Category: politics

As the Philip Green story unfolds on the News

Peter Hain was able to “out” Sir Philip Green because of a 1689 bill that established “Parliamentary Privilege” granting freedom of speech and a right that whoever speaks in the house “may not be impeached or questioned” by a Court. This, then, overturns the various injunctions that Sir Philip had laboured to put in place.

We may , of course, feel that Sir Philip should not have been allowed to “buy” even a temporary injunction. This is a form of privacy afforded the wealthy alone. And certainly the BBC should reflect on their own treatment of celebrities like Cliff Richard… but the law should be blind and should be allowed to get on with its business.

The evident joy in the newsroom should, however, be tempered by a reflection that, frankly, the British media has aided and abetted the sort of bullying behaviour that is alleged and that has been going on all over the place for years.

peter hain and philip green by TIM

 

 

 

3 MPs resign over BERCOW

3 MPs have quit an important committee because it is chaired by the speaker, John Bercow. The issue is bullying which is something that I have spoken about earlier.It is a great shame that the Speaker has decided to hang on for a further year- I am afraid it will end in torrid disgrace, and now would be the time to bow out quickly and with as much dignity as possible. He has been badly advised. He should have gone a few weeks’ ago. This is not about whether he is or is not a bully- I have seen bullies and frankly he does not seem the type, but who knows outside his office. He could be a tyrant over the typewriter. It suggests, however, he is not good at reading the mood– about himself or others. That single ability sums up his job and if he cannot do that he is a lame duck speaker. That alone suggests it is just a matter of time before the good members of the house of commons start to walk all over him.

mims davis by TIMWill Quince MP by Tim.jpg

 

Here is my comment on bullying, for what it is worth.

 

 

Crown Prince Mohammed BIN SALMAN BIN ABDULAZIZ AL SAUD

While events were ongoing in Turkey, the Crown Prince, one of the major players in this increasingly dangerous game was attending the Riyadh Investment Forum despite the absence of a number of significant Westerners, JPMorgan Chas, Siemans and so on, surely not implicit boycotters. I have just drawn him- The Crown Prince, a man who appears so charismatic, caught up in a mess beyond his conytrol. It beggars belief.

Still life goes on – though not for Khashoggi.

12 megadeals, amounting to $50 billion, cemented in Riyadh this morning just as President Erdogan began speaking in Ankara. That is almost 17 times the wealth of the Crown Prince himself.

Crown prince by TIM

President Erdogan’s speech

A few hours’ ago President Erdogan revealed his information. In fact, most of it had already been leaked by the various security briefings over the last few weeks. Erdogan gave a general summary of the evidence so far. So, not quite the “naked truth” that he had promised. But nevertheless, fairly sensational.

“Saudi Arabia has taken an important step by admitting the murder,” he observed but added that he was concerned about “inconsistent statements” produced by the consulate authorities over the course of the investigation and that there appeared to be a “local collaborator”who might have disposed of the body of Khashoggi.

He did not name Saud al-Qahtani who seems to have been involved in a skype chat. Maybe footage of that chat has been intercepted by the MIT men?

erdogan delivering statement 23 10 by TIM.jpg

The event was covered live on Turkish tv, TRT world and a fairly good summary was then broadcast by Al Jezeera with the title “live” above it but the lag was sufficient for me to have watched both versions!

reporters 1 23 10 by TIM.jpgreporter 2 23 10 2018 by TIM.jpg

 

 

Pester and TSB

Just an update here. Dr Pester is finally off after making a complete mess of TSB. I have been waiting for 5 months now to receive an apology for the May fraud mess I got caught up in. Disappointing that it has taken so long. He leaves with a significant golden handshake. On Monday apparently TSB apologised to customers- not to me as far as I know.

“Mr Pester walks away with a payout worth nearly £1.7m, made up of £1.2m severance pay and a “historical” bonus of around £480,000 from before TSB’s takeover by Sabadell in 2015. All other performance-related pay – including a bonus linked to the customer migration – was frozen amid investigations into the IT fiasco.”

richard meddings by TIM TSB

 

dr paul pester TSB by TIM

trapped in TSB

Entering a second week of chaos as a victim of the TSB fraud. The fraud is bad enough but the contempt of the TSB call centres is astonishing. This morning I was finally called back by the fraud team, but the agent who spoke to me was from the internet fraud department and she felt it was better to speak to the debit card fraud department. I finally got through to Mike this evening (“We do not use surnames”). He had a quick check and then decided I should be dealt with by the internet fraud team after all, and transferred me. Back in a queue on hold and now in the knowledge that the fraud office closes any minute. It is absurd.

Earlier, Dr Paul Pester was criticised by The Treasury Select Committee for failing to realise the scale of the problem.

dr paul pester TSB by TIM

Archbishop Angaelos of London and others

Here are some recent pictures, the first of which is of the cleric who read prayers for Harry and Megan. I rather hope that my former students will have recognised him!

abglrchishop aneaos of London

 

The archbishop was enthroned in November last year. He is the first Coptic Archbishop of London.

Screen Shot 2018-05-17 at 12.36.28

 

Screen Shot 2018-05-17 at 15.18.08

Well done Miron!

http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.44401/title.russian-rap-battle-racks-up-15m-views-in-3-days#

Russian Rap Battle Racks Up 15M Views In 3 Days
August 16, 2017 | 7:20 PM
by Somhairle Cinnsealach
Russian Rap Battle Racks Up 15M Views In 3 Days
YouTube/versusbattleru

170816-Oxxxymiron-vs-Slava-KPSS-800x600

“War and Peace.” “Crime and Punishment.” Oxxxymiron vs. Slava KPSS.

All triumphs of Russian penmanship.

While even America’s most popular rap battlers generally max out at a few million YouTube views (a milestone that can sometimes take years to reach), Russian league Versus is sprinting past its competition — already racking up almost 15 million views on an hour-long video that came out on August 13.

The battle, which went down in St. Petersburg earlier in August, went crazy-viral in Russia, a country famous for its prowess with the written word.

We can’t understand any of it, of course, but if you’re confident in your Russian-speaking abilities then check out the battle below.

One of the competitors, Oxxxymiron, had been undefeated until he came up against his opponent, who took the W after a unanimous decision from the five judges.

As one of Russia’s biggest Hip Hop figures, Oxxxymiron’s battle rap showings have always generated huge interest, but nothing on this scale before.

According to a detailed piece by The Calvert Journal, “Even RIA Novosti, one of the biggest Russian news agencies, has published four news stories and a large feature on the battle in the last two days.”

After his defeat, Oxxxymiron shared an in-depth Instagram post following the battle.

 

 

168.1k likes
4,755 comments
Пара слов о баттле (спойлеры) 1. После драки кулаками не машут (объясните это СТ, который до сих пор доказывает, что выиграл). Поэтому судейское решение я, разумеется, принимаю. 2. На мероприятии были судьи, потому что я поставил такое условие. Вариант “мы час срем друг друга просто так, для взаимного промо” был для меня исключен, т.к. это не дружеский матч. Поражений, в отличие от забытого текста, я никогда не боялся, поэтому настоял на том, чтобы баттл судили – и считаю, что это было верное решение. 3. Почему я проиграл? Потому что, как и на прежних баттлах, ушел в лирические отступления, которые мне реально интересно писать, в отличие от бесконечного “сетап-панч, сетап-панч”. Возможно, я по жизни слишком зациклился на том, что в свое время повлиял на баттлрэп – а вместо этого мне самому стоит поучиться у баттловиков, чей мир с тех пор перерос в нечто иное и самостоятельное. Хотя гонка за количеством панчей все еще кажется мне довольно унылым подходом к баттлам. Но и мой подход “проповедник а-ля Loaded Lux” явно требует корректировки на будущее. Не будь проигрыша – я бы, наверное, так и не осознал, что нужен апгрейд. Апгрейд будет, Нарния пока подождет. 4. От всего мероприятия получил дикий кайф. Единственный облом – “поддержка” Версуса. С таким же успехом мы могли сразу пойти на Слово с 10 корешами – именно столько человек активно топило за нас, остальные версус-резиденты были типа слишком крутыми, чтобы высказывать саппорт рэперам своей лиги, как это делала толпа от Слово (по видео все очевидно, я думаю). Ну и сливщики инфы – конченые. 5. Make Battle Rap Great Again: сказано – сделано, это был исторический баттл. Оппонент молодец. Может теперь кто-нибудь поймет, что я не забронзовевшая статуя, не все всегда просчитываю, и готов рискнуть всем чисто по фану, из спортивного интереса. И вскоре сделаю это снова)
5 DAYS AGO

 

Google Chrome’s translation of Oxxxymiron’s Instagram post goes on to explain why he felt he lost the clash, and why there are no hard feelings.

“Why did I lose? Because, like on the previous battles, I went into lyrical digressions, which I really enjoy writing, unlike the endless “setup-punch, setup-punch.” Maybe I’m too focused on life, That at one time influenced the Battleplay – and instead I myself should learn from the Battlists, whose world has since grown into something different and independent. Although the race for the amount of panche still seems to me a rather dull approach to the battles. But my approach “preacher a la Loaded Lux” clearly requires adjustments for the future. Without losing – I probably would not have realized that I needed an upgrade. Upgrade will be, Narnia will wait.”

“Make Battle Rap Great Again: said – done, it was a historical battle. Opponent well done. Maybe now someone will understand that I’m not a moribund statue, I do not always calculate everything, and I’m ready to risk everything purely for fans, out of sports interest. And I’ll do it again soon).”

oxxxymiron-by-tim

from Hiphopdx.com