Defence policy is in Νεφελοκοκκυγία

 Hi All,

Much to my delight I have learned something new today and that is that Cloud Cocko Land was first thought up by the ancient Greeks, which  according to Wikipedia,  was Νεφελοκοκκυγία (Nephelokokkygia) or Cloud Cuckoo Land- as a place, but like Atlantis functions as an allegory because : 

"Cloud cuckoo land is a state of absurdly, over-optimistic fantasy or an unrealistically idealistic state of mind where everything appears to be perfect. Someone who is said to " live in cloud cuckoo land " is a person who thinks that things that are completely impossible might happen, rather than understanding how things really are."

And this dear reader is exactly where our current crop of generals and politicians reside. The generals live there when they call for conscription (the draft) in the belief that our country is anything like the generation of my grandparents who served in world war 2, when things like patrotism and the Royal Family were taken for granted by all political parties, rather than the self-loathing of the elites toward British history, the Empire, woke etc etc that we have today, especially given  that to self -identifying as a 'patriot', is bad and seen as right wing extremism. Woke has another victim.

But don't worry, our politicians say, we are a great power and we have the nukes! Yet exactly how this is going to get Russia out of Ukraine or stop them is a mystery. I cannot see any British government using nukes in a first strike capacity and not one against a nuclear armed state like Russia. The nukes, as the generals will tell you, is only credible if it is backed up by conventional power as well.  Yet this conventional power does not exist : the RAF is more concerned with not employing 'posh white men' (there's the dam busters gone and don't mention their Labrador's name) , the army is down to 70,000, destroyers have gyms were missiles should be, frigates are being desposed of because there are no personel to man them and because of costs it is rumoured one of the aircraft carriers (which are frequently breaking down and don't have aircraft on them) might have to be sold because of budget cuts.  What happened to the nation that built an empire which once covered a quater of the globe, abolished slavery and brought civilisation- science, medicine, technology- to the corners of the Earth? 

In short the military and political leadership are living in cloud cucko land. In one hand they wish to pump up the talk of Russia as another Hitler or Kaiser and the necessary Churchillian resolve to confront with force if necessary this foe. On the other hand, they act- rather than rhetorical Churchill-  as if we are living in a utopian era of international goodwill,  by driving the defence forces into second and third rate status.

 Put simply Britain is engaging in Churchill like rhetoric, but backing this will 1930s appeasement style spending. But even by the late 1930s, Britain under the arch -appeaser Neville Chamberlain, at least began the process of rearming for war, whereas in today's era we are neither engaging in appeasement (and thus keeping defence levels low) not rearmament. It is the worse of both worlds.

 So if we do end up in this war against Russia or even involve ourselves in another Korean war or a war with China (or horrifically all 3 wars at the same time) we would suffer a massive defeat. To be sure these wars would be allied wars, but the reality would be we would quickly be shoved out of them because of lack of manpower or equipment and thus be more of a liability than an asset  and maybe even see our '1905' moment abroad and at home  (a la the Russo -Japanese war and subsequent Russian revolt against the Tsar). 

During the dark days of the early part of world war 2, three men (one of them to be a future Labour leader)  - a socialist, a liberal and a conservative -  wrote 'Guilty Men' under the pseudonym "Cato". The polemic described the folly of British policy during the 1930s, the failures of the war so far and how Britain was woefully unprepared for war in 1939. The essay identified 15 'guilty men' who were held responsbile for this debacle. One wonders who the guilty men are going to be this time around, if as seems likely we are to end up in another great power war, but the list is probably going to be long. 

War, is War in sight? Conscription, Kangaroo Court and much more...

 Hi All,

What a week it has been! 

First we have the ongoing war in Gaza and today's subsequent rulings from the Kangaroo Court in the Hague, by a state which is not even capable of giving its own citizens basic stuff like water, against a state whose very purpose was to prevent another genocide of the Jewish people, now accused of the blood libel of, er, genocide. 

This week also saw the close of the Davos get together of the great and good .Switzerland is a nice country and it was there that the head of the most powerful bank -JP Morgan, Chase & Co - Jamie Diamond shocked a few lefties with his suggestion that Trump had been right all along on a lot of things.

In America we have had the clearest indication yet that Trump is almost certainly going to be the nomination of the GOP for POTUS... although mabye he won't be on the ballot in certain blue states (confusingly in America blue is the left colour and red is the right colour. This is no different to how Americans drive on the wrong side of the road. Go figure ).  Now many people in Europe don't get it, but they are starting to because America is going through the same thing Europe did and to a lesser extent still is, going through namely mass illegal immigration on the Mexican border. What is not really reported here is that the Blue states are getting a dose of their own medicine, with many of the illegals being bussed into those same 'sanctuary cities' that now claim they don't want them and can't cope. Who would have thought that millions of economic and poor migrants crossing a border - illegally- for a welfare cheque would cause any problems to the host country, eh? Maybe a wall wasn't such a bad idea? 

The foreign policy thing we can also take from this is that there are real threats Trump would pull out of NATO, which means the Yanks might not be coming , to reverse the old song. 

Which leads us to the next bit of news : is war (In Europe) in sight? I first assumed that this was because of a lack of news, but no it is serious. Estonia, Sweden and Germany had all been talking this up, either by leaked documents on assumptions of a war in 1-3 years and then it hit us on Wednesday. In Britain there is talk by the Chief of Staff to bring back conscription (the Draft to Americans) because of the outlook for a wider European war. American generals have been warning in public for the past couple of years Britain is no longer the military power she once was.

That is chilling stuff, given that Britain has only drafted civilians into her forces during 2 world wars, although even with the meat grinder of the trenches, it was Kitchener's volunteers who made up the bulk of troops before conscription was introduced, first for unmarried and then married men. But while the government was quick to backtrack, its seems that there is a greater acceptance that some form of remarmament is necessary as it was in the 1910s and later 1930s. The problem is that HM Treasury sees things differently and has been happy to enforce a 'gutting' of the Defence Forces over the past 30 years. This has to stop. We cannot just rely on the nuclear deterence. Who believes that the UK would nuke Russia if the Baltics were invaded? No-one. Because anyone sane enough would point out Russia would destroy the UK with several missiles. 

What is needed is a build up of the military - not cutting it even further- to do our part in the defence of Europe, which is ultimately a defence of our Kingdom as well, but it is better to 'Duke it out'  in the Baltics than in Newcastle, Glasgow or Belfast. There are a few signs of this, in the new Type 83 Destroyer (in reality a Cruiser), because things like the navy have a lot of trendy weapons that have been defensive and not offensive. We need to see the armed forces in 'beast mode' and we need to see more than a handful of these new Cruisers being built, which will require investment in new shipyards or a revivial of shipbuilding in the tradtional areas such as Newcastle, Belfast, Glasgow, Bristol etc.

Why then is there great chatter about war being in sight? My feeling is that it is not just unease about whether America will stay with us, but also because it is widely deemed that Ukraine's offensives have failed and that the country is on the brink, along with this allies are doubting whether sending over aid is worthwhile with the US Congress concluding 'no' and if Trump is elected then that is it and Ukraine will be forced to split herself into 2 . The timeframe in the German documents allude to this fact and intelligence analysts have been watching the war intently. The amount of weaponary that is being used. The 'force multipliers' that our arms manufacturers have been producing were costly and fewer than what we had before, but were supposed to be x times as powerful. This may or may not be the case, but it is illuminating that these force multipliers might not be all they are cracked up to be. Former Defence Secretary Ben Wallance said the 'cubbard was bare' and then America was forced to send its old cluster munitions with a gaffe by Biden that America was running out of its high end missiles- with lead times (the time it takes to produce) of years. So if this year is the year Ukraine has to capitulate and the generals probably know this, then the next target are the Scandinavian -Baltic states, all NATO members or allies. Hence the urgent talk of military buildups or worry over war. 

But we shall see...

In the meantime Shabbat Shalom!

Iran vs Pakistan : How will the left cope?

 Hi All, 

As if the middle east conflict (or should I say conflicts) can't get any stranger, we have had over the past couple of days Iran now attacking Pakistan and now Pakistan retaliating against Iran. To those who do follow the politics of the area, it should come as no surpised. Geopolitics and religion almost caused an Perso-Afghan war last year and Afghanistan is well with Pakistan's sphere of influence or at least both the Taleban and Pakistan have a common foe in Iran.  In that I think I would echo Kissinger 'Pity they can't both loose'. 

But I digress as this is about how leftists are going to process a conflict which shows us how complex international relations can be, rather than a simplified 'black and white' or 'good vs evil' way of looking at how states interact with each other. 

The Iran-Pakistan conflict  will prove to be a problem for leftists who are in their comfort zone when in full enraged mode at Israel/Jews and then a good olde bash at America and self loathing of themselves as the collective west . Even America/UK trying to protect shipping lanes verses Islamic terrorists can be dreamed away as being  because of western colonial imperialism. Now the Houthis or Ansar Allah-' the Party of god' - say 'Death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews and victory to Islam'. Not nice, but ok as they are just one of many groups who have one thing in common with the far left : hatred of the west. 

But what about when its Muslim on Muslims, 'duking it out', as the Americans would say. That's going to be more difficult and like Syria, expect radio silence. The thing is Iran is the world's largest Shia state, but Shia islam is 10% of the total, so you might expect a left whose theory is based around whoever is the most oppressed group is the one worthy of support to go for Iran. Plus Iran is a transgender paradise, having the largest number of trans people in the world (in truth, this is because of homophobia as they forcibly operate on gay people to 'change' them into the opposite sex, rather than tolerate homosexuality as a 'thing').

Except that Pakistan is mostly Sunni and most of the Muslims in the UK come from the Pakistan-Indian sub continent, but are seem as the oppressed minority in the UK (at least by the left, seeing Islamophobia everywhere). So the best thing to do in such circumstances is for the left to go absent without leave. Besides which there isn't Jews/Israel involved, so any conflict between Pakistan and Iran will simply be on the fringes of the left's world, rather than anything like demos to central London, pages of condemnation in the Guardian and biased reporting on the BBC or Sky News,  South Africa taking either of them to  the Hague, show trials and Kangaroo courts.

Ballots and stopping Trump

 Hi All,

You no longer have to be a conspiracy theorist on this one. No I'm not referring to the idea that the US goverment has aliens or alien space craft at area 51. I am referring to the idea that there is a conspiracy against former President Trump. It isn't a theory or something shadowy. It is being fully cheered on by a mixture of democrats, mainstream media and political appointees to do everything they can to stop Trump from being re-elected. Everything from left leaning states (even if Trump was 100% clean, they'd probably find a car parking ticket and use that to throw him in goal for 1,000 years) to Federal inditments have been thrown at Trump, with collective fines and gaol terms of hundreds of years each. Everthing but the kitchen sink and that may follow soon. The latest being the attempts by Colarado and other left leaning states to not put Trump of the ballot for the Primaries, let alone the 'general elections*'. 

What is interesting is what the response of the Supreme Court will be. You see when the Supreme Court overturned Roe Vs Wade, it did so on the basis it was up to the indivdual states to decide what to do with abortion, thus it was not a Federal issue. Likewise elections in America are the perview of the States and not the Federal government- even Federal offices themselves. Given the Supreme Court mostly follows the common law idea of Precedent, it will be interesting to see if they will be willing to back Trump on this one and overturn the long standing Precedent that elections are a state matter. 

As for not having a major candidate on the ballot across all states, this has happened before. But that was in 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was elected. He wasn't on ballot in Southern States and still won the election... which started succession and civil war.

[*Primaries being the way the parties elect their candidates for office in America, not just President, you basically registed as eith Republican, Democrat or Independent  and then get to vote to choose  the candidate for the actual office, then there is a seperate election for that office itself, although there varients, but this is it in simplist form,, by contrast in the UK it is party members who vote for Parliamentary candidates, not conservatives voters and the Labour party has the bloc votes of Unions as well as individual party members]. 

It's NATO time Jack

 Hi All,

Quick video with current NATO members and when they joined :

Meanwhile back in the Hauge

 Hi All, 

Well, we all know what a Kanagroo Court is or as in 1940s Germany  a Volksgerichtshof. 

This show trial brought by South Africa,  is not the first time Jews have been forced to defend themselves against outrageous accusations, via desputations, blood libels and Talmud burnings,  with what seemed like a legit authority actually having and giving a  forgone conclusion : Jews are guilty because they are, what more do you need than that?  .... so no further comment from me!

No, Not this again!

 Hi All, 

As it is the festive season and because it was mentioned in the comments a post or two back... was Jesus Jewish or Palestinian. The real reaction to this should be a 'face palm' because whatever you believe, it is clear from the Christian religious text themselves  that the narrative is contained within a 'Jewish' setting and not some mythical Palestine of the 1st Century AD (or if you prefer 'CE', a silly thing which I can't see the point of) . Palestine did not ever exist as a state, maybe as  a region, but that was not until the Romans put down the Jewish revolts and decided to call the place 'Syria Palestine', the name being taken from the Philistines of the Bible and deliberately used a name change in order to punish and take revenge on the Jewish people. 

But I think it is time for some humour to explain this , via Israeli TV: 

Today's stream of conciousness : Darth Vader and Ebenezer Scrooge

Hi All,



As I often like to get started with a ‘stream of consciousness’, I thought I would put a brief bit of my daily stream here:

We have recently had the festive season, to wit there is usually multiple versions of Dicken’s ‘Christmas Carol’. I also watched the ‘star wars’ films and noticed how they complemented the festive Christmas Carol. While at first glance it would appear that what is a mid-Victorian moral/social commentary and what is an epic space fantasy have nothing in common. But the crux of the 2 stories is the same, which is that of redemption. It is not just that the ‘good guys’ win, but that the ‘baddie’ in both is redeemed, that is ‘bought back’.

Thus Scrooge is initially a ‘good’ individual who even falls in love, but eventually looses that and his scruples, being twisted into a bitter, evil man. At the end of Christmas Carol and its variants, it is often conceived that Scrooge is a changed man for good, which is true. But more specifically Scrooge’s transformation is one which sees him go back to the person that he was at the beginning of his years, that is he is ‘brought back’, or redeemed.

Likewise Darth Vader, the antagonist of Star Wars, was originally Anakin Skywalker, a hero and all out good guy who was also in love and was eventually, for various reasons, twisted into a monster. Yet Vader is redeemed or brought back to being a Skywalker, by the love that he has for his own son, Luke, who is being killed by the even more evil ‘Emperor’. In saving his son, Vader once again becomes the ‘good’ Anakin Skywalker, but at the cost of dying, which Luke desperately wants to stop. Vader’s last words to Luke is that ‘he already has’ (saved Vader) is telling.

Discuss.

Happy New Year!

 Hi All,

A wet, windy and gale force wind Happy New Year to you all!

Any resolutions and have they done the travel/holiday/go to the gym/loose weight adverts yet on the TV? 

(I've cancelled the TV license after my disgust with the BBC reporting on Gaza, so I'm not actually watching it. The downside is I can't watch the 'old' Dr Who on 'I player'. But I have enough to keep myself entertained anyways)>

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

 Hi All,

Happy Christmas everyone!

[And i'm glad i'm not one of those whose Sunday is seemingly to be perpertually being in supermarkets. Can people cope with them being closed for... a day?!]

Shabbat Shalom!

 Hi All,

Shabbat Shalom and open thread as usual!