In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 Bush ‘had’ to take a stand

Certainly Bush played a role in how we arrived at the current situation, but there are many players who will forever avoid such scrutiny…

The current UK Ambassador to the US, Karen Pierce for example:

Karen Pierce said “I am honoured to have been asked to represent the UK in the US. I think it is the UK’s single most important relationship. There is a deep bond between Britain and the US, built on many pillars. We have a fantastic cross-Government team across the US and I look forward to working with them to strengthen and even further deepen the special relationship between our two countries and peoples”

Karen Pierce has been the United Kingdom’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York since March 2018. Prior to this role, Karen served as the Director General for Political Affairs and Chief Operating Officer of the Foreign and Commonwealth in London, from 2016.

Karen joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 1981. Her first role was in Tokyo between 1984 and 1987, after which she returned to the UK to work in the Security Policy Department. Karen worked in Washington as the Private Secretary to the British Ambassador to the United States between 1992 and 1995.

Between 1996 and 2006, Karen held several positions in London including Team Leader for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, Deputy Head of Eastern Adriatic (Balkans) Department, Head of Newsroom, Head of EU Department (Bilateral) and concurrently Head of Afghanistan Political Military Unit after 9/11 before returning to the Balkans as Balkans Coordinator from 2002 to 2006.

In 2006, Karen moved to New York for the first time to be the Deputy Permanent Representative and Ambassador at the UK Mission to the UN. In 2009, she returned to London to become the Director of South Asia and Afghanistan Department and the UK’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2012, Karen started her second multilateral role, this time in Geneva, where she was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UK Mission to the United Nations, World Trade Organization and Other International Organisations until 2015. Between 2015 and 2016 Karen was the UK’s Ambassador to Afghanistan.

Sherard Cowper Coles leaves as Afghan Special Representative, replaced by Karen Pierce – two of the FCO's finest diplomats and old friends.

— Christopher Meyer (@SirSocks) June 21, 2010

Bin Laden was bringing money from Saudi circles to distribute to the Arab Afghans: he was a bag carrier and operator of training camps for jihad-vacationing Saudi youth, not a fighter or military leader.

Ah, fair, how foolish of me, clearly a cuddly lamb…

Of the kind so favoured by the Saudi establishment no doubt

is not evidence of the Saudi state funding Bin Laden

Well according to the NY times, the CIA financed Bin Laden and the construction of his Tora Bora hideout…

And whether or not individual invoices are catalogued, given the wider remit of Operation Cyclone, it would be odd to suggest the Saudi state (along with many others, including CIA, MI6, ISI, Mossad etc) wasn’t in some way involved in funding Bin Laden, during his years in the mujahideen, before the mujahideen branched off into Al Qaeda and the Taliban

This just isn’t true. The Saudi state didn’t finance Al Qaeda, and neither is it true to say the Saudi establishment financed Al Qaeda. It is true that a certain section of Saudis financed groups that they knew to be – or were indifferent to being – terrorist groups. (The same is true in the UK btw). In fact, Bin Laden’s activity was hotly disputed because it was so unclear where the money was going to or from.

So where do Operation Cyclone and Jamal Khashoggi’s role as the go between between Osama Bin Laden and Saudi Intelligence under Turki Bin Faisal fit into all of this?

Wales is fine, just avoid the bloody obvious places. Angelsey is lovely. We’ve a caravan near Prestatyn, and the beaches etc have only been busier at weekends. Perfectly fine (empty) mid week.

I’d 2nd this; been around North Wales in a campervan and there are many spots that aren’t overrun; in addition to Anglesey, I’d highly recommend the Llŷn Peninsula; plenty of beaches to choose from and much rugged beauty, especially around Nant Gwrtheyrn

Lives get ruined

Never a truer word spoken, but I get the feeling you’re not too concerned about the lives of the victims of organized abuse.

Or the planet for that matter… as chair of the APPG on aviation, Roger Gale will be lobbying on behalf of the aviation industry, so key to the climate change that looks set to ruin millions of lives in the not too distant future.

Still, at least BAE Systems and the like will be happy; the more planes that fly, the more fuel will be consumed; and the more demand there will be for weapons systems for leverage and security in the extraction of that fuel

It’s a massive story that is immensely tricky to piece together; that’s why it’s easier to present in a blog…

To get up to speed, you really need to be aware of Julian Lewis’ role in the cover up of North Wales child abuse, then work back to the 70s and his days working with his mentor Brian Crozier and that bastion of Childrens TV (and Guiness world records) Norris McWhirter, with the Freedom Association

That takes us to Brian Crozier’s work with Le Cercle:

Within the leaks revealed by the Langemann Papers (relating to Le Cercle meetings in 1979 and 1980) is a quote a from planning paper by Brian Crozier about a Cercle complex operation “to affect a change of government in the United Kingdom (accomplished)”

Wait, WHAT?

Affect a change of government, isn’t that something the MI6 and the CIA do in far off places like Iran, Chile, or Libya?

Well yes, but as Cambridge Analytica shows, there’s also all sorts of ways that the ‘democratic’ outcomes of Her Majesty’s Government can be influenced

Assuming Brian Crozier’s claims hold true, how did they do it?

Well, given what has since come out about Jeffrey Epstein and his myriad links to the global political elite (not forgetting his hidden cameras), it doesn’t seem too far fetched to suggest blackmail operations…

Now, Brian Crozier’s claims to have affected a change of Government in the UK would relate to the election of Margaret Thatcher, whom he’d met, whilst she was leader of Her Majesty’s opposition, at the residence of the Viscount De L’Isle:

errr, this Viscount De L’Isle:

But back to Margaret Thatcher…

Long before she got into Chequers, whilst still leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition, Margaret Thatcher appeared with Jimmy Savile on Jim’ll fix it:

The programme was a primetime broadcast on New Years Day 1977; however, it would’ve been filmed beforehand sometime in 1976.

Who was Margaret Thatcher’s private secretary when this was being arranged?

Edward Leigh, son of Sir Neville Leigh head of the privy council from 1974-1984

Leigh also a long time associate of Julian Lewis and Brian Crozier

Edward Leigh is alleged to be a child abuser, though these allegations have never been tested in court

But hold on, you wanted to know about Sir Roger Gale…

well, on the face of it, Gale being elevated to Her Majesty’s privy council on the same day as Sir Edward Leigh seems completely innocuous

Now, back to 1976, when Brian Crozier, Norris McWhirter and Julian Lewis were cooking up all kinds of political chicanery, who pray tell was appointed as Director of BBC Children’s Television?

Roger Gale

to delve deeper on this, you really need to know more of Roger Gale’s past, from his role as personal assistant to the general manager at universal studios (Beginning in 1962), mafia ties n all, to his role in setting up Radio 270 (1966-67), a pirate radio station broadcast from a ship moored off Scarborough.

Managing director of Radio 270 was Wilf Proudfoot, who having previously been a Conservative MP, wasn’t averse to using the station for political broadcasts.

A group of Conservative MPs and activists became involved with Radio 270. These included the MP for Beverley, Patrick Wall. The station gave airtime to a number of political causes including a broadcast by Wall in which he advocated British recognition of the white minority UDI regime in Rhodesia. Radio 270 broadcast advertisements supporting Conservative party candidates in the Scarborough municipal elections of 1967.

As Programme Director, Roger Gale (who had joined the Conservatives in 1964) would’ve been involved with booking and facilitating these broadcasts; including:

Harvey Proctor, then Chairman of the University of York Conservative Society, made regular half hour current affairs broadcasts.

Proctor went on to have a controversial career as a Conservative MP and prominent member of the Conservative Monday Club.

We’ll leave it there for now…

Do I allege that Sir Roger Gale is directly implicated in child abuse?

No, but there can be no doubt he knows far more than he’s telling

Such a charmer, thanks for the support xxx

Just the one thing though…

no hard evidence of serious wrongdoing.

Many cases go to court with no hard evidence; evidence often has to be gleaned by examination… thing is though, apparently, some people are beyond examining

Still, at least progress is being made as regards Prince Andrew, who, much like the shady goings on with Sir Roger Gale, Sir Edward Leigh and the privy council all leads to the same individual.

they don’t insinuate.

Don’t make me laugh… all too often the hired guns of the press will insinuate every which way to nail a character assassination for political ends; meanwhile, some particularly nasty people get off scott free; why is that?

So, to clarify, which of the facts presented in the blog do you dispute?

And why is it that those with years of collective experience in the industry aren’t trying to help a guy who’s clearly worked his arse off to investigate further?

What specifically has he done recently that is of concern?

OK you lazy feckers, you do the legwork, I ain’t being paid after all

https://generalaviationappg.uk/parliamentary-members/

When presented with facts, would you make these same outrageous demands of an accredited journalist?

I don’t really appreciate your tone; you can after all read, so do so…

What are you saying about Sir Roger Gale, MP?

Well, before he was elevated to Her Majesty’s Privy council on 13th February 2019, he had quite a colourful history…

Bit like Sir Edward Leigh I suppose:

https://bigstinks.wordpress.com/2019/04/21/privy-to-what/

It pretty clear I have, hence the question:

How is it that the Director of BBC Children’s programming responsible for this piece of TV history:

came to be chairing the Parliamentary debate on the Brexit Withdrawal Bill over 40 years later?

The EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill passes its second reading in the Commons. Temporary Deputy Speaker Sir Roger Gale is in the chair: pic.twitter.com/DDFjksy3im

— BBC Parliament (@BBCParliament) December 20, 2019

No, just get to the point and tell us, what you do think is the answer to the question you just posed?

Huh… that’s not how you do things in the press though, is it?

What with all those embargoes n whatnot…

Let me guess, the illuminati, Q-Anon, Lizard Overloads?

Am I close?

Not even slightly, but muddy the waters if you must…

Appreciate there’s a lot ot untangle there; maybe in future I should go for a more bitesize format; dripping information, rather than drowning the audience with it…

To me at least, Big Stinks is catchier than just another name; besides, my name is pretty clear from the linked twitter account

Nonetheless, I think this is a fair question:

How is it that the Director of BBC Children’s programming responsible for this piece of TV history:

came to be chairing the Parliamentary debate on the Brexit Withdrawal Bill over 40 years later?

The EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill passes its second reading in the Commons. Temporary Deputy Speaker Sir Roger Gale is in the chair: pic.twitter.com/DDFjksy3im

— BBC Parliament (@BBCParliament) December 20, 2019

I never said I maintain the uplifts 🤷‍♂️

As for the rest, it’s food for thought, but if I catch you skidding, you’ll be eating homegrown sweetmeats 🥜

Ah got it, so the general tone of veterans of the industry is that dodgy so and so’s should be left well alone?

That seems a bit odd to me; if it wasn’t thanks to journalists asking awkward questions, issues like the dodgy events surrounding the Iraq dossier, the links between climate change and the fossil fuels industry or indeed, Prince Andrew’s dabbling in the arms trade and the Al Yamamah Oil for Arms deal would never have come to light. Delving further you could surmise that the arms industry and foreign invasions are often in pursuit of those same fossil fuels that are leading to the accelerated demise of the planet whose hospitality we all enjoy

(Of course, my life would probably be far simpler if this information wasn’t readily available, but I digress)

Despite the efforts of many brave veterans of the press, often draconian measures like the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill make it all the harder to fight the powers that be…

10 years for defacing a statue!

(though it didn’t stop statues of Queen Victoria and Elizabeth II being toppled in the wake of the discovery of hundreds of Children’s remains in Canada)

But does that mean we should just leave the world to burn?

I was under the impression that a lot of the reason people got into the press into the 1st place was to use their platform to make the world a better place…

Oh and by the way, I’m currently a professional MTB trail builder and uplift driver; all feedback welcome 😉

So say for example I got a press card; and blagged my way into a downing street press conference; how many awkward questions could I ask, before being escorted from the building and not invited back?

On the flipside, if I were to essentially toady to HM Government, whilst asking mildly uncomfortable questions in such a way as to appear probing, what kind of a lifestyle might I enjoy?

You’re right, it’s not a movie, real life is often far grittier…

Funny you should say that…

Any questions?

Great trails should be celebrated, but does that mean you should just be able to rock up n tear em to shreds without lifting a finger when folks have put months of sweat equity, tooling and transport costs into a trail, often without being paid (or charging) a penny?

Might be worth reflecting on just how good you have it, or better still, if you want great trails, rather than whinging on a forum, get building (and maintaining)…

It’s then up to you whether or not you want to share the fruits of your labour with the wider MTB community, who are often oblivious to the amount of hard graft that has gone into every last inch of a trail

For all your talk of circle jerks, surely the same could be said of the state of journalism; the same stories get bandied around through all the mainstream channels, whilst some stories are suppressed by them all, for whatever reason…

Don’t dump on the poor newsroom grunts who are lucky to make £25k a year these days and adopt a holier than thou stance.

Are Esme Wren and Emily Maitlis really paid so poorly?

As for legwork, take a deep dive, not forgetting to fact check as you go:

https://bigstinks.wordpress.com/2020/02/04/brexit-got-done-and-so-did-you-hollywood-pirate-ships-and-unsinkable-aircraft-carriers-pt2/

Hmmm, if only there were any accredited journalists with the gumption and will to kick ass, rather than bowing down for reliable paycheck…

Jive honey – sigh. And sigh with weary exhaustion once more. There are many stories that go unreported, but 99.9999% of the time it is because they are not real stories or they are boring. There is no global conspiracy from the Illuminati policing what we can or cannot read.

I admit in the past I may have pursued some foolish avenues… there again, I was well ahead of the curve on the whole Prince Andrew thing.

Speaking of which, feel free to fact check what is mentioned in the speech bubbles; if you’re not familiar the guy on the left is Turki Bin Faisal, head of Saudi intelligence throughout the 80s and 90s, who resigned on Sept 1st, 2001; one of his son’s is currently the Saudi sports minister

Whether or not Jeffrey Epstein killed himself is open to question, however, it's clear Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated…

In wake of @maitlis @BBCTwo @BBCNewsnight interview, will @esmewren @SamMcAlister1 @jakemorristw @stewartmaclean @alicia_writes be investigating further? pic.twitter.com/RjCmFc3UtP

— Tom Young (@OldTomYoung) November 17, 2019

(not that I’m suggesting such a conversation ever took place, simply a means of getting facts out there in a concise fashion)

Surely sales volume would play a part here; the more profit and operating capital you have, the more you can afford a blinged out warranty for PR purposes

or to look at it another way:

If you have mass production churning out 100 frames a week, vs a bloke in a shed doing 1 frame a week, then you’ll have a lot more spare frames for crash replacement and warranty claims

Sometimes though, you have to go with your heart rather than your head, or to put a different twang on it:

harmonics beat economics

Interesting thread this…

Since the vast majority of media outlets are owned or run by the rich and powerful, (and for the most part, journalists prefer getting paid well and enhancing their career prospects) how many important stories never get exposure?

So why don’t they make Olympic, or even national lever bikes out of steel for competitions?

Something tells me Graeme Obree might be a good person to ask about that…

Sure I’ve read about all this somewhere…

ah yes, here we go:

‘The Earth was dying. Killed by the pursuit of money’ — rereading Ben Elton’s Stark as prophecy

First published in 1989, Elton’s debut novel offered a doubly prophetic vision. First, his depiction of environmental destruction. Second, his vision of high-stakes private space exploration.

The world of Elton’s Stark is ruled by a shadowy ultra-rich cabal (akin to the Bilderberg Group), known as the Stark Conspiracy. Members of Stark have long been aware their profit-seeking activities have caused irrevocable environmental damage. They realise the Earth’s “vanishing point”, a scenario of total environmental collapse, is imminent.

The novel begins with the world facing a mass extinction event:

The earth was dying. To be more specific, the earth was being killed. Done to death by its fond owners. Killed by the pursuit of money. For the men gathered round the table it was utterly frustrating to have inherited the earth and then have the damn thing die on you.

Rereading Elton’s dystopian fiction today is unsettling. His prediction the world would be ruled, or rather owned, by the ultra-rich is closer to reality than fiction.

In 2019, months before the Australian bushfire crisis, the United Nations observed that around 1 million plant and animal species were threatened with extinction. Californian bushfires recently ravaged 4 million hectares of land, double the 2019 record.

That we are moving closer to a vanishing point is no longer confined to the realm of fiction. The last decade was one of the hottest on record.

In Stark, Elton predicts how deforestation will lead to irreversible salinisation of the landscape:

Now the trees are gone and Western Australia — like many hot parts of the world where surface evaporation is speedy and the forests have been cleared — faces a terrible problem with the salt of the earth.

The most unnerving similarity between Elton’s novel and the world of today is the speed at which the effects of climate change and environmental degradation take place.

Species of animals that were not meant to die out until mid twenty-first century were already extinct. Trees were proving far less resilient against acid ‘die-back’ than had been hoped.

So, Elton’s dual depictions of global environmental destruction and space colonisation by the rich were light years ahead of their time. Yet the novel ends with a weary indictment of society’s unwillingness to make environmental change:

Too much money was involved, it simply wasn’t economical. Nothing had been done and now the reckoning was upon them all.

Elton’s vision is scarily poignant when re-read today. The book exemplifies the quote by Frederic Jameson:

It is easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism.

So where do billionaire space travel, military expansion and killer robots fit into all of this?

Guys, seriously, I wouldn’t worry, nature is gonna come up with a virus to mellow things out a bit and restore natural balance…

Oh

Unsprung weight every which way…

Traction?

Mmmm hmmmm

Pop?

Oh yes

General feeling of unencumbered wellbeing and manoeuvrability deftly juxtaposed with ploughable unflappability in any and all terrain or **** this space time continuum can provide ?

No Diggity

All too often, rebellion that threatens the status quo is stifled, no matter how damaging or corrupt that status quo may be…

No thinking peeps, it’s the law!!