Sunday, November 19, 2023

As Morocco Tries to Rebuild After Quake, Tradition Is Top of Many Minds

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Experts say the government should preserve cultural and architectural heritage, while also building disaster-resistant homes. In the meantime, residents are living in tents and in limbo.

The Agadir Oufella, a fortress in Morocco, was damaged during an earthquake in 1960 but has been restored more recently. | Hannah Reyes Morales for The New York Times

Boujemaa Kouti still remembers the screams of his neighbors trapped under the rubble of their houses, calling for help that horrific night 63 years ago.

He was just 8 and asleep when a large earthquake struck Morocco in 1960, wiping out entire neighborhoods in the coastal city of Agadir, near the Atlas Mountains, and killing at least 12,000 people.

“I saw stars when I woke up,” Mr. Kouti said, and then he heard “people screaming ‘Save me’ — calling for their family.”

Mr. Kouti’s older brother died, and the Kouti family lived in tents for almost a year as Agadir was mostly rebuilt at a location nearby deemed safer.

Rubble was bulldozed and cleared, and vast amounts of concrete was poured as buildings with stricter seismic standards went up.

The Agadir Oufella, a 16th-century fortress partly damaged in the quake, was eventually restored, and a memorial was erected on top of a hill where many died. » | Aida Alami, Reporting from Agadir and Marrakesh, Morocco | Sunday, November 19, 2023

Le Maroc repousse des centaines de migrants qui tentaient d’entrer dans l’enclave espagnole de Ceuta

LE MONDE : C’est la troisième fois en moins d’un mois que des migrants essaient de passer la frontière, sans y parvenir. La coopération entre Rabat et Madrid est citée en exemple.

Un millier de migrants d’Afrique subsaharienne ont, selon la presse marocaine, tenté de franchir la clôture qui sépare le Maroc de l’enclave espagnole de Ceuta, vendredi 17 novembre au matin. Divisés en plusieurs groupes, ils ont convergé vers trois endroits : au nord de la ville, au niveau du quartier de Benzú, au sud, à proximité de la plage de Tarajal, et plus à l’est, dans la zone de Finca Berrocal. La plupart a été stoppée en territoire marocain par les forces de l’ordre, mais une centaine a réussi à s’approcher de la barrière extérieure de Ceuta, quelques-uns parvenant à l’escalader sans toutefois la franchir, selon la Guardia Civil espagnole. » | Par Alexandre Aublanc (Casablanca, correspondance) | samedi 18 novembre 2023

Iran's Last Monarch: The Events that Led to the Islamic Revolution | Last Persian Shah | Timeline

Oct 1, 2023 | Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's story begins with good ideas and ideals and ends in bloody chaos. On the one hand, he helped carry Iran into modernity. His wealth was legendary, and his marriages made tabloid headlines for years. However, his name also stands for a time of human rights violations, vicious oppression and intolerance. Had Shah Reza Pahlavi not come to power, it’s unlikely that radical Islam would have the widespread political and brutal effects it has today. The film shows what has remained of the legacy of the regime after the Islamic Revolution to this day combining his biography with the social, political, economic and religious tendencies of the time.


You can discover the past on History Hit with ad-free exclusive podcasts and documentaries released weekly presented by world renowned historians Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Matt Lewis and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code 'TIMELINE' here.

Ex-Muslim Yasmine Mohammed Speaks Out

Oct 29, 2023 | Yasmine details her traumatic experiences as Muslim and how she escaped from Islam, founded a movement that helps thousands of other ex-Muslims worldwide secretly.


What a nightmare! But this is so typical of Islam! Islam oppresses. But people aren't supposed to fear Islam! For if they do, they will be labelled Islamophobic. And what does Islamophobic mean? It means being fearful of Islam. And is it so irrational to be fearful of this nonsense? – © Mark Alexander

Saturday, November 18, 2023

Son of Hamas, Mosab Hassan Yousef, Shames the Pro-Palestine Movement | JHS Clip

Nov 18, 2023

Rowan Atkinson Tells Us What He Thinks about the Importance of Free Speech | #shorts

These are his thoughts on the precious things in life.

Jeremy Hunt Faces Red Wall Revolt If He Delivers ‘A Budget for the Rich’

THE OBSERVER: The chancellor’s potential inheritance tax cut in Wednesday’s budget would aid millionaires amid a cost of living crisis

Chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt leaves Downing Street in September 2023. Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Jeremy Hunt faces a backlash from “red wall” Tory MPs if he uses a fiscal windfall of up to £20bn to deliver tax cuts for the rich rather than to help ordinary families with the cost of living, the Observer has been told.

The chancellor and Rishi Sunak are this weekend finalising an autumn statement on Wednesday that could include a major reduction in inheritance tax – four-fifths of which would benefit those with more than £1m at their death, according to a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). Each person with more than £1m would receive an average tax cut of £180,000, the IFS states.

After another torrid week for Sunak, in which he sacked Suella Braverman as home secretary and saw the government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda declared illegal by the supreme court, he and Hunt are determined to seize the opportunity of Wednesday’s statement to turn the political tide, finally, in the Tories’ favour. » | Michael Savage, Toby Helm and Phillip Inman | Saturday, November 18, 2023

Only an incompetent, irresponsible, uncaring fool would deliver tax cuts for the rich at a time like this! – © Mark Alexnader

Tatler: Princess Diana’s Last Love: Dodi Al-Fayed | #shorts

Who exactly was Dodi.

The Conservative Party Is Dead

Nov 18, 2023 | I thought I saw a sign of life as Suella Braverman was sacked but Sunak has confirmed that the moral leadership is missing- this is a party on the last stages of decay, what Bercow called "a rotting corpse". What is left, its zombie pretence of authority and life is controlled by the shady forces of the ERG [European Research Group] and its part-time members (each eager to stake out an afterlife in media or business) can no longer command respect. It is sad to see such a death.

Inside Donald Trump's Plan to Destroy Democracy If He Wins the 2024 Election | The Warning Podcast

Nov 18, 2023 | Steve Schmidt & Katherine Stewart discuss Project 2025, a plan by Donald Trump and his loyalists to tear down the American structure of government if his wins the 2024 election.

Dodi and Di: The Untold Truth | Full Movie | Princess Diana, Dodi Al-Fayed, King Charles, Royal Family

Nov 16 | As shown in Season 6 of Netflix's The Crown, the real-life relationship between Diana & Dodi is shrouded in mystery.

Conflicting accounts hinder the knowledge of how she felt. Was it love or all for show? The Untold Truth follows the summer after Diana's divorce from Prince Charles in 1996. Diana, Princess of Wales, began dating Dodi Al-Fayed. The relationship between the two is shrouded in mystery.

Dodi Al-Fayed, the son of Mohamed Al-Fayed, owned Harrods department store in London and The Ritz Hotel in Paris.

Diana met Mohamed Al-Fayed in 1986 at a polo match against Princes Charles. Eleven years later, Mohamed invited Diana and her children on board his yacht in St. Tropez. This is where the brief affair began.

Was her former lover, Hasnat Khan, jealous ? Or was that all a show, too?


Dimitra's Dishes: Greek Lamb & Potatoes in the Oven Kokkinisto

Nov 14, 2023


Get the recipe here.

The Beauty of Switzerland | #shorts

If you want a sneak peek into Paradise, then click here.

Kaputte Generationen | #shorts

Die Gesellschaft ist kaputt.

Steve Schmidt of ‘The Warning’ Has a Message for Us | #shorts

What is the richest man in the world like?

Living Off the Fat of the Land

MARK ALEXANDER: When I was a little boy, my mother used to get milk for the family delivered right to the door by the milkman. Naturally, it would be full cream milk, or whole milk.

In those days, unless otherwise requested, most milk was unhomogenized. So the cream would separate and rise to the top of the glass bottle.

Isn’t this what happens in British society? Doesn’t all cream, the best part, always rise to the top? When this happens in society, when all fat rises to the top, it means that the privileged few, the élite, can live off the hard labours of the many that have the misfortune to be beneath them.

So the privileged few at the very top of society are allowed to live the life of Riley, whilst the less fortunate have to scratch around for a few crumbs and satisfy themselves with some whey to scape by on?

This is what life is like for so many of the less fortunate in post-Thatcherite, post-Brexit Britain.

Let us be brutally honest, the Tories have created a fine bloody mess, they have created a right screw-up. Or as we might say in German: Die Tories haben Mist gebaut! They have looked after their own interests, but have cocked a snook at the interests of the many and at the interests of the nation. And they have the nerve to call themselves patriots!

As an American might say: Go figure!

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

Brits on the Edge | ARTE.tv Documentary

Nov 17, 2023 | Britain has amongst the highest inflation in Europe with many barely having enough to keep up with rising rents, energy bills and food prices. A focus on ordinary Brits struggling to make ends meet.


WELCOME to TORY Britain after years of Thatcherism and Brexit!

Über die schlechten Umstände in denen so viele Briten nun seit Thatcherismus und Brexit leben müssen, schäme ich mich ganz und gar.

Dies ist nicht das Großbritannien, auf das ich als Kind stolz war und das ich früher verehrte. Aufeinanderfolgende Tory-Regierungen haben so viele Menschen in die Armut und einige sogar ins Elend gestürzt.

Dieses Land muss diese Regierung schleunigst aus dem Amt werfen. Um sich zu erholen, bräuchte es vielleicht sogar eine Revolution. – © Mark Alexander

Truth To Power: Why David Cameron Is Unfit to Be Foreign Secretary

Nov 18, 2023 | David Cameron is our new unelected Foreign Secretary, appointed by Rishi Sunak, who was not even elected by members of his own party. And they told us that Brexit would get rid of unelected bureaucrats. David Cameron’s astonishing return to government comes just two years after a parliamentary inquiry found he had shown a “significant lack of judgment” over a lobbying campaign for Greensill Capital, a financing company in which he stood to gain 60 million pounds for his so-called expertise - and given his complete lack of experience in financing, this would appear in reality to have been to buy his influence with ministerial ex-colleagues still in government as Greensill attempted to win a lucrative government contract. And this is just the tip of the iceberg in our new unelected Foreign Secretary’s chequered past.


This country is being run into the ground! Since that ludicrous Brexit referendum, which was both undemocratic and corruptly conducted, the country has been so badly run. Our government is extreme, to say the least. Most of its members are economic illiterates, who are devoid of management skills and who are corrupt in the extreme!

Wouldn’t it be true to say that a madame would manage her brothel more efficiently that the short-**** who runs this country, and in whom the running of this country has been entrusted? And wouldn’t she be fairer to both her staff and clientele? But to be balanced and fair to this ‘leader’, he is but the last in a string of incompetent clowns entrusted to lead the nation since Brexit.

What is it going to take to get this country back on its feet? I know what I think it needs, but I shall let you, the reader, decide for yourself. – © Mark Alexander

Michael Lambert: CLUELESS SUNAK Has No Idea What to Do

Nov 18, 2023 | Last week the UK Supreme Court ruled against the UK government's appeal to be able to send asylum seekers to Rwanda .

Instead of accepting this decision, in an attempt to appease the right-wing of the Conservative party, Rishi Sunak announced that he would negotiate a new treaty with Rwanda and push a bill through parliament, claiming that Rwanda is a safe country.

Suella Braverman was sacked by Sunak and immediately began criticising him in the press. David Cameron was appointed Foreign Secretary despite his many questionable associations since leaving office.

Robert Jenrick, the Immigration Minister, ordered the charity Care 4 Calais not to provide clothing or other assistance to asylum seekers at Fort Napier detention centre.

Sunak continues to talk delusional nonsense about how well the government is doing. Former Secretary of State for Health is now the Secretary of State at DEFRA looking after the environment. His wife is a senior employee at Anglia Water which was recently fined £2.65 million for dumping sewage. Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt claimed 27 pence for a journey of half a mile in his car.




Michael, thank you for this truly excellent, but depressing, synopsis of this disgusting government and the chaos it has unleashed on this country through Brexit, economic mismanagement, and corruption. Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that this country needs a revolution. No government as per usual is going to have the ability or power to sort out this bloody mess. – © Mark Alexander

Elon Musk to File ‘Thermonuclear Lawsuit’ as Advertisers Desert X

THE GUARDIAN: Social media firm boss says he will sue media watchdog that said ads were being placed alongside antisemitic content

Elon Musk said he would file a lawsuit ‘against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company’. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Elon Musk has said he will be filing a “thermonuclear lawsuit” against Media Matters and others, after major US companies paused their adverts on his social media site over concerns about antisemitism.

The media watchdog Media Matters said earlier this week that it found corporate advertisements by IBM, Apple, Oracle and Comcast’s Xfinity were being placed alongside antisemitic content, including that praising Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

It led to a number of big names in technology and media announcing they would be withdrawing their advertising. It also included Warner Brothers, Paramount and Disney.

“The split second court opens on Monday, X Corp will be filing a thermonuclear lawsuit against Media Matters and ALL those who colluded in this fraudulent attack on our company,” Musk said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. » | Harry Taylor | Saturday, November 18, 2023

'We Feel Completely Alone' Israeli Journalist on Being Jewish in London

Nov 17, 2023 | In this episode of the Jewish Chronicle's new podcast: Israel War Briefing, Jake is joined by Israeli journalist and podcaster Elad Simchayoff from Israel's Channel 12 News. They discuss the reality of being an Israeli in London, the anti-Israel protest movement and antisemitism in the diaspora.


You are NOT alone! I have ALWAYS stood by you Jews. I was raised to do so. And I have never forgotten about the Holocaust. Being interested in history, and being raised in post-WWII Britain, it has never felt distant to me. Further, over the years, I have always brought the atrocities of Nazi Germany to people's attention on my blog in both English and German – I am fluent in German even though I am a Brit – and sometimes I also post about the Holocaust and anti-Semitism in French, too. So please don't think that all Brits are as you have found to your great disappointment in London. We are not. All of my friends are against anti-Semitism and are horrified at the mere mention of the Holocaust. We all hold Jews in high esteem. In fact, I recently went through a period in which I considered converting to Judaism! So please do not think that all Brits are alike. We are not. – © Mark Alexander

David Cameron ‘Wants to Unlock Billions of Dollars for Foreign Aid’

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: New foreign secretary to say UK has ‘moral mission’ to help world’s poor in white paper

The former prime minister is to say he wants to push for the restoration of the status of aid in British foreign policy. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Shutterstock

David Cameron is marking his return to frontline politics by saying he wants to unlock billions of dollars for foreign aid over the next decade, as part of a “moral mission” to help the world’s poorest people.

In a remarkable change of tone for a government that closed the Department for International Development and slashed the foreign aid budget, the former prime minister is to say he wants to push for the restoration of aid’s status in British foreign policy.

Cameron, who was appointed foreign secretary by Rishi Sunak on Monday in an astonishing political comeback, is to write in a foreword to a new international development white paper that foreign aid is even more vital, but more difficult than when he was last in office.

The internationalist tone will probably infuriate the Tory right, already angry that Cameron’s return signals a rush to the political centre ground, while his failure to formally commit extra public money to aid will dismay many charities. » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Saturday, November 18, 2023

Can a senior politician really be this stupid? It is all well and good to help the world's poor, but doesn't this idiot – the idiot that brought us that stupid and ridiculous Brexit – realise that charity begins at home? Does this man's gilded cage cut him off completely from the outside world? Doesn't he know that there is poverty aplenty here in the United Kingdom, and doesn't he realise that these poor people are crying out for help? Doesn't he know that there are tens of thousands of parents who have to go to food banks to be able to put food on the table for their children? Does this out-of-touch, superrich idiot not know that there are thousands of people living rough – homeless people? And no, they didn't choose that lifestyle; they have been forced into it by circumstance. And if there are so many billions in the coffers to be spent, why don't you increase state pensions, so that the elderly in this country don't have to be known as the poorest pensioners in Europe, so that they will be able to afford enough heating to keep thenselves warm this winter, and be able to treat themselves to some decent, nourishing food to help keep them healthy?

Moreover, if there are so many billions lying around in government coffers, why don't you do something daring, something dramatic, something progressive? Why don't you introduce a universal basic income (UBI)? Now that would really give you a few gold stars. That would really put some gold thread in your braid. It would really give you some genuine kudos. UBI would also solve the homeless problem. It would also solve many other problems in this country, too.

Mr Cameron: You cocked up once with Brexit. Make sure you don't cock up a second time by giving billions away in aid to the world's poor when people at home are hurting so badly and need that aid just as much as people abroad. Never forget: Thousands are starving, thousands don't have even a roof over their heads, thousands need your help and assistance – so, so badly. – © Mark Alexander

”Judaism Is NOT a Religion.” – Rudy Rochman

Aug 21, 2018 | Rudy Rochman explains why Jewish identity should be seen more as a national one.

White House Condemns Elon Musk for 'Antisemitic' Post | DW News

Nov 17, 2023 | The war in the Middle East has opened the flood gates of disinformation and false claims on social media. And much of the criticism has been directed at the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, owned by the controversial billionaire Elon Musk.

Since aquiring Twitter a year ago, Musk has allowed conspiracy theories and hate speech to thrive. And that's having consequences.

Today, the EU Commission announced it was stopping all advertising on X. It has already launched an investigation into hate speech on the social media site. Also today, the White House condemned Elon Musk for what it called "the abhorrent promotion" of anti-Semitism. That was in reaction to a tweet posted by Musk endorsing a conspiracy theory that Jewish communities push "hatred against Whites".

The White House invoked the 2018 mass shooting at Pittsburg synagogue posting this: "It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the most fatal act of antisemitism in American history at any time, let alone one month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.




THE NEW YORK TIMES:

Advertisers Flee X as Outcry Over Musk’s Endorsement of Antisemitic Post Grows: Disney, Apple, Paramount and Lionsgate halted marketing on X, formerly Twitter, as Elon Musk faced a furor over antisemitic abuse on his social media platform. »

Friday, November 17, 2023

The Lincoln Project: Near Miss

Nov 17, 2023 | Antisemitism is not foreign to America. We must remain vigilant in our fight to resist it. If you don’t believe it, just see it for yourself. The Lincoln Project is a leading pro-democracy organization in the United States — dedicated to the preservation, protection, and defense of democracy. Our fight against Trumpism is only beginning. We must combat these forces everywhere and at all times — our democracy depends on it.

Putin Bans the LGBTQ Movement

Nov 17, 2023 | Putin bans the LGBTQ movement as a terrorist or extremist organisation.

This builds on earlier laws against the LGBTQ+ community beginning in 2010 with no. 436-FZ of 2010-12-23 and ratcheting up progressively, describing LGBT marches as "satantic" and now today the justice ministry has filed a motion with the Supreme Court to ban the activities of the "international LGBT public movement" as inciting social and religious strife.

It will be examined on 30th November.


Elon Musk criticised by White House over Antisemitic X Post - BBC News

Nov 17, 2023 | The White House has accused Elon Musk of repeating a "hideous lie" about Jewish people, after the X owner appeared to respond approvingly to an antisemitic post on the platform.

On Wednesday, Mr Musk replied to a post sharing an antisemitic conspiracy theory, calling it "actual truth".

Mr Musk has denied that the post was antisemitic. But a White House spokesman said his endorsement of the post, which drew anger online, was "unacceptable".


White House Accuses Musk of ‘Abhorrent’ Promotion of Anti-Semitic and Racist Hate

THE TELEGRAPH: This is not the first time the billionaire has come under fire for his views

Elon Musk was accused of endorsing anti-Semitic Twitter post as ‘the actual truth’ | CREDIT: Tolga Akmen/EPA

Apple reportedly suspended advertising on Twitter last night after the White House accused Elon Musk of “abhorrent promotion of anti-Semitic and racist hate”.

According to the US news website Axios, Silicon Valley tech giant is said to have paused business with X, formerly known as Twitter, after Mr Musk endorsed a tweet saying that Jewish people harbour “hatred against whites”.

Lionsgate Entertainment, the film studio which is behind movies including The Hunger Games franchise and La La Land, has also pulled advertising, Bloomberg reported.

It comes after Andrew Bates, the White House deputy press secretary, said the Tesla billionaire had repeated a “hideous lie” by calling an anti-Semitic tweet “the actual truth”.

Mr Musk was embroiled in a new anti-Semitism row this week after responding to the tweet, which read: “Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectic hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. » | James Titcomb | Friday, November 17, 2023

Steve Schmidt Explains the True Danger of Elon Musk's Anti-Semitism | The Warning

Nov 17, 2023 | Steve Schmidt reacts to the recent anti-semitic posts from Elon Musk, the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter. Steve explains the true danger of the message Musk continues to spread.

Rep. Liz Cheney: “Trump Is Not an ‘Impressionable Child’ and Is Responsible for His Actions” | #shorts

Liz Cheney explains.

Charles de Gaulle's Pro-Kremlin Grandson Says He Wants Russian Citizenship

FRANCE 24: A grandson of French war hero and former president Charles de Gaulle said Thursday he wanted Russian citizenship, saying Russia offered “great possibilities”.

A file photo showing an expired Russian passport. © Omar Haj Kadouro, AFP

Pierre de Gaulle is little known in France, but Russian state media have heralded his pro-Kremlin statements as proof that leading Western voices support Moscow’s assault in Ukraine.

“It would be an honour for me to acquire Russian citizenship,” he told a journalist at the Saint Petersburg Cultural Forum, Russian agencies said.

He also said that Russia was “fighting for traditional values, the family and spirituality” in Ukraine and that “NATO had lost”. » | News Wires | Thursday, November 16, 2023

Auftakt zum systematischen Massenmord - Die Wannseekonferenz | Terra X

Jan 20, 2023 | In einer Villa am Großen Wannsee in Berlin besprechen 1942 Bürokraten des Nazi-Regimes den millionenfachen Mord an Juden. Es ist ein Wendepunkt. Das Protokoll zeigt den Weg von der Entrechtung und Verfolgung bis zum systematischen Massenmord.

Die Idee zu dieser Konferenz kommt von Reinhard Heydrich, dem Chef des Reichssicherheitshauptamtes, der zentralen Verfolgungs- und Vernichtungsbehörde. Ihm untersteht auch die Geheime Staatspolizei Gestapo. 1941 beauftragt Hermann Göring ihn mit einem Großprojekt. Heydrich soll „einen Gesamtentwurf“ vorlegen - über die angestrebte „Endlösung der Judenfrage“ in Europa. Von höchster Stelle ermächtigt lädt Heydrich die beteiligten Behörden und Institutionen zu einer Konferenz – in das Gästehaus der SS am Großen Wannsee.

Die Männer, die über millionenfachen Mord sprechen, sind gebildet. Acht tragen einen Doktortitel. Zur Konferenz lädt Heydrich auch wichtige Vertreter der SS- und Polizei wie Heinrich Müller, Adolf Eichmann, Dr. Eberhard Schöngarth, und Dr. Rudolf Lange. Allen Teilnehmer ist klar: Der Massenmord hat schon begonnen. Und keiner hat dagegen Einwände.

Auf der Konferenz wird offen von Töten und Eliminieren gesprochen. Doch im Protokoll, verfasst von Eichmann nach Vorgaben von Heydrich, heißt es in verschleiernden Worten, Juden sollen „im Osten zum Arbeitseinsatz kommen“. Gemeint ist jedoch immer Mord. Es wird die bislang mörderischste Konferenz der Geschichte.


Former Deputy PM Condemns ‘Dictatorial’ Braverman Rwanda Plan

THE GUARDIAN: Damian Green says call for legislation to override legal obstacles is ‘most unconservative proposal I’ve ever heard’

Damian Green invoked Xi Jinping and Putin in his criticism of Braverman’s idea. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA Media

A former deputy prime minister and Conservative MP has attacked Suella Braverman’s latest plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as “unconservative” and “dictatorial”, as the former home secretary continues to divide her party with her outspoken interventions.

Damian Green, who also served as an immigration minister, said on Friday that Braverman’s proposal to pass a law to get around the legal obstacles to the Rwanda plan identified earlier this week by the supreme court would be “the most unconservative proposal I’ve ever heard”.

Green was responding to an article by the former home secretary in Friday’s Telegraph, in which she suggested parliament should pass a new emergency law to override several pieces of domestic and international legislation. The article is the former home secretary’s latest intervention as part of what allies say will be a “grid of shit” for the government after her dismissal on Monday.

Green told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “This is the most unconservative proposal I’ve ever heard. You know conservatives believe in a democratic country, run by the rule of law. Dictators like Xi [Jinping] and [Vladimir] Putin would prefer to have the state completely untrammelled by any law.” » | Kiran Stacey, Political correspondent | Friday, November 17, 2023

Suella Braverman is a hard-hearted woman. There's a very good word for her in the English language. Alas, it would be unseemly for me to publish it.

This heartless woman doesn't belong in the Conservative Party. The Party is in danger of being destroyed by her – in danger of being thrown into the dustbin of history! That woman would have surely felt at home in the Third Reich!

The woman needs to be starved of the oxygen of publicity. The Telegraph is giving her far too much oxygen. In publishing so many of her articles, that newspaper is beginning to resemble the popular newspaper in Hitler's Germany, the Völkischer Beobachter, Hitler's mouthpiece! [Click here Britannica and here Wikipedia to learn more.]

If the Conservative Party wants to survive and thrive again, I would suggest that it turn back from extreme right-wing policies and become a one-nation party once more. Brexit has ripped this country into shreds. Just like Humpty Dumpty, it has had a great fall! And just like Humpty Dumpty, it needs to be glued back together again, not torn even further apart by harsh, divisive, ill-thought-out, far-right, populist policies put forward by numpties like Suella Braverman! – © Mark Alexander

Asylum Seeker from Supreme Court Case Says He Would Rather Die Than Fly to Rwanda – BBC News

Nov 17, 2023 | An asylum seeker who received a letter informing him he could be sent to Rwanda and was one of those to challenge the government at the Supreme Court has told BBC Newsnight he would rather die than go to the African nation.

The Supreme Court upheld a Court of Appeal ruling on Wednesday that deemed the government’s policy to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda and ban them from returning to the UK was unlawful.

Rishi Sunak says the government will work on a new treaty with Rwanda and he is prepared to change UK laws.

The 49-year-old asylum seeker has asked for his identity to be hidden, and his words have been spoken by a translator.


Nordkorea und Russland wollen Zusammenarbeit ausbauen

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Nordkorea gilt als international weitgehend isoliert. Aus Pjöngjang heißt es aber nun, man wolle die Beziehungen mit Moskau vertiefen. » | Quelle: Reuters | Donnerstag, 16. November 2023

Au Canada, l’homme qui avait volontairement fauché une famille musulmane a été reconnu coupable de meurtres

LE MONDE : Quatre personnes étaient mortes le 6 juin 2021 quand Nathaniel Veltman, décrit comme un suprémaciste blanc, avait délibérément foncé sur elles avec son pick-up près de Toronto. La notion de terrorisme n’a pas été retenue par le jury.

Après dix semaines de procès et un délibéré de cinq heures, un jury canadien a reconnu, jeudi 16 novembre, Nathaniel Veltman, décrit comme un suprémaciste blanc, coupable de quatre meurtres et d’une tentative de meurtre pour avoir délibérément précipité son véhicule sur une famille musulmane.

Le 6 juin 2021, l’homme, aujourd’hui âgé de 22 ans, avait fauché cinq membres de la famille Afzaal à London, près de Toronto, dans la province de l’Ontario, tuant les deux parents, une fille de 15 ans et la grand-mère. Seul le garçon de 9 ans, grièvement blessé, a survécu. » | Le Monde avec AP et AFP | vendredi 17 November 2023

Rishi Being Rishi

Jul 25, 2022 | Just Rishi Sunak being insanely weird

Elon Musk Facing Backlash over Endorsement of Antisemitic Posts

Nov 17, 2023 | The billionaire and owner of media platform X (formally known as Twitter) came under fire for agreeing with antisemitic comments on the platform.

Giada De Laurentiis Makes Chicken Cacciatore | Everyday Italian | Food Network

Oct 1, 2019


Get the recipe here.

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Michael Heseltine on Suella, Enoch Powell and Saving Liverpool | The News Agents

Sept 29, 2023 | Michael Heseltine is a politician with a long political memory. He heard Neville Chamberlain declare war on Germany in 1939. He saw Suez unfold. He attended Churchill’s funeral. …

Thilo Sarrazin: „Wir sehen, dass uns Deutschland immer fremder wird“

Oct 17, 2023 | 13 Jahre nach seinem Skandal-Buch sind seine Thesen so aktuell wie nie: Thilo Sarrazin im Migrations-Klartext! Hat Deutschland sich mittlerweile abgeschafft? „Es ist dabei, es geht ja stufenweise“, sagt Sarrazin. Der Ex-Finanzsenator von Berlin führt aus: „Wenn wir über die Straßen gehen, dann sehen wir mehr und mehr Gesichter von Menschen, die erkennbar hier nicht geboren sind oder deren Eltern hier nicht geboren waren. Wir sehen in den Schulen, da fallen die Leistungsniveaus. Wir sehen, dass uns Deutschland insgesamt immer fremder wird. Und dieser Prozess der Abschaffung vollzieht sich halt allmählich über die Jahrzehnte.“

En direct, guerre Israël-Hamas : l’ONU alerte sur le « risque immédiat de famine » dans la bande de Gaza, où nourriture et eau sont « quasi inexistantes »

LE MONDE : « Avec l’hiver qui approche à grands pas, les abris précaires et surpeuplés, ainsi que le manque d’eau potable, les civils sont confrontés à un risque immédiat de famine », a déclaré dans un communiqué la directrice exécutive du Programme alimentaire mondial, Cindy McCain. LIVE EN COURS » | jeudi 16 novembre 2023

There Is No Afterlife Said Bertrand Russell | #shorts

Bertrand Russell: The idea of an afterlife is nonsense.

WIKIPEDIA: Bertrand Russell »

Our Favorite Ina Garten Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe Videos | Barefoot Contessa | Food Network

Nov 5, 2023 | From roast turkey with truffle butter to herb-roasted turkey breast, these are our favorite Ina Garten Thanksgiving turkey recipe videos!

Ina throws open the doors of her Hamptons home for delicious food, dazzling entertaining ideas and good fun on Barefoot Contessa.


Ancient Jewish Formula for Success or Failure | #shorts

Rudy Rochman explains.

Loneliness a Problem? You’re Never Alone with a Cigarette!

Slash taxes on cigarettes! Relax laws on smoking in public places! Make smoking cool again!


With many thanks to iva for this delightful photo.

Today Rishi Sunak Announced that a Law in Parliament Can Change Morality

Nov 15, 2023 | Professor Tim Wilson: What the Supreme Court rules as unsafe can be legislated as "safe". What is bad can be renamed "good" by an act of Supremacy. No one should be silent in the face of this outrage.


The mere thought of sending these people to Rwanda is absolutely abhorrent to me. Many of those people they want to send might well be gay; so how are these people going to be treated in Rwanda? As for Suella Braverman, thank God she's gone. (But how much trouble for Sunak is she going to make from the back benches?) As for Rishi Sunak himself, he's a schoolboy in a man's world, playing politics and playing to the fascist, right-wing fools that follow him and his ilk. The best of Tories have long gone. We are left with the dross. – © Mark Alexander

Cenk Uygur Becomes the First Naturalized Citizen on a Presidential Ballot In United States History

Nov 16, 2023 | Democratic presidential candidate Cenk Uygur gives an update on his 2024 campaign. Ana Kasparian hosts the interview on The Young Turks.

The Truth about How Brexit BETRAYED Britain | Ultimate Documentary 2023

Nov 15, 2023


Let's not mince words here. Brexit has been a BLOODY DISASTER! Were it to be 1789 in France, the guillotines would have been sharpened and put to use! The Tory party, once the party one could depend on for common sense and a modicum of fairness, has turned into a party of scumbags! Scumbags with posh accents, maybe, but scumbags nevertheless. Most of the élite in the Conservative Party – if that is not a tautology! – are criminal. – © mark Alexander

US and China Agree to Resume Military Communications - BBC News

Nov 16, 2023 | The US and China have agreed to resume military-to-military communications in an effort to ease rising tensions, the US president said. Joe Biden met with China's President Xi Jinping in California on Wednesday. It was the first time the pair had spoken in person in more than a year. As well as resuming military communications, the two sides announced several other agreements in areas that have become sources of tension in recent times.

WHO Declares Loneliness a ‘Global Public Health Concern’

GUARDIAN EUROPE: The World Health Organization has launched an international commission on loneliness, which can be as bad for people’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared loneliness to be a pressing global health threat, with the US surgeon general saying that its mortality effects are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

WHO has launched an international commission on the problem – led by the US surgeon general, Dr Vivek Murthy, and the African Union youth envoy, Chido Mpemba – of 11 advocates and government ministers, including Ralph Regenvanu, the minister of climate change adaptation in Vanuatu, and Ayuko Kato, the minister in charge of measures for loneliness and isolation in Japan.

It comes after the Covid-19 pandemic halted economic and social activity, increasing levels of loneliness, but also amid a new awareness of the importance of the issue. The commission will run for three years. » | Sarah Johnson | Thursday, November 16, 2023

Every bloody thing bad must be compared with smoking cigarettes these days! Smoking cigarettes, one of the greatest pleasures in everyday life, has been turned into the bête noire of our day. These people touting this fantasy are batshit crazy! And as dumb as they come! Don’t they realise that by waging this ongoing war on cigarettes and smoking that they have caused the very problem – loneliness – that they now are trying to combat?

As an ex-smoker, and as a widower, I know a thing or two about smoking and loneliness. I can tell you that when you make all public places out of bounds for smokers, you are creating the very problem of loneliness, especially among older generations, for whom enjoying a smoke was a given right in life. That is until the health Nazis got involved.

What does a smoker do when he is retired, and probably lost his life’s partner? Where can he/she go to enjoy him-/herself and meet some like-minded friends? Cafés, pubs, hotel bars, restaurants or any other space where people gather are well and truly out of bounds these days. And because people have been made paranoid about the dubious dangers of second-hand smoke, friends don’t want you smoking in their homes either. Almost all are snowflakes these days.

For WHO’s information, there are health benefits to smoking cigarettes, especially light smoking. People in the World Health Organisation should check them out on Google! Even though it is true that not smoking is healthier than smoking in an ideal world, we do not live in Utopia. And there are REAL benefits to smoking a few cigarettes.

Moreover, don’t these people realise that EVERYTHING in life is bad for your health if not done in moderation. Moderation is key to all healthy living. Too much food, especially the junk people generally eat today, is bad for you. Drinking too much is bad for you. Walking down a street with cars puffing out exhaust is terrible for your health. And what about the health dangers in smoking soft drugs on which laws are being relaxed at a rapid pace in many Western countries, and all the health dangers of opioids? Turn your attention to the REAL dangers to health! So, for heaven’s sake, stop comparing all things bad and unhealthy with smoking a few cigarettes. It is so tiring to hear the same old record, over and over and over again.

If you really wish to combat loneliness, relax the laws on smoking in public places. Provide smoking areas for smokers. Let smokers meet their friends for a chinwag, instead of confining them to their homes.

It must also be said that with your stupid war on smoking, you have created a generation of paranoid people – people who mistakenly think that even if they get a few whiffs of second-hand smoke, they are doomed to a certain death from lung cancer! How stupid can you get? If they were only to consult good sources on Google, they would discover that it is only about 10%, maximum 20%, of HEAVY smokers that end up with lung cancer. And as for Parkinson’s disease and possibly also Alzheimer’s disease, smoking can have a protective effect. So go put that in your pipe and smoke it! – © Mark Alexander

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

John Anderson: How Radical Islam Threatens the West | Niall Ferguson

Oct 17, 2023 | In this clip Niall discusses the threat of radical islam to the West in the context of other threats, such as communist China.

Son of Hamas: The Current State of Israel-Palestine | Mosab Hassan Yousef

Nov 15, 2023

Antisémitisme : dix stèles juives dégradées dans un cimetière militaire allemand de l’Oise

LE MONDE : La gendarmerie a été saisie, mercredi, après les dégradations constatées dans un cimetière regroupant 1 903 sépultures chrétiennes et juives de soldats allemands ayant combattu durant la première guerre mondiale, à Moulin-sous-Touvent.

La préfecture de l’Oise a rapporté, mercredi 15 novembre, que dix stèles juives avaient été « découvertes dégradées » le même jour, dans le cimetière allemand de la commune de Moulin-sous-Touvent.

« La gendarmerie nationale a immédiatement diligenté une enquête. Le parquet de Compiègne est saisi des faits », précise-t-elle dans un communiqué publié notamment sur la plate-forme X. Le parquet a ouvert une enquête pour « violation de sépulture ou monument initié à la mémoire des morts commises en raison de la race, l’ethnie, la nation, la religion », a-t-il précisé à l’Agence France-Presse (AFP). » | Le Monde | mercredi 15 novembre 2023

Former Attorney General Dominic Grieve Is Glad Suella Braverman is 'FINALLY GONE'

Nov 15, 2023

Church of England Backs Plans for Trial Blessings of Same-sex Weddings

THE GUARDIAN: General Synod’s narrow vote in favour means services to celebrate gay marriages could be held within weeks

Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, backed the amendment to offer blessings to same-sex weddings on a trial period. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/AP

Dedicated church services to bless the weddings of same-sex couples could be held within weeks, after a narrow vote at the Church of England ruling body.

The General Synod backed a plan to hold standalone services of blessings for same-sex couples on a trial basis.

It means that gay Christians will be able to invite family and friends to a special service, which could be held on Saturdays, to bless and celebrate their weddings. Music, readings, confetti and other features would mean such services could look very similar to a standard church wedding. » | Harriet Sherwood | Wednesday, November 15, 2023

The Real Rishi Sunak?

Jul 11, 2022 | A resurfaced clip captures Rishi Sunak suggesting he doesn't have working-class friends. Describing his friendships in the BBC’s 2007 documentary series Middle Classes - Their Rise and Sprawl, Mr Sunak said: "I have friends who are aristocrats, I have friends who are upper class, I have friends who are working-class...well, not working class.


How frightfully spiffing! When life is just a bowl of cherries! – Mark

2023 First Person with Holocaust Survivor George Pick

Nov 15, 2023 | The current surge in antisemitic violence and the unfolding of world events underscore the importance of the Museum’s work to share testimonies from Holocaust survivors. They are our most powerful teachers about the consequences of unchecked antisemitism.

Holocaust survivor George Pick remembers coming upon a group of uniformed Hungarian men chanting “death to the Jews” while on vacation with his family in 1943 in the scenic Mátra Mountains. By March 1944, life back home in Budapest had changed forever—as Germany occupied Hungary, and then local officials began requiring Jews to live in crowded buildings, under horrible conditions. George’s family managed to stay alive, even as authorities started deporting Jews or killing them outright.

Watch to learn how young George used his wits and narrowly escaped dying in a massacre of Jewish children along the Danube River.

Hear Holocaust survivor George Pick’s experiences in his own words, which aired on November 15, 2023. First Person is a monthly, hour-long discussion with a Holocaust survivor that is made possible through generous support from the Louis Franklin Smith Foundation.


Secret $40m Deal Links Vladimir Putin to Roman Abramovich - BBC Newsnight

Nov 15, 2023


Putin ally wired £3.7m into UK via Cyprus after Ukraine invasion, documents suggest; ,i.Petr Aven, a UK-based billionaire who owns a Surrey mansion, is under UK and EU sanctions »

Top German Journalist Received Payments From Putin Ally, Leak Reveals: The revelation that the broadcaster Hubert Seipel received hundreds of thousands of euros from an oligarch is stirring worries in Germany that Russia is using an old playbook to promote its interests. »

Vernichtungslager Auschwitz: 3D-Modell vermittelt die schrecklichen Dimensionen

Jan 27, 2020 | Etwa 1,1 Millionen Menschen wurden im größten deutschen Konzentrations- und Vernichtungslager Auschwitz ermordet. Die meisten davon waren Juden. Doch auch politisch Verfolgte, Kriegsgefangene, Roma, Sinti, Zeugen Jehovas und Homosexuelle zählten zu den Opfern. Ein 3D-Modell vermittelt die schrecklichen Dimensionen.


ACHTUNG! Diese kurze Dokumentation ist für empfindliche Leute nicht geeignet und für Kinder schon gar nicht! – Mark

Rishi Sunak to Bring in Emergency Law after Court’s Rwanda Ruling

THE GUARDIAN: PM says legislation will ‘confirm’ Rwanda is safe country for asylum seekers – and says he is prepared to defy ECHR if necessary

Rishi Sunak said he accepted the supreme court decision but he did not agree with it and would find a way around it. Photograph: Leon Neal/PA

Rishi Sunak is introducing emergency legislation to “confirm” that Rwanda is a safe country for asylum seekers deported from the UK, after the supreme court blocked his plan.

The prime minister said he would bring forward the new laws shortly and would be prepared to defy any judgment from the European court of human rights in Strasbourg if there were further attempts to stop Rwanda flights going ahead.

“I will not allow a foreign court to block these flights,” he said, arguing that the supreme court judgment had hardened his resolve for the Rwanda plan to proceed.

He added: “I am prepared to do what is necessary to get flights off. I will not take the easy way out.” » | Rowena Mason, Whitehall editor | Wednesday, November 15, 2023

This unelected prime minister is surely overstepping the mark in overriding this Supreme Court decision. Why have a Supreme Court at all if you aren't going to abide by the Court's decisions? Moreover, Sunak will be setting a very dangerous precedent by doing this. This prime minister is behaving like a schoolboy in a man's world! – © Mark Alexander

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat Major ("Emperor") | Gergely Kovács

Premiered Nov 5, 2023 | Hungarian Pianist Gergely Kovacs plays Beethoven 5th Piano Concerto Franz Liszt Academy of Music Grand Hall Failoni Chamber Orchestra Conductor: Gábor Horváth

Cruelty and Heartlessness in a Post-Christian World

MARK ALEXANDER: I should like to write a few words on my observations on government policies in our post-Christian Britain.

The news today that our Supreme Court has determined that this country’s government policy of sending unwanted asylum seekers to Rwanda is unlawful is as welcome as it is encouraging. These days, our increasingly populist, right-wing government, which appears to have no understanding of traditional, one-nation conservatism, and certainly no recollection of it, come up with some pretty heartless and hare-brained ideas and policies. Most of these people are Thatcher’s babies, people who have taken the worst of Thatcher’s uncaring policies and are busy peppering them with even more acridity and pungency. To these extreme right-wingers, being caring, merciful and compassionate is redolent of left-wing wimps and wussies.

Suella Braverman was the epitome of this heartlessness. It has come to my attention in recent years that if you are looking for examples of cruelty, you must often turn to women! Politics in the West is replete with cruel women. It seems that the longer that women have been in the workplace, the traditional domain of men, the tougher and crueller they have become. Forget about the fair sex! We are all men in a man’s world now, it seems!

Suella Braverman’s utterances recently on being homeless and on homelessness being a “lifestyle choice” were as cruel and insensitive as they were absurd and dead wrong. Then there was her dream of seeing unwanted asylum seekers on a plane, flying off to Rwanda. Ostensibly, such a scenario floated the heartless woman’s boat!

Clearly, our government policies appear to be becoming crueller, the further away we turn from Christianity. In a post-Christian world, anything, it seems, is possible. Anything goes.

We should all note well that the void left by Christianity’s demise will most definitely be filled; and so obviously by the ever-growing presence of Islam in the West, which our clueless, ignorant and cowardly politicians have allowed to happen. Furthermore, our politicians have busily prepared the way into the heart of the West for the these Muslims. And instead of insisting on full integration and assimilation, and their adoption of Western ways and standards as a prerequisite of entrance to the West, they have encouraged these immigrants to bring with them the ways of their own countries of origin. So, if no stop is put to this nonsense, we can look forward to the recent cruelty of Hamas replacing the gentleness of our hitherto Christian ways. A post-Christian Western world will be harsh and merciless – a world devoid of compassion.

The Islamic world provides us no example of a gentler way of life. In the Islamic world, as we must all surely know by now, it is not uncommon for hands to be amputated for theft, beheadings are common for more serious transgressions, whippings for those who indulge in alcohol and stonings to death for adulteresses. Their treatment of gays is unimaginably cruel.

We abandon our Judæo-Christian heritage at our own risk, and if we continue to abandon it, we will all have a rude awakening. Be you a devout or just a nominal Christian, you are better off in our Judæo-Christian world. Turn your backs on it at your peril!

© Mark Alexander
All Rights Reserved

Rwanda Migrant Policy Ruled Unlawful by Supreme Court

THE TELEGRAPH: Judges said there is a ‘real risk’ asylum seekers returned to their own country could face ‘ill treatment’ in breach of their human rights

Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan was grounded on Wednesday as the UK’s Supreme Court ruled it was unlawful.

The court’s five judges unanimously backed a judgement by the Court of Appeal that the policy was unlawful because of the “real risk” that asylum seekers sent to Rwanda would be returned to their own country where they could face “ill treatment” in breach of their human rights.

Delivering the verdict, Lord Reed, the court’s president, said the justices were “unanimously” of the view that the Court of Appeal was “entitled” to reach that view. “Indeed, having been taken through the evidence ourselves, we agree with their conclusion,” he said.

It represents a major blow for the Prime Minister who has made the Rwanda scheme central to his pledge to “stop the boats” by deterring migrants from making further crossings. » | Charles Hymas, Home Affairs Editor | Wednesday, November 15, 2023

The Supreme Court has reached a sensible and correct decision. Sending unwanted immigrants to Rwanda was a half-baked idea from the very start. It was also extremely expensive. Furthermore, implementing it would have solved virtually nothing. – © Mark Alexander

How Brexit Has Changed British Politics Forever

Nov 14, 2023 | In this new Federal Trust video, John Stevens and Brendan Donnelly discuss the dismissal of Suella Braverman and the appointment of David Cameron. Does this represent a new political path for the Conservative Party and Rishi Sunak? Or is it simply the latest throw of the dice for a divided Party that will be reversed before Christmas?

Donald Trump Is Promising to Build a Dictatorship | #shorts

Steve Schmidt warns his fellow Americans (and the world) of the plans Donald Trump has to turn the USA into a dictatorship.

Arab and Muslim Leaders Blame West for Gaza Misery

Leaders warned of the "disastrous repercussions" of what they called Israel's "retaliatory aggression" | REUTERS

BBC: Hypocrisy, double standards and a failure to understand the region. These are the charges being levelled at the West, primarily the US, by leaders of 57 Arab and Muslim countries who convened at the weekend in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

How is it, foreign ministers said to me, that the West slams Russia for killing civilians in Ukraine, yet, in their words, it "gives a green light to Israel to do the same in Gaza"? In the luxurious surroundings of Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel, amid giant floral bouquets and glittering chandeliers, and a world away from the shattered landscape of Gaza, princes, presidents and prime ministers met for the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit.

Blame for the war and the destruction of lives and property was heaped unilaterally on Israel and its supporters. No-one criticised Hamas for its 7 October raid into southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw some 240 taken hostage, triggering the massive military retaliation. Israel, said the secretary general of the Arab League, had committed criminal acts.

"We warn of the disastrous repercussions of the retaliatory aggression by Israel against the Gaza Strip, which amounts to a war crime," said the final communique. "We warn of the real danger of the expansion of the war as a result of Israel's refusal to stop its aggression and of the inability of the [UN] Security Council to enforce international law to end this aggression." » | Frank Gardner, BBC security correspondent, Saudi Arabia | Tuesday, November 14, 2023

In Europe, We Can’t Help Laughing at David Cameron’s Return – but We Welcome It Too

THE GUARDIAN: The surprise resurrection of the man who gave us Brexit could be good news for a political scene in need of compromise

David Cameron with Jean-Claude Juncker at the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 2016. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

It is quite incredible really. David Cameron is back. The former prime minister who gambled with the future of his country by calling the Brexit referendum because he wanted to resolve a dispute within his own party is now entrusted with representing British interests on the world stage.

As a European, it is impossible not to laugh: I did, for several minutes, when news broke of his resurrection. But in spite of the staggering irony of it all, this could actually be good news from the perspective of the UK’s allies in Europe and beyond. Politics is the art of the possible, and every appointment should be weighed against its alternatives. Bearing in mind some of the candidates that Rishi Sunak could have chosen to replace James Cleverly at the Foreign Office, this appointment is good news. » | Helene von Bismarck | Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Related here.

'You Have Failed': Braverman Accuses Sunak of 'Betrayal' in Stinging Attack | ITV News

Nov 14, 2023 | Suella Braverman has accused Rishi Sunak of "betrayal" in a stinging attack following her sacking as home secretary. The senior right-wing Tory - tipped as a future replacement for Mr Sunak - said the PM had “manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver” on key policies.

In a resignation letter, she said his “distinctive style of government means you are incapable" of achieving his priorities, particularly his pledge to stop small boat crossings. Mrs Braverman urged the PM to “change course urgently”, telling him he has led the Conservatives to “record election defeats” and that his “resets have failed and we are running out of time”.

Number 10 responded to say the prime minister remains focused on stopping the boats and "believes in actions not words".

It comes amid a right-wing rebellion which has been growing in her party following a major reshuffle in which she lost her Cabinet job.



I wonder what Suella is cooking up in her cauldron for the beleaguered Rishi? Her brew is surely not yet fully cooked; it must be simmering right now. Rishi had better brace himself for the bitter concoction that awaits his dégustation. – © Mark Alexander

Steve Schmidt Explains How Donald Trump Gives America "Its Greatest Test" | The Warning

Nov 14, 2023 | Steve Schmidt breaks down the dangerous nature of Donald Trump's latest comments.

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Braverman Plots Tory Rebellion on Rwanda Plan after Stinging Attack on PM

THE GUARDIAN: Sacked home secretary urges Rishi Sunak to change course in letter and accuses him of breaking ‘pledge to the British people’

Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman at a meeting in April 2023. Photograph: Phil Noble/AP

Suella Braverman has launched an astonishing personal attack on Rishi Sunak, describing the prime minister as weak and dishonest and claiming he reneged on promises to push through a series of controversial policy pledges.

In a brutal three-page letter published a day after she was sacked as home secretary, Braverman warned Sunak that she now intends to spearhead a Tory rebellion over the government’s Rwanda plan.

“Someone needs to be honest: your plan is not working, we have endured record election defeats, your resets have failed and we are running out of time. You need to change course urgently,” she wrote.

Dozens of Conservative MPs are poised to demand that the government quits the European convention on human rights, a move resisted by senior cabinet ministers, if the UK’s highest court rules against sending asylum seekers to Rwanda on Wednesday. » | Pippa Crerar and Rajeev Syal | Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Suella Braverman accuses Rishi Sunak of betrayal in scathing letter: Suella Braverman has launched a full-scale attack on her old boss Rishi Sunak, a day after he sacked her as home secretary. »

Israel, Islam & the New Cold War | Niall Ferguson

Nov 14, 2023 | John is re-joined by pre-eminent historian Niall Ferguson to analyse the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas. Ferguson argues that due to the nature of Hamas’ urban warfare, tunnel systems and civilian shields, Israel will have a long and difficult campaign ahead. He also points out that the decline in Western support for Israel, particularly in the younger generations, is due to a woke university system propagating Islamist and left-wing viewpoints, attempting to create a moral equivalence between the October 7 terrorist attacks and Israel’s response.

Niall Ferguson, MA, D.Phil., is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior fellow of the Centre for European Studies, Harvard, where he served for twelve years as the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History. He is the author of fifteen books, most recently Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe. His previous book, Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist, won the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Prize.

He is also an award-winning filmmaker, having won an international Emmy for his PBS series The Ascent of Money.



I wrote this ESSAY back in 2007:

Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom »

Tony Blair ‘Discussing Situation’ in Gaza and Open to Role in Effort to End Crisis

THE GUARDIAN: Former UK PM has let it be known he is available to help but his office denies he has been offered specific job

Tony Blair at Downing Street before the Remembrance Sunday ceremony. The former PM has an office in Israel, his spokesperson said. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, has let it be known that he is available if needed to help in an effort to end the growing crisis in Israel and Palestine.

His office, however, denied a report in the Israeli press that he had already been offered a specific job.

Blair has built extensive contacts in the Middle East, and he worked as special envoy for the Quartet – the UN, the US, the EU and Russia – after leaving Downing Street in 2007, trying to build the Middle East economy.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, would not reject a role for Blair. Both the EU and UN have Middle East envoys.

Blair has strong contacts with the Gulf states. In an earlier period, he played a role behind the scenes encouraging Hamas to change its stance towards Israel, but he has always been implacably opposed to the direction of the Iranian leadership. » | Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic editor | Monday, November 13, 2023

Why Has David Cameron Returned to Front-line politics? | Inside Story

Nov 13, 2023 | David Cameron stunned Britain when he quit as Prime Minister after the 2016 Brexit referendum. Now, he has triggered another political earthquake, making a shock return as Foreign Secretary.

That follows the sacking of the interior minister who tried and failed to suppress major demonstrations in support of Palestinians in Gaza. So what does this mean for UK policy - at home and abroad?


Monday, November 13, 2023

UK: An Unelected Foreign Secretary Appointed by an Unelected Prime Minister? | DW News

Nov 13, 2023 | David Cameron has spent the past seven years in the political wilderness – the man who gambled on a referendum that ended with Britain's seismic Brexit bust-up with Europe. Today, another gamble by another British leader brought David Cameron back to the frontline of government as British foreign secretary.

Few expected David Cameron to arrive at 10 Downing Street today for his appointment – his comeback made even more unlikely by the fact that he's currently not an elected lawmaker. The rare move by prime minister Rishi Sunak is part of a major cabinet shake-up which also saw the replacement of his divisive interior minister – Suella Braverman was sacked after writing an article accusing London's police of being too lenient with pro-Palestinian protesters.


Rishi Sunak’s Links to Israel | #shorts

Some insights here.

Farah Diba Pahlavi Interviewed by Reya von Galen

Dec 30, 2019 | On the occasion of Her Imperial Majesty Farah Diba Pahlavi’s 80th birthday in 2018 and the 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution in 2019 we are featuring an interview with the Empress in exile held at her Parisian home in 1999.

Since then she has had to mourn the loss of two of her four children with the deceased Shah who both committed suicide: her younger daughter, Princess Leila, took an overdose of pills in a London hotel suite in 2001 and her youngest son, Prince Ali Reza, shot himself in Boston in 2011.


Why I Rejected Islam

Nove 11, 2023 | Raised in a Muslim country with Muslim friends and culture, Georges had many opportunities to convert to Islam. His family was Christian in name only, so his thinking was influenced by the Muslim culture. He had Muslim views and didn't know the difference between it and Christianity.

Out of this confusion, he began wondering what religions taught, and if any religion were actually true. This started him on a quest. He studied and compared Islam and Christianity with Buddhism and Hinduism. And he took courses in comparative religions.

Georges recommends that everyone do this: don't simply accept what you grew up with - take an honest look at the teachings and proofs for whatever you believe is true. He points out the verse in the Quran, 2:170 which he reads for us in English and Arabic. It tells people not to keep a faith just because their forefathers did. …


Why I Am Now a Christian

UNHERD: Atheism can't equip us for civilisational war

In 2002, I discovered a 1927 lecture by Bertrand Russell entitled “Why I am Not a Christian”. It did not cross my mind, as I read it, that one day, nearly a century after he delivered it to the South London branch of the National Secular Society, I would be compelled to write an essay with precisely the opposite title.

The year before, I had publicly condemned the terrorist attacks of the 19 men who had hijacked passenger jets and crashed them into the twin towers in New York. They had done it in the name of my religion, Islam. I was a Muslim then, although not a practising one. If I truly condemned their actions, then where did that leave me? The underlying principle that justified the attacks was religious, after all: the idea of Jihad or Holy War against the infidels. Was it possible for me, as for many members of the Muslim community, simply to distance myself from the action and its horrific results?

At the time, there were many eminent leaders in the West — politicians, scholars, journalists, and other experts — who insisted that the terrorists were motivated by reasons other than the ones they and their leader Osama Bin Laden had articulated so clearly. So Islam had an alibi. » | Ayaan Hirsi Ali | Monday, November 13, 2023

'David Cameron Has Exactly the Sort of Status This Country Requires', Says Lord Heseltine

Nov 13, 2023 | Former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine says he is "absolutely delighted" to see David Cameron "back on the frontline of politics", after the former PM was appointed as foreign secretary. The appointment came after Suella Braverman was fired as home secretary and James Cleverly appointed to replace her, leaving the top job open at the foreign office.

Ex-PM David Cameron, of Brexit Fame, Returns as UK Foreign Secretary | DW News

Nov 13, 2023 | Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron has been appointed foreign secretary, replacing James Cleverly. Cameron says he hopes his six years in the top job will assist him in helping current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meet vital challenges. Cameron quit as PM and left politics in 2016, following the Brexit referendum that removed the UK from the European Union. He'd called the vote, and campaigned for Britain to remain, in hopes of overcoming anti-EU sentiment in his Conservative party. It was considered a major political blunder.