Messages

1

Aneristic Illusions / Re: Prism and Verizon surveillance discussion thread

« on: Today at 01:00:49 pm »

http://consortiumnews.com/2013/06/17/uk-grapples-with-spying-disclosure/

Arriving in Northern Ireland today, British Prime Minister David Cameron refused to answer media questions about UK/US eavesdropping on his VIP colleagues. Meanwhile, “independent” UK media seem to be under some constraint – witness the bizarre behavior recently encountered by some of my British colleagues in Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence (SAAII).

Not surprisingly, two of them – Katharine Gun (formerly of GSHQ) and Craig Murray (former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan) – were eagerly sought for interviews to provide expertise and insight regarding the revelations about spying on visiting VIPs and other disclosures of joint GCHQ/NSA snooping emanating from documents leaked by American Edward Snowden.

Both Gun and Murray have a history of speaking truth to power. Gun disclosed NSA spying on (or attempted blackmailing of) UN Security Council members whose votes were sought to give some legal cover to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and Murray exposed human rights crimes in Uzbekistan. (For their risky truth-telling, both were recipients of SAAII awards.)

Despite the timeliness of getting their comments on the Guardian reports, the British media was having trouble trying to “manage” – as the British like to say – their efforts to flesh out the story. Here’s the text of Katharine Gun’s e-mail to SAAII members. (This is provided, in part, as a courtesy to GCHQ and NSA which, busy as they are today, probably have not yet had time to do anything more than collect and store the metadata.)

Katharine Gun wrote: “Anyone read the latest headlines in The Guardian today? Kind of strange, although don’t know if this sort of thing is perfectly normal. I got a call from Sky News, they wanted to interview me today regarding the latest releases, they said they would send a TV truck, then a call back to say the truck had technical problems.

“Next they propose to use the local TV studio, but needed to make sure there was a cameraman available; just got call back to say, ‘no cameraman, so have to call it off.’ Left it vaguely that they would be in touch perhaps at a later date.”

Ambassador Murray commented: “I had precisely the same experience and precisely the same excuse, last week with the BBC. They don’t have difficulty finding satellite trucks to film Prince William’s wife attending a gardening class.”

You won't be surprised to learn that the Cabinet has issued a D-Notice to the British press in regards to the PRISM revelations.

2

High Weirdness / Re: Sinister Forces

« on: Today at 12:17:36 pm »

Better, IMO.  Goodrick-Clarke doesn't have the in-depth knowledge of ceremonial magick and the occult that Levenda has.  And since Levenda isn't an academic, he can more freely follow tangents and engage in interesting speculations.

3

Aneristic Illusions / Re: Protests EVERYWHERE

« on: Today at 11:48:11 am »

The protests in Rio:

4

Aneristic Illusions / Re: Financial fuckery thread

« on: Today at 09:53:08 am »

Well, Osborne roused himself from his party strategic musings (his real job - Chancellor is only his cover identity) to say that the findings of the inquiry "may" affect the Banking Reguations Bill.

Which is of course political code for "go fuck yourself".

This is most unusual.

I thought the way to behave in government these days was to swear to implement all reforms immediately in full, regardless of what the actually are or are about. Then impersonate a fish on dry land for a few weeks until the next scandal.

Very odd. Far too cautious. Must be a reptoid.

Well, we do know his boss, David Cameron, is a lizard.

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Aneristic Illusions / Re: Financial fuckery thread

« on: Today at 09:52:00 am »

"Go fuck yourself" itself.

Unfortunately, that only ever seems to get any form of use in Australia's Parliament.

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Aneristic Illusions / Re: Financial fuckery thread

« on: Today at 09:32:14 am »

Well, Osborne roused himself from his party strategic musings (his real job - Chancellor is only his cover identity) to say that the findings of the inquiry "may" affect the Banking Reguations Bill.

Which is of course political code for "go fuck yourself".

7

Aneristic Illusions / Re: Financial fuckery thread

« on: Today at 09:06:45 am »

Did anyone else notice this in the sidebar?

The bill gives the Treasury the power to impose tougher requirements on banks to increase their ability to absorb losses, in particular by requiring a bank to borrow money from markets in a form that allows the bank to impose losses on the lenders if it gets into trouble.

8

Bring and Brag / Re: I'm painting miniatures for tabletop RPGS and they look like shit

« on: Yesterday at 11:55:22 pm »

I used to play Warhammer Fantasy, and I loved painting and customizing the pieces.

Damn if you didn't need a steady hand, and a magnifying glass, for some of that shit though.

9

Aneristic Illusions / Re: Protests EVERYWHERE

« on: Yesterday at 09:42:20 pm »

Well, so far, fascism and Islam are presented as alternatives, but both have bad PR and one is culturally alien to the current global powers.

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Aneristic Illusions / Re: Protests EVERYWHERE

« on: Yesterday at 08:36:03 pm »

Parts of London are like that.  Shoreditch isn't far from Dalton, and Southwark has gated compounds next to some of the most violent and crime-ridden council estates in the UK.

Because they can lock it out and not deal with the consequences, they don't have to care about it.  Somebody Else's Problem.

11

High Weirdness / Re: Sinister Forces

« on: Yesterday at 08:20:26 pm »

Unholy Alliance is definitely worth reading, and perhaps better in some ways than Sinister Forces.  It's more tightly focused, and with a concrete thesis (the Nazis were a cult, informed by the German occult scene) and with a smaller cast of characters than the latter series.

It's also probably worth reading first because the chronology of Sinister Forces mostly concentrates on the post-WWII period, and does involve Nazis in places.

And even if you don't buy his thesis, it is worth reading for his account of when he travelled to the notorious Colonia Dignidad.

12

Aneristic Illusions / Re: Protests EVERYWHERE

« on: Yesterday at 08:07:56 pm »

The 60s were very different ideologically though, in that there was an articulated program for alternative means of governance and a method of action behind them ie; Communism, the New Left, New Agers etc.

Now there is, as we are so often reminded, no alternative.  And none is being articulated.  Therefore, discontent is articulated exists entirely within the malfunction of the current arrangement, and as soon as the primary reasons for that discontent are removed (the lack of jobs), then the status quo, in America at least, will be much more secure.

I mean, realistically, jobs aside, there is no difference in the economic conditions of today, five years ago, ten years ago or twenty years ago.  The discontent does not come from the operation of the system itself, but in how it affects one personally.

13

Aneristic Illusions / Re: Random News Stories

« on: Yesterday at 01:14:05 pm »

Yeah, but normally if you're going for an easy profit, there are softer targets than soldiers.  In fact, practically anyone is a softer target. 

Usually, you kidnap soldiers for show trials, or for pressure to release prisoners, not as a financial goal.

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Aneristic Illusions / Re: Random News Stories

« on: Yesterday at 12:56:50 pm »

Usually it's the private firms who pay out anyway, and kidnapped government officials are not normally done for financial reasons in the first place. 

I'd have to look into it more, though - ransom kidnappings are not my forte.

15

Aneristic Illusions / Re: Financial fuckery thread

« on: Yesterday at 12:40:19 pm »

He's 33, and the LIBOR rigging has been going on since 2005.  This trader's a fall guy, nothing more.  And no doubt there's a nice retirement plan waiting for him, assuming he can keep his mouth shut.