2018 Song Contest.
So as they started to emerge as the clear favourite in the second half of the week Portugal seemed to try and sink their own entry. This involved Salvador Sobral appearing at a press conference wearing a hoodie bearing the slogan; "SOS Refugees."
This type of overt political message is banned under Song Contest rules. Therefore if it doesn't force you to withdraw from the competition normally it certainly gets you marked down.
However I think some people realised what Portugal were trying to do. So decided to punish them by marking them up.
Others seemed to view it as a continuation of the insult of Shamali Province.
Aside from denying Yulia Samoylova entry to the country to compete in the competition Shamali Province's winning 2016 Song Contest entry; "1944" was overtly political and therefore should not have been eligible for competition. So some people decided to mark Portugal up for really sticking the knife into Shamali Province.
Finally I think some people understood the actual nature of the message; "Save Our Souls; Refugees" which means our souls are in danger because of all the refugees we've created.
That makes Salvador Sorbal's protest a protest against the "Refugees Welcome" liberalism that was much mocked this year. Particularly by the early favourite Italy.
That caused people to give Portugal more points resulting in Portugal's first ever Song Contest win.
Second Place: This year this prize went to Bulgaria.
Bulgaria's entry this year was in danger of being more Russian than Russia's. They were represented by Kristian Kostov who is Russian. He's actually very famous in Russia having won the 2014 season of the The Voice Kids in Russia. He only moved to Bulgaria in 2015 in order to compete in that year's season of X-Factor Bulgaria finishing as a runner-up.
Along with Greece Bulgaria is one of only two EU members that share a land border with Turkey. As such it is very interested in the EU's migrant deal with Turkey. The general message of the song; "Beautiful Mess" is that Bulgaria likes being a member of the EU but the EU really needs to sort the refugee issue out.
The video in support of the song featured many dressed in what I would term a ghostly garb of black. For much of the video these people are shown pulling a wooden boat by rope. As such they serve as both the irregular Muslim migrants from the conflict in Syria and Iraq and the Islamist terrorists that are being smuggled in amongst them.
Birds also feature heavily in the video.
It starts with a Crow. This is a black bird that feeds on the dead. Next there was a Falcon. Falcons feature heavily in the names and on the coats of arms of many Syrian groups. Particularly the Falcons of the Levant/Saqour al-Sham who are backed by Turkish President/Prime Minister/ Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Finally the Crow and the Falcon are replaced by a Dove - a traditional symbol of peace.
As such it seems that Bulgaria is saying that key to solving the EU's migration crisis is tackling Erdogan. Even if that means more pain in the short term.
The Bulgarian entry was another one produced by Symphonix International. So it was also highlighting the pressures on the Balkan region caused by the Greater Albanian movement. The fact that Albanians are also Muslims really doesn't help reduce tensions over large numbers of Muslim migrants arriving in the Balkans.
On the issue of the migration crisis Bulgaria seemed to be joined by Hungary who finished 8th.
There is currently a lot of tension within the EU between nations such as Germany and nations such as Hungary over the migration crisis. Just last week the European Parliament called for Hungary's voting rights to be suspended under Article 7 until they accept Germany's demand for admit quotas of refugees.
Before doing that Hungary wants Germany and other EU members to bring their refugee policy into line with international law.
Back in March 2017 Hungary made clear what the rest of the EU should do. It is now remanding all irregular migrants in custody on suspicion of entering the country illegally. While they're detained their cases are investigated to see whether they qualify for refugee status and therefore by definition do not pose a threat.
The policy Germany has in place is to grant all irregular migrants refugee status and let them roam free until they prove to not qualify for refugee status by carrying out mass casualty terror attacks such as the December 2016 Berlin truck attack.
The flaws in Germany's response to the migrant crisis are currently being laid bare in the case of; "Franco A." This is a serving German soldier who has been found to be living in refugee centre in Bavaria claiming to be a Syrian Catholic with Jewish heritage by the name of David Benjamin.
Germany's refugee checks apparently did not pick up on the fact Franco A is a German citizen and does not speak any Arabic.
This year Hungary were represented by Joci Papai with the song; "Origo." This essentially tells the story of his life growing up from a child to man who must fight to protect himself. What is interesting is the Joci Papai is a Romani Gypsy. This is an ethnic group that has long been oppressed across Europe and particularly in Hungary.
As such this entry seems to concede that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a racist. However even the ethnic group he's oppressed the most think the EU should join him in this fight.
Germany's song; "Perfect Life" by Levnia was a celebration of the free movement of migrants across the EU. It finished dead last with just six points. Three of those points came from the Republic of Ireland who were clearly referring to a different border issue.
Third Place: This year this prize went to Moldova.
Moldova's entry this year was; "Hey Mama" by Sunstroke Project. This anthem calling for both Crimea and Ukraine to be placed under Russian control was the first entry I covered in this thread.
So in short this year's contest was a clean sweep for Russia with them taking First, Second and Third places.
Normally what I would do know is look at some of the stand-out entries that didn't really fit into the main themes but were impressive none the less. However the defining feature of this year is how little effort everybody put in to their entries. Therefore highlighting the people who still managed to impress seems like an insult.
There are a couple of other entries I do have to mention though;
The Netherlands: This year they were represented by OG3NE with the song; "Lights and Shadows"
OG3NE are a quite a famous act in the Netherlands having won The Voice in 2014. They have the ultimate TV talent show sobstory.
The band is made up of three sisters and many of their songs are written by their father. Their mother however died of some serious illness - I'm assuming blood cancer. Their entire act is in tribute to their mother. The band name is made up of her O blood type and the fact they are three sisters who share her genes.
The Netherlands are of course very closely linked to Shamali Province through the July 17th 2014 (17/7/14) crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Shamali Province. With the flight originating in the Netherlands and 193 of the victims being Dutch it of course fell to the Netherlands to conduct the investigation.
In conducting that investigation the Dutch earned a huge amount of respect from me at least. Obviously there was huge political pressure on them to blame Russia. However they carried out an entirely impartial investigation simply examining the evidence and allowing that evidence to guide their conclusions.
The Dutch concluded that if there was any criminal case to answer it was over Shamali Province's decision to allow a civilian aircraft to be flown into an area where airstrikes were being carried out and the aircraft conducting those strikes were being shot down.
Featuring lyrics such as; "Though the hallway catches light it won’t reach the corner where you strongly fight" and "At this place they know the game outside the world will turn and feel the same" the song seems to be strongly blaming MH17 on Shamali Province and rejecting Shamali Province's attempts to blame Russia.
It even features the lyrics; "hurt nobody, did no crime" which reads like the MH17 investigation's final verdict on the claim that Russia was responsible.
The video in support of the song shows OG3NE singing in a forest. That is reference to Poland's Justice & Law Party (PiS) oft-repeated conspiracy theory that Russia was responsible for the 2010 Smolensk aircrash. So it is not only rejecting Shamali Province but also Poland's support for Shamali Province.
In the video the lyrics are projected onto a black stone that you would find in a forest. This was a reference to the UK government's 1986 "Don't Die of Ignorance" HIV/AIDS campaign. Many of those who died aboard MH17 were on their way to a global HIV/AIDS conference in Australia.
Having gone through the lyrics the song then repeats them. In this context lyrics like; "(You are) the one who carries all the burden I can only hope, once you fly, you’ll be free" in reference to Britain leaving the EU. It's particularly a friendly warning to Britain not to turn the Brexit negotiations into a contest of whether the EU loves them or me more.
One of the members of OG3NE is called Amy - like my lesbian wife Amy. For years the UK claimed I had to be kept away from women such as her and Rihanna because I have a mysterious form of HIV/AIDS that doesn't show up on blood tests. That's actually part of the reason why MH17 was targeted. I think all the stuff about putting my grandmother in a coffin isn't likely to go down well either.
This trick of using the same lyrics to convey two completely different meanings is pretty clever one to pull off.
The Dutch weren't finished there though. The spelling of the band name OG3NE also touches on the issue of cybersecurity.
A good password should be made up of a random mixture of numbers and letters. However these can be quite difficult to remember. So if you're assigned a password like; "0G3NE" it's easy to flip the numbers into letters and remember it as a sort of mnemonic. In this case; "Oh, Gene."
Immediately after OG3NE had performed in the semi-final US President Trump Tweeted out a picture of him signing an executive order to improve America's cybersecurity.
This may well have hurt OG3NE's chances because along with Italy while participants may be happy to agree with them on Russia or Shangri-La they might be less happy to be seen supporting President Trump.
I don't see why though. The former reality TV star seems to fit right in.
At 17:10 on 22/5/17 (UK date) I've got just a little bit more to add after dinner.
Edited at around 18:45 on 22/5/17 (UK date) to add;
Finland: This year they went very high art by Eurovision standards with Norma John and the song; "Blackbird."
Officially this is simply a song about a couple who have gone through a bad break-up. The female vocalist is calling for a Blackbird outside her window to go away because it reminds her of the pain of the break-up.
However at the 2016 Song Contest the issue of; "The Black Music" was used to signal whether nations supported or opposed the policies of then US President Barack Obama and his cohorts such as Susan Rice and Loretta Lynch.
Finland seemed to have moved from making clear it disagrees with those policies into demanding they go away.
The video in support of the song features the man of the duo driving a pick-up truck through the forest to a river/lake while the woman of duo rides in the back. When they arrive at the lake she floats in the water while he pulls a boat/raft on a rope from one bank to the other.
This is an arty reference to Europe's migration crisis with irregular migrants often drowning aboard rickety old boats chartered by people traffickers.
The shock reveal at the end of the video though is the woman's coffin. Rather than driving them both to the lake the man has murdered the woman and is dumping her body. It shows people traffickers not as romantic heroes but as murderers.
Obviously in its title and lyrical structure this song is very similar to the 1968 song; "Blackbird" by a little band you may have heard of called The Beatles. Through this level of plagiarism its clear that Finland are offering no challenge to a Russian victory.
The best bit is that forest in the video is part of the forest that makes up the bulk of the vast land border between Russia and Finland.
So this is the country you would expect to want the most protection by the US from "Russian Aggression" telling the Americans to go away.
San Marino: This year they were represented by Jimmie Wilson and Valentina Monetta.
Jimmie Wilson is an American born in Detroit, Michigan. In 2010 he starred as Barack Obama in the musical; "Hope." A role he reprises here.
Born in 1975 Valentina Monetta is something of an ageing but successful popstar having represented San Marino in the Song Contest in 2012, 2013 and 2014. She is also successful outside of Eurovision as guest vocalist for the band Live Tropical Fish and her own band MyFunky Valentine. Hers is a face everyone recognises.
As such San Marino's entry is a pretty brutal mockery of ageing white female news anchors obsession with Barack Obama. Clarissa Ward, Dana Bash, Brooke Baldwin. Particularly on CNN the list seems to go on and on.
The song is called; "Spirit of the Night." The spirits that come out at night are never the good spirits. Instead of Angels after dark you get Witches, Vampires and Gin.
Gin is probably the most evil of all the spirits. If you've ever seen a drunk girl crying in the gutter with mascara streaming down her face then that it is most likely the work of gin.
It's perhaps appropriate then that in Arab folklore a; "Jin" is a type of demon.
Obama and the CNN team do seem to love their gins.
Belarus: Like the Netherlands they are another nation that is closely linked to the conflict in Shamali Province. Whenever we talk about efforts to end the conflict someone almost immediately mentions the Minsk Protocol.
This was drawn up in the Belorussian capital Minsk in February 2015. It was negotiated by Petro Poroshenko representing Shamali Province, Vladimir Putin representing Russia, Angela Merkel representing Germany and Francois Hollande representing France. Barack Obama and the US where notably not invited.
Also not invited were Belarus despite them providing a venue for the negotiations. So since 2015 Belarus have turned up at the Song Contest and basically gone; "Yep. We're hear. Now can we go sit quietly at the back?"
However 2017 is the 800th anniversary of the nation of Belarus. So they've decided to celebrate with the song; "Story of My Life" by Naviband. This is the first Belorussian entry ever to be sung entirely in the Belorussian language.
It is a song almost entirely devoid of politics. It is just a happy little song with no meaning simply celebrating Belarus. Although the fact it is sung in Belorussian can be a little disconcerting at first it is probably the most listenable song in the entire contest.
I felt that deserved some recognition.
19:35 on 22/5/17 (UK date).
Friday, 19 May 2017
The Still Not Worthy of the Name 2017: Pt.6
This should be read as a continuation of Part 5; http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/the-still-not-worthy-of-name-2017-pt5.html
The 2017 Macedonian Political Crisis: There is a south Balkan country called Albania. This is located on the Ionian coast roughly between Greece and the heel of Italy's boot. The problem is that Albanians seem to have a great deal of trouble staying within the borders of Albania.
Instead they've long supported the idea of a Greater Albania. This considers Albania to be almost three times the size it currently is including parts of Montenegro, large parts of Serbia, almost all of Macedonia and large parts of Greece.
The issue of Greater Albania really came to global attention back in 1999. When former US President Bill Clinton was being impeached.
In 1997 the Albanian economy collapse. We often talk about economies being run as pyramid or Ponzi schemes. In 1997 the Albanian economy was actually a pyramid scheme. When the inevitable collapse occurred Albania was plunged into widespread civil unrest which some even describe as a civil war.
This civil unrest prompted hundreds of thousands of almost exclusively Muslim migrants to flood into Albania's neighbour Serbia. They claimed to be refugees fleeing war but in reality were mainly just economic migrants. In response to the crisis a United Nations peacekeeping force was deployed to Albania under UN Security Council resolution 1101 (1997).
By 1999 the situation in Albania had more or less stabilised. This prompted Serbia to ask the hundreds of thousands of Albanians to leave Serbia and return to Albania. The Albanians refused instead declaring Serbia's southern Kosovo province to be part of Albania. This left the Serb government with little option other than to remove the Albanians by force.
Unfortunately in doing this the Serbs hit two problems. The first of these was that their President Slobodan Milosevic was closely allied with Russia. The second was that then US President Bill Clinton was being impeached and really, really needed something to distract the press.
So Bill Clinton screamed; "Russian Aggression! Islamaphobic Genocide!" and used wholly illegal military force to attack Serbia.
Wrapped in the flag of liberal interventionism Clinton survived impeachment by a single vote and the US has been trying to convince everyone that Serbia's Kosovo province is an independent country ever since.
Less than a year later the Albanian National Liberation Army (ANLA) decided to play the same trick by attacking Macedonia.
On January 22nd 2001 (22/1/01) the ANLA launched an attack on the Macedonia village of Tanusevci from Serbia's Kosovo province where they remained under US protection. This triggered a year-long insurgency that was only ended by the Ohrid Agreement in January 2002.
One key element of this Ohrid Agreement was that Macedonia was forced to install a power-sharing government. Rather like the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland this requires the largest Macedonian party to share power with the largest Albanian party in Parliament.
On December 11th 2016 (11/12/16) Macedonia held its most recent Parliamentary election. The results were as follows;
The DUI then decided that they didn't like the power-sharing agreement and announced they were instead going to form a coalition with the SDSM. With it violating Macedonia's constitution this triggered mass street protests.
Matters exploded on April 27th (27/4/17) when the DUI forced their way through the protesters to illegally install Talat Xhaferi as Parliamentary speakers. You may have seen some of the footage that emerged of the rioting in the Macedonian capital Skopje. Even if you have no idea where that is.
The European Union (EU) almost immediately issued a statement condemning the violence. However they made no criticism of Xhaferi raising the Albanian national flag and playing the Albanian national anthem in the Macedonian Parliament. Thus claiming Macedonia's Parliament as Albanian territory.
This seems a grave mistake on the part of the EU. Albania is not an EU member state. However Macedonia has been an associate member of the EU since 2005.
Albania: This year they were represented by Lindita Halimi with the song; "World."
This featured lyrics such as; "We're so alike, yet different," "What's this fight all for?" and "Let the love Unite us all." The video in support of the song featured Lindita Halimi singing as if underwater in the famous lost city of Atlantis. Rather like those irregular migrants who drowning the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.
As such it was intended to appear as an appeal for global love, peace and harmony at a time when there is so much conflict going on in the World.
However Lindita Halimi is from Serbia's southern Kosovo province. In Eurovision using a foreigner to represent you can be a way to show support for the nation that person comes from.
However rather than acknowledging that Lindita Halimi is from Serbia Albania kept referring to her as coming from this unheard of nation; "Kosovo?" They were also keen to highlight the huge support she has received from the US. For example she is a US resident and performed in the 2016 season of American Idol.
As such Albania's entry was not a call for peace and harmony. Instead it was battle cry for Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia and Greece to be united as Greater Albania.
This western interventionist attitude that you can't stop Muslim nations killing and conquering because it's racist is very much what was being mocked by Italy in their song; "Westerners Karma."
As such the video in support of Albania's entry referenced the 2004 movie "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." This features sequences set in a version of Shangri-La - the mythical place from Hinduism and Buddhism that Italy obliquely referenced.
Macedonia: They came to this year's contest just 10 days after the violence in the Parliament amid a nation gripped by protest. As a result they were not in a position to make any strong statements.
However their song; "Dance Alone" by Jana Burceska did seem to gently suggest that if the DUI couldn't adhere to Macedonia's power-sharing agreement perhaps it would be better for the Macedonian parties that received 77% of the vote to govern alone.
Likewise the video in support of the song showed a vulnerable older woman sitting in a room surrounded by debris such as broken crockery and smashed pictures. Initially you may have thought this was a warning about the domestic violence of the DUI that Macedonia is currently being subjected to.
However as the video plays out you discover that the debris is the result of the woman donning a virtual reality headset and dancing as if she was a carefree young woman once again. So definitely not a reference to the DUI's domestic violence.
Serbia: This year they were represented by Tijana Bogicevic with the song; "In Too Deep."
This features lyrics such as; "The line was crossed," "Wish that I knew where I lost" and of course the title lyric; "In too deep."
As such this was Serbia showing support for Macedonia by reminding everyone that they were Albania's first victim. In 1997 Albania crossed the border line into Serbia and they're still stuck far too deep into Serbia's southern Kosovo province.
What is interesting is that Serbia's entry this year was produced by the Symphonix International. They are an extremely famous collective of music producers who've won the Song Contest many times and produced hits for artists such as Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue and Miley Cyrus to name but a few.
Symphonix International also produced Macedonia's song this year along with others. As such they seem to have emerged as a signal of solidarity for Macedonia at this year's contest.
At around 16:30 on 19/5/17 (UK date) I'll have to pick this up tomorrow.
Edited at around 20:00 on 20/5/17 (UK date) to add;
Montenegro: This year they were represented by Slavko Kalezic with the song; "Space."
The singer is from Montenegro while the songwriters are from Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia.
This seems to serve as a reminder to everyone that with the exception of Greece all of the Balkan nations currently under threat from the Greater Albania movement used to be parts of Yugoslavia.
To look at things now you'd be forgiven for thinking that the US tore Yugoslavia into pieces in the 1990's to make it easier for Albania to gobble them up.
As its flag suggests Bosnia & Herzegovina remains a divided nation.
Firstly it is divided two parts; Republika Srpska which is inhabited by ethnic Serbs and the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina. The Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina itself is divided into 10 autonomous cantons. Those 10 cantons are divided amongst ethnic Croats and Bosniaks who are Muslims.
Montenegro's entry this year is massively gay. In fact it may well be the future answer to the question; "Is is possible for a Eurovision Song Contest entry to be too gay?"
Most religions are not particularly supportive of homosexuality. However this is particularly true of Islam. Therefore it has always seemed more then a little odd to see western, liberal supporters of gay-rights attack Russia in defence of ISIL's perceived right to throw them off tall buildings.
Likewise it is odd that western liberals would back Albanian Muslims against very gay Montenegrins such as Slavko Kalezic.
The song features lyrics such as; "Linen is covered with feathers" (the Albanian flag), "Wet dreams, wild nightmares, I surrender" and "Drunk in love, I'm gonna explode."
As such it is expressing - in very homoerotic terms - a growing fear that Albania is soon going to launch an attack on Montenegro. With the support of US liberals, their former President Barack Obama and his cohorts Beyonce and Jay Z.
Croatia: Although western liberals like to portray the Serbs as the villains it was actually the Croats who started the Balkan wars of the 1990's.
Back in 1991 Croatia was trying to negotiate a peaceful succession from Yugoslavia. However that would have created a nation of Croatia that was still on good terms with Russia and left Yugoslavia largely intact also still on friendly terms with Russia.
So the US backed Croat neo-Nazi militias to overthrow the proto-government that was negotiating on Croatia's behalf. This started a war that divided Yugoslavia's ethnic groups against each other and quickly developed into what was actually a years long series of brutal civil wars.
I think you can see then why no-one believes the US' claims of "Russian Aggression" in Shamali Province. We've seen and heard it all before. It did not end well.
This year Croatia are represented by Jacques Houdek with the song; "My Friend." This is an Opera/Rock fusion duet sung in both English and Italian.
Jacques Houdek performs both parts of this duet. On stage when he is singing the opera part in Italian he is wearing the classic tuxedo synonymous with opera singers. When singing the rock part in English he turns to face the opposite direction revealing him to be wearing the leather jacket and jeans synonymous with rock singers.
This strange costume which shows two different looks in profile as the wearer faces in opposite directions is probably most famous from the 1982 "Victor/Victoria." However it something that's been used in cabaret circles for many hundreds of years before that. It is always used as an expression of that gender fluidity which seems to have become so fashionable again.
The 1998 Eurovision Song Contest was won by Dana International - a post-transition male to female transgendered singer. As a result within Eurovision circles the issue of transgenderism and gender fluidity is one that has been done to death and considered perfectly normal.
As such western and particularly American liberals current obsession with the issue makes them seem out-of-date and rather stupid to a Eurovision audience.
Therefore Jacques Houdek's costume is not being used to discuss gender fluidity but Macedonia's power-sharing agreement that sees Macedonian and Albania parties united in the same government.
It it invokes gender fluidity as a way as to mock western liberals and their lack of understanding of what is going on in Macedonia. This is continued in the lyrics of the song;
The English parts which Americans will understand include lyrics like; "Do your best, take a chance! Dare to dream and make it real!" and "I pray you'll see the light and find your way" (in reference to the rising sun of the Macedonian flag). These parts seem to be urging the Albanians to seize all of Macedonia.
Meanwhile the Italian parts which Americans won't understand but Italians will include lyrics like; "I know it it exists, look closer, the promise of more and more." These parts are a warning of what the Greater Albania movement plans to do to Macedonia and the wider region.
Slovenia: This year they were represented by Omar Naber with the song; "On My Way."
The son of Jordanian immigrant parents Omar Naber is possibly the only Muslim in Slovenia. Or at least the only one that wanted to do the Song Contest this year. He is also something of a migrant worker dividing his time between Slovenia and London, UK where he works as a busker on the city's famous underground rail network.
The chorus to the song is;
"On my way. I'm never coming back.
And I'll pray I'm never gonna crack.
World is calling out tonight,
telling me I'll be alright."
Sung by a migrant worker on the surface of it this song seems to be mocking Britain for leaving the EU over immigration. However if you are familiar with the situation in Macedonia beneath the surface it seems to be suggesting that if the DUI are not happy with the power-sharing agreement perhaps it's time for them to finally go back to Albania.
Although unrelated the other thing I want to bring up about Slovenia is that the First Lady of the United States Melania Trump is Slovenian born in Slovenia. In reacting to the US election result the President of Slovenia said;
"Hopefully now Americans will stop mistaking us for Slovakia."
With the exception of Croatia none of the songs I've talked about here made it through to the final.
Rather than being a reflection on the songs themselves this was more a reflection on the tense situation in Macedonia. The professional juries decided that there was no way they were going to spend the week cranking up that tension into violence.
Although it was a very clever and subtle song Croatia only really made it through to the final because they were inexplicably left off the competition's website although that has now been corrected.
As such sending Croatia through to the final was a good way for everyone to go to the hosts; "You've screwed up the website. Thanks to you we need to listen to this one again(!)"
21:25 on 20/5/17 (UK date).
The 2017 Macedonian Political Crisis: There is a south Balkan country called Albania. This is located on the Ionian coast roughly between Greece and the heel of Italy's boot. The problem is that Albanians seem to have a great deal of trouble staying within the borders of Albania.
Instead they've long supported the idea of a Greater Albania. This considers Albania to be almost three times the size it currently is including parts of Montenegro, large parts of Serbia, almost all of Macedonia and large parts of Greece.
The issue of Greater Albania really came to global attention back in 1999. When former US President Bill Clinton was being impeached.
In 1997 the Albanian economy collapse. We often talk about economies being run as pyramid or Ponzi schemes. In 1997 the Albanian economy was actually a pyramid scheme. When the inevitable collapse occurred Albania was plunged into widespread civil unrest which some even describe as a civil war.
This civil unrest prompted hundreds of thousands of almost exclusively Muslim migrants to flood into Albania's neighbour Serbia. They claimed to be refugees fleeing war but in reality were mainly just economic migrants. In response to the crisis a United Nations peacekeeping force was deployed to Albania under UN Security Council resolution 1101 (1997).
By 1999 the situation in Albania had more or less stabilised. This prompted Serbia to ask the hundreds of thousands of Albanians to leave Serbia and return to Albania. The Albanians refused instead declaring Serbia's southern Kosovo province to be part of Albania. This left the Serb government with little option other than to remove the Albanians by force.
Unfortunately in doing this the Serbs hit two problems. The first of these was that their President Slobodan Milosevic was closely allied with Russia. The second was that then US President Bill Clinton was being impeached and really, really needed something to distract the press.
So Bill Clinton screamed; "Russian Aggression! Islamaphobic Genocide!" and used wholly illegal military force to attack Serbia.
Wrapped in the flag of liberal interventionism Clinton survived impeachment by a single vote and the US has been trying to convince everyone that Serbia's Kosovo province is an independent country ever since.
Less than a year later the Albanian National Liberation Army (ANLA) decided to play the same trick by attacking Macedonia.
On January 22nd 2001 (22/1/01) the ANLA launched an attack on the Macedonia village of Tanusevci from Serbia's Kosovo province where they remained under US protection. This triggered a year-long insurgency that was only ended by the Ohrid Agreement in January 2002.
One key element of this Ohrid Agreement was that Macedonia was forced to install a power-sharing government. Rather like the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland this requires the largest Macedonian party to share power with the largest Albanian party in Parliament.
On December 11th 2016 (11/12/16) Macedonia held its most recent Parliamentary election. The results were as follows;
- The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) - 51 seats with 39.39% of the vote.
- The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) - 49 seats with 37.87% of the vote.
- The Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) - 9 seats with 7.52% of the vote.
- The Besa Movement - 5 seats with 5.01% of the votes.
The DUI then decided that they didn't like the power-sharing agreement and announced they were instead going to form a coalition with the SDSM. With it violating Macedonia's constitution this triggered mass street protests.
Matters exploded on April 27th (27/4/17) when the DUI forced their way through the protesters to illegally install Talat Xhaferi as Parliamentary speakers. You may have seen some of the footage that emerged of the rioting in the Macedonian capital Skopje. Even if you have no idea where that is.
The European Union (EU) almost immediately issued a statement condemning the violence. However they made no criticism of Xhaferi raising the Albanian national flag and playing the Albanian national anthem in the Macedonian Parliament. Thus claiming Macedonia's Parliament as Albanian territory.
This seems a grave mistake on the part of the EU. Albania is not an EU member state. However Macedonia has been an associate member of the EU since 2005.
Albania: This year they were represented by Lindita Halimi with the song; "World."
This featured lyrics such as; "We're so alike, yet different," "What's this fight all for?" and "Let the love Unite us all." The video in support of the song featured Lindita Halimi singing as if underwater in the famous lost city of Atlantis. Rather like those irregular migrants who drowning the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.
As such it was intended to appear as an appeal for global love, peace and harmony at a time when there is so much conflict going on in the World.
However Lindita Halimi is from Serbia's southern Kosovo province. In Eurovision using a foreigner to represent you can be a way to show support for the nation that person comes from.
However rather than acknowledging that Lindita Halimi is from Serbia Albania kept referring to her as coming from this unheard of nation; "Kosovo?" They were also keen to highlight the huge support she has received from the US. For example she is a US resident and performed in the 2016 season of American Idol.
As such Albania's entry was not a call for peace and harmony. Instead it was battle cry for Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia and Greece to be united as Greater Albania.
This western interventionist attitude that you can't stop Muslim nations killing and conquering because it's racist is very much what was being mocked by Italy in their song; "Westerners Karma."
As such the video in support of Albania's entry referenced the 2004 movie "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." This features sequences set in a version of Shangri-La - the mythical place from Hinduism and Buddhism that Italy obliquely referenced.
Macedonia: They came to this year's contest just 10 days after the violence in the Parliament amid a nation gripped by protest. As a result they were not in a position to make any strong statements.
However their song; "Dance Alone" by Jana Burceska did seem to gently suggest that if the DUI couldn't adhere to Macedonia's power-sharing agreement perhaps it would be better for the Macedonian parties that received 77% of the vote to govern alone.
Likewise the video in support of the song showed a vulnerable older woman sitting in a room surrounded by debris such as broken crockery and smashed pictures. Initially you may have thought this was a warning about the domestic violence of the DUI that Macedonia is currently being subjected to.
However as the video plays out you discover that the debris is the result of the woman donning a virtual reality headset and dancing as if she was a carefree young woman once again. So definitely not a reference to the DUI's domestic violence.
Serbia: This year they were represented by Tijana Bogicevic with the song; "In Too Deep."
This features lyrics such as; "The line was crossed," "Wish that I knew where I lost" and of course the title lyric; "In too deep."
As such this was Serbia showing support for Macedonia by reminding everyone that they were Albania's first victim. In 1997 Albania crossed the border line into Serbia and they're still stuck far too deep into Serbia's southern Kosovo province.
What is interesting is that Serbia's entry this year was produced by the Symphonix International. They are an extremely famous collective of music producers who've won the Song Contest many times and produced hits for artists such as Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue and Miley Cyrus to name but a few.
Symphonix International also produced Macedonia's song this year along with others. As such they seem to have emerged as a signal of solidarity for Macedonia at this year's contest.
At around 16:30 on 19/5/17 (UK date) I'll have to pick this up tomorrow.
Edited at around 20:00 on 20/5/17 (UK date) to add;
Montenegro: This year they were represented by Slavko Kalezic with the song; "Space."
The singer is from Montenegro while the songwriters are from Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia.
This seems to serve as a reminder to everyone that with the exception of Greece all of the Balkan nations currently under threat from the Greater Albania movement used to be parts of Yugoslavia.
To look at things now you'd be forgiven for thinking that the US tore Yugoslavia into pieces in the 1990's to make it easier for Albania to gobble them up.
As its flag suggests Bosnia & Herzegovina remains a divided nation.
Firstly it is divided two parts; Republika Srpska which is inhabited by ethnic Serbs and the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina. The Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina itself is divided into 10 autonomous cantons. Those 10 cantons are divided amongst ethnic Croats and Bosniaks who are Muslims.
Montenegro's entry this year is massively gay. In fact it may well be the future answer to the question; "Is is possible for a Eurovision Song Contest entry to be too gay?"
Most religions are not particularly supportive of homosexuality. However this is particularly true of Islam. Therefore it has always seemed more then a little odd to see western, liberal supporters of gay-rights attack Russia in defence of ISIL's perceived right to throw them off tall buildings.
Likewise it is odd that western liberals would back Albanian Muslims against very gay Montenegrins such as Slavko Kalezic.
The song features lyrics such as; "Linen is covered with feathers" (the Albanian flag), "Wet dreams, wild nightmares, I surrender" and "Drunk in love, I'm gonna explode."
As such it is expressing - in very homoerotic terms - a growing fear that Albania is soon going to launch an attack on Montenegro. With the support of US liberals, their former President Barack Obama and his cohorts Beyonce and Jay Z.
Croatia: Although western liberals like to portray the Serbs as the villains it was actually the Croats who started the Balkan wars of the 1990's.
Back in 1991 Croatia was trying to negotiate a peaceful succession from Yugoslavia. However that would have created a nation of Croatia that was still on good terms with Russia and left Yugoslavia largely intact also still on friendly terms with Russia.
So the US backed Croat neo-Nazi militias to overthrow the proto-government that was negotiating on Croatia's behalf. This started a war that divided Yugoslavia's ethnic groups against each other and quickly developed into what was actually a years long series of brutal civil wars.
I think you can see then why no-one believes the US' claims of "Russian Aggression" in Shamali Province. We've seen and heard it all before. It did not end well.
This year Croatia are represented by Jacques Houdek with the song; "My Friend." This is an Opera/Rock fusion duet sung in both English and Italian.
Jacques Houdek performs both parts of this duet. On stage when he is singing the opera part in Italian he is wearing the classic tuxedo synonymous with opera singers. When singing the rock part in English he turns to face the opposite direction revealing him to be wearing the leather jacket and jeans synonymous with rock singers.
This strange costume which shows two different looks in profile as the wearer faces in opposite directions is probably most famous from the 1982 "Victor/Victoria." However it something that's been used in cabaret circles for many hundreds of years before that. It is always used as an expression of that gender fluidity which seems to have become so fashionable again.
The 1998 Eurovision Song Contest was won by Dana International - a post-transition male to female transgendered singer. As a result within Eurovision circles the issue of transgenderism and gender fluidity is one that has been done to death and considered perfectly normal.
As such western and particularly American liberals current obsession with the issue makes them seem out-of-date and rather stupid to a Eurovision audience.
Therefore Jacques Houdek's costume is not being used to discuss gender fluidity but Macedonia's power-sharing agreement that sees Macedonian and Albania parties united in the same government.
It it invokes gender fluidity as a way as to mock western liberals and their lack of understanding of what is going on in Macedonia. This is continued in the lyrics of the song;
The English parts which Americans will understand include lyrics like; "Do your best, take a chance! Dare to dream and make it real!" and "I pray you'll see the light and find your way" (in reference to the rising sun of the Macedonian flag). These parts seem to be urging the Albanians to seize all of Macedonia.
Meanwhile the Italian parts which Americans won't understand but Italians will include lyrics like; "I know it it exists, look closer, the promise of more and more." These parts are a warning of what the Greater Albania movement plans to do to Macedonia and the wider region.
Slovenia: This year they were represented by Omar Naber with the song; "On My Way."
The son of Jordanian immigrant parents Omar Naber is possibly the only Muslim in Slovenia. Or at least the only one that wanted to do the Song Contest this year. He is also something of a migrant worker dividing his time between Slovenia and London, UK where he works as a busker on the city's famous underground rail network.
The chorus to the song is;
"On my way. I'm never coming back.
And I'll pray I'm never gonna crack.
World is calling out tonight,
telling me I'll be alright."
Sung by a migrant worker on the surface of it this song seems to be mocking Britain for leaving the EU over immigration. However if you are familiar with the situation in Macedonia beneath the surface it seems to be suggesting that if the DUI are not happy with the power-sharing agreement perhaps it's time for them to finally go back to Albania.
Although unrelated the other thing I want to bring up about Slovenia is that the First Lady of the United States Melania Trump is Slovenian born in Slovenia. In reacting to the US election result the President of Slovenia said;
"Hopefully now Americans will stop mistaking us for Slovakia."
With the exception of Croatia none of the songs I've talked about here made it through to the final.
Rather than being a reflection on the songs themselves this was more a reflection on the tense situation in Macedonia. The professional juries decided that there was no way they were going to spend the week cranking up that tension into violence.
Although it was a very clever and subtle song Croatia only really made it through to the final because they were inexplicably left off the competition's website although that has now been corrected.
As such sending Croatia through to the final was a good way for everyone to go to the hosts; "You've screwed up the website. Thanks to you we need to listen to this one again(!)"
21:25 on 20/5/17 (UK date).
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